Cardinal Wolsley was the Lord Chancellor of England during the opening parts of the play. Being Chancellor was a highly regarded position in the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Wolsley was a highly intellectual man. He wanted to try and help the King by persuading the Pope to grant him the divorce. Half way during the play Wolsley was on his way to be tried for treason when he falls fatally ill. He later dies but expresses his guilt while dying, as he knows that he has served his king better than he has served his God.
             The Duke of Norfolk was the Earl Martial of England. He was a man in his late forties but remained active and sporty. Norfolk made other people believe that his ideas were important because he believed in his ideologies, but he was actually not important. The Duke of Norfolk also presided over the trial of Thomas More and he believed that what More was fighting for was right.
             Richard Rich was a young man, in his early thirties, who approaches Thomas More over possible employment. Thomas does not give him a job but advice instead. He advises him to stay away from politics and go into teaching. Rich does not take this advice seriously and goes to Cromwell to enquire about jobs. Cromwell manipulates Rich into spying on More for him. Rich was willing to do anything for money, even if it meant committing perjury to receive positions higher up. Richard Rich eventually becomes Lord Chancellor of England.
             Chapuys is the Spanish ambassador of the King of Spain. He was very much against the idea of King Henry divorcing Catherine, as it would have been a great insult to Catherine of Argon as well as to the King of Spain. Basically, Chapuys thought himself to be bigger and grander than he actually was.
             Cromwell was Wolsley's secretary at the beginning of the play. He was a t
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