Diarmaid MacCulloch - Tumblr Posts

“Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, was equal to Katherine in stubbornness and her definite superior in intelligence: the only one of Henry’s six wives whose marriage to the king was regularly called her ‘reign’ by contemporaries.”

Diarmaid MacCulloch

“Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk’s remarkable staying power in the King’s affections relied on his pliable charm and Henry’s warm memories of their common youthful prowess in the tiltyard. Otherwise he lacked the administrative abilities required for celebrations in a brewery, let alone governing a kingdom.”

— Diarmaid MacCulloch, Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life

“During spring 1532, Stephen Gardiner led the unsuccessful defence of the church’s liberties against Henry VIII, a stand which probably cost him his chance of becoming archbishop of Canterbury. During summer 1532, Cranmer did something even more crazy; he got married.“ 

–Diarmaid McCulloch, Cranmer