It would have been a moment of high drama. It is certainly one that might be said to resonate across the historical period that this book addresses and throughout the fictional and non-fictional writing that it seeks to analyse. On Good Friday, 1513 John Colet, Dean of St Paul's, London preached a sermon to a congregation that included soldiers about to set off on one of many campaigns against the French. Sitting among the soldiers was their leader, Henry VIII, and, he must have thought, a figure of considerable inspiration to his troops as they prepared for the battles to come. The other source of inspiration, Henry might have assumed, would have been the deity they had assembled to worship. Also present at the service was Colet's friend Desiderius Erasmus, who coolly made a note for posterity of what happened that day.

Colet was by this time a substantial figure among the contemporary Church Reformers. Many of his earlier sermons had been published, recording what he saw as the decadence, indolence and corruption of some sections of the clergy. Colet urged the development of new administrative structures for the Church and the implementation of clearer financial arrangements for the paying of its officials' stipends. He was also opposed to compulsory celibacy for the priesthood and favoured a simplification of some aspects of liturgical practice. A charge of heresy brought against him had been dismissed, but the accusations (concerning Colet's views on the worship of images and other doctrinal practices) reveal that he reflected the mood of an increasing constituency among the clergy and the laity of the day.