Ralph Sadler (1507 – ) was born in Hackney, Middlesex. He is the son of Henry Sadler, a minor official in the service of the Marquess of Dorset and Sir Edward Belknap.
You are twenty-one when this story begins, and as seasoned and steady as a man twice your age. You are brought up by Thomas Cromwell, but by the time you are in your late twenties you have become his father, and tell him off when you think he’s being frivilous. You are a quietly admirable character, and you manage to do something very difficult: you last the distance in politics, and keep your integrity.
Hilary Mantel, notes on characters
The story so far…
Week 1: Across the Narrow Sea / Paternity
Here he is, in 1527, “a slight young man with pale eyes”. He entered Cromwell’s household aged seven and “has grown up with a tidy mind” and rational night-time worries: thieves, loose dogs, sudden holes in the road.
Week 2: At Austin Friars / Visitation
The next day, Rafe is again at his side as they return to York Place.
Week 3: An Occult History of Britain (Part 1)
Cromwell trusts Rafe like a son. But he will not take Rafe to see the scholars and gospellers of London. He will not endanger his household to accusations of heresy. Rafe goes looking for him when Liz falls ill.
Rafe is a slight boy, and the game with Richard and the others is to pretend not to see him, and say, ‘I wonder where Rafe is?’ They are as pleased with this joke as a bunch of three-year-olds might be. Rafe’s eyes are blue, his hair is sandy-brown, and you couldn’t take him for a Cromwell. But still he is a tribute to the man who brought him up: dogged, sardonic, quick on the uptake.
Cromwell and Rafe play chess. Stalemate. They will play others, but only later. “When we can wipe out all-comers.”
Week 4: An Occult History of Britain (Part 2)
In 1528, Anne Cromwell says she would like to marry Rafe. Cromwell thinks he is too old, although “for a minute, for two minutes together, he feels his life might mend”.
We learn here of Rafe’s backstory. His father was a steward with connections to the Grey family. When his son was seven, he told Cromwell to “teach him all you know”. Cromwell picked him up in Essex, and his mother cried as they parted. He took Rafe home to London through a terrible storm. “Shall we see how far we get?”
Rafe is always at Cromwell’s side these days. 1527. 1528. 1529. The last days of Wolsey. He is the only one who knows of Lady Carey’s proposal to Cromwell. And when he writes his will, he leaves Rafe his books. “We drowned men will stick together.”
Week 5: Make or Mar / Three-Card Trick
In “Make or Mar”, we learn that Cromwell has sent Rafe to Westminster. Parliament is about to sit, and there will be an attempt to bring treason charges against Wolsey. Rafe Sadler gets Cromwell a seat in Parliament and tells him that Thomas Howard will expect Cromwell to work for him.
On Twelfth Night, he joins Cromwell with the other men of the household to see the law students make fun of the cardinal. That evening Cromwell thinks: “I wish Anne were here and promised to Rafe Sadler. If Anne were older. If Rafe were younger. If Anne were still alive.”
Week 11: 'Alas, What Shall I Do For Love?' (Part 2) / Early Mass
At Canterbury, Rafe goes to see Becket’s shrine.
‘They show you a skull, they say it’s Becket’s, it’s smashed up by the knights but it’s held together with a silver plate. For ready money, you can kiss it. They have a tray of his finger bones. They have his snotty handkerchief. And a bit of his boot. And a vial they shake up for you, they say it’s his blood.’
Week 12: Anna Regina (Part 1)
Cromwell to Helen Barre: “If anyone is too forward, you must tell me, or tell Rafe Sadler. He is the boy with the little red beard. Though I should not say boy.”
Cromwell tells Richard that he can be married to Mary Boleyn, if he wants. “Don’t tell anybody,” he says. So Richard tells Rafe and Rafe comes in, eyebrows raised. “I’m going, before you find a Boleyn for me.” Before he goes, he says:
‘Only this, sir, and I think it is what gives Richard pause … all our lives and fortunes depend now on that laddy, and as well as being mutable she is mortal, and the whole history of the king’s marriage tells us a child in the womb is not an heir in the cradle.’
When the king sends Cromwell to Katherine, he tells him “Leave Rafe with me while you are gone… I can rely on him to say what Cromwell would say. You have a good boy there.” But he should not say boy.
Week 13: Anna Regina (Part 2)
At Austin Friars, Cromwell disturbs Helen with Rafe Sadler. They both look a little ruffled. Cromwell sends Helen Barre to look after Cranmer’s secret wife.
“You can’t just drag her off into the night,” says Rafe.
”Oh, I can,” Cromwell says mildly.
Week 14: Devil's Spit / A Painter’s Eye
Rafe Sadler as Austin Friars: “Conversation is in various tongues and Rafe Sadler translates adroitly, smoothly, his head turning from side to side.”
When the king shouts at Cromwell, he says: “God in Heaven, no wonder the cardinal was old before his time.” Rafe says: “It is a good thing you are not like the cardinal.”
Week 15: Supremacy
Gregory: “Rafe says you will be the second man in the kingdom soon. He says you already are, except in title. He says the king will put you over the Lord Chancellor, and everybody. Over Norfolk, even.”
The day Cromwell is made Master Secretary, Rafe discloses his secret marriage to Helen Barre. Cromwell tells him “she is a lovely nobody, a poor woman with no advantage to bring to you, you could have married an heiress.”
Rafe: “I did not look for this to happen. I did not plan it. I know I can never take Helen with me to court.”
Cromwell: “Not as the world is now. And I do not think it will change in our lifetimes. But look, you have made your choice. You must never repent it.”
Cromwell assures Rafe that this is a mistake he can afford to make. His fortunes are rising with Cromwell, and Rafe will be his other-self at court. Together, “two nursemaids” to serve the king at all times.
Week 16: The Map of Christendom (Part 1)
1535, and Rafe is moving out of Austin Friars to Hackney with his wife, Helen Barre.
Gregory: “Rafe says I am being brought up like a prince.”
Week 17: The Map of Christendom (Part 2) / To Wolf Hall
Everyone has followed the king’s close-cropped haircut. Rafe looks “more determined and alert.”
“What have I forgotten, Rafe?” Cromwell shares the closing pages with Rafe Sadler, considering a map of England. Planning the king’s summer progress.
He looks up. ‘Rafe, are you happy?’ ‘With Helen?’ Rafe blushes. ‘Yes, sir. No man was ever happier.’
Week 18: Falcons
Rafe is with the Master Secretary at Wolf Hall. Holbein draws him, and he complains about how the painter has made his nose too flat. When Francis Weston accuses Cromwell of fixing More’s jury, Rafe asks, “Where is it written down?” Later, he and Gregory kick Weston’s ghost and throw it out the window. “Careful,” says Cromwell. The king favours Weston.”
Week 19: Crows (Part 1)
When Cromwell summons Jane Seymour to Elvetham, he sees Rafe thinking: “So my master is going to ask for Jane Seymour after all. For himself or for Gregory.”
I love all Holbein's portraits, but this one is special. He looks like somebody you could know today, in real life.