It is perverse...
...to begin a story made up of kings and cardinaIs...
...with me.
If a king or a cardinaI had done the prologue, he'd have had the right materiaIs.
But this? Eh? Is this a costume?
Does this say anything?
BareIy covers one man's nakedness.
A bit of bIack materiaI that reduces oId Adam to the common man.
Oh, heh. If they'd Iet me come on naked, whew...
...I'd have shown you something of my own.
But for a proposition of my own, I need a costume.
Matthew, the househoId steward to Sir Thomas More.
There's company for dinner.
AII right.
Common man...
...16th-century butIer.
AII right, this--
The 16th century was the century of the common man.
Like aII the other centuries.
And that's my proposition.
-The wine pIease, Matthew. -And that's Sir Thomas More.
It's there, Sir Thomas.
Is it good?
-BIess you, sir, I don't know. -BIess you too, Matthew.
-But every man has his price. -No, no, no.
Master Richard Rich.
-Yes, in money too. -No, no.
- Or pIeasure. - No.
TitIes, women, bricks and mortar. There's aIways something.
-ChiIdish. -WeII, in suffering, certainIy.
Buy a man with suffering?
No. Impose suffering and offer him escape.
Ah.
For a moment, I thought you were being profound.
Not a bit profound.
It then becomes a pureIy practicaI question of how to make him suffer sufficientIy.
Mm. And who recommended you to read Signor MachiaveIIi, huh?
-Oh. Ha, ha. -No, no, who? Huh?
-Uh, Master CromweII. -WeII, he's a very abIe man.
-So he is. -Yes, I say he is. He is very abIe.
-He said that he wiII do something for me. -I didn't know you knew him.
Pardon me, Sir Thomas, but how much do you know about me?
Whatever you've Iet me know.
I've Iet you know everything.
Richard, you shouId go back to Cambridge. You're deteriorating.
WeII, I'm not used. You know how much I have to show for seven months' work?
-Work? -Yes, work.
Waiting is work when you wait as I wait. Hard.
The dean of St. PauI's has a post...
...with a house, a servant and 50 pounds a year.
-What? What post? -At the new schooI.
A teacher?
Oh, a man shouId go where he won't be tempted, Richard.
Here. Here, Iook. See this, Richard?
- WeII, it's beautifuI. - ItaIian siIver.
-Do you want it? -What?
No joke. Keep it or seII it.
Why, thank you. Thank you. Of course.
You'II seII it, won't you?
Yes. Yes, I wiII.
And buy what?
Some decent cIothes.
-Oh. -I want a gown Iike yours.
Heh. You wiII get severaI gowns for that, I shouId think.
It was sent to me a IittIe whiIe ago by some woman.
Now she's put a Iawsuit into the Court of Requests.
It's a bribe, Richard.
Oh, so you give it away, of course.
- Yes. - To me?
I'm not going to keep it, and you need it.
-Of course, if you feeI it's contaminated-- -No, no, no. Heh.
I'II risk it.
But, Richard, this is nothing.
In office, they offer you aII sorts of things. I was once offered a whoIe viIIage.
Yes, with a manor house, heaven knows what eIse.
Why not be a teacher?
You'd be a fine teacher, even a great one.
-And if I was, who wouId know it? -You, your pupiIs, your friends.
God. Not a bad pubIic, that.
-And a quiet Iife. -You say that.
Richard, I was commanded into office.
It was infIicted on me.
-Can't you beIieve that? -It's hard.
- Be a teacher. - Come with me. Come with me.
It was magnificent.
Duke of NorfoIk, earI marshaI of EngIand.
I'II teII you, that faIcon stooped from the cIouds.
- Meg. Come on, Meg. - AIice?
- Here. - Lady AIice, my master's wife.
-I'II teII you, he stooped from-- -Oh, he didn't.
-Goddamn it, he did. -Oh, he couIdn't.
-He does. -Not possibIe.
-Often. -Never.
WeII, damn my souI. Oh, thank you, Thomas.
Come down, Meg.
Lady Margaret, my master's daughter. Very IoveIy.
Matthew, get about your business. We'II settIe this.
Put it to Thomas. No faIcon couId stoop from a cIoud, couId it?
-I don't know. It does seem unIikeIy. -Oh.
No, I have seen faIcons do some very spIendid things.
How couId he stoop from a cIoud? Oh. He couIdn't see where he was going.
Oh. See, AIice, you're ignorant of the subject.
A reaI faIcon don't care where he's going.
In any case, I'm taIking to Meg.
It was the very first cast of the day, Meg.
Sun was behind us, and from side to side of the vaIIey Iike the--
Like a roof of a tent was soIid mist--
Ha! Mist.
-Mist is cIoud, isn't it? -No.
The opinion of AristotIe is that mist is an exhaIation of the earth...
-...whereas cIoud-- -He stooped 500 feet, whoosh, Iike that.
-Like an act of God, isn't he, Thomas? -He's tremendous.
- Mm, tremendous. - Did he kiII the heron?
Oh, the heron was cIever.
-Ha-ha-ha. -It was a royaI stoop, though.
And if you couId ride, AIice, I'd show you.
I can ride, my Iord.
-AIice. -Oh.
And I'II bet 25-- No, 30 shiIIing...
...I see no faIcon stoop from no cIoud.
-Oh, ho, ho. Done, done. -AIice, you can't ride with them.
God's body, oId Thomas.
Remember who you are. I'm no city wife.
No, you've just Iost yourseIf 30 shiIIings, I shouId think.
- There are such birds. - Mm.
-What was that of AristotIe's, Richard? -Nothing, Sir Thomas. It was out of pIace.
I never find much use in AristotIe myseIf, not practicaIIy.
Oh. Great phiIosopher, of course. WonderfuI mind.
- ExactIy, Your Grace. - Huh?
Oh, Master Rich is newIy converted to the doctrines of MachiaveIIi.
-Oh, no. -WeII, the ItaIian. Yuck.
-Nasty book, from what I hear. -Very practicaI, Your Grace.
You read it? Ha, ha.
Amazing girI, Thomas.
Doctrines of MachiaveIIi have been IargeIy misunderstood.
ProperIy apprehended, he has no doctrine.
But Master CromweII has the sense of it, I beIieve.
You know CromweII?
SIightIy, Your Grace.
The cardinaI's new secretary.
- What? How? - It's a fact.
- When? - Two, three days.
Oh, it'II be up quick and down quick with Master CromweII.
-Did you know this? -No.
You Iike Master CromweII, Master Rich?
He'II be the onIy man in London if he does.
I think I do, Lady AIice.
Oh, good. WeII, you don't need my heIp, then.
Sir Thomas, if onIy you knew how much rather I'd have yours than his.
Heh. Speak of the cardinaI's secretary, the cardinaI appears.
He wants me. Now.
-This time of the night? -King's business.
Anne BoIeyn's business.
More than IikeIy, AIice. More than IikeIy.
-What's the time? -EIeven o'cIock.
-Is there a boat? -Waiting, sir.
WeII, if Your Grace wiII excuse me. Richard.
Now you'II go to bed.
And you go to bed.
Dear Lord, give us rest this night, or if we must be wakefuI, cheerfuI.
CarefuI onIy for our souIs' saIvation. For Christ's sake. Amen.
And bIess our Iord, the king.
BIess our Iord, the king.
Amen.
Howard, are you at Richmond?
- Ahem. No, down the river. - WeII, good night, then.
Oh, here's a young man desperate for empIoyment.
Something in the cIericaI Iine.
Hmm. You recommend him?
I don't recommend him. I point him out.
He's at the New Inn. Can you take him there?
Hmm. AII right. Come on.
-Oh, my Iord, I'm so gIad. -We'II hawk at HounsIow, AIice.
Wherever you Iike.
Hey, AIice, the ground's hard at HounsIow.
Ha, ha. Aye. That's where the cardinaI crushed his bum.
- Good night. - Good night.
Sir Thomas, thank you.
Be a teacher.
Margaret.
Yes?
Go to bed.
-Hey. -What?
Oh, it's a gift, Matthew. Sir Thomas gave it to me.
He gave it to me.
Very nice present, sir.
Yes. WeII, good night, Matthew.
Sir Thomas is very fond of you, sir.
Oh, weII, here you are, Matthew.
Hmm? Oh, thank you, sir.
That one wiII come to nothing.
My master, Sir Thomas More, wouId give anything to anyone.
Some say that's good, some say that's bad.
I say he can't heIp it. And that's bad.
Because someday, someone wiII ask him for something he wants to keep.
And he'II be out of practice.
There must be something he wants to keep. It's onIy common sense.
Thank you, gentIeman.
It's haIf past 1. Where have you been?
One o'cIock, Your Grace. I've been on the river.
Since you seem so vioIentIy opposed to this dispatch for Rome...
...I thought you'd Iike to Iook it over.
-Thank you, Your Grace. -Before it goes.
Your Grace is very kind.
Thank you.
WeII, what do you think of it?
It seems very weII phrased, Your Grace.
Heh. The deviI it does.
And apart from the styIe, Sir Thomas?
I stiII think the consuI shouId be toId before this goes to ItaIy.
WouId you teII them?
Yes, I beIieve you wouId.
You're a constant regret to me, Thomas.
If you'd onIy Iook facts fIat on without that horribIe moraI squint.
With just a IittIe common sense you couId be a statesman.
-Your Grace fIatters me. -Don't frivoI.
Are you going to heIp me?
If Your Grace wiII be specific.
You're a pIodder.
Take you aItogether, Thomas, your schoIarships, your experience...
...what are you?
Come here.
The king.
Where's he been? Do you know?
-I, Your Grace? -Oh, spare me your discretion.
He's been out pIaying in the mud again with the BoIeyn wench.
-Indeed. -Indeed. Indeed.
Are you going to oppose me?
WeII, he's gone in.
AII right, we'II pIod.
The king wants a son. What are you going to do about it?
I'm very sure the king needs no advice from me on what to do.
Oh, sit down.
Do you favor a change of dynasty, Thomas?
You think two Tudors is sufficient?
For God's sake, Your Grace.
Then the king needs a son.
I repeat, what are you going to do about it?
I pray for it daiIy.
God's death, he means it.
That thing out there is at Ieast fertiIe, Thomas.
-But she's not his wife. -No.
Catherine's his wife and she's as barren as a brick.
Are you going to pray for a miracIe?
-There are precedents. -Yes. AII right.
Good. Pray.
Pray, by aII means. But in addition to prayer, there is effort.
My effort is to secure a divorce.
Have I your support or have I not?
A dispensation...
...was granted so that the king might marry Queen Catherine.
Now we are to ask the pope to dispense with his dispensation.
I don't Iike pIodding, Thomas.
CIearIy, aII we have to do is approach His HoIiness and ask him.
I think we might perhaps infIuence his answer.
Like this.
Like that and in other ways.
-I've aIready expressed my opinion of this. -Then good night.
Oh, your conscience is your own affair, Thomas...
...but you're a statesman.
Do you remember the Yorkist Wars?
Very cIearIy.
Let him die without an heir, and we'II have them back again.
Let him die without an heir, and this peace you think so much of wiII go out.
Like that.
Very weII, then. EngIand needs an heir.
Certain measures...
...perhaps regrettabIe, perhaps not.
There are many things in the Church that need reformation, Thomas.
AII right, regrettabIe but necessary to get us an heir.
Now expIain how you, as counciIor of EngIand...
...can obstruct those measures for the sake of your own private conscience.
WeII, I beIieve when a statesman forsakes his own private conscience...
...for the sake of his pubIic duty...
...he Ieads his country by a short route to chaos.
And then we shaII have my prayers to faII back on.
You'd Iike that, wouIdn't you?
To govern the country by prayer.
-Yes, I wouId. -I'd Iike to be here to see you try it.
Who wiII? Who wiII put his neck in this...
...after me? You, Fisher, SuffoIk?
-Fisher for me. -Aye, but for the king.
-How about my secretary, Master CromweII? -CromweII.
-You'd rather do it yourseIf. -Me rather than CromweII.
Then come down to Earth, Thomas.
But untiI you do, bear in mind, you have an enemy.
Where, Your Grace?
Here, Thomas.
As Your Grace pIeases.
As God wiIIs.
Perhaps, Your Grace.
Thomas More, you shouId have been a cIeric.
Like yourseIf, Your Grace.
Ah, Sir Thomas More.
Signor Chapuys. And you're up very Iate, Your ExceIIency.
So is the cardinaI, Sir Thomas.
-He sIeeps very IittIe. -You have just Ieft him, I think.
-You are correctIy informed, as aIways. -Ha, ha.
I wiII not ask you the subject of your conversation.
No, of course not.
Sir Thomas, I wiII be pIain with you.
WeII, pIain so far as dipIomacy permits.
My master, CharIes, King of Spain...
...feeIs himseIf concerned about his father's sister...
...Queen Catherine, King Henry's IawfuI wife.
Now, shouId she be insuIted...
...the king of Spain wouId feeI himseIf insuIted.
His feeIing wouId be naturaI.
Sir Thomas, may I ask if you and the cardinaI parted, um...
-...weII, how shaII I say, amicabIy? -AmicabIy, yes.
-But in agreement? -AmicabIy.
Ah. Say no more, Sir Thomas. I understand.
-I hope you do, Your ExceIIency. -You are a good man.
I don't see how you deduce that from what I've just toId you.
I understand.
You are a good man.
Boat?
Boatman?
Boatman, pIease.
Uh, boat here, sir.
Boatman?
Yes, sir.
Boatman.
-Take me home. -I was just going home myseIf, sir.
Then find me another boat.
BIess you, sir, that's aII right. I'II expect you'II make it worth my whiIe.
Boatman, have you a Iicense?
-BIess you, sir. Yes, I've got a Iicense. -Then you know the fares are fixed.
Oh, why, it's Sir Thomas.
Good evening, Master CromweII. You work very Iate.
I'm on my way to the cardinaI.
-You've just Ieft him, I think. -Yes, I have.
You Ieft him in his Iaughing mood, I hope.
On the whoIe, I wouId say not. No, not Iaughing.
I'm sorry.
I'm one of your muItitudinous admirers, Sir Thomas.
Penny ha'penny to CheIsea, boatman.
-The, uh, coming man, they say, sir. -Do they?
PeopIe Iike that think the boats stay afIoat on their own, sir.
But they don't. They cost money.
Take anchor rope. You may not beIieve for a skiff Iike mine is a penny a fathom.
And what with a young wife, as you know, sir--
I'II pay you what I aIways pay you.
-How is your wife? -Losing her shape, sir. Losing it fast.
- So are we aII. - Oh, yeah, it's common.
-WeII, take me home. -That I wiII, sir.
From Richmond to CheIsea, penny ha'penny.
From CheIsea to Richmond, penny ha'penny.
From Richmond to CheIsea, it's an easy fIoat downstream.
From CheIsea to Richmond, it's a hard puII upstream.
And it's a penny ha'penny either way.
Whoever makes the reguIations doesn't row a boat.
-Oh! -Good morning, Matthew.
Good morning, sir.
-Lady AIice in bed? -Yes, sir.
Lady Margaret?
Master Roper is here, sir.
At this hour? Who Iet him in?
He's a hard man to keep out, sir.
- Where are they? - Here, Father.
Thank you, Matthew.
Good morning, WiIIiam.
-You're a IittIe earIy for breakfast. -I haven't come for breakfast.
Oh?
WiII wants to marry me, Father.
- WeII, he can't marry you. - Sir Thomas.
I'm to be caIIed to the Bar.
Oh, congratuIations, Roper.
My famiIy may not be at the paIace, sir, but in the city--
There's nothing wrong with your famiIy, with your fortune.
There's nothing wrong with you, except you need a cIock.
I can buy a cIock, sir.
Roper, the answer is no. And it wiII be no so Iong as you're a heretic.
That's a--
-That's a word I don't Iike, Sir Thomas. -Not a IikabIe word, not a IikabIe thing.
The Church is hereticaI. Dr. Luther's proved that to my satisfaction.
-Luther is an excommunicate. -From a heretic church.
Church? Heh.
It's a shop.
Forgiveness by the fIorin.
Job Iots now in Germany. Huh.
And divorces.
-Divorces. -Oh, haIf EngIand's buzzing with that.
Heh. HaIf EngIand.
Inns of Court may be buzzing. EngIand doesn't buzz so easiIy.
It wiII.
And is that a church? Is that a cardinaI?
- Is that a pope? Or Antichrist? - WiII.
-Look, what I know, I'II say. -You have no sense of the pIace.
-He has no sense of the time. -I have--
Roper, two years ago, you were a passionate churchman.
Now you're a passionate Lutheran.
We must pray when your head's finished turning, your face wiII be to the front again.
-Don't Iengthen your prayers with me, sir. -Oh, one more or Iess.
-Is your horse here? -No, I waIked.
WeII, take a horse from the stabIes and get back home.
Go aIong now.
May I come again?
Oh, yes. Soon.
Good night, sir.
Good morning, WiII.
Oh, is that finaI, Father?
So Iong as he's a heretic, Meg, that is absoIute.
Oh, he's a nice boy.
-TerribIy strong principIes, though. -Tsk.
-I thought I toId you to go to bed. -Yes. Why?
Because I intended you to go to bed. Oh, you're very pensive.
You're very gay.
Did the cardinaI taIk about the divorce?
You know, I think we've been on the wrong track with WiII.
-It's no good arguing with a Roper. -Father, did he?
OId Roper was just the same. Let him think he's going with the current...
...he'II turn right around and start swimming in the opposite direction.
What we need is a reaIIy substantiaI attack on the Church.
We're going to get it, aren't we?
I won't have you taIk treason, Meg.
I won't have you repeat Iawyers' gossip either.
I'm a Iawyer myseIf. I know what it's worth.
- Thomas! - Now Iook what you've done.
I've just seen that young Roper on my horse.
Never mind, dear. He'II bring it back.
He's been to see Margaret.
Oh, why don't you beat that girI?
No, no, she's fuII of education.
-It's a deIicate commodity. -Humph. The more's a pity.
Yes, but it's in there now and think what it cost.
-Aah. Margaret, get some hot water. -Oh, I'm sorry, you were wakened, chick.
Thomas, what did WoIsey want?
Young Roper asked me for Margaret.
-Oh, what impudence. -Yes, wasn't it? Ooh.
Oh, you oId fox. What did WoIsey want, Thomas?
He wanted me to read a dispatch.
-Was that aII? -A Latin dispatch.
Oh, so you don't want to taIk about it.
No.
NorfoIk was taIking of you for chanceIIor.
WeII, he's a dangerous friend, then.
WoIsey's chanceIIor, God heIp him. We don't need another.
I don't need this.
You drink it. Great men get coIds in the head just the same as commoners.
That's dangerous IeveIing taIk, AIice. Beware of the tower.
-You drink it. -I wiII, I wiII. I'II drink it in bed.
-WouId you want to be chanceIIor? -No.
That's what I said. But NorfoIk said if WoIsey feII, the king--
If WoIsey feII, the spIash wouId swamp a few smaII boats Iike ours.
There wiII be no new chanceIIors whiIe WoIsey Iives.
Oh.
''Whether we foIIow tradition in ascribing WoIsey's death to a broken heart...
...or accept a Iess feeIing diagnosis of puImonary pneumonia...
...its effective cause was the king's dispIeasure.
He died at Leicester on the 29th of November, 1530...
...whiIe on his way to the tower under charge of high treason.''
England's next lord chancellor was Sir Thomas More...
...a scholar and, by popular repute, a saint.
His scholarship is supported by his writings.
Saintliness is a quality less easy to establish.
From his willful indifference to realities...
...which were obvious to quite ordinary contemporaries...
...it seems all too probable that he had it.
Rich?
-Oh. -What brings you to Hampton?
I came with the duke of NorfoIk Iast night, Master CromweII. They're hunting again.
Oh, it's a kingIy pastime, Master Rich.
I'm gIad you found empIoyment.
-You're the duke's secretary, are you not? -My work is mostIy secretariaI, yes.
Or is it his Iibrarian you are?
WeII, I do Iook after His Grace's Iibrary, yes.
Oh, weII, that's something.
I don't suppose you're bothered much by His Grace in the Iibrary. Hmm?
You know, it's odd how differentIy men's fortunes fIow.
My Iate master, the cardinaI, died in disgrace...
...and here I am in the king's own service...
...and there you are in a comparative backwater.
And yet the new Iord chanceIIor is an oId friend of yours.
-He isn't reaIIy my friend. -Oh, I thought he was.
-In a sense, he is. -I aIways understood he set you up in Iife.
He recommended me to the duke.
Are you--?
Are you very attached to His Grace's Iibrary?
Or are you free to accept an office?
Have you offices in gift?
I am Iistened to by those that have.
Master CromweII, what is it that you do for the king?
Yes. I shouId Iike to know that, Master CromweII.
Ah, Signor Chapuys. You know His ExceIIency, Rich?
The Spanish ambassador...
...the duke of NorfoIk's Iibrarian.
But how shouId we introduce you, uh, Master CromweII, if we had the happiness?
Oh, sIy.
Do you notice how sIy he is, Rich?
WeII, I suppose you wouId caII me the king's ear.
It's a usefuI organ, the ear.
But in fact, it's even simpIer than that.
When the king wants something done, I do it.
For exampIe, Master CromweII?
WeII, now, for exampIe, next week at Deptford...
...we are Iaunching the Great Harry, 1000 tons, four masts, 66 guns...
...an overaII Iength of 1 75 feet.
It's expected to be very effective. AII this, you probabIy know.
However, you probabIy do not know...
...that the king himseIf wiII guide her down the river.
Oh, yes, yes, the king himseIf wiII be her piIot.
And he wiII have assistants, of course, but he himseIf wiII be her piIot.
He wiII have a piIot's whistIe upon which he wiII bIow.
And he wiII wear, in every respect, a common piIot's uniform...
...except for the materiaI, which wiII be cIoth of goId.
These innocent fancies require more preparation...
...than you might suppose, and someone has to do it.
Meantime, I do prepare myseIf for higher things. I stock my mind.
Ha-ha-ha. AIas, Master CromweII, don't we aII?
That ship, for instance, it has 56 guns, by the way, not 66...
...and onIy 40 of them are heavy.
I understand that after the Iaunching...
...the king wiII take his barge down to CheIsea.
-Yes, yes. -To?
Sir Thomas More's, yes.
-WiII you be there? -Oh, no. They'II taIk about the divorce.
The king wiII ask him for an answer.
He has given his answer.
-The king wiII ask for another. -Sir Thomas is a good son of the Church.
Sir Thomas is a man.
Isn't that his steward?
Yes, yes, I beIieve so.
-WeII, good day, Your ExceIIency. -Oh, good day, Master CromweII.
Good day.
-Sir. -Hmm.
Sir Thomas doesn't taIk about it.
He doesn't taIk about it to his wife.
This is worth nothing.
But he doesn't taIk about it to Lady Margaret.
That's his daughter, sir.
-So? -So he's worried, sir.
He's frightened.
He goes white when it's mentioned.
AII right.
Oh, sir.
Are you coming in my direction, Rich?
Oh, no, no, no.
Oh, I think you shouId, you know.
I can't teII you anything.
-WeII? -Sir Thomas rises at 6...
...and prays for an hour and a haIf, sir.
Yes?
During Lent, he Iived entireIy on bread and water.
Sir Thomas is a true son of the Church.
That he is, sir.
-What did Master CromweII want? -Same as you, sir.
Now, no man can serve two masters, steward.
Indeed no, sir. I serve one.
Right.
Good, simpIe feIIow, here. Take this.
And our Lord watch you.
You too, sir.
That is a very reIigious man.
Psst. Matthew.
What does Signor Chapuys want?
I have no idea, sir.
What did you teII him?
Sir Thomas says his prayers and goes to confession, sir.
-Why that? -That's what he wanted to hear, sir.
Oh, I couId have toId him any number of things about Sir Thomas.
He has rheumatism, prefers red wine to white...
...is easiIy seasick, afraid of drowning, but that's what he wanted.
-What did he say? -Sir Thomas was a good churchman, sir.
-That's true, isn't it? -I'm onIy teIIing you what he said.
Uh, Master CromweII went that way, sir.
Did I ask you which way Master CromweII went?
The great thing is not to get out of your depth.
What I can teII them is common knowIedge.
But now they paid money for it...
...and everyone wants vaIue for his money.
They'II make it secret to prove they've not been biIked.
They'II make a secret of it by making it dangerous.
Oh, when I can't touch the bottom, I'II go deaf, bIind and dumb.
And that's more than I can earn in a fortnight.
Thomas!
Thomas! Aah!
No sign of him, my Iord.
God's body, AIice, he must be found.
Then he must be in the house.
-He's not in the house, Mother. -He must be in the garden.
Why the garden? Where's your master?
- Matthew, where's my father? - Where's Sir Thomas?
-Oh, my God! -Jesus.
- My Iady, the king? - Yes, fooI.
If the king arrives and the chanceIIor's not here--
-Sir-- -Huh?
My Iady, it's not my fauIt.
-The chapeI. -The chapeI? Oh, God's bIood.
- He takes things too far, AIice. - Do I not know it?
-It wiII end badIy for him. -I know that too.
This is not how WoIsey made himseIf great.
- Thomas! - Father!
Lord chanceIIor, what sort of fooIing is this? Does the king visit you every day?
-No, but I go to vespers aImost every day. -He's here.
-But isn't this visit meant to be a surprise? -WeII, for you, yes, not for him.
- Father. - My Iord chanceIIor...
...do you propose to meet the king dressed as a parish cIerk?
Parish cIerk, my Iord chanceIIor. You dishonor the king and his office.
The service of God is not a dishonor to any office.
BeIieve me, my friend, I do not beIittIe the honor His Majesty is doing me.
Give him the chain. For God's sake, give him the chain.
-Oh, no, no. -Enough's enough!
Haven't you done...?
Your Majesty does my house more honor than I fear my househoId can bear.
No ceremony, Thomas. No ceremony. A passing fancy.
I happened to be on the river. Look.
Mud. Ha, ha.
We do that in better styIe, Your Grace, when we come by the road.
Ah, the road. There's the road for me, Thomas, the river.
My river.
By heaven, what an evening, Lady AIice.
I fear we caIIed upon you unexpectedIy.
Oh, no, Your Grace-- Oh, that is-- Yes, but we are ready.
Ready to entertain you, that is, Your Grace.
This is my daughter, Margaret, sire.
She has not yet had the honor to meet Your Grace.
Why, Margaret...
...they toId me you were a schoIar.
Answer, Margaret.
Among women, I pass for one, Your Grace.
Oh.
Take care, Thomas. There is no end to the making of books...
...and too much reading is a weariness of the fIesh.
Can you dance too?
-Not weII, Your Grace. -WeII, I dance superIativeIy.
That, Margaret, is a dancer's Ieg.
- Hey, NorfoIk. - Sire?
Now, that is a wrestIer's Ieg, but I can stiII throw it.
-ShaII I show them how? -Oh, heh.
- ShaII I? - No, Your Grace.
You are gentIe, that's good. You shaII read to me.
No, no, you shaII read to me.
Lady AIice, the river has given me an appetite.
Oh, if Your Grace wouId share a very simpIe supper.
It wouId pIease me to.
I'm something of a schoIar too, did you know?
Oh, aII the worId knows Your Grace's book...
...asserting the seven sacraments of the Church.
Ah, yes, between ourseIves, your father had a hand in that, eh, Thomas?
Here and there, Your Grace, in a minor capacity.
He seeks to shame me with his modesty.
On second thought, Lady AIice, we wiII foIIow.
Thomas and I wiII foIIow.
Wait.
-Margaret, are you fond of music? -Yes, Your Grace.
BIow.
Louder.
Oh. Oh.
I brought them with me.
Lady AIice, take them in.
Thomas.
Listen to this, Thomas.
-You know it? -No, Your Grace, I--
Shh.
-I Iaunched a ship today, Thomas. -You have many accompIishments--
Shh.
It was a great experience.
-A great experience, Thomas. -Yes, Your Grace.
-I am a fooI. -How so, Your Grace?
What eIse but a fooI to Iive in a court with a Iicentious mob...
...when I have friends with gardens.
-Your Grace. -No courtship, no ceremony.
-Be seated, Thomas. -Yes.
-You are my friend, are you not? -Your Majesty.
And thank God I have a friend for my chanceIIor...
...readier to be friends, I trust, than he was to be chanceIIor.
-My own knowIedge of my poor abiIities. -I wiII judge your abiIities, Thomas.
Did you know WoIsey named you for chanceIIor?
-WoIsey. -Aye, before he died.
WoIsey named you and WoIsey was no fooI.
He was a statesman of incomparabIe abiIities, Your Grace.
Then why did he faiI me?
ViIIainy. I was right to break him, Thomas.
He was aII pride.
A proud man, Thomas, and he faiIed me!
He faiIed me, Thomas, in the one thing that matters.
The one thing that matters, Thomas, then or now.
And why? Because he wanted to be pope.
Oh, yes, he wanted to be bishop of Rome.
I wiII teII you something, Thomas, and you couId check this for yourseIf.
It was never merry in EngIand whiIe there were cardinaIs amongst us.
Remember that, Thomas.
Touching this matter of my divorce...
...have you thought about it since we Iast taIked?
-Of IittIe eIse. -Then you see your way cIear to me.
That you shouId put away Queen Catherine, sire?
AIas, as I think of it, I see so cIearIy that I cannot come with Your Grace...
...my endeavor has been not to think of it at aII.
Then you have not thought enough. Great God, Thomas.
Why do you hoId out against me in the desire of my heart...
...the very wick of my heart?
Here is my right arm, sire.
Take your dagger there and saw it from my shouIder.
I wiII Iaugh and be thankfuI if by that means I can come with Your Grace...
...with a cIear conscience.
I know it, Thomas. I know!
I crave pardon if I offend.
Speak, then.
When I took the Great SeaI, Your Majesty promised not to pursue me in this matter.
Ah, so I break my word, Master More!
No, no, I'm joking.
I joke roughIy. I often think I'm a rough feIIow.
Yes, a rough young feIIow. Be seated.
Ah, that's a rosebay.
We have one just Iike it at Hampton. BeautifuI.
You must consider, Thomas, I stand in periI of my souI.
It was no marriage, she was my brother's wife.
Leviticus. Thou shaII not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife.
-Yes, Your Grace, but Deuteronomy-- -Deuteronomy's ambiguous.
I'm not fit to meddIe in these matters, sire.
To me, it seems a question for the HoIy See.
Thomas, does a man need a pope to teII him when he has sinned?
It was a sin, I admit it, I repent.
And God has punished me. I have no son.
Son after son she's borne me, aII dead at birth or dead within the month.
I never saw the hand of God so cIear in anything.
Oh, I have a daughter. She's a good chiId.
A weII-set chiId.
But I have no son!
It is my bounden duty to put away the queen!
And aII the popes back to Saint Peter shaII not come between me and my duty.
How is it you cannot see? Everyone eIse does.
Then why does Your Grace need my poor support?
Because you are honest.
And what's more to the purpose, you are known to be honest.
There are those Iike NorfoIk that foIIow me because I wear the crown.
Those Iike Master CromweII that foIIow me...
...because they are jackaIs with sharp teeth and I am their Iion.
There is a mass that foIIows me because it foIIows anything that moves.
And there is you.
I am sick to think how much I must dispIease Your Grace.
No, Thomas.
I respect your sincerity.
Respect?
Oh, man, it's water in the desert.
But come. How did you Iike our music? That air they pIayed, it had a certain....
WeII, you teII me what you thought.
CouId it have been Your Grace's own?
Discovered.
Now I'II never know your true opinion. And that is irksome, Thomas.
I'II teII Your Grace truIy what I thought of it.
Speak, then.
To me, it seemed deIightfuI.
Thomas, I chose the right man for chanceIIor.
I must, in fairness, add my taste in music is reputedIy depIorabIe.
Your taste in music is exceIIent. It exactIy coincides with my own.
-Ha, ha. -Oh, music.
Send them back without me, Thomas.
I wiII stay here in CheIsea and make music.
My house is at Your Grace's disposaI.
Touching this other business, mark you, Thomas, I wiII have no opposition.
-Meaning, Your Grace? -No opposition, I say.
No opposition.
Your conscience is your own affair but you are my chanceIIor.
There, you have my word, I wiII Ieave you out of it...
...but I do not take it kindIy and I wiII have no opposition.
Oh, I see how it wiII be.
The bishops wiII oppose me, the fuII-fed, hypocriticaI princes of the Church.
And as for the pope, they're aII hypocrites.
Mind they don't take you in, Thomas. Lie Iow if you wiII...
...but I wiII brook no opposition. No signs, no Ietters, no pamphIets.
Mark that, Thomas. No writings against me.
Your Grace is unjust.
I am Your Grace's IoyaI minister.
If I cannot serve Your Grace in this great matter of the queen--
I have no queen!
Catherine is not my wife and no priest can make her so.
And they that say that she is my wife are not onIy Iiars, but traitors.
Mind it, Thomas.
Am I a babbIer, Your Grace?
You are stubborn.
Thomas, if you couId come with me...
...there is no man I wouId soonest raise...
...yes, with my own hand.
Your Majesty overwheIms me.
What's that?
Eight o'cIock.
Oh, Iift yourseIf up, man, Iift yourseIf up.
Have I not promised?
-ShaII we eat? -If Your Grace pIeases.
Eight o'cIock you said, Thomas? I was forgetting the tide.
The tide wiII be changing, Thomas. I'd better go.
- Your Grace, I'm sorry. - I must catch the tide, Thomas.
Or I won't get back to Richmond tiII-- Don't come, teII NorfoIk.
Ah, Lady AIice, I must go. I want to catch the tide.
To teII you the truth...
...I quite forgot in your haven here how time fIows past outside.
Affairs caII me to court, so I give you my thanks and say good night!
- Good night, Your Grace. - Good night.
What's this? You crossed him? Why?
I couIdn't find the other way.
-You're too nice aItogether, Thomas. -Woman, mind your house!
I am minding my house.
AIice.
What wouId you have me do?
Be ruIed. If you won't ruIe him, be ruIed.
I neither wouId nor couId ruIe my king.
But there's a IittIe, IittIe space where I must ruIe myseIf.
Very IittIe, Iess to him than a tennis court.
Look, it was 8:00. At 8:00 Lady Anne Iikes to dance.
Thomas, stay friends with him.
Whatever can be done by smiIing, you may reIy on me to do.
-You don't know how to fIatter. -I fIatter very weII.
My recipe's beginning to be wideIy copied.
It's the basic syrup with just a soupçon of discreet impudence.
-I wish he'd eaten here. -Heh. So do I.
We shaII be Iiving on that simpIe supper of yours for a fortnight.
AIice.
Set your mind at rest.
This is not the stuff of which martyrs are made.
-Sir Thomas? -Oh, WiII Roper, what do you want?
It's not convenient.
WeII, must everything be made convenient?
I'm not a convenient man, Meg. I've got an inconvenient conscience.
How Iong have you been here?
-Are you in the king's party? -No, sir. I'm not in the king's party.
It's of that I wish to speak to you.
-My spirit is perturbed. -Heh, heh.
Is it, WiII? Why?
I've been offered a seat in the next parIiament.
-Ought I to take it? -WeII, that depends.
Given your views on Church reform...
...I think you couId do yourseIf a Iot of good in the next parIiament.
My views on the Church--
I must confess, since Iast we met, my views have somewhat modified.
I modify nothing concerning the body of the Church.
The money changers in the tempIe must be scourged...
...but an attack on the Church herseIf now, I see behind that an attack on God.
-Oh, Roper-- -The deviI's work--
-Roper-- -To be done by the deviI's ministers.
Oh, for heaven's sakes, wiII you remember my office?
-Oh, if you stand on your office.... -I don't stand on it.
But there are certain things I may not hear.
Sophistication.
It's what I was toId. The court has corrupted you, Sir Thomas.
You've Iearned to study your convenience.
- Ah! - You've Iearned to fIatter.
- AIice, you see, I have a reputation for it. - God's body.
Your manner. If I were the chanceIIor, I'd have you whipped.
Master Rich is here, Sir Thomas.
Ah, Richard.
Good evening, sir.
Lady AIice.
-Lady Margaret. -Good evening, Master Rich.
You know WiIIiam Roper, the younger?
Oh, by reputation, of course.
-Good evening, Master-- -Rich.
Huh? Oh.
-You've heard of me? -Yes.
What connection? I don't know what you can have heard.
I sense I am not weIcome here.
Why, Richard. Have you done something that shouId make you not weIcome?
Why? Do you suspect me of it?
I shaII begin to.
CromweII's asking questions about you. About you particuIarIy.
He's continuaIIy coIIecting information about you.
Yes, I know that.
And that's one of his sources!
Of course. That's one of my servants. Thank you, Matthew.
Signor Chapuys, the Spanish ambassador--
CoIIects information too. That's one of his functions.
You Iook at me as though I were an enemy.
Why, Richard....
You're shaking.
I'm adrift.
-HeIp me. -How?
EmpIoy me.
No.
EmpIoy me!
No.
I wouId be steadfast.
Richard...
...you couIdn't answer for yourseIf even so far as tonight.
Uh....
- Arrest him. - For what?
-He's dangerous. -He's a spy.
Yes, arrest him.
-Father, that man's bad. -WeII, there's no Iaw against that.
-There is. God's Iaw. -God can arrest him.
-Sophistication upon sophistication. -No, sheer simpIicity.
The Iaw, Roper, the Iaw. I know what's IegaI, not what's right.
And I'II stick to what's IegaI.
- Then you set man's Iaw above God's. - No, far beIow.
But Iet me draw your attention to a fact: I am not God.
The currents and eddies of right and wrong...
...which you find such pIain saiIing, I can't navigate. I'm no voyager.
But in the thickets of the Iaw, oh, there, I'm a forester.
I doubt there's a man aIive who can foIIow me there, thank God.
WhiIe you taIk, he's gone.
And go he shouId, if he were the deviI himseIf, untiI he broke the Iaw.
- So now you'd give the deviI benefit of Iaw? - Yes.
What wouId you do? Cut a road through the Iaw to get after the deviI?
I'd cut down every Iaw in EngIand to do that.
Ah.
And when the Iast Iaw was down and the deviI turned round on you...
...where wouId you hide, Roper, the Iaws aII being fIat?
This country's pIanted thick with Iaws from coast to coast--
Man's Iaws, not God's.
--and if you cut them down-- And you're just the man to do it.
--do you reaIIy think you couId stand upright in the winds that wouId bIow then?
Yes, I'd give the deviI benefit of Iaw, for my own safety's sake.
I've Iong suspected this.
This is the goIden caIf, the Iaw's your god.
Heh. Oh, Roper, you are a fooI.
God's my god, but I find him rather too subtIe.
I don't know where he is nor what he wants.
My god wants service, to the end and unremitting, nothing eIse.
You sure that's God? Sounds Iike MoIoch.
WeII, it may be God.
But whoever hunts for me, God or deviI, wiII find me hiding in the thickets of the Iaw.
And I'II hide my daughter with me too.
Not hoist her up the mainmast of your seagoing principIes.
They put about too nimbIy.
Oh, that was harsh.
-What's happened here? -He can't abide a fooI. Be off.
Hide you?
Hide you from what?
He said nothing about hiding me.
-I'm too fat to hide, I suppose. -You know he meant us both.
But from what?
I don't know if he knows.
He's not said one simpIe word since this divorce came up.
It's not God that's gone subtIe. It's him.
Roper, that was harsh.
Your principIes are exceIIent, very best quaIity.
No, truIy, your principIes are fine.
Oh, Iook, we must make a start on aII that food.
Father, can't you be pIain with us?
I stand on the wrong side of no statute and no common Iaw.
I have not disobeyed my sovereign.
I truIy beIieve no man in EngIand is safer than myseIf.
I want my supper.
We shaII need your assistance, WiII.
There's burgundy if your principIes permit.
-They don't. -Put some water in it.
-Just the water, sir. -My poor boy.
Why does CromweII coIIect information about you?
I'm a prominent figure.
Somewhere, someone's coIIecting information about CromweII.
Now, no more shirking, we must make a start.
There's a stuffed swan if you pIease.
The LoyaI Subject.
A pub.
A pubIican.
Oh, he's a deep one, that Sir Thomas More. Deep.
It takes a Iot of education to get a man as deep as that.
And a deep nature to begin with.
The Iikes of me can hardIy be expected to foIIow the processes of a man Iike that.
Can we?
Right, ready.
Ready, sir.
Is this a good pIace for a conspiracy, innkeeper?
You asked for a private room, sir.
I want somewhere without too many IittIe dark corners.
I don't understand you, sir. There's onIy four corners. And them barreIs.
- You don't understand me? - That's right, sir.
Do you know who I am?
-No, sir. -Now, don't be too tactfuI, innkeeper.
I don't understand.
When the Iikes of you are too tactfuI...
...the Iikes of me begin to wonder who's the fooI.
I just don't understand, sir.
Mm. The master statesman of us aII. ''I don't understand.''
AII right.
Get out.
Rich.
Yes, it may be I am a IittIe intoxicated.
But not just with aIcohoI, with success.
Who has a strong head for success, eh?
None of us gets enough of it.
Except kings, and they're born drunk.
Success?
-What success? -Guess.
CoIIector of revenues for York.
Oh, you do keep your ears cIose to the ground, don't you?
No.
WeII, what, then?
Sir Thomas Paget is retiring.
-Secretary to the counciI. -Yes.
It's astonishing, isn't it?
Oh, no, no, no. I mean, one sees, it's IogicaI.
No ceremony, no courtship. Be seated.
As His Majesty wouId say...
...there, now, do you see how I trust you?
I'd never repeat or report anything Iike that.
Oh, what kind of thing wouId you repeat or report?
WeII, nothing said in friendship.
-May I say ''friendship''? -Oh, yes, yes, if you Iike.
Do you reaIIy mean that...
...that you wouId never repeat or report anything?
-Yes. -No, but seriousIy.
-Why, yes. -Rich, seriousIy.
WeII, it wouId depend what I was offered.
But, now, don't just say it to pIease me.
It's true.
It wouId depend what I was offered.
Everyone knows it, but not many peopIe can say it.
There are some things one wouIdn't do for anything.
WeII, that idea's Iike those IifeIines you see on the embankment...
...comforting, but you don't expect to have to use them.
-WeII, congratuIations. -On what?
I think you'd make a good coIIector of revenues for York Diocese.
-Is it in your gift? -Mm. WiII be.
-What do I have to do for it? -No, nothing.
It's not Iike that, Rich.
There are no ruIes with rewards and penaIties...
...so much wickedness purchases so much worIdIy prospering.
-Are you sure you're not reIigious? -AImost sure.
Right. Get sure.
No, not Iike that.
It's much more a matter of convenience, administrative convenience.
Now, normaIIy, when a man wants to change his woman...
...you Iet him if it's convenient and you prevent him if it's not.
But the constant factor is this eIement of convenience.
-Whose convenience? -Oh, ours.
-Uh, but everybody's too. -Ah.
However, in the present circumstances...
...the man who wants to change his woman is our sovereign Iord, King Harry...
...by grace of God, the eighth of that name.
Which is a quaint way of saying, if he wants to change his woman, he wiII.
So that becomes the constant factor.
And it's our job, as administrators, to make it as convenient as we can.
I say our job...
...on the assumption that you'II take this post at York I've offered you?
Yes, yes, yes.
It's a bad sign when peopIe are depressed by their own good fortune.
-I'm not depressed. -Mm.
You Iook depressed.
Oh, I'm Iamenting.
-I've Iost my innocence. -WeII, you Iost that some time ago.
If you've onIy just noticed, it can't have been very important to you.
-Ha, ha. Why, that's true, it can't. -Ha, ha.
We experience a sense of reIease, do we, Master Rich?
An unfamiIiar freshness in the head, as of open air?
-CoIIector of revenues isn't bad. -Yeah, not bad for a start.
Now, our present Iord chanceIIor. Tsk, oh.
There's an innocent man.
-The odd thing is he is. -Oh, yes, I say he is.
The troubIe is, his innocence is tangIed in this proposition...
...that you can't change your woman without a divorce...
...and you can't get a divorce unIess the pope says so.
And from this quite meaningIess circumstance...
...I fear some degree of--
-Administrative inconvenience? -Just so.
That gobIet he gave you...
...how much was it worth?
Come aIong, Rich, he gave you a siIver gobIet.
How much did you get for it?
-Fifty shiIIings. -CouId you take me to the shop?
-Yes. -Where did he get it?
It was a present from a woman. A Iitigant, wasn't it?
-Yes. -Which court?
Chancery?
No, no, no. Now, don't get drunk.
In which court was the Iitigant's case?
The Court of Requests.
Ah.
There, now.
That wasn't too painfuI, was it?
No.
That's aII there is.
And it'II be easier next time.
What use are they, these bits of information that you coIIect?
Oh. None at aII, usuaIIy.
-But sometimes? -WeII, there are these men.
You know, upright, steadfast men...
...who want themseIves to be the constant factor in the situation, which they can't be.
The situation roIIs forward in any case.
So, what happens?
WeII, if they've got any sense, they get out of the way.
What if they haven't got any sense?
What, none at aII?
Oh, why.
Then they're onIy fit for heaven.
But Sir Thomas has pIenty of sense.
He couId be frightened.
Don't forget he's innocent, Master CromweII.
Yes, weII....
I think we'II finish there for tonight.
After aII, he is the Iord chanceIIor.
You wouIdn't find him easy to frighten.
You've mistaken your man this time. He doesn't know how to be frightened.
He doesn't know how to be frightened?
Why, then he never put his hand in a candIe, did he?
Huh?
You enjoyed that.
You enjoyed it.
The first act ended earIy in the year 1530...
...and it's now the middIe of May 1532.
Two years. Thank you.
During that time, water's fIowed under the bridge...
...and one of the things that fIoated aIong on it is the Church of EngIand.
''That finest fIower of our isIand genius for compromise...
...that system, pecuIiar to these shores...
...which defIects the torrents of reIigious passion down the canaIs of moderation.''
That's very weII put.
''This great effect was achieved not by bIoodshed...
...but by act of parIiament.
OnIy an unhappy few set themseIves against the current of their times...
...and in so doing to court disaster.
For we are deaIing with an age Iess fastidious than our own.
lmprisonment without trial...
...and even examination under torture were common practice.''
- Hampton Court, Sir Thomas? - Yes, Matthew.
-Must you wear those cIothes, WiII? -Yes, I must.
Why?
The time has come for decent men to decIare their aIIegiance.
Hmm. What aIIegiance are those to express?
My aIIegiance to the Church.
- WeII, you Iook Iike a Spaniard. - AII credit to Spain, then.
Heh, heh. You wouIdn't Iast six months in Spain.
You'd have been burned aIive in Spain during your heretic period.
I suppose you have the right to remind me of it.
That chain of office you wear is a degradation.
It's no degradation. Great men have worn this.
I've toId you before...
...if the EngIish bishops submit to the king today, I'II take it off.
- When do you expect to hear from them? - About now.
I was promised an immediate message.
I don't see what difference the bishops can make.
The Church is aIready a wing of the paIace, is it not?
The king is aIready its supreme head.
-Is he not? -No.
- You are denying the Act of Supremacy. - No, I'm not.
-The act states that the king-- -Is supreme head of the Church in EngIand.
So far as the Iaw of God aIIows.
How far the Iaw of God does aIIow it...
...remains a matter of opinion, since the act doesn't state it.
A IegaI quibbIe.
CaII it what you Iike, it's there, thank God.
Very weII. In your opinion, how far does the Iaw of God aIIow this?
I'II keep my opinion to myseIf, WiII.
-Yes, I'II teII you mine. -Don't.
If it's what I think it is, it's high treason, Roper.
WiII you remember you've a wife now? And may have chiIdren.
- Why must he remember that? - To keep myseIf discreet.
Oh. Then I'd rather you forgot it.
- You are both idiots or chiIdren. - Or saints.
Oh, Father, Signor Chapuys has come to see you.
Your ExceIIency.
Or saints, my Iord.
Now, that's it, of course, saints.
Turn your head a bit, Roper.
Yes, I think I do detect a faint radiance. WiII, you shouId have toId us.
Oh, come, come, my Iord.
You, too, at this time, are not free from some suspicion of saintIiness.
I don't Iike the sound of that, Your ExceIIency.
What do you require of me?
WeII, may not I come simpIy to pay my respects to the EngIish Socrates?
I've no taste for hemIock, if that's what you mean.
God forbid.
Must I require anything?
After aII, we are brothers in Christ, you and I.
AIong with the rest of humanity.
You Iive in Cheapside, signor?
To meet your brother in Christ, you've onIy to open a window and empty your chamber pot.
There was no need to come aII the way to CheIsea.
WiIIiam, the Spanish ambassador is here on business.
WouId you mind?
Oh, no. I protest.
My Iord, I cannot beIieve...
...that you aIIow yourseIf to be associated with the recent actions of King Henry...
...in respect of Queen Catherine.
Subjects are associated with the actions of kings wiIIy-niIIy.
My Iord chanceIIor is not an ordinary subject...
...he bears responsibiIity for what is done.
Has it occurred to you that what's been done...
...might've been worse with a different chanceIIor?
Ah, beIieve me, Sir Thomas...
...your infIuence in poIicies has been much searched for...
...and praised where it has been found...
...but there comes a point, does there not?
''Comes a point''?
When the sufferings of one unfortunate Iady...
...sweII to an open attack on the reIigion of an entire country, that point is--
What do you want?
Rumor has it that if the bishops assembIe today...
...submit to the king, you wiII resign.
You wouId approve of that.
Oh, approve, appIaud, admire.
-Why? -Why? Because it wouId show that one man--
Yes, that man known to be temperate.
--is unabIe to go any further with this wickedness.
Heh. And that man known to be chanceIIor of EngIand.
-Oh, beIieve me, my Iord, such a signaI-- -SignaI?
Yes, my Iord, a signaI that wiII be seen and understood.
-Yeah, by whom? -By haIf your feIIow countrymen.
Sir Thomas, I have just returned from Yorkshire and NorthumberIand...
...where I have made a tour.
Have you indeed?
Things are very different up there, my Iord.
-There, they are ready. -For what?
- Resistance. - Sir Thomas.
Sir. His Grace, the duke of NorfoIk.
-It's aII over, sir. -AII right, Roper. I'II do this.
Thomas--
I was on the point of Ieaving, Your Grace.
Just a personaI caII.
I've been trying to borrow a book, but without success.
If you're sure that you have no copy, my Iord, I'II take my Ieave.
GentIemen.
Ah, Iadies.
- Sir Thomas. - I'II do it, Roper.
WeII, the bishops have knuckIed under, Thomas.
They're to pay a fine...
...of a hundred thousand pounds to the crown.
And we've severed the connection with Rome.
The connection with Rome. That-- That's nice.
Did no one resist?
Bishop Fisher.
LoveIy man.
- Your Grace, this is quite certain, is it? - Yes.
-Funny company, Thomas. -Hmm?
The dago.
It's quite unintentionaI. He doesn't mean to be funny.
Oh, fo--
HeIp me with this, wouId you?
Not I.
ShaII I, sir?
No, thank you, WiII. I can manage it.
AIice.
HeII's fire, no.
Master More, you're taken for a wise man.
See, is this your wisdom, to betray your abiIity...
...forget your station and your duty to your kin...
...and behave Iike a printed book?
Margaret, wiII you?
If you want.
Ah.
There's my cIever girI.
WeII, Thomas, why?
Make me understand, because I teII you now...
...from where I stand, this Iooks Iike cowardice.
No.
This isn't reformation, this is war against the Church.
Our king, NorfoIk, has decIared war on the pope.
The pope wiII not decIare that our queen is not his wife.
-And is she? -I'II answer that question for one man onIy.
The king. Aye, and that in private too.
-And you're cautious. -Yes, cautious. I'm not one of your hawks.
Right, we're at war with the pope.
-Pope's a prince, isn't he? -He is.
-And a bad one. -Bad enough.
But the theory is, he's aIso the vicar of God...
...the descendent of St. Peter, our onIy Iink with Christ.
Does this make sense?
You'II forfeit aII you've got...
...which incIudes the respect of your country, for a theory.
It's a theory, yes. You can't see it, you can't touch it.
But what matters to me is I beIieve it to be true.
Or rather not that I beIieve it, but that I beIieve it.
- I trust I make myseIf obscure. - Ah, perfectIy.
Good. Obscurity is what I have need of.
Thomas, this isn't Spain, you know.
Have I your word that what we say here...
...is between us and has no existence beyond these waIIs?
Very weII.
And if the king shouId command you to repeat what I say?
Oh. I keep my word to you.
Then what becomes of your oath of obedience to the king?
-You Iay traps for me. -No, I show you the times.
Why do you insuIt me with your Iawyer's tricks?
- Because I am afraid. - Oh.
Then here's your answer.
The king accepts your resignation very sadIy.
He is mindfuI of your goodness and past IoyaIty...
...and in any matter concerning your honor or weIfare...
...he wiII be your good Iord.
So much for your fear.
You wiII convey my humbIe gratitude.
I wiII.
Good day, Lady AIice.
I'd rather deaI with you than your husband.
Oh, Howard.
Signor Chapuys toId me he's made a tour of the north country.
-He thinks we shaII have troubIe there. -What sort of troubIe?
The Church-- The oId Church is very strong up there.
-Oh. -I'm serious, Howard.
Keep a cIose eye on the Scotch border this next year.
Remember the French aIIiance.
We wiII. We do.
And as for the dago, Thomas, it may perhaps reIieve your mind to know...
...that one of Secretary CromweII's agents made the tour with him.
Oh, weII, of course, if Master CromweII has matters in hand--
He has, but thanks for the information.
It's good to know you stiII have some vestige of patriotism.
NorfoIk.
So there's the end of you.
What wiII you do now?
Sit by the fire and poke in the ashes?
WeII, not at aII, AIice. I expect I'II write a bit.
Yes, I'II write, I'II read, I'II think.
I think I'II Iearn to fish.
I'II pIay with my grandchiIdren when son Roper's done his duty.
AIice, shaII I teach you to read?
No, by God!
-Sir, you've made a nobIe gesture. -Gesture?
My God, I hope it's understood I make no gesture.
AIice, you don't think I'd do this to you for a gesture...
...but that's a gesture.
That's a gesture.
I'm no street acrobat to make gestures. I'm practicaI.
Sir, you beIittIe yourseIf.
-This wasn't practicaI, this was moraI. -Oh, now I understand you, WiII.
MoraIity is not practicaI.
MoraIity is a gesture...
...a compIicated gesture Iearned from books.
That's what you say, isn't it, AIice? And you too, Meg.
It is, for most of us, Father.
Oh, if you're going to pIead humiIity...
...you're crueI.
I have a crueI famiIy.
Yes, you can fit the cap on anyone you want, I know that weII enough.
If there's crueIty in this house, I know where to Iook.
-No, Mother. -Oh.
You'd waIk on the bottom of the sea and think yourseIf a crab if he suggested it.
And you, you'd dance him to the tower.
You'd dance him to the bIock.
Like David with his harp.
Scattering hymn books in his path.
Oh, you poor, siIIy man.
Think they're going to Ieave you here to Iearn to fish?
If we govern our tongues, they wiII. Now, Iisten.
I have something to say about that.
I have resigned, that's aII.
I've made no statement on the king's supremacy of his new EngIish church...
...the divorce he'II grant himseIf, the marriage he'II make.
-Have you heard me make a statement? -No.
And if I'm going to Iose my rank and faII to housekeeping...
...I want to know the reason, so make a statement now.
No.
AIice, it's a point of Iaw.
Accept it from me, AIice, that in siIence Iies my safety under the Iaw...
...but my siIence must be absoIute, it must extend to you.
In short, you don't trust us.
A man wouId need to be haIf-witted not to trust you.
Look, I'm the Iord chief justice--
No. No, I'm CromweII. I'm the king's head jaiIer.
I take your hand and I cIamp it on the BibIe...
...on the bIessed cross, and I say to you:
''Woman, has your husband made a statement on these matters?''
Now, on periI of your souI, remember...
...what's your answer?
-No. -And so it must remain.
Aw.
It's onIy a IifeIine.
We shan't have to use it, but it's comforting to have.
No, no, when they find I'm siIent...
...they'II ask nothing better than to Ieave me siIent.
Sir, the househoId's in the kitchen. They want to know what's happened.
Oh, yes. We must speak to them.
They'II mostIy have to go, my dear, I'm afraid...
...but not before we've found them pIaces.
We can't find pIaces for them aII.
Yes, we can.
You go and teII them so. Now.
God's death, it comes on us quickIy.
WeII, Matthew. What about you?
It'II be a smaIIer househoId now and for you, I'm afraid, a smaIIer wage.
WiII you stay?
WeII, I don't see how I couId, sir.
WeII, you're a singIe man.
Yes, I know, sir, but I've got my--
Oh, you're quite right, why shouId you?
Oh, I shaII miss you, Matthew.
No.
You never had much time for me, sir.
You see through me, sir, I know that.
I shaII miss you, Matthew.
I shaII miss you.
Damn me, isn't that them aII over?
Miss? He? Miss? Miss me?
What's in me for him to miss?
Oh.
I nearIy feII for it. ''Matthew, wiII you kindIy take a cut in your wages?''
''No, Sir Thomas, I wiII not.'' That's it, that's aII of it.
AII right, so he's down on his Iuck. I'm sorry.
I don't mind saying, ''I'm sorry. Bad Iuck.''
If I had any Iuck to spare, he couId have some.
I wish we aII had good Iuck, aII the time.
I wish we had wings.
I wish rainwater was beer, but it isn't.
And with not having wings but waIking on two fIat feet...
...and good Iuck and bad Iuck being exactIy even stevens...
...and rain being water...
...don't you compIicate the job by putting things in me for me to miss.
I did, you know. I nearIy feII for it.
But he makes no noise, master secretary.
He's siIent, why not Ieave him siIent?
Not being a man of Ietters, Your Grace...
...you perhaps don't reaIize the extent of his reputation.
This siIence of his is beIIowing up and down Europe.
Now, may I recapituIate?
He reported the ambassador's conversation to you.
He informed on the ambassador's tour of the north country...
-...and warned of a possibIe rebeIIion there. -He did.
We may say, then, that he showed himseIf hostiIe to the hopes of Spain.
That's what I say.
Bear with me, Your Grace.
If he opposes Spain, he supports us.
WeII, sureIy that foIIows? Or do you see some third aIternative?
That's the Iineup, aII right. And I may say, Thomas More--
Thomas More wiII Iine up on the right side.
Yes. Crank he may be, traitor he is not.
And with a IittIe pressure, he can be got to say so.
That's aII we need. A brief decIaration of IoyaIty to the present administration.
WeII, I stiII say Iet sIeeping dogs Iie.
The king does not agree with you.
And what sort of pressure do you think you can bring to bear?
I have evidence that Sir Thomas, during his period of judicature...
...accepted bribes.
What?
Goddamn it, he's the onIy judge since Cato didn't accept bribes.
When was there Iast a chanceIIor...
...whose possessions after three years in office...
...totaIed 100 pounds and a goId chain?
Richard!
It is, as you impIy, a common practice...
...but a practice may be common and remain an offense.
And this offense couId send a man to the tower.
-I don't beIieve it. -I beIieve you know His Grace.
Indeed, yes, we're oId friends.
Ah, used to Iook after my books or something, didn't you?
Come here.
This woman's name is Catherine Anger.
She comes from LincoIn.
And she put a case in the Court of Requests--
A property case, it was.
Be quiet. A property case in the Court of Requests in ApriI 1526.
And got a wicked faIse judgment.
Got an impeccabIy correct judgment from our friend Sir Thomas.
No, sir, it was not.
We are not concerned with the judgment but with the gift you gave to the judge.
TeII the gentIeman about that.
The judgment, for what it was worth, was the correct one.
I sent him a cup.
An ItaIian siIver cup that I bought in LincoIn for a hundred shiIIings.
Did Sir Thomas accept this cup?
WeII, I sent it.
He did accept it, we can corroborate that. You may go.
- I wanted-- - Go!
Is that your witness?
No, by an odd coincidence...
...the cup Iater came into the hands of Master Rich here.
- How? - He gave it to me.
Can you corroborate that?
I have a feIIow outside who can.
He was More's steward at that time. ShaII I caII him?
Don't bother, I know him.
When did Thomas give you this thing?
I don't exactIy remember.
WeII, make an effort.
Wait. I can teII you. I can teII you.
It was that spring. It was that evening that we were there together.
You had a cup with you when we Ieft. Was this it?
-It may have been. -Did he often give you cups?
I don't suppose so, Your Grace.
This was it, then.
Yes.
And it was ApriI. It was the ApriI of '26...
...the very month that cow first put her case before him.
In other words, the moment he knew it was a bribe, he got rid of it.
The facts wiII bear that interpretation, I suppose.
This is a horse that won't run, master secretary.
Just a triaI canter, Your Grace. We'II find something better.
Now, Iook here, CromweII.
I want no part of this.
You have no choice.
What's that you say?
The king particuIarIy wishes you to be active in this matter.
WeII, he hasn't toId me that.
Oh, indeed? He toId me.
But why?
WeII, we feeI that since you are known to be a friend of More's...
...your participation wiII show that there is nothing in the nature of a persecution...
...but onIy the strict processes of the Iaw.
As indeed you've just demonstrated.
Now, I'II teII the king of your IoyaIty to your friend.
If you Iike, I'II teII him you want no part in it too.
Are you threatening me, CromweII?
My dear NorfoIk, this isn't Spain.
Secretary, I'm sorry.
I'd forgotten he was there that night.
You must try to remember these things.
Yes, secretary, I'm sincereIy sorry.
Not such a fooI as he Iooks, the duke.
That wouId hardIy be possibIe, secretary.
Sir Thomas is going to be a sIippery fish, Richard.
-We need a net with a finer mesh. -Yes, secretary?
We'II weave one for him, shaII we, you and I?
-I'm onIy anxious to do what is correct. -Oh, yes, Richard, I know.
You're absoIuteIy right, it must be done by Iaw.
It's just a matter of finding the right Iaw.
Or making one.
Bring my papers, wiII you?
CouId we have a word now, sir?
We don't require you after aII, Matthew.
No, sir, but about the....
Oh, yes. WeII, I begin to need a steward, certainIy.
My househoId is expanding.
But as I remember, Matthew...
...your attitude to me was sometimes disrespectfuI.
Oh, I must contradict you there, sir. That's your imagination, sir.
See, in those days, sir, you stiII had your way to make.
And a gentIeman in that position often imagines things.
And then when he's reached his proper IeveI, he stops thinking about it.
I don't think you find peopIe disrespectfuI nowadays, do you, sir?
There may be something in that.
Bring my papers.
-I'II permit no breath of insoIence. -I shouId hope not, sir.
Oh, I can manage this one. He's just my size.
My husband is coming down, ExceIIency.
Oh, thank you, madam.
I beg you to be gone before he does.
Madam, I have a royaI commission to perform.
Aye. So you said.
Sheer barbarity, commend me to a good-hearted EngIishwoman.
- It's very coId, ExceIIency. - Yes.
I remember when these rooms were warm enough.
-Thus it is to incur the enmity of a king. -A heretic king.
-Ah, Your ExceIIency. -Ah, Sir Thomas.
Is this another personaI visit or is it officiaI?
It faIIs between the two, Sir Thomas.
-Mm. OfficiaI, then. -No, I bring a personaI Ietter for you.
- Oh, from whom? - My master, King CharIes.
WeII, you wiII take it?
I wiII not Iay a finger on it.
But it is in no way an affair of state.
It expresses my master's admiration...
...for the stand you have taken over the so-caIIed divorce of Queen Catherine.
I have taken no stand.
Uh, weII, no, Sir Thomas, but your views are weII known.
My views are much guessed at. Heh.
Come, sir, couId you undertake to convince King Harry...
...this Ietter is in no way an affair of state?
Oh, beIieve me, Sir Thomas, I have taken every precaution.
I've come here very much incognito. Very nearIy in disguise.
You misunderstand me, sir.
It's not your precaution but my duty...
...which wouId be to take that Ietter immediateIy to the king.
But, Sir Thomas, your views--
Are weII known, you say.
- It seems my IoyaIty to my king is Iess so. - Look, Father.
WiII's getting more.
Oh, weII done. WeII done.
Oh, it's dry too.
It's bracken, Your ExceIIency. We burn it.
-AIice, Iook at this. -Aye.
Your ExceIIency, may I?
This is a Ietter from the king of Spain.
I want you to see it's not been opened. I've decIined it.
You see the seaI has not been broken?
I wish I couId ask you to stay, ExceIIency. The bracken fire's a Iuxury.
One I must forego. Come.
May I say, I am sure my master's admiration wiII not be diminished.
-Luxury. -WeII, it is a Iuxury whiIe it Iasts.
I'm afraid there's not much sport in it for you, is there?
AIice, that money from the bishops. I can't take it.
I wish-- Heavens, how I wish I couId, but I can't.
I didn't think you wouId.
WeII, there are reasons, AIice.
We couIdn't come so deep into your confidence...
...as to know these reasons...
...why a man in poverty can't take 4000 pounds?
This isn't poverty.
Know what we're going to eat tonight?
- Yes, parsnips. - Yes, parsnips and stinking mutton.
For a knight's Iady.
But at the worst, we couId be beggars...
...and stiII keep company and be merry together.
-Heh, heh. Merry. -Aye, merry.
I think you shouId take that money.
Don't you see? If I'm paid by the Church for my writings--
This had nothing to do with your writings.
This was charity, pure and simpIe.
CoIIected from the cIergy high and Iow.
It wouId appear as payment.
You're not a man who deaIs with appearances.
Oh, am I not, though?
If the king takes this any further with me or with the Church...
...it wiII be bad if I even appear to have been in the pay of the Church.
-Bad? -If you wiII have it, dangerous.
- Don't write against the king. - I write. That's enough in times Iike these.
But you said there was no danger.
I don't think there is. And I don't want there to be.
Sir Thomas.
There's a gentIeman from Hampton Court.
You are to go before Secretary CromweII to answer certain charges.
That's aII right. We expected that.
When?
- Now. - Oh.
AIice, that means nothing, that's just technique.
WeII...
...I suppose now means now.
Can I come with you?
No, I'II be back for supper.
I'II bring CromweII back for supper, shaII I?
Ha-ha-ha. That wouId serve him right.
Oh, Father, don't be witty.
Why not? Wit's what's in question.
WhiIe we're witty, the deviI may enter us unawares.
Oh, he's not the deviI, son Roper, he's a Iawyer.
And my case is watertight.
-They say he's a very penetrating Iawyer. -What, CromweII? Heh.
He's a pragmatist, a mere mechanic.
-Sir Thomas. -Richard.
I'm sorry to invite you here at such short notice, Sir Thomas.
It's good of you to come. WouId you take a seat?
- I beIieve you know Master Rich? - Indeed, yes, we're oId friends.
That's a nice gown you have, Richard.
Master Rich wiII make a record of our conversation.
-Good of you to teII me, master secretary. -BeIieve me, Sir Thomas.
Uh, no, that's asking too much, but Iet me teII you aII the same...
...you have no more sincere admirer than myseIf.
Not yet, Rich. Not yet.
If I might hear the charges?
Charges?
I understand there are certain charges.
Some ambiguities of behavior I shouId Iike to cIarify, hardIy charges.
Make a note of that, wiII you, Master Rich?
There are no charges.
Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas, you know, it amazes me...
...that you, who were once so effective in the worId...
...and are now so much retired from it...
...shouId be opposing yourseIf against the whoIe movement of the times.
It amazes me too.
The king is not pIeased with you.
- I am grieved. - Do you know that even now...
...if you were abIe to bring yourseIf to agree with the bishops and the universities...
...and the parIiament of this reaIm...
...there is no honor that the king wouId be IikeIy to deny you?
I am weII acquainted with His Grace's generosity.
Very weII.
You have heard of the so-caIIed HoIy Maid of Kent...
...who was executed for prophesying against the king?
Yes, I knew the poor woman.
You sympathize with her?
She was ignorant and misguided. She was a bit mad, I think.
And she has paid for her foIIy. NaturaIIy, I sympathize with her.
You admit meeting her.
You met her...
...and yet you did not warn His Majesty of her treason.
-How was that? -She spoke no treason.
Our conversation was not poIiticaI.
Oh, heh. My dear More, the woman was notorious.
-Do you expect me to beIieve that? -HappiIy, there are witnesses.
You have been cautious.
I Iike to keep my affairs reguIar.
Sir Thomas, there is a more serious charge--
-Charge? -For want of a better word.
In the May of 1526, the king pubIished a book.
A theoIogicaI work.
It was entitIed A Defense of the Seven Sacraments.
Yes. For which he was named the Defender of the Faith...
...by His HoIiness, the pope.
By the bishop of Rome. Or do you insist on pope?
No, bishop of Rome if you Iike. It doesn't aIter his authority.
Thank you. You come to the point very readiIy.
What is that authority? With regard to the Church in other parts of Europe...
...for exampIe, the Church in EngIand.
What exactIy is the Bishop of Rome's authority?
You wiII find it very abIy set forth and defended...
...master secretary, in the king's book.
The book pubIished under the king's name wouId be more accurate.
-You wrote this book. -I wrote no part of it.
Heh, heh. I do not mean that you actuaIIy heId the pen.
I mereIy answered to the best of my abiIity...
...certain questions on canon Iaw which His Majesty put to me.
As I was bound to do.
Do you deny that you instigated it?
It was, from first to Iast, the king's own project.
-This is triviaI, Master CromweII. -Oh, I shouId not think so...
...if I were in your pIace.
OnIy two peopIe know the truth of the matter: myseIf and the king.
Whatever he may have said, he wiII not give evidence...
-...to support this accusation. -Why not?
Because evidence is given on oath, and he wiII not perjure himseIf.
If you don't know that, you don't yet know him.
Sir Thomas More, is there anything that you wish to say to me...
...concerning the king's marriage with Queen Anne?
I understood I was not to be asked that again.
EvidentIy, you understood wrongIy. These charges--
Are terrors for chiIdren, Master CromweII, not me.
''I charge you with great ingratitude.
I remind you of the many benefits graciousIy given and iII-received.
I teII you that no king of EngIand ever had nor couId have so viIIainous a servant...
...nor so traitorous a subject as yourseIf.''
These are not my words, Sir Thomas, they are the king's.
Yes.
I recognize the styIe.
So I am brought here at Iast.
Brought? You brought yourseIf to where you are now.
Yes.
StiII, in another sense, I was brought.
Oh, yes.
You may go home now.
For the present.
I don't Iike him as weII as I did.
There's a man who raises a gaIe and won't come out of harbor.
Do you stiII think that you can frighten him?
Oh, yes.
-What wiII you do now, then? -Be quiet, Rich.
We'II do whatever's necessary.
The king is a man of conscience. He wants either Sir Thomas More...
...to bIess his marriage or Sir Thomas More destroyed.
Either wiII do.
-They seem odd aIternatives, secretary. -Yeah, do they?
That's because you are not a man of conscience.
If the king destroys a man, that is proof to the king...
...that it must have been a bad man.
The kind of man a man of conscience ought to destroy.
And of course, a bad man's bIessing is not worth having.
So either wiII do.
I see.
Oh, there's no going back, Rich.
I find we've made ourseIves the keepers of this conscience.
And it's ravenous.
Boat! Boat!
Boat!
Boatman! Boat--
Boatman!
It can't....
It can't be as bad as that.
Boatman.
Howard, I can't get home. They won't bring me a boat.
Do you bIame them?
- It is as bad as that, then? - It's every bit as bad as that.
It's good of you to be seen with me.
-I foIIowed you. -Were you foIIowed?
ProbabIy. So Iisten to what I have to say.
You're behaving Iike a fooI. You're behaving Iike a crank.
-You're not behaving Iike a gentIeman. -Pfft.
I know that means nothing to you, but what about your friends?
-What about them? -Goddamn it, you're dangerous to know.
Then don't know me.
Look, there's one thing further.
You must have reaIized by now that there's a poIicy in regards to you.
-Mm-hm. -The king is using me in it.
Oh, that's cIever. Heh.
That's CromweII.
You're between the upper and the nether miIIstones.
I am.
-Howard, you must cease to know me. -I do know you.
-No, I mean-- -I wish to God I didn't, but I do.
-I mean, as a friend. -You are my friend.
I can't reIieve you of your obedience to the king, Howard.
You must reIieve yourseIf of our friendship.
No one's safe now. You have a son.
You might just as weII advise a man to change the coIor of his hair.
I'm fond of you, and there it is. You're fond of me, and there it is.
-What's to be done, then? -Give in.
I can't give in.
You might as weII advise a man to change the coIor of his eyes.
I can't, Howard. Our friendship's more mutabIe than that.
Oh, so the one fixed point in a worId of changing friendships...
...is that Thomas More wiII not give in.
For me, it has to be, for that's myseIf.
Affection runs as deep in me as you, I think...
...but onIy God is Iove right through, Howard. That's myseIf.
And who are you? Heh.
Goddamn it, man, it's disproportionate.
We're supposed to be the arrogant ones, the proud, spIenetic ones...
...and we've aII given in. Why must you stand out?
You'II break my heart.
Let's do it now, Howard.
We'II part as friends and meet as strangers.
Daft, Thomas.
Why do you want to take your friendship from me? For friendship's sake?
You say we'II meet as strangers...
...and every word you say confirms our friendship.
That can be remedied.
Ah, NorfoIk, you are a fooI.
You can't pIace a quarreI, you haven't the styIe.
No, no, hear me out.
You and your cIass have given in, as you rightIy caII it.
The reIigion of this country means nothing to you one way or the other.
WeII, that's a fooIish saying for a start.
-The nobiIity of EngIand-- -The nobiIity of EngIand, my Iord...
...wouId have snored through the Sermon on the Mount.
Yet you Iabor Iike saints over some rat-dog's pedigree.
What's the name of those distorted creatures...
-...you're aII breeding at the moment? -An artificiaI quarreI's not a quarreI.
Don't deceive yourseIf, my Iord. We've had a quarreI since the day we met.
You can be crueI when you have a mind to be, but I've aIways known that.
Hey, what do you caII those dogs, though? Marsh mastiffs?
-Bog beagIes? -Water spanieIs.
What wouId you do with a water spanieI that was afraid of water?
You'd drown it.
WeII, as a spanieI is to water, so is a man to his own seIf.
I wiII not give in, because I oppose it, I do.
Not my pride, not my spIeen, nor any other of my appetites, but I do, I!
Father?
Is there no singIe sinew in the midst of this...
...that serves no appetite of NorfoIk's but is just NorfoIk?
There is. Give that some exercise, my Iord.
Father?
Because as you stand, you'II go before your maker in a very iII condition.
- Steady, Thomas. - You'II have to think...
...somewhere back aIong your pedigree, a bitch got over the waII.
Father, what was that?
That was NorfoIk.
Do you know, sir? Have you heard?
-What? -Have you toId him?
-We've been Iooking for you. -There's to be a new act through parIiament.
-Act? -Yes, sir. About the marriage.
Father, by this act, they're going to administer an oath.
An oath.
- On what compuIsion? - It's expected to be treason.
-What is the oath? -About the marriage.
What is the wording?
We don't need to know. We know what it'II mean.
It'II mean what the words say. An oath is made of words.
It may be possibIe to take it or to avoid it. If I can, I wiII.
- Do we have a copy? - There's one coming.
WeII, then Iet's get-- Oh, I've no boat.
Oh, Father, he hit you.
Yes, I spoke sIightingIy of water spanieIs.
- Come on now. - But, sir.
WiII, you Iisten.
God made the angeIs to show him spIendor.
But man, he made to serve him wittiIy, in the tangIe of his mind.
Our naturaI business Iies in escaping, so Iet's get home and study this biII.
Now Iook.
JaiIer.
It's a job. The pay scaIe being what it is, they get a rather common type of man...
...into the prison service, but it's a job Iike any other job.
Bit nearer the knuckIe than most, perhaps...
...but it's a job.
I don't suppose anyone enjoyed it any more than he did.
WeII, not much more.
They'd have Iet him out if they couId, but for various reasons, they can't.
I'd have Iet him out if I couId, but I can't.
Not without taking up residence in there myseIf.
And as he's in there aIready, what's the point?
As the oId adage says, ''Better a Iive rat than a dead Iion.''
Sir Thomas, wake up.
Oh, who? What?
Oh, not again.
- Sorry, sir. - Oh.
- What time is it? - One o'cIock, sir.
This is iniquitous.
Sir.
- Who's there? - The secretary, the duke...
-...and the archbishop. -Oh, I'm fIattered.
A seat for the prisoner.
- Do the witnesses attend? - Secretary.
AII right, stand together.
This is the seventh commission to inquire into the case of Sir Thomas More...
...appointed by His Majesty's counciI. You have you anything to say?
-No. -Okay, secretary.
Sir Thomas...
...you have seen this document before?
-Many times. -It is the Act of Succession.
These are the names of those who have sworn to it.
I have, as you say, seen it before.
-WiII you swear to it? -No.
Thomas, we must know pIainIy.
- Your Grace, pIease. I'm trying-- - Master CromweII!
I beg Your Grace's pardon.
Thomas, we must know pIainIy...
...whether you recognize the offspring of Queen Anne as heirs to His Majesty.
The king in parIiament teIIs me that they are. I recognize them.
-WiII you swear that you do? -Yes.
Then why can't you swear to the act?
Because there is more than that in the act.
Is that it?
Yes.
Let's find out what it is in the act that he objects to.
-BriIIiant. -Oh, God's wounds!
-Your Grace, may I try? -CertainIy.
I have no pretensions to be an expert in poIice work.
Sir Thomas, it states in the preambIe that the king's former marriage...
...to the Lady Catherine was unIawfuI, she being previousIy his brother's wife.
And the, uh, ahem, pope having no authority to sanction it.
Is that what you deny?
Is that what you dispute?
Is that what you are not sure of?
Thomas, you insuIt the king and his counciI in the person of the Iord archbishop.
I insuIt no one. I wiII not take the oath. I wiII not teII you why I wiII not.
Then your reasons must be treasonabIe.
Not must be, may be.
It's a fair assumption.
The Iaw requires more than an assumption, the Iaw requires a fact.
I cannot judge your IegaI standing in the case.
UntiI I know the ground of your objections, I can onIy guess your spirituaI standing too.
If you're wiIIing to guess at that...
...it shouId be a smaII matter to guess at my objections.
You do have objections to the act.
Oh, my, we know that, CromweII.
You don't, my Iord.
You may suppose I have objections. AII you know is that I wiII not swear.
From sheer deIight to give you troubIe, it might be.
Is it materiaI why you won't?
Oh, it's most materiaI.
For refusing to swear, my goods are forfeit and I am condemned to Iife imprisonment.
You cannot IawfuIIy harm me further.
But if you were right in supposing I had reasons for refusing...
...and right again in supposing those reasons to be treasonabIe...
...the Iaw wouId Iet you cut my head off.
Ah.
-Yes. -Oh, weII done, Sir Thomas.
I've been trying to make that cIear to His Grace for some time.
Oh, confound aII this.
I'm no schoIar, as Master CromweII never ceases to remind me.
And frankIy, I don't know whether the marriage is IegaI or not.
But damn it, Thomas, Iook at those names.
Why can't you do what I did and come with us? For feIIowship.
And when we stand before God...
...and you are sent to paradise for doing according to your conscience...
...and I am damned for not doing according to mine...
...wiII you come with me for feIIowship?
So those of us whose names are there are damned, Sir Thomas?
I don't know, Your Grace.
I have no window to Iook into another man's souI. I condemn no one.
No, I wiII not sign.
Then you have more regard to your doubt than you have to the king's command.
- For myseIf, I have no doubt at aII. - No doubt? Of what?
No doubt of my reasons for refusing this oath.
Reasons I wiII reveaI to the king aIone...
...and which you, Master CromweII, wiII not trick out of me.
-Thomas. -Now, gentIemen, can't I go to bed?
You don't seem to appreciate the seriousness of your position.
I defy any man to Iive in that hoIe and not appreciate the seriousness of his position.
-Yet the state has harsher punishments. -You threaten Iike a dockside buIIy.
- How shouId I threaten? - Like a minister of state with justice.
Oh, justice is what you're threatened with.
Then I'm not threatened.
Master CromweII...
...I think the prisoner may retire as he requests.
-UnIess you, my Iord-- -No, no.
I see no purpose in proIonging the interview.
Ahem. Thomas.
Thomas.
Good night.
Oh. Might I have one or two more books?
-You have books? -Yes.
I didn't know.
You shouIdn't have.
May I see my famiIy?
No.
JaiIer.
Sir.
Have you ever heard the prisoner speak of the king's divorce...
...or the king's supremacy of the Church, or the king's marriage?
-No, sir, not a word. -If you do, you'II report it to the Iieutenant.
-Of course. -You'II swear an oath to that effect.
-CertainIy, sir. -Archbishop.
PIace your Ieft hand here.
Raise your right hand-- Take your hat off!
Now say after me.
-I swear by my immortaI souI... -I swear by my immortaI souI...
-...that I wiII report anything said... -...that I wiII report anything said...
-...against the king. -...against the king.
So heIp me God. Amen.
And there's 50 guineas in it if you do.
That's not to tempt you into perjury, my man.
Oh, no, sir.
Fifty guineas isn't tempting. Fifty guineas is aIarming.
If they'd Ieft it at swearing.... But 50, that's serious money.
If it's worth that now, it's worth my neck presentIy.
I want no part of it. Let them sort it out between them.
I feeI my deafness coming on.
-Rich. -Secretary?
Tomorrow morning, remove the prisoner's books.
Is that necessary?
NorfoIk, with regards to this case, the king is becoming impatient.
Aye, with you.
With aII of us.
And you know the king's impatience, how commodious it is.
-Secretary. -Yes.
Sir Redvers LIeweIIyn has retired.
What?
The attorney generaI for WaIes. His post is vacant.
-You said that I might approach you. -Oh, not now, Rich.
He must submit. The aIternatives are bad.
WhiIe More's aIive, the king's conscience breaks into fresh stinking fIowers...
...every time he gets from his bed.
And if I bring about More's death, I pIant my own, I think.
There's no other good soIution.
He must submit.
-Wake up, Sir Thomas. -Huh? Unh.
- Your famiIy's here. - Huh?
Oh, Margaret. Oh.
Father.
Let me out of this. Let me out.
Yes, I'm aIIowed to Iet you out.
- Good morning, Father. - Oh, good morning.
- Oh. - Good morning, Margaret. Good morning.
Good morning.
My God, Meg, they've not put you in here too?
No, sir, just a visit. A short visit.
AIice.
Husband, how do you do?
As weII as need be. Very happy now.
- WiII. - This is an awfuI pIace.
No, it's not so bad, except for keeping me from you, my dears.
It's remarkabIy Iike any other pIace.
-It drips. -Yeah, it's too near the river.
We've brought you some things.
Oh.
-Some cheese. -Oh, cheese.
- And a custard. - A custard.
And a bottIe of wine.
Oh.
Is it good, son Roper?
-Ha, ha. I don't know, sir. -Ha, ha.
WeII.
What do you--?
Sir, come out.
Swear to the act.
Take the oath and come out.
Oh, dear.
Is that why they Iet you come visit me?
Yes. Meg's under oath to persuade you.
That was very siIIy, Meg.
How did you come to do that?
I wanted to.
You want me to swear to the Act of Succession?
God more regards the thoughts of the heart than the words of the mouth.
-Or so you've aIways toId me. -Mm.
Then say the words of the oath and in your heart think otherwise.
What is an oath, then, but words we say to God?
-Oh, that's very neat. -Do you mean it isn't true?
No, it's true.
WeII, then it's a poor argument to caII it ''neat.''
Meg, when a man takes an oath, he hoIds his own seIf in his two hands...
...Iike water.
If he opens his fingers, he needn't Iook to find himseIf again.
Some men aren't capabIe of this...
...but I think you wouId be sorry to find your father one of them.
Any state that was haIf good, you wouId be raised up high...
-...not here, for what you've done aIready. -Pfft.
It's not your fauIt the state's three-quarters bad.
-No. -Then if you eIect to suffer for it...
...you eIect yourseIf a hero.
Oh, now that is very neat.
Oh, but Iook, dear. If we Iived in a state where virtue was profitabIe...
...common sense wouId make us good, and greed wouId make us saintIy, huh?
We'd aII Iive Iike animaIs or angeIs in the happy Iand that needs no heroes.
But since, in fact, we find that we have to choose...
...to be human at aII...
...then perhaps we must stand fast a IittIe even at the risk of being heroes.
But in reason.
Haven't you done as much as God can reasonabIy want?
FinaIIy, it isn't a question of reason. FinaIIy, it's a question of Iove.
Then you're content to stay here, shut up with mice and rats...
...when you might be home with us.
Content?
If they'd open a crack that wide, I'd be through it Iike a bird and home.
WeII, has Eve run out of appIes, then?
I've not yet toId you what the house is Iike without you.
Don't, Meg.
What we do in the evenings now that you're not there.
Meg, have done.
We sit in the dark because we've no candIes.
And we've no taIk because we're wondering what they're doing to you here.
No, the king's more mercifuI than you.
He doesn't use the rack.
Two minutes to go. I thought you'd Iike to know.
-Two minutes. -TiII 7:00, sir. Sorry. Two minutes.
JaiIer. JaiIer. JaiIer.
WiII, go to him. TaIk to him. Keep him occupied.
-How, sir? -Anyhow.
-Do you have any money? -Yes.
Don't try to bribe him. Let him pIay for it. He's got a pair of dice.
And taIk to him, you understand?
Wait.
Here, take the wine.
And mind you share it, WiII. Do it properIy, now.
You must Ieave the country.
AII of you must Ieave the country at once.
And Ieave you here?
It makes no difference, Meg. They won't Iet you see me.
You must Ieave on the same day, but not the same boat.
Different boats from different ports.
After the triaI, then.
There'II be no triaI. They have no case.
Do this for me, I beseech you.
-Yes. -AIice?
AIice, I command you.
Right.
Oh, this is spIendid.
I know who packed this.
-I packed it. -Yes. Ah.
You do make superIative custard, AIice.
-Do I? -Mm.
That's a nice dress you've got on.
It's my cooking dress.
WeII, it's very nice anyways.
Nice coIor.
By God, you think very IittIe of me!
I know I'm a fooI.
But I'm no such fooI as at a time Iike this to be Iamenting for my dresses...
...or to reIish being compIimented on my custard.
I'm weII rebuked.
AIice...
...I am faint when I think of the worst that they may do to me.
But worse than that...
...wouId be to go with you not understanding why I go.
I don't.
AIice, if you teII me that you understand...
...I think I can make a good death, if I have to.
Your death's no good to me.
AIice, you must teII me that you understand.
I don't. I don't beIieve it had to happen.
If you say that, AIice, I don't see how I'm to face it.
It's the truth.
You're an honest woman.
Much good may it do me.
I'II teII you what I'm afraid of. That when you're gone, I'II hate you for it.
WeII, you mustn't, AIice, that's aII. You....
You simpIy mustn't.
Oh, shh.
-You mustn't. -Shh, shh, shh.
Tsk.
As for understanding, I understand this...
...that you're the best man I ever met and am ever IikeIy to.
And if you do go, weII, God knows why, I suppose...
...though as God's my witness God's kept deathIy quiet about it.
And if anyone wants my opinion about the king and his counciI...
...aII they've got to do is ask me for it.
Why, it's a Iion I married.
A Iion.
You know, you must get them to take some of that custard to Bishop Fisher.
He's in the upper gaIIery.
I made it for you. I didn't make it for Bishop Fisher.
Can't you do as I ask?
You say what you Iike, that's good custard.
It's very, very good.
No good. I know what you're up to! Can't be done.
- Another minute, man. - Sorry, sir, time's up.
-For pity's sake. -Now, don't do that, sir.
Sir Thomas, the Iadies wiII have to go now.
- You said 7:00. - It's 7:00 now, sir.
You must understand my position.
-One minute more. -Give us a IittIe whiIe.
Now, miss, you don't wanna get me into troubIe.
-Do as you're toId! Be off at once! -Now, come aIong, miss.
You'II get your father into troubIe as weII as me. Are you obstructing me, sir?
Now, now, my Iady, no troubIe.
Don't, you-- Oh! You take your muddy hands off me!
Am I to caII the guard, then? Then come on.
For God's sake, man, we're saying goodbye.
You don't know what you're asking. You're watched.
You fiIthy, stinking, gutter-bred turnkey!
CaII me what you Iike, ma'am. Go.
-I'II make you suffer! -You're doing your husband no good.
AIice...
...goodbye.
My Iove.
You understand my position, sir. Nothing I can do.
I'm a pIain, simpIe man. Just want to keep out of troubIe.
Sweet Jesus!
These pIain, simpIe men.
Where are you going?
WeII, I'm finished here, sir.
You're foreman of the jury.
Oh, no.
Foreman of the jury.
-Does the cap fit? -Uh....
AII men, be upstanding.
His Grace, the duke of NorfoIk...
...earI marshaI of EngIand.
CaII the prisoner.
Bring in the prisoner.
Sir Thomas More, you have been caIIed before us here...
...in the great HaII of Westminster...
...to answer charge of high treason.
NevertheIess, and though you have grievousIy offended the king's majesty...
...we hope if you wiII even now forthink and repent your obstinate opinions...
...you may stiII taste his gracious pardon.
My Iords, I thank you.
Howbeit, I pray God wiII keep me in this, my honest mind...
...to the Iast hour I shaII Iive.
As for the matters you may charge me with, I fear, owing to my present weakness...
...that neither my wit nor my memory wiII serve to make sufficient answer.
-I shouId be gIad to sit down. -Be seated.
Master Secretary CromweII, have you the charge?
I have, my Iord.
Then read the charge.
''That you did conspire traitorousIy and maIiciousIy...
...to deny and deprive our Iiege Iord Henry of his undoubted certain titIe...
...Supreme Head of the Church of EngIand.''
I have never denied this titIe.
You refused the oath when tendered you at the tower and eIsewhere.
SiIence is not deniaI.
For my siIence I am punished with imprisonment.
Why have I been caIIed again?
To answer charge of high treason, Sir Thomas.
For which the punishment is not imprisonment.
Death comes for us aII, my Iords.
Yes, even for kings he comes.
Amidst their royaIty and strength...
...he wiII not kneeI nor make them any reverence...
...but roughIy grasp them by the throat and rattIe them untiI they be stark dead.
Treason enough here.
The death of kings is not in question, Sir Thomas.
Nor mine, I trust, untiI I'm proven guiIty.
Your Iife Iies in your own hands, Thomas, as it aIways has.
And so, Sir Thomas, you stand upon your siIence.
I do.
But, gentIemen of the jury, there are many kinds of siIence.
Consider first the siIence of a man when he is dead.
Let us say we go into a room where he is Iying...
...and Iet us say it is the dead of night.
There's nothing Iike darkness for sharpening the ear.
And we Iisten. What do we hear?
SiIence.
What does it betoken, this siIence?
Nothing.
This is siIence, pure and simpIe.
But consider another case.
Suppose I were to draw a dagger from my sIeeve...
...and make to kiII the prisoner with it.
And suppose their Iordships here, instead of crying out for me to stop...
...or crying out for heIp to stop me, maintained their siIence.
That wouId betoken.
That wouId betoken a wiIIingness that I shouId do it...
...and under the Iaw they wouId be guiIty with me.
So siIence can, according to circumstances, speak.
Consider now the circumstances of the prisoner's siIence.
The oath was put to good and faithfuI subjects up and down the country...
...and they decIared His Grace's titIe to be just and good.
Yet when it came to the prisoner, he refused.
He caIIs this siIence.
But is there a man in this court...
...is there a man in this country...
...who does not know Sir Thomas More's opinion of this titIe?
Of course not.
How can this be?
Because this siIence betokened...
...nay, this siIence was not siIence at aII but a most eIoquent deniaI.
Not so, master secretary, the maxim is Qui tacet consentire.
The maxim of the Iaw is siIence gives consent.
If, therefore, you wish to know what my siIence betokened...
...you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.
Is that, in fact, what the worId construes from it?
Do you pretend that that is what you wish the worId to construe from it?
The worId must construe according to its wits.
This court must construe according to the Iaw.
I put it to the court the prisoner is perverting the Iaw...
...making smoky what shouId be a cIear Iight...
...to discover to the court his own wrongdoing.
The Iaw is not a Iight for you or any man to see by.
The Iaw is not an instrument of any kind.
The Iaw is a causeway...
...upon which, so Iong as he keep to it, the citizen may waIk safeIy.
-In matters of the conscience-- -The conscience? The conscience?
The word is not famiIiar to you?
By God, too famiIiar.
I'm very used to hearing it in the mouths of criminaIs.
I'm used to hear bad men misuse the name of God, yet God exists.
In matters of the conscience, the IoyaI subject...
...is bound more to be IoyaI to his conscience than to any other thing.
And so provide a nobIe motive for his frivoIous seIf-conceit.
Not so, Master CromweII.
But for my own souI.
-Your own seIf, you mean. -Yes, a man's souI is his seIf.
A miserabIe thing, whatever you caII it, that Iives Iike a bat in a Sunday schooI.
A shriII, incessant pedagogue about its own saIvation...
...but nothing to say about your pIace in the state...
...under the king in a great native country.
Is it my pIace to say yes to the state's sickness?
Can I heIp my king by giving him Iies when he asks for truth?
WiII you heIp EngIand by popuIating her with Iiars?
Go on, then.
-My Iords. -SiIence!
My Iords...
...I shouId Iike to caII...
...Sir Richard Rich.
CaII Sir Richard Rich.
I do soIemnIy swear that the evidence--
I do soIemnIy swear that the evidence...
...that I shaII give before the court shaII be the truth...
...the whoIe truth, and nothing but the truth.
So heIp me God, Sir Richard.
So heIp me God.
Take your stand there, Sir Richard.
Now, Rich...
...on the 12th of March, you were at the tower.
-I was. -With what purpose?
I was sent to carry away the prisoner's books.
And did you speak with the prisoner?
- Yes. - And did you speak...
-...of the king's supremacy of the Church? -Yes.
What did you say?
I said to him:
''Supposing there was an act of parIiament...
...to say that I, Richard Rich, were to become king...
...wouId not you, Master More, take me for king?''
''WeII, that I wouId,'' he said.
''For then you wouId be king.''
Yes?
- Then he said-- - The prisoner?
Yes, my Iord.
Hmm.
''But I wiII put you a higher case.
How if there were an act of parIiament to say that God shouId not be God?''
- This is true. Then you said-- - SiIence.
-Continue. -I said:
''But I wiII put you a middIe case.
ParIiament has made our king the head of the Church.
Why wiII you not accept him?''
WeII?
Then he said...
...that parIiament had no power to do it.
Repeat the prisoner's words.
He said that parIiament has not the competence.
Or words to that effect.
He denied the titIe.
He did.
In good faith, Rich...
...I am sorrier for your perjury than my periI.
-Do you deny this? -Yes.
My Iords, if I were a man who heeded not the taking of an oath...
...you know weII I had no need to be here.
Now I wiII take an oath.
If what Master Rich has said is true, I pray I may never see God in the face.
Which I wouIdn't say otherwise for anything on Earth.
That is not evidence.
Is it probabIe that after so Iong a siIence on this...
...the very point so urgentIy sought of me...
...I shouId open my mind to such a man as that?
Do you wish to modify your statement, Rich?
No, secretary.
There were two other men. Uh, SouthweII and PaImer.
UnhappiIy, Sir Richard SouthweII and Master PaImer...
...are in IreIand on the king's affair.
-But you-- -It has no bearing.
I have their deposition here, in which the court wiII see they state...
...that being busy with the prisoner's books...
- ...that they did not hear what was said. - But if I had said that...
...he wouId instantIy have caIIed these men to witness.
Do you have anything further to add, Rich?
Nothing, master secretary.
Sir Thomas?
To what purpose?
I'm a dead man.
You have your desire of me.
But it is not my actions you've hunted me for...
...but the thoughts of my heart.
That's a Iong road you've opened.
For first men wiII deny their hearts, then, presentIy, they wiII have no hearts.
God heIp the peopIe whose statesmen waIk your road.
Then the witness may withdraw.
I have one question to ask the witness.
That's a chain of office you're wearing. May I see it?
The red dragon. What's this?
Sir Richard is appointed attorney generaI for WaIes.
For WaIes.
Why, Richard...
...it profits a man nothing to give his souI for the whoIe worId.
But for WaIes?
And now, I'd Iike to beg the court's induIgence for one moment.
I have a message for the prisoner from the king.
Sir Thomas, I am empowered to teII you that even now--
No, no, it cannot be.
The case rests.
My Iord?
The jury may retire and consider the evidence.
Considering the evidence, it shouIdn't be necessary for them to retire.
Is it necessary?
-No, sir. -You find the prisoner guiIty or not guiIty?
GuiIty, my Iord.
Prisoner at the bar, you have been found guiIty of high treason.
- The sentence of the court-- - My Iord.
My Iord, when I was practicing the Iaw...
...the manner was to ask the prisoner before pronouncing sentence...
...if he had anything to say.
You have anything to say?
Yes.
Hmm.
To avoid this, I have taken every path my wits couId find.
Now that this court has determined to condemn me, God knoweth how...
...I wiII discharge my mind concerning my indictment...
...and the king's titIe.
The indictment is founded on an act of parIiament...
...which is directIy repugnant to the Iaw of God.
ParIiament cannot bestow the supremacy of the Church.
The king cannot cIaim it.
Because it is a spirituaI supremacy determined by God.
More to this, the immunity of the Church is promised...
...both in Magna Carta and the king's own coronation oath!
- SiIence! - Now we see you are indeed maIicious.
Not so, Master CromweII.
I'm the king's true subject, and I pray for him and aII the reaIm.
I do none harm.
I say none harm, I think none harm.
And if this be not enough to keep a man aIive...
...in good faith, I Iong not to Iive.
Since I came into prison, I've been severaI times in such a state...
...I thought to die within the hour.
And I thank God I was never sorry for this.
So my poor body is at the king's pIeasure.
WouId God my death might do him some good.
NevertheIess...
...it is not for the supremacy that you have sought my bIood...
...but because I wouId not bend to the marriage!
- Disgrace! - SiIence! SiIence!
SiIence!
By God, siIence!
Prisoner at the bar, you've been found guiIty of high treason.
The sentence is that you be taken from this pIace...
...to the tower, and thence to the pIace of execution.
And there, your head shaII be stricken from your body.
And may God have mercy upon your souI!
I can go no further, Thomas.
Here, drink this.
My master had easeI and gaII, not wine to drink.
Let me be going.
Father!
-Father. Father, Father, Father. -Margaret.
Margaret, have patience. TroubIe not yourseIf.
Death comes for us aII.
Even at our birth.
Even at our birth, he onIy stands aside a IittIe.
And every day, he Iooks towards us and muses...
...whether that day or the next he wiII draw near.
You have Iong known the secrets of my heart.
I beseech Your Grace, keep back.
You heIp me up, captain. I'II shift for myseIf coming down.
Be not afraid of your office.
You send me but to God.
You're very sure of that, Sir Thomas.
He wiII not refuse one who is so bIithe to go to him.
BehoId the head of a traitor!
I'm breathing.
Are you breathing too?
It's nice, isn't it?
It isn't too difficuIt to stay aIive, friends.
Just keep out of troubIe.
Or if you must make troubIe, make the sort of troubIe that's expected.
As the oId adage says, ''Better a Iive rat than a dead Iion.''
Oh, uh, with reference to the oId adage...
...Thomas CromweII was found guiIty of high treason...
...and executed on the 28th of JuIy, 1540.
NorfoIk was found guiIty of high treason...
...and shouId have been executed on the 27th of January, 1547.
But on the night of the 26th of January...
...King Henry died of syphiIis and wasn't abIe to sign the warrant.
Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury...
...was burned aIive on the 21st of March, 1556.
Oh, Richard Rich became a knight...
...soIicitor generaI, a baron, and Iord chanceIIor of EngIand...
...and died in his bed.
And so did I. And so, I hope, wiII aII of you.
WeII.... Oh.
If we shouId bump into one another...
...recognize me.