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3 more GS3 model-collections, two of which are intermediate stages of tutorials

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14 <Metadata name="Content">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter One</Metadata>
15 <Metadata name="Page_topic">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter One</Metadata>
16 <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
17 <Metadata name="Title">Secondary Sources: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, by JA Froude: Chapter Two</Metadata>
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31
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46 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
47 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;7&quot;&gt;The Divorce of&lt;br&gt;Catherine of Aragon&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
48 &lt;font size=&quot;5&quot;&gt;by
49 JA Froude, 1891&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
50 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
51 &lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/aragon-new1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;miniature portrait of Katharine of Aragon by Lucas Horenbout&quot; width=&quot;325&quot; height=&quot;321&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
52 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
53 &lt;/tr&gt;
54&lt;/table&gt;
55&lt;blockquote&gt;
56 &lt;blockquote&gt;
57 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
58 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
59 &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
60 &lt;b&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;CHAPTER TWO&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
61 &lt;blockquote&gt;
62 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;Mission of Wolsey to Paris --
63 Visits Bishop Fisher on the way -- Anxieties of the Emperor -- Letter of
64 the Emperor to Henry VIII. -Large offers to Wolsey -- Address of the
65 French Cardinals to the Pope -- Anne Boleyn chosen by Henry to succeed
66 Catherine -- Surprise and displeasure of Wolsey -- Fresh attempts of the
67 Emperor to bribe him -- Wolsey forced to continue to advocate the divorce
68 -Mission of Dr. Knight to Rome -- The Pope at Orvieto -- The King applies
69 for a dispensation to make a second marriage -- Language of the
70 dispensation demanded -- Inferences drawn from it -- Alleged intrigue
71 between the King and Mary Boleyn. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
72 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
73 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;IT was believed at the time --
74 and it was the tradition afterwards -- that Wolsey, in his mission to Paris,
75 intended to replace Catherine by a French princess, the more surely to
76 commit Francis to the support of Henry in the divorce, and to strengthen the
77 new alliance. Nothing can be inherently more likely. The ostensible reason,
78 however, was to do away with any difficulties which might have been
79 suggested by the objection of the Bishop of Tarbes to the legitimacy of the
80 Princess Mary. If illegitimate, she would be no fitting bride for the Duke
81 of Orleans. But she had been born &lt;i&gt;bonâ fide parentum.&lt;/i&gt; There was no
82 intention of infringing her prospective rights or of altering her present
83 position. Her rank and title were to be secured to her in amplest measure.
84 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
85 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Cardinal went upon his
86 journey with the splendour attaching to his office and befitting a churchman
87 who was aspiring to be the spiritual president of the two kingdoms. On his
88 way to the coast he visited two prelates whose support to his policy was
89 important. Archbishop Warham had been cold about the divorce, if not openly
90 hostile. Wolsey found him &amp;quot;not much changed from his first fashion,&amp;quot; but
91 admitting that, although it might be unpleasant to the Queen, truth and
92 justice must prevail. Bishop Fisher was a more difficult subject. He had
93 spoken in the Legate's court in Catherine's favour. It was from him, as the
94 King supposed, that Catherine herself had learnt what was impending over
95 her. Wolsey called at his palace as he passed through Rochester. He asked
96 the Bishop plainly if he had been in communication with the Queen. The
97 Bishop, after some hesitation, confessed that the Queen had sought his
98 advice, and said that he had declined to give an opinion without the King's
99 command. Before Wolsey left London, at a last interview at York Place, the
100 King had directed him to explain &amp;quot;the whole matter&amp;quot; to the Bishop. He went
101 through the entire history, mentioned the words of the Bishop of Tarbes, and
102 discussed the question which had risen upon it, on account of which he had
103 been sent into France. Finally, he described the extreme violence with which
104 Catherine had received the intelligence. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
105 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Bishop greatly blamed the
106 conduct of the Queen, and said he thought that if he might speak to her he
107 might bring her to submission. He agreed, or seemed to agree, that the
108 marriage had been irregular, though he did not himself think that it could
109 now be broken. Others of the bishops, he thought, agreed with him; but he
110 was satisfied that the King meant nothing against the laws of God, and would
111 be fully justified in submitting his misgivings to the Pope.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
112 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mendoza's and the Queen's
113 letters had meanwhile been despatched to Spain, to add to the anxieties
114 which were overwhelming the Emperor. Nothing could have been less welcome at
115 such a juncture than a family quarrel with his uncle of England, whose
116 friendship he was still hoping to retain. The bird that he had caged at Rome
117 was no convenient prisoner. The capture of Rome had not been ordered by
118 himself, though politically he was obliged to maintain it. The time did not
119 suit for the ambitious Church reforms of Lope de Soria. Peace would have to
120 be made with the Pope on some moderate conditions. His own Spain was hardly
121 quieted after the revolt of the &lt;i&gt;Comunidades.&lt;/i&gt; Half Germany was in
122 avowed apostasy from the Church of Rome. The Turks were overrunning Hungary,
123 and sweeping the Mediterranean with their pirate fleets, and the passionate
124 and restless Francis was watching his opportunity to revenge Pavia and
125 attack his captor in the Low Countries and in Italy. The great Emperor was
126 moderate, cautious, prudent to a fault. In a calmer season he might have
127 been tempted to take the Church in hand; and none understood better the
128 condition into which it had fallen. But he was wise enough to know that if a
129 reform of the Papacy was undertaken at all it must be undertaken with the
130 joint consent of the other Christian princes, and all his present efforts
131 were directed to peace. He was Catherine's natural guardian. Her position in
132 England had been hitherto a political security for Henry's friendship. It
133 was his duty and his interest to defend her, and he meant to do it; not,
134 however, by sending roving expeditions to land in Cornwall and raise a civil
135 war; all means were to be tried before that; to attempt such a thing, he
136 well knew, would throw Europe into a blaze. The letters found him at
137 Valladolid. He replied, of course, that he was shocked at a proceeding so
138 unlooked for and so scandalous, but he charged Mendoza to be moderate and to
139 confine himself to remonstrance. He wrote himself to Henry --
140 confidentially, as from friend to friend, and ciphering his letter with his
141 own hand. He was unable to believe, he said, that Henry could contemplate
142 seriously bringing his domestic discomforts before the world. Even supposing
143 the marriage illegitimate -- even supposing that the Pope had no power to
144 dispense in such cases -- &amp;quot;it would be better and more honourable to keep
145 the matter secret, and to work out a remedy.&amp;quot; He bade Mendoza remind the
146 King that to question the dispensing power affected the position of other
147 princes besides his own; that to touch the legitimacy of his daughter would
148 increase the difficulties with the succession, and not remove them. He
149 implored the King &amp;quot;to keep the matter secret, as he would do himself.&amp;quot;
150 Meanwhile, he told Mendoza, for Catherine's comfort, that he had written to
151 demand a mild brief from the Pope to stop the scandal. He had requested him,
152 as Catherine had suggested, to revoke Wolsey's powers, or at least to
153 command that neither he nor any English Court should try the case. If heard
154 at all it must be heard before his Holiness and the Sacred College. But he
155 could not part with the hope that he might still bring Wolsey to his own and
156 the Queen's side. A council of Cardinals was to meet at Avignon to consider
157 the Pope's captivity. The Cardinal of England was expected to attend.
158 Charles himself might go to Perpignan. Wolsey might meet him there, discuss
159 the state of Europe, and settle the King's secret affair at the same time.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
160 &lt;/font&gt;
161 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
162 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Should
163 this be impossible, he charged Mendoza once more to leave no stone unturned
164 to recover Wolsey's friendship. &amp;quot;In our name,&amp;quot; he said, &amp;quot;you will make him
165 the following offers: -- &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
166 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;1. The
167 payment of all arrears on his several pensions, amounting to 9,000 ducats
168 annually. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
169 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;2. Six
170 thousand additional ducats annually until such a time as a bishoprick or
171 other ecclesiastical endowment of the same revenue becomes vacant in our
172 kingdom. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
173 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;3. The
174 Duke, who is to have Milan, to give him a Marquisate in that Duchy, with an
175 annual rent of 12,000 ducats, or 15,000 if the smaller sum be not enough;
176 the said Marquisate to be held by the Cardinal during his life, and to pass
177 after him to any heir whom he shall appoint.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
178 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
179 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;As if this was not sufficient,
180 the Emperor' paid a yet further tribute to the supposed all-powerful
181 Cardinal. He wrote himself to him as to his &amp;quot;good friend.&amp;quot; He said that if
182 there was anything in his dominions which the Cardinal wished to possess he
183 had only to name it, as he considered Wolsey the best friend that he had in
184 the world.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
185 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;For the ministers of great
186 countries deliberately to sell themselves to foreign princes was the custom
187 of the age. The measure of public virtue which such a custom indicates was
188 not exalted; and among the changes introduced by the Reformation the
189 abolition or suspension of it was not the least beneficial. Thomas Cromwell,
190 when he came to power, set the example of refusal, and corruption of public
191 men on a scale so scandalously enormous was no more heard of. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
192 &lt;/font&gt;
193 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
194 &lt;p&gt;Gold, however, had flowed in upon Wolsey in such enormous streams and
195 from so many sources that the Emperor's munificence and attention failed to
196 tempt him. On reaching Paris he found Francis bent upon war, and willing to
197 promise anything for Henry's assistance. The belief at the French Court was
198 that the Emperor, hearing that the Churches of England and France meant to
199 decline from their obedience to the Roman Communion, would carry the Pope to
200 Spain; that Clement would probably be poisoned there, and the Apostolic See
201 would be established permanently in the Peninsula. Wolsey himself wrote
202 this, and believed it, or desired Henry to believe it, proving the extreme
203 uncertainty among the best-informed of contemporary politicians as to the
204 probable issue of the capture of Rome. The French Cardinals drew and sent an
205 address to the Pope, intimating that as long as he was in confinement they
206 could accept no act of his as lawful, and would not obey it. Wolsey signed
207 at the head of them. The Cardinals Salviati, Bourbon, Lorraine, and the
208 Chancellor Cardinal of Sens, signed after him. The first stroke in the game
209 had been won by Wolsey. Had the Pope recalled his powers as legate, an
210 immediate schism might have followed. But a more fatal blow had been
211 prepared for him by his master in England. Trusting to the Cardinal's
212 promises that the Pope would make no difficulty about the divorce, Henry had
213 considered himself at liberty to choose a successor to Catherine. He had
214 suffered once in having allowed politics to select a wife for him. This time
215 he intended to be guided by his own inclination. When Elizabeth afterwards
216 wished to marry Leicester, Lord Sussex said she had better fix after her own
217 liking; there would be the better chance of the heir that her realm was
218 looking for. Her father fixed also after his liking in selecting Elizabeth's
219 mother. &lt;/p&gt;
220 &lt;/font&gt;
221 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
222 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
223 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Anne Boleyn was the second
224 daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, a Norfolk knight of ancient blood, and
225 himself a person of some distinction in the public service. Lady Boleyn was
226 a Howard, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. Anne was born in 1507, and by
227 birth and connection was early introduced into the court. When a girl she
228 was taken to Paris to be educated. In 1522 she was brought back to England,
229 became a lady-in-waiting, and, being a witty, brilliant young woman,
230 attracted and encouraged the attentions of the fashionable cavaliers of the
231 day. Wyatt, the poet, was among her adorers, and the young Percy, afterwards
232 Earl of Northumberland. It was alleged afterwards that between her and Percy
233 there had been a secret marriage which had been actually consummated. That
234 she had been involved in some dangerous intrigue or other she herself
235 subsequently confessed. But she was attractive, she was witty; she drew
236 Henry's fancy, and the fancy became an ardent passion. Now, for the first
237 time, in Wolsey's absence, the Lady Anne's name appears in connection with
238 the divorce. On the 16th of August Mendoza informed Charles, as a matter of
239 general belief, that if the suit for the divorce was successful the King
240 would marry a daughter of Master Boleyn, whom the Emperor would remember as
241 once ambassador at the Imperial court. There is no direct evidence that
242 before Wolsey had left England the King had seriously thought of Anne at
243 all. Catherine could have had no suspicion of it, or her jealous indignation
244 would have made itself heard. The Spanish Ambassador spoke of it as a new
245 feature in the case. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
246 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Boleyns were Wolsey's
247 enemies, and belonged to the growing faction most hostile to the Church. The
248 news as it came upon him was utterly distasteful. (1) Anne in turn hated
249 Wolsey, as he probably knew that she would, and she compelled him to stoop
250 to the disgrace of suing for her favour. The inference is reasonable,
251 therefore, that the King took the step which in the event was to produce
252 such momentous consequences when the Cardinal was not at hand to dissuade
253 him. He was not encouraged even by her own family. Her father, as will be
254 seen hereafter, was from the first opposed to his daughter's advancement. He
255 probably knew her character too well. But Henry, when he had taken an idea
256 into his head, was not to be moved from it. The lady was not beautiful: she
257 was rather short than tall, her complexion was dark, her neck long, her
258 mouth broad, her figure not particularly good. The fascinating features were
259 her long flowing brown hair, a pair of effective dark eyes, and a boldness
260 of character which might have put him on his guard, and did not. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
261 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The immediate effect was to
262 cool Wolsey's ardour for the divorce. His mission in France, which opened so
263 splendidly, eventuated in little. The French cardinals held no meeting at
264 Avignon. They had signed the address to Clement, but they had not made the
265 Cardinal of York into their patriarch. Rouen was not added to his other
266 preferments. Could he but have proposed a marriage for his sovereign with
267 the Princess of Alencon, all might have been different, but it had fared
268 with him as it fared with the Earl of Warwick, whom Henry's grandfather had
269 sent to France to woo a bride for him, and in his absence married Elizabeth
270 Grey. He perhaps regretted the munificent offers of the Emperor which he had
271 hastily rejected, and he returned to England in the autumn to feel the
272 consequences of the change in his situation. Mr. Brewer labours in vain to
273 prove that Wolsey was unfavourable to the divorce from the beginning.
274 Catherine believed that he was the instigator of it. Mendoza was of the same
275 opinion. Unquestionably he promoted it with all his power, and made it a
276 part of a great policy. To maintain that he was acting thus against his
277 conscience and to please the King is more dishonouring to him than to
278 suppose that he was either the originator or the willing instrument. All,
279 however, was altered when Anne Boleyn came upon the stage, and she made
280 haste to make him feel the change. &amp;quot;The Legate has returned from France,&amp;quot;
281 wrote Mendoza on the 26th of October. He went to visit the King at Richmond,
282 and sent to ask where he could see him. The King was in his chamber. It
283 happened that the lady, who seemed to entertain no great affection for the
284 Cardinal, was in the room with the King, and before the latter could answer
285 the message she said for him, &amp;quot;Where else is the Cardinal to come? Tell him
286 he may come here where the King is.&amp;quot; The Legate felt that such treatment
287 boded no good to him, but concealed his resentment. &amp;quot;The cause,&amp;quot; said
288 Mendoza, &amp;quot;is supposed to be that the said lady bears the Legate a grudge,
289 for other reasons, and because she has discovered that during his visit to
290 France the Legate proposed to have an alliance for the King found in that
291 country.&amp;quot; Wolsey persuaded Mendoza that the French marriage had been a
292 fiction, but at once he began to endeavour to undo his work, and prevent the
293 dissolution of the marriage with Catherine. He tried to procure an
294 unfavourable opinion from the English Bishops before legal proceedings were
295 commenced. Mendoza, however, doubted his stability if the King persisted in
296 his purpose, and advised that a papal decision on the case should be
297 procured and forwarded as soon as possible.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
298 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Pope's captivity, however,
299 would destroy the value of any judgment which he might give while he
300 continued in durance. The Emperor, encouraged by the intimation that Wolsey
301 was wavering, reverted to his previous hope. In a special memorandum of
302 measures to be taken, the most important, notwithstanding the refusal of the
303 previous offers, was still thought to be to &amp;quot;bribe the Cardinal.&amp;quot; He must
304 instantly be paid the arrears of his pensions out of the revenues of the
305 sees of Palencia and Badajoz. If there was not money enough in the treasury,
306 a further and larger pension of twelve or fourteen thousand crowns was to be
307 given to him out of some rich bishopric in Castile. The Emperor admitted
308 that he had promised the Cortes to appoint no more foreigners to Spanish
309 sees, but such a promise could not be held binding, being in violation of
310 the liberties of the Church. Every one would see that it was for the good of
311 the kingdom. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
312 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The renewed offer was doubtless
313 conveyed to Wolsey, but he probably found that he had gone too deep to
314 retire. If he made such an effort as Mendoza relates, he must have speedily
315 discovered that it would be useless. He had encouraged the King in a belief
316 that the divorce would be granted by the Pope as a matter of course, and the
317 King, having made up his own mind, was not to be moved from it. If Wolsey
318 now drew back, the certain inference would be that he had accepted an
319 imperial bribe. There was no resource, therefore, but to go on. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
320 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;While Wolsey had been
321 hesitating, the King had, unknown to him, sent his secretary, Dr. Knight, to
322 Rome with directions to obtain access if possible to the Pope, and procure
323 the dispensation which had been already applied for to enable him to marry a
324 second time without the formalities of a judgment. Such an expedient would
325 be convenient in many ways. It would leave Catherine's position unaffected
326 and the legitimacy of the Princess Mary unimpugned. Knight went. He found
327 that without a passport he could not even enter the city, still less be
328 allowed an interview. &amp;quot;With ten thousand crowns he could not bribe his way
329 into St. Angelo.&amp;quot; He contrived, however, to have a letter introduced, which
330 the Pope answered by telling Knight to wait in some quiet place. He (the
331 Pope) would &amp;quot;there send him all the King's requests in as ample a form as
332 they were desired.&amp;quot; Knight trusted in a short time &amp;quot;to have in his custody
333 as much, perfect, sped, and under lead, as his Highness had long time
334 desired.&amp;quot;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
335 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Knight was too sanguine. The
336 Emperor, finding the Pope's detention as a prisoner embarrassing, allowed
337 him, on the 9th of December, to escape to Orvieto, where he was apparently
338 at liberty; but he was only in a larger cage, all his territories being
339 occupied by Imperial troops, and he himself watched by the General of the
340 Observants, and warned at his peril to grant nothing to Catherine's
341 prejudice. Henry's Secretary followed him, saw him, and obtained something
342 which on examination proved to be worthless. The negotiations were left
343 again in Wolsey's hands, and were pressed with all the eagerness of a
344 desperate man. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
345 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Pope Clement had ceased to be a
346 free agent. He did not look to the rights of the case. He would gladly have
347 pleased Henry could he have pleased him without displeasing Charles. The
348 case itself was peculiar, and opinions differed on the rights and wrongs of
349 it. The reader must be from time to time reminded that, as the law of
350 England has stood ever since, a marriage with a brother's widow was not a
351 marriage. As the law of the Church then stood, it was not a marriage unless
352 permitted by the Pope; and according to the same law of England the Pope
353 neither has, nor ever had, any authority to dispense with the law. Therefore
354 Henry, on the abstract contention, was in the right. He had married
355 Catherine under an error. The problem was to untie the knot with as little
356 suffering to either as the nature of the case permitted. That the
357 negotiations were full of inconsistencies, evasions, and contradictions, was
358 natural and inevitable. To cut the knot without untying it was the only
359 direct course, but that all means were exhausted before the application of
360 so violent a remedy was rather a credit than a reproach. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
361 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The first inconsistency was in
362 the King. He did not regard his marriage as valid; therefore he thought
363 himself at liberty to marry again; but he did not wish to illegitimatise his
364 daughter or degrade Catherine. He disputed the validity of the dispensation
365 of Julius II.; yet he required a dispensation from Clement which was equally
366 questionable to enable him to take a second wife. The management of the case
367 having reverted to Wolsey, fresh instructions were sent to Sir Gregory
368 Casalis, the regular English agent at the Papal court, to wait on Clement.
369 Casalis was &amp;quot;bid consider how much the affair concerned the relief of the
370 King's conscience, the safety of his soul, the preservation of his life, the
371 continuation of his succession, the welfare and repose of all his subjects
372 now and hereafter.&amp;quot; The Pope at Orvieto was personally accessible. Casalis
373 was to represent to him the many difficulties which had arisen in connection
374 with the marriage, and the certainty of civil war in England should the King
375 die leaving the succession no better provided for. He was, therefore, to
376 request the Pope to grant a commission to Wolsey to hear the case and to
377 decide it, and (perhaps as an alternative) to sign a dispensation, a draft
378 of which Wolsey enclosed. The language of the dispensation was peculiar.
379 Wolsey explained it by saying that &amp;quot;the King, remembering by the example of
380 past times what false claims [to the crown] had been put forward, to avoid
381 all colour or pretext of the same, desired this of the Pope as absolutely
382 necessary.&amp;quot; If these two requests were conceded, Henry undertook on his part
383 to require the Emperor to set the Pope at liberty, or to declare war against
384 him if he refused. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
385 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;A dispensation, which was to
386 evade the real point at issue, yet to convey to the King a power to take
387 another wife, was a novelty in itself and likely to be carefully worded. It
388 has given occasion among modern historians to important inferences
389 disgraceful to everyone concerned. The sinister meaning supposed to be
390 obvious to modern critics could not have been concealed from the Pope
391 himself. Here, therefore, follow the words which have been fastened on as
392 for ever fatal to the intelligence and character of Henry and his Ministers.
393 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
394 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Pope, after reviewing the
395 later history of England, the distractions caused by rival claimants of the
396 crown, after admitting the necessity of guarding against the designs of the
397 ambitious, and empowering Henry to marry again, was made to address the King
398 in these words: -- &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
399 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;In order to take away all
400 occasion from evil doers, we do in the plenitude of our power hereby suspend
401 &lt;i&gt;hâc vice&lt;/i&gt; all canons forbidding marriage in the fourth degree, also
402 all canons &lt;i&gt;de impedimento publicœ honestatis&lt;/i&gt; preventing marriage in
403 consequence of clandestine espousals, further all canons relating to
404 precontracts clandestinely made but not consummated, also all canons
405 affecting impediments created by affinity rising &lt;i&gt;ex illicito coitu,&lt;/i&gt;
406 in any degree even in the first, so far as the marriage to be contracted by
407 you, the petitioner, can be objected to or in any wise be impugned by the
408 same. Further, to avoid canonical objections on the side of the woman by
409 reason of former contract clandestinely made, or impediment of public
410 honesty or justice arising from such clandestine contract, or of any
411 affinity contracted in any degree even the first, &lt;i&gt;ex illicito coitu:&lt;/i&gt;
412 and in the event that it has proceeded beyond the second or third degrees of
413 consanguinity, whereby otherwise you, the petitioner, would not be allowed
414 by the canons to contract marriage, we hereby license you to take such woman
415 for wife, and suffer you and the woman to marry free from all ecclesiastical
416 objections and censures.&amp;quot; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
417 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The explanation given by Wolsey
418 of the wording of this document is that it was intended to preclude any
419 objections which might be raised to the prejudice of the offspring of a
420 marriage in itself irregular. It was therefore made as comprehensive as
421 possible. Dr. Lingard, followed by Mr. Brewer, and other writers see in it a
422 transparent personal application to the situation in which Henry intended to
423 place himself in making a wife of Anne Boleyn. Two years subsequent to the
424 period when this dispensation was asked for, when the question of the
425 divorce had developed into a battle between England and the Papacy, and the
426 passions of Catholics and Reformers were boiling over in recrimination and
427 invective, the King's plea that he was parting from Catherine out of
428 conscience was met by stories set floating in society that the King himself
429 had previously intrigued with the mother and sister of the lady whom he
430 intended to marry; precisely the same obstacle existed, therefore, to his
431 marriage with Anne, being further aggravated by incest. No attempt was ever
432 made to prove these charges; no particulars were given of time or place. No
433 witnesses were produced, nor other evidence, though to prove them would have
434 been of infinite importance. Queen Catherine, who if any one must have known
435 it if the accusation was true, never alludes to Mary Boleyn in the fiercest
436 of her denunciations. It was heard of only in the conversation of
437 disaffected priests or secret visitors to the Spanish Ambassador, and was
438 made public only in the manifesto of Reginald Pole, which accompanied Paul
439 III.'s Bull for Henry's deposition. Even this authority, which was not much
440 in itself, is made less by the fact that in the first draft of &amp;quot;Pole's
441 Book,&amp;quot; sent to England to be examined in 1535, the story is not mentioned.
442 Evidently, therefore, Pole had not then heard of it or did not believe it.
443 The guilt with the mother is now abandoned as too monstrous. The guilt with
444 the sister is peremptorily insisted on, and the words of the dispensation
445 are appealed to as no longer leaving room for doubt. To what else, it is
446 asked, can such extraordinary expressions refer unless to some disgraceful
447 personal &lt;i&gt;liaison?&lt;/i&gt; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
448 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The uninstructed who draw
449 inferences of fact from the verbiage of legal documents will discover often
450 what are called &amp;quot;mare's nests.&amp;quot; I will request the reader to consider what
451 this supposition involves. The dispensation would have to be copied into the
452 Roman registers, subject to the inspection of the acutest canon lawyers in
453 the world. If the meaning is so clear to us, it must have been clear to
454 them. We are, therefore, to believe that Henry, when demanding to be
455 separated from Catherine, as an escape from mortal sin, for the relief of
456 his conscience and the surety of his succession, was gratuitously putting
457 the Pope in possession of a secret which had only to be published to
458 extinguish him and his plea in an outburst of scorn and laughter. &lt;/font&gt;
459 &lt;/p&gt;
460 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;There was no need for such an
461 acknowledgment, for the intrigue could not be proved. It could not be
462 required for the legitimation of the children that were to be born; for a
463 man of Wolsey's ability must have known that no dispensation would be held
464 valid that was granted after so preposterous a confidence. It was as if a
465 man putting in a claim for some great property, before the case came on for
466 trial privately informed both judge and jury that it was based on forgery.
467 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
468 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We are called on to explain
469 further, why, when all Europe was shaken by the controversy, no hint is to
470 be found in any public document of a fact which, if true, would be decisive;
471 and yet more extraordinary, why the Pope and the Curia, when driven to bay
472 in all the exasperation of a furious controversy, left a weapon unused which
473 would have assured them an easy victory. Wolsey was not a fool. Is it
474 conceivable that he would have composed a document so fatal and have drawn
475 the Pope's pointed attention to it? My credulity does not extend so far. We
476 cannot prove a negative; we cannot prove that Henry had not intrigued with
477 Mary Boleyn, or with all the ladies of his court. But the language of the
478 dispensation cannot be adduced as an evidence of it, unless King, Pope, and
479 all the interested world had parted with their senses. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
480 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;As to the story itself, there
481 is no ground for distinguishing between the mother and the daughter. When it
482 was first set circulating both were named together. The mother only has been
483 dropped, lest the improbability should seem too violent for belief. That
484 Mary Boleyn had been the King's mistress before or after her own marriage is
485 now asserted as an ascertained fact by respectable historians -- a fact
486 sufficient, can it be proved, to cover with infamy for ever the English
487 separation from Rome, King, Ministers, Parliaments, Bishops, and every one
488 concerned with it. The effectiveness of the weapon commends it to Catholic
489 controversialists. I have only to repeat that the evidence for the charge is
490 nothing but the floating gossip of Catholic society, never heard of, never
491 whispered, till the second stage of the quarrel, when it had developed into
492 a passionate contest; never even then alleged in a form in which it could be
493 met and answered. It could not have been hid from Queen Catherine if it was
494 known to Reginald Pole. We have many letters of Catherine, eloquent on the
495 story of her wrongs; letters to the Emperor, letters to the Pope; yet no
496 word of Mary Boleyn. What reason can be given save that it was a legend
497 which grew out of the temper of the time? Nothing could be more plausible
498 than to meet the King's plea of conscience with an allegation which made it
499 ridiculous. But in the public pleadings of a cause which was discussed in
500 every capital in Europe by the keenest lawyers and diplomatists of the age,
501 an accusation which, if maintained, would have been absolutely decisive, is
502 never alluded to in any public document till the question had passed beyond
503 the stage of discussion. The silence of all responsible persons is
504 sufficient proof of its nature. It was a mere floating calumny, born of wind
505 and malice. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
506 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Mr. Brewer does indeed imagine
507 that he has discovered what he describes as a tacit confession on Henry's
508 part. When the Act of Appeals was before the House of Commons which ended
509 the papal jurisdiction in England, a small knot of Opposition members used
510 to meet privately to deliberate how to oppose it. Among these one of the
511 most active was Sir George Throgmorton, a man who afterwards, with his
512 brother Michael, made himself useful to Cromwell and played with both
513 parties, but was then against the divorce and against all the measures which
514 grew out of it. Throgmorton, according to his own account, had been admitted
515 to an interview with the King and Cromwell. In 1537, after the Pilgrimage of
516 Grace, while the ashes of the rebellion were still smouldering, after
517 Michael Throgmorton had betrayed Cromwell's confidence and gone over to
518 Reginald Pole, Sir George was reported to have used certain expressions to
519 Sir Thomas Dyngley and to two other gentlemen, which he was called on by the
520 Council to explain. The letter to the King in which he replied is still
521 extant. He said that he had been sent for by the King after a speech on the
522 Act of Appeals, &amp;quot;and that he saw his Grace's conscience was troubled about
523 having married his brother's wife.&amp;quot; He professed to have said to Dyngley
524 that he had told the King that if he did marry Queen Anne his conscience
525 would be more troubled at length, for it was thought he had meddled both
526 with the mother and the sister; that his Grace said: &amp;quot;Never with the
527 mother,&amp;quot; and my Lord Privy Seal (Cromwell), standing by, said, &amp;quot;nor with the
528 sister neither, so put that out of your mind.&amp;quot; Mr. Brewer construes this
529 into an admission of the King that Mary Boleyn had been his mistress, and
530 omits, of course, by inadvertence, that Throgmorton, being asked why he had
531 told this story to Dyngley, answered that &amp;quot;he spake it only out of
532 vainglory, to show he was one that durst speak for the Commonwealth.&amp;quot;
533 Nothing is more common than for &amp;quot;vainglorious&amp;quot; men, when admitted to
534 conversations with kings, to make the most of what they said themselves, and
535 to report not very accurately what was said to them. Had the conversation
536 been authentic, Throgmorton would naturally have appealed to Cromwell's
537 recollection. But Mr. Brewer accepts the version of a confessed boaster as
538 if it was a complete and trustworthy account of what had actually passed. He
539 does not ask himself whether if the King or Cromwell had given their version
540 it might not have borne another complexion. Henry was not a safe person to
541 take liberties with. Is it likely that if one of his subjects, who was
542 actively opposing him in Parliament, had taxed him with an enormous crime,
543 he would have made a confession which Throgmorton had only to repeat in the
544 House of Commons to ruin him and his cause? Mr. Brewer should have added
545 also that the authority which he gave for the story was no better than
546 Father Peto, afterwards Cardinal Peto, as bitter an enemy of the Reformation
547 as Pole himself. Most serious of all, Mr. Brewer omits to mention that
548 Throgmorton was submitted afterwards to a severe cross-examination before a
549 Committee of Council, the effect of which, if he had spoken truly, could
550 only be to establish the authenticity of a disgraceful charge.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
551 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The last evidence alleged is
552 the confession made by Anne Boleyn, after her condemnation, of some mystery
553 which had invalidated her marriage with the King and had been made the
554 ground of an Act of Parliament. The confession was not published, and
555 Catholic opinion concluded, and concludes still, that it must have been the
556 Mary Boleyn intrigue. Catholic opinion does not pause to inquire whether
557 Anne could have been said to confess an offence of the King and her sister.
558 The cross-examination of Throgmorton turns the conjecture into an absurdity.
559 When asked, in 1537, whom he ever heard say such a thing, he would have had
560 but to appeal to the proceedings in Parliament in the year immediately
561 preceding. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
562 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Is it likely finally that if
563 Throgmorton's examination proves what Mr. Brewer thinks it proves, a record
564 of it would have been preserved among the official State Papers? &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
565 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;If all the stories current
566 about Henry VIII. were to be discussed with as much detail as I have allowed
567 to this, the world would not contain the books which should be written. An
568 Irish lawyer told me in my youth to believe nothing which I heard in that
569 country which had not been sifted in a court of justice, and only half of
570 that. Legend is as the air invulnerable, and blows aimed at it, if not
571 &amp;quot;malicious mockery&amp;quot; are waste of effort. Charges of scandalous immorality
572 are precious to controversialists, for if they are disproved ever so
573 completely the stain adheres. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
574 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
575 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Notes:&lt;/b&gt; 1.
576 &lt;/font&gt;
577 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
578 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
579 The date of Henry's resolution to marry Anne is of some consequence, since
580 the general assumption is that it was the origin of the divorce. Rumour, of
581 course, said so afterwards, but there is no evidence for it. The early
582 love-letters written by the King to her are assigned by Mr. Brewer to the
583 midsummer of 1527. But they are undated, and therefore the period assigned
584 to them is conjecture merely.&lt;/p&gt;
585 &lt;/font&gt;
586 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;From &lt;i&gt;The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon:
587 The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry
588 VIII&lt;/i&gt; by J.A. Froude.&amp;nbsp; Published in New York by C. Scribner's Sons,
589 1891.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
590 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
591&lt;/blockquote&gt;
592
593&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;
594&lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ffroudethree.html&quot;&gt;to Chapter Three&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
595&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fsecondary.html&quot;&gt;
596&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;to Secondary Sources&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
597&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
598&lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2faragon.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;to
599Katharine of Aragon website&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
600 &lt;/font&gt;
601 &lt;/font&gt;
602&lt;blockquote&gt;
603 &lt;blockquote&gt;
604 &lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
605 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
606 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;font style=&quot;FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
607 &lt;/font&gt;
608 &lt;p class=&quot;3text&quot; align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
609 &lt;/font&gt;
610 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
611&lt;/blockquote&gt;
612
613
614
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617</Content>
618</Section>
619</Archive>
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