William Warham
William Warham
Former Archbishop of Canterbury
William Warham (1450 – 1532), former Archbishop of Canterbury
The story so far…
Week 2: At Austin Friars / Visitation
Warham was the Lord Chancellor before Wolsey. He is mentioned in “Visitation” as a man unlikely to return to his old just. He is too old, too stubborn, and “too unaccommodating to the king’s wishes.” That’s a nod to the divorce.
Week 8: The Dead Complain of Their Burial / Arrange Your Face (Part 1)
The Cardinal took his office as Lord Chancellor fifteen years ago. The man is folding into himself, "his eyes are dead-fish eyes.” He tells More: death comes to us all. “Dear God, he thinks, if that’s the best you get from the Archbishop of Canterbury, I could do his job.”
Week 10: 'Alas, What Shall I Do For Love?' (Part 1)
Hugh Latimer walks free while other heretics face the fire. “So you made Warham a pretty speech?”
‘Perhaps the old fellow is losing his appetite for burnings now his own end is so near. He is shrieveling like a seepod in the sun, when he moves you can hear his bones rattle.’
In King’s council, he oversees Harry Percy’s oath that he is not married to Anne Boleyn. Afterwards, he tells Henry:
‘I have seen you promote within your own court and council person whose principles and morals will hardly bear scruinty. I have seen you deifty your own will and appetite, to the sorrow and scandal of Christian people. I have been loyal to you, to the point of violation of my own conscience. I have done much for you, but now I have done the last thing I will ever do.’
Week 11: 'Alas, What Shall I Do For Love?' (Part 2) / Early Mass
Warham dies in August. He will replaced by the unlikely priest, Thomas Cranmer.