given so rare a proof of fidelity, and who had CH. 6. been trained by the ablest statesman of the age. A.D. 1533To Wolsey Cromwell could render no more service except as a friend, and his warm friend he VOL. II. I CH. 7. A.D. 1533. April 22. I CHAPTER VII. THE LAST EFFORTS OF DIPLOMACY. HAVE now to resume the thread of the political history where it was dropped at the sentence of divorce pronounced by Cranmer, and the coronation of the new queen. The effect was about to be ascertained of these bold measures upon Europe; and of what their effect would be, only so much could be foretold with certainty, that the time for trifling was past, and the pope and Francis of France would be compelled to declare their true intentions. If these intentions were honest, the subordination of England to the papacy might be still preserved in a modified form. The papal jurisdiction was at end; the spiritual supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, with a diminished but considerable revenue attached to it, remained unaffected; and it was for the pope to determine whether, by fulfilling at last his original engagements, he would preserve these remnants of his power and privileges, or boldly take up the gage, excommunicate his disobedient subjects, and attempt by force to bring them back to their allegiance. The news of what had been done did not take him wholly by surprise. It was known at Brussels at the end of April that the king had married. marriage Clement The queen regent* spoke of it to the ambassador CH. 7. sternly and significantly, not concealing her ex- A.D. 1533. pectation of the mortal resentment which would The king's be felt by her brothers;† and the information compels was forwarded with the least possible delay to to declare the cardinals of the imperial faction at Rome. himself. The true purposes which underlay the contradiction of Clement's language are undiscoverable. Perhaps in the past winter he had been acting out a deep intrigue-perhaps he was drifting between rival currents, and yielded in any or all * Mary, widow of Louis of Hungary, sister of the emperor, and regent of the Netherlands. She was much affected when the first intimation of the marriage reached her. 'I am informed of a secret friend of mine,' wrote Sir John Hackett, that when the queen here had read the letters which she received of late out of England, the tears came to her eyes with very sad countenance. But indeed this day when I spake to her she showed me not such countenance, but told me that she was not well pleased. dame, je ne me doute point syl 6 Madame, il me semble estre assuree que l'empereur et le roy vostre frere qui sont deux Prinssys tres prudens et sayges, quant ilz aront considere indefferentement tout l'affaire qu ilz ne le deveroyent prendre que de bonne part.' And hereunto her Grace made me answer, saying, 'Da quant 'At her setting forward to ride at hunting, her Grace asked me if I had heard of late any tidings out of England. I told her Grace, as it is true, that I had none. She gave me a look as that she should marvel thereof, and said to me, Jay des nouvelles qui ne me semblent de le prendre de bonne part point trop bonnes,' and told me ce la,ne sayge M. l'ambassadeur." touching the King's Highness's-Hackett to the Duke of Normarriage. To the which I an- folk State Papers, vol. vii. P. swered her Grace and said, 'Ma- 452. A.D. 1533. CH. 7. directions as the alternate pressure varied; yet whatever had been the meaning of his language, whether it was a scheme to deceive Henry, or was the expression only of weakness and goodnature desiring to avoid a quarrel to the latest moment, the decisive step which had been taken in the marriage, even though it was nominally undivulged, obliged him to choose his course and openly adhere to it. After the experience of the past, there could be no doubt what that course May 12. The king appear at Rome. would be. On the 12th of May a citation was issued is cited to against the King of England, summoning him to appear by person or proxy at a stated day. It had been understood that no step of such a kind was to be taken before the meeting of the pope and Francis; Bennet, therefore, Henry's faithful secretary, hastily inquired the meaning of this measure. The pope told him that it could not be avoided, and the language which he used revealed to the English agent the inevitable future. The king, he said, had defied the inhibitory brief which had been lately issued, and had incurred excommunication; the imperialists insisted that he should be proceeded against for contempt, and that the excommunication should at once be pronounced. However great might be his own personal reluctance, it was not possible for him to remain passive; and if he declined to resort at the church once to the more extreme exercise of his power, suspended the hesitation was merely until the emperor was emperor prepared to enforce the censures of the church with the strong hand. It stood not 'with his The cen sures of only till the can execute them. A.D. 1533 honour to execute such censures,' he said, 'and the CH. 7. same not to be regarded.'* But there was no wish to spare Henry; and if Francis could be detached from his ally, and if the condition of the rest of Christendom became such as to favour the enterprise, England might evidently look for the worst which the pope, with the catholic powers, could execute. If the papal court was roused into so menacing a mood by the mere intimation of the secret marriage, it was easy to foresee what would ensue when the news arrived of the proceedings at Dunstable. Bennet entreated that the process. should be delayed till the interview; but the pope answered coldly that he had done his best and could do no more; the imperialists were urgent, and he saw no reason to refuse their petition.† This was Clement's usual language, but there was The pope's something peculiar in his manner. He had been and the exoften violent, but he had never shown resolution, of it. and the English agents were perplexed. The mystery was soon explained. He had secured himself on the side of France; and Francis, who at Calais had told Henry that his negotiations with the see of Rome were solely for the interests of England, that for Henry's sake he was marrying his son into a family beneath him in rank, that Henry's divorce was to form the especial subject * State Papers, vol. vii. p. 457. + Sir Gregory Cassalis to the Duke of Norfolk. Ad pontificem accessi, et mei sermonis illa summa fuit, vellet id præstare ut serenissimum regem nostrum cer tiorem facere possemus, in suâ resolution, planation |