Religious fanatics and other madmen in Tudor times

Cover image of "Revelation," a novel about religious complications in the time of Henry VIII

A deranged serial killer haunts the precincts of Tudor London in Revelation, the fourth entry in C. J. Sansom’s series of Matthew Shardlake mysteries. And a fellow barrister at Lincoln’s Inn who is Matthew’s best friend is the first victim to come to light. Enraged, Matthew impulsively promises his friend’s widow he will track down the killer. And he drags his trusted assistant, Jack Barak, into an investigation that soon proves to be fraught with political and religious complications.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Because no sooner do they set out to find the murderer than the reformist Archbishop Cranmer draws them back into service and pledges them to secrecy. Why? It appears that the killer may threaten Lady Latimer, Catherine Parr, the young widow whom King Henry VIII has resolved to take as his sixth wife. And Catherine represents the forces of reform in the Church whom Henry has been turning his back on.

A time of turmoil and uncertainty in England

It’s 1543, and throughout Europe the currents of change are accelerating, calling old certainties question. In medicine, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius has challenged the time-honored prescriptions of the Roman and Greek physician and surgeon Galen. In astronomy, Nikolaus Copernicus has defied the Church with his findings that the Earth revolves around the Sun. And, above all, in religion, the teachings of the German monk Martin Luther have upended the supremacy of the Catholic Church, unleashing the Protestant Reformation.

But nowhere have the consequences of these changes occasioned greater upheaval than in England. Because little more than a decade ago the King divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to marry the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. And the country has been in turmoil ever since, wracked by bitter conflict between Catholic and Protestant. Conflict that Henry himself provokes with his shift from reform to tradition and now, possibly, back again if he marries the devout Protestant widow.

Revelation (Matthew Shardlake #4 of 7) by C. J. Sansom (2008) 564 pages ★★★★★

Painting of Catherine Parr, whose marriage to Henry VIII posed religious complications — *Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, who married him in 1543 during the action in this novel. She’s the one who survived. Image: HIstoryExtra*

Turmoil, trouble, and religious complications everywhere

Evidence of the religious turmoil is everywhere in the pages of Revelation. Mad radical Protestant preachers hold forth on the streets, imploring passers-by to repent before the coming of the Apocalypse. Constables following the orders of the now-ascendant Bishop Bonner roam about, arresting butchers for serving meat during Lent or preachers for harboring prohibited books. And Parliament is considering a measure that will prohibit anyone but clerics and noblemen from reading the Bible.

Meanwhile, Matthew is defending a teenage boy, a religious fanatic sentenced to the notorious Bedlam hospital for the insane. The boy, Adam Kite, prays obsessively, ignoring every effort of his parents, or anyone else, to communicate with him. All the while the city is abuzz with talk about the King’s lust for Catherine Parr and the religious change that her becoming queen might occasion. And in the midst of all the mounting tension, Matthew learns that the murder of his friend was not a random act. It was in some warped way related to the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation.

About the author

Photo of C. J. Sansom, author of this novel about religious complications in the time of Henry VIII — *C. J. Sansom. Image: Disney*

C. J. Sansom (1952-2024) died in the spring of this year after a long struggle with a rare cancer. It was just days before the debut of the television adaptation on Disney+ of his first novel, Dissolution. He was seventy-one years of age. Unmarried and intensely private, he “preferred to be known through his novels,” according to his obituary in The Guardian.

Sansom studied history at Birmingham University, gaining first a BA and then a PhD there. He was the bestselling author of nine historical novels, for which he won several prestigious literary awards.

I’ve also reviewed the first four books in this series as well as his superb alternate history: