Thomas Cromwell—Rafe Sadler

Thomas Cromwell and Rafe Sadler share a relationship that develops from childhood fosterage into a durable bond of mentorship, trust, and mutual service. Cromwell brings Rafe into his household at the age of seven, raises him alongside his own children, and relies on him as a discreet and capable agent. In turn, Rafe’s loyalty persists through Cromwell’s crisis after Thomas Wolsey’s fall and into his rise as Master Secretary. Their intimacy is most clearly tested when Rafe reveals that he has secretly married Helen Barre: Cromwell first rebukes him, then accepts the marriage and helps him build a life around it.

Fosterage and the household

Rafe enters Cromwell’s household through a practical arrangement with his father, Henry Sadler, who asks Cromwell to teach his son what he knows. The parting takes place in bad weather: Rafe’s parents wrap the seven-year-old in layers of wool, his mother asks Cromwell to make sure he says his prayers, and Cromwell takes the child away with him. At Fenchurch Street, he warms Rafe by the fire and tells him that he is home. The episode establishes the relationship as more than employment: Cromwell assumes responsibility for a frightened child and makes the new household a place of safety and belonging.

Rafe grows up under Cromwell’s roof, first at Fenchurch Street and later at Austin Friars. Cromwell counts him among the young people he wants to protect and educate, alongside his son Gregory and his nephews Richard Williams and Christopher. He trusts Rafe as he would trust his own son, while recognizing that the young man is not a Cromwell by birth or appearance. The household’s joking habit of pretending not to see Rafe, and then wondering aloud where he has gone, conveys the ease of their shared life rather than distance between them.

Companionship and trust

After the death of Cromwell’s wife Liz, Rafe remains close at hand. During a period when Cromwell is grieving and struggling to make sense of his loss, the two read a book about chess together. Rafe regrets that he did not find Cromwell sooner, but Cromwell answers without blame; their game reaches a stalemate because neither can gain an advantage. The scene makes their equality in companionship visible within a relationship that remains unequal in age and authority. They can tease one another, and Rafe’s presence offers company without demanding that grief be explained away.

Cromwell’s trust is also political. When he is sent to Westminster to secure a seat for Cromwell in the new Parliament, Rafe investigates the intentions of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and reports what he learns. Cromwell listens closely to the report, reads Rafe’s reactions, and tests the duke’s offer against the danger of abandoning Wolsey. Rafe’s errand is not a minor household task: it helps Cromwell judge the loyalties and pressures surrounding his former master at a moment when his own future is uncertain.

Their reliance on each other continues as Cromwell’s work brings him into conflict with powerful men. He speaks frankly with Rafe about the risks of remaining loyal to Wolsey and about the need to protect Wolsey’s household. Rafe, meanwhile, can challenge or question Cromwell without losing his place at his side. The relationship’s trust rests on practical knowledge as much as affection: Rafe carries messages, observes court politics, and helps Cromwell act, while Cromwell shares with him the judgments that guide those actions.

Shared work through political upheaval

When Wolsey’s position collapses, Cromwell admits to George Cavendish that he fears losing everything he has worked for because he served as Wolsey’s friend and right-hand man. Yet even amid that distress, he has sent Rafe to Westminster to secure him a place in Parliament. Cromwell considers going after him, then turns to the immediate problem of paying Wolsey’s household servants. Rafe’s parliamentary mission thus belongs to the same effort as Cromwell’s financial and political manoeuvring: both are ways of preserving a future for those bound to the fallen cardinal.

The arrangement carries risk. In the new Parliament, seats depend on the favour of powerful patrons, and Rafe’s success at Taunton requires the king’s assent as well as Norfolk’s. Rafe reports that Norfolk believes Wolsey has buried treasure and suspects Cromwell knows where it is; he also makes clear that the duke may seek to bring Cromwell into his own service. Cromwell does not mistake the offer for simple goodwill. Rafe’s ability to discover what lies behind Norfolk’s manner helps Cromwell navigate between political survival and loyalty to Wolsey.

Cromwell’s later advancement does not dissolve their working partnership. As he discusses reorganizing his service around his growing responsibilities, he plans that Rafe will attend Henry VIII alongside him. He also recognizes the limits imposed by court life: Rafe cannot simply bring his wife into the king’s circle. Cromwell’s plan connects his own political position to Rafe’s prospects, but it does not treat Rafe merely as an instrument. When Rafe’s personal choice disrupts the expected path of advancement, Cromwell changes his advice rather than withdrawing his support.

Rafe’s marriage and Cromwell’s response

On the river after Cromwell has been made Master Secretary, Rafe tells him that he has been secretly married to Helen Barre for half a year. Cromwell is startled and immediately worries that Rafe has thrown away the advantages of a more profitable match. His concern is sharpened by the secrecy: Rafe has married beneath the expectations of his family’s connections, and the marriage may provoke anger from his father. Cromwell also recalls that Helen had once asked whether she might marry again, and realizes that he failed to understand what she was telling him.

The initial rebuke gives way to a more generous response. Rafe says that he is violently in love with Helen; Cromwell asks what that feels like, then accepts that the marriage is neither a disaster nor a reason for Rafe to repent. He offers to help Rafe establish a separate home and promises to bring his father around. Because Rafe and Helen wish to keep the children in Cromwell’s household, Cromwell accepts that he will miss them, along with Mercy, rather than insist that the new couple remove them. His response combines affection with practical provision: he protects Rafe’s future while recognizing that the future is no longer his to choose for him.

Cromwell also arranges their work around the marriage. Rafe will accompany him in service to the king; Richard Williams will lead the household when Cromwell is away, and Thomas Wriothesley will handle diplomatic and cipher work. Rafe worries that he cannot take Helen to court, and Cromwell acknowledges that the world is unlikely to change enough to make that possible in their lifetimes. He does not pretend that affection removes the barriers of status and court convention. Instead, he promises support within those limits and tells Rafe not to repent of his choice.

The meaning of the bond

Cromwell’s care for Rafe is repeatedly expressed through acts of protection and trust: taking him from his parents when he is a child, keeping him within the household, relying on him during the struggle over Wolsey’s future, and supporting him after his marriage. Rafe, in turn, is not merely a dependent. He serves as Cromwell’s messenger and observer, shares his private moments, and brings him news that affects both household and political life. Their closeness is personal, but it is also part of the network through which Cromwell works and survives at court.

The relationship complicates the idea of a family defined solely by descent. Cromwell thinks of Rafe as a son he trusts, even as he recognizes that Rafe has his own father, family obligations, and choices. His eventual acceptance of the marriage marks a change in how that care is exercised: rather than directing Rafe toward the most advantageous match, he helps him live with the one he has made. The bond therefore joins political usefulness to genuine attachment, without allowing one to erase the other.