Introduction
After the breakdown of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the King and his new love Anne Boleyn explored every avenue to the removal of Henry’s Chancellor Thomas More, who was the country’s chief judge and Catherine’s most outspoken champion. William Roper tells us that they hoped to catch him out in accepting some bribe, however small, but were never able to do so.
FAR from accepting of any previous gift, which might have biased his judgment in the decision, the result invariably proved, that he had refused the most trifling token of gratitude from those whom his equity had righted. A lady, in whose favour he had made a decree in chancery against a nobleman of rank, having, as a token of her gratitude, presented him with a pair of gloves, and in them forty pounds in angels,* as a new year’s gift, More took the gloves; but, pouring out the money, and returning it, said with a smile, “Since it would be contrary to good manners to refuse a new year’s gift from a lady, I am content to take your gloves; but as for the lining, I utterly refuse it.”
Abridged
* An ‘angel’ was a gold coin of the period. See a picture at The British Museum. They were just over an inch in diameter, roughly the same as today’s £2 coin, but thinner and as light as a 20p piece, weighing only 80 grains (a little less than ⅕oz or about 5.18g). The first order to strike them came under Edward IV in 1465, and when they appeared a few years later the angel was equivalent to 6s 8d; by Henry VIII’s time it was worth 7s 6d, and in Elizabeth I’s day 10s (half a pound sterling). On one side it depicted the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, and on the other was a ship with a Cross-shaped mast and the inscription (in Latin) ‘By thy Cross save us, Christ Redeemer’. According to The National Archives the sum of forty pounds would be equivalent to some £17,650 in 2017, and Sir Thomas might have bought eight horses with his ‘lining’ — had he kept it.
Précis
When a lady gave Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, a pair of gloves crammed with money in gratitude for deciding a court case in her favour, he took the gloves but not the money. Henry VIII and his mistress Anne Boleyn, who had hoped Sir Thomas would disgrace himself and clear their legal path to marriage, were bitterly disappointed. (60 / 60 words)
When a lady gave Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, a pair of gloves crammed with money in gratitude for deciding a court case in her favour, he took the gloves but not the money. Henry VIII and his mistress Anne Boleyn, who had hoped Sir Thomas would disgrace himself and clear their legal path to marriage, were bitterly disappointed.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, besides, despite, must, or, since, unless.
Archive
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Far. Say. Take.
2 Decision. Her. Judgment.
3 Bias. Good. Make.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Refuse. 2. Year. 3. Pound. 4. Make. 5. Money. 6. Judgment. 7. Present. 8. Most. 9. Pair.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
t (13+3)
at. ate. auto. eat. iota. it. out. tea. tee. tie. to. toe. too.
oat. ta. ti.
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