The History of England, Volume III Henry VIII The emperor threatens him
by David Hume
Charles, apprized of the timid disposition of the holy father, threw out perpetual menaces of summoning a general council; which he represented as necessary to reform the church, and correct those enormous abuses, which the ambition and avarice of the court of Rome had introduced into every branch of ecclesiastical administration. The power of the sovereign pontiff himself, he said, required limitation; his conduct called aloud for amendment; and even his title to the throne, which he filled, might justly be called in question. That pope had always passed for the natural son of Julian of Medicis, who was of the sovereign family of Florence; and though Leo X. his kinsman, had declared him legitimate, upon a pretended promise of marriage between his father and mother, few believed that declaration to be founded on any just reason or authority.o The canon law, indeed, had been entirely silent with regard to the promotion of bastards to the papal throne; but, what was still dangerous, the people had entertained a violent prepossession, that this stain in the birth of any person was incompatible with so holy an office. And in another point, the canon law was express and positive, that no man, guilty of simony, could attain that dignity. A severe bull of Julius II. had added new sanctions to this law, by declaring, that a simoniacal election could not be rendered valid, even by a posterior consent of the cardinals. But unfortunately Clement had given to cardinal Colonna a billet, containing promises of advancing that cardinal, in case he himself should attain the papal dignity by his concurrence: And this billet, Colonna, who was in entire dependance on the emperor, threatened every moment to expose to public view.p
While Charles terrified the pope with these menaces, he also allured him by hopes, which were no less prevalent over his affections. At the time when the emperor’s forces sacked Rome, and reduced Clement to captivity, the Florentines, passionate for their ancient liberty, had taken advantage of his distresses, and revolting against the family of Medicis, had entirely abolished their authority in Florence, and re-established the democracy. The better to protect themselves in their freedom, they had entered into the alliance with France, England, and Venice, against the emperor; and Clement found, that, by this interest, the hands of his confederates were tied from assisting him in the restoration of his family; the event, which, of all others, he most passionately desired. The emperor alone, he knew, was able to effect this purpose; and therefore, whatever professions he made of fidelity to his allies, he was always, on the least glimpse of hope, ready to embrace every proposal of a cordial reconciliation with that monarch.q
These views and interests of the pope were well known in England; and as the opposition of the emperor to Henry’s divorce was foreseen, both on account of the honour and interests of Catherine his aunt, and the obvious motive of distressing an enemy, it was esteemed dangerous to take any measure of consequence, in expectation of the subsequent concurrence of a man of Clement’s character, whose behaviour always contained so much duplicity, and who was at present so little at his own disposal. The safest measure seemed to consist in previously engaging him so far, that he could not afterwards recede, and in making use of his present ambiguity and uncertainty, to extort the most important concessions from him. For this purpose, Stephen Gardiner, the cardinal’s secretary, and Edward Fox, [10th Feb.] the king’s almoner, were dispatched to Rome, and were ordered to solicit a commission from the pope, of such a nature as would oblige him to confirm the sentence of the commissioners, whatever it should be, and disable him, on any account, to recal the commission, or evoke the cause to Rome.r
But the same reasons, which made the king so desirous of obtaining this concession, confirmed the pope in the resolution of refusing it:The pope’s ambiguous conduct. He was still determined to keep the door open for an agreement with the emperor, and he made no scruple of sacrificing all other considerations to a point, which he deemed the most essential and important to his own security, and to the greatness of his family. He granted, therefore, a new commission, in which cardinal Campeggio was joined to Wolsey, for the trial of the king’s marriage; but he could not be prevailed on to insert the clause desired of him. And though he put into Gardiner’s hand a letter, promising not to recal the present commission; this promise was found, on examination, to be couched in such ambiguous terms, as left him still the power, whenever he pleased, of departing from it.s
Campeggio lay under some obligations to the king; but his dependance on the pope was so much greater, that he conformed himself entirely to the views of the latter; and though he received his commission in April, he delayed his departure under so many pretences, that it was October before he arrived in England. The first step, which he took, was to exhort the king to desist from the prosecution of his divorce; and finding that this counsel gave offence, he said, that his intention was also to exhort the queen to take the vows in a convent, and that he thought it his duty, previously to attempt an amicable composure of all differences.t The more to pacify the king, he shewed to him, as also to the cardinal, the decretal bull, annulling the former marriage with Catherine; but no entreaties could prevail on him to make any other of the king’s council privy to the secret.u In order to atone, in some degree, for this obstinacy, he expressed to the king and the cardinal, the pope’s great desire of satisfying them in every reasonable demand; and in particular, he showed, that their request for suppressing some more monasteries, and converting them into cathedrals and episcopal sees, had obtained the consent of his holiness.w
These ambiguous circumstances, in the behaviour of the pope and the legate, kept the court of England in suspense, and determined the king to wait [1529.] with patience the issue of such uncertain councils. Fortune meanwhile seemed to promise him a more sure and expeditious way of extricating himself from his present difficulties. Clement was seized with a dangerous illness; and the intrigues, for electing his successor, began already to take place among the cardinals. Wolsey, in particular, supported by the interest of England and of France, entertained hopes of mounting the throne of St. Peter;x and it appears, that if a vacancy had then happened, there was a probability of his reaching that summit of his ambition. But the pope recovered, though after several relapses; and he returned to the same train of false and deceitful politics, by which he had hitherto amused the court of England. He still flattered Henry with professions of the most cordial attachment, and promised him a sudden and favourable issue to his process: He still continued his secret negociations with Charles, and persevered in the resolution of sacrificing all his promises, and all the interests of the Romish religion, to the elevation of his family. Campeggio, who was perfectly acquainted with his views and intentions, protracted the decision by the most artful delays; and gave Clement full leisure to adjust all the terms of his treaty with the emperor.
The emperor, acquainted with the king’s extreme earnestness in this affair, was determined, that he should obtain success by no other means than by an application to him, and by deserting his alliance with Francis, which had hitherto supported, against the superior force of Spain, the tottering state of the French monarchy. He willingly hearkened, therefore, to the applications of Catherine, his aunt; and promising her his utmost protection, exhorted her never to yield to the malice and persecutions of her enemies. The queen herself was naturally of a firm and resolute temper; and was engaged by every motive to persevere in protesting against the injustice to which she thought herself exposed. The imputation of incest, which was thrown upon her marriage with Henry, struck her with the highest indignation: The illegitimacy of her daughter, which seemed a necessary consequence, gave her the most just concern: The reluctance of yielding to a rival, which, she believed, had supplanted her in the king’s affections, was a very natural motive. Actuated by all these considerations, she never ceased soliciting her nephew’s assistance, and earnestly entreating an evocation of the cause to Rome, where alone, she thought, she could expect justice. And the emperor, in all his negociations with the pope, made the recal of the commission, which Campeggio and Wolsey exercised in England, a fundamental article.y
[o] Father Paul, lib. i.
[p] Ibid.
[q] Father Paul.
[r] Lord Herbert. Burnet, vol. i. p. 29. in the collect. Le Grand, vol. iii. p. 28. Strype, vol. i. p. 93. with App. No 23, 24, &c.
[s] Lord Herbert, p. 221. Burnet, p. 59.
[t] Herbert, p. 225.
[u] Burnet, p. 58.
[w] Rymer, vol. xiv. p. 270. Strype, vol. i. p. 110, 111. Append. No. 28.
