Chapter 10: A Gentleman's Deception of a Square

 As night slowly descended, Bishop Thomas's mansion was shrouded in the white fog of London, appearing to be hidden and only faintly visible as an outline.

 Since the Reformation by Henry VIII, most of the property belonging to the Catholic Church has been annexed almost exclusively by the Tudor crown.

 The ecclesiastical property belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury at that time, including the mansion where Bishop Thomas now lives, was confiscated by the Tudor crown.

 However, Henry VIII's late period not only did war with the French, but also dared to interfere with the Scottish throne succession, and finally not only sold out most of the landed properties confiscated by the Reformation, but also owed a lot of debt.

 So, Bishop Thomas bought this original property as his mansion.

 So how did Thomas have the money to ransom the Church's property since it was confiscated? Let's find out about him!

 Cranmer was born in Aislecotton, Nottinghamshire, England. His father, Thomas Cranmer, was a man of modest means, and belonged to the lower class of squires. He first studied in the countryside, then entered Cambridge University, or was elected to Jesus College to engage in theological studies, was ordained to the priesthood in 2007, and was soon awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and after many years of painstaking study at Cambridge University, he became an outstanding theologian of his time.

 He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in January. This office became the highest priesthood in the Church of England after the country broke off relations with the Holy See.

 Historically, Cranmer served in this position for a period of years under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He approved Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine and his marriage to Anna Boleyn, and took part in the promotion of the English Reformation movement; he also published a series of ideas and writings on reforming the church based on his profound theological theories and the main points of the Protestant denominations, providing a theoretical foundation for the English Reformation.

 So you let a reformed man reform his own property is it possible? Like some notable property he can only give up, like a house.

 But not too many gold coins and the like, and almost at the instant of the betrayal of this former ecclesiastical property, Bishop Thomas bought it.

 Edward brought a few guards to the front of Bishop Cranmer's residence, and looking at this palace complex no less than Whitehall Palace, he couldn't help but feel that the church was really rich.

 The Catholic Church is really rich, as an example. Like Edward's regular Ampton Court was owned by a show-off Bishop of Wolsey. Because he pissed off Henry VIII, his assets were confiscated after the Reformation, and even the famous universities of later times - Oxford, Cambridge - were his assets.

 This does not include its dozens of properties and stores in London.

 The Reformation in England not only fed the Tudor royal family, but also gave a reprieve to the nobles who had been greatly wounded in the War of the Roses. Even the common peasants were given a few acres of land, greatly easing the social tensions of the growing population of the time.

 So the Reformation in England was a feast of partaking, in accordance with the popular will, and the inevitable result of the general trend.

 Back on topic, Edward sighed as he was led to the Lord Bishop's study by Bishop Cranmer's steward.

 The butler had been raised from the Cranmer family, and so was deeply trusted by the bishop, and had been sent to greet Edward.

 Edward motioned for a couple of guards to wait outside the door and simply walked into the study, the butler casually closing the door to the room and watching directly at the door.

 So the few guards at the door stood wide-eyed and direct as well.

 At this moment, the Lord Bishop was casually looking at a book, nodding his head with great interest, and Edward took a closer look at it, which turned out to be Aristotle's original work on ethics.

 It seems the Lord Bishop is an open-minded man, not a rigid thinker! That's right! It is impossible to help Henry VIII with the Reformation with a rigid mindset! Edward thought silently in his mind.

 After waiting for almost half an hour, Edward was the first to speak "Venerable Archbishop Cranmer, here I am!" Edward then realized that he had fallen into Cranmer's stride.

 "Old fox!" Edward couldn't stop cursing in his mind.

 "Oh! So it's His Majesty the King, look at me, I'm old, I got carried away with reading, I'm really sorry!" Bishop Cranmer had an apologetic look on his face.

 Edward felt that he was still too young to fall for him by accident.

 With this old fox Edward was very cautious and put forth ten percent of his energy to face it.

 "Your Eminence the Archbishop! I am here today for my uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset!" Edward heartily weighed his words.

 "Grace! What's wrong with the Lord Duke?" The Lord Bishop asked offhandedly.

 "Don't you think it's inappropriate for all the power to be placed on one minister?" Edward asked rhetorically.

 "Only a king can exercise his God-given rights like that!" Edward added a little more, "And it wasn't the will of the late king, was it!"

 Hearing Edward bring up God and the previous king, Bishop Cranmer couldn't help but frown as well.

 If Edward had promised titles and money, Cranmer would not have cared so much. As a canonical archbishop, he had already sat at the top of the clergy in England and owned countless estates, so his life was not too perfect.

 But Bishop Cranmer's leap from a cleric to the Archbishop of Canterbury, without any background in a world ruled by the nobility, was almost directly supported by the dry dictum of Henry VIII.

 Hearing some nobles at the time offered a sky-high price of 100,000 pounds, knowing that the Tudor (duo) government at the time had not yet carried out religious reforms, and that it was only 10,000 pounds a year. And Henry VIII still think he is the main candidate for reform, let him to be the position of Archbishop of Canterbury.

 Thinking of Henry VIII's promotion, even after more than ten years, Cranmer still remembered vividly.

 As for Edward's dislike of himself with his edited theory of the divine right of kings, it left him speechless.

 Edward stared intently at the bishop, a cold sweat breaking out on his palms.

 "Alas! Careless! Shouldn't have shown the cards directly, wait until after some time when Seymour does something out of the ordinary and then just go with the flow!" Edward felt an instant twinge of regret after finishing his words in his heart.

 Bishop Cranmer pondered for a moment and spoke helplessly "Your Majesty! I will not do anything against Lord Duke of Somerset now!" He added with a twist of words.

 "But I'll be neutral at future Regents meetings!"

 Edward forced himself to hold back his excitement and thanked him before consciously exiting the study.

 Casually closing the door of the room, several guards immediately followed behind and walked out of the mansion together.

 After returning to his study he could no longer contain his excitement and laughed aloud.

 "Haha! That was a close one! A different person wouldn't have been able to handle it... This is how a gentleman can bully his way out of a square, isn't it!"