“Here at the close of the year 1533, his spirit is sturdy, his will strong, his front imperturbable….”

“Here at the close of the year 1533, his spirit is sturdy, his will strong, his front imperturbable. The courtiers see that he can shape events, mold them. He can contain the fears of other men, and give them a sense of solidity in a quaking world: this people, this dynasty, this miserable rainy island at the edge of the world.”

- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall.