graces of manner, and which had not yet sunk to the extreme profligacy by which it was corrupte, during the closing years of the reign of ANNE BOLEYN, afte Francis 1. After the s royal mistress to the T installed in an honor Claude, queen of Fr was unlikely to ac which Popish wr upon her early to England is that those 1522, wh on whi broug who Fr ti and soon after in 1523. Anne. Was mic lover the W ALITARY. at at Rome; tiff, who was arles did not the divorce of However, escaped ardener, and took of Orvieto; and a ommand of Lautrec, lps, advanced through But Lautrec loitered at of his army, the first who were Henry's matrimo been recently reinforced by Knight, the king's secretary. in a distressing dilemma. If he re ant what Henry required he had to nd that the French army, partly sup d by English money, would do nothing for m, and if he complied he drew down upon himself the vengeance of the Imperialists, who anne were still masters of Rome, and likely for some time to remain so, seeing the dilatory movements of Lautrec. He seems naturally to have wished to gain time, but the envoys, knowing the amorous impatience of their master, induced him to sign two papers which had been drawn up in England, empowering Wolsey to decide the divorce, and granting Henry a dispensation to marry any other woman whatsoever, without regard to certain canonical restrictions. He hoped that these papers might be kept secret, at least till the French army was near enough to support him, and this, it should appear, was promised to him by the English diplomatists; but scarcely had Clement signed the two authorizations when Gregorio Cassali, a friend of Wolsey, who seems to have dreaded the responsibility of acting alone, "presented himself, and requested that an Italian cardinal, a legate from Rome, should be sent into England, and joined in the France, etermination e and Queen of inal fell upon his ng to renounce this in Henry's wrath, that strance would only be danhe adroitly changed his tack, hard-set current, and soon enwhatever service the king him in this matter. By Henry's tise on the divorce was submitted deration of the learned Sir Thomas feeling the danger of acting as a resuch a case, tried to excuse himself by he was not a theologian. But Henry him to confer with some of the bishops, get up an approval of his writing. Sir hat m as, who was himself against the divorce, delicate commission with the English cardinal." but few ready to embrace the royal docgines, and, in an ingenious speech, he recommended Henry to see what St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and the other fathers of the church, had said upon such subjects. When Wolsey attempted to win over the bishops and great divines, they said they thought it a matter to be referred to the supreme arbitrament of the pope. After long hesitation, Henry's agents in Italy were instructed to refer the cause to the pontiff. But this application was provided against by the emperor. Long before it was definitively made, or any succour sent to his Holiness, Clement had been obliged by famine to capitulate and deliver up the castle of St. Angelo to the Imperialists, who continued to keep him and some thirteen of Lord Herbert; letters quoted in Burnet's History of the Refor marim: Le Grand; Guicciardini; Dr Lingard. Clement remarked that this was likely to lengthen and embarrass the proceedings; but he complied with this request also, and offered Henry his choice of any one out of six cardinals whom he named. These transactions with the pope took place at the end of the year 1527. A.D. 1528. As yet neither Henry nor Francis had openly declared war against Charles, but now, in the month of January, Clarenceux and Guienne, kings-at-arms, defied him, in the forms of chivalry, upon the same day. To the Frenchman Charles merely said that his de fiance was uncalled for, as he and Francis had long been engaged in hostilities; but to Clarenceux he justified his conduct, protested he had done nothing to merit the resentment of his mas which cast the whole blame upon Henry. The ter, and delivered a long and well-written paper, Henry's recent boast that the Lutheran doctrine could not cleave to his kingdom of England, that doctrine had already struck its roots deep into the soil; and while those who secretly favoured its growth knew that Catherine was a devout Catholic, they had reasons for believing that Anne Boleyn inclined to the Reformation. At the same time Wolsey, upon very different motives, was ready to promote the divorce from Catherine, for he was now incensed against her nephew the emperor, and he ardently wished to strengthen the new alliance with France, by marrying his master to Renée, daughter of the late king Louis XII. It is said, indeed, that the cardinal, who during many years had professed the greatest friendship and devotion to Catherine, first suggested the divorce; but this point, though probable, is not proved, and Wolsey sometimes denied it, and at others admitted it, as best uited the purposes he had in hand at the time. It appears certain, however, that the cardinal never for a moment contemplated the possibility of the king's marrying Anne Boleyn. The usage of such marriages-though once common enough—between sovereign and subject, was now generally exploded, and the cardinal promised many advantages to himself from the French alliance. The Bishop of Tarbes, who was in England settling the other marriage proposed in the late treaty, between Henry's daughter Mary and Francis, or the Duke of Orleans, the son of Francis (a delicate specimen of royal matrimonial negotiation!) suddenly asked whether the legitimacy of the Princess Mary, as daughter of Catherine, was beyond the reach of all legal and canonical doubt. It was generally believed that this question was put at the suggestion of Wolsey, as a pretext for the king, as something likely to make a great impression on the public mind.' In the course of the summer Wolsey went over to France to negotiate in person. The cardinal was received as if he had been a king. Upon reaching Boulogne the artillery fired a royal salute; but hereby an accident well nigh befell the gorgeous churchman, "through the obstinacy of his mule," which took fright at the noise of the great guns. By the French king's orders he was permitted, in all such places as he passed through on his journey, "to release, pardon, and put at liberty all such transgressors as be detained in prison, of whatsoever quality their offence." On the 4th of August Francis himself welcomed the cardinal, having advanced a mile and a half from the city of Amiens to meet him on the road.2 The great ostensible object of Wolsey's splendid embassy was, to concert measures with Fiancis for the rescue of the pope, who was still besieged in the castle of St. Angelo by the Germans and Spaniards. This object, indeed, was ìoudly proclaimed on the journey; and wherever the cardinal stopped for Divine worship the litany which was chanted included a "Santa Maria, ora pro Papa nostro Clemente." On one of these occasions Cavendish, the attached servant and minute biographer of Wolsey, says "I saw the lord-cardinal weep very tenderly, which was, as we supposed, for heaviness that the pope was at that present time in such calamity and great danger of the lance-knights." But, in the consultations which now took place, the pope and the interests of the Catholic church were secondary subjects, the primary ones being the treaties of close alliance and intermarriages between the courts of England and France, and the establishing of Wolsey as a sort of pro-pope during the restraint of Clement. The emperor, by means of his ambassador, remonstrated with Wolsey on his master's divorce from Queen Catherine, whispers of which had already got abroad, and which was considered by Charles as a grievous family insult, to obviate which he was ready to make many concessions. The emperor was also alarmed at the prospect of the close alliance between Henry and Francis; and he did his best to outbid the French king, offering, among other things, to give the hand of the Princess of Portugal, his wife's sister, to the Duke of Richmond, Henry's natural son, now a boy about eight or nine years old. Wolsey, by his master's orders, listened to all these proposals, and even treated the report of the divorce as an idle rumour. The cardinal, however, concluded four separate treaties with Francis. The first confirmed the recent engagement of perpetual alliance between England and France; the second stipulated that Henry's daughter should be married to the Duke of Orleans, the son, if she were not married to Francis, the father; the third fixed the subsidies to be furnished by England for the war in Italy, that was to be conducted by Francis in aid of the pope; and the last declared that, till the pope should resume the government of the church, whatever should be determined in France by the clergy of the Gallican church, and in England by the cardinal-legate (Wolsey) and the principal members of the English church, called together by the king's authority, should be held good and valid, even as if the pope had decreed and spoken it. It has been plausibly supposed-and 1 Cardinal Pole, Apologia; Hist. Divorce de Henri VIII. par this invaluable collection of historical materials remarks, that Le Grand, who quotes original letters. Letters from Wolsey to the king, in State Papers, published by order of government. The learned and accurate editor of VOL. I. this appears to be the first occasion of Wolsey's adopting the style of "majesty," in addressing Henry VIII. Our kings had, till now, been satisfied with "your highness," or "your grace," 98 the supposition is in much seeming accordance with extracts from letters written by Wolsey at the time, to his master that the object of the last clause was to invest the cardinal with full power to manage "the great and secret affair," or the divorce of Catherine. But this throwing open of ecclesiastical authority had another effect, which Wolsey probably did not foresee; "for here," says a noble contemporary, "began the relish our king took of governing the church himself!" When the treaties were signed, Henry expressed his entire satisfaction at them; and Wolsey told Louisa, the mother of Francis, that within a year she would see a princess of her own blood Queen of England, and wife of his master, in lieu of the emperor's aunt Catherine. The cardinal returned to England rejoicing in his success; but, while he had been engaged for a French princess, Henry had been assiduously courting his fair English subject-Mistress Anne Boleyn. As soon as Wolsey returned from France, Henry announced to him his fixed determination of making Anne Boleyn his wife and Queen of England. The astounded cardinal fell upon his knees and implored the king to renounce this project; but soon seeing, in Henry's wrath, that opposition and remonstrance would only be dangerous to himself, he adroitly changed his tack, fell in with the hard-set current, and soon engaged to perform whatever service the king might require of him in this matter. By Henry's orders his treatise on the divorce was submitted to the consideration of the learned Sir Thomas More, who, feeling the danger of acting as a reviewer in such a case, tried to excuse himself by saying that he was not a theologian. But Henry urged him to confer with some of the bishops, and so get up an approval of his writing. Sir Thomas, who was himself against the divorce, found but few ready to embrace the royal doctrines, and, in an ingenious speech, he recommended Henry to see what St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and the other fathers of the church, had said upon such subjects. When Wolsey attempted to win over the bishops and great divines, they said they thought it a matter to be referred to the supreme arbitrament of the pope. After long hesitation, Henry's agents in Italy were instructed to refer the cause to the pontiff. But this application was provided against by the emperor. Long before it was definitively made, or any succour sent to his Holiness, Clement had been obliged by famine to capitulate and deliver up the castle of St. Angelo to the Imperialists, who continued to keep him and some thirteen of Lord Herbert; letters quoted in Burnet's History of the Refor nuttum; Le Grand; Guicciardini; Dr Lingard. the cardinals in a kind of imprisonment at Rome; and in settling a treaty with the pontiff, who was made to pay 400,000 ducats, Charles did not neglect to bind him to oppose the divorce of his aunt Catherine. Clement, however, escaped from Rome, disguised as a gardener, and took refuge in the strong town of Orvieto; and a French army, under the command of Lautrec, which at last crossed the Alps, advanced through Lombardy to his relief. But Lautrec loitered at Piacenza, and, instead of his army, the first who waited upon the pope were Henry's matrimonial agents, who had been recently reinforced by the arrival of Dr. Knight, the king's secretary. The pope was in a distressing dilemma. If he refused to grant what Henry required he had to apprehend that the French army, partly sup ported by English money, would do nothing for him, and if he complied he drew down upon himself the vengeance of the Imperialists, who were still masters of Rome, and likely for some time to remain so, seeing the dilatory movements of Lautrec. He seems naturally to have wished to gain time, but the envoys, knowing the amorous impatience of their master, induced him to sign two papers which had been drawn up in England, empowering Wolsey to decide the divorce, and granting Henry a dispensation to marry any other woman whatsoever, without regard to certain canonical restrictions. He hoped that these papers might be kept secret, at least till the French army was near enough to support him, and this, it should appear, was promised to him by the English diplomatists; but scarcely had Clement signed the two authorizations when Gregorio Cassali, a friend of Wolsey, who seems to have dreaded the responsibility of acting alone, "presented himself, and requested that an Italian cardinal, a legate from Rome, should be sent into England, and joined in the delicate commission with the English cardinal." Clement remarked that this was likely to lengthen and embarrass the proceedings; but he complied with this request also, and offered Henry his choice of any one out of six cardinals whom he named. These transactions with the pope took place at the end of the year 1527. As yet neither Henry nor FranA.D. 1528. cis had openly declared war against Charles, but now, in the month of January, Clarenceux and Guienne, kings-at-arms, defied him, in the forms of chivalry, upon the same day. To the Frenchman Charles merely said that his defiance was uncalled for, as he and Francis had long been engaged in hostilities; but to Clarenceux he justified his conduct, protested he had done nothing to merit the resentment of his mas which cast the whole blame upon Heury. The ter, and delivered a long and well-written paper, to implore that Cardinal Campeggio should be joined with him in the commission, and he explained to the king some doubts and difficulties which he had encountered among the English canonists. Henry answered him with “terrible terms," forgetting the long services of his minister in his absorbing passion. He probably saw that since Wolsey had been disappointed in his expectations of marrying him to the French princess, he was not over eager for the divorce; and there was already a feud between the cardinal and the family and friends of Anne Boleyn. But the fury of Henry now made Wolsey tremble, and in great haste he supplicated the pope to sign the decretal bull, which he considered as the only security that his judgment would never be revoked, and that the court of Rome would never listen to any appeal on the part of the divorced queen. Clement at last signed the instrument, and appointed Campeggio to act with the English cardinal, instructing him not to let the said bull out of his hands, but merely to show it in the English court, if absolutely obliged thereto.2 affair of Queen Catherine was made very promi- | throwing the responsibility upon him. He sent nent. "Can I," said the emperor, "overlook the indignity with which he threatens my aunt, by applying for a divorce, or the insult which he has offered to me, by soliciting me to marry his daughter Mary, whom he now pronounces a bastard? But I well know who has suggested all this. I would not gratify the rapacity of the Cardinal of York, nor employ my armies to make him pope; and he has sworn vengeance against me, and now seeks to work out his purposes." But, in reality, there was no war at all, except what was carried on by the French in Italy, Henry having neither money nor time to spare from his other grand pursuit. He had not thought it wise to make his selection of a second legate, and he doubted whether the pope might not consider himself at liberty to revise any sentence of divorce pronounced by Wolsey, or by any other delegate; and he now despatched Dr. Gardiner and Dr. Edward Fox to demand a fresh and more ample dispensation, and a new instrument, called a decretal bull, in which the pope was not only to promise an entire confirmation of the judgment which Wolsey and his other legate might pronounce, but also to declare that the prohibition in Leviticus, notwithstanding the permission in Deuteronomy, was imperative, and a fundamental law of the Christian church, and consequently that Henry's treatise upon the divorce was a correct piece of polemical reasoning. The two learned English doctors were instructed not to rely wholly upon their own eloquence, but to promise the pope possession of Ravenna and Cervia, which, by some means or other, he (Henry) was to obtain from the Venetians, a people by no means remarkable for a lack of tenacity in keep-chamber were in great danger. Upon this, the ing what they had got. Clement readily enough signed the dispensation in the form prescribed; but he was more scrupulous as to granting the decretal bull, which went to destroy the dogma of infallibility, as his predecessor, Julius II., had fully sanctioned the marriage of Catherine, notwithstanding the fact of her previous union with Henry's own brother, Prince Arthur. But the doctor's reasoning, and the flattering promises made to him, shook the resolution of Clement, who consented to refer the original dispensation of Julius, which allowed the marriage, to a commission, and to authorize Wolsey, with the aid of any one of the English bishops, to pronounce thereon, and to dissolve the marriage, if the instrument had been obtained unfairly. In consideration to the Princess Mary, a clause was added to legitimatize her in case of her mother being divorced. The compliance of the pope filled Henry with joy and Wolsey with misgiv- Lord Herbert; Burnet. ing, for the cardinal saw that Clement was Le Grand. In the month of May, the city of London and the court were thrown into great consternation by the sudden appearance of the sweating sickness. The disease soon showed itself among the female servants of Anne Boleyn. By the orders of the anxious lover, Anne was instantly conducted into Kent, to Hever Castle, the seat of her father, Lord Rochford; but she carried the infection with her, and communicated it to her parent. Both father and daughter, however, were soon out of danger. Some noble retainers of the lord-cardinal died in his palace, and several gentlemen of the privy 3 king fled, and sought to escape the contagion by locking himself up and frequently changing his place of residence. His love was all forgotten, and he thought very seriously about his soul, confessing himself every day, and taking the sacrament, in company with his wife Catherine, every Sunday and every saint's day. People began to think that he would give up the project of the divorce, and lead a chaste and religious life; but, as soon as the sweating sickness was over, he recalled Anne to court, and ordered the degraded nobles to attend her levees as if she were their queen. Soon after this Cardinal Campeggio, who had loitered as long as he could on his journey, arrived at the English court, where he was received by Henry with exceeding great joy, and with tempting offers of bishoprics for himself, and lay honours for his son-by the un2 Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne, quoted by Le Grand; 3 Wolsey was not more courageous than the king-he fled from his own sumptuous palace, and for some days concealed himself from everybody in the country. |