"Thomas Cranmer:" Jasper Ridley (#22): Ch.5--The Royal Supremacy

Chapuy, the faithful ambassador to the court of Charles V, resident in/about London, is ever the faithful reporter giving the latest street-talk and scuttlebutt of goings-on. He usually calls things what they are without spin. Straight-talk for Charles V who knew every move in London. He calls Dr. Cranmer the "Pope of England" as are other Londoners in jibing (but secretive) fashion. The Oath to the Succession is getting administered and all London priests but one subscribe. The Bishop of Rome "hath no jurisdiction in England." Thomas More dilates and equivocates, or, tap dances, but, in time, will lose his head in 1535. This is 1534. Where's Fisher at this point? He'll lose his head also in 1535. The subscriptions oaths are taken at Lambeth Palace by Tom, Audley, Norfolk, Suffolk and some others. "Line up, fellas, if ya' know what's good for ya. Sign right here.'"

Stay tuned. The tensions are still high and are unresolved. More as the story develops.

Still nothing from Ridley on Cranmer's theology at this point. Maybe it goes in and out with the tides of the Thames River? We're watching and listening. (Chapuy, again, notes Cranmer's reputation for Lutheranism in 1533. That's probably accurate, although Tom is on "passive sonar" and "rigged for ultra quiet...submarine lingo.)