Chapter summaries Boleyn Traitor Philippa Gregory

Chapter 23: Greenwich Palace, Spring: 1538

Spoiler Notice

This analysis contains significant plot developments from Chapter 23 of Boleyn Traitor. If you haven’t read the chapter yet, proceed with caution.

Summary

The chapter opens with Jane’s father sending Lady Mary a translation of Psalm 36, a veiled warning to distance herself from the powerful Spanish faction. The death of Elizabeth Boleyn, Jane’s mother-in-law, goes unremarked at court, while Thomas Boleyn faces a lonely future after losing his most favoured children and wife.

May Day arrives as a subdued affair because Henry VIII remains lost in grief for Jane Seymour. The king takes part in a circle dance and eventually partners Jane. He calls her “Pretty Jane,” his pet name for his late wife, and tears fill his eyes. Jane comforts him by saying the true honour was his love. When she mentions her long service at court, she accidentally offends him, reminding him of his age and multiple marriages. She quickly recovers by praising his youthful appearance, and he kisses her hand before moving on.

Later, Jane slips away with Thomas Cromwell as musicians play a carol. The May Day song stirs in Jane a private memory of personal terror. She reveals that the king has secretly reopened Bisham Abbey as a chantry for Queen Jane’s soul, placing it under Lady Margaret Pole’s care. This directly undermines Cromwell’s earlier closure of the abbey and signals a small victory for conservative religious forces. Cromwell shrugs off the setback, noting that a single abbey paid for by the Poles changes nothing. He then asks Jane to keep watching Lady Margaret for seditious signs, remarking that her large, indiscreet family will eventually trip up. He indicates that Sir Geoffrey Pole, the least impressive brother, is the likely weak point. Jane leaves with the uneasy sense that she is once again weaving between dangerous loyalties.

Key Events

  • Jane’s father gifts Lady Mary a coded warning to avoid Spanish influence.
  • Elizabeth Boleyn dies without returning to court, deepening Thomas Boleyn’s isolation.
  • The court celebrates a muted May Day; the king is still in mourning.
  • Henry VIII dances with Jane, breaks into tears over Jane Seymour, and takes brief offence at her mention of long service.
  • Jane repairs the misstep and receives the king’s favour again.
  • During the celebrations, Jane privately recalls May Day as an anniversary of personal loss.
  • Jane shares intelligence with Cromwell: the king has reopened Bisham Abbey as a chantry for the late queen.
  • Cromwell reacts coolly, dismissing the abbey’s reopening as a minor gesture, and asks Jane to monitor the Pole family.
  • He fixes his attention on Sir Geoffrey Pole, a potential informant or traitor.

Character Development

  • Jane Boleyn – This chapter highlights her acute awareness of the tightrope she walks. Her ability to soothe the volatile king after a careless remark shows her survival instincts. She serves as Cromwell’s eyes within the queen’s former circle, yet she also carries the private trauma of Anne Boleyn’s downfall. Her naming May Day an anniversary of terror underscores how past executions continue to haunt her. She is both a survivor and a spy, fully aware that one slip could destroy her.
  • Henry VIII – His grief for Jane Seymour is genuine but also performative. He tears up publicly, yet his vanity flares when reminded of his age. The contrast between his massive, bejewelled appearance and his fragile emotional state makes him dangerously unpredictable. His decision to reopen Bisham Abbey as a chantry reveals how his grief can override his reformist leanings, prioritising personal sentiment over doctrine.
  • Thomas Cromwell – Cool, calculating, and entirely unruffled by a direct challenge to his abbey closures. He treats the Bisham news as a minor irritant, focusing instead on the larger game. His knack for spotting weakness—immediately picking out Geoffrey Pole as a likely betrayer—demonstrates his strategic mind and his willingness to exploit family fractures.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Grief and Memory – The king’s tearful moment with Jane and Jane’s own traumatic May Day memories link personal sorrow to public ritual. The reopened chantry becomes a monument to the king’s longing for his “only” wife, even as history suggests otherwise.
  • Surveillance and Intrigue – Cromwell plants Jane inside the Pole household’s orbit, continuing the novel’s focus on the spy networks that defined the Tudor court. The shuffled cards with their “secret meaning, like a pack of codes” mirror the hidden meanings in every conversation.
  • Religious Whimsy – Henry’s turn back toward traditional chantries, despite his reformist policies, illuminates how easily theological convictions bend to a king’s personal sorrow. It also highlights the enduring power of the conservative faction, embodied by Lady Margaret Pole.
  • The Fragility of Favour – Jane’s near-offence during the dance reminds the reader that a stray word can unravel years of careful service. The king’s mood swings make him a source of constant danger.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 23 quietly reorders the power dynamics at court. While the king mourns, Cromwell strengthens his web, turning a potential threat (the Poles) into an intelligence opportunity. Jane’s role as informant becomes more explicit, and her internal conflict deepens. The reopening of Bisham Abbey reveals that the religious struggles of the time are never settled, and it foreshadows the Poles’ eventual downfall as Cromwell circles closer. This chapter also deepens Jane’s characterisation: beneath her courtly mask, she is a woman haunted by past violence and trapped in a game she must play to survive.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Henry VIII react with both tenderness and irritation during his dance with Jane? Henry’s grief for Jane Seymour makes him vulnerable and nostalgic. When he calls Jane “Pretty Jane,” he is temporarily recapturing a happier time. However, the moment Jane reminds him of her long tenure at court, she inadvertently highlights his age and the serial nature of his marriages, which undercuts the fiction that Jane Seymour was his one true love. His swift shift from tears to annoyance illustrates his inability to bear any slight to his self-image.

  2. What does the reopening of Bisham Abbey reveal about the state of religious reform in 1538? The abbey’s restoration as a chantry for Queen Jane shows that persecution of traditional practices was not absolute. Henry’s personal grief drove him to undo Cromwell’s work in this instance, demonstrating that the king’s will could override reformist policy. It also signals that conservative factions, with the Poles at their centre, still held enough influence to achieve small victories, even if they remained in a precarious position.

  3. How does Cromwell’s reaction to the Bisham intelligence reflect his political strategy? Cromwell refuses to show alarm, instead spinning the situation into an advantage. He recognises that a single abbey, bankrolled by the Poles and dedicated to a beloved queen, is no existential threat to his larger dissolution program. Rather than confront the issue head-on, he uses it as a reason to intensify surveillance on the Poles, singling out Geoffrey Pole as the weak link who might provide grounds for a more decisive strike. His approach is one of patience and opportunistic ruthlessness.

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