Anne of the Thousand Days Page #6

who spoke with my brother

the morning after

he left the bedchamber.

Are we to have no evidence

but bedroom sniggering and gossip?

Get a message to the Queen.

She should be here.

She'll let her case go by default.

[trumpets]

I will hear the Queen.

I will only be heard in Rome.

I appeal to Rome.

I appeal against all judges here.

To Rome and to God I commit my cause.

Oatherine.

Oatherine!

Proceed.

- I am going to adjourn.

- No, I beseech you, do not.

I adjourn this court.

- You have the power. Use it.

- Power to hear the case, Your Majesty.

- But you've heard it, hours of it.

- From Your Majesty's witnesses.

The Queen says no court in England

can be impartial.

She appeals directly to Rome.

But you are Rome come to England,

My Lord.

My hands are tied. The trial is

adjourned for the Queen's appeal.

To the Pope who fears the Queen's nephew

more than he loves the justice of God.

- Your Grace could be excommunicated!

- Get out!

Limp back to Rome.

Tell His Holiness I will have

the marriage annulled. Get out, get out.

Get out!

Well, My Lord Oardinal,

so much for your boastful promises.

Your Grace, forgive me.

Forgive me.

Go to the Queen.

Banish her from the court

and house her at your own expense

in some remote place.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Wolsey.

Remove yourself from my sight.

You're unfit for office.

Render up the Great Seal.

And hide, Wolsey.

Hide from my anger.

Go now. Go.

Wolsey.

I do not forgive you.

I spare you for your past services.

The business of the day is over, lawyer.

- I am a lawyer who has read the law.

- So?

There is a law of this land

that says it is treason

to acknowledge any higher authority

than the will of the King.

It is, I take it, the will of the King

that he shall divorce the Queen

and marry the Lady Anne?

It is.

Then the Ohurch in England

must grant your will.

It is treasonable to say that the Pope

is a higher authority than the King...

...under the law.

I've always been a defender

of the faith and of the Ohurch.

As matters stand,

you are but half the King.

To say that Rome may dictate this matter

is to say that Rome may dictate

the succession to the Orown.

What the King of England wants,

he should have

without hindrance from abroad.

True. It is true.

It would mean excommunication.

It would mean a break with Rome.

It would need only the appointment of a

new Primate of the Ohurch in England.

He would grant the divorce.

Yes. And the penalty for those good men

who could not stomach your law?

The penalty for treason

has always been death, Your Grace.

You may go.

There is something else, Your Majesty.

Oardinal Wolsey,

through skilful manipulation,

has seen to it

that the monasteries of England

are richer than the goldmines

of the New World.

lf, as you should be, you become Head

of the Ohurch, those riches are yours.

You're a man without scruple, lawyer.

Entirely without scruple.

I learned my trade under

Oardinal Wolsey, Your Grace.

Are you also a pupil of the Oardinal?

No, no, I studied under a real master,

my father.

Whatever villainy was lacking

in the world when Henry Vll was born,

he invented before he left it.

But the one cardinal principle

he taught me was,

always keep the Ohurch on your side.

Well, you have the Ohurch on one side

and you have me on the other.

Yes. The choice is now clear.

If I make myself Head of the Ohurch

in England, I make you my Queen,

I make myself wealthier

than all the monarchs in Europe

and I shall be excommunicated.

Everlasting damnation.

No child of the Ohurch shall

speak with me, feed me, shelter me.

And when dead,

my body shall lie without burial

and my soul...

...shall be cast into hell forever.

Heavenly Father,

what I seek is not for myself

as You know,

but for the future safety of my realm

and the greater glory of Your name.

If I weaken in my resolve,

remember I am but a man.

Give me Your heavenly strength

for my intended journey

and resolve my doubts.

My Lords,

I intend to bring before Parliament

matters which have concerned us greatly.

I am deeply alarmed by the increasing

influence and power in our State

of the Ohurch of Rome.

Not content alone with misappropriation

of property and money,

Rome now seeks to interfere with

the laws and statutes of this realm.

In particular, the King's prerogatives

related to the succession to the throne.

For all these reasons

and many others known to you all

we must free ourselves

from the interference, influence

and direction of the See of Rome.

Hear, hear!

ltem. The Oath of Allegiance

to the King of England sworn by you all.

Item. The Oath of Allegiance

to the Pope of Rome sworn by the Olergy.

Question. Whom do the Olergy serve?

Pope or King?

Oardinal Wolsey, the greatest Ohurchman

of our land is cast down.

Any bishop or priest who does not

first serve the King will follow him.

Parliament will be summoned

for the enactment of this bill

named The Act of Supremacy.

The King is declared to be supreme

in matters of the welfare of subjects,

both spiritual and temporal.

- Sire...

- My Lord Bishop, keep silent!

There is only one question

I will put to this Oouncil.

No other will be tolerated or discussed.

Does any Lord here,

either spiritual or temporal,

deny the right of Parliament

to make this the law of the land

if Parliament so chooses?

Sir Thomas More?

I do not deny the right of Parliament

to enact laws.

Good. Good.

[furtive chatter]

- Master Oromwell.

- My Lord Ohancellor?

I regret, Master Oromwell,

that you did not heed my advice.

Ooncerning what?

You have, I believe, told the King not

what he ought to do, but what he can do.

Now no man in the world

can hold him.

The King's power must be complete.

And your own?

To serve his.

After today, I fear I must resign mine.

Every man to the devil his own way.

[woman laughs nearby]

Forgive me, Your Majesty,

I had meant to be gone.

I fear I cannot rise.

Oromwell, your hand.

Get me on my feet.

It's the habit of a lifetime to see

myself that the inventory is complete

and the keys are all ready,

all labelled for you.

I'm...

I'm sorry to see you ill.

Oh, no, My Lord.

Your Majesty has taken from my shoulders

a load that would sink a navy.

Well, I'll leave these and be gone.

Is it... Is it for you, Mistress Anne,

the palace?

- Yes.

- Yes, yes.

It's much too beautiful for an old man.

It needs youth in it.

There, take it.

I've been your enemy,

but I can't take it from you.

Then I'll leave it.

[laughs]

A leggy girl and a half-grown steer.

What does that mean?

Some friends of yours

are waiting to see you, Your Majesty.

More, Fisher and Prior Houghton.

It seemed urgent.

Urgent for them.

Send them in.

I'll tell them as I leave.

Well, the country air

will do him good at Esher.

The King will see you.

Take heed, Sir Thomas.

The King's passion for the lady

is blind to all reason

and past service.

My Lord, for your wisdom,

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