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14 | <Metadata name="Content">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter One</Metadata>
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15 | <Metadata name="Page_topic">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter One</Metadata>
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16 | <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
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17 | <Metadata name="Title">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter Four</Metadata>
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29 | <Content>
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30 |
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31 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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32 | <tr>
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33 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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34 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29">&nbsp;</td>
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35 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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36 | </tr>
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37 | <tr>
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38 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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39 | <td width="50%" height="3"><font size="3"></font></td>
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40 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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41 | </tr>
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42 | <tr>
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43 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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44 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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45 | <p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
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46 | <p align="center"><b><font size="7">The Divorce of<br>Catherine of Aragon</font></b><br>
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47 | <font size="5">by
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48 | JA Froude, 1891</font></p>
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49 | <p align="center">
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50 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/aragon-new1.jpg" alt="miniature portrait of Katharine of Aragon by Lucas Horenbout" width="325" height="321"></td>
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51 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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52 | </tr>
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53 | </table>
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54 | <blockquote>
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55 | <blockquote>
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56 | <font face="Times New Roman">
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57 | </font><font face="Times New Roman">
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58 | </font><font face="Times New Roman">
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59 | <div align="left">
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60 | <b><font size="4">CHAPTER FOUR</font></b></div>
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61 | <blockquote>
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62 | <p align="left"><font size="4">Anne Boleyn -- Letters to her from the
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63 | <font class="highlight_yellow">King</font> -- The Convent at Wilton -- The
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64 | Divorce -- The Pope's promises -- Arrival of Campeggio in England --
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65 | Reception at the Bridewell Palace -- Proposal to Catherine to take the
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66 | veil -- Her refusal -- Uncertainty of the succession -- A singular
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67 | expedient -- Alarms of Wolsey -- The true issue -Speech of the
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68 | <font class="highlight_yellow">King</font> in the City -- Threats of the
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69 | Emperor -- Defects in the Bull of Pope Julius -- Alleged discovery of a
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70 | brief supplying them -- Distress of Clement. </font></p>
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71 | </blockquote>
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72 | <p align="left"><font size="3">THE marriage with Anne Boleyn was now a fixed
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73 | idea in <font class="highlight_yellow">Henry</font>'s mind. He had become
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74 | passionately attached to her, though not perhaps she to him. The evidence of
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75 | his feeling remains in a series of letters to her -- how preserved for
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76 | public inspection no one knows. Some of them were said to have been stolen
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77 | by Campeggio. Perhaps they were sold to him; at any rate, they survive. A
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78 | critic in the &quot;<i>Edinburgh Review</i>&quot; described them as such as &quot;might
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79 | have been written by a pot-boy to his girl.&quot; The pot-boy must have been a
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80 | singular specimen of his kind. One, at any rate, remains to show that,
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81 | though <font class="highlight_yellow">Henry</font> was in love, he did not
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82 | allow his love to blind him to his duty as a prince. The lady, though
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83 | obliged to wait for the full gratification of her ambition, had been using
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84 | her influence to advance her friends, while Wolsey brought upon himself the
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85 | rebuke of his master by insufficient care in the distribution of Church
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86 | patronage. The correspondence throws an unexpected light upon the
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87 | <font class="highlight_yellow">King</font>'s character. </font></p>
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88 | <p align="left"><font size="3">The Abbess of Wilton had died. The situation
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89 | was a pleasant one. Among the sisters who aspired to the vacant office was a
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90 | certain Eleanor Carey, a near connection of Anne, and a favourite with her.
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91 | The appointment rested virtually with the Crown. The Lady Anne spoke to the
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92 | King. The King deputed Wolsey to inquire into the fitness of the various
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93 | candidates, with a favourable recommendation of Eleanor Carey's claims. The
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94 | inquiry was made, and the result gives us a glimpse into the habits of the
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95 | devout recluses in these sacred institutions.</font></p>
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96 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;As for the matter of Wilton,&quot; wrote Henry to
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97 | Anne, &quot;my Lord Cardinal here had the nuns before him, and examined them in
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98 | the presence of Master Bell, who assures me that she whom we would have had
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99 | Abbess has confessed herself to have had two children by two different
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100 | priests, and has since been kept not long ago by a servant of Lord Broke
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101 | that was. Wherefore I would not for all the gold in the world clog your
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102 | conscience nor mine, to make her ruler of a house which is of so ungodly
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103 | demeanour, nor I trust you would not that, neither for brother nor sister, I
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104 | should so distain mine honour or conscience. And as touching the Prioress
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105 | [Isabella Jordan] or Dame Eleanor's elder sister, though there is not any
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106 | evident cause proved against them, and the Prioress is so old that of many
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107 | years she could not be as she was named, yet notwithstanding, to do you
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108 | pleasure I have done that neither of them shall have it, but that some other
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109 | good and well-disposed woman shall have it, whereby the house shall be
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110 | better reformed, whereof I assure you it hath much need, and God much the
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111 | better served.&quot; </font></p>
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112 | <p align="left"><font size="3">This letter is followed by another to the
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113 | Cardinal. Wolsey, in whose hands the King had left the matter, in a second
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114 | letter which is lost, instead of looking out for the &quot;good and well-disposed
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115 | woman,&quot; though IsaBella Jordan's reputation was doubtful, yet chose to
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116 | appoint her, and the King's observations upon this action of his are worth
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117 | attending to, as addressed by such a person as Henry is supposed to have
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118 | been to a Cardinal Archbishop and Legate of the Holy See. Many of the
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119 | letters signed by the King were the composition of his ministers and
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120 | secretaries. This to Wolsey was his own. </font></p>
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121 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;The great affection and love I bear you,
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122 | causeth me, using the doctrine of my Master, <i>quem diligo castigo,</i>
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123 | thus plainly as now ensueth to break to you my mind, ensuring you that
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124 | neither sinister report, affection to my own pleasure, interest, nor
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125 | mediation of any other body beareth part in this case, wherefore whatsoever
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126 | I do say, I pray you think it spoken of no displeasure, but of him that
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127 | would you as much good both of body and soul as you would yourself. </font>
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128 | </p>
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129 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;Methinks it is not the right train of a
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130 | trusty loving friend and servant when the matter is put by the master's
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131 | consent into his arbitre and judgement -especially in a matter wherein his
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132 | master hath both royalty and interest, to elect and choose a person who was
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133 | by him defended. And yet another thing which displeaseth me more. That is to
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134 | cloke your offence made by ignorance of my pleasure, saying that you
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135 | expressly knew not my determinate mind in that behalf. Alas, my lord, what
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136 | can be more evident or plainer than these words, specially to a wise man
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137 | -'His Grace careth not who, but referreth it all to you, so that none of
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138 | those who either be or have been spotted with incontinence, like as by
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139 | report the Prioress hath been in her youth, have it;' and also in another
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140 | place in the letter, 'And therefore his Highness thinketh her not meet for
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141 | that purpose;' thirdly, in another place in the same letter by these words,
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142 | 'And though his Grace speaketh not of it so openly, yet meseemeth his
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143 | pleasure is that in no wise the Prioress have it, nor yet Dame Eleanor's
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144 | eldest sister, for many considerations the which your Grace can and will
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145 | best consider.' </font></p>
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146 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;Ah, my Lord, it is a double offence both to
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147 | do ill and to colour it too; but with men that have wit it cannot be
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148 | accepted so. Wherefore, good my Lord, use no more that way with me, for
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149 | there is no man living that more hateth it. These things having been thus
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150 | committed, either I must have reserved them <i>in pectore,</i> whereby more
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151 | displeasure might happen to breed, or else thus soundly and plainly to
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152 | declare them to you, because I do think that <i>cum amico et familiari
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153 | sincere semper est agendum,</i> and especially the master to his best
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154 | beloved servant and friend, for in so doing the one shall be more
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155 | circumspect in his doing, the other shall declare and show the lothness that
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156 | is in him to have any occasion to be displeased with him. </font></p>
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157 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;And as touching the redress of Religion
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158 | [convent discipline], if it be observed and continued, undoubtedly it is a
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159 | gracious act. Notwithstanding, if all reports be true, <i>ab imbecillis
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160 | imbecilla expectantur.</i> How be it, Mr. Bell hath informed me that the
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161 | Prioress's age, personage and manner, <i>prÊ se fert gravitatem.</i> I pray
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162 | God it be so indeed, seeing she is preferred to that room. I understand
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163 | furthermore, which is greatly to my comfort, that you have ordered yourself
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164 | to Godward as religiously and virtuously as any Prelate or father of
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165 | Christ's Church can do, where in so doing and persevering there can be
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166 | nothing more acceptable to God, more honour to yourself, nor more desired of
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167 | your friends, among the which I reckon myself not the least. . . . </font>
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168 | </p>
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169 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;I pray you, my Lord, think it not that it is
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170 | upon any displeasure that I write this unto you. For surely it is for my
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171 | discharge before God, being in the room that I am in, and secondly for the
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172 | great zeal I bear unto you, not undeserved in your behalf. Wherefore I pray
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173 | you take it so; and I assure you, your fault acknowledged, there shall
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174 | remain in me no spark of displeasure, trusting hereafter you shall
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175 | recompense that with a thing much more acceptable to me. And thus fare you
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176 | well; advertising you that, thanked be God, I and all my folk be, and have
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177 | been since we came to Ampthill, which was on Saturday last, July 11, in
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178 | marvellous good health and clearness of air. </font></p>
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179 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;Written with the hand of him that is, and
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180 | shall be your loving Sovereign Lord and friend, -- Henry R.&quot;</font></p>
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181 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Campeggio meanwhile was loitering on his way
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182 | as he had been directed, pretending illness, pretending difficulties of the
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183 | road. In sending him at all the Pope had broken his promise to Charles. He
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184 | engaged, however, that no sentence should be given which had not been
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185 | submitted first to Charles's approval. The Emperor, anxious to avoid a
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186 | complete rupture with England, let the Legate go forward, but he directed
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187 | Mendoza to inform Wolsey that he must defend his aunt's honour; her cause
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188 | was his and he would hold it as such. Wolsey, though afraid of the
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189 | consequence of opposing the divorce to himself and the Church, yet at heart
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190 | had ceased to desire it. Mendoza reported that English opinion was still
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191 | unfavourable, and that he did not believe that the commission would have any
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192 | result. The Pope would interpose delays. Wolsey would allow and recognise
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193 | them. Both Legates would agree privately to keep the matter in suspense. The
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194 | English Cardinal appeared to be against the Queen, but every one knew that
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195 | secretly he was now on her side. Catherine only was seriously frightened.
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196 | She had doubtless been informed of the secret decretal by which the Pope
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197 | appeared to have prejudged her cause. She supposed that the Pope meant it,
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198 | and did not understand how lightly such engagements sate upon him. The same
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199 | Clement, when Benvenuto Cellini reproached him for breaking his word,
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200 | replied, smiling, that the Pope had power to bind and to loose. Catherine
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201 | came before long to know him better and to understand the bearings of this
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202 | singular privilege; but as yet she thought that words meant what they seemed
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203 | to say. When she heard that Campeggio was actually coming, she wrote
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204 | passionately to the Emperor, flinging herself upon him for protection.
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205 | Charles calmed her alarm. She was not, he said, to be condemned without a
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206 | hearing. The Pope had assured him that the Legates should determine nothing
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207 | to her detriment. The case should be decided at Rome, as she had desired.
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208 | Campeggio's orders were to advise that it should be dropped. Apart from his
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209 | present infatuation, the King was a good Christian and would act as one. If
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210 | he persisted, she might rely on the Pope's protection. She must consent to
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211 | nothing which would imply the dissolution of her marriage. If the worst
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212 | came, the King would be made conscious of his duties.</font><a onclick="return pageTxt_href_onClick(this,true);" href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ffroudefour.html#1"><font size="3">
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213 | </font></a></p>
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214 | <p align="left"><font size="3">In the middle of October the Legate arrived.
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215 | He had been ill in earnest from gout and was still suffering. He had to rest
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216 | two days in Calais before he could face the Channel. The passage was wild. A
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217 | deputation of Peers and Bishops waited to receive him at Dover. Respectful
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218 | demonstrations had been prepared at the towns through which he was to pass,
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219 | and a state ceremonial was to accompany his entrance into London. But he
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220 | was, or pretended to be, too sick to allow himself to be seen. He was eight
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221 | days on the road from the coast, and on reaching his destination he was
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222 | carried privately in a state barge to the house provided for his residence.
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223 | Wolsey called the next morning. The King was absent, but returned two days
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224 | later to the Bridewell palace. There Campeggio waited on him, accompanied by
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225 | Wolsey. The weather continued to frown. &quot;I wish,&quot; wrote Gerardo Molza to the
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226 | Marchioness of Mantua, &quot;that you could have seen the two Cardinals abreast,
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227 | one on his mule, the other carried in his chair, the rain falling fast so
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228 | that we were all drenched.&quot; The King, simple man, believed that the
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229 | documents which he held secured him. The Pope in sending the Legate had
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230 | acted in the teeth of the Emperor's prohibition, and no one guessed how the
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231 | affair had been soothed down. The farce was well played, and the language
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232 | used was what Henry expected. Messer Floriano, one of Campeggio's suit, made
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233 | a grand oration, setting out the storming of Rome, the perils of the Church,
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234 | and the misery of Italy, with moving eloquence. The crowd was so dense in
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235 | the hall of audience that some of the Italians lost their shoes, and had to
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236 | step back barefoot to their lodgings through the wet streets. </font></p>
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237 | <p align="left"><font size="3">The Legate was exhausted by the exertion, but
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238 | he was not allowed to rest, and the serious part of the business began at
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239 | once behind the scenes. He had hoped, as the Emperor said, that the case
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240 | might be dropped. He found Henry immoveable. &quot;An angel from heaven,&quot; he
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241 | wrote on the 17th of October, &quot;would not be able to persuade the King that
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242 | his marriage was not invalid. The matter had come to such a pass that it
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243 | could no longer be borne with. The Cardinal of York and the whole kingdom
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244 | insisted that the question must be settled in some way.&quot; One road out of the
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245 | difficulty alone presented itself. The Emperor had insisted that the
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246 | marriage should not be dissolved by Catherine's consent, objecting
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247 | reasonably that a judgment invalidating it would shake other royal marriages
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248 | besides hers. But no such judgment would be necessary if Catherine could be
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249 | induced to enter &quot;lax religion,&quot; to take vows of chastity which, at her age
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250 | and under her conditions of health, would be a mere form. The Pope could
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251 | then allow Henry to take another wife without offence to any one. The
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252 | legitimacy of the Princess would not be touched, and the King undertook that
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253 | the succession should be settled upon her if he had no male heir. The Queen
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254 | in consenting would lose nothing, for the King had for two years lived apart
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255 | from her, and would never return to cohabitation. The Emperor would be
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256 | delivered from an obligation infinitely inconvenient to him, and his own
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257 | honour and the honour of Spain would be equally untouched. </font></p>
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258 | <p align="left"><font size="3">These arguments were laid before the Queen by
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259 | both the Legates, and urged with all their eloquence. In the interests of
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260 | the realm, in the interests of Europe, in the interests of the Church, in
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261 | her own and her daughter's interest as well, it would have been wiser if she
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262 | had complied. Perhaps she would have complied had the King's plea been
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263 | confined, as at first, to the political exigencies of the succession. But
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264 | the open and premature choice of the lady who was to take her place was an
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265 | indignity not to be borne. She had the pride of her race. Her obstinacy was
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266 | a match for her husband's. She was shaken for a moment by the impassioned
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267 | entreaties of Campeggio, and she did not at once absolutely refuse. The
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268 | Legate postponed the opening of his court. He referred to Rome for further
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269 | instructions, complaining of the responsibility which was thrown upon him.
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270 | Being on the spot he was able to measure the danger of disappointing the
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271 | King after the secret commission, the secret decretal, and the Pope's
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272 | private letter telling Henry that he was right. Campeggio wrote to Salviati,
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273 | after his first interview with Catherine, that he did not yet despair.
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274 | Something might be done if the Emperor would advise her to comply. He asked
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275 | Fisher to help him, and Fisher seemed not wholly unwilling; but, after a few
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276 | days' reflection, Catherine told him that before she would consent she would
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277 | be torn limb from limb; she would have an authoritative sentence from the
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278 | Pope, and would accept nothing else; nothing should make her alter her
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279 | opinion, and if after death she could return to life, she would die over
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280 | again rather than change it.</font></p>
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281 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Wolsey was in equal anxiety. He had set the
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282 | stone rolling, but he could not stop it. If Clement failed the King now,
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283 | after all that he had promised, he might not only bring ruin on Wolsey
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284 | himself, but might bring on the overthrow of the temporal power of the
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285 | Church of England. Catherine was personally popular; but in the middle
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286 | classes of the laity, among the peers and gentlemen of England, the
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287 | exactions of the Church courts, the Pope's agents and collectors, the
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288 | despotic tyranny of the Bishops, had created a resentment the extent of
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289 | which none knew better than he. The entire gigantic system of clerical
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290 | dominion, of which Wolsey was himself the pillar and representative, was
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291 | tottering to its fall. If the King was driven to bay, the favour of a
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292 | good-natured people for a suffering woman would be a poor shelter either for
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293 | the Church or for him. Campeggio turned to Wolsey for advice on Catherine's
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294 | final refusal. The Pope, he said, had hoped that Wolsey would advise the
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295 | King to yield. Wolsey had advised. He told Cavendish that he had gone on his
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296 | knees to the King, but he could only say to Campeggio that &quot;the King --
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297 | fortified and justified by reasons, writings, and counsels of many learned
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298 | men who feared God -- would never yield.&quot; If he was to find that the Pope
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299 | had been playing with him, and the succession was to be left undetermined,
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300 | &quot;the Church would be ruined and the realm would be in infinite peril.&quot;
|
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301 | </font></p>
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302 | <p align="left"><font size="3">How great, how real, was the dread of a
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303 | disputed succession, appears from an extraordinary expedient which had
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304 | suggested itself to Campeggio himself, and which he declares that some
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305 | perplexed politicians had seriously contemplated. &quot;They have thought,&quot; he
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306 | wrote on the 28th of October, &quot;of marrying the Princess Mary to the King's
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307 | natural son [the Duke of Richmond] if it could be done by dispensation from
|
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308 | His Holiness.&quot; The Legate said that at first he had himself thought of this
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309 | as a means of establishing the succession; but he did not believe it would
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310 | satisfy the King's desire. If anything could be more astonishing than a
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311 | proposal for the marriage of a brother and sister, it was the reception
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312 | which the suggestion met with at Rome. The Pope's secretary replied that
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313 | &quot;with regard to the dispensation for marrying the son to the daughter of the
|
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314 | King, if on the succession being so established the King would abandon the
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315 | divorce, the Pope would be much more inclined to grant it.&quot;</font><a onclick="return pageTxt_href_onClick(this,true);" href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ffroudefour.html#2"><font size="3">
|
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316 | </font></a></p>
|
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317 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Clement's estimate of the extent of the
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318 | dispensing power was large. But the situation was desperate. He had
|
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319 | entangled himself in the meshes. He had promised what he had no intention of
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320 | performing. He was finding that he had been trifling with a lion, and that
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321 | the lion was beginning to rouse himself. Again and again Wolsey urged the
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322 | dangers upon him. He wrote on the 1st of November to Casalis that &quot;the
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323 | King's honour was touched, having been so great a benefactor to the Holy
|
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324 | See. The Pope would alienate all faith and devotion to the Apostolic See.
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325 | The sparks of opposition which had been extinguished with such care and
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326 | vigilance would blaze out to the utmost anger of all, both in England and
|
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327 | elsewhere.&quot;<a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ffroudefour.html#3"> </a>Clement and his Cardinals heard, but
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328 | imperfectly believed. &quot;He tells us,&quot; wrote Sanga, &quot;that if the divorce is
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329 | not granted the authority of the Apostolic See in England will be
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330 | annihilated; he is eager to save it because his own greatness is bound up
|
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331 | with ours.&quot; The Curia was incredulous, and thought that Wolsey was only
|
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332 | alarmed for himself. Wolsey, however, was right. </font></p>
|
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333 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Although opinions might have varied on the
|
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334 | merits of the King's request, people were beginning to ask what value as a
|
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335 | supreme judge a Pope could have, who could not decide on a point of canon
|
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336 | law. </font></p>
|
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337 | <p align="left"><font size="3">The excitement was growing. Certain knowledge
|
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338 | of what was going on was confined to the few who had access to the secret
|
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339 | correspondence, and they knew only what was meant for their own eyes. All
|
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340 | parties, English and Imperial alike, distrusted the Pope. He had impartially
|
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341 | lied to both, and could be depended on by neither, except so far as they
|
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342 | could influence his fears. Catherine was still the favourite with the London
|
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343 | citizens. She had been seen accidentally in a gallery of the Palace, and had
|
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344 | been enthusiastically cheered. The King found it necessary to explain
|
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345 | himself. On the 8th of November he summoned the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, the
|
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346 | Privy Council, and a body of Peers, and laid the situation before them from
|
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347 | his own point of view. He spoke of his long friendship with the Emperor, and
|
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348 | of his hope that it would not be broken, and again of his alliance with
|
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349 | France, and of his desire to be at peace with all the world. &quot;He had
|
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350 | wished,&quot; he said, &quot;to attach France more closely to him by marrying his
|
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351 | daughter to a French prince, and the French Ambassador, in considering the
|
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352 | proposal, had raised the question of her legitimacy. His own mind had long
|
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353 | misgiven him on the lawfulness of his marriage. M. de Tarbes' words had
|
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354 | added to his uneasiness. The succession to the crown was uncertain; he had
|
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355 | consulted his bishops and lawyers, and they had assured him that he had been
|
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356 | living in mortal sin. . . . He meant only to do what was right, and he
|
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357 | warned his subjects to be careful of forming hasty judgments on their
|
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358 | Prince's actions.&quot; </font></p>
|
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359 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Apart from the present question the King was
|
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360 | extremely popular, and reports arriving from Spain touched the national
|
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361 | pride. There was a talk of calling Parliament. Mendoza and Catherine again
|
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362 | urged Charles to speak plainly. The Pope must inhibit Parliament from
|
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363 | interfering. The Nuncio in London would present the order, and Parliament,
|
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364 | they thought, would submit. They were mistaking the national temper.
|
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365 | Mendoza's letters had persuaded the Spanish Council that the whole of
|
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366 | England was in opposition to the King. The Spanish Chancellor had said
|
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367 | publicly that if the cause was proceeded with there would be war, and &quot;the
|
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368 | King would be dethroned by his own subjects.&quot; The words were reported to
|
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369 | Wolsey, and were confirmed by an English agent, Sylvester Darius, who had
|
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370 | been sent to Valladolid on business connected with the truce. Darius had
|
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371 | spoken to the Chancellor on the probability of England taking active part
|
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372 | with France. &quot;Why do you talk of the King of England?&quot; the Chancellor had
|
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373 | answered; &quot;if we wished, we could expel him from his kingdom in three
|
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374 | months. What force had the King? his own subjects would expel him. He knew
|
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375 | how matters were.&quot; It was one thing for a free people to hold independent
|
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376 | opinions on the arrangements of their own royal family. It was another to be
|
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377 | threatened with civil war at the instigation of a foreign sovereign. Wolsey
|
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378 | quoted the dangerous language at a public meeting in London; and a voice
|
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379 | answered, &quot;The Emperor has lost the hearts of a hundred thousand
|
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380 | Englishmen.&quot; A fresh firebrand was thrown into the flames immediately after.
|
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381 | The national pride was touched on a side where it was already sensitive from
|
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382 | interest. There were 15,000 Flemish artisans in London. English workmen had
|
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383 | been jealous of their skill, and had long looked askance at them. The cry
|
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384 | rose that they had an army of traitors in their midst who must be instantly
|
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385 | expelled. The Flemings' houses were searched for arms, and watched by a
|
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386 | guard, and the working city population, traders, shopkeepers, mechanics,
|
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387 | apprentices, came over to the King's side, and remained there. </font></p>
|
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388 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Meantime the cause itself hung fire. A new
|
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389 | feature had been introduced to enable Campeggio to decline to proceed and
|
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390 | the Pope to withdraw decently from his promises. The original Bull of Pope
|
---|
391 | Julius permitting the marriage had been found to contain irregularities of
|
---|
392 | form which were supposed fatal to it. The validity of the objection was not
|
---|
393 | denied, but was met by the production of a brief alleged to have been found
|
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394 | in Spain, and bearing the same date with the Bull, which exactly met that
|
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395 | objection. No trace of such a brief could be found in the Vatican Register.
|
---|
396 | It had informalities of its own, and its genuineness was justly suspected,
|
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397 | but it answered the purpose of a new circumstance. A copy only was sent to
|
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398 | England, which was shown by Catherine in triumph to Henry, but the original
|
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399 | was detained. It would be sent to Rome, but not to London; without it
|
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400 | Campeggio could pretend inability to move, and meanwhile he could refuse to
|
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401 | proceed on his commission. Subterfuges which answer for the moment revenge
|
---|
402 | themselves in the end. Having been once raised, it was absolutely necessary
|
---|
403 | that a question immediately affecting the succession should be settled in
|
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404 | some way, and many of the peers who had been hitherto cool began to back the
|
---|
405 | King's demands. An address was drawn up, having among others the Duke of
|
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406 | Norfolk's signature, telling the Pope that the divorce must be conceded, and
|
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407 | complaints were sent through Casalis againt Campeggio's dilatoriness. The
|
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408 | King, he was to say, would not submit to be deluded. </font></p>
|
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409 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Casalis delivered his message, and describes
|
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410 | the effect which it produced. &quot;The Pope,&quot; he wrote, &quot;very angry, laid his
|
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411 | hand on my arm and forbade me to proceed, saying there was but too good
|
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412 | ground for complaint, and he was deluded by his own councillors. He had
|
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413 | granted the decretal only to be shown to the King, and then burnt. Wolsey
|
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414 | now wished to divulge it. He saw what would follow, and would gladly recall
|
---|
415 | what had been done, even with the loss of one of his fingers.&quot; </font></p>
|
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416 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Casalis replied that Wolsey wished only to
|
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417 | show it to a few persons whose secrecy might be depended on. Was it not
|
---|
418 | demanded for that purpose? Why had the Pope changed his mind? The Pope, only
|
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419 | the more excited, said he saw the Bull would be the ruin of him, and he
|
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420 | would make no more concessions. Casalis prayed him to consider. Waving his
|
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421 | arms violently, Clement said, &quot;I do consider. I consider the ruin which is
|
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422 | hanging over me. I repent what I have done. If heresies arise, is it my
|
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423 | fault? I will not violate my conscience. Let them, if they like, send the
|
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424 | Legate back, because he will not proceed. They can do as they please,
|
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425 | provided they do not make me responsible.&quot; </font></p>
|
---|
426 | <p align="left"><font size="3">Did the Pope mean, then, Casalis asked, that
|
---|
427 | the commission should not proceed? The Pope could not say as much as that;
|
---|
428 | he had told Campeggio, he said, to dissuade the King and persuade the Queen.
|
---|
429 | </font></p>
|
---|
430 | <p align="left"><font size="3">&quot;What harm could there be,&quot; Casalis inquired,
|
---|
431 | &quot;in showing the decretal, under oath, to a few of the Privy Council?&quot; </font>
|
---|
432 | </p>
|
---|
433 | <p align="left"><font size="3">The Pope said the decretal ought to have been
|
---|
434 | burnt, and refused to discuss the matter further.</font></p>
|
---|
435 | </font>
|
---|
436 | <font face="Times New Roman" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
|
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437 | <hr>
|
---|
438 | <p align="left"><font size="2">From <i>The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon:
|
---|
439 | The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry
|
---|
440 | VIII</i> by J.A. Froude.&nbsp; Published in New York by C. Scribner's Sons,
|
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441 | 1891.</font></p>
|
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442 | </blockquote>
|
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443 | </blockquote>
|
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444 |
|
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445 | <p align="center"><font size="2">to Chapter Five</font></p>
|
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446 | <p align="center"><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fsecondary.html">
|
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447 | <font size="2">to Secondary Sources</font></a></p>
|
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448 | <p align="center">
|
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449 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2faragon.html"><font size="2">to
|
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450 | Katharine of Aragon website</font></a></p>
|
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451 | </font>
|
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452 | <blockquote>
|
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453 | <blockquote>
|
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454 | <font style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
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455 | <font face="Times New Roman">
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456 | </font><font style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
|
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457 | </font>
|
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458 | <p class="3text" align="left">&nbsp;</p>
|
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459 | </font>
|
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460 | </blockquote>
|
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461 | </blockquote>
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462 |
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463 |
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464 |
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467 | </Content>
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468 | </Section>
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469 | </Archive>
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