Don’t believe everything you see play out in historical fiction, even when it’s based on a well-documented figure like Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light has introduced a woman who didn’t exist in real life.
At the end of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light episode 3, a woman comes to pay Cromwell a visit, sharing that he is her father. This woman is Jenneke, a woman who was introduced in Hilary Mantel’s novel Bringing Up the Bodies. Despite being in the novel and in the show, she is not based on a real person from history, but she does have a purpose.
Jenneke helps to delve deeper into Thomas Cromwell’s regret in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
Why would Mantel bring in a character who isn’t based on anyone in history? This was all for the sake of the story, and it certainly works well for a TV series. Much of Thomas Cromwell’s sorrow and guilt is internalized, and that can be hard to show in a TV series. By including Jenneke, Cromwell has someone he can talk to.
Mantel always portrayed Cromwell as a man who regretted his actions. He schemed his way to the top, and that meant lying about those who he viewed as people hindering his growth, such as Anne Boleyn. She wasn’t guilty of her crimes — at least, a lot of historians agree with this — but it’s always been debatable whether Anne’s execution caused Cromwell any sleepless nights. We see in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light that it does.
Thomas Cromwell did have an illegitimate daughter in real life
While Jenneke is a fictional character, there was potentially a real illegitimate daughter, but not one that Cromwell officially recognized. Born around 1530, around the time Cromwell’s wife and legitimate daughters died, a baby called Jane Cromwell was born. There are records that show this girl lived with Gregory Cromwell around the age of nine, but Thomas paid for many items.
Gregory would have been too young to be the father of this child, so it’s likely that she was an illegitimate child of Thomas. Radio Times shares that there is evidence that supports the idea of Elizabeth Gregory, a servant to the Cromwells, being the mother of the child. She was left a substantial amount of money in her will, but she didn’t officially claim the child. It’s possible that Thomas was protecting her reputation, as an illegitimate child would have ruined her.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light airs Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.
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