[748] And by this colour he would cover the matter. Ibid.

[Sidenote: HENRY DEMANDS ANOTHER LEGATE.]

Clement was not even now at ease. The safety of the Roman church troubled him not less than his own ... Charles might discover the trick and make the popedom suffer for it. There was danger on all sides. If the English spoke of _independence_, did not the Emperor threaten a _reform_?... The catholic princes, said the papal councillors, are capable, without perhaps a single exception, of supporting the cause of Luther to gratify a criminal ambition.[749]

The pope reflected, and withdrawing his word, promised to give the commission when Lautrec was under the walls of Orvieto; but the English agents insisted on having it immediately. To conciliate all, it was agreed that the pope should give the required doc.u.ment at once, but as soon as the French army arrived, he should send another copy bearing the date of the day on which he saw Lautrec. "Beseech the king to keep secret the commission I give you,"[750] said Clement VII to Knight; "if he begins the process immediately he receives it, I am undone forever."[751] The pope thus gave permission to act, on condition of not acting at all. Knight took leave on the 1st of January 1528; he promised all the pontiff desired, and then, as if fearing some fresh difficulty, he departed the same day. Da Casale, on his side, after having offered the Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor a gift of 4000 crowns, which he refused, repaired to Lautrec, to beg him to _constrain_ the pope to sign a doc.u.ment which was already on its way to England.

[749] Non potest Sua Sanct.i.tas sibi persuadere ipsos principes (ut forte aliqui jactant) a.s.sumpturos sectam Lutheranam contra ecclesiam.

(State Papers, vii. p. 47.) His Holiness is not able to persuade himself that these princes (as some perchance a.s.sert) are capable of supporting the Lutheran sect against the church.

[750] State Papers, vii. p. 36.

[751] Is fully in your puissance with publishing of the commission to destroy for ever. Ibid.

But while the business seemed to be clearing at Rome, it was becoming more complicated in London. The king's project got wind, and Catherine gave way to the liveliest sorrow. "I shall protest," said she, "against the commission given to the cardinal of York. Is he not the king's subject, the vile flatterer of his pleasures?" Catherine did not resist alone; the people, who hated the cardinal, could not with pleasure see him invested with such authority. To obviate this inconvenience, Henry resolved to ask the pope for another cardinal, who should be empowered to terminate the affair in London with or without Wolsey.

The latter agreed to the measure: it is even possible that he was the first to suggest it, for he feared to bear alone the responsibility of so hateful an inquiry. Accordingly, on the 27th of December, he wrote to the king's agents at Rome: "Procure the envoy of a legate, and particularly of an able, easy, _manageable_ legate ... desirous of meriting the king's favour,[752] Campeggio for instance. You will earnestly request the cardinal who may be selected, to travel with all diligence, and you will a.s.sure him that the king will behave liberally towards him."[753]

[752] Eruditus, indifferens, tractabilis, de regia majestate bene merendi cupidus. Ibid. p. 33.

[753] Regia majestas sumptus, labores, atque molestias liberalissime compenset. (Ibid. p. 34.) His majesty will liberally compensate his outlay, toil, and labour.

[Sidenote: THE POPE'S NEW EXPEDIENT.]

Knight reached Asti on the 10th of January, where he found letters with fresh orders. This was another check: at one time it is the pope who compels him to retrograde, at another it is the king. Henry's unlucky valetudinarian secretary, a man very susceptible of fatigue, and already wearied and exhausted by ten painful journeys, was in a very bad humour. He determined to permit Gambara to carry the two doc.u.ments to England; to commission Da Casale, who had not left the pope's neighbourhood, to solicit the despatch of the legate; and as regarded himself, to go and wait for further orders at Turin:--"If it be thought good unto the king's highness that I do return unto Orvieto, I shall do as much as _my poor carca.s.s_ may endure."[754]

[754] Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii.

When Da Casale reached Bologna, he pressed Lautrec to go and constrain the pontiff to sign the act which Gambara was already bearing to England. On receiving the new despatches he returned in all haste to Orvieto, and the pope was very much alarmed when he heard of his arrival. He had feared to grant a simple paper, destined to remain _secret_; and now he is required to send a prince of the church! Will Henry never be satisfied? "The mission you desire would be full of dangers," he replied; "but we have discovered another means, alone calculated to finish this business. Mind you do not say that I pointed it out to you," added the pope in a mysterious tone; "but that it was suggested by Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor and Simonetta." Da Casale was all attention. "There is not a doctor in the world who can better decide on this matter, and on its most private circ.u.mstances, than the king himself.[755] If therefore he sincerely believes that Catherine had really become his brother's wife, let him empower the cardinal of York to p.r.o.nounce the divorce, and let him take another wife without any further ceremony;[756] he can then afterwards demand the confirmation of the consistory. The affair being concluded in this way, I will take the rest upon myself."--"But," said Da Casale, somewhat dissatisfied with this new intrigue, "I must fulfil my mission, and the king demands a legate."--"And whom shall I send,"

asked Clement. "Da Monte? he cannot move. De Caesis? he is at Naples.

Ara Cli? he has the gout. Piccolomini? he is of the imperial party.... Campeggio would be the best, but he is at Rome, where he supplies my place, and cannot leave without peril to the church."...

And then with some emotion he added, "I throw myself into his majesty's arms. The emperor will never forgive what I am doing. If he hears of it he will summon me before _his council_; I shall have no rest until he has deprived me of my throne and my life."[757]

[755] Nullus doctor in mundo est, qui de hac re melius decernere possit quam ipse rex. Ibid. p. xiv.

[756] Aliam uxorem ducat. Ibid.

[757] Vocabit eum ad concilium, vel nihil aliud quaeret, nisi ut eum omni statu et vita privet. Ibid. p. xxvi.

Da Casale hastened to forward to London the result of the conference.

Clement being unable to untie the knot, requested Henry to cut it.

Will this prince hesitate to employ so easy a means, the pope (Clement declared it himself) being willing to ratify everything?

Here closes Henry's first campaign in the territories of the popedom.

We shall now see the results of so many efforts.

CHAPTER X.

Disappointment in England--War declared against Charles V--Wolsey desires to get him deposed by the Pope--A new Scheme--Emba.s.sy of Fox and Gardiner--Their Arrival at Orvieto--Their first interview with Clement--The Pope reads a treatise by Henry--Gardiner's Threats and Clement's Promise--The Modern Fabius--Fresh Interview and Menaces--The pope has not _the key_--Gardiner's Proposition--Difficulties and delays of the Cardinals--Gardiner's last Blows--Reverses of Charles V in Italy--The Pope's Terror and Concession--The _Commission_ granted--Wolsey demands the _Engagement_--A Loophole--The Pope's Distress.

[Sidenote: DISAPPOINTMENT IN ENGLAND.]

Never was disappointment more complete than that felt by Henry and Wolsey after the arrival of Gambara with the commission; the king was angry, the cardinal vexed. What Clement called the _sacrifice of his life_ was in reality but a sheet of paper fit only to be thrown into the fire. "This commission is of no value,"[758] said Wolsey.--"And even to put it into execution," added Henry, "we must wait until the imperialists have quitted Italy! The pope is putting us off to the Greek calends."--"His holiness," observed the cardinal, "does not bind himself to p.r.o.nounce the divorce; the queen will therefore appeal from our judgment."--"And even if the pope had bound himself," added the king, "it would be sufficient for the emperor to smile upon him, to make him retract what he had promised."--"It is all a cheat and a mockery," concluded both king and minister.

[758] Nullius sit roboris vel effectus. (State Papers, vii. p. 50.) It is of no power or effect.

[Sidenote: WAR DECLARED AGAINST CHARLES.]

What was to be done next? The only way to make Clement ours, thought Wolsey, is to get rid of Charles; it is time his pride was brought down. Accordingly, on the 21st of January 1528, France and England declared hostilities against the emperor. When Charles heard of this proceeding he exclaimed: "I know the hand that has flung the torch of war into the midst of Europe. My crime is not having placed the cardinal of York on St. Peter's throne."

A mere declaration of war was not enough for Wolsey; the bishop of Bayonne, amba.s.sador from France, seeing him one day somewhat excited,[759] whispered in his ear: "In former times popes have deposed emperors for smaller offences." Charles's deposition would have delivered the king of France from a troublesome rival; but Du Bellay, fearing to take the initiative in so bold an enterprise, suggested the idea to the cardinal. Wolsey reflected: such a thought had never before occurred to him. Taking the amba.s.sador aside to a window, he there swore _stoutly_, said Du Bellay, that he should be delighted to use all his influence to get Charles deposed by the pope.

"No one is more likely than yourself," replied the bishop, "to induce Clement to do it."--"I will use all my credit," rejoined Wolsey, and the two priests separated. This bright idea the cardinal never forgot.

Charles had robbed him of the tiara; he will retaliate by depriving Charles of his crown. _An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth._ Staffileo, dean of the Rota, was then in London, and still burning with resentment against the author of the Sack of Rome, he favourably received the suggestions Wolsey made to him; and, finally, the envoy from John Zapolya, king-elect of Hungary, supported the project. But the kings of France and England were not so easily induced to put the thrones of kings at the disposal of the priests. It appears, however, that the pope was sounded on the subject; and if the emperor had been beaten in Italy, it is probable that the bull would have been fulminated against him. His sword preserved his crown, and the plot of the two bishops failed.

[759] Du Bellay to Francis I. Le Grand, Preuves, p. 64.

The king's councillors began to seek for less heroic means. "We must prosecute the affair at _Rome_," said some.--"No," said others, "in _England_. The pope is too much afraid of the emperor to p.r.o.nounce the divorce in person."--"If the pope fears the emperor more than the king of England," exclaimed the proud Tudor, "we shall find some other way to set him at ease."[760] Thus, at the first contradiction, Henry placed his hand on his sword, and threatened to sever the ties which bound his kingdom to the throne of the Italian pontiff.

[760] Burnet's Reformation, i. p. 50.

[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S NEW PROJECT.]

"I have hit it!" said Wolsey at length; "we must combine the two clans--judge the affair in London, and at the same time bind the Pontiff at Rome." And then the able cardinal proposed the draft of a bull, by which the pope, delegating his authority to two legates, should declare that the acts of that delegation should have a perpetual effect, notwithstanding any contrary decrees that might subsequently emanate from his infallible authority.[761] A new mission was decided upon for the accomplishment of this bold design.

[761] Non obstantibus quibuscunque decretis revocatoriis praesentis concessionis nostrae. (Burnet, Records, ii, p. 17.) No revocatory decrees whatsoever shall invalidate my present concession.

Wolsey, annoyed by the folly of Knight and his colleagues, desired men of another stamp. He therefore cast his eyes on his own secretary, Stephen Gardiner, an active man, intelligent, supple, and crafty, a learned canonist, desirous of the king's favour, and, above all, a good Romanist, which at Rome was not without its advantage. Gardiner was in small the living image of his master; and hence the cardinal sometimes styled him _the half of himself_.[762] Edward Fox, the chief almoner, was joined with him--a moderate, influential man, a particular friend of Henry's, and a zealous advocate of the divorce.

Fox was named first in the commission; but it was agreed that Gardiner should be the real head of the emba.s.sy. "Repeat without ceasing,"

Wolsey told them, "that his majesty cannot do otherwise than separate from the queen. Attack each one on his weak side. Declare to the pope that the king promises to defend him against the emperor; and to the cardinals that their services will be n.o.bly rewarded.[763] If that does not suffice, let the energy of your words be such as to excite a wholesome fear in the pontiff."

[762] Mei dimidium. Ibid. p. 15.

[763] Money to present the cardinals. Strype's Mem. i, p. 137.

Fox and Gardiner, after a gracious reception at Paris (23rd February), by Francis I, arrived at Orvieto on the 20th of March, after many perils, and with their dress in such disorder, that no one could have taken them for the amba.s.sadors of Henry VIII. "What a city!" they exclaimed, as they pa.s.sed through its streets; "what ruins, what misery! It is indeed truly called Orvieto (_urbs vetus_)!" The state of the town gave them no very grand idea of the state of the popedom, and they imagined that with a pontiff so poorly lodged, their negotiation could not be otherwise than easy. "I give you my house,"

said Da Casale, to whom they went, "my room and my own bed;" and as they made some objections, he added: "It is not possible to lodge you elsewhere; I have even been forced to borrow what was necessary to receive you."[764] Da Casale, pressing them to change their clothes, which were still dripping (they had just crossed a river on their mules), they replied, that being obliged to travel post, they had not been able to bring a change of raiment. "Alas!" said Casale, "what is to be done? there are few persons in Orvieto who have more garments than one;[765] even the shopkeepers have no cloth for sale; this town is quite a prison. People say the pope is at liberty here. A pretty liberty indeed! Want, impure air, wretched lodging, and a thousand other inconveniences keep the holy father closer than when he was in the Castle of St. Angelo. Accordingly, he told me the other day, it was better to be in captivity at Rome than at liberty here."[766]

[764] Borrowing of divers men so much as might furnish three beds.

Ibid. p. 139.

[765] Strype's Mem. i. p. 139.

[766] State Papers, vii. p. 63.

[Sidenote: FIRST AUDIENCE WITH THE POPE.]