Five Wounds of Christ

The Five Wounds of Christ are represented in the novel by the central design on a white silk badge that Thomas Cromwell uses against Margaret Pole. The emblem’s significance turns on this change of setting: a token kept in a private box is made to serve as evidence in a public campaign against the Plantagenets, despite the absence of any crime in possessing it.

Appearance and Association

The badge is white silk, embroidered with the Five Wounds of Christ and topped by a white rose. Margaret says it was given to her by Thomas Darcy. Its design joins a Christian devotional image to the white rose associated with the Plantagenet cause, making the badge legible as more than a religious object in a politically charged setting.

The badge is also linked to the memory of the Pilgrimage of Grace. Margaret reflects that many people may have kept similar badges in country houses from a time when they hoped that better days might come, when pilgrims were marching for grace. The passage suggests the emblem’s political associations without establishing that possession of it proves participation in the uprising.

The Badge as Evidence

In 1539, while Margaret is imprisoned in the Tower of London, Parliament considers an Act of Attainder declaring the Plantagenets traitors without trial or evidence. Thomas Cromwell produces dozens of letters attributed to Gertrude Courtenay, as well as an undelivered letter Margaret had written to her son Reginald to assure him of her love. He then draws the badge from a satchel and presents it as conclusive evidence of Margaret’s guilt.

The accusation rests on implication rather than a demonstrated offense. The narrative explicitly notes that an embroidered badge kept in an old box is not a crime, and Cromwell does not identify a crime in presenting it. The contrast between the badge’s ordinary private keeping and its theatrical display before Parliament exposes how an emblem can be made to bear the weight of a case when the evidence itself is weak.

Political Meaning and Consequences

The badge’s appearance accompanies a wider punishment: the Act of Attainder declares the Plantagenets traitors, forfeits their goods to the Crown, and disinherits their children. The lords and commons scarcely react to Cromwell’s display. The narrative leaves open whether they are weary of attainders and deaths or recognize that many may have kept similar tokens from the days of the Pilgrimage of Grace.

The Five Wounds thus become a contested sign. Their devotional design and association with the white rose allow the badge to evoke both faith and dynastic allegiance, while Cromwell turns that ambiguity into an accusation. Its evidentiary force comes not from proof of a specific act, but from the political meaning assigned to an object Margaret had kept. She remains in the Tower, as do her grandson Harry Pole, Gertrude, and Gertrude’s young son.