II. 1528. body. And as touching your Grace's trouble with the BOOK sweat, I thank our Lord, that them that I desired and prayed for are scaped, and that is the King and you; not doubting but that God has preserved you both for great causes known alonely of his high wisdom. And as for the coming of the Legate, I desire that much; and if it be God's pleasure, I pray him to send this matter shortly to a good end, and then I trust, my Lord, to recompense part of your great pains: in the which I must require you in the mean time to accept my good will in the stead of the power, the which must proceed partly from you, as our Lord knoweth; to whom I beseech to send you long life, with continuance in honour. Written with the hand of her that is most bound to be Your humble and obedient servant, Anne Boleyn. Numb. 14. The Cardinal, hearing that Campegius had the de- Collect. cretal bull committed to his trust, to be shewed only to the King and himself, wrote to the Ambassador that it was necessary it should be also shewed to some of the King's council; not to make any use of it, but that thereby they might understand how to manage the process better by it. This he begged might be trusted to his care and fidelity; and he undertook to manage it so, that no kind of danger could arise out of it. dinal's col nished. At this time the Cardinal, having finished his foun- The Cardations at Oxford and Ipswich, and finding they were leges fivery acceptable both to the King and to the clergy, resolved to go on and suppress more monasteries, and erect new bishopricks, turning some abbies to cathedrals. This was proposed in the consistory, and grant-Octob. 30. ed, as appears by a dispatch of Cassali's. He also spoke to the Pope about a general visitation of all monasteries and on the fourth of November the bull for suppressing some was expected; a copy whereof is yet extant, but written in such a hand, that I could not read three words together in any place of it: and though I II. BOOK tried others that were good at reading all hands, yet they could not do it. But I find by the dispatch, that 1528. the Pope did it with some aversion; and when Gardiner More mo- told him plainly, It was necessary, and it must be done, were to be he paused a little, and seemed unwilling to give any suppressed. further offence to religious orders: but since he found nasteries The Emperor op it so uneasy to gratify the King in so great a point as the matter of his divorce, he judged it the more necessary to mollify him by a compliance in all other things. So there was a power given to the two Legates to examine the state of the monasteries, and to suppress such as they thought fit, and convert them into bishopricks and cathedrals. While matters went thus between Rome and Engposes the land, the Queen was as active as she could be to enKing's suit. gage her two nephews, the Emperor and his brother, to appear for her. She complained to them much of the King, but more of the Cardinal: she also gave them notice of all the exceptions that were made to the bull, and desired both their advice and assistance. They, having a mind to perplex the King's affairs, advised her by no means to yield, nor to be induced to enter into a religious life; and gave her assurance, that, by their interest at Rome, they would support her, and maintain her daughter's title, if it went to extremities. And as they employed all their agents at Rome to serve her concerns, so they consulted with the canonists about the force of the exceptions to the bull. The issue of which was, that a breve was found out, or forged, that supplied some of the most material defects in the bull, For whereas in the bull, the preamble bore, that the King and Queen had desired the Pope's dispensation to marry, that the peace might continue between the two crowns, without any other cause given; in the preamble of this breve, mention is Collect. made of their desire to marry, "because otherwise it "was not likely that the peace would be continued be A breve found out in Spain, Numb. 15. II. 1528. "tween the two crowns: and for that and divers other BOOK "reasons they asked the dispensation." Which in the body of the breve is granted, bearing date the twentysixth of December, 1503. Upon this they pretended that the dispensation was granted upon good reasons; since by this petition it appeared, that there were fears of a breach between the crowns; and that there were also other reasons made use of, though they were not named. But there was one fatal thing in it. In the bull it is only said, That the Queen's petition bore, That perhaps she had consummated her marriage with Prince Arthur by the carnalis copula. But in this, perhaps is left out, and it is plainly said, That they had consummated their marriage. This the King's council, who suspected that the breve was forged, made great use of when the question was argued, whether Prince Arthur knew her or not? Though at this time it was said, the Spaniards did put it in on design, knowing it was like to be proved that the former marriage was consummated: which they intended to throw out of the debate, since by this it appeared, that the Pope did certainly know that, and yet granted the breve; and that therefore there was to be no more inquiry to be made into that, which was already confessed: so that all that was now to be debated was the Pope's power of granting such a dispensation, in which they had good reason to expect a favourable decision at Rome. being But there appeared great grounds to reject this breve Presumpas a forged writing. It was neither in the records oftions of its England nor Spain, but said to be found amongst the forged. papers of D. de Puebla, that had been the Spanish ambassador in England at the time of concluding the match. So that if he only had it, it must have been cassated, otherwise the parties concerned would have got it into their hands; or else it was forged since. Many of the names were written false, which was a BOOK presumption that it was lately made by some SpanII. iards, who knew not how to write the names true. For 1528. Sigismund, who was secretary when it was pretended to have been signed, was an exact man, and no such errors were found in breves at that time. But that which shewed it a manifest forgery was, that it bore date the twenty-sixth of December, anno 1503, on the same day that the bull was granted. It was not to be imagined, that in the same day a bull and a breve should have been expedited in the same business, with such material differences in them. And the style of the court of Rome had this singularity in it, that in all their breves they reckon the beginning of the year from Christmas-day; which being the nativity of our Lord, they count the year to begin then. But in their bulls they reckon the year to begin at the feast of the Annunciation. So that a breve dated the twenty-sixth of December 1503, was, in the vulgar account, in the year 1502, therefore it must be false; for neither was Julius II, who granted it, then Pope, nor was the treaty of the marriage so far advanced at that time, as to admit of a breve so soon. But allowing the breve to be true, they had many of the same exceptions to it that they had to the bull, since it bore that the King desired the marriage to avoid a breach between the crowns; which was false. It likewise bore, that the marriage had been consummated between the Queen and Prince Arthur, which the Queen denied was ever done; so that the suggestion in her name being, as she said, false, it could have no force, though it were granted to be a true breve: and they said it was plain the Imperialists were convinced the bull was of no force, since they betook themselves to such arts to fortify their cause. Campegio comes into When Cardinal Campegio came to England, he was England. received with the public solemnities ordinary in such a II. 1528. the King case; and, in his speech at his first audience, he called BOOK the King The deliverer of the Pope, and of the city of Rome, with the highest compliments that the occasion did require. But when he was admitted to a private conference with the King and the Cardinal, he used many arguments to dissuade the King from prosecuting the matter any farther. This the King took very ill, as if his errand had been rather to confirm than annul his marriage; and complained that the Pope had broken his word to him. But the Legate studied to qualify him, and shewed the decretal bull, by which he and shews might see, that, though the Pope wished rather that the bull; the business might come to a more friendly conclusion, yet if the King could not be brought. to that, he was empowered to grant him all that he desired. But he could not be brought to part with the decretal bull out of his hands, or to leave it for a minute, either with the King or the Cardinal, saying, that it was demanded But refuses on these terms, that no other person should see it; and that Gardiner and the Ambassador had only moved to have it expedited, and sent by the Legate, to let the King see how well the Pope was affected to him. With all this the King was much dissatisfied; but, to encourage him again, the Legate told him, he was to speak to the Queen in the Pope's name, to induce her to enter into a religious life, and to make the vows. But when he proposed that to her, she answered him modestly, that she could not dispose of herself but by the advice of her nephews. to let it be seen to the council. endeavour Of all this the Cardinal of York advertised the Cas- Wolsey's salis, and * ordered them to use all possible endeavours at Rome that the bull might be shewn to some of the King's that it council. Upon that (Sir Gregory being then out of shewed; Rome) the Proto-notary went to the Pope, and com- Numb. 16. plained that Campegio had dissuaded the divorce. Pope justified him in it, and said, He did as he *Collect. Collect. The Numb. 17. had |