Chapter summaries Boleyn Traitor Philippa Gregory

Chapter 18 Summary: Greenwich Palace, Christmas 1536

[Spoiler Warning: This summary and analysis contains full plot details for Chapter 18 of Boleyn Traitor. Do not read further if you wish to avoid spoilers.]

Summary

Jane Rochford observes the court's Christmas celebrations at Greenwich, calling it the falsest feast she has ever known. The rebel leader Robert Aske arrives as an honored guest, treated with great affection by King Henry VIII, who gives him a golden chain and scarlet jacket from his own body. Aske eloquently defends monasteries, schools, hospitals, and pilgrim traditions, enchanting the court with his vision of a peaceful England. He becomes the king's new advisor, replacing the absent Lord Cromwell, who appears in disgrace. The king proclaims Jane Seymour will be crowned in York and the Catholic Church restored. Aske departs north with promises of victory for the pilgrims, but as he leaves through the Hall Gate, Cromwell simultaneously rides back in at Sovereign's Gate, untroubled. In Cromwell's newly redecorated rooms, Jane's father presents his translation of Machiavelli's The Prince, and the three discuss the concept of duplicity, with Cromwell remarking that Aske will soon learn its meaning. Jane realizes the promised reformation is another hollow masque, and that her spying life is far from over.

Key Events

  • The Arrival of Robert Aske: The leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace is welcomed at court not as a traitor but as a celebrated guest, effectively replacing the disgraced Lord Cromwell in the king's affections.
  • The King’s Performance: Henry makes a dramatic public display of favor, stripping his own gold chain and velvet jacket to adorn Aske, while Queen Jane thanks him for a Latin missal.
  • Aske’s Advocacy: In a manner that impresses the court with its honesty, Aske describes the common people's devotion to monasteries, church schools, hospitals, and prayers for souls in purgatory, asking the king to be a good father to his people.
  • Promises of Restoration: Aske advises the creation of a northern council, and the king pledges to travel to York for Jane's coronation, restore the monasteries, exile Cromwell, and return England to the Roman Catholic Church.
  • The Silent Conspirators: The old royal and Spanish factions, including the Poles and Courtenays, conspicuously avoid Aske. Sir Geoffrey Pole leaves court entirely rather than associate with him.
  • Jane’s Inquiry and Aske’s Denial: Jane asks Aske about a pardon for the Courtenays and Reginald Pole's role in the rebellion. Aske denies any connection to these grand families, claiming his movement was solely with the humble people.
  • The Symbolic Exchange: As Aske rides out through the Hall Gate carrying victory, Lord Cromwell rides in through Sovereign's Gate, untroubled and smiling.
  • The Gift of The Prince: In Cromwell's reclaimed and expanded rooms, Jane and her father present a beautifully bound English translation of Machiavelli's The Prince. They discuss the nature of duplicity, with Cromwell cynically predicting Aske will "learn what it means."

Character Development

  • Jane Rochford: Jane continues in her role as a sharp-eyed observer but reveals a flicker of genuine hope. She momentarily believes the court's performance of peace, imagining a rebirth where she can stop spying and become a true courtier. By the chapter's end, this illusion is shattered, and she is pulled back into Cromwell's orbit.
  • Robert Aske: Introduced as a figure of startling integrity, he is described as a man so honest the court has never met his like. His political innocence is starkly highlighted by his failure to recognize the duplicity around him and his denial of any connection to the noble conspirators who remain silent.
  • Lord Cromwell: Cromwell's power is displayed not through presence but through the dramatic timing of his return. His unflappable demeanor and his dark joke about Aske learning the meaning of duplicity confirm he is the true author of the court's performance and that Aske's favor is a calculated trap.
  • Sir Thomas Boleyn: Jane’s father appears as an intellectual accomplice to Cromwell, providing the philosophical justification for tyranny through his translation of Machiavelli, and disparaging the very concept of love in the pursuit of power.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Performance and Duplicity: The chapter opens with Jane labeling the feast "the falsest feast I have ever known in many years of fakery." The entire Christmas court is a scripted masque, with the king's affection for Aske being the ultimate performance of false love, directly contrasted with the Italian concept of duplicità.
  • The Prince and Political Theory: The gift of Machiavelli's The Prince serves as the chapter’s intellectual core. It explicitly names the emerging political philosophy: a ruler gains power not through love and loyalty, but through calculated promises and tyrannical force. This replaces the Plantagenet ideal of the king as "first among equals."
  • The Imagery of Gates and Direction: The simultaneous exit and entrance of Aske (north) and Cromwell (south) through the Hall Gate and Sovereign's Gate is a powerful spatial symbol. It visualizes the closed loop of the trap and demonstrates that the king's favor and Cromwell's disgrace are coordinated pieces on a single board.
  • The Roasted Pig Analogy: Jane’s chilling description of Aske as "a roasted suckling pig paraded on a trencher of gold with an apple in its dead mouth" frames him not as a triumphant guest, but as a sacrificial, decorative feast, already doomed even as he is celebrated.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the pivotal hinge between the Pilgrimage of Grace's apparent triumph and its inevitable, bloody suppression. It reveals the full, terrifying extent of the Tudor court's capacity for duplicity, where every gesture of love is a weapon. The explicit introduction of Machiavelli's The Prince into the narrative provides the philosophical blueprint for the tyranny to come, justifying the destruction of Aske and the old world he represents. It marks the moment Jane Rochford’s last hope for a peaceful, reformed life dies, trapping her permanently within Cromwell's machinery of state. The chapter crystallizes the novel’s central tragedy: the collision between an honest, faith-driven people and a state that has elevated deception into an art form.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Question: Why does Jane call this Christmas "the falsest feast," and what details support her judgment? Answer: Jane calls it the falsest feast because every gesture of affection is a calculated lie. The king bestows personal gifts—his own chain and jacket—on Aske to lull him into a false sense of victory. The whole court performs joy for the restoration of the old Church, which Jane begins to believe is real. The falseness is confirmed when Cromwell returns unbothered at the exact moment Aske departs, revealing their "disgrace" and his "triumph" are a synchronized trap, a performance of the duplicity her father has just translated.

  2. Question: How does the discussion of Machiavelli's The Prince illuminate the king's strategy with Robert Aske? Answer: The discussion directly maps Machiavelli's advice onto the king's actions. Cromwell and Boleyn debate whether a perfect king must be a tyrant who trades everything for power, rather than ruling by consent. The king's treatment of Aske is a perfect application of trading promises for power: he promises restoration, coronations, and love, giving away nothing, while calculating the least he must offer to dissolve the rebellion. Aske, being a man who operates on honesty, is a "stranger to duplicity," making him easy prey for a Machiavellian ruler.

  3. Question: Contrast the actions of Robert Aske with those of the "old royals" like the Poles and Courtenays during the Christmas court. What does their behavior suggest? Answer: Robert Aske openly and loudly proclaims his cause, speaks directly to the king, and accepts public honors, demonstrating political naivete. The Poles and Courtenays, who secretly support the same Catholic cause, avoid him completely, smile distantly, or leave court. Their behavior suggests they understand the king's duplicity and know Aske is being set up. They are preserving their own plausible deniability, using Aske as a pawn while distancing themselves from him, revealing their survival instinct is stronger than their commitment to the cause he leads.

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