On 2 April 1536, Passion Sunday, Anne Boleyn’s almoner, John Skip (Skyppe), fired a broadside at Thomas Cromwell from the pulpit of the king’s chapel.
His sermon “on the text Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato?” was a strong defense of the clergy from the attacks of “their defamers and from the immoderate zeal of men in holding up to public reprobation the faults of any single clergyman as if it were the fault of all.” Skip warned his listeners “against rebuking the clergy, even if they were sinful, as rebukers were often rebuked, like Nebuchadnezzar, who was God’s instrument to punish the Jews, “and yet was damned for his labour.” Moreover, Skip defended the customs of the church, and “urged that a King’s councillor ought to take good heed what advice he gave in altering ancient things, and that no people wished to take away the ceremonies of the Church, such as holy water, holy bread, &c. That alterations ought not to be made except in cases of necessity.”
Most significantly, Skip cited the Biblical example of King Ahasuerus and Ester to warn against “evil councillors, who suggested alteration in established customs”. When good King Ahasuerus “was moved by a wicked minister to destroy the Jews,” it was Queen Ester who stepped in and warned the Ahasuerus that his evil councilor, Haman, was lying to him. Thanks to Ester, the wicked minister Haman was destroyed and the king found favor in God’s sight.
The story of Ester was a clear warning for Thomas Cromwell, who was cast in the role of Haman. He and the queen were feuding over the continued role of the church clergy in charity and education in Britain. Anne wanted to keep the structures of the religious houses, but Cromwell wanted them destroyed. Anne was was letting Cromwell know she was Ester, and she would convince Henry to destroy Cromwell as Ester had convinced Ahasuerus to execute Haman if Cromwell didn’t stop attacking the essence of the church. She had brought Cromwell to Henry’s attention, and had raised him high, and she would bring him low again if he weren’t careful.
According to imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, Cromwell was too secure in Henry’s valuation of him to be worried by Anne’s attack. Cromwell supposedly told Chapuys that although the queen “would like to see his head off his shoulders” he didn’t need to worry; he could “trust so much on my master [Henry], that I fancy she [Anne] cannot do me any harm.”
However, Cromwell was bluffing. He was lowborn, a son of a blacksmith, and not even a prince of the church. He needed a consortium of Anne’s enemies to shield him, and he needed to get rid of her before she could unseat him from power.
With malice aforethought, Cromwell began to plot against the woman he now considered his enemy and a threat. Anne’s days were number …