Wolf Hall

by

Hilary Mantel

Emperor Charles Character Analysis

Emperor Charles is Queen Katherine’s nephew. As the Holy Roman Emperor, he guards the Holy Roman Empire against the influence of Protestants. He has great influence with Pope Clement, which is one of the reasons why the pope refuses to grant King Henry the annulment to his marriage with Katherine. Charles receives news from the English court through his ambassador, Chapuys. Charles threatens to invade England to protect the honor of his aunt Katherine, but he never does, knowing that he would not have the support of the English people.

Emperor Charles Quotes in Wolf Hall

The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Emperor Charles or refer to Emperor Charles. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power, Ambition, and Deception Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2 Quotes

He never lives in a single reality, but in a shifting shadow-mesh of diplomatic possibilities. While he is doing his best to keep the king married to Queen Katherine and her Spanish-Imperial family, by begging Henry to forget his scruples, he will also plan for an alternative world, in which the king’s scruples must be heeded, and the marriage to Katherine is void. Once that nullity is recognized—and the last eighteen years of sin and suffering wiped from the page—he will readjust the balance of Europe, allying England with France, forming a power bloc to oppose the young Emperor Charles, Katherine’s nephew. And all outcomes are likely, all outcomes can be managed, even massaged into desirability: prayer and pressure, pressure and prayer, everything that comes to pass will pass by God’s design, a design reenvisaged and redrawn, with helpful emendations, by the cardinal.

Related Characters: Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey , Queen Katherine, Emperor Charles
Page Number: 25-26
Explanation and Analysis:
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Emperor Charles Quotes in Wolf Hall

The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Emperor Charles or refer to Emperor Charles. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power, Ambition, and Deception Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 2 Quotes

He never lives in a single reality, but in a shifting shadow-mesh of diplomatic possibilities. While he is doing his best to keep the king married to Queen Katherine and her Spanish-Imperial family, by begging Henry to forget his scruples, he will also plan for an alternative world, in which the king’s scruples must be heeded, and the marriage to Katherine is void. Once that nullity is recognized—and the last eighteen years of sin and suffering wiped from the page—he will readjust the balance of Europe, allying England with France, forming a power bloc to oppose the young Emperor Charles, Katherine’s nephew. And all outcomes are likely, all outcomes can be managed, even massaged into desirability: prayer and pressure, pressure and prayer, everything that comes to pass will pass by God’s design, a design reenvisaged and redrawn, with helpful emendations, by the cardinal.

Related Characters: Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey , Queen Katherine, Emperor Charles
Page Number: 25-26
Explanation and Analysis: