New research suggests Thomas Cromwell owned Trinity College prayer book
The trail indicates Cromwell owned the product.
A fifteenth century prayer book in Trinity College may have belonged to Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII , according to new research.
Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer, recognised the bejewelled, silver gilt binding of the Trinity book from the famous portrait of Cromwell by Hans Holbein the Younger.
The researchers followed a trail that links the book from its donor directly back to Thomas Cromwell.
Dr Nicolas Bell said: “This book of devotional prayers is remarkable for its unusually grand binding, covered with velvet, jewels and highly decorated silver gilt borders, all of which date from the time it was printed and illuminated. It has been enormously exciting to position this luxurious creation in the very centre of the court of Henry VIII, where we know that both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn owned copies of the very same edition.”
Kate McCaffrey, from Hever Castle, said: “We now believe that Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, and Thomas Cromwell all owned a copy of the same prayer book… We are confident that this discovery will shed new light on the often-troubled relationship between these giants of the Tudor court.”
Dr Tracy Borman said it was: “The most exciting Cromwell discovery in a generation – if not more.”