{"id":50548,"date":"2024-05-01T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T07:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2032105"},"modified":"2024-05-01T10:23:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T08:23:41","slug":"shardlake-true-story-what-happened-with-cromwell-and-the-monasteries","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/shardlake-true-story-what-happened-with-cromwell-and-the-monasteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Shardlake true story: What happened with Cromwell and the monasteries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The series is based on the fictional novels by CJ Sansom, but deals with some real-life history. <\/p>

By James Hibbs\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 May 2024 at 07:00 AM<\/p>

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New Tudor murder mystery series Shardlake<\/a> is now available to stream on Disney Plus<\/a>, and it adapts CJ Sansom\u2019s book Dissolution, the first of his Shardlake novels.<\/p>\n

The series introduces us to Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer who is hired by Thomas Cromwell to investigate a murder in a monastery, with Cromwell hoping that finding said culprit will give him reason to close the institution.<\/p>\n

But just how much of the series is based on real history, and what did really happen with Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries?<\/p>\n

Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind Shardlake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How much of Shardlake is based on a true story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Arthur\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Arthur Hughes as Matthew Shardlake in Shardlake.<\/span><\/figcaption> Disney Plus<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

This first season of Shardlake is based on Sansom\u2019s book Dissolution, which is set in 1537.<\/p>\n

It is almost entirely fictional<\/strong> \u2013 the characters of Matthew Shardlake, Jack Barak, Joan, Alice, the monks and more are all entirely fictional, as is the murder and subsequent investigation that takes place.<\/p>\n

However, there are some connections to the real history of the period.<\/p>\n

For instance, characters such as Thomas Cromwell, played by Sean Bean, and Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, were real, and Cromwell did play a leading role in the real-life dissolution of the monasteries.<\/p>\n

Sansom previously told The Guardian<\/a> why he set his murder mystery novel during this period, explaining: \u201cI\u2019m drawn to it, because it\u2019s the moment at which the medieval certainties that had endured for centuries were turned upside down. It was a time of extraordinary ferment: in the space of a few years, the state took on a completely different meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the more I read about it, the more I realised how like the 20th century it was in its anxiety and uncertainty, even though people thought so differently then. If I were to talk today with someone from the 16th century, they\u2019d think I was mad, and probably heretical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so interesting about writing about the period: to comprehend it, you have to work your way into a totally different worldview.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same interview, Sansom also spoke about creating the character of Shardlake, and making him fit in with the sensibilities of the time, while also appealing to a modern readership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult, perhaps impossible, to write a character well in the past who is not a projection back of modern sensibilities,\u201d he explained. \u201cMy defence would be that the 16th century was the time when rational, sceptical enquiry was beginning. This is the age of the humanists; we\u2019re leaving medieval thought patterns behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying a man like Shardlake did exist then, but he could have, where even 20 years earlier he couldn\u2019t. That\u2019s enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

[squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d612\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n

What really happened with Cromwell and the monasteries?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"A\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Thomas Cromwell.<\/span><\/figcaption> Gustavo Tomsich\/CORBIS\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Thomas Cromwell<\/a> was a real-life lawyer and statesman, who entered into the service of King Henry VIII in 1530. As his favour with the king grew, he went on to become one of his confidential advisers, followed by his principal advisor and chief minister.<\/p>\n

He also became the king\u2019s vicar general, granting him powers to visit and reform all monastic institutions during the English Reformation, when the\u00a0Church of England was forced to break away from the authority of the\u00a0pope\u00a0and the\u00a0Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

This occurred initially because the king\u2019s marriage to Catherine of Aragon had been annulled in 1533, and he married Anne Boleyn, all without permission from the pope.<\/p>\n

This period, during which Henry proclaimed himself supreme head of the church, included the dissolution of the monasteries<\/a>, in which he and Cromwell shut down more than 800 of England\u2019s religious houses, confiscating their possessions in the process<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This has predominantly been seen as a move by the king to attain religious supremacy for the new independent Church of England, and to plunder the wealth of the institutions for his own gain.<\/p>\n

This process was highly regulated, explaining why, in the series, Cromwell is unable to close St Donatus without finding a guilty party amongst their ranks.<\/p>

Cromwell\u2019s downfall came after, in 1539, he compelled the king to marry Anne of Cleves, in an effort to broker an alliance with William, Duke of Cleves, leader of the Protestants of western Germany.<\/p>\n

When the king determined in 1540 that this alliance was unnecessary, he had the marriage annulled, having been \u201cdisappointed\u201d with her from the start of their union.<\/p>\n

In April of that year, Cromwell\u2019s enemies within the king\u2019s inner circle convinced him that Cromwell was a heretic and a traitor, and he was arrested, condemned and executed within a matter of months.<\/p>\n