Thomas Wyatt - Susan Brigden

Thomas
Wyatt (1503?-1542) was the first modern voice in English poetry. His poetry holds a mirror to the secret, capricious
world of Henry VIII's court, and alludes darkly to events which it might
be death to describe. In the Tower, twice, Wyatt was betrayed and
betrayer.

Thought to be the lover of Anne Boleyn, he was
also the devoted 'slave' of Katherine of Aragon. He
was driven to secrets and lies, and forced to live with the moral and
mortal consequences of his shifting allegiances. As ambassador to
Emperor Charles V, he enjoyed favour, but his embassy turned to
nightmare when the Pope called for a crusade against the English King
and sent the Inquisition against Wyatt. At Henry VIII's court, where only
silence brought safety, Wyatt played the idealized lover, but also
tried to speak truth to power.

Wyatt's life provides a way to examine the Renaissance and Reformation in England. Above all, this
new biography is attuned to Wyatt's voice,
the paradox within him of inwardness and the will to 'make plain' his
heart, which make him exceptionally difficult to know - and
fascinating to explore.