'A Supplication for the Beggars' was published as a pamphlet by the 16th-century Protestant rebel and English propagandist Simon Fish. The 16-page pamphlet accused the Roman Catholic Church of everything from avarice to murder to treason. Fish argues that the clergy and the Roman Catholic Church hold a disproportionate share of England's resources, alleging that they hold half of England's wealth while only representing 1/100 of the male population and only 1/400 of the total population. The monasteries, he claims, further compound the Church's corruption by heaping taxes on the poor instead of helping them.

Retha Warnicke's fascinating and controversial reinterpretation focuses on the sexual intrigues and family politics pervading the court, offering a new explanation of Anne's fall.