THE BEGINNING OF STRIFE.
1527-1533.
Mary’s whole life was clouded, with the first whisper of the King’s
“secret matter”. Until then the Princess had been surrounded with all
the charm of greatness, without any of its disadvantages, for she had
been so wisely educated, that she remained unspoiled by the adulation
of courtiers, or by the enthusiasm with which the nation regarded her.
Her delight was in study, in music, in almsgiving, in the bestowal of
gifts, and in the society of her parents, both of whom were remarkable
for talents above the average.[64] She had been too young to be greatly
affected by the various schemes for her disposal in marriage, although
she had taken her betrothal to the Emperor seriously; but her trials
began when she was old enough to appreciate their meaning, and when
she might reasonably have expected to realise some of the seductive
prospects held before her eyes from her cradle. There was no element
of romance in her character; her mental endowments were essentially of
a practical nature, and she lacked almost entirely the gifts necessary
to adapt them to a changing world. Nearly all her life long the times
were out of joint, and she knew no other way to set them right, but
that of uncompromising opposition. But she possessed in an eminent
degree the virtues of her limitations; her whole conduct was moulded on
examples which she had been taught to reverence as her conscience, and
consistent to a fault, she saw little evil in the old order, little
good in the new. Ardently affectionate, a loyal friend and bountiful
mistress, she was keenly sensitive to every act of fidelity. According
to the contemporary chronicle already quoted,[65] “she was so bred as
she hated evil, knew no foul or unclean speeches, which when her lord
father understood, he would not believe it, but would try it once by
Sir Francis Brian, being at a mask in the court; and finding it to be
true notwithstanding, perceiving her to be prudent, and of a princely
spirit, did ever after more honour her”.
But the fatal shadow of Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, had fallen
on the throne, and the king’s infatuation for her was to sweep both his
wife and his daughter into a vortex of misery from which there was no
escape for one of them but death. Whether Wolsey first insinuated the
doubt as to the validity of the king’s marriage, in order to pander to
Henry’s wandering fancies, or whether Henry himself, carried away by
his passion for Anne Boleyn, evolved the idea of a possible flaw in his
union with Katharine, matters little. The question was soon entangled
in a mass of chicanery, and whichever of the two may have been the
first to strike the match, it was clear to Wolsey, that his fortunes
depended henceforth on his keeping the flame alive. The subject had
been mooted as far back as 1525, and the first mention of the coming
divorce, of which we have any record, is contained in a letter from
Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Wolsey. Referring to some other
business, Warham says, “it will be better not to proceed further, till
this great matter of the King’s grace be ended”.[66] Again in 1526,
after a long interval in which the subject seems to have been dropped,
the Bishop of Bath and Wells remarked to the Cardinal of York, “there
will be great difficulty _circa istud benedictum divortium_”.[67]
The sack of Rome by the Imperialists, and the Pope’s captivity delayed
the investigation of the cause by the papal courts to which it had
been referred, but in 1527, Henry’s “scruples” for having married his
brother’s widow began to be talked of as the King’s “great,” “secret”
or “private matter”.[68] Possibly, when Henry first began to study
the Scriptures, and the writers of antiquity in search of arguments
to support his “scruples,” he may not yet have fallen in love with
Anne, or at least Wolsey did not know that he had. When he did set his
mind on marrying her, it did not seem probable that his fancy would
outlive the necessary delays and preliminaries of a divorce, even if
it could be obtained, or that the ambition of the Boleyns would be
equal to the influence of the Cardinal. But during Wolsey’s absence
in France, the whole subject assumed a point and a piquancy hitherto
undreamed of. Wolsey had not fostered Henry’s desires in order to
further his marriage with the grand-daughter of a wealthy merchant. He
himself aimed at nothing short of the Papacy, and he thought that by
negotiating a brilliant marriage with a princess of France, he could
make for himself a convenient stepping-stone thereto, far more secure
than that which Mary’s marriage would afford. As the candidate of two
powerful monarchs, he would practically control the next conclave; but
the Boleyns could do nothing for him. He had yet to learn that Anne was
strong enough to work his ruin.
Before his departure for his embassy to France, he had, in collusion
with the King, held a secret legatine court, together with Archbishop
Warham, and had cited Henry to appear, and answer the charge of having
lived unlawfully for eighteen years with his brother’s widow. A second
sitting of the court was held on the 20th May, and a third on the 31st.
Thus were the proceedings opened, but Henry, fearing that the authority
of the two archbishops might not be weighty enough to bring the affair
to a crisis, proposed that the question, whether a man might marry his
late brother’s wife, should be submitted to the most learned bishops
in England, counting on their subserviency to obtain the answer he
wished. But the bishops were less amenable than he expected. Most of
them replied that with a papal dispensation such a marriage would be
perfectly valid.
All this time, Henry imagined that his secret had been kept; but
Katharine was well aware of what was pending. On the 22nd June he
broached the subject to her, telling her that he had been living in
mortal sin, and that henceforth he would abstain from her company.
He asked her to remove to some place at a distance from the court.
Katharine, greatly agitated, burst into tears, and would neither admit
the reasonableness of his doubts nor agree to live apart from him. In
the actual state of affairs, Henry could do no more, and for a time
nothing was changed. Anne was almost constantly at court, and the
divorce was now openly spoken of, but was extremely unpopular. No one
believed in Henry’s scruples, but Anne played her part with tact, and
her power increased daily. To give some colour to the proceedings,
Henry and Wolsey had trumped up an ingenious story. They declared
that during the treaty for Mary’s marriage with Francis or the Duke
of Orleans, the Bishop of Tarbes had expressed a doubt as to her
legitimacy.[69] This story was made to do duty in England, but no trace
of the Bishop of Tarbes having made such a remark is to be found in
France, nor was any use made of the pretext in the subsequent trial
at Rome.[70] It is in distinct contradiction with the well-known fact
that the bishop was in favour of the marriage, and did all he could to
bring it about. Moreover, during all the long and tedious discussions
between the two kings at that time, not a word transpired, even when
Wolsey went to France, of Henry’s intention to repudiate Katharine, not
a doubt was expressed of Mary’s legitimacy. Henry always alluded to his
daughter at that time as heiress to the throne. But on Wolsey’s return,
matters at once assumed a different aspect. Elated with the success of
his embassy, the Cardinal of York seemed to have the world at his feet.
He had all but married Mary to the King of France, who was in need of
nothing more than of England’s friendship. As soon as this union was
accomplished, Henry’s marriage might be successfully broken, and a new
one negotiated with a daughter of France, when two grateful monarchs
would hold the triple crown over his expectant head. But now all this
choice fabric of his dreams was imperilled by the clashing ambition
of a woman, even then lightly spoken of. Anne, knowing that he would
be her bitterest foe, obtained to be present at his first audience
with the King, and shortly after, Henry told him that he intended to
marry her. Seeing that arguments, entreaties and warnings were futile,
Wolsey turned round and paid court to the rising star. But Anne never
forgave his opposition, and never trusted him. She taunted Henry with
his bondage to the Cardinal, and did not rest till she had stirred up
strife between them, on the subject of the nomination of an Abbess of
Wilton. The quarrel was patched up, but it proved to be the rift within
the lute, that was to make harmony impossible, and to lead on to his
fall.
Meanwhile, Mary was still in ignorance of the events that were to
influence all her future. Her education went on without interruption,
and in the summer of 1528, Katharine, who, in spite of overwhelming
anxieties, had room in her mind for solicitude regarding her daughter’s
studies, wrote to Ludovicus Vives to express a wish that he would
come and teach the Princess Latin, during the following winter. He
consented, and returned to England on the 1st October, “to please the
King and Queen”. By this time Katharine was in dire need of help,
advice and consolation. “She told him how deeply she was afflicted
about the controversy concerning her marriage; and, thinking him well
read in matters of moral, began to open out to him as her countryman,
on the subject of her grief.”[71] Vives prudently replied that “her
sorrows were a proof that she was dear to God, for that thus He was
accustomed to chasten His own”. But he proved himself a true friend to
the Queen, and took occasion to write to Henry, begging him to consider
the danger of his course in incurring the enmity of the Emperor. If his
object was to have a son, he might choose a suitable person to marry
his daughter. If he were to take another wife, there was no certainty
that she would bear him a son, or that a son would live. A new marriage
would leave the succession doubtful, and afford grounds for civil
war. He was, he said, moved to write by his duty to the King, love to
England, where he was so kindly received, and anxiety for the peace of
Christendom.[72]
Katharine had, in truth, need of patience. Anne grew daily more
overbearing, and it was hardly to be expected that the Queen’s sense
of humour should be equal to the grotesque littleness, with which the
favourite exulted over her enemies. In a hapless moment she showed her
contempt for them by the device, _Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne_,
which she caused to be embroidered on her servants’ liveries, but
learned to her mortification that she had unwittingly adopted the
motto of her bitter enemies, the princes of the house of Burgundy. In
England, the friends of the Queen cried: “_Groigne qui groigne et vive
Bourgoigne!_” The liveries, being thus covered with ridicule, had to
be discarded, and on Christmas Day, her servants appeared in their old
doublets.[73]
In October 1528, the papal legate, Cardinal Campeggio arrived in
London. The Pope had charged him with the mission to do his utmost to
restore mutual affection between the King and Queen, and failing this
result, to open a court of inquiry, in conjunction with Wolsey.
But it was clear that no reconciliation would be possible. Henry was
infatuated with Anne; and as for the legatine court, the two judges
were at cross purposes, Wolsey aiming at nothing but a verdict against
the marriage, while Campeggio was determined that justice should be
done. His policy was to counteract the haste with which the proceedings
were hurried forward, “with great strides always faster than a trot,”
and in this he succeeded so well, that the legates being pressed
to give sentence in the King’s favour by the 22nd July, Campeggio
declared, that if Wolsey agreed with him, he was willing to pronounce
sentence, otherwise it would not be pronounced. The cause was then
removed to Rome, to be tried before the Court of the Rota, and it being
apparent that Wolsey possessed neither weight nor credit with the
Pope, his fall became imminent. Anne had not schemed in vain, and his
disgrace filled her with exultation, although her cause was in no way
benefited by it.
We are greatly indebted for the history of the Queen and the Princess
Mary, during the next few years, to the interesting despatches of
the imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, who arrived in England in
August 1529. He was a native of Switzerland, aged about thirty, of
distinguished, and even courtly manners, eloquent, quick-witted and
trustworthy. Charles V. had been so much impressed with his sagacity
that he sent him as ambassador, first to Francis I., then to Henry
VIII., both enemies who required judicious handling. Full of minute
details, his letters cannot be said to present either a wholly
impartial, or still less a one-sided view of passing events. Chapuys
was an avowed friend of the unhappy Queen and of her daughter, but as
the accredited envoy of Charles V. he would not be likely to furnish
him with false statements, or garbled facts, and although his natural
bias leads him to write with eulogy of the Queen and the Princess, and
with acrimony of their enemies, he would not have been the diplomatist
he proved himself to be had he misled Charles as to the details of
the tragedy that was being played before his eyes. He was a shrewd
observer, tactful and discreet, so that he never compromised his
position at court by showing too much zeal. He contrived to give Henry
and Cromwell the impression that he was acting solely as the Emperor’s
diplomatic agent, and thus was at first allowed to communicate freely
with Katharine and Mary, and was often able to render them important
service.
In transcribing portions of these letters, Dr. Gairdner’s excellent
translations of the original documents in the Vienna archives, and the
versions of Don Pasquale de Gayangos have been used. Mr. Rawdon Brown’s
transcripts from the Venetian archives are still important, and later
on, of even greater interest.
The condition in which Chapuys found the English Court was unique.
Henry continued to treat Katharine with outward decency; they still
sometimes dined together in public, and occasionally hunted in each
other’s company. But Anne was never far off, and when at court, was
treated with as much ceremony as the Queen herself. Mary was seldom
allowed to visit her parents, probably because of Anne’s intense
dislike to her. The favourite was, perhaps not unnaturally, less
jealous of the wife whom Henry had ceased to care for, than of the
daughter whom he was supposed to idolise. Both at Hampton Court and
Windsor there was ample accommodation for the Queen, and the mistress
as well; but at York Place, Whitehall, which Henry had seized on
Wolsey’s fall, there was no suitable apartment for Katharine; and Anne
was always best pleased to be there, for then Henry left his wife
at Greenwich. But the court was seldom in London, and Anne agitated
incessantly that she might be banished.[74]
In March 1531, Mary was allowed to visit her mother; but in April she
had an illness, and wrote to the King that no medicine would do her
so much good as to see him and the Queen, and desired his permission
to come to them both at Greenwich. “This,” said Chapuys, “has been
refused, to gratify the Lady, who hates her as much as the Queen, or
more so, chiefly because she sees the King has some affection for her.
Of late, when the King praised her in the Lady’s presence, the latter
was very angry, and began to vituperate the Princess very strangely.
She becomes more arrogant every day, using words and authority towards
the King, of which he has several times complained to the Duke of
Norfolk, saying that she was not like the Queen, who had never in her
life used ill words to him.”[75]
On the 14th May, he writes: “The King, dining the other day with the
Queen, as is usual in most festivals, began to speak of the Turk,
and the truce concluded with your Majesty, praising your puissance,
contrary to his wont. Afterwards, proceeding to speak of the Princess,
he accused the Queen of cruelty, because she had not made her physician
reside continually with her; and so the dinner passed off amicably.
Next day, when the Queen, in consequence of these gracious speeches,
asked the King to allow the Princess to see them, he rebuffed her very
rudely, and said she might go and see the Princess if she wished, and
also stop there. The Queen graciously replied, that she would not leave
him for her daughter, nor for any one else in the world, and there the
matter stopped.”
Worried at the opposition which he encountered in his efforts to get
rid of Katharine, Henry told the Duke of Norfolk that it would have
been a great blessing if this marriage had never been made, but on
second thoughts, he added, “nevertheless, this would have been a great
pity, since of it there had come such a pearl as the Princess, who was
one of the most beautiful and virtuous ladies of the world”.[76]
In 1530, Mary was still called Princess of Wales, and until the autumn
of the following year, her father kept up an appearance of civility
towards her mother, visiting her in her apartments every three days. At
last, however, he left her at Windsor, and went away hunting with Anne.
Katharine sent to inquire after his health, and he replied by an angry
letter, forbidding her to write to him. To add to the insult, there was
no address on the letter, “probably,” says Chapuys, “because a change
of name was contemplated; but the Princess is with her, and this will
make her forget her grief for the absence of the King. They amuse
themselves by hunting, and visiting the royal houses round Windsor,
expecting some good news from Rome.”[77]
Chapuys told the Emperor that the Pope had said, that “if there was
written evidence of the great familiarity and scandalous conversation,
and bad example of the King and the Lady, and of the ill-treatment of
the Queen, his Holiness would immediately fulminate his censures”. But,
by this time, Henry was reckless of all save Anne, and his hunting
expedition having come to an end, he wished to return to Windsor, and
intimated to Katharine that both she and her daughter must depart. Mary
was to return to Richmond, while she herself had orders to repair to
the More, a house in Hertfordshire, formerly belonging to Wolsey, but
which had come into the possession of the Abbey of St. Albans, and was
granted to the King, in December 1531. The house itself is described
as “a commodious habitation in summer,” but the park and garden were
in a ruinous condition and “the ways so foul that those who went there
in carriages, broke down the pales and made highway through the park”.
The keeper, Sir John Russell, wrote repeatedly to Cromwell about the
condition of the said palings, but could get no answer, and complained
that if the king would “give no money for the paling,” no deer would
be left; and if the charge were not so great, he would bear it out of
his own purse. Moreover, the king would only give the gardener sixpence
a day, and no one would take it at that price. If he would give
eightpence, Sir John declares that he himself would contribute “twenty
nobles of the charge”. “The Queen’s servants, with their carriage,
broke down the pales in many places.”[78]
Katharine remained at this place for several months. She declared
that she would have preferred going to the Tower as a prisoner, but
Chapuys said that the King knew quite well, that if he sent her there,
the people would have risen in mutiny; that he was often waylaid as
he went to hunt, with entreaties to take the Queen back, and that
Anne met with insults from the women wherever she went. Nevertheless,
she protested loudly, that the King would marry her in three or four
months, and began preparing for her royal state.
Katharine never saw her daughter again, and could only communicate
with her secretly. They were sternly forbidden to write to each other,
whereupon Mary begged that some one might be sent from the King to
read the letters which she wrote to her mother, that it might be seen
she only informed her about her health. But even this was refused,
and henceforth none but furtive missives passed between them, letters
written in dread, and conveyed with danger, at times when exceptional
terrors appeared to hang over the one or the other. Henry hoped by a
systematic persecution, to break the spirit of both; but each was of
the blood royal of Spain, the noblest in Europe, and the indignities
heaped upon them only served to increase the dignity with which they
suffered. Mary was, moreover, a Tudor also, and could be as resolute as
her father.
In 1531, an Italian, Mario Savagnano, with some companions, paid a
visit to the English Court, and in an interesting account of his
journey recorded his impressions of the King, Queen, and Princess:—
“I saw the King twice, and kissed his hand; he is glad to see
foreigners, and especially Italians; he embraced me joyously, and then
went out to hunt with some forty to fifty horsemen. He is tall of
stature, very well formed and of very handsome presence, beyond measure
affable, and I never saw a prince better disposed than this one. He is
also learned and accomplished, and most generous and kind, and were
it not that he now seeks to repudiate his wife, after having lived
with her for twenty-two years, he would be no less perfectly good, and
equally prudent. But this thing detracts greatly from his merits, as
there is now living with him a young woman of noble birth, though many
say of bad character, whose will is law to him, and he is expected
to marry her should the divorce take place, which it is supposed
will not be effected, as the peers of the realm, both spiritual and
temporal, are opposed to it; nor during the present Queen’s life will
they have any other queen in the kingdom. Her Majesty is prudent and
good; and during these differences with the King, she has evinced
constancy and resolution, never being disheartened or depressed. I
returned to Windsor Castle, and from thence, on the fourth day of my
departure from London, arrived at a palace called the More, where the
Queen resides. In the morning we saw her Majesty dine: she had some
thirty maids of honour standing round the table, and about fifty who
performed its service. Her court consists of about two hundred persons,
but she is not so much visited as heretofore, on account of the King.
Her Majesty is not of tall stature, rather small. If not handsome,
she is not ugly; she is somewhat stout, and has always a smile on her
countenance. We next went to another palace called Richmond, where the
Princess her daughter resides; and having asked the maggiordomo for
permission to see her, he spoke to the chamberlain, and then to the
governess (the Countess of Salisbury) and they made us wait. Then,
after seeing the palace, we returned to the hall, and having entered a
spacious chamber, where there were some venerable old men, with whom
we discoursed, the Princess came forth, accompanied by a noble lady,
advanced in years, who is her governess, and by six maids of honour.
This Princess is not tall, has a pretty face, and is well proportioned,
with a very beautiful complexion, and is fifteen years old. She speaks
Spanish, French, and Latin, besides her own mother-English tongue, is
well grounded in Greek, and understands Italian, but does not venture
to speak it. She sings excellently, and plays on several instruments,
so that she combines every accomplishment. We were then taken to a
sumptuous repast, after which we returned to our lodging, whither,
according to the fashion of the country, the Princess sent us a present
of wine and ale (which last is another beverage of theirs) and white
bread. On the next day, which was the 6th, we returned to London to the
house of our ambassador, where we remained two days, and then by boat
went down the Thames, which is very broad, and covered with swans,
and thus we got to Dover the passage port.”[79]
[Illustration: KATHARINE OF ARRAGON.
From a fine original in miniature by Holbein, formerly in Horace
Walpole’s Collection at Strawberry Hill.]
Another Italian visitor, the Venetian, Ludovico Falier, describes Mary
at sixteen years old as “a very handsome, amiable and accomplished
princess, in no respect inferior to her mother”. He remarks that
Katharine was so much loved and respected, that the people were
beginning to murmur against the King. “Were,” he continues, “the
faction to produce a leader, it is certain that the English nation,
so prone to innovation and change, would take up arms for the Queen,
and by so much the more, were it arranged for the leader to marry the
Princess Mary, although by English law females are excluded from the
Crown.”[80]
Another, Marin Giustinian, writing to the Signory, says: “The English
King is not popular with his subjects, chiefly on account of his
intention to divorce his wife, who is much loved, and they hold her
daughter in very great account”.[81]
A month later, the same writer was at Paris, and says:—
“The English ambassador here, Sir John Wallop, does not approve
the divorce; praising the wisdom, innocence, and patience of Queen
Katharine, as also her daughter. He says that the Queen was beloved as
if she had been of the blood royal of England, and the Princess in like
manner.”[82]
And from Lyons, on the 28th March 1533, he writes that a gentleman who
has come from England has told Sir John Wallop, that “the King does not
choose the Princess any longer to be styled Princess, but ‘Madam Mary,’
nor will he give her in marriage abroad; others say that he intends to
make her a nun”. In August Marc Antonio Venier, in a despatch to the
Signory from Rome, says that “letters from England announce that the
Archbishop of Canterbury has pronounced a sentence in favour of Henry,
prohibiting Katharine to be any longer named Queen, and is having it
proclaimed throughout the realm, so that she may not be able to defend
herself; and her daughter has been admonished not to interfere”.[83]
In the main, the Italians were correctly informed as to passing events
in England. But at this period, although Henry kept Mary at a distance
from court, and had not seen her for three years, she was still treated
with a degree of consideration, to which her mother had long been a
stranger. He was still uncertain as to the use he would make of her,
in securing for himself allies abroad. He hoped that she would submit
quietly to the new laws, and therefore, for a time at least, nothing
was abated of her royal state. In September 1531, soon after her
parting from her mother, a warrant was issued to the Master of the
Great Wardrobe “to deliver certain things for the use of the Princess,”
nearly all of which were composed of materials then only used by royal
personages.[84]
The perennial question of her marriage was again in debate, but was
thenceforth removed to a lower level in European politics. Her
betrothal to the Duke of Orleans had never been cancelled, but a
dispute had arisen between Henry and Francis, on the subject of money.
Then, when the validity of her parents’ marriage became a matter of
discussion in all the Universities of Europe, Francis wished that the
case should be first settled, “lest the world should declare that his
son had married a bastard”.[85] And in the midst of these delays, the
Scottish alliance was again mooted. But the Scotch put too high a value
on their friendship with France, to risk such a union;[86] Margaret was
too like her brother to commit herself to any definite policy save that
of intrigue; and Henry had now more urgent business on hand than the
disposal of his daughter in marriage. Some languid interest was excited
at court by the proposal of King John Zapolski to marry her, and
Chapuys heard that her hand had been sought for the Duke of Cleves;[87]
but neither project was seriously entertained. It was also believed
that the Pope and the Emperor wished to bestow her on Francesco Sforza,
Duke of Milan, who had lost the use of his hands and feet. “And this,”
wrote Niño to the Emperor, “would not be half such bad treatment of the
daughter as of the mother.”[88]
To all these projects Henry replied that the Princess would never be
married except in a high position, for she was still heiress of the
kingdom; and when the great affair was settled in the King’s favour,
and he remarried, it was uncertain whether he would have male children,
and if not she would be preferred to other daughters. If any person
ventured to say that she was illegitimate, “he would have his head cut
off”.[89]
Wolsey had died in disgrace, on the 27th November 1530, and the
chancellorship devolved on his own secretary, Thomas Cromwell, a man
who virtually made the history of the next ten years in England. The
son of a “fuller of clothes” or dyer, his career had been singularly
varied. He had as a mere youth found his way to Italy, where he
served as a common soldier, but being preternaturally observant, he
succeeded in picking up many scraps of the new learning which fell
from the great Medici banquet, then being spread throughout Tuscany.
Machiavelli’s book, _Il Principe_, was the foundation on which his
whole future statesmanship was built. On his return to England he was
successively a scrivener, a lawyer, a money-lender, and a great wool
merchant at Middlesbrough. It was not till he was nearly middle-aged,
that he attracted the notice of Wolsey, then beginning the suppression
of some small monasteries, in favour of his colleges at Ipswich and
Oxford. On Wolsey’s fall, it was thought that he would be imprisoned,
but he seized the moment when the tide was turning, and used it to
float himself into a safe harbour. Reginald Pole, son of the Countess
of Salisbury, had met him at Cardinal Wolsey’s, and had recognised in
him the coming man. They had talked philosophy, and Cromwell tried to
persuade him that Plato’s system was “a dream,” promising to send him a
copy of _Il Principe_. It was probably at Cromwell’s instigation that
Henry offered Pole the Archbishopric of York, although he was not yet
in priest’s orders. Seeing the course that the King was now taking,
and Cromwell’s growing influence, instead of accepting the benefice,
Pole determined to fly the kingdom, “beyond the reach of his bow,”[90]
and was in consequence saved from the fate of More and Fisher, and,
later on, from that of his own mother. Henry, loth to lose so able
an advocate as he would prove, if he could be won over to his cause,
refused his repeated request to be allowed to go and study abroad.
But at last Pole told him that if he remained in England, he must of
necessity attend the Parliament which was about to assemble, and that
if the King’s divorce were discussed, he must speak according to his
conscience. Henry then at once gave him leave to go, and even promised
to continue his income of 400 ducats yearly.[91]
Between the beginning of August 1530 and May 1531, Henry lavished the
price of a king’s ransom in jewels upon Anne.[92] But in the catalogue
of presents made by him on New Year’s Day, 1532, the names of the Queen
and Princess are conspicuously followed by a blank space. Not only
did he send them none, but he forbade the members of his council, and
others to do so, and this year he abstained for the first time from
making presents to the ladies of Katharine’s and Mary’s households. But
to Anne he gave the hangings of a room in cloth of gold and silver,
and crimson satin with costly embroideries. She was now lodged in
the Queen’s apartments, and had almost as many ladies as if she were
already queen. Katharine sent a gold cup to the King as a present,
but he returned it to her, with a message praising its beauty, but
informing her that he could receive no gift from her. So complete was
the power of Anne over him at this time, that he was less free than the
least of his subjects; and this power she continued to exercise during
the entire year then beginning, and a few months longer. Chapuys told
the Emperor that one day Henry had met his daughter walking in the
fields, but did not say much to her, except to ask her how she was,
and to assure her that in future he would see her more often. “It is
certain,” he continued, “that the King dares [not] bring her where the
Lady is, for she does not wish to see her or hear of her.” He thought
that the King would have talked with Mary longer and more familiarly,
if the Lady had not sent two of her people to listen. The Princess,
he adds, was to be at Windsor during her father’s absence in France,
whither he was to be accompanied by Anne, and the Queen was very much
afraid that he would marry his mistress at the impending interview
with the French king. “But the Lady has assured some person in whom she
trusts, that even if the King wished, she would not consent, for she
wishes it to be done here, in the place where queens are wont to be
married and crowned.”[93]
In anticipation of the journey to France, Anne had been created
Marchioness of Pembroke on the 1st September 1532,[94] and was to
appear at the meeting with Francis, in great state as the future queen;
but as no royal lady could be prevailed on to meet her, not even the
Queen of Navarre, who was supposed to be her friend, she was obliged to
go unattended by a suite.[95]
She accompanied Henry to Calais, and remained there while he proceeded
to join Francis at Boulogne. The two Kings returned together to Calais,
and Francis presented Anne with a valuable jewel, complimenting her
much on her beautiful dancing. But all this was humiliation compared
with the ambitious hopes she had founded on the meeting, and she was
more than ever impatient for her marriage, when she imagined that
slights would no longer be her portion.
Warham had died on the 23rd August, and Cranmer, already prominent as a
creature of Henry’s and of the Boleyns, and a zealous favourer of the
divorce, was at once put forward as a candidate for the vacant see of
Canterbury. His election was pushed on, in the hope that if the Pope
gave an adverse sentence, the new archbishop might then dissolve the
King’s marriage by his own authority. But some time must necessarily
elapse before the bulls of consecration could be issued, and meanwhile
matters were precipitated by Anne’s announcement in January 1533, that
Henry might expect an heir to the Crown. It was necessary, if this
passionately hoped-for heir was to be Prince of Wales, that Henry
and Anne should be married at once.[96] The ceremony was accordingly
performed at York Place, on the 25th January, by Rowland Lee, one of
the King’s chaplains, whom Henry deceived with the assurance that he
had leave from the Pope to contract a new marriage. The event was at
first kept secret even from Cranmer, who was informed of it a fortnight
later, but Chapuys, ever vigilant and alert, discovered that it had
taken place, and informed the Emperor, naming the date as the Feast of
the Conversion of St. Paul.[97] The object of the secrecy was twofold;
first, in order that a semblance of friendship might be kept up with
the Pope till he had granted Cranmer’s bulls, and also that the date
of the marriage might be afterwards falsified to claim legitimacy for
Anne’s child.[98]
The bulls arrived in March, and Cranmer was immediately consecrated
Archbishop of Canterbury. The next step was to pronounce sentence of
divorce. A court was opened at Dunstable, on the 10th May, and the
Queen cited to appear before it. On her failing to do so, Cranmer
declared her contumacious, and on the 23rd, proceeded to pronounce her
marriage null, Henry himself dictating the form of the sentence.[99]
Katharine, when she was informed of this proceeding, was at Ampthill,
near Dunstable, whither she had been removed from Buckden or Bugden,
a house which she had occupied for some months, very inferior to
the More, and very damp in winter, belonging to Longland, Bishop of
Lincoln, one of the first promoters of the divorce. Since her arrival
at Ampthill, Henry had twice sent to her to inform her of his marriage
with Anne, and to forbid her any longer to take the title of Queen.
She was henceforth to be styled Princess Dowager, to retire to one of
the houses settled on her by his brother, Prince Arthur, and live on
a small income, as the King would no longer pay her expenses, or the
wages of her servants. She answered on both occasions with calmness and
dignity, that as long as she lived she would call herself Queen, but
that if the King objected to the expense of her allowance, she would
be contented with what she had, and with her confessor, physician,
apothecary and two women, would go wherever he wished. If food for
herself and servants failed her, she would go and beg for the love of
God.[100]
Anne was now triumphant. Her coronation was fixed for the 1st June, and
the nearer she approached to the desired goal, the more insolent became
her conduct and language.[101] Already, on the 10th April, Chapuys had
written with great earnestness to the Emperor, urging him to make war
upon Henry, considering the very great injury done to madame, his
aunt, “for it is to be feared,” so ran the letter, “that the moment
this accursed Anne sets her foot firmly in the stirrup she will try
to do the Queen all the harm she possibly can, and the Princess also,
which is the thing your aunt dreads most. Indeed, I hear she has lately
boasted that she will make of the Princess a maid-of-honour in her
royal household, that she may perhaps give her too much dinner on some
occasion, or marry her to some varlet, which would be an irreparable
evil.”[102]
In another part of the same letter he says: “I hear that the King is
about to forbid every one, under pain of death, to speak in public
or private, in favour of the Queen. After that, he will most likely
proceed to greater extremities, unless God and your Majesty prevent
it. Again, I beseech your Majesty to forgive me if I dare give advice
in such matters, for besides the above causes, the great pity I have
for the Queen and the Princess, your Majesty’s aunt and niece (_sic_),
absolutely compel me to take this course. Though the King is by nature
kind and generously inclined, this Anne has so perverted him, that he
does not seem the same man. It is therefore to be feared that unless
your Majesty applies a prompt remedy to this evil, the Lady will not
relent in her persecution, until she actually finishes with Queen
Katharine, as she once did with Cardinal Wolsey, whom she did not hate
half so much. The Queen, however, is not afraid for herself; what she
cares most for is the Princess.”
And again, in the same letter: “The Queen is to take the title of old
dowager Princess. As for the Princess Mary, no title has been yet given
to her,” and Chapuys fancies that they will wait to settle this until
“_la dame aye faict lenfant_”.[103]
Anne’s coronation in Westminster Abbey, magnificent as a ceremony and
a procession, was marked by an absence of popular enthusiasm amounting
to general stupefaction. The crowd, silent and sullen, could not be
persuaded to take off their hats and cry “God save the Queen,” and when
one of Anne’s attendants told the lord mayor to order them to cheer as
usual, he answered that he “could not command people’s hearts, and even
the King could not do so”. The court and the nobility did their best to
grace the ceremony, but the Duchess of Norfolk refused to be present,
and no one was surprised, for her loyalty to Queen Katharine was known.
Henry had caused his own and Anne’s initials, H. and A., to be
interwoven in every imaginable device, but the people interpreted
them derisively—Ha! ha! They even went so far as to insult the French
ambassador and his suite, because they were known to be Anne’s friends,
calling them “French dogs”.[104]
When Katharine left Ampthill to return to Buckden, all the
neighbourhood turned out to do her honour. In defiance of the order
not to style her queen, they shouted at the top of their voices: “Long
live Queen Katharine,” wishing her joy, repose, and prosperity, and
confusion to her enemies. They begged her with tears, to set them to
work and employ them in her service, protesting that they were ready
to die for her.[105] A few days before, Henry had sent Lord Mountjoy,
her chamberlain, and several other gentlemen to Ampthill, to tell her
once more that she must henceforth bear the title of Dowager-Princess
of Wales. But she declared that she would never accept service from any
one, or answer any one who addressed her by that title. On being shown
the report of the interview with her, which had been drawn up by the
deputation, she crossed out the words _Dowager-Princess_ wherever they
appeared.
The news of Henry’s independent action, and of Cranmer’s sentence at
Dunstable, had duly reached the Pope’s ears, and had brought the cause
before the Rota[106] to a sudden climax. A brief was at once issued,
declaring that Cranmer, and all those who had co-operated with him in
the matter, had incurred the greater excommunication, and the Papal
anathemas were prepared. Henry appealed from the authority of the Pope
to a General Council, and withdrew his ambassador from Rome. It was the
beginning of the breach with the Pope.
On the 7th September, Anne gave birth to a daughter, and Chapuys wrote
to Charles: “The Lady’s daughter has been christened Elizabeth, not
Mary as I wrote in my last despatch. The christening ceremony was as
dull and disagreeable (_mal playcante_) as the mother’s coronation.
Neither at court nor at this city of London nor elsewhere have there
been bonfires, illuminations, and rejoicings customary on such
occasions. Immediately after the christening of this daughter of the
King a herald, standing at the gate of the church, proclaimed her
Princess of England; and previously to that, that is, immediately after
the child’s birth, the same herald announced that the good, true,
and legitimate Princess (of Wales) was no longer to be called so;
the badges usually borne by her laquais on their coats-of-arms were
instantly removed, and replaced by the King’s skutcheon. In fact, a
rumour is afloat, and not without foundation, that her household and
allowance are to be shortly reduced. _May God in His infinite mercy
prevent a still worse treatment._ Meanwhile, the Princess, prudent and
virtuous as she naturally is, has taken all these things with patience,
trusting entirely in God’s mercy and goodness. She has addressed to
her mother, the Queen, a most wonderful letter, full of consolation
and comfort. I shall not fail, however, after hearing the Queen’s
wishes, and receiving her orders, to remonstrate and protest against so
enormous an injury and injustice, as the one just inflicted upon her
and her daughter, the Princess, though I very much fear—and indeed
am almost sure—that all my remonstrances will lead to nothing, for
certainly, the King’s obdurate sin, and his own misfortune have so shut
his ears that no arguments of any sort or prayers shall be listened to.
Indeed, something more than mere words will be required to make him
return to the right path.”[107]
But Anne would allow of no respite in the persecution of Henry’s wife
and daughter, and the King was now committed to a systematic policy,
by which they were to be reduced to submission. A document now in the
Record Office, endorsed “Articles to be proposed to my lady Mary,”
marks the next act of the drama. They are as follows: “Articles to be
proponed and showed on our behalf unto our daughter, lady Mary, and all
other the officers and servants of her household, by our right trusty
and right well-beloved cousin and councillors, the earls of Oxford,
Essex and Sussex, and by our trusty and right well-beloved clerk and
councillor, the Dean of our Chapel, whom we send at this time unto our
said daughter.
“1. They are to assemble on Wednesday next, at Chemsforth (Chelmsford)
and after communicating with each other on their charge, repair to
Beaulieu (New Hall) where our said daughter now abides, and there
declare their credence as follows, by the mouth of the Dean of the
Chapel, _viz._:—
“2. That the King is surprised to be informed both by lord Husaye’s
letters, and by his said daughter’s own, delivered by one of her
servants, that she, forgetting her filial duty and allegiance,
attempts, in spite of the commandment given her by lord Hussy, and
by the letters of Sir Will. Pallett, controller of the Household,
arrogantly to usurp the title of Princess, pretending to be heir
apparent, and encourages to do the like, declaring that she cannot
in conscience, think but she is the King’s lawful daughter, born in
true matrimony, and believes the King in his own conscience thinks the
same. That to prevent her pernicious example spreading, they have been
commanded to declare to her the folly and danger of her conduct, and
how the King intends that she shall use herself henceforth, both as
to her title and as to her household. That she has worthily deserved
the King’s high displeasure and punishment by law, but that on her
conforming to his will, he may incline of his fatherly pity to promote
her welfare.”
Mary had thus written to her father on the 2nd October:—
“This morning my chamberlain came and informed me that he had received
a letter from Sir Will. Paulet, controller of your House, to the effect
that I should remove at once to Hertford Castle.
“I desired to see the letter, in which was written ‘the lady Mary, the
King’s daughter,’ leaving out the name of Princess. I marvelled at
this, thinking your Grace was not privy to it, not doubting but you
take me for your lawful daughter, born in true matrimony. If I agreed
to the contrary, I should offend God; in all other things, you shall
find me an obedient daughter. From your manor of Beaulieu, 2 Oct.“[108]
On the 16th, the imperial ambassador again writes:—
“Nothing new has occurred since the date of my last despatch, except
that the King has made the Princess, his daughter, move from the fine
house in which she was dwelling to a very wretched one, most unfit for
this present season. He has done still more, the Princess’s residence
he has given, or let—I cannot say which—to lord Rochefort, the brother
of the Lady, who is already furnishing it, and sending thither his
household servants. I omitted in my last despatch to specify all the
names of those who had gone, by the King’s commands, to speak to the
Princess. These were: the earls of Auffort (Oxford), Excez (Essex),
and Succez (Sussex), and Dr. Sampson, all of whom tried by prayers,
threats and persuasions innumerable, to make her give up the name and
title of Princess, and submit entirely to her father’s will, in this
respect, as God commands. But the Princess, I am told, replied so
wisely and discreetly, that the said lords knew not what to say, and
all shed tears in consequence (et ny eust personne a la compagnie que
ne pleurast bien chauldement). And I hear also, that following her
mother’s example, she would never consent to hear them in private; but
insisted on their delivering the King’s message in public, and before
all her household assembled for the purpose. She was no doubt afraid,
as she has since declared, that in the absence of witnesses, the King’s
deputies might make some statement to her prejudice or disadvantage.
It is impossible for me to describe the love and affection which the
English bear to their Princess; but they are already so much accustomed
to see and tolerate such disorderly things, that they tacitly commit
the redress of the same to God, and to your Majesty.“
It was about this time, that Katharine, upon the warning she had
received from Chapuys, wrote the following letter to Mary:—
“Daughter, I heard such tidings to-day, that I do perceive, if it is
true, the time is come that Almighty God will prove you; and I am very
glad of it, for I trust He doth handle you with a good love. I beseech
you, agree to His pleasure with a merry heart; and be you sure, that
without fail, He will not suffer you to perish, if you beware to offend
Him. I pray you, good daughter, to offer yourself to Him. If any pangs
come to you,[109] shrive yourself; first make you clean; take heed of
His commandments, and keep them as near as He will give you grace to
do, for then are you sure armed. And if this lady do come to you, as it
is spoken, if she do bring you a letter from the King, I am sure, in
the self-same letter, you shall be commanded what you shall do. Answer
you with few words, obeying the King your father in everything, save
that you will not offend God, and lose your own soul; and go no further
with learning and disputation in the matter. And wheresoever and in
whatsoever company you shall come, [obey] the King’s commandments.
Speak you few words, and meddle nothing. I will send you two books
in Latin: one shall be _De Vita Christi_, with the declaration of the
Gospels, and the other the _Epistles of Hierome_, that he did write
always to St. Paula and Eustochium; and in them I trust you shall see
good things. And sometimes, for your recreation, use your virginals, if
you have any. But one thing specially I desire you, for the love you do
owe unto God, and unto me, to keep your heart with a chaste mind, and
your body from all ill and wanton company, [not] thinking nor desiring
any husband, for Christ’s Passion; neither determine yourself to any
manner of living, until this troublesome time be past, for I dare make
you sure that you shall see a very good end, and better than you can
desire. I would God, good daughter, that you did know with how good a
heart I do write this letter unto you. I never did one with a better,
for I perceive very well that God loveth you. I beseech Him of His
goodness to continue it; and if it fortune that you shall have nobody
to be with you of your acquaintance, I think it best to keep your keys
yourself, for howsoever it is, so shall be done as shall please them.
And now you shall begin, and by likelihood I shall follow. I set not
a rush by it; for when they have done the uttermost they can, then I
am sure of the amendment. I pray you recommend me unto my good lady
Salisbury, and pray her to have a good heart, for we never come to the
Kingdom of Heaven but by troubles. Daughter, wheresoever you become,
take no pain to send for (to?) me, for if I may I will send to you.
“By your loving mother, Katharine, the Queen.”[110]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 64: _Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary_, Introductory
Memoir.]
[Footnote 65: _The Life of Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria_, p. 80 _et
seq._]
[Footnote 66: Brewer, _Cal._, vol. iv., pt. i., 1263.]
[Footnote 67: It was reported that Wolsey, having been told by a
fortune-teller that his ruin would be wrought through a woman, thought
that woman to be Queen Katharine, and that in order to prevent her from
being his undoing, he determined to bring her low. He put it into the
head of the King’s confessor to suggest to him that he had committed
sin in marrying his brother’s wife (Vatican Archives, Record Office
transcripts, Bliss, portfolio 53).]
[Footnote 68: _The First Divorce of Henry VIII. as told in the State
Papers_, by Mrs. Hope edited by Francis Aidan Gasquet, D.D., O.S.B., p.
43 _et seq._]
[Footnote 69: Brewer, _Cal._, vol. iv., pt. ii., 3231.]
[Footnote 70: Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was led to believe that
Henry wished, by the investigation, to establish the validity of his
marriage, because it had been impugned by the French bishop.]
[Footnote 71: Holograph letter in Latin, Record Office.]
[Footnote 72: Vives, _Opera_, vii., 134.]
[Footnote 73: Paul Friedmann, _Anne Boleyn_, vol. i., p. 128.]
[Footnote 74: The series of love-letters addressed by Henry to Anne
Boleyn in 1527 and 1528, and preserved in the Vatican Archives, leave
no possible doubt as to the relations existing between the King and
Anne at that time. A summary of their contents is contained in Brewer’s
4th _Cal._, 3218-21, 3325-26, 3990, 4383, 4403, 4410, 4477, 4537, 4539,
4597, 4648, 4742, 4894.]
[Footnote 75: Chapuys to Charles V., 29th April 1531, Vienna Archives.]
[Footnote 76: Gairdner, _Cal._, v., 308.]
[Footnote 77: Gairdner, _Cal._, v., 361.]
[Footnote 78: _Ibid._, vi., 347, 401, 426.]
[Footnote 79: _Venetian Calendar_, vol. iv., 682.]
[Footnote 80: An obvious mistake. He imagined that the Salic law
pertained in England.]
[Footnote 81: Sanuto Diaries, vol. lvii., p. 475.]
[Footnote 82: _Ibid._, vol. lviii., p. 125.]
[Footnote 83: Sanuto Diaries, vol. lviii.]
[Footnote 84: On the 27th September, 1531, a warrant was issued to the
Master of the Great Wardrobe, “to deliver for the use of the Princess:
1, a gown of cloth of silver tissue, the same to be lined with plain
cloth of silver; 2, a gown of purple velvet, to be lined with the
same; 3, a gown of black tinsel to be lined with the same; 4, a gown
of right crimson satin, to be lined with cloth of gold of tissue; 5, a
gown of black velvet lukes, furred with ermines—every of the said gowns
to contain eleven and a half yards; 6, a nightgown of black velvet of
ten yards, furred with coney; 7, a kirtle of cloth of gold, with works
and sleeves of the same; 8, a kirtle of cloth of silver tissue and
sleeves of the same; 9, a kirtle of black tinsel with sleeves of the
same; every of the said kirtles with sleeves to contain seven and a
half yards; 10, as much right satin as will line the hood and sleeves
thereof; 11, a cloak case of satin of Bruges; 12, two parteletts, one
of black velvet and the other of black satin, lined with sarsanet; 13,
one piece of fine Holland cloth at 3s. 4d. the ell for smocks; 14,
twenty ells of fine cambric for railles; 15, six pieces of pointing
riband and for garters; 16, eight ounces of lacing riband; 17, one
piece of broad riband for girdles; 18, sixteen pair of velvet shoes;
21, three French hoods; 22, a yard of white satin, a yard of crimson
satin, and a yard of black velvet for billements for the same; 23, a
night bonnet of ermines; 24, a dozen lawn parteletts; 25, ten thousand
pins; 26, one pound of thread; 27, two hundred needles; 28, one pound
of silk of divers colours; 29, four brushes and four rubbers; 30,
twenty ells of linen cloth at 10d. the ell for certain necessaries; and
to pay for the making and furring all the premises. Waltham Monastery,
27 Sep., 1531. Signed and sealed” (Record Office).]
[Footnote 85: Sanuto Diaries, vol. lvi., p. 257.]
[Footnote 86: The Regent, Louise of Savoy, told the Scotch ambassador,
that she knew the Queen and Council were too wise to give up an ancient
friend for an enemy who wished to become reconciled to Scotland, in
order to separate it from France (Teulet, i., 49).]
[Footnote 87: Henry confessed to Chapuys that the father was said to
be mad, and it was not known whether the son would be so too, but that
they would rather marry the Princess to him than to the Scotch King
(Chapuys to Charles V., 28th June 1532, Vienna Archives).]
[Footnote 88: Add. MS. 28,581, fol. 262, B. M.]
[Footnote 89: Gairdner, _Cal._, v., 1131.]
[Footnote 90: _Apologia Reg., Pole ad Carolum V._ Four books on the
Unity of the Church.]
[Footnote 91: Camusat, 35.]
[Footnote 92: See Jewels Delivered to the King by Cornelius Hayes,
Record Office.]
[Footnote 93: Gairdner, _Cal._, v., 1377.]
[Footnote 94: Mr. Friedmann considers (vol. i., p. 163) that this was
the moment when Anne became Henry’s mistress; but the love-letters
which the King addressed to her in 1528-29 point to a different
conclusion.]
[Footnote 95: Camusat, _Meslanges_, vol. ii., f. 106. Chapuys writes
that: Not content with having given her all his own jewels, Henry
sent the Duke of Norfolk to try to obtain the Queen’s also. Katharine
replied “that she would not send jewels or anything else to the King,
as he had long ago forbidden her to do so; and besides, it was against
her conscience to give her jewels to adorn a person who was the scandal
of Christendom, and a disgrace to the King who was taking her to such
an assembly; however, if the King sent expressly to ask for them, she
would obey him in this as in other things. Though he was vexed at what
she said, he did not fail to send for them by one of his own chamber,
who had letters to the Queen’s chancellor and chamberlain as well as
to herself. The man told her, the King was surprised that she had not
sent her jewels, as the Queen of France and many others had done. She
excused herself, and sent all she had; with which the King was much
pleased” (Gairdner, _Cal._, v., 1377).]
[Footnote 96: Paul Friedmann, _Anne Boleyn_, vol. i., p. 182.]
[Footnote 97: Gairdner, _Cal._, vi., 83, 180.]
[Footnote 98: Sanders, Hall, and those who follow them, assert
without the least authority, that the marriage of Elizabeth’s parents
took place in the preceding November. Chapuys was himself mistaken,
in asserting that Cranmer had solemnised it. He was also wrong in
ascribing the fact to Dr. Brown, Prior of the Austin Friars in London.
A letter from Cranmer to N. Hawkins, in the following June, disclaims
any part taken by himself in the marriage, which he says took place
“about St. Paul’s Day” (_Archæologia_, p. 81). Stowe makes the
following statement: “King Henry privilie married the Lady Anne Boleine
on the five and twentieth day of January, being S. Paules Day. Mistress
Anne Savage bore uppe Queene Anne’s traine, and was herself shortly
after marryed to the lord Barkley; doctor Rowland Lee that marryed
the King to Queene Anne was made Bishop of Chester, then Bishop of
Coventry and Litchfield, and president of Wales” (_Annals_, p. 561).
Harpsfield’s account (in _The Pretended Divorce_) is the same, with
more detail, as is also Le Grand’s translation from a Latin MS. in his
_Histoire du Divorce_ (vol. ii., p. 110).]
[Footnote 99: Gairdner, _Cal._, vi., 525-29.]
[Footnote 100: _Ibid._, pp. 150, 167, Chapuys to Charles V.]
[Footnote 101: She took the Queen’s barge, and caused Katharine’s arms
painted on it to be mutilated. She then appropriated it to herself,
and used it for her triumphal progress up the river from Greenwich, on
the eve of her coronation. “God grant,” said Chapuys, “she may content
herself with the said barge, and the jewels and husband of the Queen,
without attempting anything, as I have heretofore written, against
the persons of the Queen and Princess.” In the same letter he quotes
Cromwell’s remarks on the great modesty and patience of the Queen, “not
only now, but before the divorce, the King being continually inclined
to amours” (Gairdner, _Cal._, vi., 556).]
[Footnote 102: Gayangos, _England and Spain, Cal._, vol. iv., pt. ii.,
1058.]
[Footnote 103: As the time approached, Anne’s exultation overcame every
remnant of decency and good feeling: “The Lady not being satisfied with
what she has received already, has solicited the King to ask the Queen
for a very rich triumphal cloth, which she brought from Spain, to wrap
up her children with at baptism, which she would be glad to make use of
very soon. The Queen has replied that it has not pleased God she should
be so ill advised as to grant any favor, in a case so horrible and
abominable” (Gairdner, _Cal._, vi., 918).]
[Footnote 104: Gairdner, _Cal._, vi., 263, 266, 295.]
[Footnote 105: _Ibid._, vi., 918.]
[Footnote 106: The tribunal of the Rota has the first place among the
tribunals of the Roman curia. Its auditors are also chaplains of the
Pope, and the causes which they are to try they receive from him by
special commission. To the competence of the Rota belongs business
which is truly and strictly judicial. The Rota has never given judgment
in criminal matters (_Urbis et Orbis_, pp. 282, 297, 346).]
[Footnote 107: Gayangos, _Cal._, vol. iv., pt. ii., p. 795.]
[Footnote 108: Heylin, _History of Queen Mary_, 10.]
[Footnote 109: Pricks of conscience.]
[Footnote 110: Arundel MS. 151, fol. 194, Brit. Mus. This letter was
printed by Burnet with several inaccuracies.]