The Tudors · Season 2
[regarding a letter Henry VII has sent demanding an annulment] He uses some intemperate language, Holiness, claiming that "Never was a prince so poorly treated by a Pope"
He meant my predecessor, and to be fair, he has a point. Clement was a terrible procrastinator. Although it was terribly wrong for some to dig up his dead body, stab it, and drag it through the street, I can well understand their sentiments; he was never popular.
Here is a book of prophecy [looking at the cards laid out by a Papal agent] This is the King- this is the Queen- and this is myself... with my head cut off.
(concerning the bill the King intends to put before Parliament) Mr. Cromwell, this does not strike me as an attack against the abuses of the clergy (coughs) but rather, an attack upon our very faith (coughs again) and upon the faith of our ancestors!
(coldly) That is your judgement, Your Grace; it is not mine. Neither is it the King's.
Now, my love, let me conceive... and we will have a son.
I'm going to have to attend on the king and that bitch of his at her coronation! What didWolsey used to call her? "The Black Crow".
Can you not plead some indisposition?
I could, even though the king has made me high constable for the day, but if I did, His Majesty would remove my head. And then, I should be genuinely indisposed!
[flirtingly] Very well. So keep your head. It's a pretty head in any case, and I don't want to lose it either. [serious] But store up your knowledge and your anger. Don't act impulsively; it's always a mistake. But one day, with others so disposed, use them both...and if you can, bring her down, and destroy her.
[speaking to his courtiers while Anne Boleyn is in labour with a "son"] I've asked the French Ambassador to hold him at the font during his christening. If he drops him, it's war!
Anne Boleyn is going into labor
I want jousts, carnivals and banquets organized in honor of the birth of my son. I have not yet decided whether to call him Henry or Edward! I've asked the French Ambassador to hold him at the font during his christening. If he drops him, it's war!
[speaking while holding his newborn daughter] Who knows, perhaps one day this little girl will preside over empires.
Majesty, I have just heard that the Pope intends to make Reverend Fisher a cardinal. [Henry laughes coldly at this] Apparently, he has already dispatched a cardinal's hat.
Then Fisher will have to wear it upon his shoulders, for by the time it gets here, he won't have a head to put it on!
It is rumored that, perhaps, you have a great sympathy for the Dowager Princess Catherine of Aragon.
Don't you?
(pause) Actually, I do. I'm not heartless, whatever some people think- quite the contrary. (pause) But...I serve the King. (pause) The King intends to emplace the succession in the children he will have with Queen Anne Boleyn. A bill is to be put before Parliament- he wants to know if it will have your support. (pause, as Charles considers his position)
(watching Anne dance with Henry) I could still do it. I could find a way to poison her.
No.
But, I thought that was-
It would be blamed on my master. At the moment, he doesn't need that; he has a war with the Turks to contend with.
But, why should anyone ever know?
Don't be stupid, Brereton. They would find you and torture you, and you would tell them everything.
No I wouldn't. I'd die a martyr's death.
(smirks) You've never even seen a man being tortured, have you? (pause) You understand? You don't act alone.
Sir Thomas More. (Cromwell looks up and smiles)
Sir Thomas. (rises)
Mr. Secretary.
Please be seated. This is- er- quite an informal occasion. (picks up a pitcher) A little ale, perhaps?
(stiffly) No, thank you.
(smiles and shakes his head)... I'm sure we both know the object that has brought us together. It is very widely rumored, Sir Thomas, that you will refuse to take the Oath of Succession. Now, I say this to you very openly and sincerely, that I wish no harm to come to a great man who has, for years, enjoyed and deserved His Majesty's good graces. I would rather lose my own son, than to see any hurt come to you. (More smiles slightly) May I ask your opinion of the King's new marriage?
(bluntly) I have no opinion. I neither murmur at it, nor dispute upon it. I never did- never will.
Then, what of His Majesty's claim to supremacy over the Church of England?
(nods thoughtfully) Mmm... I was... unsure about this matter. (pause) Until I re-read His Majesty's own pamphlet, the Assertio Septum Sacramentorum. (Cromwell frowns inquiringly) In fact, I, um, have a copy of it here. (sets the pamphlet on Cromwell's desk) Of course, in the pamphlet, the King asserts the divine origin of the Papacy. The Pope's supremacy descends directly from the Rock of Saint Peter. I think you'll find His Majesty's arguments are as... persuasive and powerful now, as they were when he first wrote them.
... Will you take the Oath? I need hardly remind you of the consequences of not doing so.
(quietly, coldly) Mr. Secretary, I am the King's loyal subject. I say no harm, I think no harm- but I wish everybody good. And, if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith- then, I long not to live. (stands to leave)
(exasperated) Sir Thomas. You should know that the King himself has no mind to coerce you. He simply asks that you relent- and condescend to his request that you take the Oath.
(turns back)... Mr. Cromwell, please impart to the King my utter faithfulness, truthfulness and loyalty to him. (leaves)
You and I, Campeggio, have done well to avoid the craft of women. Celibacy is an immense relief.
...Holy Father?
Do you know who that was? (the Cardinal shakes his head) Michelangelo Di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni.
Michelangelo?! That was him?!
That was him. We forgive him, because he is a genius... whatever that means.
Upon hearing that Parliament has passed a "treason act" making failure to swear the Oath of Supremacy a crime punishable by death
Poor Fisher. He was a lion in my defense. Now he will die ashamed and alone in a prison cell.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The Tudors pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
