The combination of viewpoints spoke to the self-image the King had chosen for himself amid the debates of the 1530s: proponent of the ‘middle way’, weighing opinions from both extremes and sternly holding the balance between them. At the time it was a favourite pose to claim oneself as the centre-point of extremes, and the King’s centre-point did not coincide with any of those espoused by his theological team – not least because it was liable to shift without warning.
