Hilary Mantel: 'Thomas Cromwell would have locked us down for longer'

Wolf Hall author tells online Hay festival that ‘the Tudors were very good at quarantine’

Thomas Cromwell, who lost family members to “sweating sickness” as the disease spread during his years in King Henry VIII’s court, would have enforced the UK lockdown for longer than the current government, according to Hilary Mantel.

Speaking at the Hay literary festival, which is entirely online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Wolf Hall author said the Tudors “were very good at quarantine in those days. They took it very seriously. I think he would have locked us down for a bit longer.”

Continue reading...