IRELAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, CALAIS
Though Cromwell was so busily occupied in England itself, he was far
from neglecting the adjoining countries. The subjugation of Ireland, the
pacification of Scotland, and the reform of Wales and Calais, played a
very important part in his political programme. He plainly saw that the
English King’s position could not be regarded as secure while these
countries remained in the state in which they were at Wolsey’s fall, and
he determined as soon as possible to deal with them in such a way that
they should cease to be a menace to the English Crown in the future.
When he entered the King’s service he probably found little difficulty
in persuading Henry that, in order firmly to establish his supremacy, he
must take Ireland in hand as he had never done before. Throughout
Wolsey’s administration the tranquillity of the country had been
continually disturbed by the feuds of two rival Anglo-Norman families,
the Fitzgeralds under the Earl of Kildare, and the Butlers under the
Earl of Ormond. To repress these quarrels the Cardinal had taken the
office of Lord Deputy from the young Earl of Kildare, and created the
Earl of Surrey Lord Lieutenant. After a year’s hard service in Ireland,
however, Surrey was recalled at his own request, and the Deputyship
devolved on Sir Piers Butler. He in turn was forced to resign his office
to his rival Kildare, who passed it on to Sir William Skeffington of
Leicestershire, just at the time of Wolsey’s fall[323].
The affairs of Ireland had naturally been thrown into confusion by these
numerous changes, and Cromwell became convinced that subjugation by the
sword was absolutely essential, before any attempt could be made to
govern the country, or to draw revenues from it. This policy brought
him into collision with his rival Norfolk, but he seems to have
succeeded in convincing the King of the superiority of his plan to that
of the Duke, whose idea had been to conciliate the Irish chieftains, and
to pacify rather than subjugate the country[324].
During his first two years in the King’s service, Cromwell was so busy
in establishing the Royal Supremacy, that he could not pay much
attention to Irish affairs. The three years of Skeffington’s
administration, moreover, appear to have been fairly quiet. In 1532,
however, a change came. The Earl of Kildare, by craftily misrepresenting
Skeffington’s doings at the English Court, secured the latter’s recall,
and obtained for himself the post of Lord Deputy for the third
time[325]. On regaining the coveted office, however, he returned to
Ireland, and instead of following out the King’s instructions, proceeded
to stir up his adherents into open rebellion, and neglected the English
at Dublin. Unmindful of his ‘hole duetie to the Kingis Highnes,’ he used
the royal authority deputed to him, ‘as a cloke or habyte to cover his
cruele persecutions, mynding utterly to extynguyshe the fame and honor
of any other noble man within that lande[326].’ It is possible that he
thus served Henry’s and Cromwell’s ultimate purpose of subjugation
better than he knew, as he certainly weakened the power of many of the
wildest clans, who hated the English rule as much as his. But his use to
the Crown in this direction, if it amounted to anything, was only
temporary, and things became ripe for his dismissal. Continual
complaints of him reached the King and Cromwell. Dublin was almost the
only place in the country, which remained perfectly loyal to England.
The neighbouring tribes were so hostile, that the citizens were hard put
to it for food, and its inhabitants almost perished from starvation.
John Deythyke, a priest, wrote sarcastically to a friend in the autumn
of 1533, that although it was the custom to refrain from meat on
Wednesdays as well as Fridays, provisions were so scarce that people
had become more devout still, and abstained also on Sundays, Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays. ‘This is a very sore abstenaunce ... the
country is so quiett that they dare nott ryde one myle owte of the
towne, to by any maner of vytteyles; and they make there complaynt to
the Deputie and the wynde hath blowen hym soo in the erys that he can
nott here them. But yt is a comon sayinge “whoo is so defe as he that
lyst not to here[327].”’ Things went on from bad to worse, and finally
John Alen, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was sent over by the Council
there to report Kildare’s doings at the English Court, and further to
submit to the King a set of articles for the reformation of the abuses
which had become prevalent in the country[328]. Alen finally succeeded
in procuring Kildare’s recall; and the Deputy arrived in London in
April, 1534, having left his eldest son, Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, in his
place. Efforts were made to induce the young man to come to England
also; and when he persistently refused to put himself into the King’s
hands, his father was arrested and sent to the Tower. These vigorous
measures, according to Chapuys, were due to Cromwell; they were the
beginnings of his policy of subjugation[329].
The arrest of Kildare, coupled with a premature report of his death, set
half Ireland aflame, and his son, making up a slight quarrel he had had
with his kinsmen the Desmonds threw off his allegiance. All the English
were ordered out of the Geraldines’ land before a certain day. The
Archbishop of Dublin attempted to flee the country, but encountering a
storm, was driven back on the Irish coast, fell into young Thomas’
hands, and was murdered with most of his following[330]. A formidable
revolt against the royal authority was evidently pending. Henry and
Cromwell were seriously alarmed, and the extraordinary popularity of the
rebellion among the people in England, who, as Chapuys said, thought it
‘a very good beginning to remedy matters at home,’ greatly increased
their fears[331]. Cromwell had to bear the brunt of all the blame, and
the Duke of Norfolk seized the opportunity to speak ill of his
successful rival. According to Chapuys, the Duke had ‘left the Court to
be away when the affairs of Ireland were discussed, and this out of
disdain that the King despised his advice, and at the suggestion of
Cromwell and Skeffington had ill-treated the earl of Kildare, and ruined
the affairs of Ireland. On this subject the Duke and Cromwell had
reproached each other with many things ... which shows the ill-will they
have borne each other a long time, however much they have dissembled
it[332].’ But Norfolk’s efforts to undermine the influence of his rival
were as yet unavailing. The time for pacific measures had now passed;
Henry would have been only too glad to grant Kildare peace on any terms,
but the latter refused every offer. Skeffington, who was Cromwell’s
friend, was sent over again as Deputy to quell the rebellion. After many
delays he crossed on the 14th of October, with troops which the King had
secretly raised for him[333].
Meantime the rebels had gained a decisive victory, and were just outside
the walls of Dublin. Piteous entreaties from the inhabitants, begging
him to come to the relief of the beleaguered city, reached Skeffington,
and after some delay he advanced. His arrival made the rebels retreat,
but instead of pursuing them vigorously, and striking a telling blow, he
remained at Dublin, and wasted time in trying to get a sentence of
excommunication passed against the murderers of Archbishop Alen[334].
But in spite of the Deputy’s dallying inefficiency, the superiority of
Cromwell’s policy to Norfolk’s was destined to be made evident by
succeeding events. A new complication in Irish affairs arose when young
Kildare, taking advantage of Skeffington’s inactivity, sent an embassy
to the Emperor, promising to hold Ireland as a fief of the Holy See, on
condition that he would offer him protection against the English
schismatics[335]. An ambassador, Dominick Power by name, was sent by
Charles to Ireland and Scotland, but Henry soon discovered it, and
complained[336]; Charles was not quite ready as yet to do anything
active in aid of the rebels, and so the affair came to nothing.
Meantime, at the request of Cromwell, Skeffington was induced to shake
off his apathy, leave Dublin and Drogheda, and move after the
rebels[337]. The Lord Privy Seal’s boast that the young Kildare would
soon be a prisoner in the Tower, was not as empty as Chapuys thought.
Maynooth Castle, a rebel stronghold, was besieged and taken[338]; many
rebels were executed, others fell away from Kildare, the young Earl
finally surrendered, and was sent a prisoner to London. Two years later
he was hanged with five uncles at Tyburn[339]. With his surrender other
chieftains came to terms; many districts became comparatively quiet, and
by the end of 1535 Ireland seemed further on the road to tranquillity
than she had been for some time. This was a significant triumph for
Cromwell’s policy over that of Norfolk, and did much to increase his
influence with the King. On the last day of December, 1535, Skeffington
died, and Lord Leonard Grey was made Deputy in his place[340].
Before Cromwell could hope to derive much benefit from Ireland, it was
necessary to establish some sort of government in the country, as well
as to subjugate it. To this intent, Lord Grey summoned a Parliament,
which met at Dublin in the spring of 1536[341]. Its first act was to
pass a bill securing the succession of Anne Boleyn’s issue: the report
of this came to Cromwell in London in June, two weeks after Anne’s
execution[342]. He must have been somewhat puzzled, when he heard the
news; events were moving so rapidly, that even an ‘ordered’ Parliament
could not keep pace with them. He finally wrote back that in case the
act for the succession was not ‘passed thoroughly’ they were to ‘staye
the same tyl further knowleage of his grac_es_ pleasure[343].’ It was
too late, however, to do this; but when the report came that Anne had
been executed, and that Jane Seymour had become Queen, the Parliament
was ready enough at once to rescind the old statute, and pass a new one
in favour of the issue of Henry’s third wife. Later there were enacted a
series of measures to loosen the bonds that held the Irish Church to
Rome[344], and George Browne, Provincial of the Austin Friars, who had
already made himself useful in forcing the oath of succession on his
brethren in the south of England, was nominated in 1535, by Cromwell’s
influence, to succeed Alen as Archbishop of Dublin. The Deputy meantime
carried on the subjugation steadily and consistently in the wilder
portions of the country.
Everything in Ireland was now proceeding to the complete satisfaction of
Henry and Cromwell, except the finances. Few could equal Cromwell’s
ideal, or satisfy Henry’s avarice in this respect. Ireland had never
paid its expenses before; and it was largely in the hope of deriving
revenue from a land which had hitherto been only a burden, that the King
and his minister had undertaken to subjugate it. A letter from Henry to
the Deputy and Council in 1537 blames them for taking excessive fees,
thinking only of private gain, and not taking care of the royal
income[345]. To remedy this Cromwell appointed and sent over
Commissioners, who were ordered to try to reduce expenses and increase
revenue, and, to this end, to inquire into the conduct of every royal
officer in Ireland, learn all the particulars of the local government,
and cut down the retinue of the Deputy and Treasurer to 340 men[346]. In
the list of Commissioners occurs the name of William Brabazon
(Cromwell’s old friend and fellow servant under Wolsey), who later
attained a very important position in Irish affairs. The extant letters
of Cromwell to the Commissioners deal for the most part with the
adjustment of petty land claims. The most interesting of them is the one
concerning the policy to be pursued towards ‘that traytor Bryan
Oconor[347].’
There are significant depositions against some of these Commissioners
who dared to murmur at Cromwell’s notorious accessibility to bribes,
which seems to have been more noticeable in his dealings with Ireland
than anywhere else. He appears to have received enormous sums from the
rich and powerful family of the Butlers, kinsmen of Anne Boleyn and of
the Duke of Norfolk, in return for a promise to protect their castles
from the search of the royal agents. There was a great deal of
discontent among the Commissioners on account of his rapacity, and
though they openly flattered him, they continually spoke ill of him
behind his back. ‘My Lorde Pryvee Seale hathe wrought to his awne
confusion and dethe,’ said one, ‘and of late tyme was veray nere the
same, and escapid veray narrowly ... noo lorde or gentilman in Englande
berith love or favor to my Lorde Pryvee Seale by cause he is soo great a
taker of money, for he woll speke, solicite, or doo for noo man, but all
for money.... I wold not be in his case for all that ever he hathe, for
the King beknaveth him twice a weke, and sometyme knocke him well aboute
the pate; and yet when he hathe bene well pomeld about the hedde, and
shaken up, as it were a dogge, he will come out into the great chambre,
shaking of the bushe with as mery a countenaunce as thoughe he mought
rule all the roste[348].’ We may well believe that Henry was willing
that Cromwell should make some private gains, provided he brought money
to the royal treasury as well.
The subjugation of the country, however, had not yet been thoroughly
accomplished. Though 1537 was comparatively quiet, the following year
witnessed a fresh outbreak. Taking advantage of the precarious condition
of England’s foreign affairs at the time, young Gerald, brother of the
late Earl of Kildare, and heir to his power, stirred up various
chieftains, and baffled all the attempts of the Deputy to lure him into
the King’s hands. Letters for aid were written to the Pope and to
Cardinal Pole, and were sent by a certain monk, as the safest means of
transmitting them to their destination[349]. The monk sailed from
Scotland in a French ship, which was blown ashore on the English coast
at South Shields; the messenger was captured, and the letter
intercepted[350]. In September, 1539, there were several skirmishes
between the various forces of the rebels and the Deputy; but the latter
was generally victorious, and another crisis was tided over[351]. Young
Gerald was forced to flee into Brittany, and the rebels were left
without a leader. The Deputy, Lord Grey, appears to have become very
unpopular during his term of service, however, and in the spring of 1540
he was recalled[352], on the accusations of violence to the King’s
Council, extortion, injustice, and maintaining the King’s enemies.
Affairs were in a bad state after he left; Scotch intrigues, even an
invasion of the country by James, were rumoured[353], and Sir William
Brereton, who temporarily filled Grey’s place, had a very hard time.
Grey was finally condemned and executed a year after Cromwell’s fall,
and Sir Anthony St. Leger, ‘the discreet,’ who had been the Chief of
Commissioners of 1537, was sent over as Deputy in 1541[354].
It may be said that from 1534 until his fall, Cromwell was the virtual
ruler of Ireland. His significant triumph over Norfolk and his policy of
pacification, mark the beginning of his influence. From that time onward
the King left to him the entire direction of Irish affairs; he appointed
the officers, regulated the revenues, and in short managed everything
connected with the country until 1540. From the instructions which the
Commissioners received in 1537, we gather that the main object of the
Crown was to get a revenue from Ireland, and the plan which Cromwell
pursued in order to attain this end is noteworthy, in that it differed
so entirely from his policy in all the rest of England’s dependencies.
Realizing that the country was worse than useless to the King, while it
remained in the state in which it was when he came into power, he saw
that it was so wild and disorganized, that subjugation by force would be
possible and profitable, if attempted vigorously, and in time. He
therefore pursued a most aggressive policy, which in Scotland, for
instance, where the conditions were so different, he would never have
dared to adopt.
In Wales he was confronted with a problem of a very different nature.
What was needed there was thorough legal reform. The country was not
large enough to render an insurrection there very formidable, but the
wild and lawless state of the Welsh Marches, which afforded
hiding-places for criminals of all kinds, was a source of much evil. One
Thomas Philips wrote to Cromwell in May, 1532[355], that the whole
country was in great decay, and that the King’s representatives there
took fines for felony and murder, and used the money for their own
purposes; he begged that such a council might soon be established in
Wales, that the best officer should ‘quake,’ if found in fault. The
Bishop of Exeter, who was President of the Marches, was an inefficient
ruler and took no pains to remedy the existing evils. The crimes of
making and uttering counterfeit money seem to have been extremely
common[356]. Cromwell saw that it was high time measures were taken to
rectify this lawlessness, and his ‘remembrances’ are full of items for
the reform of Wales. He replaced the Bishop of Exeter by his own friend
Rowland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, who in his younger days
had served with him under Wolsey[357]. Lee’s energetic and business-like
methods rendered him a fit man for the place, and he set about
reorganizing and reforming Wales in earnest. It was probably at his
instance that Cromwell devised several Acts, passed in the Parliament of
1534, to establish justice and maintain order[358]. As the King’s writ
did not run in Wales, it was next to impossible to get a case fairly
heard there; so Royal Commissioners were sent thither, with authority to
punish crimes and felonies (which were to be tried in the next English
court), and to establish Justices of the Peace. Chapuys, in a letter
written in December, 1535, describes the distress of the Welsh at these
measures as incredible, saying that Parliament ‘has just taken away
their native laws, customs, and privileges, which is the very thing they
can endure least patiently[359].’ He further states that the Welsh were
violently in favour of the cause of Katherine and Mary, and longed for
an opportunity to declare themselves. A rising was probably prevented by
the fact that the King himself was of Welsh descent. Cromwell was
exceedingly active in his endeavours to stamp out all sedition of this
sort, and was ably seconded by Lee, who, when the clergy in 1535 were
required to preach in favour of the Royal Supremacy, and against the
power of the Pope, declared himself ready to ride into his diocese in
his own person and carry out the decree, though, as he confessed, he had
never before been in a pulpit[360]. But Lee adopted other measures to
extirpate sedition, far more vigorous than preaching in favour of the
Royal Supremacy; he never failed to enforce his words by deeds. He hung
and beheaded offenders and criminals right and left, and sent full
reports of his doings to Cromwell, who must have rejoiced to find an
agent whose energy corresponded so closely to his own[361].
But in spite of Lee’s goodwill, the state of Wales was not satisfactory,
until Cromwell’s great statute of 1535 was passed[362]. By this Act,
Wales was formally declared to be incorporated with England, to be
entitled to the same privileges, and to be subject to the same laws. The
Marches were declared to be in disorder, and were annexed or divided
into shires. The King was further empowered by the Act to erect courts
in Wales every five years. These fundamental reforms laid the basis for
an entirely new method of administration of justice there, and the
country henceforth ceased to cause anxiety to its prince.
In striking contrast to Cromwell’s vigorous policy in Ireland and Wales,
was his conciliatory attitude towards Scotland. The strength and
proximity of this country, and the weak defences of the northern marches
of England, were a constant source of alarm, which was rather increased
than diminished by Henry’s strained relations with those continental
powers who were on the best of terms with James. It was obvious that in
case of a foreign invasion of England from the Continent, the enmity of
Scotland would be the only thing lacking, to render disaster certain. It
is also not improbable that an attack from the north would have been
welcomed by some of Henry’s more disaffected subjects. In his speech in
the Parliament of 1523 Cromwell had advocated a policy of unification
with Scotland: from this principle he never departed, but he saw that it
was now no time to gain his ends by force. He therefore adopted a
pacificatory attitude towards Scotland at the opening of his ministry,
and consistently followed it until the end. He began by persuading his
master to make every effort to strengthen the rather precarious truce
which, owing to French mediation, had been concluded between the
Commissioners of the two countries upon the Borders, Oct. 1, 1533[363].
Anxious to show all possible courtesy to the Scottish delegates who were
finally sent to London to open negotiations, the King prepared for them
a house, which had been occupied by the Grand Master of France, and,
contrary to his custom with most ambassadors, supplied it with choice
wines and provisions[364]. The Scots were not slow to realize the
strength of their position, and in proportion as Henry’s desire to
conclude a permanent peace increased, their movements grew more and more
deliberate. After long delays, which exasperated the King greatly, an
alliance was finally made, to continue during the joint lives of the two
sovereigns, and one year longer. During the two following years Henry
continued his pacific policy by making James a Knight of the Garter, and
by sending an embassy to induce him to abandon the Pope. The latter plan
was doubtless a suggestion of Cromwell’s; a mention of the ambassadors
Barlow and Howard occurs in his ‘remembrances,’ and Barlow later wrote
him continual reports of his progress. The mission was unsuccessful in
attaining its purpose; but there were no signs that James’ leaning to
Rome would render him an active enemy of England[365].
The year 1537 brought with it new developments of Scottish policy. James
had gone abroad to marry Madeleine of Valois, an alliance highly
displeasing to Henry, after all his efforts to counteract his nephew’s
tendency to lean upon the goodwill of Francis. The King proceeded to
express his vexation in an emphatic manner, and, contrary to the advice
of his Council, refused to permit James to return to Scotland from
France through England[366]. James’ marriage and Henry’s outspoken wrath
stultified all Cromwell’s efforts to bring about a cordial personal
feeling and a lasting peace between the two sovereigns. The Scots’ King
was forced to travel by sea; but events took place on the voyage which
filled Henry with suspicion. Twelve Englishmen boarded the Scottish ship
when it touched at Scarborough for provisions, welcomed James, and
promised their aid if he invaded England. This episode was repeated at
another town further north, and it was even reported that the Scottish
King had boasted, that if he lived a year longer, ‘he would himself
break a spear on one Englishman’s breast[367].’ Such incidents must have
been unpleasant, coming as they did just after a serious northern revolt
had with difficulty been quelled, and while the Borders were still in a
wild and lawless state. But any thoughts James may have entertained of
an invasion were interrupted by the sudden death of his young French
Queen. Henry perhaps had hoped that his nephew would come to him with
offers of peace and a petition for the hand of the Princess Mary, but,
if so, he was rudely disappointed. In October it was announced that
James was engaged to marry a second French wife, Mary of Guise[368]; and
though Henry, at that time a widower, made every effort to prevent the
match by putting himself forward as a rival to his nephew, his proposals
were courteously set aside[369]. That the King of France should have
distinctly preferred a Scottish to an English alliance when the choice
lay open, stung Henry to the quick; but he was quite aware that he could
not afford just then to quarrel with Francis or James, and he may have
regretted that he had not taken his minister’s advice to conciliate the
latter. The history of Henry’s relations with his nephew from this time
until Cromwell’s fall, yields ample proof of the complete triumph of the
English minister’s pacificatory policy. Attempts made in the past to
stir up Border jealousies were completely abandoned, and England seemed
almost suspiciously desirous to show every courtesy to her troublesome
northern neighbour. A letter of Cromwell to Sir Thomas Wharton[370],
deputy Warden of the West Marches, directs him to hand over to the
Scottish officers an arrant traitor who had made his escape to England,
even if the Scots failed to ‘doo the semblable.’ Actions as gracious as
this were a new thing on the Borders: the usual policy in the past had
been for each nation to give shelter to the outlaws who had fled to it
from the other. The news that David Beton, Abbot of Arbroath, had been
raised by the Pope to the cardinalate and was working at the Scottish
Court in the interests of Rome, made Henry still more anxious to
preserve friendship with his nephew, and to preclude all chances of his
being induced to join a continental league against England[371]. So in
January, 1540, we find him sending Ralph Sadler, Cromwell’s old friend,
to James, to counteract, if possible, the effect of the visit of
Beton[372]. By the capture of certain letters in a Scottish ship which
had been wrecked on the Northumbrian coast, Henry had been furnished
with the means of misrepresenting the objects of the Cardinal at his
nephew’s Court. Sadler was instructed to hint that Beton was plotting to
usurp all the authority of the King of Scotland, and to advise James to
be on his guard. The ambassador was further directed to conciliate the
Scottish King by a present of six geldings, to assure him of Henry’s
friendship, and to suggest that James augment his revenue by
suppressing the monasteries in his kingdom as his uncle had done in
England. Finally Sadler was to represent to the Scots’ King the
advantages of an alliance with England over one with France, and to
request him to ponder on the desirability of eradicating the ancient
enmity of the two peoples, especially in view of the fact that he might
some day himself succeed to his uncle’s crown. The result of the mission
taken as a whole was satisfactory. Though James refused to accede to any
of Henry’s more definite requests, and would not listen to any proposals
to abolish the old religion or to suppress the monasteries, he still
assured Sadler that no alliance he made on the Continent would lead him
to break with England, and further enlarged on the benefits that would
result from a meeting with his uncle, though he puzzled the envoy by
suggesting that Francis should also be present[373]. The mission of
Sadler marks the last stage of the relations of England and Scotland
during Cromwell’s ministry; and the fact that war between the two
countries broke out so soon after his fall, furnishes a final reason for
believing that it was by the able and unceasing efforts of the Privy
Councillor that an open rupture was so long averted.
Lastly, a few words remain to be said on the subject of the government
of Calais. If the name of that town were graven on the heart of Mary
Tudor at her death, from the grief which its loss during her reign
caused her, it must have been also graven upon the minds of her father
and his minister, from the trouble its maintenance gave them during the
last seven years of the latter’s power. In March, 1533, Arthur
Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, was nominated successor to that learned
soldier, Lord Berners, as Deputy there, and took the oaths at the town,
on the 10th of June[374]. The choice was certainly unfortunate, and
Lisle’s unfitness for his new position was destined soon to be made
evident. He seems to have been a man completely lacking in the qualities
necessary for a good ruler of such a place as Calais was in those days:
he possessed small discrimination in judging what things he could deal
with by his own authority, and what things it was necessary to report to
head quarters. Hence there are many mild rebukes among Cromwell’s
letters to him[375], in some of which he chides him for bothering the
King about such a trivial thing as a private quarrel between two minor
officials in Calais, while in others he ‘mervayles not a litel’ that he
should be so negligent as not to make immediate report of sacrilegious
preaching. Calais was by no means an easy post to manage; Henry and
Cromwell kept its officers and garrison exceedingly short of money; the
soldiers wrangled and mutinied, and religious conferences amongst the
townspeople sometimes took most violent forms, and not seldom resulted
in dangerous riots. Placed as a sort of spy on the movements of Francis
and the Emperor, in a town, the government of which on a small scale
presented all the difficulties of that of a great kingdom, the Deputy
was in a position which demanded resources greater than his own.
The first part of Lisle’s administration seems to have been
comparatively uneventful. Cromwell, always keenly alive to the necessity
of having the country in an adequate state of defence, at once caused
him to repair all breaches in the ramparts, a task which Lisle set about
without competent men or supplies; and the immediate result of his
ill-judged attempts to lay a new foundation for one of his walls was the
fall of the small part of the old fortification which was yet
standing[376]. Lisle was of course continually busied in preventing his
neighbours, French and Flemish, from meddling with the King’s Pale,
especially throughout the year 1536, when the war between Francis and
the Emperor broke out afresh[377]. He tried to keep the town well
victualled and in good defence, and was zealous to do as he was bidden
by Cromwell, though seldom successful, for he lacked ability. After 1537
he was confronted with a new and more difficult problem.
In the spring of 1538, Cranmer heard that there were seven or eight
persons in Calais, who manifestly denied Christ. His Commissary there,
John Butler, asserted that this report was false, but in a later epistle
advised the Archbishop that there were three papists in the town, who
slandered those who applied themselves to God’s word; the letter went on
to suggest that Cromwell be requested to write to Lisle to have them
punished[378]. The minister, however, had heard of the existence of
‘certayn Sacramentaryes’ or deniers of transubstantiation there, before
this report arrived, and had written the Deputy a severe reproof for not
informing him about them[379]. The state of foreign affairs at that
moment was such as to render it indispensable for the King to preserve
the appearance of being zealous for orthodoxy, and he had called on his
efficient minister to aid him in his attempts to extirpate heretical
doctrines. The rebuke which the latter had administered to the Deputy
seems in this case to have been undeserved, for Lisle, who apparently
was more on the watch than usual this time, had certainly sent home
information about the Sacramentaries before he received Cromwell’s
epistle: the two letters perhaps crossed on the way. That of the Deputy
reported the arrival in Calais of a young English priest, lately come
from Germany, who had uttered opinions about the Eucharist which the
King would not tolerate, and which had shocked the good people of Calais
beyond measure. This young priest can have been none other than Adam
Damplip, originally a strong papist, who (according to Foxe) had been
chaplain to Fisher, and at the Cardinal’s execution had left England and
travelled in France, Germany, and Italy. His sojourn in foreign lands
must have altered his opinions completely, for when he came to Calais
his doctrines were so ‘advanced’ and heretical, that as a result of a
warning of Cromwell’s, in his letter to Lisle of May 14[380], a decree
was made out by the Council of the town that Butler, the Commissary who
had given Damplip licence to preach, would be held responsible for any
false opinions that the priest expressed[381].
Determined as he was to extirpate unlawful and treasonable doctrines
both at home and abroad, Cromwell was too much absorbed in the
maintenance of his foreign policy, and the prevention of the pressing
dangers which threatened the country from without, to pay much attention
to Damplip at Calais during the latter part of 1538 and 1539. He was far
more anxious to have the town well victualled and defended, in case of a
sudden attack from France or Spain. Damplip himself, however, had gone
over to England to answer to the charges brought against him before
Cranmer[382]. The result of the examination seems to have been very
favourable to him, and the Archbishop, in a letter to Cromwell about it,
supported the position which the priest had taken up in only denying
Transubstantiation while admitting the Real Presence[383]. But the
accusations from Calais against the Sacramentaries did not cease. Lisle
and the Council, now thoroughly roused, kept sending in depositions
against Damplip, until Cromwell, in May, 1539, rebuked them for
uncharitable behaviour, saying that the affair was being made too much
of, and that the King was busy about other things[384]. Exhortations to
‘charyte and myld handeling’ were not Cromwell’s usual style; and in
this case at least they were superseded within ten days by instructions
of a very different nature. The cause of the sudden change is doubtless
to be found in the debate on the Six Articles, just then at its height.
Cromwell saw the trend things were taking, and understood that as the
doctrine of Transubstantiation was evidently about to be confirmed at
home, it would be extremely dangerous for him to urge leniency towards
those who opposed it at Calais. He consequently sent another letter to
Lisle[385], in which he retreated from his former position, and ordered
the Commissary and the parish priest of Our Lady Church to be sent in
custody to England. The subsequent appearance of these men before the
Privy Council seems to have resulted in their acquittal, and a public
recantation in the Market Place at Calais was deemed sufficient to
prevent a recurrence to the heresy. The recall of Lord Lisle in the
spring of 1540 was probably less due to his inefficiency in handling the
affair of the Sacramentaries, than to the many proofs he had given of
general incompetence. He was committed to the Tower, where he remained a
close prisoner till January, 1542, when a message was sent to him that
he was pardoned and restored to favour. The story is that his joy at
hearing this news was so great, that he died of excitement that same
night[386].
That Calais was not lost to England under the incompetent management of
Lisle (whose actions from first to last were too much influenced by the
whims of a foolish wife), was solely due to the guidance which he
received from Cromwell. The brilliant success of the great minister’s
administration in England was fully equalled by the wisdom and skill of
his dealings with her immediate neighbours and dependencies. In every
case the dominant principle of his policy had been the same; the
completion of the work begun by Henry VII.--the elevation of the Crown
to absolute power on the ruins of every other institution which had ever
been its rival. In attaining this end, which (as we must not forget) was
one that commended itself to most patriotic Englishmen of the time,
Cromwell had been confronted by a multitude of problems of great
difficulty and infinite diversity: he handled them all with uniform
success; and the monarchy, under his guidance, passed safe through one
of the gravest crises in the history of the realm, finally to emerge
triumphant, absolute, supreme in Church and State.