Hilary Mantel is accused of 'falsifying' history in Wolf Hall by Cambridge academic who claims she turned depictions of 16th century figures 'upside down'
Best-selling British author Dame Hilary Mantel has been accused of 'falsifying' history in some of her most famous novels by a professor at the University of Cambridge.
Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy, which has been dubbed a 'landmark in historical fiction,' depicts the life of Thomas Cromwell as the chief minister of Henry VIII.
The book earned the famous British author both the Booker Prize and the National Books Critics Circle Award and it, and its sequels, were adapted into a six-part BBC series starring Claire Foy and Damian Lewis.
But now, Eamon Duffy, a 78-year-old professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Cambridge, has accused Mantel of going to 'extremes' to turn sources 'upside down.'
In particular, Duffy dubs her depiction of Thomas More, a devout Catholic who famously refused to swear an oath recognising Henry VIII as head of the church of England, the 'least successful' part of her trilogy.
The professor claims Mantel went to 'extreme' lengths to write More as a 'torturer and misogynist.'
Thomas Cromwell, the chief minister of Henry VIII, is played by Mark Rylance in the BBC series
Thomas More, the villain of Wolf Hall, was played by actor Anton Lesser in the BBC adaptation of Mantel's novels
Dame Hilary Mantel (pictured) died in 2022, just a matter of days after suffering a stroke at the age of 70
Eamon Duffy (pictured), 78, has accused Mantel of 'falsifying' history in her famous novel Wolf Hall
'Hilary Mantel's trilogy was self-consciously an attempt to rehabilitate Cromwell and to de-mythologise Thomas More from his portrayal in A Man For All Seasons, which she hated and which she thought showed More as a patron of liberal conscience - which he certainly wasn't,' said Duffy in an interview with Idler Magazine.
'But she went to the other extreme and portrayed More as a monster, a torturer and a misogynist whose wife and women folk were afraid of. And I think that portrayal was the least successful bit of Wolf Hall.
'[Mantel] and I were on good terms. The friendship cooled somewhat when I wrote an essay on fictional treatments of the English Reformation, which focused on the end of Wolf Hall.
'I looked at the sources she used, what they say about More and what they say about Cromwell, and I showed that on key issues, she actually turned the sources upside down and made them say the opposite of what they were originally intended to suggest.
'Now that’s legitimate in fiction, but in her Reith lectures Hilary suggested that the literary novelist could bring genuine insight that the historian lacked. Maybe but I didn’t think that was legitimate if you’re actually falsifying the accounts.
In further criticisms, the history expert even referred to Mantel's novels as 'gossip.'
'More actually took a solemn oath to deny this accusation,' he said.
'He said as God is my judge, I have never tortured anyone.
'Now, you have to ask yourself, here’s a deeply religious man who had his head chopped off rather than take a false oath, who makes an oath, "so help me God I didn’t do this."
'Do you believe him or do you believe the stories and the gossip?'
Hilary Mantel died aged 70 in 2022 just a matter of days after suffering a stroke. She was the first female author to win the Booker Prize.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14423521/Hilary-Mantel-accused-falsifying-history-Wolf-Hall-Cambridge-academic.html
Thomas' Prince of Darkness' Cromwell had a scathing reputation for being a brutal, unforgiving enforcer to England's most tyrannical royal, King Henry VIII (Mark Rylance pictured in Wolf Hall)
Despite his all-telling nickname, he was never a royal but was, in fact, a lawyer and statesman who played a crucial role in the English Reformation and modernization of government while he was in office from April 1533 to June 1540
But as the BBC 's historical drama, Wolf Hall, returns to screens after a decade off the air, just how accurately have the beeb and actor Mark Rylance depicted the real Earl of Essex
The Lord had a conflicting past. Most commoners viewed him as a money-obsessed, corrupt politician with an obsessive lust for power and schemes
But, throughout history, the Master of Jewels has been documented to have a softer side as he enjoyed a party and splashed out on many galas for his closest companions
Henry VIII, England's most notorious monarch, is of course the figure around which all other characters in Wolf Hall revolve.
As the central character of the Wolf Hall trilogy, Thomas Cromwell is defined by his meteoric rise, and then his dramatic fall.
By the time of Anne Boleyn's execution, Jane Seymour had been a firm part of the royal household since 1529.
As the sister-in-law of Jane, the Queen of England, Anne Seymour wielded significant power.
Lady Margery Wentworth was the mother of Queen Jane and therefore grandmother to her only child, the future King Edward VI.
Like Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey rose from a relatively humble background. Having sidelined most of his rivals, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Henry VIII in 1514 and then Lord Chancellor the following year.
Thomas Cromwell built a network of spies and informers
Most people know Cromwell from the series written by Hilary Mantel. Cromwell’s most notable trait was his ruthlessness in pursuit of power.
Henry VIII was eager to annul his marriage because of his passion for Anne Boleyn. It was Cromwell who found a way to fulfill the King’s wishes - and it was also Cromwell who had Anne killed later when the King grew tired of her
Anne of Cleves was the unwitting catalyst of Cromwell's downfall. After the death of Jane Seymour in childbirth, Cromwell was determined that the King should next marry a German Protestant. Anne fitted the bill but Henry was appalled by her
Artist's reconstruction of Cromwell's mansion as it appeared on Throgmorton Street, London in 1539
Left, first wife Catherine of Aragon (Henry had their 24-year marriage annulled); right, Anne Boleyn, second wife and mother of Elizabeth I, who was beheaded
King Henry VIII, circa 1537, at around the age of 45
Anne Boleyn was executed on May 19, 1536, as Thomas Cromwell looked on. Above: A depiction of Anne's execution at the Tower of London
The first series of the show depicts the burning at the stake of unfortunate Protestant lawyer James Bainham
Another method of execution that the condemned could experience was being pressed to death
For more than 300 years between the 14th and 17th centuries, the heads of traitors were placed on iron spikes at the south end of London Bridge
