" 
 ::In fact the period is even more nuanced. Henry VIII always regarded himself as an orthodox Catholic - he simply rejected the right of a foreign sovereign (the pope) to be involved in ecclesiastical matters within his own jurisdiction. He wavered between the reform cause and the traditionalist camp depending on what wife he was married to. The Act of Six Articles clamped down on protestants in the kingdom and was deeply pro-Catholic. Also, wife one was Catherine of Aragon - so it's incorrect to say he was ""not over-keen on Catholics"" from then on. This was the period in which he was awarded the title Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X for his refutation of Martin Luther. Protestants suffered as much as Catholics, and Catholics made sure they got their own back on protestants when Mary Tudor came to the throne. And reformers of the church saw themselves as Catholics looking to improve the way the church was run so there isn't really one side or another. I am agreed that we should nevertheless move on and stop pretending there is anti-Catholic bias in a historical novel seen through the eyes of one man (Thomas Cromwell).   "