Pandulph

Play

King John

Summary

Cardinal Pandulph, the papal legate, is the cold, calculating representative of Rome who excommunicates John, persuades France to break its peace with England, and then — when it suits Rome's interests — reverses course and urges France to make peace again. He is Shakespeare's portrait of political religion stripped of all spirituality: a master manipulator for whom doctrine is a tool of statecraft.

Notable Quotations

"Then I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal, / And from Pope Innocent the legate here, / Do in his name religiously demand / Why thou against the church, our holy mother, / So wilfully dost spurn." *(3.1)*

"How green you are and fresh in this old world! / John lays you plots; the times conspire with you; / For he that steeps his safety in true blood / Shall find but bloody safety and untrue." *(3.4)*

Cross-references

• King John — the play
• King John — the king he excommunicates
• King Philip — the French king he manipulates
• The Bastard (Philip Faulconbridge) — who sees through political commodity
• Histories