Genoese; he was afterwards called Seigneur de Vaux. The emperor, it
appears, was informed of his being in England, and for what purpose.
The cardinal stated that Joacchino came over as a merchant, and that
as soon as he discovered himself to be sent by the Lady Regent of
France, he had made de Praet (the emperor's ambassador) privy thereto,
and likewise of the answer given to her proposals. The air of mystery
which attached to this mission naturally created suspicion, and after a
few months, De Praet, in his letters to the emperor, and to Margaret,
the governess of the Netherlands, expressed his apprehension that all
was not right, and the reasons for his surmises. His letters were
intercepted by the cardinal, and read before the council. Charles and
Margaret complained of this insult, and the cardinal explained as well
as he could. At the same time protesting against the misrepresentation
of De Praet, and assuring them that nothing could be further from his
wish than that any disunion should arise between the king his master
and the emperor; and notwithstanding the suspicious aspect of this
transaction, his dispatches both immediately before and after this
fracas strongly corroborate his assertions. [See additional note at the
end of the Life.] Wolsey suspected that the Pope was inclined toward
the cause of Francis, and reminded him, through the Bishop of Bath, of
his obligations to Henry and Charles. The Pope had already taken the
alarm, and had made terms with the French king, but had industriously
concealed it from Wolsey, and at length urged in his excuse that he
had no alternative. Joacchino was again in England upon a different
mission, and was an eyewitness of the melancholy condition of the
cardinal when his fortunes were reversed. He sympathised with him,
and interested himself for him with Francis and the Queen Dowager, as
appears by his letters published in _Legrand, Histoire du Divorce de
Henri VIII._
[104] Dr. Fiddes has justly observed, that Cavendish, in his account of
these transactions, asserted some things not only without sufficient
authority, but contrary to the evidence of documents which he has
adduced. By these it appears, that if there was any delay in the
supplies promised on the part of England it was purely accidental;
and that the remissness of the emperor to furnish his quota was the
principal cause of the extremity to which the Duke of Bourbon's army
was reduced. Cavendish is also wrong in his relation of the siege of
Pavia and its consequences. The fact is, that the Duke of Bourbon did
not command in the town, but marched at the head of the imperial army
to relieve it; and the garrison did not sally out until the two armies
were engaged. The demonstrations of joy with which the victory at Pavia
was received in London is also an argument for the sincerity of Henry
and the cardinal at this time. The story of the treaty between Henry
and Francis, said to have been found in the tent of the latter after
the victory, is also a mere fiction. In the spirit of a true son of the
Apostolic Church, Cavendish deprecates every thing which might tend
to bring the Pope into jeopardy; and he cannot help bearing hard even
upon the cardinal, because he was thought indirectly the cause 'of all
this _mischief_.' What is here said receives confirmation from some
interesting letters of the cardinal in the Appendix to Galt's Life of
Wolsey, No. IV. V. VI. p. cxxxiv, &c. 4to edition, Lond. 1812.
[105] These intrigues, in which the cardinal bore so large a part, did
not redound to the glory of his country. Our merry neighbours even then
had begun to make our diplomatic inferiority the subject of their sport
and ridicule. William Tindall, in his _Practice of popish Prelates_,
referring to these events, tells us, "The Frenchmen of late dayes made
a play or a disguising at Paris, in which the emperour daunsed with the
pope and the French king, and weried them, the king of England sitting
on a hye bench, and looking on. And when it was asked, why he daunsed
not, it was answered, that he sate there, _but to pay the minstrels
their wages onely_: as who should say, wee paid for all mens dauncing."
_Tindall's Works_, p. 375. A. D. 1572. _W._
[106] A _brake_ here seems to signify a _snare_ or _trap_. The word has
much puzzled the commentators on Shakspeare (See Measure for Measure,
Act II. Sc. 1). One of its antient significations was a _sharp bit_
to break horses with. A farrier's _brake_ was a machine to confine or
trammel the legs of unruly horses. An antient instrument of torture was
also called _a brake_; and a thorny _brake_ meant an intricate thicket
of thorns. Shakerly Marmion, in his comedy of 'Holland's Leaguer',
evidently uses the word in the same sense with Cavendish:
"-------Her I'll make
A stale to catch this courtier in _a brake_."
[107] The 3d Day of July (1526), the Cardinal of Yorke passed through
the City of London, with many lords and gentlemen, to the number of
twelve hundred horse----The 11th day of May he took shipping at Dover,
and landed at Calais the same day.
_Grafton_, p. 1150.
[108] _Lanzen-Knechts_, the name by which these bands of German
mercenaries were then designated.
[109] Cavendish uses this word again in his poems:
"Wherin was found a certyn _defuse_ clause
Wrested by craft to a male intente." p. 139.
See _Fox's Acts_, &c. p. 1769:
"_Cook._ Then answere me, What sayest thou to the blessed sacrament of
the altar? Tell me:
"_Jackson._ I answered; it is a _diffuse_ question, to aske me at the
first dash, you promising to deliver me." See also p. 1574. "_Diffuse_
and _difficult_."
It appears to have been used in the sense of _obscure_, but _difficult_
is the reading of Grove's edition. I find _diffused_ explained by
Cotgrave "_diffus_, _espars_, OBSCURE." And in a Latin Greek and
English Lexicon by R. Hutton, printed at London by H. Bynneman, 1583,
the Latin adverb, _obscure_, is interpreted "darkely, obscurely,
DIFFUSELY."
[110] The great seal could not be carried out of the king's dominions
without violating the law; letters patent were passed to enable Dr.
Taylor to hold it in his absence.
[111] _Stradiots and Arbenois._ These were light armed cavalry, said by
Guicciardini to have been Greek mercenaries in the service of Venice,
retaining their Greek name στρατιώται. Arbenois is Albanians,
_Albanois_, FR. The following passage from _Nicot Thresor de la Langue
Françoise, ed. 1606. fol._ will fully explain this:
"A présent on apelle en particulier _Albanois_ ces hommes de cheval
armez à la légère, autrement dit Stratiote, ou _Stradiots_ (par la
consonne moyenne), qui portent les chapeaux à haute testière, desquels
on se sert pour chevaux légers, qui viennent dudit pays d'Albanie,
dont les Papes se servent encore de ce temps és garnisons de plusieurs
villes du Saint siège, _Albani, olim Epirotæ_."
[112] In like manner, we saw, a little above, that at Calais he gave
"benediction and pardon." From a letter to the cardinal, from Humfrey
Monmouth, confined in the Tower on suspicion of heresy, we may gather
what notion was entertained, even by comparatively enlightened men,
of the efficacy of these pardons. "If I had broken most part of the
Ten Commandments of God, being penitent and confessed (I should be
forgiven) by reason of certain pardons that I have, the which my
company and I had graunted, whan we were at Rome, going to Jerusalem,
of the holy father the pope, _a pœna et a culpa_, for certain times in
the year: and that, I trust in God, I received at Easter last past.
Furthermore I received, when your grace was last at Pawles, I trust in
God, your pardon of _a pœna_ _et a culpa_; the which I believe verily,
if I had done never so great offences, being penitent and confessed,
and axing forgiveness, that I should have forgiveness." _Strype's
Ecclesiast. Memor._ vol. i. p. 248. Appendix. The cardinal had also a
bull granted by Pope Leo Xth. A. D. 1518. to give in certain cases and
conditions plenary remission from all sins. _Fiddes_, p. 48. Appendix.
_W._
[113] Among other distinguished honours conferred by Francis upon
the Cardinal was the singular privilege of pardoning and releasing
prisoners and delinquents confined in the towns through which he
passed, in the same manner as the king himself was used to do: the only
culprits excluded from the power of pardon given him by this patent
were those guilty of the most capital crimes.
[114] i. e. _Switzers_. Cavendish revels in his subsequent description
of the _tall Scots_ who formed the French king's body guard.
[115]
Whose mule if it should be sold
So gayly trapped with velvet and gold
And given to us for our schare,
I durst ensure the one thing
As for a competent lyvynge
This seven yeare we should not care.
_Roy's Satire._
In the picture of the Champs de drap d'or, which has been engraved by
the Society of Antiquaries, the cardinal appears mounted on a richly
caparisoned mule.
[116] A previous negotiation of a singular nature had been begun, for
the Bishop of Bath writes to the cardinal in March, 1527, that "Francis
is very desirous to have the Princess Mary, and to have her delivered
into his hands as soon as the peace is concluded. Our king pretends
her non age, and will have all, pension, &c., concluded first. The
Queen Regent is earnest also for the present marriage: Saying there
is no danger, for she herself was married at xi. And for this match
there might be a device to satisfy both sides, saying the princess
will be well toward xii by August. At that time both princes should
meet at Calais with a small company and charge, there her son, after
the marriage solemnized, might abide himself for an hour or less with
my Lady Princess; she said the king her son was a man of honour and
discretion, and would use no violence, especially the father and mother
being so nigh; meaning, that _conatus ad copulam cum illa, quæ est
proxima pubertati, prudentia supplente ætatem_, should make every thing
sure that neither party should now vary. So the king her son might
be assured of his wife, and King Henry carry back his daughter till
she should be accounted more able, &c. This overture our ambassadors
think very strange." _Fiddes Collections_, p. 176. The Bishop of Bath
returned into England soon after the cardinal went on his mission, to
relate to Henry the course adopted by the cardinal in treating with
Francis, and also to explain to him certain devices concerning his own
secret matters. _Mr. Master's Collections._
[117] Skinner explains this word, _a curtain_. It evidently signifies
here an enclosed or divided space or seat, decorated with rich
draperies or curtains. In another place we have _a traverse of
sarsenet_, which confirms Skinner's explanation.
[118] Grises, greeses, or _steps_, for it was spelt various ways
according to the caprice of the writer, from the Latin _gressus_.
[119] The _roodeloft_ was the place where the cross stood; it was
generally placed over the passage out of the church into the chancel.
[120] The passage within brackets is not to be found in any of the more
recent MSS., nor in Dr. Wordsworth's edition.
[121] Erasmus, in a letter to Aleander, dwells with delight upon this
custom:
"Quanquam si Britanniæ dotes satis pernosses Fauste, næ tu alatis
pedibus, huc accurreres; et si podagra tua non sineret, Dædalum te
fieri optares. Nam ut e pluribus unum quiddam attingam. Sunt hic
nymphæ divinis vultibus, blandae, faciles, et quas tu tuis Camænis
facile anteponas. _Est præterea mos nunquam satis laudatus_: Sive
quo venias omnium osculis exciperis; sive discedas aliquo, osculis
demitteris: redis? redduntur suavia; venitur ad te? propinantur suavia:
disceditur abs te? dividuntur basia: occuritur alicubi? basiatur
affatim: denique, quocunque te moveas, suaviorum plena sunt omnia. Quæ
si tu, Fauste, gustasses semel quam sint mollicula, quam fragrantia,
profecto cuperes non decennium solum, ut Solon fecit, sed ad mortem
usque in Anglia peregrinari." _Erasmi Epistol._ p. 315, edit. 1642.
"It becometh nat therefore the persones religious to folowe _the maner
of secular persones_, that in theyr congresses and commune metyngs or
departyng done use to kysse, take hands, or such other touchings, that
good religious persones shulde utterly avoyde." _Whytford's Pype of
Perfection._ fol. 213. b. A. D. 1532. _W._
[122] This name is spelt _Creeky_ and _Crykky_ in the autograph MS. In
Wordsworth's edition it is Crokey. Grove has it _Crockly_, and two of
the MSS. copies _Crokir_. I know not whether I have divined the true
orthography, but there was a noble family of this name at the time.
[123] _Evensong._ "Which persons for their waiting befoir noon hath
licence at afternoon to go about their own business from the saide noon
to iij of the clocke that evensong begin."
_Northumberland Household Book_, p. 310.
[124] The shalme, or shawm, was a wind instrument like a hautboy, with
a swelling protuberance in the middle. In "Commenius's Visible World,"
translated by Hoole, 1659, the Latin word _gingras_ is translated by
shawn, and the form of the instrument is represented as below. Its
proper name appears to have been _shawme_; it is derived from the
Teutonic. Drayton mentions it as shrill-toned: 'E'en from the shrillest
_shaum_ unto the cornamute.'
_Polyolbion_ v. iv. p. 376.
[Illustration]
[125] _Now_, Wordsworth's edit. The passages within brackets which
follow are not found in any other manuscript: a space almost always
marking the deficiency of this relation, and the succeeding account of
the libels of the French against the cardinal.
[126] Catherine Reneé, one of the daughters of Louis the Twelfth. It
does not seem that this exposition of the cardinal's views in regard
to the union of Henry with this princess, in case of a divorce, were
without foundation, for he persuaded himself that Henry's passion for
Anne Boleyn would soon subside, and thought this alliance a sure mode
of perpetuating the peace and union between the sovereigns. The other
part of the assertion was proved true by the subsequent treaty, in
which it was agreed that the Princess Mary should marry either Francis,
or the Duke of Orleans; the first if he should remain a widower until
she was of sufficient age, the second if it seemed expedient that
Francis should keep his faith to the emperor, and marry his sister
Leonora, to whom he was contracted by the Treaty of Madrid. Hence the
necessity of keeping these designs secret, and the cardinal's anger at
their developement.
[127] This passage stands in the ordinary MSS., and in Dr. Wordsworth's
edition, in the following abridged and confused manner. The
transcribers of the MSS. appear to have been sensible that their copy
was defective, for in several of them one or two blank leaves are here
left.
"Now shortly after there were divers malicious practices pretended
against us by the French, who by their theft somewhat impaired us:
whereupon one of them, being a man I was well acquainted with,
maintained a seditious untruth, openly divulged, and set forth by
a subtle and traitorous subject of their realm, saying also that
he doubted not, but the like had been attempted within the king of
England his majesty's dominions; but to see so open and manifest
blasphemy to be openly punished, according to their traitorous deserts,
notwithstanding I saw but small redress."
[128] The twentieth of October, A. D. 1527. The embassadors were the
Maréchal de Montmorency, the Bishop of Bayonne, the President of Rouen,
and Monsieur d'Humieres.
[129] The book of ceremonies (compiled under the influence of the
Bishops Gardiner and Tonstall, and in opposition to that of Cranmer,
about the year 1540, and designed to retain in the church many operose
and superstitious rites, by setting them off with the aids of a
philosophical and subtle interpretation), describing in succession
the different parts of the Canon of the Mass, proceeds thus, "Then
saith the priest _thrice_, _Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, &c._
advertising us of _three_ effects of Christ's passion; whereof the
_first_ is, deliverance from the misery of sin; the _second_ is from
pain of everlasting damnation; wherefore he saith twice _Miserere
nobis_, that is to say, _Have mercy on us_; and the _third_ effect is,
giving of everlasting peace, consisting in the glorious fruition of
God." _Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials_, Vol. i. p. 289. Records. See
also _Mirror of our Lady_. fol. 189, and _Becon's Works_. Vol. iii.
fol. 49. A. D. 1564. _W._
[130] These cupboards or rather sideboards of plate were necessary
appendages to every splendid entertainment. The form of them somewhat
resembled some of the old cumbrous cabinets to be found still in
ancient houses on the continent. There was a succession of step-like
stages, or desks, as Cavendish calls them, upon which the plate was
placed. The reader will have a better conception than description
can convey of this piece of antient ostentation, from a print in
a very curious work by Julio Bello, entitled LAUREA AUSTRIACA:
_Francof._ 1627, folio, p. 640. Where our King James I. is represented
entertaining the Spanish ambassadors in 1623.
[131] _Proface._ An expression of welcome equivalent to Much good
may it do you! Mr. Steevens conjectured it to be from the old French
expression, '_Bon prou leur face_,' which is to be found in Cotgrave
_in voce_ PROU. This was a happy conjecture of Mr. Steevens, for Mr.
Nares has pointed out its true origin in the old Norman-French or
Romance language: 'PROUFACE souhait qui veut dire, bien vous fasse,
_proficiat_.' ROQUEFORT. _Glossaire de la Langue Romane._
[132] 'Mademoiselle de Boulan à la fin y est venue, et l'a le Roy logée
en fort beau logis, qu'il a fait bien accoustrer tout auprès du sien,
et luy est la cour faicte ordinairement tous les jours plus grosse que
de long temps ne fut faicte à la Royne.'
_Lettre de l'Evesque de' Bayonne._
[133] It is a question of fact which has been warmly debated, whether
the suffrages of the Universities in Henry's favour were purchased by
money. It does not seem very necessary that _we_ should enter into this
dispute. But any one who wishes so to do, may consult _Burnet's Hist.
of the Reformation_, Vol. iii. p. 401, Appendix. _Harmer's Specimen of
Errors_, p. 7. _Fiddes's Life of Wolsey_, p. 420. _Poli Epistolæ_, Vol.
i. p. 238. A. D. 1744. _W._
[134] Eight of these determinations soon after were printed in one
volume, with a long Discourse in support of the judgments contained
in them, under the following title: "The Determinations of the moste
famous and moste excellent Universities of Italy and Fraunce, that it
is so unlefull for a man to marry his Brother's Wyfe, that the Pope
hath no power to dispence therewith: imprinted by Thomas Berthelet the
viith day of Novembre, 1531." They were also published in Latin: in
which language they are exhibited by Bishop Burnet in his _Hist. of the
Reformation_, Vol. i. book ii. No. 34. Records. _W._
[135] i. e. the _Bulla_ or Papal seal. The passage marked with * *
contains three words which I could not decipher.
[136] Doctor _Stephen_ Gardiner, afterwards Bishop of Winchester,
at this time in great estimation with Wolsey. In letters and other
documents of this period he is often called Doctor _Stevens_. Mr.
Grainger in the third vol. of Bishop Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation,
p. 385, Appendix, intimates that this was a colloquial vulgarism;
"_vulgarly_, as Stephen Gardiner was Mr. _Stevyns_, in Wolsey's
Letter." But it is questionable, I think, whether this is the true
account of that name. The bishop himself, in his Declaration of his
Articles against George Joye, A. D. 1546, fol. 3. b. of the 4to
edition, thus speaks of it, "a booke, wherein he wrote, how Doctor
_Stevens_ (by _whiche name_ I was _then_ called) had deceyved him."
In Doctor Barnes' account of his examination before the bishops at
Westminster, he calls Gardiner "Doctor Stephen then secretary."
[137] The reader may consult Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation, Vol.
iii. p. 46-48. The bishop affirms positively that the king did not
appear personally, but by proxy; and that the queen withdrew after
reading a protest against the competency of her judges. "And from this
it is clear (says the bishop), that the speeches that the historians
have made for them are all plain falsities." It is easy to contradict
the confident affirmation of the historian upon the authority of a
document published by himself in his Records, i. 78. It is a letter
from the king to his agents, where he says: "At which time both we
and the queen appeared in person, and they minding to proceed further
in the cause, the queen would no longer make her abode to hear what
the judges would fully descern, but incontinently departed out of the
court; wherefore she was thrice preconnisate, and called eftsoons to
return and appear; which she refusing to do, was denounced by the
judges _contumax_, and a citation decerned for her appearance on
Friday." Which is corroborated also by _Fox's Acts_, p. 958. Indeed the
testimony for the personal appearance of the king before the cardinals
is surprisingly powerful; even though we do not go beyond Cavendish,
and the other ordinary historians. But in addition to these, Dr.
Wordsworth has produced the authority of William Thomas, Clerk of the
Council in the reign of King Edward VI, a well informed writer; who,
in a professed Apology for Henry VIII, extant in MS. in the Lambeth
and some other libraries, speaking of this affair affirms, "that the
Cardinal (Campeggio) caused the king as a private party in person to
appear before him, and the Lady Katharine both." P. 31.
[138] Hall has given a different report of this speech of the queen's,
which he says was made _in French_, and translated by him, as well as
he could, from notes taken by Cardinal Campeggio's secretary. In his
version she accuses Wolsey with being the first mover of her troubles,
and reproaches him, in bitter terms, of pride and voluptuousness: such
harsh language could hardly deserve the praise '_modeste tamen eam
locutum fuisse_,' given by Campeggio.
[139] See _Neve's Animadversions on Phillips's Life of Cardinal Pole_,
p. 62.
[140] Nothing of this kind is to be found in the journal of this
embassy, or in the letters of the bishop and his companions, which have
been preserved, and many of which have been published by _Le Grand,
Histoire du Divorce de Henri VIII._
[141] "In a Manuscript Life of Sir Thomas More, written not many
years after Longland's death, this account is given. 'I have heard
Dr. Draycot, that was his (Longland's) chaplain and chancellor, say,
that he once told the bishop what rumour ran upon him in that matter;
and desired to know of him the very truth. Who answered, that in very
deed he did not break the matter after that sort, as is said: but the
king brake the matter to him first; and never left urging him until he
had won him to give his consent. Of which his doings he did forethink
himself, and repented afterward.' MSS. Coll. Eman. Cantab." Baker's
Notes on _Burnet's Hist. of the Reformation_: in Burnet, Vol. iii. p.
400, Appendix. The same Life is among the MSS. in the Lambeth Library,
No. 827, (see fol. 12), and, I have reason to think, was composed
about the year 1556, and by Nicolas Harpsfield. From these concurrent
testimonies it should appear, that the charge which has been often
urged against Wolsey, that it was through his intrigues that Longland
first suggested his scruples to the king, is unfounded. _W._
Wolsey was at the time loudly proclaimed as the instigator of the
divorce, and though he denied it upon some occasions, he admitted it
on others; but Cardinal Pole asserts that it was first suggested by
certain divines whom Anne Boleyn sent to him for that purpose. It is
remarkable that he says this when writing to the king, and would surely
not have ventured to say so if he had not had good grounds for the
assertion.
[142] July, 1529.
[143] This determination of Campeggio was in consequence of secret
instructions from the pope (unknown to Wolsey), at the instance of the
emperor, who had prevailed upon the pontiff to adjourn the court and
remove the cause to Rome.