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HISTOEICAL POETEAITS.

HISTORICAL PORTRAITS

OF

THE TUDOR DYNASTY AND THE
REFORMATION PERIOD,

BY

S. HUBERT BUKKE,
AUTHOR OF "THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE SEFOBMATION. '

" Time unveils all truth."

VOL. I.

SECOND EDITION.

JOHN HODGES,
24, KING WILLIAM STREET, CHARING CROSS, W.C.
1879.

BALLANTYNE AND HANSONj EDINBUEGH
CHANDOS STREET, LONDON

PREFACE.

To write History truly is an office little less than sacred.
To indite justly the records of the bygone is a duty
upon which honour and honesty impose the inevitable
responsibility of faith and truthfulness, lu my long and
laborious researches I have met with many ladies and gentle
men connected with literature ; but in the course of some
erudite and thoughtful observations I was specially moved
by the remarks of a learned and accomplished High Church
lady, who averred her strong objection to the past and
existent mode of imparting historical knowledge. Leaving
to the mere chronologist the "history of England," as the
many phases of that history, however illustrated and diffuse,
have been designated, the writer of the present volumes
has assumed the task of bringing before the English read
ing public the actors and the facts of a most momentous
epoch in the history of Britain^the period treated of
being the fons et origo of our present condition. The lady
to whom I refer has written to me : — " Weary little school
girls and impatient school boys when asked if they like
history, usually reply with a very sincere and unhesitating
negative, and we children of a larger growth, who remember
our own dreary wading through page after page of dry facts,
whose connection with each other it was difficult sometimes
to perceive, can easily recollect what a task it was to acquire

vi Preface.
sufficient knowledge of the daily lesson to repeat it to the
satisfaction of tutor or governess. How eagerly we seized
upon anything in the shape of an anecdote, a little oasis of
freshness in the barren waste peopled by marionettes of
men and women of the past ages, for as to considering
them human beings, and taking an interest in their doings,
that occurred to very few amongst us, and apparently never
at all to the historians whose works we studied. If it had,
it would have given the life and colour to the picture which
childhood and youth so sadly miss : the little students, with
this assistance, would be able to invest the various charac
ters with individuality, and would thus find a wonderful
variety of minds and hearts where they otherwise see but
two classes — the wise and the foolish, the good and the bad ;
no medium ; no light nor shade. Looking back at these
outlines of men and women, which were presented to our
childhood to study, they seem as silhouettes which should
have been oil paintings. To render history interesting, what
is required is, to make the portraits so lifelike as to force us
to feel that we are in presence of a brother man or a sister
woman, and to inspire us with an interest in his or her
doings and sayings, each individual becoming a psycho
logical study on a miniature scale."
The greatest difficulty for the impartial searcher into
historic truth is, to pierce the mountain of misrepresenta
tion which has hitherto covered so long the real facts as to
men and annals. In the course of my inquiries I was
naturally desirous to ascertain the truthfulness of the
previously accepted writers of different periods of English
history, such as Eoxe, Buchanan, Speed, Fuller, Lodge,
Nichols, Birch, Forbes, Spelman, Brady, Tyrrell, Strype,

Preface. vii
Burnet, Rapin, Echard, Oldmixon, Carte, Hume, &c, in whose
works I have been astounded at the suppression or absence
of important events and characters. So that, in fact, the
generations since the eventful epoch of which these volumes
treat may be regarded as deprived of any fair or adequate
knowledge of the characters and events of a notable turning-
point in the history of Great Britain.
Here I must refer, if an advocate for the fruition of my
design be required, to the lament of the late Rev. Charles
Kingsley, a distinguished Churchman, whose varied and
genial productions have rendered his name a household
word in every kindly intellectual home of England. The
reverend Canon told the people of Bristol, in October, 1871,
that " the chief want of England was a love of fact — that
decline was the fate of every nation which lost the habit of
speaking or acting the truth ; and that he himself had given
up the Chair of Modern History at Cambridge, because History
was so overlaid with Lies as to render it impossible for him
to make anything out of her statements."
It is needless to observe that Lord Beaconsfield, long
before the preceding enunciation of Canon Kingsley, averred
his opinion, that " the History of England has yet to be
written." "Works printed within the last twenty years upon
what are termed " Broken Periods of English History," are
generally interesting, and great improvements on a foregone
system, in which there had seemed no breathing space for
tolerance or truth. Still there remains a great want of
knowledge of the facts surrounding the men and women
who acted in a momentous historical drama.
Some clergymen of the Church of England have appeared
as inditers of history — some remarkable for sectarian rancour

viii Preface.
and partisan prejudice, whilst another class of clerical writers
of the Established Church have been, as historians, models
supremely worthy of imitation to all writers, for their
truth, candour, and impartiality. Amongst the most dis
tinguished of those clerical authors rank the names of
Dr. Maitland, Dean Hooke, Thomas Hugo, J. H. Blunt,
and others less noted.
The era that I have chosen to investigate teems with
interest to English readers of all parties, and especially to
those who study the characteristics of personages who in
great measure have fashioned the destiny of the country.
I hope — according to my honest and heartfelt belief —
that I have done justice to; the characters mentioned in-
the subsequent pages. They must, however, be judged
according to the State records of their actions.
And with this re' sume of the tone and inspiration with,
and in, which these volumes are written, I commend the
research of years to my readers, adapting to the result of
my humble labours the pathetic saying of a much-maligned
English Queen — " Time miveils all Truth."
S. H. Burke.

London, December, 1878.

INTRODUCTION.

It is a pleasing duty to express my sincere and respectful
acknowledgments tothe clergy of the English Church who,
in the course of this work, afforded me opportunities of
consulting rare black-letter tomes, MS. documents, diaries,
&c, in their possession.
In such a condition of our country's Hn^ory any one
who brings a stone to the Temple of Truth is not without
some desert ; and I cheerfully assign their full share of
merit to those who have in anf way assisted me. To the
officials of the literary department of the British Museum I
would be more diffuse in my thanks, as they one and all
deserve, did not long experience prove that courtesy, kindly
attention, and delicate consideration seem to be such un
avoidable attributes of the gentlemen who officiate in that
important department of an unrivalled institution, as to
render the expression of individual gratitude superfluous.
The Author.

CONTENTS.

PAGB

Chapter I. The Princess Catalina  1
„ II. Marriage Festivities  13
„ III. Death op Arthur, Prince of Wales . 17
„ IV. The Young Widow  20
„ V. Ferdinand and Isabel  30
„ VI. The White and Red Rose .... 37
„ VII. Accession of Henry VIIL ... 66
„ VIII. The Boleyn Family  86 y
„ IX. Wolsey and' his Contemporaries . . 95
„ X. La Reine Blanche  127
„ XI. Fall of the Duke of Buckingham . 143
„ XII. Anna Boleyn Returns to England . 149
„ XIII. The Irish Cousin  152
„ XIV. The Border Chief  156
„ XV. The "First Tudor Divorce" ... 159
„ XVI. Wolsey Declares against the Love
Match  163
„ XVII. Domestic Relations  173
„ XVIII. The " Royal Scruples"  177
„ XIX. The Divorce Litigation .... 197
XX. The Fall of Wolsey  217 1
- „ XXI. A Fortunate Family  240
„ XXII. Death of Archbishop Warham . . 243

xii Contents.

Chapter XXIII. Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces
the Divorce ....•• 251
XXIV. Triumph of Anna Boleyn . . . 261
XXV. The Rupture with the Court of
Rome  270
XXVI. Birth of Elizabeth  279
XXVII. The Carthusian Fathers . . . 282
XXVIII. The Bishop, of Rochester . . . 301
XXIX. Sir Thomas More  337
XXX. Death of Katharine of Arragon 370
XXXI. The Observant Fathers of Green
wich  377
XXXII. Fall of Anna Boleyn .... 385
XXXIII. Lord Rochford and his Companions 419
XXXIV. The Queen's Death-warrant . . 432
XXXV. Was Anna a Lutheran or a Latin
Catholic ?  435
XXXVI. Incidents of the Last Day . . 448
XXXVII. Jane Seymour  459
„ XXXVIII. The Wyatt Family  477
XXXIX. The Pilgrims of Grace . . . 481
XL. The King's Supremacy in Ireland 506
XLI. The Abbots of Glastonbury and
Woburn  513
XLII. Dr. Gardyner  521

HISTORICAL PORTRAITS

OF

THE TUDOR DYNASTY AND THE
REFORMATION PERIOD.

CHAPTER I.
THE PRINCESS CATALINA.

The contrast between England and Spain at the close of
the fifteenth century was remarkable in many points, and
especially with regard to the progress of education and
social feeling amongst the lower and upper classes of
society. Both countries were, however, in a good social
condition. But Spain was the land of romance, chivalry,
and song. The grandees of old Iberia were mostly edu
cated men. They travelled and were known in Paris,
Vienna, Rome, and other continental cities, where they
were always attractive and welcome from the splendour of
their retinues and the munificence of their dealings.
The Spanish ladies' of those times were marvellously
. educated, some of them speaking and writing five different
languages. There were many learned women, contempo
raries of Isabel, amongst the foremost of whom, were
the Marchioness of Mbnteagudo, and Dona Pocheco, sisters
VOL. I. B

The Princess Catalina.

of the learned historian, Don Diego Hurtado. Dona
Lucia de Medrana publicly lectured on the Latin classics
in the University of Salamanca ; Dona Frances de Leterija,
the daughter of another Spanish historian, filled the chair
of rhetoric with distinction at Alcala. " Women of learn
ing in Spain," writes Islip, " are everywhere received with
honour by the men, and chivalry extends to them all its
gracious and amiable attentions." From the days of
Alfonso X. history had been held in high esteem in
Spain, and was more widely cultivated in Castile than in
any other European State. Queen Isabel took advantage
of the invention of printing.* Her large grasp of mind
at once perceived the advantages which printing might
bring to bear upon the diffusion of knowledge. She there
fore encouraged its establishment by special privileges, and
even paid the expenses of printing works of merit from
her private purse, " that knowledge might be further
extended/' In 1480 a law was enacted in Spain, permitting foreign
books to be imported into the country free of any duty;
a " very enlightened idea," writes the American biographer
of Isabel, " and which might furnish a useful example to
the legislative assemblies of the nineteenth century." In
general intellectual progress no period has surpassed the
age of Isabel and Ferdinand.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, England,
which hitherto occupied only the position of a third-rate

* The first printing press was erected at Valencia in 1474; Barcelona also
contests for the honour. The " Little Book" first produced was a few hymns
in honour of the Virgin Mother. By order of Queen Isabel printers were
exempt from all taxes, and enjoyed many Drivileges.

The Princess Catalina.

Power in Europe, felt a natural pride and ambition at the
prospect of a family alliance with the greatest kingdom in
the world — wealthy, brave, intelligent, and chivalrous.
Both nations were the devoted spiritual subjects of the
Papal throne ; and the projected marriage of a Castilian
Princess with the amiable Prince Arthur was received
throughout Britain with universal joy. In Spain, where
the Court and nobility approached the question with higher
and more delicate sentiment than the " rough Saxon," the
scene was different.
The Spanish chronicles relate that during the summer
and autumn of 1501 the leading topic of conversation in
the great towns and cities of Spain was the Infanta's
marriage with Arthur, Prince of Wales. The minstrels
assumed the theme, and a spirit of romance was evolved ;
ballads and sonnets were written and circulated in the old
Castilian modes, and the Princess was everywhere received
with affection amounting to enthusiasm. In social circles
the name of Englishman was regarded as that of a friend
and a brother ; all the amiable and kindly feelings of the
Spanish people were displayed, and every one wished well to
the union of Arthur and Catalina.
Had the Spaniards been lovers of feasting — " good eating
and drinking," as Bishop Foxe remarked — the letters of
King Henry's secretary would have induced them to come
on the wedding party to England. Henry was not so strange
a miser at this time as he subsequently proved. The
secretary wrote to the Spanish Court that " all the friends
of the Princess were welcome to England," assuring them
that "none would die of hunger; or, if they died, it would
rather be of eating too much. The King laid in an
b 2

The Princess Catalina.

immense stock of every kind of provisions, and the meme
meetings and feastings would prove the hospitalitie and
good nature of our own King Harrie, his Queen, and his
loving subjects. All will be welcome."
Queen Isabel frequently lectured kings and courtiers
upon "economy in social life;" "feasting a number of
people cost much money. This money should be put up
in strong boxes for another time, when it might be needed
more." Isabel writes from Granada, in 1501, to King
Henry and his Queen in these words : —
" I am right heartily pleased to hear of the great pre
parations making in England for the wedding of my beloved
daughter. ^Indeed, it shows the magnificent grandeur of
my good brother, the King of England. Demonstrations of
joy at the reception of my daughter are naturally agree
able to me. Nevertheless, it would be more in accordance
with my feelings, and with the wishes of my lord, the
King, that the expenses should be moderate. We do not
wish our daughter to be the cause of any loss to England,
either in money or in any other respect. On the contrary,
we desire that she should be the source of all kinds of
happiness, as we hope she will be, with the help of God.
We, therefore, beg of our good brother, the King of
England, to moderate the expenses. Rejoicings may be
held, but we ardently implore him that the substantial part
of this festival should be his love ; that the Princess should
be treated by him and the Queen as their daughter, and by
the Prince of Wales as we feel he will treat her.
(Signed) " Isabella, the Queen."

The Princess Catalina. 5
The time of departure arrived. The Infanta received her
father and mother's blessing, standing before the great altar
of the Cathedral of Granada; then followed the benediction
of the Church, and the good wishes of the Spanish nation.
After travelling from Granada to Corunna, amidst continued
ovations, the Princess, full of hope and confidence as to the
future, walked on board the royal galley, and the prayers
and acclamations of twenty thousand people wished her a
safe voyage and a loving husband to greet her arrival on
the English shore. The highest dignitaries of the Church,
and the most noted nobles of Castile and Arragon were her
knight attendants, accompanied by a " bevy of maidens " as
lovely and brilliant as ever graced such an occasion. In
this order, Catalina bade a long adieu to her happy home —
to her sunny land of romance and chivalry. * After many
weeks of tempestuous weather, the royal galley, accompanied
by the Spanish fleet, reached the English coast. The note
of preparation had been sounded for some time previous.
Each town and city was astir, and the excitement daily
increased. Young and old, lad and lass, were anxious to
know where or when the Spanish bride would land, and
" delight all hearts by her presence." The national longing
was soon agreeably satisfied. Early on an October morning
in the year of grace 1501 the town of Plymouth was in a
state of interesting excitement. In. the grey light of
morning several Spanish ships, "gaily decked and well-
manned," entered the then quiet harbour of England's
present great naval fortress. The visitors had been expected
for weeks, but were detained by the rough gales previously
mentioned. At eight of the clock, amidst "salutes of
bombards and falconets, joyous music and the hearty cheers

The Princess Catalina.

of multitudinous acclaimants," the Princess Catalina,* who
was veiled from "head to foot," landed on English soil.
She was accompanied by some thirty young Spanish ladies
of rank, and several duennas, whose demeanour and calling
seemed a needless novelty in a land of frigid propriety,
such as England was in those days. The Princess had also
in her train a cardinal, several bishops, confessors, and
grandees. The first place the party sought was a church, to which
they repaired to return thanks for their safe arrival. The
local priests were promptly in attendance, and Mass was
celebrated. Four young Spanish maidens with two
duennas " knelt beside the Princess ; they carried her
prayer-books, and a confessor held a golden cup with holy
water, in which the Royal lady occasionally put her fingers,
and making the sign of the Cross with great devotion."
All this time, according to the Moorish custom, the bride-
elect remained veiled ; and the veil was not to be removed
until Prince Arthur arrived — the ceremony of unveiling
being left to be performed by the Prince. This was a
source of disappointment to the people of Devonshire, and
the surrounding counties, who had travelled all night to
catch a glimpse of the Infanta. Report ran highly in
favour of the Princess ; that versatile and imaginative class
known in those days as " story-tellers" drew on their
imagination for a glowing picture of " England's Bride ;"
* The name of Katharine was unknown in Spain, unless in Latin MSS.
Katharine was a favourite name with the old Saxon English, who claimed
several sainted women of that appellation. Katharine, in Greek, signifies "pure,
innocent, good," &c. ; and the word was set down as the derivation of the
name. The Infanta Catalina was, from her wedding day, styled " Katharine"
in her adopted country.

The Princess Catalina.

but the fame of her beauty, her learning, her love of
romance, her benevolence, and, above all, her veneration
for the '• Virgin Mother," won the sympathies of the English
women. The story-tellers praised the maids of honour as
the loveliest in all Spain. They were described as graceful
in the dance — musicians, painters, in fact, as excelling in
all accomplishments that could charm the eye and the mind.
Travelling from town to town, the story-tellers published
their own version — fanciful, of course — ofthe Spanish beauty.
Another class of eulogists were the ballad-singers, even
more marvellous in description, yet not professing to be so
accurate as the story-tellers. The latter frequented the
" inns, road-side sheds, and ale-houses," popular places of
resort, where people assembled to hear the gossip from
London and other large towns of the kingdom. In the case
of the Spanish Infanta, however, the story-tellers and ballad-
mongers roused the most lively feeling in her favour.
After two days' rest at a convent in Plymouth, the
Princess commenced her journey to the metropolis. Her
reception along the route was enthusiastic. " We did not
expect such a hospitable reception from those churlish
islanders," writes the Archbishop of Santiago to Queen
Isabel. And again he says: "The English are as much
attached to the Church as we are in Spain, and they abhor
all heretics." The Archbishop was astonished at the social
comforts enjoyed by the lower classes, and the contentment
of the people, so superior to the condition of things in his
own country.
Ferdinand and Isabel desired to send a number of
young ladies to England with the Princess, whilst the
English monarch wished that few might come over, unless

The Princess Catalina.

those who had good fortunes; then he would have them
married to some of those needy nobles who were his
retainers. In Ferdinand and Isabel Henry had his match
in these petty piques. The rich donas were kept at
home* till grandees of a position became their suitors. So
the substantial fortune-hunting English squires and lords
were disappointed.
The first interview between Henry VII. and the
attendants of the Princess seemed likely to produce some
unpleasant feeling. The commissioners from the King of
Spain would not permit the English monarch to greet his
daughter-in-law in the old Welsh fashion. Henry con
sulted his Council quickly, and they were of opinion that
no Spanish or Moorish customs could be recognised in
England. The Spanish grandees reluctantly yielded, and
the King entering the apartment where the Princess stood
closely veiled, he threw back her veil lovingly and greeted
her as his daughter. He was " gentle and kind with the
fair girl, whose honest face, blue eyes, and sunny hair were
pleasant in his sight."f Next came the meeting of Queen
Elizabeth and the Infanta, which was one of much interest.
" Bless your union," were the words of the good Queen.
The bridegroom " looked confused; he held down his head,
and muttered some words to the effect that he ' loved the
dear Princess, and admired her golden hair/ Catalina
smiled, and spake in a similar spirit." Arthur could not
speak Castilian ; his bride knew neither French nor English.
They had to converse through an interpreter, an Irish
* Spanish State Papers of Ferdinand and Isabel (1502 )
t Kennet vol. i ¦ Stowe, vol. i. ; Hall's Choofe. Queens of E ^
vol. a. ; H,story of Two Queens, vol. i. ; State Papers of Henry TIL'. IJeign.

The Princess Catalina.

Dominican, named Turlough O'Donnellan. The contrast
between the bride and bridegroom was at once striking.
" A shy-looking, small, sickly boy, with a pale face and sad
countenance, of about fifteen years of age," was presented
to the tall, blooming young maiden, who, nurtured under
sunnier skies, had already attained the ripeness of woman
hood. The English courtiers looked upon the bride with
admiration. Prince Arthur made some childish inquiries after
" singing birds, cats and dogs :" " were they the same in
Spain as in England ?"
During this interview the Infanta stood in a " stately
form opposite the Prince and his mother. She was most
gracious in her manners ; but a close observer could perceive
that she felt disappointed.* The Duke of Buckingham,
who was present, describes the Princess as a most pleasing
young maiden, full of health and spirits." Amongst the
assembled notables there was one boy upon whose future
the destinies of England turned. This was Henry, Duke of
York, at that period about ten years old ; yet he was taller
than his brother Arthur, and " very stout."
The " merry greetings" continued for ten days along the
road to London ; each town put forth its people to give a
welcome, and the monastic houses were profuse in bestowing
hospitality. The welcome at several abbeys was magnifi
cent ; nearly one thousand men of rank and wealth — lords,
bishops, abbots, knights, and squires — were present on
horseback to " give a shout of welcome for England's
bride," as the Infanta was styled ; in fact, every endearing
* Correspondence of Dr. Foxe with Sir John More.

io . The Princess Catalina.
expression found utterance. Each baron was attended by
his squire and page. Dr. Deane remarks, " Since the days
of our Fourth Edward we saw no such goodly procession
in our old countrie."
" Old London" was determined to have a demonstration
worthy of the occasion. Monks, nuns, friars, seculars —
all came forward to do honour to the Infanta. It was
rather novel to see the religious orders joining in the
preparations for the " citie honours" to the Princess.*
A torch-light procession of the 'Prentice Boys and young
lasses sang a ballad of welcome to her under the windows
of Catalina's Palace.
The day before the wedding the Princess was " presented
to the citizens by a public procession." She was seated
on a Spanish mule with gorgeous housings, and conveyed
through the gate-ways of the bridge, up Fish Street Hill
by Gracechurch Street, the Duke of York on her right,
and the Pope's Legate on her left ; " all London," to use
the phrase, " turned out to give a right hearty welcome to
the Royal lady." Near old London Bridge a group of
mummers played before her the story of St. Katharine.
The King, Queen, and Prince Arthur were seated on a stage
at Cornhill to greet the bride as she passed at that point ;
Tudor livery floated everywhere ; in Old Cheape the Lord
Mayor presented an address ; a grand hymn was sung by
three hundred children dressed in white ; at every porch
the priests in full robes came out with acolytes and choir ;
from every steeple rang a peal of bells ; from every window
* Hall, Polydore Vergil, Dr. Deane, Fisher, and Eichard Foxe have drawn
quaint pictures of the reception given by the citizens of Loudon to the Infanta
on this occasion.

The Princess Catalina. 1 1
hung an appropriate flag ; the house-tops were covered with
women and children, who seemed delighted with the scene
below ; from every conduit ran a stream of wine. " In a
word," writes Richard Foxe, " welcome, welcome, beamed on
every honest face, like ' a May-day smile.' " The procession
was some hours passing ; the number of horsemen was large
and well-appointed; some eight hundred women ofdifferent
ranks of society" — all homely dames, some young, some
middle age — were on horseback. " The people," observes
Peacock, "were beyond themselves with joy, and wished
the Princess good luck." And again Peacock records
"that the London 'Prentices and the frisky little lasses
were there in holiday attire ; noisy and laughing, they
pushed forward to see the bride ; the burgesses and their
wives were in the place set apart for them ; and the citie
housewives were loud in their good wishes, drinking goblets
of wine and ale in token of their love for England's bride."
The roya.l bride was " like a star, draped in gold and silk ;
she wore a great round hat of Tuscan straw, rich in ribbon
ornamentation ; her bright golden tresses floated in the
sharp November wind, and added a fresh feature to the
loveliness of the popular idol."* The train of Spanish
maidens presented a picturesque appearance. The Donna
Elvira, the first maid of honour, wore a habit, black as
night, covered with golden bees. The jewels and diamonds
worn by the Spanish ladies were brilliant and costly. These
fair dames were seated on mules richly appointed, and led
by young boys in crimson dresses. The Infanta came near
the close of tbe procession, preceded by a number of young
* History of Two Queens, vol. i.

12 The Princess Catalina.
English ladies of surpassing beauty, all on horseback. Simon
Peacock states " that the Princess and her Spanish friends
were affected at the burst of enthusiasm and the loving
good feeling displayed by the men and women of London."
Everything was done to honour and please the Infanta, and
to stimulate her love for the change which was about to
take place in a few hours later, when Arthur and Catalina
stood before the great altar at Old St. Paul's,* amidst a
blaze of lights and incense, to exchange their marriage
vows. The ancient town of London was in motion at an early
hour on Sunday morning, November 14, 1501. The
marriage of Catalina and Arthur, Prince of Wales, from
subsequent events, became the most memorable in the history
of Britain. The ceremony was performed by Deane,t
Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by a number of bishops
— English and Spanish. King Henry and the "good
Elizabeth," his Queen, were present. The bride was led
to the high altar, and from it, by Henry, Duke of York.
The Princess was attended by one hundred and twenty
maidens of the highest rank belonging to England and
Spain. Lady Cecilie, the sister of Queen Elizabeth, sup
ported the train of Catalina. The bride was attired in
white satin. J All the great nobles of the land were
present, in magnificent costume.

* The old Cathedral of St. Paul's was two hundred and thirty feet longer
than the present building, or about half as long again as York Minster, which
is the cathedral of largest area now in England.
t Deane was once an Augustine monk. As a prelate, Dr. Deane was
highly esteemed for his humble bearing, his charity and hospitality to all
classes. t Grafton's Chronicle.

Marriage Festivities. 13

CHAPTER II.
MARRIAGE FESTIVITIES.
The Church, the Peers, the Parliament, the Burghers — all
classes were represented on this occasion. When the
marriage ceremony was concluded, London's great bells
announced the fact to the multitude. The King, Queen,
and nobles gave sumptuous entertainments to the Spanish
grandees.* Then the hospitable citizens of London, who
were in a good social position, "made merrie" in the old
fashion of their Saxon ancestors. The people appeared in
" holiday attire;" flags and ornamental poles were placed
along the streets ; music and dancing at every corner ; a
vat of ale was provided in every street; the burghers
invited their friends to a goblet of old sack wine; tables
loaded with " beef, fowl, bread, and dainties" were laid out
along the leading thoroughfares ; a number of persons were
engaged in carving, whilst men bearing wands exclaimed
aloud : " Good citizens, come forward and attack the belly
cheer, and drink long life to Prince Arthur and his bride."
The convent and abbey gates were likewise thrown open for
dinner, even the outlaw and the malefactor and the ill-reputed
were " free to come and go" on this day. The Queen
* In Leland's " Collectanea" (added to by Hearn) those who are desirous of
knowing the fashionable amusements, and style of entertainment in those times,
will find some curiouB particulars.

14 Marriage Festivities.

paid the ransom of twenty poor debtors, and sent them
home with some " social comforts" to their families. The
King pardoned several persons condemned to death. The
church bells rang a merry peal; and a benediction was
pronounced at one hundred altars, to which the multitude
responded : " Amen, amen !"
The observant Spanish visitors were quite astonished
at the hospitality displayed by the English people. The
plate used at the wedding banquet cost 20,000/. The
feasting continued for several days. The humbler classes
were not forgotten by the Queen. The poverty and
wretchedness which prevailed so fearfully in the reign of
Edward VI. and Elizabeth had no existence in the days of
Henry VII.
The Princess CataHna was the fourth daughter of King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. The early infancy of the
Princess was passed amidst the " storms of battle and siege ;"
for Queen Isabel of Castile herself, with her young family,
lodged in the camp with which her armies for years
beleaguered Granada; nor Mas this residence unattended
with danger. Once in a desperate sally of besieged Moors
the Queen's tent was set on fire, and the young Infanta
and her sisters rescued with great difficulty from the flames.
The little Princess accompanied the King and Queen in
their triumphal entry into Granada when the Moorish
power had fallen before the victorious armies of Ferdinand
and Isabel. She was then only four years old. Her educa
tion commenced at this early period, and she was said to be
able to read and write Latin before she reached ten years
of age. It was from Granada — the happy home of her
childhood — that the Infanta derived her device of the

Marriage Festivities. 15

pomegranate, so well known to the readers of the Tudor
chronicles. That fruit was the production of the beautiful
province with which its name is connected, and the armorial
bearings of the conquered Moorish kings.*
A few months subsequent to the wedding of Prince
Arthur and his bride, they repaired to Ludlow Castle, in
Shropshire. Arthur's letters to Queen Isabella are all in
praise of his wife. But he speaks like " a sick child of a
kind nurse, who was always soothing, or amusing her
patient." In less than a fortnight after the marriage
Arthur appeared to be sinking into a rapid consumption ;
the physicians had a hopeless opinion of his case ; prayers
were offered up in churches and abbeys for his recovery ;
he was " one day better, and another worse ; but still there
was hope." Such was the substance of the reports forwarded
twice a week from Ludlow Castle to the Royal Family.
The King manifested genuine parental grief, and repaired
to his oratory when those unwelcome despatches arrived ;
the good and pious Queen Elizabeth followed her husband
to the chapel, bestowing words of comfort, always conclu
ding — " The will of God be done." The Christian resig
nation of the Royal parents was soon tested. And the
national rejoicing suddenly paused at the appearance of the
dreadful enemy — the plague, which, like a destroying angel,
quickly visited Shropshire. Young and old became' its
victims; desolation was at every cottage door; the nearest
and dearest were parted. The people of Shropshire became
terror-stricken ; local feuds died out in presence of the
common affliction — the clergy were sought out earnestly

Queens of England, vol. ii.

1 6 Marriage Festivities.
by their penitents ; many of the priests fell victims to
their duty, but the post of danger was instantly filled by
others. The Soldiers of the Cross were at every bedside,
fearless in their holy calling — to bless, to comfort, to
prepare their suffering charges for a better world.

Death of Prince Arthur. 1 7

CHAPTER III.
DEATH OF ARTHUR, PRINCE OF WALES.
The plague reached Ludlow Castle, and several of the
Prince's attendants were carried away. Arthur's turn soon
arrived ; but the " dear good boy was always prepared."
So write his confessors. His physicians describe his last
moments " as most edifying ; expressing words of comfort
and hope to all around him."* The news of Prince
Arthur's death cast a gloom over the remaining days of his
father's life. Queen Elizabeth was prostrated with grief,
the people of London made manifestation of their sorrow,
for the Prince had been kind, gentle, condescending, and
benevolent, and frequently pleaded for the extension of
Royal mercy, for the captive was ever certain of his sym
pathies. In the scanty consideration of royalty for the
humble in those days, the boy-prince won universal popular
regard. He knew nothing of the schemes by which the
high-born astute of all ages can become popular ; the people
loved him for his good actions, which' had their origin in
an amiable and gentle nature. From the documents and
* Arthur, Prince of Wales, was buried on the right side of the chancel of
Worcester Cathedral; King John, of "unconstitutional" memory, was also
interred. in the same cathedral. In Leland's "Collectanea" are to be found
some curious incidents connected with Prince Arthur's funeral, and the terrors
excited by the dreadful disease of which the Prince died. For a long time the
memory of Arthur was treasured by the people of Shropshire.
VOL. I. C

1 8 Death of Prince A rthur.
chronicles bearing upon his short career, we must arrive at
the conclusion that he was always the benefactor and friend
of the oppressed and the poor. He was a lover of peace
in every gentle form : he felt a pleasure in mending
quarrels, and creating a good feeling amongst his courtiers
and domestics. He had no ambition to be a King ; per
haps the position of a country squire was the highest he
desired. To gossip on the roads or the fields, with the
English farmer or peasant, was his delight. Like the good
Saxon Alfred he wished to know something of the peasant's
social condition, " whether he had a fowl in his pot for the
holiday dinner, or a cake and milk for his morning meal."
So Arthur died, and thus made room for one who sub
sequently proved to be the incarnation of wickedness and
a national scourge.
Katharine's aspirations were far different from those of
her husband. However good, pious, and humane she
might have been, she had a proud feeling that she was the
daughter of historic parents. She was naturally ambitious,
and had all the pride and courage of a Castilian Princess.
She believed there was no land so sunny, so great, so
chivalrous as Spain, yet she was far from being happy in
her father's palace. She liked the freedom enjoyed by her
sex in England; and if she found men less courtly in
manners, they were more warm — apparently so, perhaps —
than the proud grandees of her own country. But the
Infanta soon conformed to the ways of the land of her
adoption. Standing at the death-bed of her husband was
to her a sad scene. Bernaldes, a Spanish historian, states
that the Princess " had no love for the little sickly English
boy. They could not even converse freely together."

Death of Prince Arthur. 19
Bernaldes was the relative of one of Catalina's confidential
ladies, so that he received his information from a source
that was likely to be correct. " The Princess could only
utter a few words of English, she knew nothing of French."
Arthur was not able to speak Spanish — both parties had
some acquaintance with Latin, but to converse in that
tongue is a very exceptional gift, and the communing of
the youthful couple was scanty and unsatisfactory. As
the " agonies of death came ou," Catalina was removed
from the scene by her Spanish ladies. When informed of
her husband's death, she shut herself up in her apartments
after the Moorish fashion. Her faithful lady attendant,
Marie de Salcgaya, her chaplain, and physician, were the
only society the Infanta possessed at Ludlow Castle. Her
grief, however, could not proceed from " love cut short by
death." She had no young womanly sentiment for the
little sickly boy with whom she could not converse. The
case was altogether exceptionally painful to a sensitive young
lady, and Arthur, Prince of Wales, was soon forgotten by
his five months' wife. These incidents, however, cast no
reproach upon a Princess who had left a land then teeming
with wealth, romance, and beauty, for a cold, foreign,
practical clime, the language of which she did not under
stand, the customs of which were only rendered tolerable
by the evident goodwill of the people — her own sunny land
left for a ceremony — a marriage without a sentiment —
without a husband — another victim of diplomacy and greed.
Far away from kindred and home, the young widow felt
lonely and sad. Yet the most lonely moment could not con
template the darker future and all its terrible surroundings.

c 2

20 The Young Widow.

CHAPTER IV.
THE YOUNG WIDOW.
Queen Elizabeth, the mother-in-law of Catalina, though
overwhelmed with grief for the sudden loss of her first-born
and best-beloved child, had a tender sympathy for the
young widow. The Queen sent for her, and kept the
Princess in her palace at Croydon. While Queen Elizabeth
lived her daughter-in-law was treated with kindness. A
quarrel subsequently arose between Catalina's father and
Henry VII. as to the payment of her dowry. Her father-
in-law began to speculate on a new scheme for keeping
the entire of her fortune. He proposed a marriage
between his surviving son young Henry and the Dowager
Princess of Wales. The Spanish Court, after considerable
negotiation, agreed to this proposition, on condition that
a dispensation might be obtained from the Pope. The
Infanta was unhappy; she could not receive her money
regularly ; her servants were not paid, nor the mercers and
other people with whom she had dealings. She wrote to
her father that she had no inclination for a second mar
riage in England. Several of her letters were intercepted
by Henry VII. It is evident that the Princess, then a
sensible young woman of eighteen, felt an aversion to vow
obedience to a boy more than five years younger than her
self. The Council was opposed to the projected marriage.
Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, was in favour of the

The Young Widow. 2 1

union, provided the Infanta could give certain explanations
— which it was alleged she could — as to " canon law
liability." These " explanations," it is contended, were
forwarded to the Pontiff, " under seal," from the Princess.
Dr. Fisher and several other prelates were satisfied with the
arrangement. Dr. Warham, then Bishop of London, and
some eminent members of Convocation, were strongly
opposed to the " dispensing powers" being exercised by the
Pope. Warham did not doubt the " explanation" given as
to the existence of circumstances which made her marriage
null in canon law; but he "feared that, from the necessary
mystery that might appear to hang around the case, at
some future day, when evidence would be impossible, the
legality of the marriage might be questioned." The
Countess of Richmond, the King's mother, was satisfied
with the " solemn explanations" given by the Princess to
herself and the Duchess of Norfolk. By these " explana
tions" the Infanta expressed no particular desire to be
married to the boy Henry ; but, on the contrary, wished to
go home. Here she was met by fresh complications, and
the conference held upon her " matrimonial position"
ended by her being betrothed to Henry, Prince of Wales,
on the 25th of June, 1504, in the presence of the Bishop
of Salisbury.* The actual marriage did not take place till
1509. The Infanta's situation towards the close of her father-
in-law's reign was irksome indeed. While in this condi
tion she writes to her lady friend, Elvira : " I have some-
* Lingard, vol. ii. p. 333 ; Maione's History of Spain ; Sir Harris Nicolas ;
Wood's Letters of Royal Ladies ; Herbert, Bacon ; Turner, vol ix. ; Queens of
England, vol. ii. ; History of Two Queens, vol i.

22 The Young Widow.

times doubts," she says, " as to my future happiness. I
wish that I had never seen the English shore. There is
trouble before me." The Princess now spent much time
in the society of young Henry, and the King invited her
frequently to Court. Things promised hopefully, when sud
denly Henry, Prince of Wales, repudiated the contract
entered into on his behalf for a marriage with the Infanta.
He stated that he was now (fourteen years old) at an age
to judge for himself, and refused to share in the arrange
ment, and pronounced the " rite entered in his name as
null and void," stating, in addition, that he acted on the
advice of his confessor.* It is an important fact that King
Ferdinand overruled the scruples of Prince Henry, "point
ing to the King of Portugal, who had married two sisters
in succession, the Pope having granted a dispensation. t
This allegation is very doubtful, and I cannot find any
satifactory proofs of the "reasons" given for such a dis
pensation. Another curious incident occurred about the
same time : one of the Spanish chaplains of the Infanta
who had raised " objections," was ordered home, and placed
in prison by Ferdinand.
The dowry due by Spain had been only half paid. The
Princess became dismayed; she seemed to find no real
friend either in England or Spain. Her situation was
exceptionally sad. Used for political purposes one hour,
her fortune was an ever-present consideration the next.
Her fate lay at the disposal of two unkindly and ungracious
misers— Henry VII. of England, and Ferdinand of Castile.

* State Papers (Domestic) ; Lingard ; Turner ; History of Two Queens,
vol. ii.
t Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers.

The Young Widow. 23

Previous to her engagement with young Henry, she had
been much at Court; she saw the tall handsome boy on
whom her heart at length became fixed. Obedience had
disciplined her into acceptance of the sickly Arthur. In
vincible attraction, with the might of affection born of an
Andalusian nature, laid her heart at the disposition of
Henry. Like parted streams which meet again, her virginal
attachment for one brother swelled into a full current of
love for his stalwart and more manly junior. She loved
Henry with the passionate fervour of her country, yet
scrupulously concealed her feelings. All seemed now, how
ever, to be overthrown by the unexpected declaration of
the Prince. The lovers were separated, and were only to
meet as " friends or acquaintances."* She was to be shut
up at Croydon Park, in a kind of conventual life, " without
the vocation which seeks comfort in religious vows." Her
Spanish lady companion, Elvira, ruled her, it is averred,
with the nerve of a strong-hearted and self-conscious duenna.
The Princess was permitted to fall into debt by her must-be
father-in-law — no very honourable trait on his part. The
Infanta looked upon the wealthy King Henry as the author
of all her troubles ; she could never forgive the mercenary
manner in which he acted towards her.f Henry's conduct
to his daughter-in-law was not alone cruel, but base and
unmanly, for she was literally made a prisoner in order to
retain her fortune. This incident forms one of the darkest
stains upon the character of Henry VII. De Puebla, the
Spanish minister, was, if possible, more hostile to the
Princess than was the English King, for whilst he betrayed
* Letters of Don Pedro Ayala. t Bergenroth's State Papers, vol. i.

24 The Young Widow.
her interests he slandered her unsullied reputation. Through
out the whole proceeding De Puebla was the secret agent
of King Henry, who subsidised him in treason to his
Sovereign, and unknightly treachery to his daughter. Every
day brought fresh trouble to the young widow. For
the Princess to ask her father for money was hopeless.
The bond of the forethoughtful Castilian had not been
fulfilled. The Infanta's servants were unpaid ; the " proud
victor of Bosworth," who was possessed of so much
wealth, knew the condition of his daughter-in-law,' but
refused to aid her. " She had no claim upon him," the
King's chancellor told her; the retainer of a hitherto un
equalled dowry. No marvel that the " blue blood" of the
Princess rippled in her veins ; no wonder that the daughter
of the land of the Cid should feel indignant at this regal
paltriness; no wonder her sensitive heart became sad, and
that she wrote to her father that " if he did not release her
from her intolerable humiliations she would become a nun,
and quit the wicked world which was one huge mass of
deception and dishonesty." But Ferdinand would not listen
to such a proposition. The Princess, who hated dissimula
tion, was compelled by her position to adopt it.
At the command of her father-in-law* she had to write
" a love letter" — a proposal of marriage— from his Highness
to her widowed sister, Juana, whom the King suspected of
being wealthy in private property. In this letter the most
extravagant praise is bestowed upon Henry, " at his own
suggestion." The Infanta tells her sister " that the King of '
England was a Prince full of the noblest virtues, and possessed

* The Queen Consort, Elizabeth, was dead at this time. I shall refer to
her in a subsequent chapter.

The Young Widow. 25

of immense treasures. If Dona Juana would listen to his
(Henry's) addresses she would become the greatest Queen in
Christendom. If, on the other hand, she refused the proposals
of his English Majesty, she would commit a great sin against
her God, her father, and herself."*
The astute and calculating mind of Henry must have
suffered from some oblivious failure when he dictated this
extravagant address to his daughter-in-law. The fact is,
greed of gold was almost an insanity with Henry the Seventh,
.although he was never parsimonious when appealed to on
the score of religion or mercy.
In this indelicate matter respecting the Infanta, the latter
acted with commensurate prudence. In her " confidential
letters to Spain," she frequently makes remarks, from which
it would appear that she perfectly understood the intrigues
and the baseness of all parties concerned. Ferdinand was
far from approving of, or accepting, the English King as a
husband for his daughter Juana; he had already expe
rienced enough of the Tudor alliance. Ferdinand, however,
acted in this case with his usual duplicity — holding out
hopes which he never intended to gratify. So, after awhile,
Henry gave up all hope of becoming the husband of that
marvellously romantic Princess Juana, who " carried about
in her journeys the body of her late husband." Juana was
rich, and Henry, the money-spinner, coveted her gold, but
not the heart of the beautiful lunatic, who, outside the
generality of contemporary royal marriages, was neither
consulted nor controlled. The august Council, however,
had no objection to the insanity of Juana, provided she
* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers, vol. i., translated from the Simancas ;
Letters of the Infanta,

26 The Young Widow.
had abundance of money, and the King approved of the
sentiment; but Ferdinand would have no more of such
" arrangements." The Infanta Catalina's affairs in England were going from
bad to worse. Don Fuensalida, who was despatched in
1508 by Ferdinand to inquire into the domestic life of the
Infanta, describes Henry VII. " as a man of no honour,
and of bad character. He had shown extreme covetousness
and little love, not only with regard to the Princess, but
also in other respects." This haughty grandee has over
drawn the picture. Henry was an unkingly miser, it is
true, and was debased by many of those mean vices which
are incidental to an avid love of gold. He had met his share
of the world's buffets iu his youth, and was far from being
tender-hearted, or under the influence of delicate feelings.
It was not an age for their display, and after Fuensalida
had spoken to the English monarch in his grandiose tone
Henry soon refused to see him. With Bishop Foxe and
the Council the envoy had some violent scenes. The
Infanta herself thought his conduct impolitic. This was
not, however, the first occasion on which she had to com
plain of the intemperate conduct of her Spanish advocates,
or as she emphatically expressed it, " my friends." Don
Pedro de Ayala was the only Spanish envoy who, at this
time, combined in his character firmness and integrity;
besides, he had influence — if any foreigner had — over the
avaricious King. But to increase the misfortune of the
Princess, Don. Pedro de Ayala's health became impaired at
this particular juncture (1508), and he was unable to render
her that advice and aid which he had contrived to do from
her first arrival in England.

The Young Widow. 27

Nor can Isabel of Castile, the mother of the Infanta,
escape censure. She knew her daughter was in needy
circumstances, yet she never sent her a ducat ; but even
deprived her of some jewels that were in Spain, and her
own private property ; yet Isabel, in her letters, fre
quently speaks of the love she entertained for her " darling
child." Now to commemorate a circumstance which occurred
some five years antecedent to the epoch of which I am
treating. The fact is to be found in the Spanish State
Papers, that Henry actually contemplated a marriage with
the Infanta himself. The letter on this subject has been
lost, but I learn its contents from the answer of Queen
Isabel, which is set forth at great length and is dated
Alcala, April 11, 1503. The Queen also wrote to De
Puebla, expressing her indignation at the very idea of such
a proposition. In a communication fo her ambassador
Queen Isabel states that the King of England "must be told
that there were two things about which she and her husband
were firmly resolved. The first was, that the Princess of
Wales should never marry King Henry ; and the second
that she was immediately to return to Spain. " If the
King of England is so much in want of a second wife,"
adds Isabel, " he may marry the young Queen Dowager of
Naples, who is particularly well calculated to console him in
his deep affliction."
The young Queen of Naples was very wealthy, and being
the niece of Isabel, Ferdinand offered to give her 200,000
ducats if she married the King of England. The widow
declined wedding Henry; so all the matrimonial schemes
fell through. These extraordinary incidents may reasonably

28 The Young Widow.
be considered as the key to the subsequent neglect and
unkindness with which the Infanta was treated by her
father-in-law* In this proposal, however, neither Ferdi
nand nor Isabel desired to go farther than play with the
English monarch, and spread before him what was then his
besetting 1 ure — gold.
The Infanta would have lost all belief in the goodness of
human nature, had there not been one exception from the
general corruption in courtly circles. The attendants she
had brought with her from Spain, and above all her amiable,
learned, and most worthy confessor, behaved to her with
exemplary devotion. They had not received a single ducat
as salary for nearly six years. Instead of the " promised
splendour," they had found nothing but poverty and
reproach ; they were foreigners, and consequently insulted
by the populace of London, who were seldom remarkable
for courtesy to any one. None of the Princess's household
reproached her for the condition to which they were reduced.
On the contrary, they vied with one another as to who
should serve her best, " as though," said Catalina, " they
were every day receiving fresh favours at my hands." She
felt the misery to which her servants were reduced more
keenly than her own sufferings, and considered herself as
more miserable than any woman in England, of whatever
condition she might be.f Such was the condition of the
Infanta and her faithful servants after seven years' residence
in the English capital. Her condition furnished sufficient
material for the gossip of every Court in Europe ; yet Henry

* Bergenroth's State Papers of England and Spain, vol. i.
f Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers.

The Young Widow. 29
did not awake from his delusion till the premature decay of
life admonished him that his days were numbered.
A few months subsequent to the betrothment of the
young widow (1505)* to Henry, Prince of Wales, Queen
Isabel died. Miss Strickland styles her " as the Infanta's
admirable mother." f Isabel may have intended to be so ;
but she will never appear as such in the historical gallery.

* Up to this period the Infanta could speak no English, although four years
in the country. Her earnest desire was to return to Granada.
t Queens of England, vol. ii. p. 477.

30 Ferdinand and Isabel.

CHAPTER V.
FERDINAND AND ISABEL.
Ferdinand and Isabel appeared in public life at an early
age. They were married at Valladolid, in October, 1469.
Ferdinand was only eighteen years old, and the Princess
one year his senior.* Having succeeded to the crown of
Castile, in 1474, they came into possession of Arragon five
years later. In taste and social qualities Ferdinand and
his wife were quite opposed, and their personal bickerings
were a constant topic of Court gossip. But their public
life was an antithesis of their private : in political matters
they seemed thoroughly agreed ; and it may be mentioned
as a curious fact that the handwriting of both King and
Queen was almost identical, so much so that the courtiers
were unable to decide as to the writer.
Machado assured Henry VII. that a single toilette of
Queen Isabel amounted in value to 200,000 scudos, and
that he never saw her twice, on the same day, in the same

* When Isabel was fourteen years of age, a matrimonial alliance was in
treaty for her with Edward IV. of England, At that period Isabel was quite
in love with King Edward, although she had never seen him ; but having
received his picture and a love-token, she " retired three times a day to men
tally commune with the handsome and gallant Prince." As might have been
expected with such a suitor as Edward, Isabel was "crossed in love," and
expressed her indignation on many occasions, that a maiden of fourteen, and
the-Queen of Castile, should be set aside by the King of England for a widow
and a subject. Her enmity to the beautiful Elizabeth Woodville was long and
bitter. The Castilian chronicles scarcely notice this incident.

Ferdinand and Isabel. 3 r
costume. Ferdinand also dressed in splendid style. Maister
John Style, the English ambassador in 1509, describes his
Catholic Majesty as " squinting with the left eye, and
lisping in consequence of the loss of a front tooth, but for
the rest of his person he was a right hearty Prince, of a
vigorous constitution, smiling and pleasant with every one." *
A great distinction is sometimes made between the writing
of Ferdinand and that of his wife. It is stated by some
Spanish authors that if Ferdinand were able to write at all,
he expressed himself so badly that he could scarcely make
himself intelligible. La Fuente denies these statements. t
" It is strange," writes Gustave Bergenroth, " how long such
prejudices may exist, in the face of the clearest evidence to
the contrary. Holographs of Ferdinand are by no means
rare in Spain. Many exist at Simancas and other reposi
tories of State Papers. In the archives of the Due de
Frias, in Madrid, are deposited five long letters indited
entirely in the handwriting of Ferdinand himself. In one
of these missives to his wife the King seems to regret that
the Queen does not still keep up her correspondence in the
old style of their " first love.'' Here is a passage which
throws some light upon the inner life of Ferdinand and
" his darling Isabel" : —
" Now at least it is clear wliich of us two loves the best.
Judging by what you have ordered should be written to
me, I see you can be happy while I lose my sleep, because
messenger comes after messenger and brings me no letters
from you. The reason why you do not write is not because

* Bergenroth's State Papers.
T La Fuentes' Ecclesiastical History of Spain.

3 2 Ferdinand and Isabel.
tliere is no paper to be had, or that you do not know how to
write, but because you do not love me, and because you are
too proud. You are living at Toledo ; I am residing in a
small village. Well, Isabel, one day you will return to
your old affection. If you do not, your Ferdinand will die,
and the guilt will be yours."
The letters of Queen Isabel to her ambassador, De
Puebla, throw some light on her system of diplomacy. She
writes in the "most friendly and obedient" manner to the
Pope, whilst almost on the same day she sends a confidential
despatch to her unscrupulous agent in London, to " watch
closely the correspondence passing between the Pontiff and
her dear brother, the King of England." De Puebla was
in the pay of all parties, each believing him to be an honest,
religious man; but he was a lawyer, and regulated his
conscience after the fashion of a „ Lombard money dealer.
Much of the correspondence between Isabel and her envoy
has been lost, yet many of her letters are to be found in
the Simancas collection, which showed that she was a far-
seeing woman, of much energy of mind, tact, and diplo
matic ability, although possessed of no suitable education to
uphold her position. There has been much useless contro
versy as to the extent of her learning.
The proceedings of Ferdinand and Isabel in connexion
with the Inquisition in 1478 are of a nature too shocking
to relate. Who can defend the barbarities carried out in
the name of the God of Mercy and Charity ? As usual,
the unhappy Jews were the greatest sufferers. The punish
ments inflicted by the Inquisition were — death by fire-— to
be roasted alive ; imprisonment for life in a dungeon ; or to
be confined in a prison for five or seven years. Those who

Ferdinand and Isabel. 33

were restored to what was then called "liberty," were
obliged constantly to wear red crosses outside their clothes,
one on the back, and another on the breast, for the
remainder of their days. The use of gold, silk, and camlet
was forbidden by those proscribed people. The children of
those who offended against the Inquisition were declared to
forfeit all claims to citizenship as Spanish subjects. The
whole country became in a state of awful excitement ; the
confiscation of property was enormous, and the pretext for
it odious. Isabel was no fanatic; nothing can be more
repugnant to humanity and truth than an attempt to vindi
cate her conduct in relation to the Inquisition, whilst her
commands — her own very letters — are to be found in the
archives of Barcelona and Simancas,* counselling torture
in every form.
Although there was an attempt made at intimidation,
the Pope promptly interposed, and the horrors of the scenes
were postponed for a time.
Notwithstanding all that has been written at a later
period in Spain, extolling the piety of Isabel, her political
correspondence proves that she was very inconsistent.
In fair play the advocates of Isabel have a right to a
hearing. Yurita and Blancas defend the policy of Isabel
with respect to the Inquisition as " one of prudence and
piety." Prescott, her chivalrous Protestant biographer,
states that the many deeds of cruelty attributed to Isabel
were the " actions of her ministers and fanatical clerics."
And again, Mr. Prescott observes, " that among her moral

* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers; Prescott's Life of Ferdinand and
Isabel. VOL. I. D

3 4 Ferdinand and Isabel.
qualities, the most conspicuous was her magnanimity. She
betrayed nothing little or selfish in thought or action. Her
schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit
in which they were conceived. . . . Where she had
once given her confidence to any person she gave her hearty
and steady support. Her private life was most perfect.
Her heart overflowed with affectionate sensibility to her
family. She watched over the declining days of her aged
mother, and ministered to her infirmities with all the
delicacy of filial tenderness. She fondly and faithfully
loved her faithless husband to the last. Isabel abounded
in charity ; she erected and endowed many extensive
hospitals ; she made provision for the aged and the desti
tute ; and the humblest creatures in Castile could approach
her and relate their misfortunes. ' I am your Queen ; tell
me what is the cause of your sorrow.' The political fea
tures of Isabel's character were stern and uncompromising.*
A wealthy criminal on one occasion offered forty thousand
doubles in gold for a pardon ; but the Queen spurned the
offer, although strongly supported by the ministers of
State."t The Marchioness de Moya, who was the lady companion
of Isabel for many years, and " closed her eyes in death,"
bears testimony to her humanity. " The Queen laboured
earnestly to put down the shocking bull fights, but the
people were obstinate and indignant, and would not permit
the Queen to interfere with what they called ' sport.' The
Queen laboured in vain ; she only attended two bull fights

* Prescott's Life of Ferdinand and Isabel, vol. iii.
+ Pulgar, Reyes, Catolicas, part ii. cap. 97.

Ferdinand and Isabel. 35
in the whole course of her life," Isabel is said to have
been the first to introduce the benevolent institution of
camp hospitals in Europe.
In stature Isabel was above the middle size ; her com
plexion fair ; her hair of a bright chesnut colour, inclined
to red ; aud her mild blue eye beamed with intelligence and
sensibility. She was exceedingly beautiful ; " the hand
somest lady," writes a Spanish grandee, " whom I had ever
beheld, and the most gracious in her manners." Isabel has
been immensely overpraised by her own countrymen, and
bitterly slandered by Protestant writers ; yet her most
chivalrous and enthusiastic biographer was a Protestant of
the United States.
To return to the "young widow."
One of the recent biographers of the Infanta observes : —
" Stung into self-assertion, the repudiated bride of Durham
House assumed the conduct of her own affairs. She
was a child no longer; she was in her twentieth year;
both her mother and her mother-in-law were dead. She
loved Prince Henry, and thought there was no harm in
wishing to marry him. The Pope, she understood, had
given a dispensation for their marriage. Nothing, she
imagined, but a question as to ' certain moneys' had kept
her separated from the youth who was her heart's desire.
.... She was forced to make a last appeal. She told
her father-in-law that her life was miserable, her debts
were left unpaid; she borrowed money from bankers and
others to supply her table with the commonest food ; her
servants required breakfast, dinner, and other meals;
their wages were still left unpaid; had she not been
d 2

36 Ferdinand and Isabel.
able to procure a loan she must have starved to
death."* Some relief was afforded. The Infanta next besought
her father for money : he had been gambling with her life,
and she desired to have a share of the spoil. Ferdinand,
¦ however, was mixed np in a series of complicated schemes
of politics — so his daughter had to look to herself. The
Princess was at this period some twenty years of age, and
is described as "very pretty and most pleasing in her
manners." She was determined, therefore, to win back
the " handsome boy." They seldom met, but when they did,
the Infanta could perceive that she was gradually gaining
her lost ascendency ; she used all her fascinations to please,
and, in a short time, the grace and beauty of Catalina
triumphed over the heart of Henry, Prince of Wales.
For a time I take leave of the " young widow," as the
Infanta was styled by her numerous admirers in London,
and refer to the union of the " White and the Red Rose."

* The History of Two Queens, vol. ii.

The White and the Red Rose. 3 7

CHAPTER VI.
THE WHITE AND THE RED ROSE.
The mother and grandmothers of Henry VIII. were
models of domestic virtue. Elizabeth of York, after many
vicissitudes of fortune, was married to Henry Tudor, the
hero of Bosworth Field. The marriage was solemnised
in Westminster Abbey, Jan. 18, 1486. The ceremony was
performed by Cardinal Bouchier, a descendant of the
Plantagenet family. " His hand," according to the quaint
words of Fuller, " held that sweet posie, wherein the White
and Red Roses were first tied together." Andreas states
that the royal wedding was celebrated with " all religious
and glorious magnificence at the King's Court, and by the
people of London with bonfires, cheering, songs, and
banquets; young and old were in holiday attire. The
people seemed quite enthusiastic in their love for Elizabeth
of York. Everywhere she was met with good wishes and
prayers." John de Gigli, the Queen's Italian poet laureate,
was the author of a very interesting Latin epithalamium on
the marriage of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was, at the period of her marriage, in her
twenty-first year. She has been described by a contem
porary as " beautiful, retiring, and shy ; very fond of her
husband and children." State ceremonies were secondary
considerations with "Elizabeth the Good;" nevertheless,
on public occasions, she appeared as a " right royal ladye."

38 The White and the Red Rose.
The virtues of " denial and obedience" flourished in her
private household. She was bountiful and considerate in
her charities ; she portioned good and virtuous maidens
who were "in reduced circumstances;" she paid the
stipend required for novices to enter a convent; she pro
vided young women with warm clothing in winter ; she
liberated from prison poor debtors — a class very harshly
treated in those days ; " rogues and thieves who were
known to have repented" received a decent burial at the
expense of the Queen. She retained the old servants of
the House of York ; orphan boys and girls were objects of
her sympathy and recipients of her bounty. Her tastes
were refined; her hospitality, in an age of profuse and
indiscriminate treating, was characterised by a generous
discernment, yet worthy of a Plantagenet Princess. Her
poets and reciters visited her at fixed times; Plantagenet-
like, she delighted in dancing and music. There are still
extant some elegant Latin letters of the Countess of
Richmond to her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, in which the
countess expresses her gratitude to God for " providing the
King with so good a wife and so grand a Queen."
In her own private circle Queen Elizabeth practised a
careful economy, in order to have money to expend in doing
works of benevolence and charity. Her gowns were
" mended, turned, and new bodied ; they were freshly
trimmed at the expense of 4c?. to the tailor."* Elizabeth
also " wore shoes, which only cost twelvepence, with latten
buckles." But the sums of money she paid to her poor
loving subjects who brought her trifling offerings of " early

* Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York.

The White and the Red Rose. 39

peas, cherries, chickens, bunches of roses, and posies," were
very high in proportion to what she paid for her own
shoes.* At one time the Queen pledged her jewels for 500Z. to
enable her to carry out works of charity. The humblest
person in the land could have access to this young and
beautiful Queen. When the plague and other violent dis
tempers brought desolation at every poor man's door, Eliza
beth became a Sister of Charity, and the numerous orphans
found in her a protectress. In her domestic circle the
Queen appeared in all the delicate affection of her nature.
Erasmus, amongst other notables, has left on record an
interesting account of his visit to the royal nursery of
Queen Elizabeth at Croydon, accompanied by Sir Thomas
More, then a young man. " More played with, and caressed
the children. The most remarkable, of the royal group was
dear little Prince Henry, then about eight years old. The
Queen was pleased to see her children gathering in so loving
a manner round Maister More; but everywhere he visits
the children are delighted to see him, for he has something
pleasing to tell them." It is stated that at this time " little
Henry" formed an attachment for the future chancellor.
One of the nurses remarked that Prince Henry "sobbed
and cried when young Maister More departed from the
children's hall." Time rolled on, and the beginning of a
most eventful chapter of England's history was drawing
near. In 1502-3, the Infanta, Katharine, lost her best
friend and kinswoman — Queen Elizabeth. The Queen died
in childbirth, to the universal regret of the nation. Never

* Sir Harris Nicolas' Memoirs of Elizabeth, Queen of Henry VIL

40 The White and the Red Rose.

had a royal lady been so loved by the people of England.
Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter— a child who could
bring no strength to the unpopular and uncertain house of
Tudor. The Queen knew her husband's longing for another
son, and when she found herself mother of only a daughter,
she is stated to have never raised her head. Prayers had
been offered throughout the land for the fruition of the
royal wishes, for the continuation of the Tudor line lay
solely in young Henry, and the frugal and astute father,
feared another War of the Roses, and the dissipation of his
immense wealth if death should reach his only male offspring.
He selfishly permitted his Queen to observe that his dis
appointment was great, and her gentle and affectionate
nature suffered new pangs from the consciousness that
throughout her married life she had sought to be a hostage
between hitherto contending ambitions, and above all to
free the people whom she loved from the horrors of inter
necine war. It was in this way that the noble heart of the
ailing Queen was broken. Nine days she lingered after the
birth — even unto her own birthday.
The gates of the venerable abbey, ih which her husband'
constructed his world-known chapel, were thrown open,
and amidst the solemn pealing of London's bells, and the
heart-throbbings of the multitude, the remains of the royal
mother and her infant were laid together in an unfinished
shrine, beneath her chosen motto, —
" Humble and Penitential."
As'" Elizabeth of York," this royal lady has not escaped
censure from some writers for an alleged matrimonial scheme
with the Duke of Gloucester ; that she corresponded with

• The White and the Red Rose. 41
him on the subject of marriage whilst his wife (Anne of
Warwick) was on her death-bed. The letter said to have
been written by Elizabeth to her uncle, Gloucester, has been
accepted as genuine by Grafton, Fabyan,* Hall, and Sir
Thomas More, although circumstantial evidence lead to a con
trary opinion. Buck, in his life of Richard the Third, attempts
to prove that the Princess was most anxious to marry her uncle.
It happened, however, that at the very time the alleged love
correspondence was passing between Elizabeth and her hated
uncle, she was secretly engaged to Henry, Earl of Richmond.
This espousal was with the consent of the Queen Dowager,
her relatives, and friends. The character of Buck for truth
fulness is well known to bookworms. Dr. Lingard, whose
sagacity is not exceeded by that of any other English
historian, seems to believe that Richard really intended to
marry his niece. Buck's work appeared in the days of Sir
William Dugdale, Anthony Wood, and several other eminent
antiquaries ; yet, strange to say, not a single transcript,
much less the original letter, is known to be extant. If
Buck saw such a document, it could not have escaped the
vigilant research of Wood and Dugdale. Several of the
older chroniclers, who impute to Richard the desire of
marrying his young kinswoman, agree in stating that the
Princess resolutely opposed his wishes.f Besides, the
Church would not consent to such a union, and Richard
was not inclined to quarrel with the Pope, who styled his
. brother Edward—" The most Faithful Son of the Church."

* Fabyan was an Alderman of London, and presents the rare instance of
one of that class studying literature. He died in 1511. His journal contains
many curious anecdotes.
t Grafton's Chronicle.

\2 The White and the Red Rose.
Sharon Turner, in his zeal to exculpate Richard, suggests
that if the letter quoted by Buck be a genuine document,
then King Richard was the " seduced, rather than the
seducer."* Brereton contends that Richmond was indebted
to the Princess Elizabeth alone for his crown; that she
raised confederacies in his power, and was unshaken in her
fidelity to his cause. Brereton was the bearer of a letter
and a ring from the Princess to Richmond when in Brittany. t
This romantic story goes on to state that Elizabeth was in
the neighbourhood of Bosworth on the day of its memorable
battle, and in Leicester on the same evening, when she saw
the mangled corpse of her wicked uncle laid in the market
place of that town. Shortly after the triumphal entry of
Henry the Vllth into London he met for the first time
his beautiful and most amiable bride, Elizabeth of York.
Sir Harris Nicolas, the great antiquary of history, has
investigated, and disposed of, the imputations thrown upon
the Princess Elizabeth, in his usual powerful style .J
I may conclude in the words of one who was frequently
admitted to the presence of the royal lady : " She exhibited
from her very cradle towards God an admirable fear and
service; towards her parents a wonderful obedience,;
towards her brothers and sisters an almost incredible
love; towards the poor and the ministers of Christ a
reverence and singular affection."§ Such was the mother
of the " Eighth Henry of England."

* Sharon Turner's History of England, vol. 4 p. 24.
t Humphrey Brereton was a squire attached to the princely retinue of Lord
Stanley, closely connected by marriage with Richmond.
% See Sir Harris Nicolas' "Memoir" in the Privy Purse Expenses of Henry
VII. 's consort.
§ Bernard Andreas, the Poet Laureate and Biographer of Henry VII.
Cottonian MS.

The White and the Red Rose. 43

Queen Elizabeth had four sisters, who resided at her
court — namely, Lady Cecily of York, Lady Anne of York,
Lady Katharine of York, and Lady Bridget of York.
Those princesses were younger than the Queen, Three of
them were subsequently married; but not destined to meet
with a happy change. They were all fair, amiable, and
excellent — the worthy daughters of the good Elizabeth
Woodville.* The youngest, Lady Bridget, became a
nun. She took the veil at the Convent of Dartford. This
royal lady died in 1517, in her thirty-seventh year. When
the day of national shame arrived, the Convent of Dart
ford, which then contained the remains of his sainted
aunt, was not spared by King Henry. Amongst the
plunder of the monastic inquisitors were the ring, crucifix,
prayer-books, and many other little memorials of Sister
Mary, the humblest of that stainless community — the
daughter of the Fourth Edward, the sister-in-law of Henry
VIL, and the aunt of Henry VIII. At Dartford, like
other convents, the vaults containing the coffins of the
deceased sisters were visited by those mysterious attendants
of the " inquisitors" in search of jewellery and other orna-
* The Dowager Queen (Elizabeth Woodville) left in her "last testament" a
most pathetic and loving farewell to her four daughters. The diary of her
early youth is still extant, and shows that she was amiable, romantic, and
most loveable in her uature. Elizabeth Woodville was a Queen " of many
sorrows." Some grand sentiments are attributed to her in relation to her
husband, Edward IV. It is a curious incident in the life of Elizabeth Wood
ville that she had been in early life maid of honour to the brave and unfortunate
Queen Margaret. I may add that three maids of honour were raised to a
throne in England — Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour;
the two latter differing immensely from the former in every noble and womanly
quality that could command respect, sympathy, and love. The portrait of
Elizabeth Woodville is to be seen in the college she founded at Cambridge.
The picture represents her as very beautiful.

44 The White and the Red Rose.
ments, so that the remains of Henry's own aunt was
treated no better than the rest.*
At the commencement of Henry's reign the European
sovereigns and statesmen thought but little of him. He was
generally considered as a " successful adventurer," and it
was doubted if he could long maintain his position. Yet by
incessant labour and prudence for a period of fifteen years,
he inspired the continental Princes with so much confidence,
that the cautious and far-seeing Ferdinand and Isabel
confided to his guardianship their daughter. He was also
chosen as one of the umpires to decide upon the disputes
between Ferdinand on the one part, and Philip and
Maximilian on the other.f There was a concurrent
opinion as to his prudence and wisdom. Still, a
jealous feeling prevailed against him on the Continent,
and he had few friends : a man of deep reflection, and
possessed of some good qualities ; but his suspicious mind
marred his best intentions. Every action of his seemed
the result of calm deliberation. No decision was left to
passion or accident. He constantly kept notes and memo
rials in his own hands. There is extant a grotesque tale
that the King's monkey tore his secret note-book to pieces,
when by chance he had left it about. He kept a mena
gerie, but had odd ideas regarding its government. On
one occasion he had four English mastiffs hanged as
traitors, because they overcame one of his lions, with whom
they were matched to fight. These canine executions were

* Thorndale's Memorials; Father Crispani gives another version' of the
above, but both agree in the main facts. Crispani was personally acquainted
with the Princess Bridget.
t Bergenroth's State Papers.

The White and the Red Rose. 45

meant as significant hints to the discontented nobility.*
He suspected every person of rank as plotting against him,
and many undoubtedly desired his overthrow. The hanging
of Perkin Warbeck was a needless act of cruelty on the
part of Henry.f The execution of the unfortunate young
Earl of Warwick, the "blameless, half-witted boy," whose
only crime was the accident of his birth, was nothing short
of a deliberate murder. Popular feeling, as far as it dared
to manifest itself, was strongly against the King in the case
of Lord Warwick .J The English people had an affectionate
regard for the chivalrous line of the Plantagenets, and they
considered the death of Warwick as an act of revenge on
the part of a monarch who had himself no legitimate
claim. § About this time (November, 1499) a dreadful
plague broke out in London, by which thousands were
swept away. The people "on the highway boldly stated
that the scourge was sent by heaven for the murder of
Warwick." The King felt alarmed at this state of feeling,
and it is stated that he made " a private pilgrimage" to the

* Grafton's Chronicle, Echard, vol. i.; Rapin, vol. ii.
+ De Puebla, the Spanish Envoy, acted with most unnational conduct to Per
kin Warbeck, assuring him of his friendship, inviting him to private interviews,
and then informing the Council of the result. De Puebla, writing to Queen
Isabel, says : ' ' Perkin Warbeck, or the Duke of York, as the people style
him, ia now in a strong prison, called the Tower, where sun nor moon can
never reach him— a cell underground, where the King's enemies have to suffer.
Don Pedro de Ayala was also implicated in the intrigues concerning War
beck. Don Pedro alleged the adventurer to be no other person than the
Duke of York.
X Lord Bacon's Life of Henry VII. ; Miss Strickland's Queens of England,
vol. ii.
§ The Earl of Warwick was beheaded on Tower Hill, amidst the "lamenta
tions of a vast multitude of people." A ballad was written on the occasion
by one of the Godstow nuns, entitled " Warwick's Farewell."

46 The White and the Red Rose.
shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury. But, somewhat like
his elder contemporary, Louis XI. of France, he seemed
more impelled by fear than virtue in his religious obser
vances. History supplies many instances of those endea
vours in high places to discount futurity whilst expending
the present. Henry had no real friend, whilst every one
paid the homage of loyalty and love to his kind and gentle
wife. In a conversation with the Castilian monarch
(Philip) at Windsor, in alluding to hospitality and friend
ship, Henry said — " Walls and seas are as nothing, where
hearts are open and true." He was far, however, from
admitting this axiom as his rule of conduct. Here is an
anecdote, related by Bacon, of his proceedings with the
Earl of Oxford, which manifests his exacting and ungracious
disposition. Of all the English peers the King had most
confidence in the Earl of Oxford, who rendered vast seryices
to the House of Tudor. On one occasion Henry visited
Lord Oxford at Henningham, in Kent, and was entertained
with great magnificence. When the monarch was about
to depart he saw a great number of men, dressed in rich
liveries, and ranged on both sides to form a guard of
honour to the royal visitor. Lord Oxford had forgotten
that it was forbidden by a stringent sumptuary Act of
Parliament to give liveries to any but very menial
servants. Henry, avariciously sensitive of legal require
ments, at once resolved on an act of ungenerous justice.
Turning to the Earl of Oxford, he said— "My Lord of
Oxford, I have heard much of your magnificence, and your
warm-hearted hospitality ; but I now find that they exceed
all report. These handsome gentlemen and yeomen I see
on both sides of me are your menial servants, are they
not?" Lord Oxford, not perceiving the motive of the

The White and the Red Rose. 47
royal querist, smiled, and at once gave a candid explana
tion. He stated that he did not keep one-third of that
number of servants; but he induced some seventy of his
retainers and tenants to come there for the purpose of
honouring the King, and with his own money he purchased
the rich liveries they then wore. All, he added, had
been done to please his King. Henry changed colour
several times, and then, in his usual quiet manner,
addressed the Earl — " By my faith, I thank you for your
good cheer ; but at the same time I cannot suffer to have
my laws broken before my face by you, my Lord. My
Attorney-General must have some serious talk with you."
The King muttered some more words that were inaudible,
smiled as usual, and took his departure. The nature of the
occasion, and the feeling which prompted the infraction of
an arbitrary statute, had little consideration with a monarch
who felt a pleasure in exacting fines, which penalties, how
ever, were levied more from the love of gain than from a
tyrannical disposition, for the King's motto was "Peace
with all men." The Earl of Oxford was shortly after
informed by the King's Serjeant that he was fined fifteen
hundred marks for his violation of the law — an expensive
souvenir of his royal guest's appreciation of hospitality and
the feelings of a gentleman.
Edward Hall states that Oxford made a very grand dis
play on the occasion of Prince Arthur's marriage, and
"run himself extremely in debt by the nature of his loyalty
to the Tudor family* Hall gives as an instance of the

* Bacon's Life of Henry VIL, Hall's Chronicle, Grafton, Rapin, Echard,
and Miss Strickland's Queens of England present different views of the
.character of Henry, agreeing, however, as to general facts.

48 The White and the Red Rose.

King's generosity that he "lent merchants large sums of
money, without interest, in order to encourage trade in
London." Those merchants must have been especial
favourites, and their guarantee as faultless as the return
was hopeful. Yet the "fair-haired" Henry Tudor had
some merits as a statesman and a King. In private life
his character appears at times amiable and gentle. Not
withstanding the statements of some contemporaries and
later writers, such as Polydore Vergil, Edward Hall, and
Francis Bacon, Henry was generally a kind and affectionate
husband. The researches of Miss Strickland are most
favourable to his memory. The nearer the private lives
of Henry and Elizabeth are examined the more proofs are
exhibited of domestic happiness than usually falls to the
lot of royalty. Many pleasing incidents are recorded.
" Henry," writes Mr. Hepworth Dixon, was as fond of
money as Fernando. Poor and embarrassed in his early
youth, he set a value on gold beyond its natural worth.
He, too, could feed a hunger of the age with coin. He
liked to count his pieces, weigh his plate, and note the
value of his gold cups and rings. He learned to prize the
cup beyond the wine  Fernando looked no higher
than his personal gain ; a gain that he could see and touch ;
while Henry though he looked > to have his groat in either
meal or malt, could take some part of his return in things
unseen  Henry was sometimes poetic on art, and
his wealth was lavished with an eye for beauty rather than
for pomp and show. He loved to build a house, to plant a
field, to dress a garden neatly, or to decorate a church with
everything lovely. Returning from the Council Chamber,
he was fond of having a chat with monk or priest, as he

The White and ihe Red Rose. 49
sauntered along. His favourite monks were mostly artists
of a high order. Abbot Islip copied missals for the Queen,
with bordering entwined through " painted ferns and happy
marriages of leaves and flowers." Sir Reginald Bray was
drawing plans for the King's new chapel in the Abbey ;
priests who were poets enjoyed the King's pension, and his
friendship. Andre held the office of Royal Laureate and
historiographer ; and the learned Carmeliano, who had now
become a denizen, was the King's Latin Secretary.* At
home and abroad Henry was liberal in performing good
offices for the poor and the unfortunate. He set apart a
portion of his income to be styled " the ransom money
of the Cross," which was spent annually in ransoming
Christian captives from various Moslem ports, particu
larly young maidens, who were bought and sold for the
slave market.
Ferdinand was fond of war for war's own pleasure, or as
a Spanish general bluntly said, for treasure. Henry Tudor
was not willing to draw the sword until some just cause
or the national honour compelled him to do so. No cause
less pressing than danger to his own crown and life could
induce Henry to face the miseries of actual war. Sancho de
Londono summed up Henry's character in these words : —
" He isa man of peace." To our seventh Harry the name
of a peacemaker seemed to be a " nobler heritage than that
of either Pope or Emperor." Yet no one could doubt his
valour at a fitting time, or his devotion to the See of Rome.
He was the last English King who expressed a desire to
become a Crusader. A crusade to the Holy Land was his
* History of Two Queens, vol. i.
VOL. 1. E

50 The White and the Red Rose.

d .rling object, he told the learned Islip that he was " long
thinking of such a mission." He consulted such prelates
as Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, and William
Warham, then Bishop of London. Foxe would do any
thing to promote the interests of the Church, yet he saw
the difficulty of one European Power taking up the ques
tion. Warham had a more statesmanlike view of the
matter. He considered that "extensive reforms were
required at home, and they ought to proceed in that direc
tion before they went to the Holy Land."* The King's
" long-cherished" idea was postponed.f Ayala, in a con
versation with the Spanish King, assured his master that
" King Henry had little, if any, of the Englishman in his
feelings ; but he understood the character of the people well."
Henry was spare and sallow, with rather a Spanish face;
Ferdinand, who was sleek and rosy, had a face like a well-
fed Briton— jolly and pleasant-looking — at least till the
politician overcame the man." " In the higher grades of
character," observes Mr. Dixon, "no two men could be
more opposite than Henry and Ferdinand. Beside Ferdinand,
Henry was a child of Nature — a child of grace and good
ness." In another chapter I shall return to the history of
Ferdinand. Henry Tudor seems to have long cherished a remem
brance of Dr. Fisher's celebrated sermon at Old St. Paul's,
when, in the Royal presence, he asked in his broadest
Yorkshire accent, " What is Charity ?" Two years before
his death, and while the vigour of his mind and body were

* Warham and Fisher's Correspondence concerning the Holy Land.
t MSS. Memorials of Abbot Islip.

The White and the Red Rose. 5 1

unimpaired, the King sent missioners of mercy into gaol
and compter to release those debtors who were confined for
sums ranging from 2s. to 40s. The only proviso was, that
the recipients should be of reputable character, but persons
strikingly, yet simply, described as " unlucky people" —
beings mostly of little wordly judgment, " who stumbled in
the fight of life," and were then seized by the Shylocks of
the day, and cast into a dungeon to be worried by rats, or
made skeletons by prison food, as ihe penalty of poverty.
But in those times there were benevolent people who
ransomed debtors, and the King was the first of that class.*
He set a crowd of captives free. Some time before his
death he signed a general pardon for a number of criminals
— an unusual action for an English King. He nearly
emptied the gaols in every county of the kingdom — a fact
which made a marked impression on the lower classes, and
the traditions of the times state that " some of the pardoned
highwaymen became honest and good subjects."
In his will Henry gave instructions for an inquiry to be
made into the conduct of the tax-gatherers, who had plun
dered the people for years "in the name of the King";
and those who were aggrieved were to receive restitution.
A few weeks before his death he made an impressive state
ment to his then apparently promising son : " My boy,,"

* The " three first" of our English Georges were famous for releasing
poor debtors at Christmas, and giving pecuniary aid to those- who were not
released. George I. expended 3600Z. on poor debtors the first Christmas
he was in England. George III. had a peculiar sympathy for those who were
immured for debt in Dublin, where he repeatedly sent money for their relief.
On the occasion of the jubilee for George III. having completed the fiftieth
year of his reign, his Majesty sent 1000Z. to relieve the poorer class of debtors
in Dublin.
E 2

52 The White and the Red Rose.

said he, " be a Soldier of the Cross, oppose the enemies of
God, sustain the Church and her afflicted Chief, and struggle
to liberate the tomb of Christ." And, again, in emphatic
words, he added, " Be true to the Pope."* At a subsequent
period the son discussed the merits of the question to
which he was pledged to his dying father, but went no
farther. Indeed, it is doubtful if the "will" of the
seventh Henry was fairly carried out — even for a time.
The " corporeal works of mercy " were uppermost in the
King's mind, and he made provision for them. He
bequeathed ten thousand marks to sustain his great hospital
of the Savoy, and two thousand marks in land were also set
apart for the same purpose. To tend the sick, to feed the
hungry, to succour the houseless mother and her orphans,
to clothe the naked, to protect female chastity from the
designs of the licentious, to- lodge the poor, the weak, and
the infirm of years, and to bury the dead, were good works
that were always uppermost in the mind of Henry, and in
this direction he desired by his last testament that a large
portion of his wealth should be disposed of. " Not waiting
for the last sad hours of life, when virtue mostly comes too
late," he gave himself time for grace, and two years before
his death commenced the " good work."t The country
was prosperous, the King was at peace with foreign States,
and desired to cultivate a good feeling with all his subjects ;
to " make restitution and seek forgiveness " was his earnest
desire for the last two years of his life. This Prince of
cold and steadfast feeling, who had closed the reign of civil
* Life of Henry VIL, Bishop Fisher's Letter to the Countess of Rich
mond, "concerning the King's love for the Church."
+ Lord Bacon's Life of Henry VI .; Dixon's History of Two Queens, vol. ii.

The White and the Red Rose. 53
warfare ; who had united the " White and the Red Roses ;"
who had sought to reconcile Ireland to the English con
nection, but failed ;* who had raised the condition of the
masses from a servile dependence upon the lords of the
soil ; who caused religion to be honoured and reverenced,
and by his own example endeavoured to lead the people to
paths of virtue, was now approaching his end. He had
great and holy aspirations ; he wished to live awhile longer
in order to carry out his views. Again, he thought of his
grand scheme of a pilgrim army to the Holy Land. He
seemed in his later years impressed with a feeling which he
deemed to admonish his following the chivalrous example
of Richard Plantagenet and the Knights of the Cross ; but
his health was now broken, his spirits sinking ; and there was
too, no Peter the Hermit to awake the memory of other
days amongst the masses whom commerce, trade, and agri
culture had wedded to less romantic pursuits, and cooled
the adventurous ardour which had fired their crusading
ancestors. Seeing, however, the impossibility of achieving
his pious aspirations, the King ceased to speak on the
subject. His last illness was borne with edifying resigna
tion, and after many hours of agony he expired. When
the sad and solemn honours offered to the dead were dis
charged, the remains of the victor of Bosworth Field were
carried in public procession to the magnificent chapel which
* According to the Irish State Papers of 1509, the power of the English
in that country was not much regarded under the first of the Tudors. The
old system of governing by clans had revived, and was in full force through
out a large portion of the land; and although it was not conducive to pros
perity or civilization, the natives preferred it, with that jealous feeling with
which they always looked on the " suggestions of the stranger." Perhaps they
were right.

54 The White and the Red Rose.

he had erected, to use his own words, " to the honour and the
glory of God," and laid beside the coffin of that most lovable
of wives, and best of Queens— the royal lady who had
shared the honours and the glory of his reign — of her whom,
notwithstanding long-current statements to the reverse, he
had loved in life, and mourned in death. Such was the
father of our Eighth Henry. One dark cloud rests above
the memory of the Seventh Henry — his treatment of the
Infanta, which, when taken in connection with his domestic
life, appears almost incredible ; but the confidential letters,
and other documents so long concealed in the archives of
Simancas, Barcelona, and London, now remove all doubts,
and place before posterity the motives and actions of all
concerned in the unhappy Spanish marriage, which, in its
ultimate results, was fraught with so many calamities.
A few months subsequent to the death of Henry VII.
the last of the long-delayed dowry of the Infanta was paid
by Ferdinand to his " good brother of England." The
Spanish historians, Yurita and Muriana, thrqw some light
upon the inner life of the Infanta during her residence at
Croydon and Durham House. According to those writers,
the Princess acted with firmness and prudence under the
most perplexing difficulties. The statements put forward
by several English historians as to the Infanta's domestic
relations, and her marriage settlements, are most incorrect.
Don Pedro de Ayala, who was personally acquainted
with Henry for a number of years, states that the King
possessed many of the qualifications which constitute great
ness, but his love of money stifled an otherwise noble
nature. A high authority affirms that in all the virtues
which exalt the man, in temperance, moderation, self-

The White and the Red Rose. 55
control, and political sagacity, the Seventh Henry was
immensely superior to his successor."*
Notwithstanding his parsimony, the Court of Henry was
as expensive as that of Edward the Fourth ; but what was
boisterous hilarity under the gallant Edward became " stiff
form and ceremony" at the Court of Henry ; yet Henry of
Richmond could be very agreeable with his guests, and,
" laying aside the King" for an hour or so, he delighted to
converse on the old rural customs and pastimes of England.
Anecdotes of the chase were always agreeable to King
Henry, who was an expert horseman.
Henry was a far better politician than his predecessor,
Richard the Third, who imagined he could win over or
corrupt the middle and lower classes by profuse liberality,
in bestowing upon them other people's property. In the
Record Office is deposited a list of the grants of land made
by Richard the Third to his political retainers. This
record of Richard's weakness and dishonesty fills 108 folio
pages. Richard Plantagenet acted the part of King Lear,
and, like him, was forsaken. The contrast between
Henry VII. and Richard was remarkable. The former
valued the peace of Europe far more than any conquest ;
he abhorred shedding blood, bowed with reverence to the
religious institutions of Christendom, and was a leal son
of the see of St. Peter. Richard affected respect for
religion, but it is needless to record that, where his worldly
interests were concerned, he never felt compunction either
as to the plunder of the people or the shedding of blood.
His chivalry, as represented by some writers, I cannot

* Brewer's State Papers,, vol. iv.

56 The White and the Red Rose.
discover, and his abilities have likewise been much over
rated. To the unprejudiced mind his talents were a power
of adaptation rendered facile by hypocrisy — his chivalry,
the brute courage of a ferocious combatant — at his best
a ruthless and relentless soldier. Henry might have been
an arbitrary and despotic monarch if he had found ministers
willing to undertake the responsibility of accounting for
his actions. But he was happily controlled on many
occasions by such churchmen as Richard Foxe, William
Warham, and John Fisher. In the days of the Planta
genets — and the Tudors especially — measures of State de
pended to so great an extent on the personal views of the
monarchs tbat it is impossible to understand their history
without being acquainted with the State Papers of the
times — documents which were never intended to be seen
by any one but the King and his confidential minister.
For instance, the State Papers deposited in London,
Simancas, and Barcelona, concerning Henry VII.'s secret
policy and negotiations differ very much from the statements
published by English historians. In the absence of State
Papers it is impossible to do justice to the memory of
either a monarch or his minister, especially in those times
of arbitrary rule, where, in too many instances, the minister
became the mere creature of the monarch, and was held
responsible for the actions of the former in the eyes of the
people, who, in their slavish loyalty, could not believe the
King to do wrong. The people of England were the special
slaves ofthe Tudor dynasty, which, for insolence, dishonesty,
and despotic rule, had no analogy on the long roll of
England's monarchs.
Ferdinand's diplomatic agents in London were, with few

The White and the Red Rose. 5 7
exceptions, men of disrepute. Gambling, the pristine mania
of too great a portion of the Spanish race, was introduced
by the grandees who accompanied the Infanta to circles of
rank in England, and with fatal consequences to many.
The noted De Puebla was a lawyer who had many occupa
tions in London, by no means reputable, and having besides
the character of being a merciless usurer, as well as personally
a miser. These bad qualities, it has been stated, recom
mended him to the notice of King Henry, who, however,
may have possessed no knowledge of his demerits. De
Puebla figures prominently in all the secret intrigues —
foreign or domestic — of Henry's reign. Don Pedro de
Ayala ranked high among the diplomatic body of those
times. A striking contrast existed between Don Pedro and
De Puebla ; yet the influence of the Don over De Puebla
was immense. " In the presence of Don Pedro," remarked
De Puebla, "I am unable to transact any business, and
become stupefied, or in a strange condition of mind. No
one likes me ; Don Pedro is loved by all." " And why ?"
De Puebla had a belief that the Scotch were a very inno
cent people, and might be easily duped; but when he
visited the " hardy islanders," he discovered that he was
very much mistaken; and declared that they were "extremely
cunning, and knew how to take care of their bit of money
far better than any people he had ever known." Such was
the opinion of a very excellent judge of human nature.
In a letter to Queen Isabel, De Puebla describes " the
English character as very changeable;" "but when they
solemnly pledge themselves to any particular course of
action, they keep their word and are reliable."*
* De Puebla's Despatches to Queen Isabel.

58 The White and the Red Rose.
The Infanta always considered De Puebla as her enemy.
In one letter the Princess describes him as " a heartless
intriguing rogue." In another despatch to her father she
continues to complain. " I entreat your Highness to do
me the great favour of withdrawing this doctor (De Puebla) >
he does not honestly consider and guard the interests of
his princely master and noble country. He feels no interest
in any one except the English King and himself. He
lends out money at the same rate as a Barcelona Jew. He
is very unkind to me. What course am I to adopt ? *
Spanish merchants had no faith in De Puebla; they
styled him the agent of King Henry's exchequer. He
" fleeced," such was the term used, " every commercial man
from Spain who had recourse to him for advice." On one
occasion the King asked some of his courtiers how it was
that De Puebla came so regularly to the Palace at dinner
hour. They replied, " to enjoy your Highness's ' belly
cheer ' without paying for it." When the royal servants
saw De Puebla coming towards the palace gates, they
exclaimed — " Here comes the Spanish doctor a-begging for
a dinner." At other times, this contemptible representative
of Ferdinand and Isabel, visited the monasteries to procure
dinner ; when he paid for a meal it was never more than
2d., and he " supplicated " for a goblet of wine. One of
the Privy Council assured a Spanish prior that it would fill
many pages to recount his strange and discreditable actions.
In fact the diplomatic profession was disgraced by him.
Still he was firmly rooted to his office. His salary was left
unpaid for years, and he made up for it by bribes, extor-

* Spanish Correspondence (MS.); Wood's Royal Letters.

The White and the Red Rose. 59
tions, and usury. Ferdinand and Isabel despised him; he
was merely regarded by his royal master as an instrument
to be flung away when no longer able to carry out " dis
honourable schemes." Isabel censured him to the King
and the Council of England, whilst at the same time
she wrote letters "full of sympathy to the decrepid little
man." The Queen at other times threatened him; then
again, her Highness assures him that if he attended to all
her secret despatches, she would confer upon him the
honours he aspired to. At the same period the Queen
was plotting his destruction. King Henry offered him a
bishopric, provided arrangements were made for his appoint
ment by the Court of Rome. As a matter of course, the
Church rejected him. Next the King proposed a wealthy
marriage for him, but as it was necessary to procure the
consent of Queen Isabel, this match fell through, her
Highness exclaiming — " It is monstrous to hear of an old
cripple looking for a young wife." From the palace down
to the humblest habitation in London, Dr. De Puebla was
a topic for conversation and mirth. Abbot Islip describes
him as the " most notorious of the notorious characters of
London." De Puebla remained in his official position down
to the death of his infatuated friend, Henry VIL, whom he
only survived a few weeks, leaving his relatives to quarrel
over the ill-gotten treasure of a miser and a heartless
usurer. Dr. De Puebla had one redeeming quality in the eyes of
Ferdinand : he cordially detested France, and the policy of
its rulers.*

* Bergenroth's Simancas, and the Domestic State Papers of Henry VII.'s
reign.

60 The White and the Red Rose.
Miguel Penez Almazan was the contemporary of Don Pedro
De Ayala. He was the confidential secretary of Ferdinand,
and the most able man then connected with the Government
of Spain. The State Papers, drawn up by this minister are
written with elegance, vigour, and grace. He stood high
in the estimation of Ferdinand and Isabel, who raised him
to the rank of a Spanish grandee ; and right well did he
bear himself in that chivalrous station — faithful to his
religion, his country, and his King.
The maxim laid down by Ferdinand for his ambassadors
was to deceive the English King. " Tell my good brother
of England anything but what I intend to do. Be sure to
say how much I love and regard him."* In Richard Foxe,
Bishop of Winchester, the French and Spanish ambassadors
found a far-seeing, astute man whom it was very difficult to
deceive. Popular opinion in London at this epoch was in favour of
Don Pedro de Ayala. He was a man of agreeable manners,
genial, and light-hearted. He made friends wherever he went,
and dispensed hospitality to his English friends on a large
scale. The King entertained a high opinion of his abilities
and business habits. He did much to conciliate parties and
remove the prejudices that prevailed against foreigners.
When the Infanta's journey to England was arranged,
Henry VII. asked as a special favour from King Ferdinand
that Don Pedro might remain in this country, for there was
no one so well calculated as he to make the Princess
Catalina feel less a stranger in her new home than would

* The Despatches ofthe Spanish Embassy; Bergenroth's State Papers.

The White and the Red Rose. 6 1

this most worthy Spanish gentleman.* Don Pedro had
been once ambassador to the King of Scots, who entertained
an extraordinary friendship for him, and sought his advice
upon all public questions of importance. Don Pedro describes
James the Fourth as very devout. " He never ate meat on
Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday. He would not for any
consideration mount horseback on Sunday, not even to go to
Mass." Before transacting any business he heard two
Masses. In the smallest matters, and even when indulging
in a joke, he always spoke the truth. He was very proud
of his veracity, and often reprehended the custom which had
then become usual to many kings, of swearing to their
treaties. The " royal word, he said, ought to be a sufficient
guarantee of good faith. Although kindly and humane in
disposition, he was a severe judge. He sat in public to
dispense justice, and did so with great solemnity."
In a letter dated July, 1498, from Don Pedro de Ayala
to Queen Isabel, that accomplished diplomatist presents his
royal mistress with a picture of King James, fashioned
thus : —
"The King of Scotland is of middle height, his features
are handsome ; he never cuts his hair or his beard, and it
becomes him well. He expressed himself gracefully in
Latin, French, German, Flemish, Italian, and Spanish. His
pronunciation of Spanish was clearer than that of other
foreigners. In addition to his own, and the above-named
languages, he speaks that of the ' Savages' (Highlanders)
who live on the distant mountains and islands. The books
which King James reads most are the Bible, and books of

* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers.

62 The White and the Red Rose.
devotion and prayer. He also studies the old Latin and
French chronicles."*
"The Scotch," writes Don Pedro, "were often considered
in Spain to be handsomer than the English. The women
of qualitie were free in their manners, very beautiful, and
courteous to strangers ; and though appearances are against
them a little, they are as virtuous as the women of any
other clime that I am acquainted with, or heard anything
of. They dress better than the English women, and the
national head-gear is especially becoming. . . . The Scotch
ladies reign absolute mistresses in their houses, and the men
in all domestic matters yield a chivalrous obedience to them.
French education is very prevalent amongst the upper
classes. . . . The hospitality to foreigners is unbounded,
and the ladies are remarkable for the attention they pay to
their guests. . . . Don Pedro continues : —
" The people live well, having plenty of beef, mutton,
and fowl, and abundance of fish. The humbler classes, the
women especially, are all of a religious turn of mind.
Pretty, modest, retiring, and excellent wives, they are very
good-natured to travellers or poor pilgrims, many of whom
visit the ancient shrines of Scotland. Altogether, I found
the Scotch to be a very agreeable, and I must add, an
amiable people."
Such was Scotland towards the close of the fifteenth
century— a period described by modern writers as one of
barbarism, ignorance, immorality, and superstition.
Don Pedro de Ayala was an independent Spanish gentle
man, and seems to have been the most honourable man con-

* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers.

The White and the Red Rose. 63
nected with the diplomatic missions of Spain. He was not in
priest's orders, as alleged by some writers. His early history
was a sad and romantic story in connection with the Donna
Violante de Casagnino, who was killed by a wolf. The
lady in question, who was very beautiful, was the authoress
of a most pathetic sonnet, " My Only Sister."
The grandmother of Henry VIII. was a remarkable woman.
Margaret, Countess of Richmond, was the most com
manding figure in the Court of Henry VIL* Tall, stern,
and proud, yet humble and condescending to the poor or
the unfortunate, she moved about the palaces like a con
troller ; every one who had a grievance went to the King's
mother with their tale, because they were well aware that
the cold-hearted Prince paid much attention to any petition
presented by his parent. The Lady Margaret was an.
eminent scholar, and the patroness and friend of scholars.
To her Dr. Fisher owed his first promotion in the Church ;
and that eminent and holy prelate was her principal
chaplain and confessor for years. She was also the friend
of Caxton ; Pynson, another printer, " arranged in type "
several little religious books which the good Countess trans
lated from the French. One of the chief labours of her life
was to ameliorate the condition ofthe peasant class; she visited
the humblest home, and saw what might be the requirements
of its inmates ; she admonished bad husbands, and reclaimed
many by her kindly sayings. Learning, piety, and charity,
were the life-long objects of her solicitude. She endowed

* This most excellent lady was daughter and heiress of Job n Beaufort, Duke
of Somerset — a very illustrious extraction. She was married three times, Lord
Stanley being her third husband.

64 The White and the Red Rose.
professorships at Cambridge aud Oxford. At the former
the Margaret Professorship was called after the Countess.
Her name was long cherished on the Isis and the Cam.
Is there any remembrance of her benevolence nowadays
at those schools of learning ? I fear not.
The Countess of Richmond was a widow and a mother at
fourteen years of age, with " a pretty blue-eyed boy of five
months old, whom she had to rear and protect amidst the
horrors of a civil war."* As a daughter, a wife, a mother, a
citizen, the Countess of Richmond discharged her duties con
scientiously, and won the esteem and love of all classes in the
State. She lived to see her grandson Henry, and Katharine
of Arragon, crowned at Westminster Abbey. Her grandson
entertained, or affected to entertain, a feeling of respect
and veneration for her memory. Her great worth, how
ever, can best be understood from the funeral oration pro
nounced over her remains by Bishop Fisher. In every
town and village— in the far-off corners of England and
Wales — the people regretted their noble benefactress. The
church and abbey bells tolled for six days. Every church
and chapel was draped in mourning, and the Mass for the
dead was attended by multitudes of people. f
A Spanish friar, the Prior of Santa Cruz, states that the
Countess of Richmond was " an oppressor of her daughter-
in-law, Queen Elizabeth." The Prior further begs of Fer
dinand and Isabel to " write a letter occasionally for charity's

* Edward Hall's Chronicle; Bacon's Life of Henry VIL; Sir Harris
Nicolas' Royal Fragments; Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. ii.;
History of Two Queens.
t Amongst the Harleian MSS. are also some interesting papers on the
domestic life of this good lady.

The White and the Red Rose. 65
sake to the poor English Queen."* It is true that the
Countess of Richmond was a cold, stern woman in her own
family circle, and she ruled the palace of her son; and
might have been unfit to be a companion for her young
and lively daughter-in-law. Madame Cabrera does not
believe the Prior's gossip, for she was connected with the
English Court at the time of which he speaks, and bears.
testimony to the good feeling which always existed between
the Countess and her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth.
Here I take leave of the " White and the Red Rose."

* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers, vol. iv.

VOL I.

66 Accession of Henry VIII.

CHAPTER VII.
ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII.
The young King was not of age for two months after his
father's death. The Countess of Richmond was appointed
to the office of Regent during the brief minority of her
grandson. This good and wise lady had chosen a council
composed of discreet and experienced men, some of whom
were in the councils of her late son. William Warham,
Archbishop of Canterbury, was again chosen Lord Chan
cellor ; two other clerics held high offices ; but the greatest
man connected with the new Government was Thomas
Howard, Earl of Surrey, popularly known as the " great
earl." He was beyond sixty years of age, and rendered
vast service in the former reign. He might be styled
" the personal friend" of the Tudor family, " sincere and
true to the death."* No English noble, knight, or squire
of that period was so well known and esteemed at every
Court in Europe as the Earl of Surrey. He was brave,
chivalrous, prudent, wise, and honourable. The friendship
he entertained for the late King and Queen was extended to
the youthful Henry and his bride-elect. Lord Surrey had
sixteen children— ten sons and six daughters — nearly all
of whom married into rich and noble families. His
daughter Elizabeth, a young lady of exquisite loveliness,

* This nobleman received his title from Richard III. His father was killed
at Bosworth Field.

Accession of Henry VIII. 67
became the mother of a future Queen of England who
bequeathed a legacy of misfortune to the land. Of the
opposition party — for there was always an opposing element
in the State, whilst strictly loyal and conservative — were
the Staffords, the Courtneys, the Poles, the Percys, the
Radclyffes, the Talbots, the Greys, and many other heads of
baronial houses. Edward, the third Duke of Buckingham,
Master of Thornbury, was the devoted friend of Katharine of
Arragon, whose future appeared doubtful at this critical
juncture. But whilst the King's council were debating
upon the question of the royal marriage, and what steps
should be taken to " confirm or annul" the betrothal of
Henry and the Infanta, the news was suddenly announced
to them that the King and the Princess had gone early on
a June morning to the chapel of the Observant Fathers at
Greenwich, and " had a private marriage," and were
" determined, with God's assistance, to abide by that con
tract to the death."* There was no entry in any book, or
record of the marriage ; nor was any notable of the Court or
Government present. It is supposed that Father Forrest
performed the marriage ceremony. If he did, then he
brought the secret with him to the stake where he was
subsequently roasted alive. It is worthy of remark that,
amongst the records of the Observant Fathers of Green
wich, still extant, there is not one line entered respecting
the marriage. Henry never denied the marriage, but he
gave no explanation as to who was present. Katharine
seemed to have been as silent on the subject as her hus
band. M. Passi, a French writer, states that the marriage

* Monday, June 11, 1509.
F 2

68 Accession of Henry VIII.

was performed by Father Peto ; but there is evidence to
prove that Peto was not at Greenwich at that time.
Judging from the life-long friendship Katharine enter
tained for Forrest, and the intensified hatred of Henry for
him during the divorce controversy, lead me to believe that
he performed the marriage ceremony between the young
King and the Infanta. It is stated by a Portuguese cleric,
named Casanigo, that the marriage was performed by
Father Diego, the Queen's Spanish confessor, and that
Forrest was present. Forrest, however, never revealed the
secret as to whether he was a witness or otherwise.
M. Passi alleges that there were two ladies present — the
one a Spaniard, the other an English countess; perhaps
the Countess of Surrey, who was Katharine's first personal
friend in England. One of her Spanish ladies became the
wife of Lord Willoughby, and settled in England. This
lady continued to be Katharine's friend to the last moment
of her existence.
There was a precedent for such a marriage in the secret
union of Edward the Fourth and Elizabeth Woodville,
who were married " on a bright May morning" in a little
private chapel near Grafton. There were only three per
sons present ; and the marriage was kept a secret from the
world for six weeks. Lingard makes no mention of the
clandestine marriage of Henry and Katharine, but states
that, " with the unanimous assent of the council, the young
King and the Princess were publicly married by Warham,
Archbishop of Canterbury."* It is certain, however, that
the archbishop and the council were dissatisfied with the

* Lingard, vol. iv. p. 345.

Accession of Henry VIII. 69

King's conduct ; but the fact of the private marriage having
taken place left them no alternative, and they accordingly
agreed to a public ceremony. The particulars concerning
the unfortunate marriage in Greenwich chapel still remains
a mystery, for some members of the Camden Society to
investigate. Although the venerable Countess of Richmond was a
party to the dispensation obtained from Pope Julian, and
agreed to the betrothal of her grandson to the Infanta, yet
she was shocked at the conduct of the royal couple, and
highly censured the Observant Fathers for this clandestine
marriage being performed in their chapel. The friars pro
tested their ignorance of what occurred ; and Archbishop
Warham almost prophesied the future. The government
were indignant at the King's want of courtesy towards
them, and the " disrespect he offered to the kingly office by
a clandestine marriage." Judging by his movements at
the time, the young King did not seem to care what his
council thought, and he showed an evident disposition to
do as he pleased. For some time, however, his bride had
an immense influence over him. Several days elapsed
before the marriage was made public. Grand and costly
preparations preceded the coronation of the King and
Queen, which was ushered in by a triumphal procession to
the city. The royal treasury was filled with wealth — gold,
silver, and jewels. There appeared to be a " bright future"
before the King and Queen, but Archbishop Warham held a
different opinion. Everywhere Henry and Katharine went
a multitude of people assembled to give expression to their
admiration and loyalty.
At this time Henry was most condescending in his inter
course with the people, speaking to them in a kindly,

70 Accession of Henry VIII.

frank manner. " Here is the Queen — how do you all like
her ?" were his words to a crowd of country folk at Black
heath. " And," he continued, " oh ! we love one another
immensely." Katharine forgot the sad sojourn at Ludlow,
and her embarrassments at Durham House, and, in a
moment of enthusiasm, confessed to her faithful friend,
Lady W'illoughby, that she "loved for the first time."
Her love for her handsome young husband was mingled
with a devotion that excited the admiration of the courtiers.
The bride and bridegroom resided for some time at Green
wich ; " one day paddling on the bright waters with maidens
and minstrels, the next masquerading with knights and
ladyes faire through the summer woods."
A few weeks subsequent to the marriage of Henry and
Katharine, the young King wrote to his father-in-law
(Ferdinand),* stating that he was amusing himself in joust
ing, hunting, birding, and other innocent pastimes ; and,
again, visiting different parts of the kingdom, but never on
that account neglecting the affairs of State. Luis Caroz
entertained a different opinion. He stated that the " new
King " attended most assiduously to his amusements, but
neglected his duties as a King. Nor does that seem to
have been the private opinion of this observant Spanish
minister. The Bishops of Winchester and Durham had
frequently complained that their Sovereign was entirely
absorbed by his amusements. They suggested to Caroz
that King Ferdinand should remind Henry of his duties as
a monarch. King Henry at this period looked in a

* July 17, 1509; printed in the Bergenroth State Papers (England and
Spain), vol. ii.

Accession of Henry VIII. 71
different way on public business. He only saw the bright
and easy side attached to his high position. Ceremonies
of State audiences given to foreign ambassadors, and living
in a splendid style, seemed to him all that a King had to
do. That he did not neglect these lighter duties we have
sufficient evidence from the Spanish correspondence. He did
even more; he was tolerably well informed with respect to
the outlines of public affairs. Dr. de Puebla, the most
devoted Spanish admirer of Henry VIL, took occasion to
denounce the corruption of the English Privy Council;
this venality steadily increased in the reign of Henry VIII.
Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, and Warham, the
Chancellor, were considered the only men who were above
betraying the secrets of the Council to foreign or hostile
Powers. On one occasion the King advised the Spanish
to ambassador speak on State secrets to no one but the
Bishop of Winchester. The phrase with which Henry
coupled his advice -shows that he could not vouch for the
honesty of even this his most faithful servant. " His name
is Foxe," the young King added, " and people think that
a fox he is."* A despatch of Badoer, the Venetian
ambassador, contains an account of a mission to Henry VIII.
in the August of 1509, which is highly illustrative of the
King's proud, imperious temper, and of the jealousy with
which from the first he regarded his French rivals. " He
takes fire at a phrase in the oration of the ambassador
Antoine Duprat, Abbe de Fecamp, which implies that
Henry himself had, in the first instance, expressed a desire
to continue amicable relations." He fiercely asks which of

* Bergenroth's State Papers (England and Spain), vol. ii.

72 Accession of Henry VIII.
his servants has dared to compromise him by such language ;
demands the immediate payment of what he calls his tribute,
and treats the envoy during the remainder of his visit with
marked disrespect .* The " Tudor Lamb " was just eighteen
years and two months old at this period.
During the reign of Henry VII. Katharine had under
gone humiliation and hardship ; she was neglected by her
father-in-law, forgotten by her parents, slighted by the
nobles, and treated with injustice by the Council. Had
Katharine not loved her young husband, success . alone
would have been a great satisfaction to her feelings ; but
there is no doubt that she loved Henry with an enthusiasm
and a devotion seldom to be found amongst royal lovers ;
and it is certain that she was beloved by him at that time.
In writing to her father, Katharine says : " T thank God
for having such a husband as I have." King Ferdinand
and Henry seemed never to be tired of expressions of
paternal affection on the one side, and filial obedience on
the other. Ferdinand knew full well how to speak with
great warmth on matrimonial love. " A good marriage,"
he writes to his daughter, " is not only a good thing in
itself, but the source of all other kinds of happiness. God,
shows His favour to good husbands and wives."f
The, people of England and Spain participated in the
general rejoicing for the marriage. Henry wrote to his father-
in-law to assure the Spanish people that all Englishmen,
women, and even children, " dearly loved his Spanish bride." J
These scenes were not destined to be of long duration.

* Rawdon Erown's Venetian State Papers, vol. i.
+ Bergenroth's State Papers of England and Spain, vol. ii.
X Bergenroth's State Papers, vol. ii.

Accession of Henry VIII. 73

The picturesque pages of Mr. Hepworth Dixon on this
epoch are very pleasant reading. The following is his
lively picture of the "Royal Honeymoon" at Green
wich : —
"A young and jovial Court was now formed, in which the morn
ing sport was followed by the evening. A joust, a masque, a feast,
a Maying, varied the delights of every week. The married lovers
went a-nutting in the woods. They clomb the hill; they ran
into the glade; they dangled in their wherries on the sparkling
stream ; they ran about in search of sights. One night the
young King put on the dress of his own yeomen of the guard,
and with a halbert on his shoulder, marched to the King's Head,
in Cheape ; and on St. Peter's Eve he brought his Consort to that
famous inn, to see the city watch go past. One day they held a
wrestling-match ; another day they cast the lance and drew the bow
— two sports in which the King excelled. They dressed a company
of gentlemen in green, and played the merry game of Eobin Hood.
The young King was tipsy with his joy, and his pretty Spanish
bride poured her warm and earnest love on him like sunshine on
her own Southern plains. ' My love for Katharine is so great,'
wrote Henry, ' that if I were not married to her, I would not
exchange her for any other woman in the world.' And thus,
beside the sparkling river and beneath the leafy woods, these
married lovers spent the second portion of their honeymoon.
"All eyes were bent on them in hope. The King and Queen
had taken every heart by storm. By their romantic union they
had broken through a formal rule, and everybody who has not to
answer for the breach is glad when Princes break through formal
rules. They had removed a weight from every back  A
reign of peace was opening out, and trade seemed likely to increase.
All parties and pretenders vanished. York and Lancaster were
ceasing to be factious names  Prince Arthur's widow was
King Henry's bride. No priest, no lawyer challenged her to prove
her right. If any one was in the wrong it was the Pontiff, and the
people were too Catholic in feeling to imagine that a Pope could
be to blame. Looking on the youthful monarch and his Queen,

74 Accession of Henry VIII.
Englishmen threw the past, with all its fears, behind them, and, in
ignorance of coming tempests, hailed the morrow as a portal of
the golden age."*
The reader must remember that Archbishop Warham in
the reign of Henry VII. strongly protested against the
projected marriage, and his objections were endorsed by
some of the most eminent English casuists of the time.
Yet all went well for twenty years.
The citizens of London were determined upon making a
marvellous display at the coronation procession. Cornhill
may be said to have been enveloped in cloth of gold, and
the streets were lined at each side by children dressed in
holiday attire ; the windows were filled with the wives and
daughters of the wealthy burghers, displaying the riches of
the merchant princes in the gorgeousness of their ward
robes; the roofs of the houses were occupied by musicians
and singers. From Cornhill and Old Change, young
maidens, habited in snowy white, and bearing in their
hands palms of blanched wax, were ranged along the
route extending towards Westminster. These damsels were
formed in ranks by friars wearing their various coloured
habits and collars, who, from silver censers, emitted a cloud
of incense upon the Queen's procession as it glided along
in slow and solemn pace. Anthems and hymns were sung
by young virgins along the line, and, when they ceased at
intervals, the refrain was taken up by the outside populace,
whose cheers stirred all the echoes of the old city, and
were repeated with a will by the onlookers from window
and housetop. Beyond all pageants previously devised for

* History of Two Queens, vol. ii. pp. 327-8.

Accession of Henry VIII. 75
royalty, the scenes at the coronation procession of Queen
Katharine excited sentiments "the most ideal." Lord
Herbert and other historians give a fervid description of
the intellectual gifts and personal charms of Katharine at
the time of her marriage with Henry. The Queen and her
ladies were objects of general admiration. She was attired
as a bride in white embroidered satin ; her hair, which was
very beautiful, hung at length down her back almost to her
feet; she wore on her head a coronal set with precious
stones. Immediately before the royal chariot rode twenty-
four trumpeters dressed in crimson velvet coats. At the
Exchange one hundred of the " fairest virgins," attired in
white, flung flowers beneath the bride's feet, and music,
accompanied by the acclamations of a multitude of happy
people, was to be heard at every point along the procession.
The Queen was seated in a litter of white cloth of gold,
borne by four white horses with magnificent appointments.
Then followed the young maidens of the nobility and
other notables drawn in richly-ornamented vehicles styled
" whirlicotes." The day closed with a general feasting in every circle,
and, as usual, the convents and abbeys gave an extra
quantity of good cheer to the poor.
The popularity of Henry's first government, his undisputed
title to the throne, his extensive authority, his large
treasures, the general prosperity and comfort of the people,
who were contented, moral, and religious, made the adminis
tration of the country easy of management; the condition
of foreign affairs was no less happy and desirable; the
alliance aud friendship of the young English King being
courted by the European Powers, added to the general good

76 Accession of Henry VIII.
feeling. One of the first public actions of Henry on
attaining power was the release of the prisoners named in
his father's will. The case of Richard Empson and Edward
Dudley for frauds on the public treasury, and cruelty to the
people in the manner of collecting taxes, was specially
excepted by the King's Council. Empson and Dudley were
tried by a jury, and condemned to death, with, it is said,
the approval of the country. Several historians have ex
pressed sympathy with those men, stating that their " fate
was one that deserved mercy." Sir Richard Empson was
the son of a sieve-maker in Northamptonshire, and by his
own abilities and astute conduct attracted the King's atten
tion. He quickly won the favour of Henry VII. ; he was
created a knight, and soon after Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster.* Edward Dudley was of an old family; he was
also a man of considerable ability. Henry VII. had him
sworn a member of the Privy Council when only twenty-four
years of age. He was subsequently chosen Speaker of the
House bf Commons, where he displayed his talent in pre
serving order, and "looking after the King's interests."
He was insolent and overbearing as a minister; and many
persons made complaints to the Court, but their petitions
never reached the King. The public discontent increased,
until at last those unpopular officials were committed to
the Fleet, amidst the rejoicing of the populace. Some
Puritan writers claim Empson and Dudley as Reformers —
Reformers long before that party had an existence in England!
It is most unjust to link sectarian feeling with the pro
ceedings of this period. Whilst a prisoner in the Tower,

* Polydore Vergil's Chronicle.

Accession of Henry VIII. 77
between the time of his condemnation and that of his
execution, Dudley wrote a small book, entitled " The Tree
of the Commonwealth," which John Stowe describes as a
" notable book." This work was dedicated to Henry VIIL,
but no one would dare present it ; so the young King never
heard of the book, and Dudley was hurried to the scaffold.*
Edward Dudley was father of the noted Duke of Northum
berland, of Edward and . Mary's reign, and grandfather of
the Earl of Leicester. Three generations of the Dudley
family perished on the scaffold.
It is true that in those times many of the outlaws and
murderers were ferocious creatures ; but in proportion to
the population, they were very few at the commencement
of Henry's reign. The mode of punishing criminals intro
duced about this time (1510) was shocking. Of all the
statutes then in existence, that of " denying the rites of
religion to outlaws or great criminals," when sent to the
scaffold, was the most barbarous and unchristian. f
In the second year of Henry's reign John Islip, the
Abbot of Westminster, died. All ecclesiastical historians —
excepting, of course, the Puritan or Hot- Gospel men — affirm
that Islip was a divine of singular worth. He repaired
and adorned several parts of the monastery, and aided
Henry VII. in constructing his magnificent chapel.. The
genius of Islip took a turn in many opposite directions.
Architects, musicians, and learned men from foreign parts
were his guests. His hospitality was on a large scale. For
many years he entertained on Christmas Day some two

* Stowe's Chronicle; Holinshed.
t Statutes of the Realm, 1510.

78 Accession of Henry VIII.
hundred poor children at dinner. This feast was an object
of delight to the King and Queen Elizabeth. Henry VIIL
affected grief for the loss of his father's venerable confessor ;
but the grief was of short duration.
At the death of Henry VII. England was only con
sidered a third-rate Power in Europe, but his youthful
successor made a quick change in the posture of affairs. In
the pride of youth and manly beauty Henry towered in
stature above all his contemporaries. He was distinguished
by his commanding figure and the superior graces of his
person, and in an age remarkable for feats of strength, and
when bodily skill was held in the highest estimation,
no one outdid him in the tournament. Man and horse fell
before him, and lance after lance at the jousts held in
tourney in honour of the Lady Margaret* and the Emperor
Maximilian. He was an adept also in the great national
weapon, for he drew the best bow of his age ; and in the
mastery of it was a match for the tallest archers of his guard.
Taylour, then clerk of the Parliament, relates in his diary
how he saw the King diverting himself with these archers
in a garden, and as much surpassing them in their own
weapon as he exceeded them in all the graces of his person.
He spoke French, Italian, and Spanish. Of his proficiency
in Latin, a specimen has been preserved among the letters
of Erasmus. All suspicion is removed by the positive asser
tion of Erasmus that he had seen the original, and correc
tions in the Prince's own hand. He spoke French fluently,
especially when he explained to Suffolk what the Lady
Margaret of Savoy meant, when he rudely drew the ring

* The Countess of Richmond.

Accession of Henry VIII. 79

from her finger, and she called him a larou. Great was
his skill in the practice and theory of music, and he was
accustomed, according to Giustiniani's secretary, to hear the
best composers of his own country, when the musicians of
Italy were scarcely less eminent than its painters. He and
his ambassador for ten days at Richmond " enjoyed hearing
the King to play aud sing, and seeing him dance and run
at the ring by day, in all which exercises he acquitted
himself in a manner that no other man could possibly
perform."* In a few years Henry's despotism touched almost every
social custom : the dress of ladies of rank was sometimes
minutely set down; the colours to be worn, dimensions, &c.
The ladies' dresses were most showy, and the velvets, silks,
and other materials of beautiful texture and highest cost.
In the "expense-book" of Anna Boleyn, black silk is
booked at eight shillings per yard, and Genoa velvet nine
shillings — an enormous sum in those days. The cloth of
gold, or tissue, was another gorgeous costume. This dress
was reserved by the King for dukes and marquises ; if of a
purple colour, for the royal family, or some distinguished
and notable prelate, such as an archbishop or cardinal.
Silks and velvets were only to be worn by Commoners of a
very exalted rank — for instance, such men as Sir Thomas
More. No member of the House of Commons was per
mitted to wear embroidery. In fact, embroidery was for
bidden to be worn by any gentleman under the rank of an
earl. But for fantastic, showy, and expensive costume, the
reign of the handsome Edward the Fourth was perhaps the
most remarkable.

* Brewer's State Papers (Foreign and Domestic), 1515.

80 Accession of Henry VIII.
The expenses of the Court in the days of Henry VIII.
were about 19,898/. per annum, said to be equal to 250,000/.
of our present money. The Duke of Buckingham, the
richest peer in the early part of Henry's reign, had 6,600/.
a year ; and the Archbishop of Canterbury about the same
sum. The bishops of those times kept a number of retainers,
and gave large entertainments to every class from the peer
to the peasant. The income qualifying a county squire to
be a magistrate was 30/. 12s. per annum. The salary of a
parish priest was 8/. 12s.*
In the early part of Henry's reign the adventurous run
away "'prentices" of London formed volunteer corps in
the garrison of Calais, where they remained for years the
terror of the surrounding country. French writers describe
them as "wild beasts;" they were possessed of immense
strength and courage ; t they boasted of being able to kill
six Frenchmen each, in a "tussle" with the Norman
peasants. Here I may offer a few observations on the military
character of England and other European nations about the
commencement of Henry's reign. King Ferdinand stated
that the English soldiers who had come to Spain were strong,
stout-hearted, stood firm in battle, and never thought of
taking flight. A long time having elapsed during which
England had had no wars, her troops " did not know how
to behave in a campaign." The captains quarrelling with
one another were unable to enforce rigid discipline amongst
their men. The rank and file showed a marked dislike to
perform such labours as were inevitably entailed on soldiers.

* Statistics of Britain in 1512. t Hall's Chronicle, p. 646.

Accession of Henry VIII. 81
They were intemperate and idle.* The arms which the
English used were not in keeping with the progress which
the art of war had made. The number of pikemen in the
English army was too small. Pikemen were at that period
employed in all European armies to give greater consistency
to the infantry, and to enable them to resist the attacks
of cavalry. Provided that the English troops were well
armed, practised in the evolutions of regular warfare, well
drilled and disciplined, King Ferdinand observed that the
English would excel those of any other nation, and make
their country honoured ; prove a great security to England,
and be an effective instrument of conquest.
As for the quarrelsome disposition of the captains,
Ferdinand seems to have despaired of the possibility of
mending it. They lost generally more time in disputes
than the execution of the measure in view required. At
all events, English troops were declared to be incapable of
acting in concert with those of other nations.
English cavalry was also an insignificant arm. England
depended for its supply on Flanders and Germany. Even
horses were by no means abundant ; and those which could
be obtained were small, weak, and unfit to be made use
of in a campaign.
French troops, and especially infantry, had not a high
reputation at the beginning of the sixteenth century. In
the art of war, however, they were believed to be superior
to the English. Spanish infantry were good, and rapidly
progressing to that perfection which they attained ten or
twelve years subsequent under the command of men like

- Bergenroth's State Papers, upon Engbnd and Spain, vol. ii.
VOL. I. G

82 Accession of Henry VIII.
the Marquis de Pescara and Antonio de Leyva. They were
distinguished not only on the field of battle, but were also
patient in enduring all kinds of hardship and privation.
The French, notwithstanding their natural valour, were often
very unfortunate in the field, especially when confronted
by an English foe. At the battle of Creci the French
King had nearly fifteen thousand Italian " mercenaries'
amongst his troops. The English army on this occasion
were sustained throughout the day by a large body of Ger
mans, who, in the hour of victory, disgraced the military
character by a wanton and barbarous butchery of defence
less and disarmed men.* The sense of military honour
was then, perhaps, in no other army so strong as in that of
Spain. Whilst high mental culture is generally attributed to the
Italians during the period under review, they were almost
unanimously declared to have been effeminate and scarcely
able to bear arms. That was a mistake. The Italians had
good infantry, their sharpshooters were equalled only by
the best Spanish arquebusiers ; their light cavalry was
excellent, and even the men-at-arms of Naples occupied an
honourable position when compared with the men-at-arms
of other nations. Irregular or badly disciplined Italian
troops were absolutely worthless.
The two countries which far excelled all other nations
with respect to military efficiency were Germany and
Switzerland. German and Swiss troops differed in many
particulars from one another. The Swiss, for instance,

* The most interesting account of this battle, cr carnage, is to be found
in Sir John Froissart's Chronicle, pp. 126-130.

Accession of Henry VIII. 83
were of little use in storming or defending fortified places,
whilst the German lansquenets were as useful in a pitched
battle as in the siege of a fortress. An Italian, Spanish,
French, or English army was considered inefficient in
a regular war against an army which contained a con
siderable number of Swiss or German troops, unless Swiss
or German contingents were added to it. These auxiliaries
were thought to be indispensable when a difficult retreat
was to be covered ; a camp to be pitched close to the front
of the enemy, or a sudden attack to be repulsed. The
German veterans generally broke through the ranks of the
troops of other nations. Both the German and the Swiss
were " mercenaries." It is difficult to decide which of the
two were more at the disposal of purchasers ; and both
were guilty of scandalous actions, equally unworthy of the
character of soldiers; but then they were "mercenaries."
As for the German troops, a Spanish memoir, probably
drawn up by a consejo de guerra, complains that such was
their "beastliness and arrogance, that they were a fire
brand and a source of incessant disorder, unless they were
commanded by a generous and courageous captain from
their own country, selected by the Emperor." Another
complaint against the German lansquenets was perhaps of a
more serious nature. During the great wars of Italy,
pestilence was generally raging in that country. All the
other troops, and especially the Italians and the Spaniards,
could easily be prevailed upon carefully to avoid communi
cation with the infected places. The Germans, on the con
trary, would, in spite of all remonstrances of their officers,
enter a village or a farmhouse which they knew to be
infected, with no other object than to steal a few chickens,
q 2

84 Accession of Henry VIII.
and thus perhaps introduce the plague or some other horrible
disease into their own ranks.
The military strength of the different governments of
Europe was not in proportion to the excellence of their forces
in the field. As the best soldiers were " mercenaries,"
they sold themselves to the highest bidder without respect
to nationality. When we read of Italian, Spanish, French,
and English armies, we must not suppose that they con
sisted of the above nations only. The difference in the
warlike qualities of the nations of Europe had no other
practical consequence than that the Germans and the Swiss
earned large sums of money by the trade of a soldier,
whilst the English and French did not.
The best arms were those which were made in Milan
and Brescia, and those which were exported to foreign
countries by way of Flanders ; also the arms from
Lolingen. The English soldiers in the early part of the sixteenth
century were loud in their demand for food at the appointed
hour : beef, bread, and beer were the first thing to be con
sidered ; and then when the fighting came on, they were like
the giant soldiers of a certain Celtic prince, " the first in the
field and the last out of it." However, the English
soldiers, of the sixteenth century knew little of military
science; they closed with an enemy like an infuriated bear,
and perhaps extended the same amount of forbearance to
the vanquished foe. The military records of the battle of
Creci affirm that Edward thep Third employed his " Welsh
mercenaries" in the barbarous and cowardly action of
cutting the throats of the wounded enemy. The German
and Swiss could uot be guilty of a more revolting and un-

Accession of Henry VIIL 85
soldierlike crime. The foreign mercenaries employed in
the days of Henry VIII. and his son Edward, brought
odium upon the military character. Every year they
seemed to become more ferocious, blood-thirsty, and dis
honest. Humanity has reason to rejoice that in the
" regular armies" of Christendom there are now no sub
sidized " foreign legions," whose trade is war and rapine ;
and that the slaughter of the wounded on the battle-field,
and the outrage of women, slaying of old and young, with
the accompanying horrors, have now been relegated to the
only power connected with Europe which denies the divine
mission of the Founder of Christianity, and contemns the
maxims of His merciful creed,

86 The Boleyn Family.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE BOLEYN FAMILY.
The Boleyn family were amongst the Normans whom the
Plantagenets introduced to better their fortunes by settling
upon the fertile plains of Britain. The De Bouleyns were
of a notable and ancient stock, who always adhered to the
Monarchy and the Latin Church. The family settled in
Norfolk, and were known in the days of Edward I. for
their thrifty and sensible mode of life. One of the race
adopted commerce, and realised a fortune as a " citie
merchant ;" another became Lord Mayor of London, and
the family soon intermarried with landholders of position.
Godfrey de Boleyn, having accumulated wealth, was
honoured with knighthood ; and being munificent and
charitable, became popular in London. He bequeathed
one thousand pounds for the " relief of the poor house
holders of the citie of London." The Boleyns were a
provident race in those times ; had always a taste for
" letters," as the crude education of the period was desig
nated; made rich matches in England, and even inter
married with the " English of the Pale beyond the sea ;"
and thus the " Fighting Butlers" of Kilkenny became con
nected with the Boleyns. The great marriage, however,
of this aspiring family was that of Sir Thomas Boleyn with
the young and beautiful Elizabeth Howard, daughter of
the Earl of Surrey.

The Boleyn Family. 87
Sir Thomas Boleyn passed some seven years in the
uninterrupted happiness of his married life. Lady Elizabeth
was a pattern for wives and mothers ; she was beloved by her
own family, and her numerous retainers were devoted in
loyalty to her. She was from childhood imbued with a
deep sense of religion. In her oratory she was to be seen
three times a day, prostrated before the altar. At this time
Sir Thomas Boleyn is represented by his maiden sister to
have been " a zealous and a good Catholic." " Whilst he was
negotiating some matters on the Continent with the Arch
duchess Marguerite, the wife of Sir Thomas Boleyn fell sick,
and her father, the Earl of Surrey, carried her to Howard
House, at Lambeth, where she expired on the 14th of
December, 1512, leaving three children to the charge of a
great-grandfather, a grandmother, and several maiden aunts,
and two uncles who were priests."
Lady Elizabeth Boleyn was buried in the Lady Chapel of
St. Mary's Church, Lambeth, where a monument was
erected over her grave* An old tradition passed through
Lambeth describing Lord Wiltshire (newly created) and his
pensive-looking little girl visiting the grave of his loved wife,
and kneeling there in prayer; one hundred Masses were
celebrated by various clerics for " the health of her soul."
Lord Cobham states that he saw Sir Thomas Boleyn and
his little daughter Nan. frequently visiting the grave of
Lady Elizabeth, in the dark gloomy days of December.
In the sunny month of May, 1513, a bright-eyed, bloom
ing girl, with a face fraught with frank intelligence, might
be seen in the gardens, or seated under the shade of the

* Howard Memorials, by Mr. Howard, of Corby, quoted by Miss Strickland.

88 The Boleyn Family.
hazel-trees, at Hever Castle, sometimes accompanied by her
sister and brother; the elder girl delighted in reading
" poetry and romantic tales of the days of antiquity ;" she
cherished the growth of flowers, and loved to cultivate her
garden. A painstaking French governess never lost sight
of the little group ; they also possessed - an humbler, but
often more pleasing advantage, in another woman, an old
domestic, who watched over them with the tenderness of a
parent. This faithful servant often told the children of
the beauty of their " young mother then in heaven," of
her marriage and her death. The children whom she thus
informed were Anna Boleyn, her sister Mary, and their
brother George. " The little orphans," as their aunt called
them, were very fond of this Mary Orcharde. She was
" little Nan's nurse," and through life had a certain
amount of influence over her foster-child. A handsome
intelligent boy, the son of a neighbouring knight, became
the playmate of the young Boleyns, and he too had a little
sister who also joined the party. Thomas Wryatt and his
sister Margaret made their first acquaintance with Anna in
those pleasant scenes amidst the plantations and gardens of
Hever, and the young poet and the future Queen, as
children, felt incipient love — that half infantine affection
which pure and intellectual young spirits sometimes form.
The acquaintance was partially broken off when Wyatt was
sent to Cambridge University. Anna Boleyn, " the sensible
little woman," as Archbishop Warham styled her, was the
elder of the whole group to whom I have alluded. Sir
Thomas Boleyn had a high opinion of his daughter's talents,
and she was devotedly attached to her ambitious father.
To bring his daughter up at either the English or French
Court was his desire. At this time Queen Katharine was a

The Boleyn Family. 89

fine comely woman, in the very prime of life, full of plea
santry, graceful, and queenly. She did not fear or dream
of having a rival. " Little Nan" was then busy with her
school-books, and in the hours of recreation, perchance,
wandering along the " daisied fields" with her brother and
sister, and towards evening listening with childlike earnest
ness to the fairy tales narrated by her old Norfolk nurse,
Mary Orcharde. The confessor and spiritual instructor
attended the children three days in every week, " when
Anna," writes Margaret Lee, "was examined on historical
incidents associated with Christianity." " I wish I had as
much knowledge as this little girl," was the observation of
a Buckinghamshire squire when he heard the family chaplain
examine Anna upon sacred and profane history. In this
innocent manner the young Boleyns passed some years.
Their education and religious instruction seemed an object
of the deepest solicitude to their father. The young mind
expands ; Nan takes to letter-writing, and despatches by a
trusty messenger the following missive to her admiring
father, then in attendance upon the King : —
" Mt good Papa, — I understand that you wish me to appear at
Court as befits your daughter, and you tell me that her Highness
the Queen will take the pains to see and speak to me. Glad am I
to learn this news. Oh, dear papa, addressing a person so wise and
good as you will make me more than ever wish to write and speak
good French ; the more so as you will be so pleased with me. Allow
me to assure you that I shall do my best to satisfy your hopes. If
this note is badly written please excuse me. It is all my own ; the
spelling out of my own head, while the other notes were written
by dear mamma.* Blanche Simonetti tells me I am left to myself,
that no one may know what I write to you. Pray therefore do

* Sir Thomas Boleyn married a second wife. The date and other circum
stances are unknown. I shall return to this incident again.

90 The Boleyn Family.
not let your superior knowledge stand in my way. As for myself,
be sure I am not so ungrateful as to think you might have left this
thing undone. Be sure it will not lessen the great love I have for
you ; nor need you fear but that I shall lead the holy life which you
desire for me. My love for my dear papa is like a rock, it wont
change from the place where it has a true foundation.
" Dearest papa, craving your blessing, your kindness, your
affection, I now put an end to this my lucubration.
" Written at Hever Castle, by your very humble and obedient
daughter, "Anna de Boulaine." *
Within a year from the writing of this letter Anna
Boleyn was presented at Court; but only noticed as any
other amongst the junior ladies, whom the King styled
" chets." There is much controversy as to Anna's age at
this period ; some contend that she was twelve, others will
have it fourteen, and even sixteen. Judging from circum
stances in connexion with her history, I should say she was
about twelve years and six months old at the time indicated.
Anna's name next appears amongst the English ladies who
accompanied the Princess Mary, the King's sister, to
France. Here again names and dates are questioned. It
is contended that Mary, not Anna Boleyn, was chosen by
the Princess. There can be no doubt that Anna was a
maid-of-honour to the Princess Mary, and lived in France
for some years. In a little book concerning the " tra
velling of the Princess Mary from England to France," the
name of Anna Boleyn occurs. I have modernised the
following quotations : — " The royal party were delayed for
weeks by the severity of the weather. At last they put to

* The above letter is transcribed from Sir Henry Ellis's Royal Letters,
second series ; the original, in the old French, is to be seen in the Parker MSS.
Col., Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

The Boleyn Family. 9 1
sea at four o'clock in the morning; the tempest again
rose, and the ship in which the Princess and her ladies
travelled struck against a rock near Boulogne. They had
just time to get into a boat, and were tossed on the sea for
some hours. The Princess Mary was much affrighted, and
like little Nan de Boulein had a crucifix in her hand,
and was absorbed in prayer. Wrhen the party arrived safe
on the French shore they went to a church to return
thanks for their safe delivery." Rostal, a French con
temporary, states that Anna Boleyn was about fifteen years
of age at this period, *.* but tall for her time, and given to
devotion and honour to the Virgin Mother. She was a
distant dame, and always kept about her young mistress,
who had a love for all her maidens."
Mucli has been written against the reputation of Mary
Boleyn. Lingard positively contends that Henry had formed
a dishonourable attachment for Mary Boleyn. Reginald
Pole also joins in the condemnation of this lady. Sander
and others of a proximate date make similar statements.
Burnet, however, expresses his disbelief of the allegation.
Lord Campbell looks upon Mary Boleyn as a woman of
bad repute; and J. H. Blunt holds the same opinion.
Miss Strickland, however, makes out a good case for the
accused lady. If the scandal concerning her was well-
founded, then according to canon law a marriage between
her sister Anna and the King would have been null and
void. Cranmer, in pronouncing the divorce between the
King and Queen Anna, did so on the ground of a " previous
contract existing between Anna and Lord Percy," which
contract Lord Percy solemnly denied.
Mary Boleyn was not a woman of strong mind or fixed
principles ; she was possessed of much of her sister's vanity,

92 The Boleyn Family.
but little of the family ambition. Becoming a widow
whilst her sister occupied a throne, Mary quietly married
some obscure person, and was outlawed by her family.
I must now enter upon an investigation of the shocking nar
rative put forward by Sander against the stainless character
of Lady Elizabeth Boleyn. This writer, whose reputation
for truth is on a par with that of John Foxe, alleges that
Lady Elizabeth Boleyn made a confession to her husband
that she had " criminal intercourse with King Henry ; and
that the monarch was the father of her daughter Anna."
The allegations of Sander have been, added to by Campion,
Throckmorton, Allen, and other violent partisans on the
Catholic side. Truth, however, must not be concealed, for
it triumphs in the long run. Justice should be measured
out to all parties with an even and a firm hand. Dr. Lingard
gave much consideration to this shocking story, and pro
nounced the statement to have no foundation in fact.
The question, he contends, " is abundantly disproved by
Racine."* Dates, however, form the most important key
to facts. Anna Boleyn was born about the close of 1501 ;
Camden contends that it was 1507 ; Lord Herbert states
expressly that Anna was twenty years old when she re
turned from France in 1521 ; so that she must have been
born about 1501. The researches of Miss Strickland arrive
at the same conclusion. Mr. Hepworth Dixon approaches
this subject with a chivalrous indignation, and states that
the " whole edifice of slander rests on a false date." He
argues the question with the ability and enthusiasm which
characterise his mode of defence.

* Lingard, vol. iv. p. 476.

The Boleyn Family. 93

" It was not," writes Miss Strickland, " till long after
the grave had closed over Lady Boleyn that the malignant
spirit of party attempted to fling an absurd scandal on her
memory, by pretending that Anna Boleyn was the offspring
of her amours with the King during the absence of Sir
Thomas Boleyn on an embassy to France. But, indepen
dently of the fact that Sir Thomas Boleyn was not ambas
sador to France till many years after the birth of all his
children, Henry VIII. was a boy under the care of his
tutors at the period of Anna's birth, even if that event took
place in the year 1507, the date given by Sander."* The
reader is already aware that Henry, Duke of York, who
appeared at the wedding of the Infanta and Prince Arthur,
in November, 1501, was at that period in his tenth year.
Is it not then quite manifest that Sander has put forward
an untrue statement, in order to add intensity to sectarian
feeling — a sentiment that should be avoided in historical
relations ?
Sander has impeached the character of Anna Boleyn
whilst connected with the French Court. At the time
Anna left the convent at Brief her character was without
" spot or stain ; the tongue of slander did not touch her."
Such were the words of one of her loved schoolfellows,
who was in after years an abbess.
Protestant and Catholic writers agree in stating that
Queen Claude was a truly amiable and religious woman.J

* Queens of England, vol. ii.
t A convent frequented by English ladies to finish their education.
J Queen Claude was the daughter of Louis XII. by Anne of Bretagne.
Claude was a homely little woman, plain in face as she was good in heart ;
pious, charitable, and benevolent, without worldly pride or ostentation.

94 The Boleyn Family.
Here is Miss Strickland's picture of Queen Claude's Court
— very unlike that of her slanderers : " Queen Claude was
always surrounded by a number of young ladies, who
walked in procession with her to Mass, and formed part of her
State whenever she appeared in public. In private life she
directed their labours at the loom or in embroidery frame,
and endeavoured by every means in her power to give a
virtuous and devotional bias to their thoughts and conver
sation. The society of gentlemen was prohibited to these
maidens.."* With this good Queen and her ladies Anna
spent some six years : she was much regarded by her royal
mistress, and beloved by those fair maidens with whom she
was associated.
About this time Francis the First incidentally alludes to
Anna in a letter to his ambassador in London : — " Made
moiselle de Bouleine is a credit to her father ; she is dis
creet and modest ; and it is hinted amongst the Court
ladies that she desires above all things to be a nun. This
I should regret."
The young English ladies fondly called Anna " Sister
Nan." When at last a " command came from Hever
Castle for her return, all the little maidens, the stately
dames of quality, and the various domestics fell a-weeping."
This was the time and the place where Sander and other
untruthful writers describe Anna Boleyn as " leading an
impure life."

* Brant6me; Queens of England, vol. ii. p. 571.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 95

CHAPTER IX.
WOLSEY AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
Leo the Tenth did not wish to elevate Dr. Wolsey to the
rank of a Cardinal. Polydore Vergil and Hadrian were
the secret enemies of Wolsey, and as both were in the
Imperialist interest, they influenced the Pontiff for a time.
There is still preserved in the Vatican a letter from King
Henry, seeking the long- desired honour for his favourite
minister. In this missive to the Pontiff the English
sovereign begs of him to pay the same attention to
whatever Wolsey says as if it proceeded from his own
lips ; he expresses his " extreme anxiety and fervent desire
for the day when he shall see Thomas Wolsey advanced to
the rank of Cardinal — a dignity he fully deserves for his
genius, learning, and many admirable qualities."
The courtly Leo hesitated to offend either Maximilian or
the French monarch, who required similar honours for
their own favourites. At length the Pope wrote to Henry,
stating that he could no longer refuse the request of so
" faithful a son of the Church," as Henry was then
acknowledged to be.
When the English monarch received intelligence of
Wolsey's promotion to be a prince of the Church he was
delighted, and writing to the Pope, he stated : " Nothing
in all my life has given me greater pleasure than the brief
announcing Thomas Wolsey's elevation to the College of

96 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
Cardinals. I shall ever regard the distinction your Holi
ness has conferred upon my most worthy subject as a
favour conferred upon myself."* It is generally supposed,
and has often been asserted by historians, that Wolsey had
been long " bribing and intriguing," in order to pave the
way to the rank to which he aspired ; but a diligent
search of the State Papers bearing on the case prove that
he did not seek the honour so coveted by others, and that
it was mainly at the request of Henry, although the Pontiff
was aware of Wolsey's claims to the distinction. The
installation took place at Westminster Abbey, with all the
magnificence of the Roman ritual.t Peers and commoners
flocked thither to pay him homage; abbots, bishops, monks,
friars, and seculars were present on the occasion ; and the
proceedings of the day concluded with a sumptuous banquet
at the newly-made Cardinal's palace, at which King Henry
and Queen Katharine were present, surrounded by the
flower of the English nobility. There were, the chroniclers
say, abbots, bishops, knights, esquires, and titled dames, all
seated at the festive board. Nor were the crowd without
forgotten ; they were also regaled with a profuseness so
pleasing to the multitude.
" Modern philosophy," observes Dr. Brewer, " despises
Lord Mayor's gilt-coaches and Cardinals' hats, but the
philosophy of that age was different. Men delighted in
such shows without stopping to reason about them. Even
men who cannot eschew honours, and do not care for them,

* Brewer's State Papers.
f Dean Collet preached an eloquent sermon on the occasion. Archbishop
Warham and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, were the chief officiating
prelates.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 97
may in time not only accept but esteem them. Indeed,
monarchs borrow honour from the repute of their trusted
servants ; and at this period of Henry's life, the King and
his great subject might feel gratified with a concession in
whose attainment mutual esteem seemed so largely to
participate. It is not much in the heart of man of a lofty
nature, to be insensible of honours on occasions like this.
Wolsey soon loved the dignity ; at first for his own and the
King's sake, and then for its authority — perhaps for its
splendour. Since the days of Archbishop Morton, no
Cardinal had been resident in England, for Bainbridge lived
in Italy ;* and the new Cardinal of York, recognising the
loftiness of his dignity, was resolved to invest his office
with a magnificence rarely witnessed, even on the Conti
nent. The King seconded his favourite's plans for a large
retinue and superb liveries. Both monarch and minister
were men of refined and elegant taste ; and the people
unmistakably felt well pleased in their insular pride at
gazing on the pageants issuing in stately splendour from
Greenwich and old Whitehall. Even in that age of
gorgeous ceremonial, "before cold Puritan sentimentalism
had insisted on the unrighteousness of lawn sleeves," when
records were filled with elaborate recitals of cloth of gold,

* Soon after the accession of Henry VIII. the Council deemed it prudent
to have a representative in Rome to look after the afi'airs of the English
Church. Bainbridge, who then filled the see of York, was selected for this
high office. In his new position Dr. Bainbridge contrived to please both the
English King and the Roman Pontiff. In 1511 he received a Cardinal's hat.
He never returned to England. Bainbridge died in 1514, from poison admi
nistered by a domestic. There are several versions of this story extant, all
more or less tiDged by a sectarian feeling. Cardinal Bainbridge bequeathed
twenty thousand golden ducats towards the building of St. Peter's at Rome.
VOL. I. H

98 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
silks, and beautiful tapestries — even then, amidst jewelled
mitres and copes, a Cardinal in his scarlet robes formed a
conspicuous object. But Wolsey was in no manner swayed
by the vulgar vanity of appearing grand, in that light in
which the ignorant or the superficial behold the surroundings
of a great man. Magnificent in all his notions and in all
his doings — in the selection of plate, dress, tapestry, pic
tures, buildings ; the furniture of a chapel, a church, or a
palace ; the arranging of gardens, of flowers, of fountains ;
the setting of a ring, or the arrangement of some exquisite
jewel ; the forms and etiquette of a congress ; a procession
in heraldic order; or a sumptuous banquet — there was the
same regal and classic taste prevailing ; the same powerful
grasp of little things and of great affairs ; a mind, a soul as
" capacious as the sea, and as minute as the sand upon the
shore, when minuteness was required," he could do nothing
petty, nothing mean.*
Such was the character of the great English Prince-
Bishop. He went far to civilise the British nobles ; to
elevate the taste of the commercial classes, and accustom
the people to distinguish between the barbaric profusion of
the past and the treasures of beauty which science and art,
working with the same materials, now opened to their
awakening discernment. On no occasion did the univer
sality of Wolsey's genius for organisation display itself
more signally than at the meeting of the French and
English monarchs on the " Field of the Cloth of Gold."t
* Brewer's State Papers.
+ Henry's retinue amounted to 3997 persons, and 2110 horses ; the Queen's
to 1200, and 778 horses ; Wolsey's attendants were numerous, and the appoint
ments classic and grand. Budaeun, an eminent Greek scholar and traveller,
who was a spectator of the royal meetings, describes the astonishment he fe'*
on viewing such scenes of unparalleled magnificence.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 99
There Wolsey was studied by all — and to all seemed
inexhaustible in the graces of his bearing and the aptitude
of his arrangements.
Of the personal appearance and disposition of Wolsey
about this time (1519), perhaps the despatches of Sebastian
Giustiniani are the most correct : " He is now about forty-
six years of age, very handsome, learned, extremely eloquent,
of vast ability, and indefatigable in carrying out his pro
jects; he alone transacts the same business as that which
occupies all the magisteries and councils of Venice, both
civil and criminal ; and all State affairs are managed by him
likewise, let their nature be what it may; he is pensive, and
has the reputation of being extremely just ; he is the
Councillor who rules both the King and the entire realm ;
his enemies accounted him haughty and imperious, yet
much more humility and moderation than Wolsey possessed
could scarcely have escaped the imputation. Such a sight
as this Cardinal presented was not common to the eyes of
Christendom. The great nobles could obtain no audience
of him until after four or five applications ; foreign
ambassadors not even then." " He is omnipotent," says
Erasmus, writing to Cardinal Grunoni. "All the power
of the State is centred in him," is the observation of
Giustiniani; "he is, in fact, ipse rex." The people declared
he was moved by " witchcraft, or something that no man
could discover." " Yet," says Dr. Brewer, " undisputed as
was the supremacy of this great minister, it was surely no
more than might have been expected. In genius, in
penetration, in aptitude for business, and indefatigable
labour, he had no equal. All despatches addressed to
ambassadors abroad or at home passed through his hands ;
h %

ioo Wolsey and his Contemporaries.

the entire political correspondence of the times was sub
mitted to his perusal and waited for his decision. Before
a single measure was submitted to the Privy Council it was
first shaped by Wolsey's hands ; he managed it, unaided
and alone, when it had passed their approval." Foxe
(Bishop of Winchester), the only minister of any experience,
seldom attended ; "the Duke of Suffolk dared not offer
him opposition," writes a distinguished Spanish grandee.
The Duke of Norfolk, who had endeavoured, and once had
partly succeeded in thwarting the Cardinal's authority, had
been defeated and yielded ; he was too haughty to conceal
a temper not less imperious than Wolsey's, and wanted the
flexibility and courtesy of manner required in a successful
courtier. Wolsey was " hated by the nobles, knights, and
esquires ;" he incurred the enmity of the lawyers for
sustaining the part of the poor client ; by the monopolists
and commercial people, for checking their dishonest deeds ;
he was respected and loved by his clergy, for the kindness
and equity with which he governed the diocese of York
and his other ecclesiastical preferments. His enemies were
numerous at home and abroad, but Polydore Vergil was
the most malignant and persistent in falsehood. He was
deputy-collector of the Pope's annates for Cardinal Hadrian
in England, and Wolsey having discovered bis misappropria
tion of Papal moneys, and intriguing with foreign factions,
imprisoned him in the Tower. Hence the cause of his
enmity* Polydore's imprisonment and subsequent conduct
are worthy of consideration. He remained for nine months
in prison, though repeated applications came from the Pope
in his favour. In his captivity he addressed the most

Brewer's State Papers.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 101
abject letters to Wolsey for mercy. He told the Cardinal
" he had heard with rapture of his elevation to the
Cardinal's high estate, and whenever his Eminence would
allow him an opportunity to present himself, he would gaze
and bow in adoration, and his spirit should rejoice in him
as in God his Saviour !" In another letter Polydore prayed
that his "punishment might be wholly remitted, and
Wolsey's gifts be perfected in him, even as he himself was
perfect." In a few months subsequent (1516) Polydore
Vergil was liberated by the Cardinal; he then retired to
Hertford, and commenced the inditing of a series of attacks
on the reputation of Wolsey. He affected "to sneer at
his birth ; charged him with ingratitude and unkindness to
his friends ; described his buildings as those of a person
possessed ef no refined taste; imputed base or sordid
motives to him as a judge ; ridiculed his Cardinal's hat and
his gorgeous liveries ; represented him as an ambitious
priest, successful only because he was unscrupulous ; dis»
tinguished merely for his underhand intrigues in banishing
Dr. Foxe and Archbishop Warham from the Council
Chamber ; he was neither a scholar nor a gentleman, but
a respectable sort of hedge priest ; a blusterer in Chancery,
whose administration of justice was a shadow ; a vulgar
upstart, intoxicated with dignities undeserved ; a parvenu,
whose brain was turned by his gilded chair, the gold
fringes of his cushion and tablecloth ; his Cardinal's hat,
which was carried before him by some tall fellow in his
livery, and placed conspicuously on the high altar in the
Chapel Royal when Mass was sung, was another proof of
his vanity and hypocrisy."* In this strain Vergil writes
* Brewer's State Papers.

102 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
of the man whom but a few months before he declared to
be endowed with every virtue that could adorn the State
or the Church. In a subsequent chapter the reader will
see more as tQ the general merits of this unamiable
foreigner. Many statements have been chronicled of the
" low birth and presumption of the butcher's dog." Lam
poons and caricatures were circulated by Wolsey's con
temporaries, describing him as the son of a " petty butcher."
But these stories had no foundation in fact ; his father,
Robert Wolcey, was what would be styled nowadays a
" grazier ;" he fed on his own land some two hundred head
of cattle, which were purchased by the butchers of the
neighbouring towns. In one year a number of his cows
died of distemper, which for a time embarrassed the
family. The Wolceys were never rich, but the family was
always respectable and loyal to the Plantagenets and their
successors. There is an entry of an " offering" extant,
which was made at St. Laurence's Church, Ipswich, to
" pray for the sowls of Robert Wolcey and his wife Joan,
the father and mother of the Dean of Lincoln ;" which
shows that the family were far above the rank of a butcher
— a class who were considered " lowly and mean" in those
days. Besides, his father made a will, in which there is
no mention of the occupation of a butcher. Polydore
Vergil reiterates the assertion of Skelton and others as to
the " saucy son of the greasy butcher ;" yet, in a letter to
Cardinal Hadrian, Polydore states that he " heard from an
old inhabitant of Suffolk that the Cardinal's father was a
poor gentleman who sold cattle to butchers."
Anthony Wood, an excellent authority, indignantly
denies that Wolsey was " a butcher's son." He states

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 103
that the family, however, reduced in circumstances, " made a
shift to maintain at Oxford young Wolsey, where he
became a Batchelor of Arts at fifteen years of age (1485),
having made a wonderful progress in logic and phylosophy."
Featherstone, a learned monk, who resided in Ipswich about
1480, speaks of a reduced squire named Wolci, who fattened
cattle for butchers on his grass near the town. Weston,
a London merchant, in his " Rambles about Ipswich," speaks
of the " fat cattle he saw feeding on the lands of Maister
Wolci." Weston visited Ipswich in the summer of 1483.
Thomas Wolsey was an accomplished Latin scholar ;
and though he had a distaste for theology, Polydore Vergil
admits that he " did not lack abilities as a theologian."
Skelton was, if possible, more gross in his remarks 1 !. an
Polydore. He describes the Cardinal as a " mastiff cu r,"
" a butcher's dog," " a man with a greasy genealogy c ast
out of a butcher's stall." And again Maister Skelton says —
" He ruleth all the roast,
With bragging and with boast."
Another accusation against him was that of " eating
meat in Lent and other prohibited times ;" on which the
lampoon ran — " In Lent, for a repast,
He eateth capons stewed,
Pheasant and partridge mewed."
Skelton's impeachment had its origin in the fact that
Wolsey had a cold, weak stomach, and his physicians were
of opinion that it was absolutely necessary he should daily
"partake of fowl cooked in divers ways, and no fish."*

Carlo Logario, on the Cardinal's diet.

104 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
Nevertheless, he did not adopt their instructions until he
had obtained permission from Leo X. The impeachments
multiplied, but all were mean and petty. I cannot accept
the evidence of Skelton ; he was a lying, vindictive man.
On his deathbed he made a public confession that his life
was most immoral. He was the friend of Simon Fish, which
is quite sufficient to form an estimate of his merits.
Giustiniani alleges that two brothers of Wolsey were
presented to lucrative livings in the Church under " dis
creditable circumstances;" but the research of Dr. Brewer
throws a different light on the subject. " I have," he says,
" found no notice of either brother, or any other member
of Wolsey's family, with one exception, receiving livings.
There is a petition to the Cardinal from one John Fayre-
child, son of Elizabeth Wolsey, the Cardinal's sister, desiring
some small place as comptroller of the works at Tournai ;
but the applicant's name does not occur again in connection
with any office."
"Proud and haughty," as Wolsey has been described,
there were some persons who took the liberty of admonish
ing him, amongst whom was Dr. Fisher. Jerningham, too,
writes to him, " complimenting his Eminence on his taste
for music ;" and in the same letter he tells him he was
"too fond of strong drinks." This accusation was once
made by Archbishop Warham, and contradicted by Fisher,
and also by Cavendish, who was in daily intercourse with
the Cardinal. Another charge was, that he " loved the
society of young gentlemen, and entered into their boisterous
amusements, and sang and danced with tbem," and " did
not reverently mix with old people." He must, however,
have felt a greater pleasure in the society of those young

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 105

gentlemen, whose minds were cultivated and stored with
learning under his own instruction, than in that of
" drunken, dicing lords," the " austere monks of churlish
manners," or the dull canon who rarely wandered beyond
the boundary of his parish. Few men holding such high
and almost irresponsible offices had so many enemies ;
fewer still, possessed of so much power, did so little to
merit the hostility of the people at large.
Foreigners, especially Italians, complained that Wolsey was
"hard of access ; thathe displayed his reseutment too openly;
that he adopted too imperious a style for a subject ; that he
identified himself too much with his own political measures,
and proportioned his anger and gratitude accordingly." *
These statements are, in some instances, exaggerated; indeed,
the tales of Polydore Vergil have been embellished by others.
Little can be said of Wolsey's merits as a priest till the
period of his political fall ; but as a statesman he transcended
all the ministers of his age. His conduct towards Queen
Katharine, however, presents his character in a lament
able light. It has been contended that he did no more
than Gardyner, Bonner, Tunstal, Edward Foxe, and other
political clerics, to promote the King's views ; but it must
be remembered that these men were, in the early stages of
the divorce litigation, merely the agents of Wolsey ; besides,
the majority of the bishops and chapters were favourable
to the King's views, more perhaps from fear than con
viction. There seems, however, to be mystery and incon
sistency in the conduct of Wolsey regarding the divorce.
It is impossible to defend his conduct in this case. A letter

* Brewer's State Papers, vol. i.

106 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
from the Cardinal to Pope Clement is still extant, describing
Anna Boleyn in glowing terms — her " goodness, her virtue,
and her attachment tothe olden creed."* There is reason
to believe that Anna saw this letter before her kinsman,
Sir Francis Bryan,- presented it to the Pontiff. The Pope
was not deceived; he had his agents in England — nay,
in the King's palace. The Roman policy was that of
"delay." It is stated that when the King revealed to Wolsey his
intention of marrying Anna Boleyn, the Cardinal uttered a
shriek, and fell at his royal master's feet. The monarch
was alarmed, and raising him up, spoke in kindly terms,
and recurred to their early friendship. The question was
again submitted to him by the King, but the Cardinal
would not agree. He "knelt before his Highness for
hours, appealing to his pride and honour as a monarch,
not to enter upon ' this marriage ; but found his great
powers of persuasion fruitless." f Then, like a courtier, he
affected a wish to promote the King's union with Anna
Boleyn; still he urged delay, alleging etiquette and other
matters as an excuse.
This statement does not agree with the scene between
the Cardinal and Lord Percy, in which Wolsey's conduct
appears in a very suspicious light. In a subsequent chapter
I shall recur to the Cardinal's interview with Percy.
Guicciardini states that the Cardinal of York had more
than once sought to convert Pope Clement's " embarrass
ments into an enlargement of his own political and eccle-

* State Papers (Foreign).
t Cavendish ; Logario's Narratives of Wolsey.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 107
siastical power ;" and Le Grand, another good authority,
makes similar statements, whieh are borne out by the
Cardinal's own confidential correspondence. One of his
last letters to Sir Gregorie Cassalis (July, 1529), if it means
anything, or was not written to please the King, is de
cidedly in favour of the divorce. He threatens the Pontiff
with the military power of England if he does not " settle
the question within the King's own realm." " Nor shall
it," he added, " ever be seen that the King's cause shall be
ventilated or decided in any place out of his own realm ;
but that if his Highness should come at any time to the
Court of Rome, he would do the same with such a main
and army royal as should be formidable to the Pope and all
Italy."* In this despatch Wolsey wrote as the proud
English statesman, not as the Roman Cardinal. When in
the zenith of his power, he evinced scant respect for the
spiritual head of his Church. At one . time he undertook
to " mould" Leo the Tenth entirely to the wishes of King
Henry and his allies. " Blind men," he observed, " need
a guide ;" and he made no doubt of his ability to lead the
Pope.f Boastful as was this sarcasm concerning the
dilettante and princely Pontiff, it was not altogether without
reason. Nevertheless, after a long diplomatic contest,
carried on between Pope and Cardinal in a mode not quali
fied to edify those who looked to them for less terrestrial
practices, circumstances seem to have obliterated all
traces of victory or defeat. Fighting with political foils,
the fortune of the contest was various ; and at length

* State Papers (Foreign), vol. vii. p. 193 ; Cavendish, Lingard, vol. v. ;
Gardyner's Despatches. t Brewer's State Papers.

1 08 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
Pope and Cardinal appear to have concurred in a drawn
battle. At a later period, Clement's secretary writes to Cam
peggio, expressing the confidence which his Holiness had in
the devotion of Wolsey to the interests of the Church. If
Wolsey held no political office under his Sovereign, the
Pontiff might have placed more confidence in him as a
Churchman ; but both, however, were politicians of a high
and intellectual school. One cannot help reflecting how
much the spiritual interests of the Church were neglected,
and the virtue, truth, and honour of her ecclesiastics
injured by intermingling in the turmoil and deceit of
politics. The Bishop of Bayonne relates that Wolsey contemplated
a marriage between King Henry and Madame Rene, a
daughter of Louis XII. — " only eighteen years of age,
amiable and handsome."* This scheme ended in a failure,
the particulars of which have never been accurately re
corded. It is certain that Wolsey proposed the widow of
the Due d' Alencon as a suitable wife for his royal master ;
but when the question was privately made known to the
Princess, she indignantly refused to listen to the proposal,
adding, that " a marriage between her and the King of
England could not be solemnised without shame to herself,
and wretchedness and death to Queen Katharine, whose
character as a wife and a Queen no one had ever ques-
tioned."t There is evidence enough to prove that for some
years the Cardinal was in favour of the divorce of Katharine,

* Le Grand, App. pp. 158-166.
f Le Grand, Lingard, vol. iv.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 1 09

if the consent of the Court of Rome were given to it. He
had no objection to coerce the Pontiff, or make representa
tions to create alarm ; he viewed the question for a time as a
politician ; but seeing the revolutionary sentiments of some
of those who advocated the divorce, he suddenly hesitated
to place himself in absolute antagonism to the head of his
Church. This incident is a proof — if one were necessary —
that he had no direct sympathies with the few Reformers who
were at that time fighting their battle under the cowardly dis
guise and unjust banner ofthe divorce question. From obvious
reasons, however, historians differ on this delicate matter.
Lord Herbert affirms that one of the articles of impeach
ment against Wolsey was, " that by connivance he en
couraged the growth of heresy, and protected and acquitted
some notorious delinquents against the Church." The
same writer observes, that " no one believed one-third of
the charges preferred against the Cardinal of York ;" and
Hume contends that the disciples of the Reformation met
with Httle severity during the administration of Wolsey.
The shrewd Cavendish, who " noted every scene, and listened
with all his ears" to what occurred between Kingston and
the Cardinal, in his last farewell address, states that Wolsey
" sent a solemn warning to the King, to have a vigilant eye
to the proceedings of that new and pernicious sect, called
Lutherans; that they may not increase in his dominions
through his own negligence."
After a long pause, the Cardinal, looking steadfastly at
Kingston, said : " When I am dead, the King, and many
others too, will remember my words." Mr. Froude has his
own peculiar views of the question at issue. He states
that "the Reformers did not love the Cardinal of York,

no Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
and they had no reason to love him." In another passage
Mr. Froude remarks : " Before a year had passed, the
Protestants would gladly have accepted again the hated
Cardinal, to escape the philosophic mercies of Sir Thomas
More." And again, Mr. Froude says : " The number of
English Protestants at this time it is difficult to conjec
ture." A very candid acknowledgment. The learned
gentleman's statements rest upon the authority of MSS.
in the Rolls House, which is in some respects correct,
although at variance with State Papers bearing on those
times. The organisation of disaffected and communistic
men under the title of " Christian Brothers," was as near
to the Protestant Church as the factious and seditious
Lollards of the days of Henry IV., whose claims to Pro
testant principles Dean Hook has investigated and disposed
of.* Mr. Froude makes another admission as to the con
dition of affairs in 1 528. " No rival theology," he writes,
" had as yet shaped itself into formularies. "t Yet our
brilliant historian deplores the persecution of Protestantism
at this very time ! Another instance of this delusion as to
historical facts occurs in Lord Campbell's account of Sir
Thomas More's trial. After lamenting the verdict pro
nounced by a London jury — a jury chosen by Lord Crum
well's agents — the noble author says : " But it is possible
that being all zealous Protestants, who looked with detesta
tion on our intercourse with the Pope, and considering that
the King's supremacy could not be honestly doubted, they
concluded that by convicting a Papist they should be doing

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi.
+ Froude's History of England, vol. ii. p. 71.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 1 1 1
good service to religion and the State ; and that, misled by
the sophistry and eloquence of the presiding judge (Audley),
they believed that they returned an honest verdict."*
England, however, was just as little Protestant when More
went to the scaffold as at the time of Wolsey's fall. Dr.
Brewer, who must be considered a high authority on the
subject in dispute, states that Lutheranism appears to have
been almost unknown in England when Wolsey was at the
pinnacle of his power. How the Cardinal could have
encouraged, as Lord Herbert and Hume say, or persecuted,
as alleged by Mr. Froude — men whose religion he acknow
ledges not to have been fashioned till the next reign — I
leave to be digested by the reader. In fact, twenty years
after Wolsey's death (1549-50), "eleven-twelfths of the
English nation still retained a strong attachment to the
creed of their fathers."f This statement is not only borne
out by the record of the time, but is also confirmed by
the private letters of the leading Reformers themselves.
Here is a confidential note written by a member of King
Edward's Council, on the 7th of July, 1549, to the Pro
tector Somerset : — " The use of the old religion" (says Sir
William Paget) " is forbidden by law, and the use of the
new one is not yet fixed in the stomachs of eleven or (of)
twelve parts of the realm, no matter what countenance men
make outwardly, to please those whom they see the power
resteth in."\ This State Paper, which even John Strype
quotes, is a pretty strong proof that More's jury were

Lord Campbell's Chancellors of England, vol. i. p. 575.
t State Papers of Edward VI. 's Reign.
X Strype's Memorials, vol. ii. p. 100.

112 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
swayed far more by their instant fears than by their possible
Protestantism. I cannot omit noticing, however briefly, a few of
Wolsey's contemporaries. Another clerical diplomatist
enters upon the scene in the person of the Reverend
Richard Pace. Dr. Pace was one of the remarkable men
connected with the government of Henry VIIL, and was
long employed in foreign diplomacy. Historians make
little mention of his name, and he is seldom noticed, except
to be described as " a knave or a fool." He was very far
from being either. He was faithful, honourable, and
patriotic, as an English diplomatic agent ; yet several
historians question his integrity, and show little knowledge
of the inner man. Bergenroth,* a very reputable autho
rity, states that Pace was friendly to the Emperor Maximi
lian, and subsequently became the secret agent of the
intriguing and restless Charles V. These statements rest
upon a memorandum, found at Corunna, of the Emperor's
Council, in which it was proposed to offer Wolsey " a sop
in the mouth," and, "if he accepts it, a pension to Dr.
Richard Pace."
There is no evidence, however, produced by Bergenroth
to show that these offers were ever made, still less that they
were accepted. A distinguished commentator upon the
correspondence and secret foreign papers of those times,
presents an ably written memoir of the diplomacy, tact,
and rare ability with which Pace and Wolsey maintained
the interests and the honour of England on the Continent.t
Notwithstanding the friendship which existed between the

* Bergenroth's State Papers of England and Spain, vol. ii.
t Dr. Brewer's State Papers, vols, i., ii., iii., part ii.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 1 1 3
Cardinal of York and Dr. Pace, a failure in some diplomatic
affair brought upon the latter from the strong hand of
Wolsey a consignment to the Tower for two years — a
proof that no skill, no previous accord, condoned mistakes
made in certain kingdoms.
During the meeting of Henry, Francis, and their Queens
at the " Cloth of Gold," Pace, as the Dean of St. Paul's,
preached before the allies the Latin sermon, in the Royal
Chapel. In his discourse he congratulated France and
England on the meeting of their Sovereigns, and made an
eloquent oration on the blessings of peace. The religious
ceremony on this occasion was grand and imposing. Two
Cardinals, two Legates, four Archbishops, and ten Bishops,
were iu attendance on Wolsey who sang the High Mass.
The " air was perfumed with incense and flowers," and the
altars of the Church were hung with cloth of gold tissue,
embroidered with pearls ; cloth of gold covered the walls
and desks, basins and censers, cruets, and other vessels of
the same materials lent a lustre to its service. On the
grand altar, shaded by a magnificent canopy of large
proportions, stood twenty-four enormous candlesticks, and
other ornaments of solid gold. Twelve golden images of
the Apostles, as large as children of four years old,
astonished the sight of the English visitors. The copes
and vestments of the officiating prelates were cloth of tissue
powdered with red roses, brought from the looms of
Florence, and woven in one piece, thickly studded with
gold, precious stones, and jewellery. The " seats and other
appointments" were of corresponding taste and splendour."

* Dr. Brewer's State Papers.
VOL. I. I

1 1 4 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
A proud contemplation to the English onlooker to
behold Wolsey, as the Cardinal of York, standing at the
great altar of this regal chapel, pronouncing the benedic
tion, surrounded by four Archbishops, two Legates, ten
inferior prelates, two Kings and their Queens, with the
nobles and fair dames of England and France kneeling in
the royal presence ; then, as they rose, the sudden burst of
enchanting music, the roar of artillery, and the acclamations
of the multitude without.*
To return to Dr. Pace. He was born in Hampshire in
1482 ; received his early education at Padua, and sub
sequently graduated at Oxford; next, he held the office of
Latin secretary to Cardinal Bainbridge, and resided in
Rome for some time ; when, recalled by his Sovereign, he
entered on the diplomatic service. In this department of
government he was eminently successful ; he was appointed
Dean of Exeter, and also of St. Paul's.
Both in matters of Church and State his administrative
powers were considerable ; he was a man of stern principles,
courtly and elegant in his address, unostentatious, benevo
lent, affable, and condescending. He was an uncompro
mising enemy of the " new learning/' and wrote a book on
the " lawfulness of Queen Katharine's marriage." Know
ing what would be the consequences of such a publication
he resigned his livings in Church and State, and retired

* On this memorable occasion there knelt behind the French Queen a sweet-
featured maiden, then in the early spring of life, whose mind seemed engrossed
with pious influences ; wrapped in devotion, she appeared all unconscious of
her beautiful presence, her speaking eyes turned heavenwards, and her rich
black hair reaching in silken ringlets to her girdle. This, the fairest amongst
the galaxy of beauty present, was Nan de Rolein — the beloved of Queen
Claude— little dreaming then of her wayward fate.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. i j 5
to Stepney, where he passed the remainder of his days
" amidst books and flowers." He died in 1532, enjoying to
his death the esteem and friendship of such men as Erasmus,
More, and Pole.*
Next in importance to Pace stood Sir Robert Wingfield,
who had been a long time Ambassador at the Court of the
Emperor Maximilian. He was more remarkable for fidelity
to his country and for his own personal integrity than for
diplomatic subtlety. He was no match for the wily German
monarch, who was able to read the mind of the envoy, and
improve the knowledge to his own advantage.
Sir Robert Wingfield belonged to a class of statesmen
then rapidly disappearing before a younger, more versatile,
and expert generation, of whom Wolsey might be considered
the chief. He speaks of himself as Uving in the days of
Henry VI. — of his long experience as a negociator — of the
white hairs " which he had gotten in the cold snowy
mountains of Germany, which have the power to make all
hares and partridges that abide amongst them, where my
beard (which I have promised to bear to our Lady of
Walsingham, an' God give me life) is wax so white, that
whilst I shall wear it I need none other means to cause
women rejoice little in my company." He had the quaint-
ness and precision of a man of a then old school, and both
are visible in his conversation, his letters, and his hand
writing, with a tinge of pedantry not unbecoming a man of
his years, and displaying itself in the use of Latinized
English and classical references. He was a little proud of
himself, but more proud of the Wingfields, as he was

* Dr. Brewer's State Papers, vols. i. ii. iii. Part ii.
i2

1 1 6 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
bound to be ; was easily hurt, but bore no malice. " If
there was any creature in the world that he hated, it was a
Frenchman. He devoutly believed that the French had
been at the bottom of all the evils that had happened in
Christendom during the last four hundred years  He
was, in short, the most guileless, upright, humane, and
valiant of all bachelor knights, as he called himself; stiff
and formal, somewhat conceited and pedantical, but full of
a frise, gracious, hearty, and forgiving humanity, which was
not the worse because it had a leaven of his peculiar .
failings. I know not whether it was more to his credit or
Maximilian's that he had been so long in the Court of the
latter, and yet persisted in believing that the Emperor was
the best, the wisest, the most profound, the most honest
and patriotic of mortal men. 'Seeing is believing;' but
no seeing would have converted Wingfield. Had he beheld
the Emperor in the very act of the most flagrant turpitude
he would have set it down to the score of a subtle and
inscrutable policy designed to cover some act of sublime
virtue, which in the end would ensure the peace and the
happiness of Christendom. If the Emperor ' ran away
from the battle-field,' if he falsified his word, if he shuffled
and prevaricated, Sir Robert Wingfield imputed it all to
that mysterious wisdom which must needs reside in the
heart of an Emperor. Maximilian, though no genius him
self, found little difficulty in managing such a man. To
Wingfield he was universally respectful; listened to his
tedious speeches without betraying signs of impatience, and
treated him occasionally with profuse courtesy. He pro
fessed to make Sir Robert Wingfield the depository of his
secrets; to unbosom to him those deeper feelings and

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 1 1 7

designs he could trust to no others, not even to his most
intimate councillors. To the proud and susceptible English
man he spoke of his King in ' the most hearty and affectuous
manner ;' raised his bonnet when he received or referred to
his despatches ; had tears in his eyes when he thought what
a virtuous, loving, and noble son he had in Wingfield's
master. The King's remembrances, he said, were as com
fortable to him ' as the figure of the crucifix which is
brought by the Cure to his parishioner that lieth in
extremis.' "*
The study of the diplomatic correspondence of Wolsey's
time enables Dr. Brewer to form an opinion of the mode
in which the Cardinal managed his agents abroad. " An
inferior man," he writes, " would have dismissed Wingfield
from his post ; would have made a fuss, and superseded
him. Not so he : to the credit of this period of Henry's
reign a freedom of opinion and dissent was allowed in
official men which disappeared shortly afterwards. Omni
potent as Wolsey was, and impatient of contradiction, he
seldom used his power to remove one inferior from his post
because that inferior thought fit sometimes to disagree with
him. If an ambassador failed in the expectations that had
been formed of him it was deemed more discreet to send
an inferior agent, as occasion might arise, to supplement
his deficiencies." Such a policy was not without advan
tage. The long experience of a man of inferior talents
compensated for brighter natural powers ; the credit gained
at foreign Courts by the permanency of his appointment
gave respect and influence to the agent. So far from

Brewer's State Papers.

1 1 8 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
employing his authority in recalling the representatives at
foreign Courts, Wolsey with general kindness refused their
applications for dismissal, especially when they demanded
it in a momentary fit of ill-temper, or were fretted into
impatience by a reprimand, which he sometimes administered
with considerable severity.
When Sir Robert Wingfield returned from the diplomatic
service he was appointed to the office of Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, which position he held up to his
death in 1525, and was succeeded by Sir Thomas More.
Pace and Wingfield died before the revolution in religion
took place in England ; but they did not omit to condemn
the doctrines of Luther and Melancthon then exciting
Germany. There was a striking contrast between Wolsey and his
royal master's early contemporaries. Age had not yet ex
hausted the ambition of Louis XII., or diminished the
activity of his intellect, but it had made ravages on his
person. Long before his death (at the age of fifty-three)
he is spoken of as an infirm old man, the victim of disease.
His treasures had been exhausted in ruinous wars ; he had
neither the inclination nor the means to indulge in pomp
and splendour like the English King.
The "bankrupt Emperor" Maximilian, the "Man of
Few Pence," as he was styled in derision in other Courts,
had even less means than Louis for rivalling the profuse
splendour of the English Court. All his ingenuity was
directed to the means of raising money, but as his acquisi
tions were squandered as soon as obtained, he still con
tinued needy. In the pursuit of funds there was no
meanness to which he would not stoop. He did not

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 119

scruple to "make lying assertions to ambassadors, and
violate his solemn promises." " He was," says Brewer,
" the most barefaced and importunate of beggars ; he felt
no delicacy in appropriating to his own use the moneys
entrusted to him for other purposes, yet he set up a claim
for fastidiousness and modesty."*
Maximilian had little influence, and few personal friends at
the European Courts. " It is a pity," writes the noted
Dr. de Puebla, " that Maximilian not only does not pay
the English a single penny of what he owes them, but treats
them with disdain, and won't give them due respect as a
nation." It would be unfair to judge of " eccentric Max."
from such a source as De Puebla. In a preceding chapter
the reader has seen quite sufficient of this Spanish envoy.
He was a despicable creature, and a vile cheat ; yet he had
the presumption to moralise and preach to others as to
their conduct.
In the English camp, at Tournai, Maximilian once took
pay and served as a soldier. Tayleur, the clerk of the Parlia
ment, made an entry in his diary as to having seen him
during his eccentric movements. " The Emperor Maxi
milian," observes Tayleur, "is of middle height, with open
and manly countenance, and pale complexion. He has a
snubby nose, and a grey beard ; is affable and frugal, and
an enemy to pomp."f De Rassal, who was personally ac
quainted with Maximilian, states that the Emperor delighted
in speaking to the peasant classes, asking them many ques
tions as to their social condition. De Rassal was a chess

* Brewer's Foreign State Papers.
T Maximilian died in January, 1519, in the sixtieth year of his age. Sixty
was considered an " old age" for a King in those times.

1 20 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
player, who related accounts of that ancient game. He
resided in Flanders, and visited Maximilian and Louis XII.
every year " for a stoutly contested game at chess." The
chess player and story teller resided a fortnight with each.
Louis assured Carlo Logario "that the society of Rassal
drove away his pains, and made him feel young again."
De Rassal's anecdotes of Maximilian would be a rich treat
if preserved. When some six and twenty years of age, Maximilian was
styled " the lover with the golden locks," and few Princes
ever met with so many " sharp refusals " in his love adven
tures. " I am poor and must look for a Princess with a
few provinces, or a bag of gold and some diamonds," were
his words to Madame de Luval.
I have already noticed the relations existing between the
King of Spain and the Tudor family. Although Ferdinand
was far from being a great monarch, he was a Prince
of more than ordinary merit. When he stated that he had
made Spain greater than it had ever been during the
previous seven hundred years he made no idle boast, but
proclaimed a fact. He has been censured for not " mould
ing his son-in-law (Henry) into some form of goodness."
Such an accusation was, in relation to Ferdinand, as unjust
as it was impossible for him to accomplish. When men
like Foxe, Warham, Wolsey, aud More, who were acquainted
with the young English King almost from childhood, were
unable to control the turbulent, self-willed Henry, it was
not likely that Ferdinand, living at such a distance from
him, could exercise any salutary influence over his son-in-
law. Besides, Ferdinand felt no interest in the welfare of
Henry but that of the politician; he desired to use the

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 1 2 1

English monarch as an instrument to promote his own
views. England had no reason to esteem the Spanish
King; Ferdinand never spoke a word, nor wrote a line,
where politics were concerned, without some concealed
motive. In this respect he was probably not worse than
his adversaries. He was suspicious, mean, niggardly and
proud. In religion, superstitious, and worse still, a hypocrite.
His moral character will bear no examination. As I have
remarked in a preceding chapter, Ferdinand looked on
English statesmen and Princes as " persons who conspired
to rob him." His ungenerous conduct — to speak in the
mildest terms — at home helped to estrange the Spanish
courtiers, and the ablest of his grandees. Political parties
must have been in a state of apathy, and perhaps ignorance,
when they tolerated Ferdinand. He was not, however,
ranged amongst the "bad or despotic," for with all his
faults he was condescending to the humbler classes, and
would on Fridays " speak to them freely, if in his way."
Ferdinand, if he had received a good education and early
training, would have been a clever statesman; he was a
man of considerable ability, and possessed of much adminis
trative talent, and was sometimes far-seeing. In private
transactions he frequently compromised the dignity of the
King and the honour of the gentleman. Ferdinand died
in January, 1516, having outlived Henry VII. of England
some seven years.* In Spain, Henry was detested; in
England, Ferdinand was little esteemed. Both Princes
rendered substantial service to their subjects ; but neither
was popular, and consequently both were soon forgotten.

* Henry was scarcely fifty-two at the period of his death, and, acceding
to the State records, " completely worn out in mind and body."

122 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
In Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers are to be seen some
curious accounts of the relations which existed between
Ferdinand and his English son-in-law, Henry. This in
formation is not to be found in histories, nor even in
recently printed documents upon Spain. In fact, Simancas'
State Papers concerning England are not a quarter explored
as yet.
We have been assured by several English writers that
the laity of Spain were in utter ignorance of the Holy
Scriptures in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel ; the facts
were otherwise. Spanish history proves that the Scriptures
had been written and printed at that time in the Peninsula.
Prescott, an American Protestant writer, whose fervid text
has illustrated the lives of Ferdinand and Isabel, is another
witness to this fact ; he adds to other testimony that " under
Cardinal Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo, theological studies
were pursued with ardour, the Scriptures copiously illus
trated, and sacred eloquence cultivated with success. To
wards the close of Isabel's reign was produced, under the
auspices of Cardinal Ximenes, the famous Polyglot version
of the Holy Scriptures. This version has been described
by a distinguished Protestant writer as " the most stupendous
literary enterprise of the age." So much for the " histori
cal" statements put forward by writers of the same stamp
as Foxe, Speed, and Burnet.
Pope Alexander the Vlth was a Spaniard by birth, and
Ferdinand called him his " subject ;" although the Spanish
monarch could not exercise the right of a King over the
Pontiff, he spoke of him in a very patronising tone — " My
worthy Alexander." The Pope did not forget when raised
to the Papal chair that he was a Spaniard, and conferred

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 123
many favours, and, " under certain circumstances, extended
the power of ambitious Ferdinand and his wife," who were
always seeking honours from the Court of Rome.*
The reader has seen in a preceding chapter the character
of James the Fourth of Scotland, as drawn by a distin
guished Spanish diplomatist, who was personally acquainted
with the King for some years. James studied Greek and
Latin under Erasmus and other learned men ; his cor
respondence with Polydore Vergil shows that the King of
Scots was a man of refined taste and ability, but he was
vain and vacillating. His weakness was a love of popularity ;
he was good-natured and warm-hearted, and his acces
sibility to the humbler classes of his subjects rendered him
deservedly beloved. His quarrel with the King of England
was forced upon him by many circumstances, but which
prudence might have avoided. He was intensely obstinate.
The battle which ended so disastrously for King James
was fought by him against the remonstrances of the oldest
and the most experienced of his generals. The Earl of
Angus implored him to retreat, or seek a better position
for a battle. " Angus," said the self-willed James, " if you
are afraid, you may go home." The old baron, bursting
into tears, turned mournfully away, observing that his
former life might have spared him such a rebuke from the
lips of his Sovereign. " My age," said he, " renders my
body of no service, and my counsel is despised ; but I leave
my two sons and the vassals of Douglas in the field, may
the result be glorious, and Angus's foreboding unfounded."t
The last day of King James's existence was worthy of a

* Bergenroth's Spanish State Papers.
f Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. iv. p. 77.

124 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
soldier and a King. At Brankstone Field, in the neigh
bourhood of Flodden, King .lames met with a signal
defeat .* The Scots fought with all that heroic valour for
which their old land was renowned ; but they had to
encounter the legions of England, led to the charge by
such generals as the Earl of Surrey, supported by the
Stanleys, the Constables, and the Dacres. f The Scots
descended the hill on foot, in good order, numbering some
forty-five thousand men; after the German fashion they
moved forward in perfect silence; the great majority of
them were armed with a sharp spear five yards in length,
and targets which they held before them. When the
spears failed they fought with sharp swords, making little
noise but terrible execution. The Scottish army were
repulsed ; they came to the charge again and again ; the
fates, however, decided against them ; they were crushed
but not vanquished. The battle was a fearful carnage.
Lord Thomas Howard, in his despatch to King Henry,
says : " As I expect no quarter, I shall give none." King
James is reported to have said that, " under any circum
stances, he would never condescend to seek quarter from
his ungenerous enemy." " Your King leads you to glory
or to death," are the words attributed to King James when
advancing to the last charge. He fell mortally wounded ;
a brave man fighting to the end, and " winning, as he
prayed to win, a soldier's death."
When James's body was found, his neck was opened in

* The battle was fought on Friday, September 9th, 1513.
+ The English army numbered about thirty thousand : the half of them
were German and Swiss mercenaries — all excellent soldiers, but mean, vindic
tive thieves, who stripped and robbed the dying and the dead.

Wolsey and his Contemporaries. 125

the middle with a wide wound ; his left hand, almost cut
off in two places, " did scarce hang to his arm," and the
archers had shot him in many parts of the body.*
" The remains of fifteen gallant lords lay stiff beside the
corpse of their royal master ; fifteen chiefs of ancient clans
were among the dead; and ten thousand f of the brave
Scots " lay here and there on the bloody field." As the
dismal night approached, the scene became ghastly : every
blow seemed to have proved fatal, and to add to the
mournful effect, observes Ramsey, " the winds chanted, as
it were, a midnight dirge over the pale and silent dead.
The news of the disastrous battle soon reached the most
distant parts of Scotland, and the death of the King, whom
the people passionately regarded, was received with wild
lamentations. The wail of private grief, from the laird's
mansion to the humble cottage, was loud and universal.
In Edinburgh were to be heard the heartrending shrieks of
women, young and old, who ran distracted through the
streets bewailing the husbands, the sons, the brothers, or
the kindred who had fallen in the fatal fight ; clasping
their infants to their bosoms, they trembled in anticipation
of the coming horrors and desolation of their country.
The young widowed Queen with the infant King in her arms
was an object of general sympathy to every patriotic Scot.
Queen Margaret was married at fourteen, and became a
widow at twenty-four. Her talents were of a high order,

* Godwin's Annals, p. 22 ; Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. iv.
+ The accounts of the losses at this battle are very conflicting. Some
state that the English lost 5000 men, and the Scotch 10,000 or more.
This statement, judging by recent research, is not correct. The English lost
no person of note.

126 Wolsey and his Contemporaries.
but there were some traits in her disposition which must
remind the reader of the fact that, she was the sister of
Henry Tudor.
I shall have occasion to refer again to the history of
Queen Margaret.
Charles the Fifth and Francis the First had not yet
ascended their respective thrones, and the people of England
had reason, at this juncture at least, to regard their King
as peerless amongst his crowned compeers, and to feel
proud likewise of his distinguished minister. This period
was then accounted amongst the happiest theretofore
experienced in this kingdom.

La Reine Blanche. 127

CHAPTER X.
LA REINE BLANCHE.
I cannot pass over the name of Mary Tudor, styled by our
Gallic neighbours " La Reine Blanche," who was in early
life associated with Anna Boleyn, but whose career was
so different. Mary Tudor was the younger sister of
Henry VIII. ; " the beauty of the House of Tudor ;" and
generally allowed to be the fairest Princess in Europe. She
was graced by all the religious sentiments and benevo
lence of her mother, so truly styled "Elizabeth the Good."
A friendship of many years existed between Katharine of
Arragon and her sister-in-law, Mary. Both were devotedly
attached to the interests of the Church ; Mary was a liberal
patroness of the English convents up to the close of her
life. Her marriage with a French monarchwas not of her
own selection. Louis XII. has been represented as " a
feeble widower of sixty years old."* Mary, however ambi
tious of a crown, did not like the choice made for her. Few
girls of sixteen would willingly espouse a regal valetudinarian
of sixty. But her brother Henry was determined for political
reasons that his sister should marry Louis. Henry signi
ficantly remarked, that the " next time " Mary bestowed
her hand she should have her own choice — a promise she
did not forget. Henry was well aware at the time that

* The French State Papers represent Louis as fifty-three at this period, but
looking much older.

128 La Reine Blanche.
Mary was much attached to his handsome favourite, Charles
Brandon* Upon the departure ofthe Princess from Dover,
she was accompanied by the King and Queen to the royal
galley, where they "parted with tears and lamentations,"
on a windy morning in October, 1514. The ship met with
disasters at sea ; on the second morning of the voyage the
vessel struck on a sand bank near Boulogne. Edward
Hall's account of the landing differs from the black-letter
book already quoted. He says : — " The forlorn young
bride had to be lowered into an open boat, completely help
less from sea sickness. The breakers were dashing high,
and wetted the long golden hair of the Princess, which
streamed most disconsolately over her lovely face. The
boat could not approach the beach, and the surf was high
on the shallows, so that there was no little danger in land
ing; but Sir Christopher Garvasse, who was a man of
enormous stature (j\ feet), strided through the breakers,
which only reached a little above his waist, bearing the
insensible Princess in his arms." In this fashion the bride
of France landed at Boulogne. Her reception was every
thing that might be desired at the hands of a hospitable
and warm-hearted people. The Princess Mary was accom
panied by a retinue, amongst whom were six chaplains,
fourteen knights, esquires, and lords ; also thirty- four
ladies, including " young Nan de Boleine."
On Monday (October 9th), the day of the patron saint of
France (St. Denis), Mary Tudor was married at the Cathedral
of Abbeville to Louis the Twelfth. A Cardinal and four

* Letters and Diary of Mary Tudor in the Cottonian Collection ; Brewer's
State Papers (Foreign) ; Lord Herbert ; Miss Strickland's Tudor Princesses.

La Reine Blanche. 129

bishops officiated at the marriage. This was the first time
since the Norman Conquest that an English Princess became
Queen of France. In a few days subsequent Mary's coro
nation took place at the Cathedral of St. Denis, amidst a
scene of great magnificence.
To use what might be styled a modern phrase, the " honey
moon" did not last long. The day after her coronation the
bride wrote to her brother Henry, complaining of the
" harsh and unfeeling conduct of her husband, who dismissed
the greater number of her English attendants." Henry
refused to interfere. A lively scene occurred between King
Louis and the young English ladies, who cried effusively
at parting from their Royal mistress ; they looked upon the
King as " something approaching to a monster" for inter
fering with the number of maids chosen by the Queen ;
they addressed the monarch in warm language. The equable
Louis was " bowing and smiling at the English beauties in
their fury." " So much for marrying an old man," said
the lovely Lady Magdaleine Dacre ; " no old husbands for
us," was the exclamation of some dozen English ladies.
" I will never marry any man ; I will be a nun," were the
words of little Nan de Bouleine. The Queen endeavoured to
pacify her maidens. So " lovely Mary," as Queen Katharine
wrote of her, then dried her tears, and with " Hope's picture
of a future time," submitted to the command of her whimsical
old husband. Amqngst the four English ladies whom King
Louis permitted to remain with his Queen was Mademoi
selle Nan de Bouleine ; perhaps she was selected out of policy,
being the granddaughter of the Duke of Norfolk, and niece
of the Earl of Surrey, both of whom accompanied the Princess
Mary to France. The document in which the four ladies'
VOL. I. K

La Reine Blanche.

names are set down as maids-of-honour, is preserved in the
Cottonian Library, and is signed by Louis XII. They were
all ladies of rank; two of them being the greal -grand
daughters of Elizabeth de Woodevylle ; and another of the
fair dames, already noted, belonged to the proud and
chivalrous House of Dacre. They were called in Paris the
" English beauties," as they rode out clad in glittering robes,
mounted on white palfreys, dressed, on some occasions, in
crimson velvet — a costume peculiarly becoming to the hazel
eyes and brunette complexion of Nan de Bouleine."" These
scenes were, however, suddenly brought to a close.
The fashion of English " dinner-hours," introduced at the
French Court by Queen Mary, did hot suit the homely and
retiring King Louis. One of his biographers remarks :
" Our King loved to observe the good old French custom
of dining at eight of the clock in the morning ; and going
to bed at six in the evening ; but now it suited his young
Queen that he should dine at noon, and not go to bed till
midnight." It was stated by the King's physicians that
this change in his mode of life would cause his death.
Louis lavished jewels and diamonds of enormous value
upon his young wife ; but she never forgave his interference
with the retention of her ladies. Mary observed all the
proprieties of her high position without reproach — a difficult
task in those times. Louis XII. died suddenly on the
New Year's Day of 1515, leaving his Queen a widow after
a marriage of eighty-two days. The girl-queen, according
to custom, retired from all society for thirty days.

* Madame Pasqualija's story of La Reine Blanche and her English Maids
of Honour.

La Reine Blanche. 131

The foreign political arrangements of Wolsey fell to the
ground at the death of Louis XII. By the marriage of
Mary Tudor with Louis, the policy of the Treaty of Cam
brai had recoiled upon its authors. The main object' of
that policy had been to shut out England from all inter
ference in Continental politics ; to render France, in fact,
the dictator of Europe ; and what in those days was scarcely
less important for this purpose, to leave the Roman Pontiff
entirely dependent on the will of his " Christian Majesty."
But by the marriage alliance, Wolsey had contrived, under
the semblance of an equal partition of authority, to make
England in reality predominant. Such it was felt to be by
King Louis, and more so by his energetic successor,
Francis I. Louis was no match in political intrigue for
the English Monarch, or the vigour and genius of Wolsey,
then in the prime of life.*
Louis XII. was a brave and a humane Prince. He was a
General of some ability, and signalised himself at the battle
of Aignadel (May 14th, 1509). He was meditating another
expedition into Italy for the recovery of the Dukedom of
Milan, when death put an end to his scheme. Bayard
states that he was " much attached to his young wife, in
whose arms he expired." It is certain that the young wife
had no regard for him. The memory of Louis was long
revered by the French nation. " We never had such good
times," writes De Gelais, " under any other prince as during
the reign of our most loved King, Louis XII."
Louis considerably diminished the oppressive taxation,
and never created new ones. He loved his subjects, and his

Brewer's State Papers (Foreign), vol. ii.
K 2

132 La Reine Blanche.
most passionate desire was to make them happy, for which
he wished to be called their " father." In the beginning
of his reign he was ridiculed for his saving propensity, upon
which he remarked : " I had much rather my thoughtless
subjects should laugh at my parsimony, than weep at their
own oppression."
The contrast between Louis XII. and Francis I. was
remarkable. Francis was the patron and friend of litera
ture at the time of the revival of letters ; he collected what
escaped the destroying hand of the Turks and other bar
barians, and shared with Leo X. the glory and the honour
of making the arts and sciences flourish in Europe. He
drew into France learned men from every quarter of Europe
¦ — scholars, historians, painters, musicians, architects, emi
nent physicians, theologians, and men expert in sciences.
Erasmus, Budens, and De Petti concur in stating that
Francis always desired to " encourage and bring to Paris
the learned and the scientific men of other lands." Anne of
Brittany had begun to draw ladies to Court, but her hus
band, Louis XII., cared little for the society of ladies —
educated or otherwise; and it was not till the accession of
Francis that women made a brilliant appearance at Court.
Francis also invited to his palaces the most distinguished
cardinals and prelates ; after a time the French Court
became the most polished in Europe. Rome, Florence, and
Paris were the three great centres of learning and the
polite arts during the reign of Francis I. In the hour of
adversity, when the prisoner of Charles V., Francis used these
memorable words, " Everything is lost except my honour."
There is, however, another and a more serious view to
be taken of the " responsibilities" of Francis as a King,

La Reine Blanche. 133
and of the English as the invaders of his country. The
condition of many parts of France at this time (1515-16)
was one of wretchedness. To destroy property, and to leave
thousands of women and children homeless, seemed to have
been the tactics pursued by Henry's Generals in France, as
English deputies had before and long subsequently, acted in
Ireland. Barns, cornfields, churches, hospitals, numerous
villages, and castles were indiscriminately given to the
flames by the Earl of Surrey and his soldiers.* " Wars
carried on in this spirit," writes Dr. Brewer, " could have
no other effect than that of brutalising equally the invader
and the invaded." The extravagance of King Francis, the
methods employed by him for maintaining a numerous army,
his private profligacy, his oppressive exactions, his insensi
bility to the calamities thus inflicted, had alienated from
him, in a great degree, the patient and enduring loyalty of
a brave and virtuous people. Churches, plate, and jewels
consecrated to the service of religion, all were seized upon
by the unscrupulous and sacrilegious Francis. The golden
images of the Apostles were melted down; thousands of
gold and silver chalices were sent to the furnace. The
various articles marked out for taxation also showed that the
King and his ministers had little sympathy for the social
requirements of the people. A notable cleric of Paris
states that " the people looked like spectres from want and
pestilence ; they cried out to the Church to succour them ;
but the Church was likewise suffering from the heavy exac-

* In Brewer's State Papers, vol. iii., appears a despatch from the Earl
of Surrey to his royal master, describing in a business-like fashion the destruc
tion he caused to the French people in his triumphant march through their
country.

134 La Reine Blanche.
tions of the Crown." It would appear that the unfortunate
habitants had to contend with even a worse enemy than the
policy of Francis had created. " The spoliations of their own
Kings," remarks Dr. Brewer, " faded into nothing when
compared with the sullen barbarity of the English troops,
who spared neither churches nor houses — rich nor poor."*
So the unoffending people suffered unto the bitter end.
I must repeat that the " English armies," above alluded
to, were to a large extent composed of German and Italian
" mercenaries" — a class of soldiers to whom I have referred
in a preceding chapter. In all equity and fairplay, the
English King and his Government should have been
accountable for the actions of the ferocious free-lances
who were then a disgrace to Europe.
And now for the love story of the young widow of
France, Queen Mary.
In Brewer's State Papers are to be found some interesting
accounts of the interview between Francis I. and the Duke
of Suffolk. " My Lord of Suffolk," said Francis, " it is
bruited in this my realm that you are come to marry
with the young Queen, your master's sister." Suffolk felt
alarmed, and denied that he came on such a mission. The
King replied that, "if Suffolk would not be plain with him
he must be plain with the Duke." Francis proceeded to
inform Suffolk that the " Princess herself had broken the
matter to him, and he, for his part, had promised her on
the faith and honour of a King, thai he would do his
utmost to help her." He then detailed certain secrets
which had passed between the lovers, calling up an unwonted

* Brewer's State Papers (Foreign), vol. iii. Part 1.

La Reine Blanche. 135

crimson into Suffolk's face, " the which," said Suffolk, " I
knew no man alive could tell ; and it was clear that the
young Queen opened her mind to the French King."
Francis perceiving the embarrassed condition of Suffolk,
became apparently gracious and kindly. "Be not dis
turbed," said the gallant monarch, " for you have found a
friend ; do not think wrong of the Queen ; I shall never
fail to act for you, and to advance this love you have for
one another, as I would for mine own self." Suffolk at
this moment was almost indignant with his ladye-love for
having disclosed their romantic secret to the French King ;
but the young Queen was compelled to do so in order to
check, if possible, the attentions of Francis, whose conduct
became ungenerous and unmanly, especially in her forlorn
and youthful state, away from country and kindred. About
the same time the Princess wrote to her brother Henry,
detailing the annoyances she endured, and was compelled to
disclose to Francis her affection for Suffolk, in order to be
relieved of the annoyance of his suit, which was not to her
honour ; and, in conclusion, she urged King Henry for
leave to return to England, that she might not be exposed
to a repetition of insults.*
The conduct of Henry at this juncture was almost inex
plicable in exposing his sister to the importunities of the
licentious Francis, unless we conceive it to be in part
accounted for by two projects of the English monarch's
own, which were bound up with Suffolk's special mission;
one to obtain possession of the jewels presented to. his sister
Mary by her late husband ; the other, to make profit out of

Brewer's State Papers, 1515.

136 La Reine Blanche.
the desire of Francis to recover Tournai. Henry, in his
grasping mood, even demanded the reimbursement of the
expenses of his sister's passage to France, and the cost of
her bridal dress. The Princess was indignant at the mean
conduct of her brother in relation to these matters. In all
the more generous and better feelings of human nature the
contrast between King Henry and his sister Mary was
immense. The Princess Mary's marriage with Louis had been the
topic of conversation in every Court of Europe, for the hand
of the fair Queen, La Reine Blanche, was eagerly sought
for her own sake by princes and nobles. The Duke of
Lorraine, the Duke of Bavaria, the Prince of Portugal, and
even the Emperor Maximilian, entertained designs upon the
hand of the lovely young widow. Although Maximilian
assured his daughter, the Princess Margaret, that he would
never marry again for "beauty or money, were he to die
for it, and could perhaps resist beauty, the charms of money
were too potent for his soul." " After dinner one day,
Maximilian kept his eyes fixed upon Mary's portrait for a
full half-hour or more, and then summoned his secretary,
who had seen the Princess, and asked him if it was very
like her." The secretary told him " there could not be a
better likeness." " The Emperor," writes Louis Maraton to
the Princess Margaret, " has commissioned me to ask you,
without letting it be known that he had taken any interest
in the matter, to write to the King of England to get the
lady into his own hands, urging his Majesty of England
that if she be married in France and were to die without
heirs, his kingdom would be exposed to great hazards."
But the Emperor's application arrived too late. Maraton

La Reine Blanche. 137
states that Maximilian was always unlucky in his love
adventures.* It was money the needy Emperor required
most at this time, and not a young wife.
At this period Francis I. was in his twenty-second
year. He is described as " corpulent in stomach and slender
iu legs." Pasqualija, who saw him in Paris, gives an
account of a conversation he had with Henry VIII. on the
personal appearance and manners of his cousin of France.
" His Majesty came to me and said : ' Is the King of France
as tall as I am ?' I told him there was little difference.
' Is he as stout ?' I told him he was not. ' What sort of
legs has he?' I replied, 'Spare.' 'Then/ said King
Hal, ' I have the longest and strongest legs in all England ;
I will give one hundred marks to any Frenchman who
will produce as good legs.' " It is not related that any
favourite entered the lists to win the wager. The mother
of Francis, Louise of Savoy, had great influence with her
son ; and she deserved it, for never did mother more regard
a son. The Duke of Suffolk, writing to Henry VIIL,
says : " I never saw a woman like to her, both for wit,
honour, and good-nature. She is always doing good for
those who need it, and is a protector of the lonely and
and desolate of her own sex." A high commendation from
such a man as Suffolk.
Francis I. made a pubbc entry into Paris about two
months subsequent to the death of Louis XII. Galti-
more, writing to Margaret of Savoy, draws an interest
ing picture of the public procession, and the " magnificent
sight presented to the inhabitants, the like of which was

* Brewer's Foreign State Papers.

138 La Reine Blanche.
never before witnessed in Paris." The Duke of Suffolk, as
the representative of the English King, was present, and
the Dowager Queen (Mary of England) saw the grand
pageant from a window, seated beside Nan de Bouleine,
who was right merrie at the lively scene. "The people
were half mad with joy." La Reine Blanche looked un
happy, and seemed as if forgotten ; yet a few months back
she was the popular idol of France.
When the young Queen saw the contest that was likely
to take place for her hand, she became alarmed. She
reminded her brother of his promise, that "in her next
marriage her own feelings alone were to be consulted."
Henry, however, soon forgot his promises, when he saw a
chance of promoting some State affairs by sacrificing his
sister's happiness. Mary's courage was well tried on this
occasion. She was, however, a warm-hearted, constant, noble-
minded woman. She sent a message to Suffolk to meet
her immediately in the royal library.* Two ladies, the
senior of her attendants, were present. Suffolk entered
with hesitation, for he dreaded King Henry's resentment.
The Queen was determined to take all the censure or blame
upon herself. She informed her lover of the position of
affairs. " We must," said Mary, " either marry now, or lose
all chance of our future happiness." The Queen made a
delicate allusion to the former associations that existed
between them, their correspondence and love-tokens.
The courageous Suffolk shed tears; he remained silent.
Mary became impatient ; advancing towards him she said,

* In Miss Strickland's Lives of the Tudor Princesses is chronicled an inter
esting account of the first interview between Suffolk and the Dowager Queen
in Par;s.

La Reine Blanche. 1 39
" Have more courage." Then laying her hand on his
shoulder, and with one of those sweet endearing smiles
that were native to the woman, addressed her lover in these
homely words : " Charles Brandon, if you will marry me,
my heart, my affections, are still yours, and can never be
conferred on any other man ; but our marriage must take
place within four days or never.* Danger threatens us at
every point. I shall be true to the death."
The scenes which occurred have been related by Anna
Boleyn to Margaret Wyatt, by Father Palsgrave, and
Lady Dacre ; but I prefer the interesting picture drawn by
Mr. Hepworth Dixon.
" The light in Suffolk's brain was dimmer than the taper
in the Gothic room in which he stood. He loved, he feared,
he paused. 'Decide,' said Mary. Then the man gave
way. Ten persons were invited to the Hotel de Cluny,
King Francis being one of them, when a nameless priest t
entered the tiny chapel, said his office, and made Suffolk
and Mary Tudor man and wife."
When Henry discovered the clandestine marriage he
gave vent to indignation in his usual mode. He denounced
Suffolk as a perjurer ; he had " made him take a solemn
oath that in visiting the French Court he (Suffolk) would
merely present himself as the diplomatic agent of the
English King," and "make no lover's tricks" with the
* Mary wrote to her brother, stating that she would enter a convent
sooner than be compelled to marry any man against her own feelings.
t Father Palsgrave was the priest who performed the marriage. Nan de
Bouleine was present, and it was one of the last .occasions on which she
attended the Princess. Neither Palsgrave nor Brewer mentions the presence
of the French monarch, and it is very unlikely that he was a witness o
the ceremony, being a concealed lover of Mary himself.

140 La Reine Blanche.
young Queen. In one of Wolsey's letters he states that
King Henry " was strongly inclined to dissolve his sister's
marriage by cutting off her lover's head."* The wrath of
Henry was ultimately appeased by receiving a large portion
of the jewels and diamonds which Mary received from King
Louis, which were valued at 200,000/.
The letter written by Queen Mary to her brother
Henry, " seeking forgiveness for the ' clandestine mar
riage,' " was evidently copied from an original, dictated
perhaps by Wolsey, or, more likely, by Father Palsgrave,
who was acquainted with the Princess's secret. The
composition and style is too guarded for a girl of seventeen
or eighteen years of age ; besides, the tone is far too
humble for the high-spirited Mary Tudor, who believed
that she had a perfect right to dispose of her own band as
she pleased. Whoever wrote the "original" thoroughly
understood the inner feelings of Henry, and appealed to
them with much delicacy and earnestness. Mary had
little experience in letter- writing at this period, and as to
Suffolk, he was incapable of dictating an epistle to the
critical and pedantic Henry ; yet a letter bearing his
signature was despatched to King Henry, " seeking for
giveness for becoming his brother-in-law without the royal
consent." This letter was composed by Father Ambrose.
At this moment of danger Wolsey came to the front, and
by his dominant influence with Henry released the lovers
from the impending ruin which threatened them. How
far Suffolk evinced his gratitude will appear in subsequent
chapters. * State Papers ; Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIII. ; Miss Strickland's
Tudor Princesses.

La Reine Blanche. 141
On the return of Mary and Suffolk to England, the
King commanded that a public marriage should take place
at the Grey Friars Church, Greenwich, which was the
occasion of a grand demonstration, the King giving away
the bride. Queen Katharine and the ladies of her Court
played a prominent part in the ceremonies of the day.
A German writer states that Anna Boleyn was present,
and attracted the notice of the King. Such is not the
fact. At the period of the young Queen's marriage to
Suffolk "little Nan de Bouleine" was in the convent at
Brie, and did not return to England for nearly seven years
subsequently. Dr. Brewer contends that Anna Boleyn "never be
longed to the household retinue of the Princess ; that her
name has been confounded with that of her sister Mary."
I must respectfully dissent from this statement, although
it has been made by so eminent an authority. I have,
however, already referred to a document in the Cottonian
Library where the name of Nan de Bouleine occurs as one
of the four maids-of-honour retained; it is signed by
Louis XII. himself, which makes the matter conclusive .*
Father Palsgrave, who was many years resident in France,
was Mary's principal French preceptor. Upon the return
of the Princess to England he was one of her chaplains.
He subsequently became a celebrated professor of the
French language in London, and several of the young
nobility were numbered amongst his pupils. He is said
to have been the first Englishman who attempted to

* In the second volume of this work I hope to be able to resume the history
of La Reine Blanche, under the title of the " Queen Duchess."

14? La Reine Blanche.
" compile and arrange" a French Grammar. He was
much esteemed by Henry VIIL* Radclyffe states that
Anna Boleyn was amongst his pupils. He died about
1541. Father Palsgrave has been claimed by the Re
formers as " a convert to their cause ;" but there are
some letters of his extant which prove that he was opposed
to the Reformation, and on one occasion called Cranmer a
hypocrite and a knave. Thorndale describes Palsgrave as
" an eminent chess-player and an admirable story-teller — a
class of men then much esteemed in England."
* Anthony Wood, Dr. Pitts, Dodd, and Thorndale.

Fall of the Duke of Buckingham. 143

CHAPTER XI.
FALL OF THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
The Duke of Buckingham represented the ancient family
of Stafford. He was the hereditary High Constable of Eng
land, claiming descent on one side from Edward III., and
was very wealthy. He was ambitious, and soon attracted
Wolsey's notice; he scorned to pay court to the Cardinal,
whom he much disliked. He thus excited the jealousy of
the Minister, and the resentment of his King. He was
suddenly arrested, and charged with conspiracy against the
Crown. Buckingham was innocent of any treasonable plots.
His trial disclosed no crime of treason; yet he was found
guilty. The conduct of Wolsey to this nobleman remains
a lasting reproach to his character.
The Duke of Buckingham was the steadfast adherent of
Queen Katharine. He was the rival and enemy of the
House of Howard, whose hostility to the Queen was so
strongly manifest. He was related to King Henry, not only
on the Tudor, but the Woodevylle line. A man so near the
royal family, and possessed of such wealth, might be con
sidered either a useful friend or a dangerous foe. The Duke
was, nevertheless, a loyal man, although beheaded for
treason. Queen Katharine was attached to this noble
family, who sustained her cause for years ; * andthe Staf-

* Lingard, vol. v. ; History of Two Queens, vol. iii.

1 44 Fall of the Duke of Buckingham.
fords of the House of Buckingham were installed in all the
confidential offices which were at the disposal of Katharine.
Buckingham was tried by a " select number" of peers,
whom Wolsey bad named. The most ridiculous charges were
brought against him. Several times he exclaimed : " That
is all false, it is most untrue — the papers are all forgeries."
The peers began to whisper. " Speak out, my lords," said
Buckingham ; " it is the King's will that I should die. I
am content to die, though not for the crimes alleged, all of
which are manifestly false."* Buckingham and his friends
felt that the whole trial was merely a form — ^a scandalous
sham ; and every man of the seventeen peers who formed
the jury knew in heart and soul that there was no evidence
to sustain the accusations. The King demanded the life,
and still more desired the princely possessions, of this
munificent noble. So, obediently, the peers satisfied his
wish. The President of the Court put the question indi
vidually, commencing with the Duke of Suffolk. " I say
that he is guilty," answered Suffolk, laying his hand against
his heart. . So said every peer in turn. The Duke of
Norfolk pronounced sentence of death, and asked the
doomed noble what he had to say in his defence.
The Duke of Buckingham replied with a firm voice : —
" My Lord of Norfolk, you have said to me as a traitor
should be said unto; but I was never none. Still, my
lords, I nothing malign you for that you have done unto
me. May the Eternal God forgive you my death, as I do ;
I shall never sue to the King's Highness for my life.
I desire the forgiveness of all good men and women ; and

* Hall's Chronicle ; Stowe ; State Trials.

Fall of the Duke of Buckingham. 145
most freely forgive my enemies. My life is now drawing to
a close, and in perhaps a few hours I may be permitted to
take a last, and a long farewell, of those whom I have loved
and honoured in life."*
Great interest was exerted to save Buckingham's life;
but his enemies were powerful and implacable. Anna
Boleyn's father, and all his connexions, had been forward
in this deadly contest with Buckingham. The battle had
commenced when Anna Boleyn was only eight years old,
and in the outset it had gone in favour of the Duke.
Buckingham had snatched from the Boleyn family the
coronet of Wiltshire. Buckingham, and the men of his
opinions, had prevented Anna's father from rising in the
public service, and acquiring a position due to wealth,
talents, and high connexions.f There could be little doubt
as to the result of the trial when Lord Rochford (the newly
created peer), Lord Cobham, and the Duke of Norfolk were
chief amongst the peers who formed the jury.
The noble prisoner was conducted back to the Tower in
the usual barbarous manner, two headsmen bearing their
murderous weapons before him. Vast crowds of people lined
the way from Westminster Hall to the Temple, from whence
the Duke was conveyed in a barge to his final destiny. Sir
Thomas Lovell desired him to sit on the velvet cushions
arranged for him in the barge. Buckingham replied in a
broken-hearted accent: "Nay, nay, Sir Thomas, when I
went to Westminster Hall to answer the divers charges
against me, I was the Duke of Buckingham ; but now I am

* Year Book, Hilary Term, 13 Henry VIL; Rolls/ MSS.; State Trials ;
Stowe, HaU, H. Salt, Lingard, Hallam.
f History of Two Queens, vol. ii.
VOL I. L

146 Fall of the Duke of Buckingham.
but Edward Bohun, the most caitiff of the world. The
will of God be done."*
A vast concourse of people attended the execution of the
Duke of Buckingham at Tower Hill. He addressed the
populace at some length, assuring them that he was a loyal
and a true subject to the King. He regretted the careless
life he led for some time ; he was in heart and soul attached
to the old Latin Church. "I have," said he, " this morning
received ' my good Lord' (the Holy Eucharist) at the Mass
offered up for my poor soul. I ask the prayers of all
present — young and old. And now I say, good people,
farewell to you all."t
Dr. Brewer's research amongst State Papers leads to the
conclusion that Wolsey " was not so ' hungry ' for Bucking
ham's destruction as some persons following on Polydore
Vergil's track might imagine." Holinshed and Herbert
adopt the false statements of Polydore Vergil.
The repute of the Duke of Buckingham has been long
enveloped in the mists of popular prejudice. He has been
misrepresented in words and actions, both by tradition and
history. His immense wealth excited the envy of the King
and the spendthrift knights and squires. His retainers
were numerous, his liveries gorgeous ; on some occasions he
was attended by two hundred servants, trumpeters, &c. He
had two services of gold plate ; and his banquets outshone
those of the Cardinal of York. He was well known in
Paris from the splendour of his " appointments" and
numerous suite. He is described as the " proudest man in

* State Trials; Hall's Chronicle ; Stowe.
t Hall ; Stowe ; State Papers ; Scaffold Speeches of Great Men.

Fall of the Duke of Buckingham. 147
England ;" yet it is recorded that the " poorest vassal could
approach him, and make known his grievance. It is alleged
that he was " harsh and cruel" to his tenants : the con
trary was the fact. Few rich men thought less of money.
In one of Polydore Vergil's letters he is described as " a
mean miser, who grumbled at the expenses attendant on the
Cloth of Gold." Yet still it happened that Buckingham
outrivalled the Cardinal of York in his magnificent " train
and appointments" at the memorable meeting of the English
and French monarchs. So in this, like many other cases,
Polydore is a false witness. Buckingham was no admirer
of Wolsey, yet never used unseemly language in speaking of
the Cardinal. Shakespeare's portrait of the Duke of Bucking
ham is a mere counterfeit, like many others of his historical
characters. As I have already remarked, the Duke of Buckingham
was the most powerful and earnest friend Queen Katharine
possessed in England. He disappeared from the scene just
at the time the conspirators against the Queen commenced
their organisation.
The office of High Constable, which Buckingham inherited
from the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford, was forfeited in his
person, and was never after revived. Edward Stafford
was the family name by which the Duke of Buckingham
was popularly known. It is stated, however, in a work
entitled, " The History of Remarkable Trials," that he took
the surname of Bohun before that of Stafford, he being
descended from the Bohuns. A train of misfortune seemed
to have pursued Buckingham's family. His father was
beheaded by Richard III. ; his grandfather fell at the battle
of St. Albans ; his great-grandfather was slain in a fight
l 2

1 48 Fall of the Duke of Buckingham.
near Northampton; and another near relative perished
sword in hand on the field of Shrewsbury.
When Charles V. heard of the execution of Buckingham,
he said, in allusion to Wolsey's alleged origin and Bucking
ham's titles, " Then has the butcher's dog pulled down the
fairest buck in all Christendom."*

* Goodwin and Speed.

Anna Boleyn Returns to England. 149

CHAPTER XII.
ANNA BOLETN RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
In 1522, Anna Boleyn, then in her twenty-first year,
returned to England from the French Court, to the regret
of the good Queen Claudeft Anna was long remembered in
the Court of Blois, where she spent the happiest days of
her life. Perhaps no yonng lady of her time or rank was
better read. She was perfect in the French tongue of that
period — the present beautiful and plastic language of versatile
genius — and could converse in Italian and Spanish. " The
Lady Anna," says a French writer, " was the fairest and
the most bewitching of all the lovely dames at the French
Court in my time. She possessed a great talent for poetry,
and when she sang, like a second Orpheus, she would have
made bears and wolves attentive. She likewise danced the
English dances, leaping and gliding with infinite grace and
agUity. She invented many new figures and steps, which
are yet known by her name, or of those of the gallant
partners with whom she danced them. She was well skilled
in all games fashionable at Courts. Besides singing like a
siren, accompanying herself on the lute, she harped better
than King David, and handled cleverly both lute and rebec.
She dressed with marvellous taste, and devised new modes,
which were followed by the fairest ladies of the French

1 50 Anna Boleyn Returns to England.
Court, but none wore them with her gracefulness, in which
she rivalled Venus."*
Mr. Hepworth Dixon states that the " best of Anna's
gifts were those of Nature, not of Art ; the wine and
harvest of her Celtic blood. She was a poetess no less
than a musician. . . . The pulse of life beat strongly in her
veins. No pain surprised the gladness in her eyes. Her
spirits never flagged ; her brightness never faded ; her in
vention never failed. The soul of every circle into which
she came, she made, without an effort of her own, a friend
of every generous woman, and a knight of every noble man.
That yearning for a holy life which she had felt at Hever,
and had set before her fancy as the prize of filial love, had
painted her animal spirits with an ideal grace. Her eyes
were always lit with fire ; her lips were always curved with
mirth. An air of mischief hovered on her brain; yet
under the bewitching Irish manner lay a deep sense of
things unseen ; now playful, now sedate, she could be every
thing in turn. If Queen Claude and the Princess Renee
loved her for the beauty of her ways, Marguerite de Valois
found in her a kindred thinker. Neither Queen Katharine
nor the ladies of her circle could resist the charm of Anna ;
in her society the day was never dull, and in the sparkle
of her talk the old of heart felt young and fresh again."
Those courtiers who first saw Anna on her arrival from
France were enraptured with one whom De Silvana, the Por
tuguese painter, called " ugly, but strikingly remarkable."

* The above passage, which is quoted by Miss Strickland, is attributed to
Chateaubriand ; but Lingard questions its accuracy, and believes it was written
by another person.

Anna Boleyn Returns to England. 151
It is stated that the blood of the noisy, bustling House of
Ormonde ran in her veins. From her Irish descent she
inherited — " The black-blue Irish hair and Irish eyes."
And, like the Irish Isolt of the great poet, Anna Boleyn was
remarkable for the exquisite turn of her neck, and her
glossy throat. In 1527, another admirer of Nan's describes
her as small and lively, a sparkling brunette, with fascina
ting eyes and long black hair, which, contrary to the sombre
fashion of those days, she wore coquettishly floating loosely
down her back, interlaced with jewels. The beauty of her
eyes and her hair struck all beholders alike ; and enchanted
poets, painters, and minstrels. " Nan de Bouleine has no
equal in all England," was the oft-repeated remark of the
rustics in the neighbourhood of Hever Castle; and much
reason the people had to love her, for her benevolence was
unbounded, and far beyond her limited income.

152 The Irish Cousin.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE IRISH COUSIN.
Amongst Anna's first suitors was her Irish cousin, James
Butler, a young gentleman sadly inferior in education and
good-breeding to his learned and accomplished kinswoman.
It is affirmed that Anna had only seen her " tall Irish
cousin, with large blue eyes," twice at Hever; that he was
educated in Spain, and on his way home came to London;
and at the suggestion of the Cardinal of York, and Lord
Wiltshire, was presented to his " Cousin Nan" as a suitor, but
he failed to make any impression ; " artful Nan stating
that she desired to become a nun." " This was a plan often
adopted by Anna," writes Margaret Lee, " to drive suitors
or lovers from her presence." But there were other reasons.
The Irish cousin lacked one element of attraction — the very
thought is an unamiable one — he was comparatively poor;
and his fair Cousin Nan was thoroughly possessed of the
fortune-hunting instinct of the Boleyn family. The fortune-
hunting disposition of the lords and knights of Henry's
reign cast shame upon the chivalry of previous times ; yet
there was " a grain of improvement" in this respect, to
what had been in the reign of Edward IV., when the
young and handsome brother of Lord Rivers married the
Dowager Duchess of Norfolk for her large jointure. The
bridegroom was twenty-four, and the "sprightly bride"
eighty-one. The chivalry of Henry's reign had a parsi-

The Irish Cousin. 153
monious and a petty side; it was a vulgar inheritance
bequeathed to society from the Wars of the Roses ; and
in the hands of the " new proprietors" sentiment became
money. In the reign of Elizabeth several titled dames
descended in the social scale, marrying their menials ; and
some ancient and wealthy widows becoming the wives of
boys scarcely twenty years of age. In those times the
" boy-men" were the successful fortune-hunters.
Wolsey, however, had a forethoughtful political interest
in this Butler match. He wished to make up somewhat
like a peace between the lawless "Lords of the Pale,"*
wherewith to strengthen the English interest against the
native Irish, for whom in his despatches he expresses all the
hatred and contempt which a proud man feels for those who
will not submit to subjugation. His Irish policy was that
of his predecessors, "divide and conquer." The Butler
party in the Pale were influential in the English interest, not
because they loved England, but hated the Fitzgeralds.
It was reported in Dublin and Kilkenny, that Lord
James Butler was about to marry " a great French beauty,
named Nan de Bouleine;" that she had Irish blood in her
veins ; had uncles priests ; was the companion of Queens,
and the friend of the poor ; that the Pope sent his blessing
to her ; that she loved the Irish of the Pale, and would
soon be with them." This gossip was quickly circulated in
every form of romance which a lively imaginative people,

* The Pale was the portion of Ireland then under the rule or misrule of the
descendants of the Norman invaders of Ireland-of whom the Fitzgeralds and
the Butlers were for generations the most potent magnates for good or evil.
The Fitzgeralds were— the Desmond branch, afterwards so cruelly treated by
Elizabeth— the most liked by the native Irish.

154 The Irish Cousin.

like the Irish, could devise. The English " story-tellers,"
already alluded to, made their rounds of the Pale ; ballads
were in requisition upon the " Lovelie Ladye Nan." The
minstrels took up the inspiration, and everything promised
fair.* Anna's grandmother, Lady Margaret Boleyn, was well
known in Kilkenny ; she was a great horsewoman, and often
joined in the chase for several hours. She was a declared
sustainer of the Papal authority, and collected " Peter's
Pence" amongst her unruly retainers. Such a woman was
sure of popularity in Dublin, Kilkenny, or even amongst the
Irish natives, who were always most earnest in their support
of the Pope. " ' Mairgread Gerirt,' as Lady Butler," writes
Mr. Dixon, " lives in Irish history ; she was a large, hand
some woman, with a spirit still more daring and imperious
than her husband. Her speech was loud, her eye was fierce ;
and woe to the poor kerne that crossed her path. She
was so swift that people fancied her a creature of the air,
who forced the winds and waves to do her will. In the
long lines of Irish heroines, no woman ranks with ' Mairgread
Gerirt.' "*
Wolsey anticipated success in this scheme of marriage
utilised; but Anna Boleyn was not so facile a subject for
the statesman's wiles. Threats were used, yet her father's
influence failed on this occasion, and "rumour ran abroad"
that she had a lover in the neighbourhood of Hever. " Who
can it be ?" was the remark of an old maiden aunt, who

* In the quaint despatches of several Lord Deputies from Dublin, there
are allusions to the " arrival of the newsmongers" from London. This system
continued for centuries. During the Viceroyalty of Henry Hyde, Earl of
Clarendon, in 1686, that nobleman, in a despatch to Lord Sunderland, com
plains of the "lying, mischief- making story-tellers, who had just arrived from
London.'' t History of Two Queens, vol. iii.

The Irish Cousin. 1 5 5
was known, to be a spy upon the movements of Anna,
whose life was made miserable about this time.
Some writers " are convinced" that Thomas Wyatt was
the only man for whom Anna Boleyn had " a very particular
attachment." Dr. Nott — a good authority on the ques
tion — states that he has laboured in vain to discover any
document that could lead to such a conclusion. Tradition,
it is true, has handed down many romantic fragments con
cerning Anna and her friend. Mrs. Thompson, and other
writers, " feel certain that Anna loved Wyatt." That she
admired and loved Wyatt's society is beyond doubt. And
what woman of Anna's high mental culture could resist
the charms of this accomplished poet's company ? He had
no rival at the English Court. Anna Boleyn, however,
cannot be judged by the present standard of educated
women's minds or feelings. Mr. Hepworth Dixon contends
that the friendship between both parties was purely platonic.
He says that " every line that was written (or spoken) by
Wyatt to his ' Laura ' was such as a minstrel might have
addressed to a female saint." The young courtiers were
jealous of the favour shown by Anna Boleyn to the poor
poet, whom they hated for his genius ; but Anna despised
their resentments, and smiled upon the minstrel, whom
popular report declared to be her " true love."

156 The Border Chief .

CHAPTER XIV.
THE BORDER CHIEF.
Suddenly a change occurred. A new suitor appeared, and
one whose importance set the pretensions of the Irish cousin
far aside. Henry, Lord Percy, brought to Anna Boleyn
an offering of his honest affection. He had seen her many
times in the Queen's ante-room amongst the Court ladies ;
then he had " a gossip in the royal gardens, where," says
Margaret Lee, " he confessed his most honourable love and
devotion to the accomplished maid-of-honour." Anna had,
it seems in this case, unconsciously made a conquest; but
how many did she not knowingly make, and spurn ? She
delighted in " sentimental flirtation ;" but never indulged
in those "romping matches" with young courtiers, for
which the ladies of those times were noted. Anna kept
the gentlemen of the Court at a distance, and was con
sequently no favourite. "A Lord Mayor's granddaughter"
was the sneering remark of the landed lords. The
"Lord Mayor's granddaughter," however, had the blood of
the princely Howards in her veins, and she had evidently
won the affections of the heir to the powerful House of
Northumberland, to the annoyance of many Court ladies of
ancient family. " An air of romance clung about this
Border Chief," writes Mr. Dixon, "in whom his warlike
ancestor, Hotspur, seemed to live again. A man five-and-
thirty years of age, handsome and tall, he looked the soldier

The Border Chief 157

from 'his bonnet to his spur.' Percy knew little of the
Court, or the manners of those who frequented it. He
was a country gentleman, but one of great power in the
North. His retainers and servants were numerous. He
was without a rival at field sports ; a brave soldier, and a
staunch supporter of the Church and the Monarchy, which
his ancestors always maintained.. He was warm-hearted,
and, perhaps, a little weak-minded; yet more inclined to
retaliate than to forgive'. . He pressed his suit with a kind
of rustic warmth ; he did not like delays, and sometimes
may have consulted the ' Border Witches.' Percy's manly
bearing, high station, and wealth, attracted the attention of
Queen Katharine's maids-of-honour. They envied their
friend; still Anna seemed to be indifferent to Percy's
advances." Lingard states that Percy proposed a clandestine
marriage to Anna, and that she seemed to be seriously
inclined to agree to such a plan. An examination of the
facts, however, show that the Cardinal's " experts" made
it impossible to accomplish a clandestine marriage. What
was Wolsey's policy in this matter ? Was he, as I fear,
swayed by the choice which he then made, and which he
afterwards deplored, between the King Eternal and his
temporal prince ? Much must be left to supposition, because
we cannot fathom intentions; but, in this case, taking the
surroundings, Wolsey's action in Anna's cause, after the
fiasco of the " Lord of the Pale," reflects upon him sad dis
credit. In one of William Cavendish's gossipping letters to Dr.
Francis, he states that he was " quietly listening and looking
into the Queen's ante-room, where the maids-of-honour sat
till called to the Royal presence, and he saw Percy there in

158 The Border Chief
talk with Nan Boleyn ; and he did kiss her hand twice like a
knight and a true lover. The Lady Nan seemed affected
at parting from him, and in a low dulcet voice she said,
' Harry, when shall I see you again ?' I did not hear what
he answered," continued Cavendish, " but poor Harry
Percy seemed at that time quite in love with his Nan.
And no wonder, for she had no equal among all the maidens
of the Court. But my Lord Cardinal, for reasons best
known to himself, separated the lovers for ever."
Carlo Logario, the Cardinal's Spanish physician, makes
a similar statement. Perhaps he was another eavesdropper :
still some interest can attach to what may be fairly re
garded as unselfish reminiscences. Logario, however, knew
more of the love story of Anna and Percys than he ever
revealed. Upon the fall of Wolsey Carlo Logario became
attached to the household staff of Lord #Percy.
Miss Strickland seems inclined to think that Anna enter
tained a secret love for Wyatt all through, and after Percy's
projected suit had been set aside by Wolsey, she might
have privately married the poet; but he was then engaged
to Elizabeth Brooks, for whom, as he subsequently informed
his fair cousin Mildred, he " did not care, as he loved in
secret another dame of qualittie, whose name he dare not
mention." The reader may conjecture the name of the
lady in question — Anna Boleyn.

The First Tudor Divorce. 159

CHAPTER XV.
• THE FIRST TUDOR DIVORCE.
Henry's sister Margaret, Queen of Scotland, established a
precedent for him in the odious system of divorce. Upon
the death of her husband, James IV., Margaret violated
almost every " bequest he made in his will for religious or
other purposes." Like her brother at a subsequent period,
Margaret desired to take all Church preferments into her
own hands, and made some scandalous clerical appoint
ments. She married a subject — a youth scarcely eighteen
years of age, one of the ambitious House of Douglas. She
was immoral and dishonest, and effected a divorce (1525)
from her husband through the corruption of the Eccle
siastical Courts of Scotland. Scarcely was the judgment
pronounced in her favour when she married her paramour,
Henry Stuart* This action of the Queen was illegal
according to canon law ; but Margaret Tudor " would do
as she pleased." She was the first of the Tudor family who
sought to dissolve the marriage bonds. She divorced herself
from two husbands, had " several favourites," robbed the
public purse of what l'ttle a Scottish treasury could have
possessed, and she became a scandal to the queenly office.
Margaret Tudor manifested, for a woman, a notable share of
the avarice, deception, and vindictiveness which charac
terised her brother in his dealings with the world.

Tytler's History of Scotland, voL iv. p. 179.

1 6b The First Tudor Divorce.
Upon the visit of Queen Margaret to London, after an
absence of many years, she received an enthusiastic recep
tion from burghers and people. King Henry " was most
brotherly in his attentions;" his motives, however, were
political, for he cared little for any member of his own
family, and merely wished to get a footing in Scotland
through the agency of his unprincipled sister. In this
scheme he was disappointed, but not for want of Margaret's
aid. Edward Hall numbers amongst the events of Henry's
reign the visit of Queen Margaret to London : " The
Queen of Scotland made her entry into London town
May 3, 1516, riding behind Sir Thomas Parr on a white
palfrey. She was richly dressed, and gladly seen by a great
company of lords and ladyes." The English nobles who
were sent to escort her from the " Borders" entertained
no high opinion of her sense of good- breeding as a lady.
Her manners were gross, and she frequently indulged in
violent fits of passion and indecent language.*
Queen Margaret having little education, more easily
tolerated the rude manners of the Scottish nobility of her
time. The women of Scotland did not change much from
what they had been in the days of Don Pedro de Ayala,
and consequently were far superior to their Queen. Under
the Puritanism of a proximate subsequent period, the
men were, if possible, worse, for they adopted the name of
religion to mask their crimes, thus adding hypocrisy to the
calendar of their normal atrocities. Queen Margaret had
ceased for many years to be under the control of those

* Brewer's State Papers.

The First Tudor Divorce. 161
pious and amiable feelings which her early training from a
good mother had imparted. In the words of her biographer,
she had " scarcely any religion, and was guided entirely by
her instincts, which were not of an elevated character."*
When this fallen Queen had reached her fortieth year she
was suddenly stricken by a fatal illness ; and being assured
that she had not many days to live, cried out for a con
fessor. Her request was immediately complied with, and
after " five days of agony and penitential tears," Margaret,
the Dowager Queen, expired. An old Scottish tradition
states that her " last hours were most edifying ; she desired
above all things to see her son, James V., in order to
beg his forgiveness for the shame and scandal she caused to
the Royal Family." It i3 stated she dictated a letter to her
brother Henry with a similar request, and besought him
to have Masses celebrated for her soul's health. Her son,
who did not arrive till his mother was dead, honoured her
with a public funeral ; and the Scottish clans, forgetting
her errors, attended to pay a last tribute to her whom they
once worshipped as " beautiful Murgo." Her daughter, by
the Earl of Angus, was subsequently known as Lady
Margaret Douglas, and then as the Countess of Lennox,
and the mother of the ill-fated Darnley, the husband of
Mary, Queen of Scots. This lady's history was one of
adversity and sorrow, having been a prisoner in the Tower
under Henry VIIL, and again suffered persecution at the
hands of her English cousin, Queen Elizabeth.
In the British Museum is deposited a large and curious

* Miss Strickland's Queens of Scotland, vol. i. ; Fraser Tytler's History of
Scotland, vol. iv. M

162 The First Tudor Divorce.
collection of Queen Margaret's letters to her brother, who
does not seem to have been satisfied with her conduct.
He sent a stern and stinging rebuke to Margaret concerning
her divorce, and advised her to live honestly with her
husband ; and further lectured her upon the " stories
bruited against her honour." The bearer of this con
fidential advice was one of the Observant Fathers from
Greenwich, subsequently the victim of Henry's vengeance.
In another communication to his confidential agent in
Scotland Henry says : " The behaviour of my sister
sounds openly to her extreme reproach  She is
more like an unnatural and transformed person than a
noble princess, or a woman with a sense of wisdom and
honour."* There is a concurrence of opinion amongst the biographers
of Queen Margaret to the effect that she was a violent and
mischievous woman, and her individual character was such
as could not long command either affection or respect.
It has been remarked that the- Stuarts brought " ill-luck
and a curse" in their train; but it may be more correct to
state that the political troubles of the Royal House of
Stuart, and their people, are traceable to the Tudor con
nection. The misdeeds and disasters attributed to Queen
Margaret's personal conduct gave rise to the civil wars,
which subsequently proved so fatal to her Stuart offspring,
and all those brave and chivalrous families who espoused
their cause in Scotland, England, or their still more
devoted sister, Ireland, treated with such flagrant ingratitude
by that wretched dynasty.

* State Papers (Scotland), vol. iv.

Wolsey Declares against the Love Match. 163

CHAPTER XVI.
WOLSEl' DECLARES AGAINST THE LOVE MATCH.
Nan responded to the feelings of Harry Percy. Her
manner, however, was occasionally cold ¦ and restrained.*
Dr. Gardyner describes Percy as a man of few words
when in the company of dames of qualitie ; but if making
merrie with the Border squires, he did not lack of
talk on the chase or rural sports. He thought more of
horses and dogs than he did of books. He was proud of the
name of Percy, yet he sometimes forgot his personal
respect, and descended to the company of very inferior
folks. He was, unfortunately, fond of strong liquors, which
gave him an old appearance. Although warm-hearted and
sensitive, as an enemy he was unforgiving, vindictive, and
treacherous. The Cardinal called him a " boy," sometimes
a "fool," but Percy was a settled man some years beyond
thirty ; he cried like a boy about " his Nan," still he was
no fool. Percy was unhappy in all his domestic relations,
and lived on bad terms with his father for years. The
wife whom he subsequently wedded disliked him, and he
returned her hate with interest.
Few had better opportunities of knowing Percy than

* History of Two Queens ; State Papers of Henry VIIL; Letters of Mar
garet Lee, Cavendish, and Logario. Brewer contends that the courtship be
tween Anna and Percy occurred at a later date than that stated by Cavendish;
d^tes in this case, especially, must lead to the most important conclusions.
M 3

164 Wolsey Declares against the Love Match.
Stephen Gardyner, who was an old acquaintance of his
father, and at one period the Latin secretary of Wolsey.
There are several versions of the interview between
Cardinal Wolsey and Lord Percy, all more or less derived
from Cavendish or Dr. Gardyner ; but I think the following
contains the facts : —
"I marvel not a little, my Lord Percy," said Wolsey,
" of thy folly and want of discreet tongue. Why shouldst
thou tangle thyself with a vain foolish ' chetf (a young girl)
like Nan Boleyn? Do you not consider the high state
that God hath called thee unto in this world ? .... I
have sent for your father, the right noble and brave Earl of
Northumberland, a truly loyal man and good Catholic ;
and when he comes this silly match will be broken off —
yes, it will — or your noble father will disinherit you for
your wicked disobedience. Mark my words."
The Cardinal laying his hand on Percy's shoulder, in a
low tone continued : —
" Thomas Boleyn's daughter cannot be your wife." And,
after a long pause : " She is intended for another man.
You must, my lord, learn to forget all about this foolish
Nan. Remember what I say."
Percy stood like a statue.
" You are affected, I fear," said the Cardinal. " Have
more manly courage, friend."
" I am every inch a man, with the blood of the Percys
in my veins," exclaimed the Border Chief. " I will not, I
cannot forget my ladye-love. Sorry I am indeed that I
should give the King's Highness any displeasure. But this
is a matter wholly concerning myself, my private life, my
future happiness. I consider that I am now at years of

Wolsey Declares against the Love Match. 165
good discretion, and capable of knowing what ladye was
suited to be my future wyfe. . . . By her mother's side the
ladye I love is of the great and illustrious House of Surrey
and Norfolk, and at her father's side she is descended from
the Butlers of Ormonde. Why then, my Lord Cardinal, are
there any words of disagreement, or any objection in my
seeking to have a wyfe who is my equal in blood, and so
full of learning and wit, that I should feel proud of her as
my wyfe ?"
Notwithstanding his high rank and ancient lineage Percy
possessed little ambition ; he manifested, however, a gentler
gleam of aspiration than obtained often amongst the
descendants of Hotspur ; he desired to marry a woman of
learning and genius, and in selecting Anna Boleyn he
displayed a delicate discrimination, most unusual in the
great barons of the time.
Percy with unusual courage advocated his cause. He
reminded the Cardinal of the part he had taken in the case
of the Princess Mary and the Duke of Suffolk, and of
another incident in which Wolsey himself was a principal
some years before he received Holy Orders. But the
Cardinal of York had no sympathy with his love-story,
unless he could turn it to some political purpose. Before
the interview ended, Wolsey again warned Percy as to the
danger of his position.
" I command thee," said his Eminence, " in the King's
name, that thou never again presume to resort to the company
qf Nan Boleyn. If you have any fear of the King's high
indignation you will remember this warning."
Dr. Logario states that the Cardinal instantly retired,
leaving Percy the " picture of confusion and despair."

1 66 Wolsey Declares against the Love Match.
It is evident that the Cardinal was at this time engaged
in an intrigue for some very influential person in the State.
Time, however, revealed the secret.
The House of Northumberland then stood at the head of
the English nobility, and ranked with the Howards in
wealth, and with the Courtneys in antiquity. The Earl of
Northumberland had five hundred servants and retainers;
his servitors wore the richest liveries; he had five principal
mansions ; his hospitality was profuse — all classes were
entertained in his halls. The name of "good old Harry
Percy" was a household word " along the Borders," and in
the neighbouring counties ; minstrels, poets, artists, and
scholars, and many from distant climes — monks, nuns,
pilgrims — all spoke in terms of praise of " Harry Percy the
Border Chief," the redoubted owner of Alnwick Castle.*
The Earl of Northumberland belonged to Queen Katharine's
adherents, at this time fast declining. He upheld the High
Church party ; he was the friend of Fisher, Foxe, Warham,
and More ; was thoroughly conservative, and opposed to
innovations in Church or State. Like his late kinsman,
the wealthy and ill-fated Duke of Buckingham, he was a
marked man, and at one time sent to the Fleet by Wolsey.
From a feebng of prudence, therefore, Lord Northumberland
did not wish his son to persevere in the Boleyn suit, and
sought out the daughter of Lord Shrewsbury as an eligible
match. The Shrewsbury family were wealthy, and Lady Mary
' Talbot unnoticed by the King — a happy circumstance for
herself. The match was arranged by the two earls, and
* The London residence of the Northumberland family was then at what is
now called the East-End.

Wolsey Declares against the Love Match. 167
the Cardinal and his Royal master both approved of the
proceeding. Percy became the husband of Lady Mary
Talbot. Commanded to do so, he obeyed with unexpected
submission; but his future life was a series of sad
incidents* The blighting of Percy's hopes was another of Wolsey's
heartless experiments, but the Cardinal seemed unconscious
that such triumphs were only adding to the list of his
bitterest enemies. It is alleged that Anna Boleyn had
made a vow that if she ever found the means of revenge
upon the Cardinal of York, she would repay him in his
own hard coin for all the sorrow he had caused to her in
relation to Percy.* If Anna Boleyn made such a vow, she
was of the nature to keep it. Her subsequent conduct is a
proof. Yet, after all, it may fairly be questioned if her
affection for Percy was either fervent or durable. True,
she felt an attachment for him, but her ambition controlled
all the promptings of her heart. To an intellectual man
Anna Boleyn's society was enchanting, her manner most
winning, her soft voice full of harmony, and her conversa
tional powers on learned topics, as well as on poetry,
music, painting, and botany, were marvellous. Indeed
the contrast between her and Lord Percy was wide and
marked. Sir Henry ElMs, in his collection of letters, gives one
particular document without a signature, which is supposed
to have been written by Percy to a squire named Maltory,
to whom Lord Percy reveals the story of his engagement
to Anna Boleyn. Here are the concluding words : —

History of Two Queens, vol. iii. p. 317. ,

1 68 Wolsey Declares against the Love Match.
" Commend me unto Mistress Nan. Bid her remember
her promise, which none can loose but the Almighty God,
to whom I shall daily during my life with my prayers
commend."* If Percy wrote the letter in question it must have been
but a few days before his compulsory marriage with Lady
Mary Talbot. I shall have occasion to return to this
subject before the close of Anna Boleyn's career.
Lord Cobham states that Mary Boleyn showed him the
following lines, written in a prayer-book by Anna Boleyn
about the time of her elevation to the rank of Marchioness
of Pembroke : —
" Oh, wicked ambition, what sorrow and danger you are
likely to bring to me ! I was once happy ; titles or honours
can never win a true heart ; it is all deception, that vile
feeling which our Holy Mother the Church so justly
condemns. Alas ! alas ! poor Harry ; I shall often think of
you in years to come."*
Tradition traces the prayer-book in question down to
Sir Philip Sydney, in the reign of Elizabeth. The Wyatt
family related many traditions of Anna. Margaret Lee
states that Anna Boleyn's stepmother assured her that
" her ill-fated daughter had a true love for Percy when
she said, ' Oh, mamma, it is very hard to learn to un-love ;
very hard indeed. Mamma, you were once young yourself;
you understand my feelings, do you not. ?' "
Part of the above passage appears in a little book pub
lished at Antwerp in 1640, entitled, " The Story of Anna
Boleyn and Harry Percy."
* Ellis's Original Letters, vol. ii. p. 131.
+ The above has been modernised.

Wolsey Declares against the Love Match. 1 69
Thomas Wyatt shows that Anna was in a most unhappy
state of mind about the period of her coronation : " She
wrung her hands and cried bitterly one night ; and after a
long pause Anna said, ' I feel that I have done a great
wrong to her who is now called the Dowager Princess of
Wales. WThere will all my grandeur end ? On the scaffold,
I fear. Yes, that thought haunts me day and night. Oh,
Wyatt, will you swear before the Host, that when the hour
of sorrow comes you will not desert me ?' " The poet took
the oath, and like a true knight was her friend to the
death. A biographer of Anna's is of opinion that she
doubted the sincerity of Percy. Mrs. Thompson produces
a scene in which her heroine says : " Love, true love, is
contented if it be but returned. The real pang is to part
when regret is not mutual." The state of the case was
this : Percy dared not marry Anna Boleyn without bringing
the Royal vengeance upon his family. His name, or that
of his father, would have been soon connected with some
" manufactured plot," and perhaps father and son would
have perished upon the scaffold, like the Duke of Buckingham
a few years preceding. To oppose King Henry in his
matrimonial schemes was ruin or death. It is possible
Percy feared more for his family than himself.
Margaret Lee, who describes the early meetings of Anna
and Percy in the royal gardens, in a letter of " after years,"
states that Percy frequently visited Hever Castle when
Anna resided at home ; and Lady Wiltshire encouraged his
visits. " They walked," writes Lady Lee, " in the gardens
and fields daily. Percy thought she had no equal among
ladyes of qualitie, and he said truly. He called her his
' darling Nan.' My Lord Cardinal styled her that foolish

1 70 Wolsey Declares against the Love Match.
Nan. However, he was mistaken ; she was not in the
least foolish, but rather ambitious. Although Percy had
little learning and less wit, he knew how to respect a woman
of book-learning. If Anna loved my Lord Percy as much
as he regarded her, she never gave the same tokens of it ;
but then she was very distant. She was more pleased
with the society of my dear brother Thomas (Wyatt) than
with the heir to the great and wealthy House of North
umberland." And no wonder.
Although Percy had been " a spoiled child and a
neglected youth," he had some talent and some worth, and
did many good actions, of which the world knew little.
It is said " there is a history in all men's lives." The
story of unhappy Percy's inner life was not unworthy of
attention or pity ; but in its after results it provided the
student of history with some material for inquiry into the
most important and contradictory annals connected with
England's progress as a nation.
Percy was commanded to return the letters he received
from Anna Boleyn during their courtship.
" I return to you," he says, " by the King's command, these
letters — this pledge of love.* I never would have parted with them
else. Think not unkind of me. " Percy."
The above letter is given by Mrs. Thompson. A different
version is furnished by a Flemish writer : —
" Pardon my intrusion. I am told by a messenger of the King's
Highness that he desires I should return to yo-u all letters or love-
tokens. Oh ! Nan, I should never part with them but under the
* A trinket containing some of her own jet-black hair,

Wolsey Declares against the Love Match. 171

circumstances. I shall long remember you ; think not unkindly of
me. I commend you to the favour of the Virgin Mother. God
forgive those people who have separated us. Nan 1 farewell, fare
well for ever, my darling Nan !
" This is wrote with mine own hand. " Harry Percy."
The letter bears no date, and was printed in the original
style. A book, published in Venice about 1564, entitled
the " Story of Anna Boleyn and Lord Percy," contained
several letters purporting to have passed between the ill-
fated lovers. This book is only traditionally known.
Wharton states that it was bruited, when he was a young
man, that Queen Elizabeth caused " several continental
books upon her mother's history to be purchased up and
destroyed;" and it was further related that she consigned
this delicate task to Sir Francis Walsingham, and his
foreign agents. It is certain that Elizabeth always felt
annoyed at any allusion to her mother, whom she styled
" that woman."
The bride- which fate finally assigned to Percy was cold
and haughty. Afflicted by a violent temper, deficient in
the education and training essential to her high position,
bred in a small exclusive circle, Lady Mary Talbot came to
Court full of lofty conceits, believing herself to be "a Princess,
or some one above the other nobles, " as Wyatt relates.
Between Lady Mary and Anna Boleyn there existed an un
friendly feeling. Anna envied her because she became the
wife of her own " first love ;" knowing at the same time
that Percy was compelled to marry Mary Talbot, in order
that the heroine of Hever Castle might become the bride of
one who had not yet publicly appeared upon the scene.

1 72 Wolsey Declares against the Love Match.
Long before her marriage Lady Talbot was the rival — the
unsuccessful rival — of Anna Boleyn in the ball-room, at the
Galliards and the Brawl.* The dancing of Anna excited
much admiration ; and next to her fame in dancing feats
was her sister-in-law, Lady Rochford. Lady Mary Talbot
had few friends amongst the Court ladies ; all those who
knew of Percy's story pitied him. He never came to Court
unless "specially commanded," which was seldom. Could
the King have had any respect for his feelings ? Doubtful
enough ; for on one occasion he asked Percy, in a bantering
tone, " How far he loved his tall, handsome wife?"
Henry's manners, as well as his mind, became gross about
this period of his life ; his jokes and oaths were alike inde
cent and profane. The presence of ladies or clerics seldom re
strained the sudden bursts of passion in which he indulged.
Percy's loyalty was plastic to the utmost servility ; and
though the King did him grievous wrong in blighting for ever
his domestic happiness, still Harry Percy would not listen
to a disrespectful word from any man against the licentious
tyrant whom he called "the Lord's Anointed."

* The "Brawl" consisted, as described by Mrs. Thompson and others, in a
perpetual shaking, and the excellence of the dancer was to be estimated by
his capacity of agitating the limbs of his partner. After ' ' agitating their
frames" for some time in the "Brawl" the dancers ceased; each lady was
conducted to her seat, and the lords, knights, and squires, removing their
vizors, saluted their fair partners in the "most lovable fashion of chivalry.''
Many years subsequently Queen Elizabeth and her dancing favourite, Sir
Christopher Hatton, were " the observed of all observers" in this noisy dance.

Domestic Relations. 1 73

CHAPTER XVII.
DOMESTIC RELATIONS.
At the time of Percy's marriage with Lady Mary Talbot,*
Anna Boleyn was in retirement at Hever, and occasionally
in waiting on Queen Katharine. Margaret Lee states that
Anna was sadly affected at the news of the marriage ; for days
she walked in the garden alone. She spoke with great bitter
ness of the Cardinal. After a few weeks she turned her
mind to domestic affairs. At the old manor-house her time
was occupied between her books and the instruction of poor
children. She was regular in her attendance at the chapel,
morning and evening, accompanied by her stepmother, who
had the reputation of being a pious woman. The young
Wyatts, of Allington, continued to be her visitors and
friends. The friendship existing between the two families
was remarkable.
While Sir Thomas Boleyn was in Spain (1523) negotia
ting for King Henry with the Emperor Charles, his royal
master raised him to the peerage as Baron Rochford. At
a subsequent period he was elevated to the rank of Earl of
Wiltshire. Lord Wiltshire's second wife has been cruelly
slandered by several writers, under the supposition that she

* Percy and his bride were quickly separated ; they resided together but a
short period. It was stated at the time that they were divorced, in consequence
of some canon lawbearing against the marriage. There is no proof of this rumour.

1 74 Domestic Relations.
was Lady Elizabeth Howard, to whom I have already
alluded. It is strange that many well-informed writers
should fall into this error. This "second wife" of Lord
Wiltshire " was very pretty, and not more than sixteen
years of age," writes Empson, " when privately married to
Sir Thomas Boleyn, who was many years older than his
wife." It is stated by Cobham, " that Boleyn educated
his peasant wife himself." Others allege that Lady Boleyn
was the daughter of a London merchant, and "neither
young nor handsome." Whatever might have been her
antecedents she proved to be a good mother to Anna,
and scrupulously particular in training and imparting
religious instruction to her step-children. Anna Boleyn
was a most devoted daughter to her second mother.
It has been also affirmed that Lady Wiltshire was a " mas
culine, coarse-minded woman, and that many of Anna's
misfortunes were of her creation." But she had with a
section of her traducers one redeeming quaUty — " she was
a Lutheran — in private." These allegations had their origin
with Simon Fish and Lord Clinton, and were subsequently
" re-dressed" by other literary adventurers. Lady Wilt
shire was always a Catholic, and seldom mixed in the
divorce controversy. She did not like Dr. Cranmer, and
when aware that he had a wife, she refused to be present at
Mass, if celebrated by the Archbishop.
It is curious that Mrs. Thompson, who relates many
important incidents connected with the inner life of the
Boleyn family, should consider Lady Wiltshire as the
Elizabeth Howard whom Sir Thomas Boleyn married early
in bfe. Mrs. Thompson describes Lady Wiltshire as a
haughty woman, intriguing and ambitious ; but her moral

Domestic Relations. 1 75
character is not impeached. The Thomas Traditions, the
Camden Society Papers, and the Howard Memorials, all
prove that Sir Thomas Boleyn was married a second
time. Lady Wiltshire outlived her husband and step-children
many years. Plastow, a Flemish painter, states that he
visited her when she resided in a cottage near London.
She was then a very old woman, yet possessed of all her
faculties. He reports that the venerable lady spoke in
glowing terms of Anna Boleyn. Plastow adds : " It is
bruited that the good Queen Elizabeth has never visited or
inquired after her step-grandmother."
To return to Anna Boleyn. " Owing to family persecu
tion," as Wyatt states, "Anna Boleyn quitted the retirement
of Hever Castle. She protested against being compelled to
accept the match negotiated on her behalf. Her uncle,
Wolsey, and the King were determined that Dublin or
Kilkenny should be the place of her future destiny ; but
the strong-minded maid was not to be won or conquered.
The Archduchess Marguerite, who was then at Mechlin,
invited Anna to become one of her maids-of-honour.
This royal lady was a zealous Catholic, and a highly gifted
woman— in fact, the heroine of Hever could not obtain a
better guardian than the Princess. The King and his
Council would not permit her to leave England— so she got
away in the " guise of a children's maid to a French lady."
Such was the narrative furnished by Anna herself, in
subsequent years, to Margaret Lee. The most happy
period of her life she describes as that spent at the little
Flemish Court. The Princess, who was very much attached
to Anna, wished her to remain. " I will be a friend and

1 76 Domestic Relations.

a sister to you all the days of my life," said ( she ; " oh,
remain with me — I shall be sad and lonely without you."*
Anna Boleyn was well disposed to remain with her kind
friend, but her ambitious father demanded her return to
Hever Castle. Her latest biographer states that she
seemed disposed to remain with the Archduchess, where
she would see no more of gallant Percy's handsome face, or
hear of her Irish cousin's " ardent professions of love."t
Her visit was prolonged, and she seemed happy ; but her
wayward fate brought her again to Hever Castle, then a
changed place ; Harry Percy was no longer a companion
of her walks, and the delightful poet friend was also
absent. Although immensely admired at the French and Flemish
Courts, Anna Boleyn is not known to have formed any
attachment. If she ever loved, the object was either
Wyatt or Percy. But ambition — restless, dissatisfied,
indefinable — substituted preconceived sentiments. Margaret
Lee stated her opinion that Anna was " never really happy,
for a kind of discontent always lingered around her, yet
she delighted every one:" Perhaps the want of some
kindred spirit caused this waywardness, whilst her talents
and genius, and the superior cultivation of her mind, stood
forth without a rival amongst the Court ladies of England
or France.

* Blanche Lorraine's Memoir of the ArchducheBB Marguerite, printed at
Paris in 1540. t History of Two Queens, vol. iii.

The " Royal Scruples. " 177

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE " ROYAL SCRUPLES."
All the disasters of Henry's reign had their origin in
his invented scruples and desire to divorce his lawful wife.
Why did not those scruples affect him earlier ? Why cause all
sense of morality to consider them predetermined injustice ?
The inner history of this case shows that Henry Tudor was
playing the hypocrite throughout. Many indubitable cir
cumstances occurred to prove that he was not moved by
anything like conscientious motives. " It is extraordinary,"
observes Dr. Brewer, " how Henry's scruples of conscience
coincided so nicely with his inclinations." He had been
leading the life of a concealed libertine for many years
previous to the alleged " scruples." In fact, one year after
his marriage with the Infanta (1510), he had " a love
scandal" with the sister of the Duke of Buckingham.*
About the same time a young Scotch lady, named Graham,
became another of the royal victims, and under very pain
ful circumstances. Andrew Lipomana writes from Rome
in 1514,. that " it was hinted in certain circles in that city
that the English King intended to repudiate his wife when
he got an opportunity of doing so." Lipomana may be
considered as a correct authority; indeed, his statement is
borne out by no less a personage than Bishop Foxe. About

* Bergenroth's State Papers.
VOL. I. N

1 78 The " Royal Scruples."
the same time (1514), Luis Cavoz, a Spanish ambassador,
who was well acquainted with Henry, compared him " to a
colt which had broken loose. If he were not soon bridled,
it would afterwards be found impossible to control him."*
And again, in 1515, when some six years married, Henry
was known to the courtiers as " a confirmed profligate wear
ing the mask of goodness." In this year, Balthazar, the
French ambassador, writes to his royal master of the course
then pursued by the young English King. " King Henry's
life as a married man is very irregular ; he cares for nothing
but the society of  , hunting, revelling, &c."f This
was long before the beautiful and fascinating Elizabeth
Blunt appeared upon the scene to captivate the monarch.
Arabella Parker, " the wife of a citie merchant," became
the successor of Elizabeth Blunt, and was set aside in a few
months for a Swedish beauty, who subsequently died of
the sweating sickness. The dames of " lower rank "
are described by Lord Clinton and Francis Bryan as
" numerous." Amongst the Privy Council records of Henry's reign
occur the names of " certain houses in Westminster, where
no man visited but the King himself." English historians,
from Hall and Polydore Vergil down to Froude, eulogise
Henry for his " delicate sense of morality."
The "royal scruples" never had any existence; they
presented no phase of life but that of hypocrisy. The un
righteous interference with Lord Percy's projected marriage
with the ill-fated daughter of Lord Wiltshire was another

* Despatches of the Spanish Envoy to King Ferdinand.
t Brewer's State Papers (Foreign), 1515.

The " Royal Scruples." 1 79
evidence of the evil purposes of the King, and the extent to
which the Cardinal of York had gone to gratify his Royal
master; yet Wolsey never contemplated raising Anna
Boleyn to the position of a Queen. At the period of
Percy's courtship with Anna Boleyn she seemed perfectly
unconscious of the King's sentiments with regard to her ;
but it is very doubtful if her father was not at that time
aware of Henry's future arrangements. The significant
words of the Cardinal, " she is intended for another," prove
that some " arrangement " was then in preparation. The
reader is aware that subsequent to the dismissal of Percy's
love-suit by Wolsey, Anna Boleyn remained in " strict re
tirement" at Hever Castle, and then, as if fearing some
new proposals being made for her, Anna suddenly pro
ceeded to the Court of the Archduchess Marguerite, where
she remained for some time happy, and " more inclined to
become a nun than a bride, especially when her own feel
ings were not to be consulted." So writes her devoted
friend, Margaret Lee. Another incident occurred at Hever,
which also hurried her departure. The King made a
" private visit " to the Castle ; and this, at the time when
Percy and Wyatt were both married — married by compulsion.
Anna felt bitter resentment against the monarch for the
part he had taken in secret to promote these marriages, or
at least one of them. She at once felt that he was actuated
by no honourable motives. At the time of Henry's visit,
Anna feigned illness, and did not leave her chamber till the
departure of the King.*
After an absence of nearly four years, Anna returned to

Miss Benger's Life of Anna Boleyn.
N 2

1 80 The" Royal Scruples. "
England by command of her father, who was apparently
the instrument of Henry's intrigues. Anna resumed the
office of maid of honour to the reluctant Queen, "who
spake little to mademoiselle." Anna Boleyn made weekly
visits to Hever; "an illustrious personage" went thither
likewise, and was specially invited by Lord Wiltshire, who
now openly sympathised with the " royal scruples." At
the approach of this new phase in her destiny Anna
Boleyn made Httle resistance; she feared her father,
stepmother, and aunts, who " were constantly praising the
King;" those relatives were sordid, time-serving, and am
bitious, without a particle of that honour which directs a
laudable ambition. "Anna passed many sleepless nights,"
writes her cousin Howard. The same lady observes : —
" The only subject discussed in the family circle for weeks
was the King's ' intended proposal.' " At last Anna gave
way, her courage vanished before her father's persistence ;
still, in the words of Margaret Lee, " she had a dreadful
presentiment that she was about to do an act of injustice
to another that might lead to awful consequences." She had
intervals of feeling which brought their own warnings.
That religion to which she was so long devoted — her con
science, her honour, the memory of her early training
at Hever with its infantine innocence ; the recollections of
the convent life at Brie ; of Queen Claude ; of the Princess
Renee ; of the Archduchess Marguerite and her maidens ;
or amongst the " home figures" of Wyatt, Percy, Margaret
Lee, or Mildred Wyatt — all no doubt presented their
respective tableaux; but the struggle was brief; a cold
unscrupulous ambition quickly possessed her spirit; she
desired, as it would appear, to forget the Past, she made

The " Royal Scruples." 1 8 1
her election, and left her contemporaries and posterity to
pronounce their verdict as to her motives. It may be
argued in Anna Boleyn's favour at this juncture — or even
at a later period — -that several divines and prelates pos
sessing high reputation, the majority of the Convocation of
Canterbury and York, besides many of the most noted
amongst the laity, were of opinion, or affected to be so,
that Katharine's marriage with Henry was not valid
according to canon law. Supposing such could have been
established as a fact, it could not improve Anna's position
in the sight of the world; in fact, a woman of a delicate
or noble mind would spurn a marriage with Henry under
such unprecedented circumstances. But Anna Boleyn, by
her conduct during the divorce btigation, demonstrated
beyond question that she was neither grateful, delicate-
minded, nor wise. It is impossible, however, that even
sectarian feeling — an idea that should not enter into this
discussion — can approve of Anna Boleyn's conduct to
Queen Katharine.
Mr. Froude justly censures Anna Boleyn's conduct about
this period. " No lady of true delicacy," he observes,
" would have accepted such a position. Feeling for Queen
Katharine ought to have forbidden it, if she was careless of
respect for herself." And again the learned gentleman
remarks : " Anna was indifferent to the obligations of
gratitude, and sometimes careless of the truth."* A severe
judgment from the worshipper of Henry Tudor.
Lingard is of opinion that the King's passion for Anna
Boleyn must have begun at the latest in the summer of
* Froude's History of England, vol. i. p. 164.

1 8 2 The " Royal Scruples. "
1526, probably much earlier; at all events, before the
time assigned to the origin of the "royal scruples"
respecting his marriage with Katharine.* There is much
difference of opinion amongst historians concerning the
dates of the various movements made in this national
scandal. If the dates were critically ascertained, then we
could better judge of the motives of the chief actors.
The courtship at Hever Castle has been turned into a
kind of romance, a discreditable manner of writing history.
King Henry is described as sounding his bugle near a
hedge of roses, and, in a few minutes, the "enchanting
maid suddenly appears at the corner of a walk, when the
' amiable monarch' was at once struck with her wondrous
beauty." According to the real facts of the case, Henry
was acquainted with Anna Boleyn from the time of her
twelfth year. He was never " struck with her wondrous
beauty," for, in truth, " the smart little girl," and sub
sequent young woman, had no claims to exterior attractions.
This scene at the " hedge of roses," and the " sounding of
the royal bugle," which has appeared in many forms, is
merely a "gilded picture" from the archives of Puritan
romance — perhaps it might be uncharitable to apply a
harsher epithet. If virtue be necessary to true happiness —
which some writers may deny — the febcity of the ill-
matched lovers was aught but genuine. The Puritan
writers who have with a bad taste, unborn of their
professed morality, sanctified Anna Boleyn, should con
template the artful maiden in the pretty gardens of
Hever Castle listening to the love addresses from Queen

* Lingard's History of England, vol. iv. p. 479.

The " Royal Scruples." 183
Katharine's husband. Do not the love epistles* of the
King to Anna also form somewhat strong evidence against
her sense of propriety ? At first, in a memorable letter,
she indignantly rejected his proposal.f The letter in
question is apparently candid; but anon the reader will
see more of the latent sentiments of the writer.
I pass over the many scandals in circulation concerning
Anna Boleyn during the litigation of this odious divorce
question, and approach the means adopted to accomplish

* The original letters, however strange their receptacle, are amongst the
MSS. records of the Vatican. They were locked in Anna's cabinet, and it is
supposed that after her execution some of her ladies sent them to Rome,
perhaps Margaret Lee. Dr. Burnet, when at Rome, hearing of the existence
of these letters, at once pronounced them to be forgeries, but subsequently was
convinced that they were genuine. He observes, " I was too well acquainted
with King Henry's handwriting to doubt their authenticity." They are written
in the imperfect French of the period, and without date, but are supposed to
have been written about 1527-8. In the "Men and "Women of the English
Reformation," I have printed the letters in question. They are also to be found
in Sharon Turner's very interesting history of England, vol. x. ; and some
passages are likewise quoted by Miss Strickland in her Queens of England,
vol. ii. p. 587. Tne original letters above referred to are at the present moment
numbered 3731, amongst the MSS. of the Vatican Library.
t Anna Boleyn gives the following reply to one of the King's first missives :—
" I beseech your. Highness to desist in writing to me  Take this as
my answer. / will rather lose my life than my virtue, which mil be the greatest
and best part of the dowry I shall bring my husband." Henry writes again,
asking permission that "he Bhould at least continue to hope." Anna in a
brief and indignant note protests against the further advances of her royal
lover :— " Your wife I camnot be, because you have a Queen already. Your
mistress I will not be." Miss Strickland observes that there "is a difficulty
in reading and understanding Anna's letters, on account of an evident want
of sincerity." If Anna Boleyn was sincere in the above protests, then the
inference may fairly be drawn that her father subsequently used coercion, for
she was immensely influenced by him, and there was no evil deed that he was
not capable of suggesting and carrying out. At this very period Lord Wilt
shire was generally considered a well-meaning, honourable, and religious man.
The sequel proved that he was " wearing the mask of deception for years."

1 84 The " Royal Scruples. "
that unjust determination. Le Grand has explained the
schemes by which theological opinions favourable to the
divorce were procured in the University of Paris and other
French colleges. Du Maulins states that he had examined
the account laid before Francis L, from which it was
quite evident that the votes given in favour of the King of
England's divorce " had been purchased with English gold ;"
and further, " the real opinion of the University was against
the divorce of Katharine."* It is more than probable if
Francis were asked his opinion as a man, the wild but
honour-esteeming king would have pronounced the action of
his cousin Henry " as a thorough mechancete " — a word in
which the hero of Pavia concentrated his idea of lack of
honour, virtue, truth, and genuine manliness.
Recent research proves that whilst professing friendship
for Henry, Francis I. practised deception towards his
English brother — at one time advising a marriage with
Anna Boleyn " without the judgment of the Court of Rome,"
and at the same time secretly corresponding with the Pope,
" urging him to be firm, and listen to no more overtures
concerning the divorce." In other matters Francis was
equally deceptive. In some of Dr. Gardyner's secret
despatches to Lord Crumwell are to be found an account of
the " devices " by which the French King and his ministers
desired to place the English monarch in domestic troubles.
England, however, was ably represented at the French
Court, for a time at least, by Dr. Gardyner; but the cause
Gardyner advocated brands his name, as a cleric, with
well-deserved censure. In a few years later Francis I.

* Malin, Nat. ad Cornit, Dec, p. 602.

The " Royal Scruples." 1 85
did not conceal the contempt he entertained for the
" matrimonial speculations " of the English King.* In
fact, every Court in Europe felt outraged at the indecent
conduct of Henry. Yet, to their shame and dishonour be
it recorded, the first nobles and prelates in England stood
forward as the advocates of the course pursued by Henry
Tudor. The University of Bologna sent a favourable reply to
King Henry's questions concerning the divorce of Katharine;
but, upon investigation, it appears to have been the opinion
of three Carmelite friars, drawn up at the suggestion of
Pallavicino, an agent of Dr. Cranmer's at Ferrara. The
opinions of other theologians was purchased for one hundred
thousand gold crowns. It is important to find Burnet
admitting this fact. Every day, however, the question
became more complicated. William Cavendish, Dean
Phillips, and Dr. Francis, allege that the " royal scruples "
were partly suggested by Anna Boleyn. These statements
have nothing but idle gossip for their origin, and very
improbable. The indictment against Anna is quite sufficient
to tarnish her reputation, without adding to it the gossip
of William Cavendish and the credulous Phillips.
It is related by several well-informed authorities that
" some time before the King's scruples were made public,"
certain German Reformers suggested that Henry might
have " two, or more, wives." It is probable that this advice
was tendered by the Anabaptists of Munster. Dean Hook
affirms that Luther and Melancthon, in the early stages of
the divorce litigation, " advised the King not to put away

* Le Grand's Despatches, vol. iii. p. 136.

1 86 The " Royal Scruples. "
Queen Katharine, but to make Anna Boleyn his second
wife."* This is just as Luther ordered it in the case of
the Duke of Hesse. There is also a letter of Luther on
record, wherein he denounces Henry "for marrying his
brother's widow." Melancthon, at one time, sympathised
with Queen Katharine. English gold, however, had a
marvellous influence amongst certain sections of the German
Reforming theologians.
In Germany, the divorce agents were Cranmer, Giovanni
de Casala, Andreas, and others of less notable names. If in
Germany subscriptions to the divorce could not be obtained,
it was not for the want of agents or of bribes.f The
opinion of the Cardinal Santa Quati was sought. He was
offered two thousand gold crowns " in testimonium acceptse
gratitudinis," but he could not be prevailed on to accept
one penny. J Charles V. charged Wolsey with being the
originator of the divorce question. § Cavendish, on the
other hand, states that the Cardinal denied the charge in
the King's presence, and Reginald Pole affirms that Henry's
scruples as to his marriage with Katharine were raised by
" certain divines whom Anna Boleyn sent to the King for
that purpose." The names of the prelates alluded to by
Cardinal Pole are, sad to say, those of Edward Foxe, Bishop
of Hertford, and the Abbot of Tewkesbury, subsequently
Bishop of Gloucester. Those were in truth corrupt, dishonest
men, though they never joined the Reformers. Yet Pole's
statement is incorrect, as far as Anna Boleyn was concerned.

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. ix. p. 300. + Lingard, vol. i.
X Strype, i. Appendix. § Le Grand, iii. 4i

The " Royal Scruples. " 187

Henry's agents in Rome spared no money or exertions to
obtain their object. They used violent menaces to the
Pope ; they found their way to his sick bed, and spoke of
the " danger to his soul should he die without doing justice
to the King of England ;" they " accused him of ingratitude
to his best friend, and of indifference to the prosperity of
the Church."* The Pontiff reiterated his former statements.
Still, with the hesitancy and weakness which characterised
his council throughout these proceedings, he held out hopes
of the question being settled to the satisfaction of Henry.
Amongst the diplomatists who appeared before Clement
on the divorce question, Lord Wiltshire, the father of Anna
Boleyn, was the most insolent, and, considering the position
in which he stood, the most indecent and shameless of all.f
On one occasion the Pontiff told Lord Wiltshire that, " as
the father of Lady Anna, he should have had the delicacy
not to appear there as one of the King's advocates." Sir
Gregori Casalis, another of Henry's agents at Rome,
alleged that Clement offered to compromise the case " by
allowing the King two wives." Lord Herbert, a good
authority on many matters, contradicts this statement, and
describes Casalis as a man of no integrity. It is certain
that whilst acting as Henry's envoy in Rome, Casalis was
in secret correspondence with Charles V., and also in his
pay. This fact is made clear in the State Papers of
the Emperor Charles. Of all the lay or clerical advocates
of Henry at Rome, Dr. Cranmer is described as being the
most respectful to the Pontiff, whose regard he won, Clement

* Gardyner's Despatches to Wolsey ; Brewei's State Papers.
t Griffin ; Bayley.

1 88 The " Royal Scruples. "
believing him to be a " prudent politician, as well as a
zealous and pious Churchman," Wolsey, writing to
Gardyner in Rome, thanks him for the courage with which
he behaved in this great and mighty cause.* Wolsey seems
to have approved of the proceedings of Gardyner, Foxe,
Bonner, and other ecclesiastical advocates of Henry in Rome.
On one occasion Gardyner became very personal in his
language to the Pope, who made no reply, but sighed, sobbed,
and cried. The Pontiff, aged and weakened by long-stand
ing ill-health, was not equal to his adversaries. Middle-
aged, vigorous, astute, and persevering men, they over
powered him with complicated canon law arguments. He con
fessed his present inability to deal with the subject, and thus
gave Gardyner and the other commissioners a fresh triumph. t
He made promises of considering " such and such points,"
but all such perquisitions ended in the renewed conviction
that he could not justly, as the Pope, comply with Henry's
wishes. £
During the litigation of the divorce question (April, 1532),
an unreflecting member of the Commons, named Henry
Temse, gave notice that he would propose a motion to the
House, to the effect that his Highness the King should
take back to wife the goodly Queen Katharine, and thereby
stop all further proceedings of the scandalous divorce ques
tion. This motion aroused the passion of the King, but
upon the advice of his ministers he dissembled. He sent

* Harl. MSS.
+ Sir Gregori Casalis' Despatches ; State Papers (Foreign) of Henry's reign.
X The letters and despatches of Gardyner and Bonner from Rome on the
divorce question are numerous, and place both those divines in a painful light.
The conduct of Bonner was especially unworthy of his position.

The " Royal Scruples." 189
for Sir Thomas Audley, the Speaker of the Commons, and
with the dissimulation which characterized his conduct at
this period, when he considered deceit his best weapon, he
attempted to explain to him the scruples with which his
conscience had so long been agitated.* The King soon
showed, when he had once passed the threshold of faithful
ness to his first vows, how very little scruple or conscience
had to do with his actions. On other occasions he made
statements to his confessor that " his conscience was troubled,
and he was much grieved by his marriage with his brother's
widow ."t In fact the " confessor" was the creature of Wolsey,
and for a time aided and abetted the scheme to promote
the divorce. The cleric in question subsequently informed
Sir Thomas More that he had never encouraged or suggested
the King's scruples, and he deeply regretted the part he
took against the Queen. But the man must be judged by
his actions, and his letters still extant.
In November, 1528, Henry submitted his case to a
council of judges and nobles. Hall,t who was present,
says his Highness addressed his most worthy councillors in
these words of " royal wisdom :" " If it be adjudged that the
Queen is my lawful wife, nothing will be more pleasant or
more acceptable to me, both for the clearing of my con
science, and also for the good qualities and conditions I

* Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIIL; Hall (folio), p. 205.
t The confessor was Bishop Longland. There are some letters of this
prelate in the Record Office concerning his "Royal Master's Scruples." They
are, however, unworthy of any consideration as an explanation of his conduct
X Edward Hall was a Judge of the Sheriff's Court. His quaint chronicle
presents an interesting account of the dress, manners, customs, and social
mode of life in those days. He did not long survive the " wise King, as he
styled Henry, having died in 1547.

1 90 The " Royal Scruples. "
know to be in her ; for I assure you all, that besides her
noble parentage, she is a woman of gentleness and humility ;
yea, of all good qualities appertaining to nobility she is
without comparison. So that if I were to marry again I
would choose her above all other women ; but if it is de
termined in judgment that our marriage is against God's
law, then shall I sorrow for parting from so good a lady
and so loving a companion. These be the sores that vex
my mind, these be the pangs that trouble my conscience,
for the declaration of which I have assembled you together ;
and now, my lords, you may depart."
In Anna Boleyn's dealings with Cardinal Wolsey she
evinced the most marked duplicity. During the divorce con
troversy she " humbly thanked the Cardinal for the trouble
he took in seeking to bring to pass the greatest weal that
was possible to come to any creature living, and in especial
reminding him how wretched and unworthy she was in com
parison to his Eminence." ..." I assure you, my Lord
Cardinal, after this matter is brought to bear, you shall find
me as your bound (in the meantime) to owe you mv service
and then look what thing in this world I can manage to
do your pleasure in, you shall find me the gladdest woman
in the world to do it."* At the moment Anna wrote this
letter she was conspiring for the overthrow of the Cardinal,
who, in turn, practised deception with her, as may be
gathered from his subsequent movements, and the bitterness
with which he gave expression to the following sentence :

* The original of this letter is in the British Museum ; also many documents
bearing upon the early courtship of Lord Percy and Anna.

The " Royal Scruples. " 191

" Nan Boleine shall not be our Queen !"* Wolsey's deceitful
encouragement of Anna defeated all his schemes for throw
ing into oblivion the pursuit of the divorce ; Circe redoubled
her arts, and enmeshed the King so inextricably in her
wiles, that, at her instance, his ardour for the divorce was
intensified, and the downfall of Wolsey determined.
A distinguished Protestant jurist is of opinion that,
" according to the then existing canon law of Christen
dom — a law which was undisputed — the Pope could not
legitimately pronounce a divorce in the case of Katharine of
Arragon."f Many of the most learned lawyers and
theologians at home and abroad held similar views on the
subject. German theologians were far from agreeing to
the proposition placed before them by Dr. Cranmer. Several
eminent divines of that country declared that even if the
marriage of Katharine and Arthur had been valid, they
were inclined to hold the nuptials with Henry to be legal.
Hume contends that, " even judging of the divorce question
by Scripture — to which the appeal was every moment
made — the arguments for the King's cause appear but lame
and imperfect." J Mr. Froude, as a matter of course, defends
Cranmer's decree, by stating that " he had at least as much
power to grant a divorce as the Pope himself." If all
Christendom did not entertain a very different opinion from
the recent one put forward by Mr. Froude, Henry Tudor
need hardly have appealed to the Vatican for a canon law
judgment. * Carlo Logario states that the Cardinal paced his chamber several times
whilst repeating the above words, which he uttered with great scorn against
" that Nam,"
+ Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. i.
X Hume's History of England, vol. iii. (folio) p. 167.

192 The " Royal Scruples."
Many curious incidents occurred during the divorce
litigation illustrative of the characters of the various actors.
Henry himself, it is alleged, questioned Anna Boleyn as to
the pre-contract between her and Lord Percy : — " Is it so,
Nan?" said he; "what sayest thou to it?" " To what?"
replied Anna. " Mother of God, they say thou hadst
promised to marry Harry Percy." The narrative goes on to
state, although the King frowned and looked excited, Anna,
who had always a ready answer, had now to summon all
the witching charms of her manner to explain the history
of her first love. "May it please your Highness, I knew
no otherwise but that it was lawful for me to make such
promises. I must confess I made him (Percy) some such
pledges ; but then, no good subject makes any promise but
•with the proviso that if his Soverign commands otherwise,
it shall be lawful for him to obey." If Anna Boleyn could
have argued in such a fashion, Henry was the very man
who knew how to estimate it at its proper value. But the
proud daughter of Lord Wiltshire was quite incapable of
giving such a base and servile explanation. During her
career she dared to tell the tyrant that which no other
woman, save Lady Rochford, could do with impunity. The
above narrative is related by Bayley. He gives no authority
for it, and it is possibly one of Sander's coinage which
has been imported into various histories upon the Refor
mation epoch.
Burnet contends that the King used " no menaces with
the Oxford professors to send forward a favourable opinion
upon the divorce question." At the very time Burnet
made this deliberate assertion there were to be seen in the
archives of the University three letters in the handwriting

The " Royal Scruples. " 193
of Henry Tudor himself, to certain Oxford divines, demand
ing in a very threatening tone a decision in his favour.
Dr. Burnet boasted frequently that he was well acquainted
with Henry's writing, yet he did not in his many searches
amongst the MSS. at Oxford discover those three letters.
Honest Henry Wharton thought otherwise. Mr. Hallam
passes this incident over as an oversight. But the reader
must remember that the learned WTharton was a con
temporary, for some time at least, of Burnet, and had the
advantage of a personal knowledge of the latter, which must
add additional weight to Wharton's evidence. Hallam, who
carefully examined the three letters in question, observes : —
" Considering the notions of the writer, a tenth part of what
he said would be enough to terrify his readers (the pro
fessors)."* Although the bishops visited the University to
advocate the King's cause, men of high principle still re
maining were firm ; the timid wavered, and gave an assent ;
and those who could be purchased were quickly tempted ;
gold from the royal treasury was liberally supplied to the
relatives of some ; and in many cases the professors received
the " golden angels " themselves. Yet there were a few
honest men remaining, and their lot was a hard one ; for
¦ they were marked out for persecution ; and when the
supremacy agitation commenced, they were the first to feel
the royal vengeance. A reign of terrorism prevailed in
Oxford and Cambridge, and it became impossible to know
what were the opinions of those seats of learning. The
Government spies were to be found in every nook of the

* Hallam's Constitutional History, vol. i. p. 61 ; Collier's Ecclesiastical
History, vol. iv.; Lord Herbert's Life of Henry ; Anthony Wood, Dodd, vol. i.

VOL. I.

194 The "Royal Scruples."
Universities. I select one of Henry's agents in Oxford,
who won for himself a lamentable notoriety. Father
Wakfeld was a professor of Hebrew in the University. He
is described as having been a man of considerable learning.
He entered the field of discussion as the advocate of Queen
Katharine ; and in a paper of immense theological research,
he contended that Katharine was the King's lawful wife ;
he accepted the Queen's solemn declaration to the Pontiff,
that the alleged " canon law impediments to her marriage ¦
with Henry did not exist." He was also Queen Katharine's
" friend," according to one of his own letters. Like
Cranmer, Wakfeld had an interview with the King, and the
result was that he became one of Henry's " spiritual ad
visers." He soon reversed his former judgment, which had
been in the Queen's favour. • " The arguments newly advanced
in the King's cause changed his mind on the whole matter."
In order to gain Henry's confidence, he told him that he
" could bring forward arguments in favour of his Highness
on grounds unknown to any other man in the realm." Such
an expounder of canon law was hailed with rapture by the
King, who, with the seeming candour of a penitent, unfolded
his " scruples and the sad condition of his soul." Father
Wakfeld had thereafter many interviews with his royal
master. For some time few were aware of the professor's
change of sentiment ; and the Queen still believed him to
be an honest advocate. Perhaps the confiding lady even
rewarded him for his supposed advocacy, and that he, acting
on the system of the noted lawyer, Simon Fish, held a " brief
from both sides." Wakfeld was quite capable of such
perfidy, but finally the most potent client obtained all his
services. He raised an assassin's hand against Katharine ;

The "Royal Scruples," 195
for whilst Gardyner, Foxe, and Bonner were outspoken, he
laboured in " handling Scripture, and disentangling obsolete
statutes and misrepresenting the writings of theologians,"
in doing anything or everything to promote the King's
flagitious purposes. In one of his letters, Wakfeld' admits
that he was engaged in an unholy cause — in one that the
moral feeling of the country detested and abhorred. " If
the people of England," he says, " knew that I was writing
against Queen Katharine, they would stone me to death."*
What cause could be good that was ever sustained by such
agencies ? At a later period Archbishop Cranmer was the
patron of Wakfeld. The only defence I can find recorded
of this man is, " that by his action he tended to promote
the Reformation," though no record exists of the new
learning having had the questionable advantage of his openly
espousing it. He died in 1537.
When Anna, as the Marchioness of Pembroke, visited the
French Court with Henry, she met with a reception which
no proud, high-minded woman could endure, yet she had
to submit to it. The English King was received at
Boulogne with all courtly honours by Francis I. ; but the
Royal family were absent, so the Marchioness of Pembroke
and her ladies in attendance met with no ladies to welcome
them. " No woman of any rank," observes a French
courtier, " appeared at the feasts given by our King to the
English monarch and his Nan." Miss Strickland feels in
dignant at the conduct of Anna at Boulogne on this occa
sion, and observes : " Francis I. was not accompanied either

* Wood's History of University of Oxford; Dodd, vol. i.; Lingard, vol. iv.,;
Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv.
o 2

1 96 The, " Royal Scruples. ¦

by his Queen,* his sister, or indeed by any ladies — a morti
fying circumstance to Anna Boleyn, since nothing could
afford a more decided proof of the unquestionable light in
which she was regarded at this time by her former friends
at the Court of France."f There were no French ladies at
the " mask dance " — none but the maids of honour who
accompanied the Marchioness of Pembroke. When the
masks were removed, the French King discovered that he
had danced with an old favourite of his first Queen, the
good and gentle Claude. Nearly twelve years had passed
away since the gallant Francis saw "little Nan de
Bouleine" kneeling beside his Queen every morning at Mass.
If Anna Boleyn were possessed of any reflection, this meeting
must have conjured up some of the purest and happiest inci
dents connected with her early and hopeful youth.
The private amusements of Henry and Anna Boleyn were
generally dice and cards. The King's losses at gaming with
his courtiers were enormous ; and in those tourneys Anna
seemed a cautious and fortunate player.
Twenty young ladies of rank had so far forgotten their
sense of delicacy and honour as to accompany the
Marchioness of Pembroke on this visit to France, where
both English and French inhabitants gave a cold reception
to Henry and his "bride elect." Michael Pisani states
that Francis I. had in his heart a supreme contempt
for Henry and the Marchioness. "The absence of the
Queen and the King's sister presented a significant hint
to the English monarch as to what the Royal family of
France thought of the divorce proceedings."

* Eleanor of Austria became the second wife of King Francis.
t Queens of England, vol. ii. p. 629.

The Diverse Litigation. 197

CHAPTER XIX.
THE DIVORCE LITIGATION.
The advent of Campeggio was the occasion of the last
national reception given to a Papal Legate in England ;
for, although Cardinal Pole was royally received by Philip
and Mary, he found a divided nation, and the glories of
his outward reception were confined to the demonstrations
at Southampton, Winchester, and London. The progress
of Cardinal Campeggio was a continued ovation from his
first step on English ground.
On the 23rd of July, 1528, Cardinal Campeggio, as the
Papal Legate, landed at Deal, where he was received by
Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, Lord Cobham, and
" other nobles, knights, and esquires," who escorted him to
Sandwich. On the following day he made his public entry
into Canterbury, where the corporation, clergy, the arch
bishop of the diocese (Warham), Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester, and three lord abbots, in full pontificals,
received him at the gates of the cathedral. The people
expressed great reverence for the Legate, especially the
women, who brought forth their children along the route
from Deal to London to receive the Apostolic benediction.
Stopping two days in Canterbury, he proceeded on his
road to Rochester, accompanied by a guard of honour
numbering five hundred horsemen. In Rochester he was
entertained at a banquet given by Bishop Fisher. From

198 The Divorce L itigation.

Rochester he was escorted by the Archbishop of Canter
bury, at the head of one thousand horsemen in armour, all
wearing gold chains. On the fourth day of the procession
the Cardinal reached Blackheath, where he was received
by the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Surrey, Lord Darcy,
and the Bishops of Durham and Ely. Twenty-four
trumpeters, on horseback, dressed in buff jackets and
velvet caps, rode before the Bishop of Rochester and his
clergy. At this point of the procession a lively scene took
place, some two thousand matrons and their daughters
entered an appearance, and were most vehement in their
acclamations for Queen Katharine. " No Nan Boleyn for
us," was the indignant shout of the virtuous English
matrons and their fair daughters. " No  for a Queen,"
was on every lip. The " divorce agents" who were present
felt disconcerted at the conduct of the women, and the
Earl of Surrey waived his hand in disapproval of these
manifestations, which were met with renewed cries of
"No Nan for us." About this time the women of the
middle and lower classes took a lively interest in Queen
Katharine's cause. They spoke with contempt and scorn
of the granddaughter of a London alderman aspiring to
the position of a Queen by such base unwomanly means.
" She was no better than themselves, and they would not
respect her as a Queen." " They found no fault with the
real Queen, and she should not be set aside for bold-faced
Nan." At a later period the people of Yorkshire -were
fierce in their denunciations of Anna Boleyn. Here is a
specimen: — "Who the  is Nan Boleyn? down with
her." " She was false to her young lover." Tbe witch
of Burnley says : " Wicked Nan will end her days at the

The Divorce Litigation. 199

Tower." " May the Virgin Mother protect our own good
Queen Kate." " Down with old Hal and treacherous
Nan." " No Nan Boleyn for a Queen."*
It is recorded by Sanuto that in 1531 a violent feeling
prevailed amongst Englishwomen against Anna Boleyn. He
affirms upon the word of the French ambassador, and his
secretaries, that in the November of 1531 a vast crowd of
women, numbering between seven or eight thousand, had
sallied from London with the intention of killing Nan
de Bouleine, "l'amata del Re d'Inghilterra," who was supping
in a summer-house on the river, " the King not being with
her." Nan de Bouleine being warned of her danger in time
escaped across the river in a wherry. This contemporary
authority adds — " In the May of 1532, a preacher who was
advocating the divorce of Queen Katharine at Old St. Paul's
was stopped by a woman who told him that he lied, and
that this example in a King would be the destruction of the
holy tie of matrimony, ' che contiene l'uomo nel civil et
Christiano viver."' For her outspoken boldness this un
flinching advocate of Queen Katharine was immediately
arrested, but nothing has been recorded of her fate.f It
is probable that she died in one of those dungeons to which
so many women were consigned for speaking in favour of
the Queen's rights as a wife.
Dean Hook eulogises the conduct of the women of
England on the occasion of the divorce of Queen

• Letter of Lord Cobham to the Marquis of Dorset on the "Bearing of the
women in various parts concerning the proposed Divorce ;" HaU's Commentary ;
Letters of Roger Asham.
t In the Venetian despatches are to be found some marvellous narratives as
to the feeling evinced by the women of England in favour of Queen Katharine.

260 The Divorce Litigation.
Katharine. " The matrons of England," he observes,
" rose up in chaste indignation at King Henry's treatment
of his wife — an indignation imparted to their children,
and handed on from generation to generation, until it has
covered with everlasting infamy the name of a once popular
King."* Despite all the evidence on record of popular
hostility, Mr. Froude contends that " the nation was
thoroughly united on the divorce question." A popular
writer of the last century stated that " the people wished
well to Anna Boleyn because she was a Lutheran." The
old story over again. Speed and Burnet " re-dressed."
In a meadow, two miles from London, a tent of cloth of
gold had been erected for a kingly reception, and the pre
sentation of notable persons to the Legate. After an hour's
delay the procession was reformed for London, where " excite
ment, enthusiasm, and curiosity had now become as boundless
as they might have been in the days of Edward IV.f The
nobility rode in advance ; then came Cardinal Campeggio
in magnificent clerical costume glittering with jewels and
precious stones; his retinue was numerous — his liveries
superb. The procession is described as two miles long — an
extraordinary concourse of people in those days. From St.
George's Church to London Bridge the road was lined on
both sides by monks and clerics, dressed in their various
quaint habits, with copes of cloth of gold, gold and silver
crosses, &c. As the Legate passed they threw up clouds of
incense, and sang hymns. At the foot of London Bridge
two Bishops received the Cardinal, the people shouted with

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 477.
t Carlos Logario on the Divorce proceedings.

The Divorce Litigation. 20 1
joy, whilst the roar of artillery from the Tower and the
river forts rent the air, to use Wolsey's own words, " as if
the very heavens would fall." " Hundreds of church and
abbey bells," writes Thorndale, " poured forth their
clangour, with the ' deeper bass' of Old St. Paul's." In
Gracechurch Street the London City Companies joined the
procession ; at Cheapside the Lord Mayor and Corporation
of London offered their congratulations to the illustrious
visitor. Sir Thomas More delivered a Latin oration of
great eloquence. When the procession reached St. Paul's
another grand spectacle was presented. The Bishops of
London and Lincoln, surrounded by two hundred ecclesiastics,
conducted the Legate to the high altar. Incense, delicious
music, the ringing of silver bells inside the Cathedral — out
side the thunder of artillery, and the prolonged shouts of
the multitude — closed the proceedings of the day.*
The reception given to Cardinal Campeggio was magni
ficent beyond precedent. There had been nothing like it
seen in England, at least within the memory of any one
then hving. It had been arranged and prepared, and the
whole expense defrayed, by Wolsey. But there was one
presence wanting to complete the splendour of the
ceremony — that was his own. Archbishops, bishops, abbots,
dukes, earls, knights, esquires, and all the notable men of
the State were there, but the Lord Cardinal of York and
the King's Highness were absent.
Five days later another imposing ceremony took place on
the presentation of the Legate to the King. All parties
seemed pleased ; the King and his advisers expressing their

* HaU's Chronicle ; Stowe's Annals ; BrewVs State Papers.

202 The Divorce Litigation.
willingness to abide by the decision of the Court of Rome.
Wolsey was then at the pinnacle tof his power ; the King
esteemed him as a great and equitable minister. All pro
mised fair; but there were some who could — reading the
mutations in the King's temper — " pierce the dark cloud
which was gathering in the distance." In fact, the
Cardinal of York was standing on a mine whose explosive
elements were the fierce desires and' the prodigality, of the
monarch. The King's Council made extensive preparations for the
divorce trial, and all the leading lawyers of England were
engaged for the Crown. As the time set down for the trial
approached, popular excitement became immense.
And here I must make a digression, in order to review
the polilical position of Clement VIL and the Emperor
Charles V., who professed so much devotion for the interest
of his aunt, Queen Katharine, but whose real desire was to
embarrass the Roman Pontiff, and evince his hate and scorn
for the English King. The " reverence" of Charles V.
for religion was at times so interwoven with superstition
and political interest, that it would be difficult to ascertain
when he was sincere. Floating between hope and fear,
Clement sometimes courted the friendship, and at other
times provoked the hostility, of imperious Charles. The cor
respondence of the Pontiff and the Emperor was embittered
by mutual reproaches ; and the charges of ingratitude and
breach of faith were repelled by the Pontiff with complaints
of insatiate rapacity and ambition. The Pope had little

* State Papers of Rome and Venice.

The Divorce Litigation. 203
to expect from Charles, whose display of piety was gross
hypocrisy. The " sacking " of Rome under Charles V.
exceeded anything that the imagination can depict.
The Eternal City suffered far more from the ravages of an
army consisting of so-called Christians than it ever had from
the assaults of pagan barbarians.
Whilst the English Court (lst May, 1527) were spending
the season in pleasure and amusements, Charles V. prepared
to renew the war in Italy. The policy of Charles was
that " war was to be fed by war." He allowed " free
quarter" to a brutal and demoralised soldiery, long accus
tomed to violence and rapine ; his army was composed of
Spaniards and Germans, the former of whom were mainly
recruited from Moriscoes or Hispano-Moors, and the latter
from the robber free-lances of Germany. ... In the
great cities, as in Milan, the common soldiers washed their
feet in rose-water, drank the choicest wines; plundered the
churches, and laid under contribution all who were not
fortunate enough to escape. At Florence " they robbed
the temples of religion, slew the priests ; committed
shocking abuses of the sacred vessels; the crucifix on the
high altar was cut in pieces and thrown in a fire kindled for
the destruction of valuable pictures. The fate of the nuns
was too horrible to relate." ... In Borgo Donnino
similar scenes occurred. In Milan the principal inhabitants
were put to the torture — a terrible description of rack — to
procure their hidden treasures. The Swabians and Spaniards
committed horrible atrocities in the neighbourhood of Milan ;
they burned houses and furniture to the value of two hun
dred millions of ducats, with all the churches, and images.
Here they murdered a number of priests and monks ; some

204 The Divorce Litigation.
sixty nuns, who concealed themselves in a church, were
consumed in the flames. Whenever those monsters dis
covered the Host in any church they threw it into the river, and
melted down the sacred vessels. These dreadful scenes were
enacted by the hired mercenaries of Charles V. All authori
ties agree that the sacking of Rome, on this occasion, stands
forth without a parallel in the annals of civilisation. The
Pope incurred the enmity of Charles, and it was not in the
nature of the latter to forgive or to forget. No quarter was
given, no sex or age was spared. Altars and churches were
little regarded by the Spaniards, or by the Germans who
acted as brutally as Goths and Vandals. In the horrors ofthe
siege, men, women, and children cast themselves down from
the roofs of their houses rather than fall into the hands of
the ruthless invaders ; others were pushed out of windows
at the point of the lance. Many people were branded with
fire or their teeth torn out ; " others had molten lead poured
down their throats." In one instance, the ring could not
be taken from the finger of a Cardinal quickly enough,
when a German officer drew his sword and cut off the
member. Placing the bloody finger in his pocket, he ex
claimed, " that's the way to do the business." The armies
of Attila or of Genseric could have done no worse in their
" hours of free quarter" than those of Imperial Charles,
who professed to be the " hereditary champion and worldly
guardian of St. Peter's barque."
The supply of provisions was cut off; the inhabitants
were reduced to feed on roots and herbs ; this food was
soon exhausted. Thousands of dead bodies were left un-
buried : disease raged everwhere ; the contagion spread from
the populace to the soldiers ; and the plague, less discrimi-

The Divorce Litigation. 205
nating than the sword, mowed down alike the conqueror
and the vanquished.*
An Imperial officer, high in the confidence of the
Emperor Charles, despatched to his master a terrible picture
of the conduct of the German Lutherans on this occasion.
" The Lance- Knights of Germany were first intent on
plunder ; then a desecration of churches and all that related
to religion." .... The treatment of women by the
Germans displayed all the brutality of inhuman licence.
The Cardinal Como draws a picture of what occurred,
and as he was an eye-witness, his statement is of im
portance: — " All the churches and monasteries, both of friars
and nuns, were sacked, many friars were beheaded, even
those who were standing at the altar ; a number of old
nuns were beaten with sticks ; many young nuns received
a worse fate  All the vestments, chalices — of silver
and gold — were taken from the churches. The tabernacles
in which were contained the Corpus Domini were broken,
ahd the Host itself was thrown, now on the ground, now
into the fire, now trampled under foot  The head of
St. John the Baptist at San Silvestro was outraged,
and the silver urn in which it was deposited carried away.
An old nun found the head in a garden, where a German
soldier flung it. All the Spaniards and Germans (people
of quality) in Rome were plundered and made prisoners by
their own countrymen." .... During the siege nearly six
hundred nuns perished by a terrible death. In one house
twenty nuns — nearly all old women — died of starvation; they

* The above has been very briefly summarized from Dr. Brewer's Foreign
State Papers ; translated from the Italian. II Saccadi Roma, 493,

206 The Divorce Litigation.
were locked up for protection, and in the horrors that
followed were forgotten.
What did the people of Italy do to save their time-
honoured capital at this crisis ? The Venetian State
Papers at St. Mark's, and Dr. Brewer's translations from
the records of the siege, furnish an answer to the question
here raised. Italian servants betrayed their masters;
Italian residents pointed out to the enemies of their
country the most costly palaces, the secret retreats of the
rich, the noble, and the defenceless ; Italian ingenuity
suggested the more refined methods of cruelty, the more
scandalous violations of oaths and promises. No sight of
blood, though the blood was Roman, no misery, no despair,
moved them to pity, still less to interfere and mitigate the
sufferings of the unhappy, citizens. Not one instance is
recorded of Italian citizens administering aid or comfort
to the dying and the wounded, who perished forgotten and
neglected alike by friends and foes.
" Rhodes and Hungary delivered to the Turk ; Rome
trampled down by communistic heretics; the free-lance
Lutherans defiling the Sanctuary, and the infidel defying the
Vicar of Jesus Christ." Such were the scenes enacted during
the summer of 1527. The ambition and dishonesty of the
Emperor Charles were the main causes of this state of affairs.
Up to a certain period King Henry was far more earnest
and friendly to the Papal Chair than Charles, who selfishly
speculated on the temporal weakness of the Pontiff, who was
no match for either monarch in the crooked ways of policy.
Charles had a large European influence, and was one of the
most remarkable characters in history. His whole reign
was stormy ; France, the Moors, and the Protestant Princes

The Divorce Litigation. 207
of Germany gave him full employment. Yet, being equally
rich in resources, and sagacious in the use of them ; gifted
with a cool judgment, and always master of himself, he
steadily pursued his plans, and was generally able to over
come the greatest obstacles.*
It is necessary again to impress upon the reader the
fact that Charles was a master of dissimulation, and his
biographers have doubtless felt it to be a difficult task to
fathom his real intentions. His correspondence with
De Praet, respecting the posture of affairs after the battle
of Pavia, shows the dupbcity of his disposition ; and in his
treatment of King Francis, when a prisoner, Charles gave
no proofs of the generosity or magnanimity of a con
queror. It is, indeed, doubtful if he ever felt or formed
a friendship for any one beyond his own family, especially
his wife, whose memory he honoured with unostentatious
effusion, yet still not more than she deserved, for Isabel
was a woman of the highest and nobles't qualities. The
palace under her rule became a school of industry. Like
Queen Claude of France, Isabel and her maidens walked
together every morning to an early Mass ; during the day
the Queen worked with, and instructed in, tapestry the
young ladies of the Court, and taught them what in those
days was considered the elegant labour of the loom.
Isabel sent many pieces of tapestry, worked by her own
hands, to adorn the altars of Jerusalem. Her virtues were

* Charles V. succeeded his grandfather Ferdinand to the throne of Spain in
1516, and became Emperor of Germany on the death of Maximilian in 1519. In
1555 Charles abdicated the Imperial throne in favour of his sonPhilip, and retired
to an abbey to seek that peace which the world denied to him as a monarch.
He died three years subsequently. What a strange change to come over the
proudest and most restless monarch in Europe !

208 The Divorce Litigation.
long remembered, and her effigy was struck on a medal,
with a device of the Three Graces, and on the reverse side
the motto, " Has habet et superat."* Perhaps the memory
of the good Isabel made Charles sometimes hesitate in his
despotic actions. A widower at forty, he never married
again. In all the principal apartments of the Royal palaces
were to be seen pictures of Isabel, representing her from
childhood to within one year of her death. "To look at
these pictures in after life were the only real moments of
happiness I possessed," were the words of Charlesf to
Madame Cabrera. So much for the memory of a good
Christian and a noble wife.
And now to return to Clement VII. and the dire diffi
culties of his position. Silvia de Todi and Fusconi, who
wrote from a long personal knowledge of Pope Clement,
represent him in a different light from that in which he
is shown in the pages of Burnet, Rancke, and Froude.
Cellini describes him as a man of " warm temper, yet
quiet, benevolent — a learned scholar, possessed of elegant
taste, wit, and humour; sometimes sad, sometimes plea
sant." " He loved to wander alone amidst his books and
flower-gardens," writes a contemporary. Mr. Froude's
picture is inexplicable to a just reader of history. He
says : — " Clement wore his falsehood with so easy a grace
that it assumed the character of truth. He was false
deceitful, treacherous. "\ Mr. Froude, as usual, gives

* Florey, Memorias de las Reynas Catolicius.
t Charles was sometimes represented as a Spaniard ; but Flanders was his
birthplace. His early attachments and all his sympathies were with the people
of the Netherlands. He spoke the language of that country far more fluently
than the Castilian. J Froude's History of England, vol. ii, p. 234.

The Divorce Litigation. 209
no authority for this sweeping accusation. In referring
to another volume of Mr. Froude's history, I find a different
picture of the same Pontiff traced in opposite colours : —
" Clement was an indifferent master of the tricks of dissimu
lation to which he was reduced, and his weakness entitles him io
pity, if not to respect."* If the incongruity of these sketches
do not neutralise the value of both, in the absence of the
writer's indication as to which we are to believe the plain
duty of the historical student is to consult less inconsistent
and more reliable authorities than James Anthony Froude.
To return to the Legate and his mission.
Campeggio's instructions were to protract the inquiry,
and many unlooked-for circumstances promoted his views
in this respect. The sweating sickness, for instance, broke
out, spreading in all circles ; Anna Boleyn and her brother
George, and many of the King's Court, were seized with
the disease ; Anna, when about three hours ill, cried out
for a confessor ; a number of the courtiers were struck
down. The confessors were on their holy mission without
fear, bringing words of hope and consolation to the palace
and the lowly cottage. The King, who had a dreadful
horror of death, threw aside the divorce question for many
weeks ; he locked himself up from all communication with
courtiers or domestics ; he actually joined Queen Katharine
in prayer ; went to confession, and received Holy Com
munion every Sunday ; sent " kindly messages to Wolsey,"
and sought the " forgiveness of some persons whom he had
injured." How many did he not injure? Anna Boleyn
was sent home to her father ; " she was not required any

* Froude's History of England, vol. i. pp. 238-9.
VOL. I. P

210 The Divorce Litigation.
longer ;" Sir Thomas Boleyn, like his Sovereign, had always
a dread of a sudden death. On this occasion he was in
great fear. Anna Boleyn promised her father that if she
recovered she would make a pilgrimage to the shrine of
" Our Lady of Walsingham." Promises of an " amended
life " were made by all classes. The King was the most
remarkable amongst the penitential groups. He " ate and
drank " at the same table with his much-injured Queen ;
he " frequently spoke of her excellence as a wife, her
queenly dignity, and his own unworthiness."* A pregnant
consideration presents itself here. We see the change
wrought in Henry by the apprehension of death. If he
really believed his union with Queen Katharine to be sinful,
as alleged in his argument for divorce, would he have re
turned to cohabitation when in fear of proximate death ?
If the church believed his marriage wrong, Henry would
have been refused the Sacraments whilst living with the
Queen. The courtiers and people were astonished at the
apparent miracle which had been wrought in the King.
" It was," says that observant writer, Logario, " remarked,
and noted amongst all classes, how much the King was
changed." Such men as Sir Thomas More did not believe
in the King's conversion. When, however, the sweating
sickness had subsided, Henry was himself again. The
Queen was ordered to retire to her former residence, and
Anna Boleyn recalled. She was now forgetful of her vow
to visit the shrine, and had made, it would appear, a pledge
to fascinate the King, and regain her former ascendancy.
Her hopes were soon realised.
Du Bellai, the French ambassador, announces the return

* Hall's Annals ; Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIII.; Lingard's History
of England, vol. iv.

The Divorce Litigation. 2 1 1

of Anna to the royal presence in these words : " Made
moiselle de Bouleine has returned to the Court, and I
believe the King to be so infatuated with her, that God
alone could abate his madness." In one of Du Bellai's
later despatches, he attributes the fall of Wolsey to be " the
work of Anna's malice."
Capucius, the envoy of Charles V., confirms this state
ment. Judging by the State Papers of the period, Anna's
conduct was "overbearing and insolent to the courtiers."
Lingard states that the conduct of Cardinal Campeggio
proved him to be a match for all the arts of Wolsey, Gar
dyner, and the King. In the Legate's private interview
with Katharine, he advised her to enter a convent. The
Queen was justly indignant at such a proposition. She
" contended that she had been a lawful and a faithful wife
for twenty years ; and there was no power on earth that
could dissolve her marriage." Campeggio, accompanied by
Wolsey and three prelates, visited the Queen a few days
subsequently, but, to use the words of one of the Court
prelates, her Highness was " still very obstinate." Every
day the web became more entangled ; evidence, documents,
and theological opinions were multiplied, but little faith
could be placed in any of them. Seven months were
occupied with these proceedings, and the matter seemed as
far as ever from being adjusted. The long-expected trial
at last took place, in the Parliament Chamber, Blackfriars.*
The character of the witnesses appealed to, the mode of

* June, 1529. A number of nobles, bishops, abbots, and judges were pre
sent. Anna Boleyn, who was magnificently attired, had the bad taste to
appear at this trial, accompanied by her father. The matrons of London were
most indignant at her conduct on this occasion.
p 2

2 1 2 The Divorce Litigation.

proceeding, and the evidence — mysterious and unconnected
as it was — would have been rejected at once by a common
place jury of the present day. The King and Queen
appeared in Court, the latter protesting against the form of
the trial, and those who were to be her judges. Henry sat
iu State at the right hand of Cardinals Wolsey and Cam
peggio; the Queen on the left. Dr. Gardyner was the
chief counsel for the King, accompanied by several clerics,
who, like himself, subsequently received bishoprics from the
King for the part they played in the divorce litigation.
That honest and unbending prelate, Dr. Fisher, was the
Queen's principal advocate. At the conclusion of Dr. Gar-
dyner's long and able speech in favour of the King's
" serious conscientious scruples," the Queen rose. All eyes
were fixed upon the injured wife. She advanced towards
her husband's chair, and throwing herself upon her knees,
addressed him in a most eloquent Latin speech ; and then
concluded her address by an appeal to the good feeling and
equity of the Court : " If there be any offence which can be
alleged against me. I consent to depart in infamy ; if not,
then I pray you, in the name of the Holy Trinity, and the
High Court of Heaven, to do me justice."*

* In Dodd's Church History the reader will find the addresses of both
Katharine and Henry at full length, and somewhat modernized in language.
The Latin speech of Gardyner has not been preserved in a correct form.
Logario states that all the speeches were in Latin, whilst Polydore Vergil's
account is different. Campeggio eould not speak English, and I question if
he knew French. Fisher and Gardyner must have addressed the court in
Latin, or else the Legate couli not discover the arguments put forward at both
sides. Dean Phillips alleges that there was no man in England who could
make such an oration in pure Latin as Polydore Vergil ; but Polydore had
nothing to do with the trial. Gardyner was, perhaps, the greatest linguist of
all concerned in this discreditable exhibition. It was no fair trial, for even the
forms of equity were laid aside.

The Divorce Litigation. 2 1 3
The Queen retired amidst the applause of the spectators.
The King could perceive that she had made an impression,
and he at once attempted a plausible explanation. " The
Queen," he said, " has always been a dutiful and good wife,
and that his present suit did not proceed from any dislike
of her, but from the tenderness of his own conscience ; that
his scruples had not been suggested, but on the con
trary, discouraged by the Cardinal of York ; and that they
were confirmed by the Bishop of Tarbes ; that he had con
sulted his confessors and several other bishops, who advised
him to apply to the Pontiff, and that in consequence the
present Court had been appointed, in the decision of which,
be it what might, he would cheerfully acquiesce."* When
Henry made this apparently honest declaration, he had the
most implicit confidence in the secret tactics of his agents.
Whatever he might at that time be deficient in devising,
those about him were marvellous in suggestion.
The Queen, protesting against further proceedings, would
not appear in Court, " nor by attorney," and was pronounced
contumacious. Several sittings were held, but the action
was all " on one side." The question to be decided, as so
often alleged, was one affecting " the King's conscience,"
and his advocates, although men of considerable ability, and
well informed upon canon law, failed to establish their client's
case. The trial was still protracted, amidst the general
indignatiou of the country. Proclamations filled with
Tudor despotism were issued warning the people against
offering any opinions against the " King's motives," which

* Cavendish, Hall, Herbert, and Burnet. Cavendish was present at the
mai, and it is possible Edward HaU was there as a J udge.

214 The Divorce Litigation.
were, said Dr. Gardyner, " most conscientious and virtuous."*
No one, however, outside the circle of Henry's Court agents
for a moment doubted what were the monarch's " motives."
On the 23rd of July the King's counsel demanded judg
ment immediately, but Cardinal Campeggio would not be
dictated to by the Court party. He informed the Crown
lawyers, almost in Henry's presence, that the judgment
must be deferred until the whole of the proceedings had
been laid before the Pontiff; that he had come there to do
justice, and no consideration should divert him from his
duty. He was too old, weak, and sickly to seek the favour,
or fear the resentment of any man liviDg. The defendant
had challenged him and his learned brother Wolsey as
judges, because they were the subjects of her opponent. To
avoid any error, they had therefore determined to consult
the Apostolic See, and for that purpose did then adjourn
the Court until October.f
The Duke of Suffolk, evidently at the suggestion of the
King, striking the table, exelaimed in a vehement tone,
that the old saw was now verified : — " Never did Cardinal
bring good to England." Campeggio looked with withering
scorn at Suffolk ; in a a few minutes Wolsey rose ; a breath
less silence ensued ; all eyes were now turned on the Cardinal
of York, when, in a deep and solemn voice, he addressed
Suffolk : " My Lord of Suffolk," said he, " of all men living
you have the least reason to dispraise Cardinals ; for if I, a
poor Cardinal, had not been, you would not at this present
moment have had a head upon your shoulders, wherewith to

* Carlos Logario's Narrative of the Divorce Trial.
t State Papers (Domestic) of Henry VIII.'s Reign.

The Divorce Litigation. 2 1 5
make such a brag in disrepute of us who have meant you
no harm, and have given you no cause of offence. If you,
my Lord, were the King's ambassador in foreign parts,
would you venture to decide on important matters without
first consulting your Sovereign? We are also commis-
misioners, and cannot proceed to judgment without the know
ledge of him from whom our authority proceeds. Therefore,
do we neither more nor less than our commission alloweth;
and if any man will be offended with us, he is an unwise
man. Pacify yourself, then, my Lord of Suffolk, and speak
not reproachfully of your best friend. You know what
friendship I have shown you ; but this is the first time I ever
revealed it, either to my own praise or your dishonour."*
Cavendish, who was present, relates that the Duke of
Suffolk was struck speechless, and by his silence acknow
ledged the justice of Wolsey's rebuke for his ingratitude.
There is now in the archives of the British Museum a letter
in the handwriting of the Princess Mary — the beloved Mary,
as she was styled — declaring that her husband owed his life
to the friendly offices of Wolsey. At the time of Suffolk's
denunciation of. the Cardinal of York, the letter in question
was in Wolsey's possession. The Cardinal was not the only
man to whom the Duke of Suffolk proved ungrateful.
Cavendish furnishes a rambling statement as to one of
the private interviews between Katharine and Wolsey
relative to the " trial of the divorce question ; and how the
Cardinal came upon the Queen and her maidens as they
were at work in her chamber, her Highness having a skein
of white thread about her neck." He further alleges that

Cavendish, Hall, Herbert, Brewer's State Papers.

2 1 6 The Divorce Litigation.
Wolsey addressed her in Latin and she " besought him to
speak English, for although she knew Latin she preferred
speaking in English." This statement is the mere gossip
of pages. Katharine spoke very indifferent English, and
the Court language was French and Latin. She was an
admirable Latin scholar, as Erasmus has stated, and her
celebrated speech at Blackfriars was in that language. Dr.
Francis, who was present on this occasion, states that many
of Cavendish's "facts" were based upon listening at key
holes. In this case Cavendish almost admits that he was
an " eaves-dropper," for he writes : — " We, in the other
chamber, might sometimes hear the Queen speak very loud,
but what it was we could not understand."*
A word as to Cardinal Campeggio. The Cardinal first
visited England in 1519, as a Legate. He was a man of
extensive learning, and bore a high reputation; yet the
vilest slanders have been cast upon his moral character by
Dr. Burnet, but they are so notoriously false that I shall
not further allude to them.

* Cavendish's Memoirs of Wolsey.

The Fall of Wolsey. 2 1 7

CHAPTER XX.
THE PALL OF WOLSEY.
In 1529 the enemies of Wolsey had nearly completed their
organisation. Those who wished for a redistribution of
property were aware of his high conservative tendencies in
Church and State. The Suffolks, the Howards, the Pagets,
the Clintons, the Seymours, the Russells, the Herberts,
the Ratclyffs, the Hobys, the Manners, the Cobhams, the
Dudleys, the Grays, the Kingstons, the Dennys, and the
crowd of spendthrift and unprincipled squires who were
ready to join in any movement to obtain a confiscation of
the monastic property, beheld the great barrier to their
proceedings in the person of Thomas Wolsey. The com
bination above-mentioned was composed of strange mate
rials, for they personally hated one another; jealous
prelates and abbots, disappointed placemen, ignorant nobles,
treacherous courtiers, and even suspended priests, were the
most , persistent in bringing about the fall of the great
Minister. They were jealous of his genius and the results
of his brilliant statesmanship ; they envied him the great
ness to which he had been elevated in the estimation of
princes and diplomatists; yet not one amongst them
possessed his administrative talent.
The Boleyns performed a subordinate part at this time,
but were energetic in fabricating slanders of the Cardinal,
and conveying them to the King, who still hesitated.

2 1 8 The Fall of Wolsey.

Le Grand, who has closely investigated the plots against
Wolsey, considers Anna Boleyn to have been " the in
stigator of all." This statement is corroborated by others
who were " eye-witnesses."* The general topic of con
versation " amongst the nobles and the squires was the
confiscation of Church property; and many creditors'
claims were postponed until the much- desired object was
achieved."! It was feared that the King would never
consent to such measures whilst Wolsey was his coun
cillor, \ and in this opinion they were partly correct.
" These noble lords imagine," writes the French Ambas
sador, " that the Lord Cardinal of York once dead or
ruined, they will incontinently plunder the Church and
strip it of its property." Yet those enemies of Wolsey
were opposed to the Reformation, and cast ridicule upon
its German founders ; they still adhered to the olden reli
gion, and their hostility to the Pope was more of a political
character, or to please the King, whom the Pontiff dis
obliged. They quarrelled and abused monks and seculars
as they did before; nevertheless they responded to the
Vesper bell; they heard the Latin Mass as their fathers
had of yore ; they raised no question against the dogmas
of the Latin Church ; they dined at the abbeys, and " made
merrie in the bishop's hospitable hall ;" but, at the same
time, they hungered for the well-cultivated manors, the
inviting gardens, the orchards, the shady groves, the mur-

* At first, as I have already remarked, Anna was acting under her father's
advice ; and it is possible that many things have been attributed to her which
have no foundation in fact.
t Thorndale's Chronicle. J Le Grand's Despatches.

The Fall of Wolsey. 2 1 9
muring streams, the cattle, the gold and silver of the
abbeys and convents, and they were determined to possess
them by any means, even misrepresentation, perjury, fraud,
or violence. Their religious sentiments were, as already
stated, unchanged, and no casuistry can set aside that fact ;
but an absorbing desire of possessing their neighbours'
goods led to the revolution in property, which ultimately
resulted in the Reformation movement, as the surest mode
of retaining the lands which had just been taken from the
lawful owners. The Rev. J. H. Blunt, in his work upon
the Reformation, puts the question as to the " motives" of
the Reformers with direct and simple force : — " Few," he
writes, " cared for Reformation — many cared for destruc
tion." This is the result of the long researches of a
learned and truthful Protestant divine : he has furnished
the world with the " motives" of those who imposed the
" new learning" upon England.
The first turning point in Wolsey's fortunes occurred in
the departure of Campeggio. The King took leave of the
Legate at Grafton, where Wolsey was also present ; and it
was then rumoured that the Cardinal had lost the royal
confidence. Those reports came from the Brandons, the
Grays, the Howards, and the Boleyns — all implacable
enemies to Wolsey. But so marked was the ill-feeling ex
hibited towards him by those nobles that Henry relented,
and to the surprise of the courtiers spoke in a friendly tone
to his old favourite. " But he was not invited to the royal
table on that day (Sept. 19); he dined with the courtiers
whom he despised." In the evening he had another inter
view with the King in his closet, which lasted three hours ;
and having bid him a friendly " good night," Henry re-

2 20 The Fall of Wolsey.
quested his attendance at nine of the clock on the following
morning. This long conference alarmed the enemies of
Wolsey, and that night there were several private communi
cations made to Anna Boleyn to " use all her influence with
the King against his Minister; she was reminded, amongst
other things, of the deception practised by Wolsey in her
case ; wishing " to make her a mistress, but not a Queen."*
It did not require much incentive to excite the enemity of
Anna, for she was ever eager to disgrace or destroy
those who crossed the path of her ambition. In the
morning the Cardinal waited on King Henry, but to his
surprise the monarch was on horseback, and " going out to
ride with Lady Anna." After the " exchange of kindly
salutations," Henry departed. The King and his Minister
never met again. In a few days (October 9) the Attorney
General filed two bills against Wolsey in the King's Bench,
charging him with having, as Legate, offended against the
Statute of the 16th of Richard II. known as the Statute
of Pr&munire. Even the lawyers of the time considered
the prosecution as " arbitrary, despotic, and illegal ;" and
many of them were in doubt as to whether the 'Legatine
Court could be brought within the operation of the law :
the Cardinal had on former occasions obtained the King's
licence, and was, therefore, authorised to hold the court.
Wolsey offered no opposition; made no defence; resigned
the: great seal ; placed the whole of his personal property,
estimated at 500,000 crowns, at the King's disposal. " All
I possess," said he, "I have received from the King's

* Brewer's State Papers. In Dixon's Two Queens occurs a scene where
Anna Boleyn in a most malignant manner blackens Wolsey's character to the
King. There are several letters extant corroborating these statements.

The Fall of Wolsey. 2 2 1
Highness ; and I now return all with pleasure to my bene
factor." But " the benefactor," or his prompters were not
satisfied ; a demand was made " for everything be possessed."
He now surrendered all ; " keeping not even a blanket or a
shirt." He was " commanded to retire to Esher ; a country
house attached to the See of Winchester." His fallen condi
tion did not yet satisfy the malice of his enemies. From the
" courtiers down to the turbulent canaille, all classes
attended in vast numbers to see his departure from London,
to hoot and insult the fallen Minister ;"* but as Wolsey had
the forethought to take a different route from the one ex
pected, his feelings were spared humiliation, and the
fickleness of human favour another shameful display of its
traditional worthlessness. The Bishop of Bayonne, who
visited Wolsey before his departure from the metropolis,
draws a melancholy picture of his forlorn condition. " I
have," he says, " been to visit the Cardinal in his distress,
and have witnessed the most striking change of his fortune.
He explained to me his hard case in the worst rhetoric that
was ever heard. Both his tongue and his heart failed him.
He recommended himself to the pity of the King and
Madame (Francis I. and his mother) with sighs and tears ;
and at last left me without having said anything near so
moving as his appearance. The face is dwindled to one
half its natural size. In truth his misery is such that his
enemies, Englishmen as they are, cannot help pitying him.
Still they will carry things to extremities. As for his
Legation, the seals, Sec, he thinks no more of them. He is
willing to give up any thing, even the shirt from his back,

Brewer's State Papers.

222 The Fall of Wolsey.

and to live in a hermitage, if the King would desist from
his displeasure."* Henry, strange to say, at this time sent
him " secret messages, assuring him of his friendship."
The Cardinal had the weakness to believe in those pro
fessions, but he was soon convinced of the motives which
prompted them. Henry did not wish Wolsey to die until
he had at least attempted to prove that he deserved death.
Herbert, Henry's panegyrist, does not believe the charges
preferred against the Cardinal, and Cavendish and Le Grand
are of the same opinion. The articles of impeachment
were forty-four, and were signed by fourteen peers, amongst
whom were the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk. These
articles were carried in the Lords ; but the King instructed
Crumwell, then in the Commons, to have them rejected.
The Cardinal's health was now giving way, and he was
attacked with fever (about Christmas). Hearing of his
illness, Henry exclaimed in the presence of his courtiers,
" God forbid that he should die ! 1 would not lose him for
twenty thousand pounds." He ordered three of his own
physicians to go immediately to Esher to attend him ; he
also sent a special messenger to assure Wolsey of his " love
and esteem for him." He next induced Anna Boleyn to
send a tablet of gold as a memorial of reconciliation and
good feeling.t
The " religious orders," writes Ganganelli, " have not
been gifted with infallibility, nor with indefectibility."
Some of them were very much less guilty of the crimes
ascribed to them by their enemies than possessors of the
virtues attributed to them by their friends. When Wolsev

* Le Grand, iii. 37. t State Papers, Cavendish and Le Grand.

The Fall of Wolsey. 223
fell, the mainstay and upholder of the Papal power was
gone ; and the priesthood whom he had elevated to the
highest positions in the State, and whose secular privileges
he maintained with a high hand, were now about to share
in his change of fortune. They envied him for his great
ness, and disliked him because he told them of their errors ;
they had not the foresight nor the wisdom to hearken to
his advice ; they did not " set their house in order, to meet
the coming storm," but became in some instances reckless
and defiant ; and again high-placed ecclesiastics appeared
as " forethoughtful sycophants," begging for mercy before
they were impeached ; indulging in the delusion that they
could, with gold, conciliate Thomas Crumwell and his com
missioners, who accepted their offerings and still pursued
the givers. Lingard remarks that " instead of uniting in
their common defence, they seem to have awaited their fate
with the apathy of despair." At a later period they lost all
fitting courage. "The clergy and monks," observes the
Rev. J. H. Blunt, " fell into an utter panic ; and the great
body of the latter, especially, were ready to lie down like an
unarmed peasantry before a troop of Cossacks." The terror-
stricken nuns, who were cruelly treated, may be excused
for adopting such a course. Although there were hundreds
— perhaps thousands — amongst the monks and friars who
would cheerfully ascend the scaffold, there were few who
had the vigour to speak at the " right time or in the right
place;" and when the hour of trial came, there were not
many Forrests, Petos, or Elstons to confront their enemies.
The bolder course was the safest. If the religious orders
had appealed to the love and reverence of the people whom
their predecessors had treated like faithful guardians for

224 The Fall of ' U olsey.
centuries, the country would have pronounced in their
favour. They were a powerful body in the State; and,
judging from documents before me, there can be no doubt
that the masses would have successfully taken up their
defence. But the religious orders were divided by dis
sension and jealousy ; and the rivalry of precedent and mode
of discipline caused long and bitter disputes. They were
far from being united in love, although accordant in faith ;
and the result was the triumph of Lord Crumwell.
To return to Wolsey. A reconciliation with the King
seemed probable. He was allowed to exchange Esher for
Richmond, where he spent much time with the Fathers of
the Charterhouse. Here he " discoursed with great earnest
ness on the necessity there existed for frequent preaching
and instruction to the people." Those " heretics," said he,
" are smart, intelligent men, and they may possibly find
their way into England. We should be prepared for them."*
His enemies, however, resumed their work ; they would not
have him " come so near the Court." He was ordered to
retire two hundred miles from London ; but the King,
further considering his case, wrote letters to " various
squires and nobles, recommending them to visit the Car
dinal, and be civil unto him, and ask him to make merry at
their homes."t
Wolsey's altered mien, his generosity and urbanity, won
the esteem of the people of the northern districts ; he did
not appear at their banquets, or make merry as they ex
pected; he gave himself up almost wholly to spiritual
matters, and on every Sunday and holiday he rode to some

* Carlo Fernando Logario. f Brewer's State Papers.

The Fall of Wolsey. 225
village church, where he celebrated Mass ; he frequently
preached twice a day to the peasantry ; he heard the con
fessions of outcasts and outlaws ; he enjoined the priests to
preach sermons on holidays as well as Sundays, and to ex
plain to their flocks the history of the Latin Church. He
made minute inquiry as to the good or bad feeling that
might have prevailed in rural districts ; went to the humble
cottage — the lowliest homestead — on this mission of charity,
and reconciled those who had been long at enmity with one
another. The bad became reformed through his admoni
tions ; the unfaithful and unkind husband appeared altered
in his domestic relations, and confessed that the " Cardinal
had taught him to be what he should be to his family."
Wolsey's labours at this time were unceasing, and he seemed
bent to excel Bishop Fisher as a priest : he sent provisions
and words of comfort to widows and orphans, and preached
especially to " young maidens to preserve their virtue and
chastity ; that all beauty faded and perished when virtue
fled ;"* he recommended early marriages to those who had
sufficient means. He seemed now to have felt, and wished
to realize, the character of a minister of Christ ; and in the
few months he spent in the North he accomplished more
for the practice of religion than perhaps he had ever done
from the period of his ordination to that of his fall as a
statesman. " In his domestic intercourse," writes Oldgate,
" he became wonderfully changed ; the proud Cardinal had
vanished from the scene." His hospitality about this time
was large and kindly, but no splendour or extravagance ;
every squire in the district was welcome to his dining-hall

* Carlo Logario.
VOL. I. Q

226 The Fall of Wolsey.
" whenever they chose to visit him ; apartments were also set
aside with right merrie cheer for the yeoman, and even the
peasant ;" a considerable number of women and children
received food daily. He conversed in brief words and
friendly tone with almost every one who approached his
house and grounds— and they were hundreds — inquiring as
to their mode of life, their families, &c. ; he employed three
hundred mechanics and labourers in repairing the churches
of the diocese, and the houses of the clergy, to whom he was
most kind. The more he was known, the more he was loved ;
those to whom in the days of his prosperity he had been an
object of hatred, now spoke well of him.* Perhaps the
truest account of his conduct is to be found in Thomas
Crumwell's letters, which present him in an amiable light,
" performing so many good offices for the people with so
little means." The King heard those accounts with satis
faction, and sent him money, which was not expended on
" luxuries," as has been alleged, " but in assisting the
needy." A Puritan writer presents an interesting picture
of Wolsey's retirement at Cawood when " relieved from the
burden of the State." " None was better beloved than he,
after he had been there a while. He gave bishops a good
example how they might win men's hearts. There were
few holy-days but he would ride five or six miles from his
house ; now to this parish church, now to that ; and thence
cause one of his priests to make a goodly sermon unto the
people. He sat among them for a while ; and then cele
brated Mass before all the parish  He brought his
dinner with him, and invited many of the people of the

* Grove's Life and Times of Cardinal Wolsey, vol. iv. ; Strype's Memorials
?ol i. ; Carlo Logario' s Narrative.

The Fall of Wolsey. 227

parish to partake of the same. He inquired if there was
any grudge or ill-feeling between neighbours ; and ' if there
were, after the dinner was over, he sent for the parties to
meet him at the church, where he made them all friends
again.' " In the absence of the clergy, the Cardinal walked
on foot to attend the death-bed of persons in fever and
other infectious diseases.*
Everything promised fair for Wolsey's restoration to
power, or at least to the King's friendship. But the
troubled waters seemed destined to return. The enmity of
the " Night Crow" was not extinguished ; it only slumbered
for a more fatal moment. Capucius contends that " Anna
Boleyn and her father were about this time plotting every
hour for the degradation or destruction of the Cardinal."
Capucius adds that " Lady Anna persuaded the King to
prepare a dungeon in the Tower for the reception of Wolsey
as a traitor."f Stephen Gardyner, then Secretary of State,
was a member of the Council which offered so many
insults to the fallen minister, who had formerly been his
kind benefactor. Never was any great man so abandoned
by friends as Wolsey had been at the time of his fall.
In his zeal for religion the Cardinal entered into corre
spondence with the Pope; Cavendish states that his letters
to the Pontiff were " intended to promote a reconciliation
between the King and the Head of the Church ;" but those
who projected the monastic confiscations represented the
matter in a different light to Henry, who suddenly issued a
mandate for the apprehension of Wolsey. He was arrested

* Carlo Logario's Narrative.
t Despatches of Capucius to Charles V.
Q 2

228 The Fall of Wolsey.
at Cawood on the 4th of November (1530). He betrayed no
appearance of having offended. The " King's Highness," said
he, " has not a more loyal subject in his realm than I am.
There is not living on earth a man who can look me ih the
face and charge me with untruth or dishonourable dealings.
I seek no favour but to be at once cdnfronted with my
accusers.* Little is known of the real charges preferred
against Wolsey; but judging from the general character
and motives of those who made them, most probably- every
accusation was plausibly set forth. Lord Herbert gives no
credit to the treasonable charges preferred against him ; and
the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk " hesitated to believe that
he was guilty." Those noblemen, be it remembered, were
both enemies of Wolsey, and, at the time, powerful and
implacable. The policy of the Boleyn party was to arouse
the suspicious of the King, and in this course they
succeeded.t The Cardinal's interview with Sir Henry Norris, who
brought him a ring as a token of the King's " returning
friendship," presented a distressing scene ; his hopes revived
for a moment, but only to disappear. " Gentle Norris,"
said he, " if I were lord of a realm, the one-half of it would
be an insufficient reward to give you for your pains and
words of comfort. But, alas ! I have nothing left me but
the clothes on my back ; therefore take this small reward,"
giving him a little chain of gold with a cross. " When I
was in prosperity I would not have parted with it for a
thousand pounds ; wear it for my sake, and remember me
when I am gone." He made a present of his " Court fool"
(Patch) to the King. " I trust his Highness will accept

* State Papers, Cavendish. + Cavendish and Logario.

The Fall of Wolsey. 229
him well, for surely for a nobleman's pleasure he is worth a
thousand pounds." The fool left his good master with great
reluctance, for " it took six yeomen to carry him away."*
The King treated Patch with kindness, often speaking to
him of the Cardinal with reverence and seeming affec
tion. The fool's real name was Williams. In the reign
of Edward VI. he became a Baptist preacher !
To few men is accorded the stoicism of confronting good
and evil fortune with a mind unmoved. The histories of
Greece and Rome, in the days of their heroes, present a
few such noble examples; and amongst Christian martyrs
have been found most edifying instances. But the tempera
ment of the Cardinal was not so loftily unyielding. When
he became aware of his altered condition, and the exalta
tion of his enemies, he " cried like a child, and sobbed with
the accents of a deserted woman." Such is the description
of Father Longland, who told him " to take comfort, and
remember he was a priest of God, and could now labour to
save souls for the King of kings ; that he should cast away
his vanity and pride, and become a missioner in the vine
yard of the Lord Jesus; that his pride brought him to his
present changed fortune." There was a time when no man,
not even a Carthusian Father, might have addressed the
Cardinal of York in the words of Longland ; but incurable
misfortune is a strong aid to conviction, and the inevitable
a potent support to philosophy. So Wolsey accepted the
situation, and sought peace in the performance of duties
whose importance he had never, even in the very zenith of
his power, seemed willing to ignore.

Cavendish, Logario, and Herbert.

2 30 The Fall of Wolsey.
The fallen statesman ordered inventories to be made of
all his plate, furniture, jewellery, tapestry, books, &c, and the
same to be presented to the King, with his mansions, parks,
groves, and gardens. "From my good King I have
received all I possess, and to his Highness I now give
back all that his liberality and goodness conferred on me."
The King's retainers, in taking possession of the Cardinal's
property, outraged propriety and humanity. They "did
not," says a spectator, "leave him a blanket to keep out
the cold at night, nor a dish or plate to eat his food on."*
The cost of Wolsey's different establishments was upwards
of 30,000Z. per annum, an enormous sum at the commence
ment of the sixteenth century. He had eight hundred
servants in various stations, and employed some two
thousand five hundred artisans and labourers, all of whom
were treated in a liberal and kindly manner, f Sharon
Turner's enmity relaxes for a moment when he contem
plates the fallen minister's conduct while residing at South
well. " It was," he says, " gratifying to the inhabitants of
the country to have their prelate among them. His house
was soon frequented by a great resort of the most worship
ful gentlemen in the district. He entertained them with
the best cheer he could devise, and his gentle and familiar
behaviour caused him to be greatly beloved and esteemed
throughout the whole country. He felt the value of those
softening qualities and manners which peculiarly constitute
the moral beauty of virtue. Others are more sublime and
distinguishing; but the kind and courteous voice, the

* The original catalogue of the Cardinal's effects, now in the Britis
Museum, occupies forty folio pages. It is a curious collection.
+ Carlo Fernando Logario's Narrative.

The Fall of Wolsey. 2 3 1
benign amenity, the benevolent feelings, and the unassum
ing conduct, never fail to awake our sweetest and most
endearing sympathies, to connect heart with heart, and soul
with soul, in bonds of mutual gratification and genial
regard, and to attest that interior loveliness of character
which attracts the esteem of intellect and sensibility, with
a social magnetism that every age and rank feel and
welcome."* Wolsey's endowments at Oxford and Ipswich attest his
love of learning. He gave some 3000Z. a year in gratuities
to men of learning at home and abroad. " Whoever," says
Erasmus, " was distinguished by any art or science paid
court to the Cardinal, and none paid court in vain."
Giustiniani, who was no friend or .admirer of Wolsey,
has left his opinion on record of the Cardinal's merits as a
Judge. " He is," observes that accomplished diplomatist,
" pensive, and has the reputation of being extremely just ;
he favours the people exceedingly, especially the poor, hear
ing their wants and seeking to despatch them instantly.
He also makes the lawyers plead gratis for all paupers."
" In matters of judicature," writes Fuller, " he behaved
himself commendably. No widows' sighs, nor orphans'
tears, appear in our chronicles as caused by the Cardinal
of York." Some English writers, amongst them the author
of " The Chancellors," allege that Wolsey " neglected his
duties as Chancellor; that his decisions were whimsical,
arbitrary, and in ignorance of law ;" and that " he had no
pity for the poor suitor." A distinguished legal commen
tator on the English judges makes the opposite statement,

Sharon Turner, vol. x. p. 293-4.

232 The Fall of Wolsey.

and points out the sectarian feeling that breathes through
out Lord Campbell's "Chancellors." That able and dis
criminating prelate, Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford, who
was long acquainted with the Cardinal, declares that he had
never known so painstaking a Judge ; that he was " always
on the side of the poor man when opposed by the rich or
unscrupulous;" and that "when he decided against the
sclaims of a poor man, or of a widow or orphans, he
invariably gave them assistance in money or employment."*
Who can question the testimony of Sir Thomas More, who,
hke Dr. Fox, speaks of Wolsey from personal knowledge ?
" No Chancellor of England," writes this virtuous Judge,
" ever acted with greater impartiality, deeper penetration of
judgment, or a more enlarged knowledge of law and of
equity." It seems strange that Lord Campbell, who
reverences and extols the character of More, should have
passed over that good man's evidence as to the merits of
his predecessor in the Great Seal.
The Rev. J. H. Blunt observes : — " Ambition leaves an
odious mark upon history only when it has been accom
panied by wrong and bloodshed ; but not a single public
act of this great man can be proved to have been unjust,
while the gentleness and humanity of his government are
conspicuous almost beyond belief when a sifting contrast
comes to be drawn between it and that of his contem
poraries or successors."! Dr. Brewer traces the slanders
on Wolsey's reputation to Polydore Vergil. " My only
surprise," he says, " is that every historian in succession

* Thorndale's Anecdotes of Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford.
t Rev. J. H. Blunt's Heformation of the Church of England.

The Fall of Wolsey. 233
should have accepted Polydore Vergil's statements as a
true picture of the Cardinal of York. Each has added a
little to the original story or caricature. Edward Hall
took his portrait from Polydore ; Foxe from Hall ;
Burnet and Strype from Foxe ; Hume from his country
man, Burnet, and so on to the end of the series." I
should not desire to seek a higher authority on the question
raised than Dr. Brewer. Although Hume quotes Polydore
Vergil, he has still the candour to inform his readers that
" Polydore's narratives of Wolsey are very suspicious."
The statements of Polydore Vergil are the more dis
creditable from the fact that he was the best informed
man of his time on European politics, and in his know
ledge of statesmen and kings ; but it must be added that
he was unscrupulous in defaming the character of any one
who refused him a favour, or thwarted his intriguing pobcy.
It seems to be the fate of most public men to be
misrepresented to posterity. Many allegations have been
made as to the envy and jealousy of Wolsey towards some
of his eminent contemporaries. The fact is, the Cardinal
might have said with Petrarch, " Of all vices envy is the
last of which I could be guilty." No great soul has ever
envied in another the possession of genius or virtue.
The moral character of Wolsey has been traduced
by several historians, yet those charges have never been
established, but in the first instance emanated from per
sonal enmity, and were afterwards adopted and enlarged
upon by prejudiced and sectarian writers.
I now approach the closing scenes in the great minister's
career. The Cardinal's health had been declining for
some time ; he was labouring under dropsy, a weakness of

234 The Fall of Wolsey.
the limbs, and a general prostration ; but the vigour of his
mind was still unimpaired. He was not, however, in a
condition to travel with expedition in the cold damp days
of November. Upwards of three thousand persons assem
bled at Cawood to see him a prisoner — hot, as in London,
to exult, but to " pity and to bless him for all the good
offices he rendered them." His spirits were quite fallen,
yet he seemed soothed by the good nature of the people —
the men, the women, and the children. " They cried with
a loud voice," says Cavendish, " God save your Grace ! the
foul evil take them that hath taken you from us ; and we
pray Heaven that a very vengeance may light upon them
all ! Thus they ran crying after him through the town
of Cawood, they loved him so well." Such is the description
of the scene by an eye-witness. When Wolsey reached
Sheffield Park he manifested with a change for the worse. On
the following morning, at an early hour, Cavendish " found
him seated on a chest with his beads in hands." The
news of Kingston's arrival from London made him tremble :
he had a foreboding of the message on which the Constable
of the Tower came. He was excited, cried, and sobbed,
then in a mournful accent exclaimed, " Well, as God
willeth, so be it. I am ready to accept such ordinances as
God hath provided for me." Shortly after a distressing
scene occurred on the entrance of Kingston and the Earl
of Northumberland — once known as Lord Percy — the
personal enemy of the fallen Churchman. The conduct of
Lord Northumberland on this occasion indicated the
bitterness of his hostility.*

* In Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. i. p. 638, the scene
between Wolsey and Northumberland is printed ; see Lord Herbert's Life of
Henry VIIL, p. 342 ; likewise Lloyd's State Worthies.

The Fall of Wolsey. 235

It was bruited that Lord Northumberland was sent at
the suggestion of the Marchioness of Pembroke to arrest
the Cardinal, in order to add to his anguish of mind. If
she did so, it is a mere question whether Anna or her old
lover displayed the greater amount of unforgivingness.
What a strange meeting !
Some minutes elapsed before either party spoke ; how
ever, all the courage and dignity of the Cardinal returned,
and, as far as Kingston was concerned, no jailer could per
form his unwelcome office with more delicacy, and presented
a striking contrast with that of Lord Northumberland.
" Maister Kingston," said Wolsey, " my disease is such
that I cannot Hve ; I have a flux with a continual fever, and
if ye see no alteration in me soon, there is no remedy but
death." The Court party became impatient at the time
consumed in conveying the object of their hatred to London,
and as soon as he was able to get on horseback the Cardinal
was compelled to proceed. Along the road the yeomen and
peasantry came forth to meet him, expressing in their own
quaint style an honest sympathy. The harsh cold days did
not prevent the wives and daughters from appearing on the
highways to " wave their hands and give looks of sorrow."
To all the Cardinal said, " May God preserve ye in His holy
religion, my good people." He did not proceed far until
his strength began rapidly to decline. Arriving at the
Abbey of Leicester, on Saturday evening, he was met at the
gate by the Abbot and the brotherhood, when he exclaimed,
" Father Abbot, I am come to lay my bones amongst you."*
He was immediately carried to bed, from which he never

* Cavendish's Memoirs of Wolsey.

236 The Fall of Wolsey.
rose again. On Sunday he seemed to be fast sinking, but
rallied for a time. His beads were constantly in his hands ;
he prayed with great fervour, making the sign of the cross
many times. It was discovered by an attendant that he
" wore a hair shirt, which he evidently wished to conceal."*
He described himself as " a most lowly creature, and a
wretched sinner ; that his vanity and pride were now justly
punished." He spoke frequently of his firm belief and
adherence to the Catholic Church ; and warned his atten
dants against the " new heresy."
The last days were now approaching. Sunday and
Monday passed in suffering and resignation. On the latter
day the Cardinal told his attendants that he would live
" till eight of the clock on the following morning," which
proved prophetic. At six on Tuesday morning (Novem
ber 29, 1530), he made a declaration of his religious belief
in the presence of the Lord Abbot and twelve pf the monks.
Then, with becoming solemnity, he received the last rites of
the Church. In one hour later his memorable address to
Sir William Kingston was delivered with unusual emotion.
At its conclusion he remained silent for some time. His
voice now faltered, but his eyes still retained their intelli
gent brightness; John Longland, a Carthusian confessor,
stood beside the death-couch, whilst Mass proceeded at the
great altar in the church ; and just as the bell of the abbey
tolled for the raising of the Host, the Cardinal of York
closed his eyes upon all the fleeting honours and transitory

* Logario states that the Cardinal wore no hair shirt at the time of his death.
Some time previous he punished himself in this fashion ; but at the suggestion
of his physician he laid it aside.

The Fall of Wolsey. 237

splendours of State, as well as upon the deceit and wicked
ness of human ambition.
And now in memoriam. When the interests and the
honour of England were concerned, this remarkable man
was energetic and fearless ; yet he waged no war of blood
or plunder. His wars were the contests of diplomacy ; his
triumphs the victories of intellectual supremacy. As a
politician of the period in which he lived he played his
part with a certain degree of frankness and honesty seldom
to be found in diplomatists of any time. In his fall, how
ever, he evinced more magnanimity than at the zenith of
his greatness. It is at length time that truth should be
vindicated ; that the ignorant or malignant narratives so
often presented' to posterity as biographies of Thomas
Wolsey should be controverted, and the real character
elicited of a man who, in ideas as well as actions, was the
grandest minister that Europe had produced up to those.
times. Those who are not well acquainted with the Home
and Foreign State Papers of the reign of Henry VIII. can
form no accurate opinion of the greatness of the Cardinal
of York as a minister of the Crown.
In forty-eight hours subsequent to the moment of disso
lution, the remains of the once illustrious Cardinal of York
were placed in a deal coffin, and consigned to an obscure
grave, unwept and unlamented, except by the few tried
friends who, for the glory and honour of human nature
amidst so much of baseness, greed, ingratitude, and cruelty,
remained loving and faithful to the last.*
Those students of history who have had the privilege of

Brewer's Foreign and Domestic State Papers, vol. iv.

238 The Fall of Wolsey.
examining the voluminous Home and Foreign State Papers
bearing upon Wolsey's career as a minister of the Crown,
must look upon the closing scene of his life with a mourn
ful emotion. Sharon Turner observes that our "moral
taste" must regret that one who had, for nearly twenty
years, been acting so grand a part in the sight of all
Europe, did not fall like the setting sun, with a majesty
correspondent to the character he had been representing.
Far better, mayhap, to the idea of " moral sentiment," that
the illustrious Cardinal recurred, in the decline of his
earthly magnificence, to the overruling Arbiter of all
Greatness. The death of Wolsey made room for the promotion of
two of the King's agents in the divorce litigation. Ed
ward Lee was appointed to the See of York, and Stephen
Gardyner, the personal friend of the Boleyn family, to that
of Winchester.
An interesting question has been raised several times by
students of history as to whether Wolsey ever used the
memorable words attributed to him by William Cavendish :
" Had I but served my God," &c. The saying is traceable
to an earlier date than that of Wolsey. " If," said De
Berghes to Lady Margaret, " I and Renner had served God
as we have served the King, we might have hoped for a
place in Paradise."* " Similar words," says the Rev J. H.
Blunt, " are attributed to the wealthy Duke of Bucking
ham, at the scaffold, in 1521. ' If he had offended no more
unto God Almighty than he had done to the King's High
ness, he should die as true a man as ever was in the

* Brewer's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 21.

The Fall of Wolsey. 239
world.' "* Buckingham was not a man of fine sentiment,
or much education. As to Wolsey, when misfortune struck
him down, he was still too proud to descend in his last
speech to take his text from De Berghes, or from the Duke
of Buckingham, whom he had despised and ruined. It is
very possible that Maister Cavendish, who delighted in
sensational gossip, gave a flourish of sentiment in this
instance, as he has in other matters concerning the Cardinal
of York. Cavendish could not induce the Governor of the
Tower to corroborate his statement, because Sir William
Kingston was quite deaf; his evidence is therefore un
supported ; besides, Dr. Logario is silent upon this subject.

* J. H. Blunt's Reformation of the Church of England.

240 A Fortunate Family.

CHAPTER XXI.
A FORTUNATE FAMILY.
Upon the death of Wolsey William Cavendish entered the
service of the King, and was subsequently knighted. He
was a courtier who studied his royal master's views with an
apparent devotion, and his religious sentiments were those
of the Court. His policy was to please all parties — if
possible. He received a portion of the monastic lands, and
acknowledged the King as Head of the Church. He
was the personal friend of men Mke Polydore Vergil,
Bonner, Gardyner, and Cranmer. He attended Lord Crum
well's banquets ; his society was much courted ; "he was,"
says Thomas Wyatt, " a delightful story-teller ;" he knew
much of the schemes by which Percy and Anna Boleyn
were separated. Perhaps no man knew more. On this
subject he was silent ; but in after years he stated to Wyatt
that he was certain Anna " was very fond of Percy." Of
Percy he thought much ; " Percy," he relates to Lord
Cobham, " lost all courage and heart when he was told by
\ my Lord Cardinal that Nan could never become his wife."
\ Cavendish's memoirs of his patron Wolsey has been
1 praised for accuracy and impartiality ; but a diligent search
1 amongst contemporary records, diaries, letters, and other
I documents, will prove that his biography — if such it can be
Icalled — of Wolsey, is far from being accurate. He kept a
Uiary, in which he entered all the gossip gathered in the

A Fortunate Family. 241

dining halls of the notables whom he visited. He admits
that he was an " eavesdropper;" that he was^ft listening in
corners" to Anna Boleyn and others railing against people

they professed to esteem. He relates narratives of Woisey'
oT ah unpleasant nature when Dean of Lincoln ; but
Cavendish was not connected ~wTth"his i "munificent master at
that period, and his information was evidently derived from
questionable sources, and is unworthy of much considera
tion. When gentleman usher to the Cardinal, he had some
opportunity of judging of the inner life of Wolsey. Caven
dish was never made a political confidant by his master.
Logario, the Spanish physician, to whom I have frequently
alluded, was more in Wolsey's confidence than any other
man about his Court ; yet Logario states that he never
alluded in any conversation with him to the Boleyns or
Queen Katharine. At a subsequent period Cavendish was
well acquainted with all the intrigues of Henry's Court, and
the plots laid for the destruction of Anna Boleyn. He
was silent, and kept aloof from the intrigues of the Court.
He held office under Edward and Mary, and enjoyed the
patronage of their respective Governments. William Caven
dish was born in Suffolk about 1505, and died early in the
reign of Elizabeth. In after years his son became Earl of
Devonshire. Wealth and honours showered upon this
family for generations. One grandson became Duke of
Newcastle; another a favourite with the Stuart family, and
showed his gratitude by aiding Charles I. with 10,000/. to
carry on his expedition against the Scots. He subsequently
went into exile with Charles IL, and reappeared at the
Restoration. Another descendant became Duke of Devon
shire ; the junior branches of the family accumulated great
VOL. I. R

242 A Fortunate Family.
fortunes. Henry Cavendish gave himself up to scientific
study for some years. A relative left him a large fortune ;
he then became a miser, and was " a flint-hearted man,"
as a contemporary styled him. He bequeathed 2,000,0002.
to his kinsmen. So the family went on accumulating
wealth and honours.
Wolsey foretold that wealth and honours would, in time,
fall to the lot of William Cavendish's descendants.
Sir William Cavendish's " Life of Wolsey" was pub
lished in the reign of Queen Mary. Several of his state
ments were challenged at the time by persons who had
been acquainted with the chief actors of Henry's reign;
nevertheless, Cavendish was still considered a good au
thority for many matters in connexion with the Cardinal
of York and his Royal master. The MS. documents of
Brian Tulle, the confidential secretary of the Cardinal,
could explain many passages in the life of Wolsey which
might place his character in a better light before posterity.
"Tulle's secret records of his master and himself were
accidentally destroyed," so writes his friend Carlo Logario.
Dr. Brewer, who has won his laurels amongst the State
Papers, does not give implicit reliance to all the allegations—
sometimes marvellously put forward— by Cavendish. The
original chronicle produced by this noted courtier has
undergone revisions and amendments, many of which were
necessary, but the question arises how far "facts" have
been improved or extended by our modern compilers.

Death of Archbishop Warham. 243

CHAPTER XXII.
DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP WARHAM.
The death of Archbishop Warham (1532) tended to pro
mote the divorce question by the appointment of Dr.
Cranmer to the See of Canterbury. Archbishop Warham,
as the reader is aware, originally objected to the
marriage of King Henry and Katharine on canonical
grounds, but the Countess of Richmond, the young King's
grandmother, aided by the Council, and the "solemn
declaration" of Katharine to the Pontiff, set the legality of
the matter at rest for at least eighteen years. The author
of the "English Chancellors" comments on the results
of the marriage of Katharine and Henry : — " Had Chan
cellor Warham's opinion prevailed, England might have
remained a Roman Catholic country ; but the Countess of
Richmond took part with the majority of the Council,
and young Henry, not much inclined to this arrangement
of convenience, thought he was bound to fulfil the promise
given in his father's lifetime, and the marriage took place
which produced our boasted Reformation."*
Warham filled the office of Chancellor under Henry VII.
and his son, and had been for many years the confidential
adviser of the Tudor family. As a politician he upheld
unequivocal subservience to the Crown ; yet he admonished

* Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. i. p. 427.
ft 2

244 Death of Archbishop Warham.
" both King, Lords, and Commons" on the duties they had
each to perform ; that they should " be speakers of truth,
not flatterers ; firm, not wavering ; and neither covetous nor
ambitious." He told the "people to obey the law, to'
honour the King, and to practise their religion." To the
soldier he said : " You must walk in the ways of God, and
in Him alone place your trust; defend your country and
your King; obey your superiors;, be content with your
pay ; have no plunder, nor do anything that is cruel to an
enemy."* What would our linesman of the present day
say to the Archbishop of Canterbury thus lecturing him on
his duties to Church and State ? When Warham retired
from the Chancellorship, to be succeeded by Wolsey, he
seldom appeared in public life again ; his time was devoted
to his duties as a prelate. He preached many sermons
against Luther, and when the divorcs question was first
raised, he sent an ably written letter to the King on the
subject; but his advice was now seldom asked by the
Soyereign.f " He was an honest and faithful minister to
my father," said Henry ; " he placed the crown on my
head ; he has his own eccentric views on every matter ; he
is now getting very old and feeble, but he is still sincere
and just." Such was the opinion Henry expressed of
Warham to Longland, his confessor. He was known to be
opposed to the supremacy of the Church claimed by Henry,
but still countenanced the spiritual fantasies of the Maid
of Kent; and although many of those who professed to
believe in her idle prophecies suffered on the scaffold, he

* Campbell's Chancellors, vol. i.
+ This letter is said to be deposited at the Vatic

Death of Archbishop Warham. 245
was left unnoticed by the King. He was, however, at this
time fast approaching the end of his days ; his zeal for
religion and the wants of the " poor and the unfortunate"
became untiring. He invited political and personal
enemies to his house and " sent them away as friends,
telling each to cultivate charity and kindly feeling, and to
remember the widow and the orphan." A few days before
his death, Archbishop Warham asked his steward "what
money he had in the world," and was answered " thirty
pounds ;" to which he exclaimed, " Satis viatici in caelum."
His property was scarcely sufficient to pay his current
debts and the expense of his funeral. The prosecution of
Empson and Dudley, the noted financial malefactors of
the preceding reign, is the only charge of severity ever
made against Warham as a minister of the Crown. This
prosecution, however, was instituted by the King's Council
and sustained by both Houses of Parliament.
Warham has left a high reputation as a judge; he
strictly watched over the administration of justice in all the
minor courts, and " received the petitions of the poor
suitors with his own hands." It was said by some of his
learned contemporaries, that in his own Court no Chan
cellor had ever evinced greater impartiality or deeper
penetration of judgment, and that none of his predecessors
who were ecclesiastics had equalled him in a knowledge of
law and equity.
On. his deathbed the Archbishop issued this protest
against the proceedings of the King and his advisers : —
" In the name of God, Amen. We, William, by Divine
Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all
England, Legate of the Apostolic See, hereby publicly and

246 Death of Archbishop Warham.

expressly do protest for ourselves, and for our holy Metro
politan Church of Canterbury, that to any statute passed,
or hereafter to be passed in this present Parliament, begun
on the 3rd day of November, 1529, and continued until
this present time, in so far as such statute or statutes be
in derogation of the Pope of Rome, or the Apostolic See,
or be to the hurt, prejudice, or limitation of the powers of
the said Church, or shall tend to the subverting, or ener
vating, derogatory from, or dimishing the laws, customs,
privileges of the Metropolitan Church of Canterbury ; we
neither will, nor intend, nor with clear conscience are we
able to consent to the same ; but by these writings we do
dissent from, refuse, and contradict them."
" I have," said the Archbishop, " performed my duty to
the King, to the realm, and to the Church of Christ ; and
now, full of hope, I am ready to appear before the Supreme
Judge to account for my stewardship."*
The following picture of Warham has been drawn by the
discerning pencil of Erasmus. It does nearly as much
honour to the client as to the patron, who so generously
favoured the brilliant foreign scholar. Warham was a
beautiful exemplification of the truth, that a life of virtue
may also be one of cheerful activity. Intolerant only of
vice, Warham treated all men with consideration, and, whilst
self-mortified from conscientious motives, never obtruded
austerity on others. Thus writes Erasmus : —
" 1 have the most tender recollection of a man worthy to be held
in perpetual honour, William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury,
and Primate of all England. He was a theologian in reality, as

* Thorndale on the Last Days of Arehbishop Warham.

Death of Archbishop Warham. 247

well as in title, and profoundly versed both in the civil and canon
law. He early gained reputation by his skilful conduct of foreign
embassies entrusted to him ; and on account of his consummate
prudence he was much beloved by Henry VII. Thus he rose to be
Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest ecclesiastical dignity in the
realm. Bearing this burden, itself very weighty, one heavier still
was imposed upon him. He was forced to accept the office of
Chancellor, which, among the English, is attended with regal
splendour and power. As often as he goes into pubhc, a crown
and a sceptre are carried before him. He is the eye, the mouth
piece, and the right hand of the Sovereign, and the supreme judge
of the whole English nation. For many years he executed the
duties of this office so admirably that you would have supposed he
was born with a genius for it, and that he devoted to it the whole
of his time and thoughts. But all the while he was so constantly
watchful and attentive with respect to religion, and all that con
cerned his ecclesiastical functions, that you would have thought he
had no secular cares. He found leisure for the strict performance
of his private devotions ; to celebrate Mass almost daily ; to hear
prayers read several times a day; to decide causes in his Court ; to
receive foreign ministers; to attend the King's Council; to adjust
disputes which arose amongst Churchmen ; to give dinners to his
friends, whom he often entertained in parties of two hundred : and
along with all this, for reading every learned publication which
appeared. He proved himself sufficient for such a multiplicity of
avocations by wasting no portion of his time or his spirits, in field
sports, or in gaming, or in idle pursuits. His only relaxation was
pleasant reading, or discoursing with men of learning. Although
he had bishops, dukes, and earls at his table, his dinners seldom
lasted much above an hour. He appeared in splendid robes becoming
his high station ; yet his tastes were exceedingly simple. He scarcely
suffered wine to touch his lips ; and when beyond seventy years of
age his usual drink was small beer, which he took very sparingly ;
but while he himself abstained from almost everything at table,
still so cheerful was his countenance and so festive his talk, that
he enlivened and charmed all who were present. He was the same
agreeable and rational companion at all hours. He made it a

248 Death of Archbishop Warham.
rule to abstain from supper ; but if his friends were assembled at
that meal, he would sit down along with them and promote their
conviviality without partaking of any food himself. The hour
generally devoted to supper he was accustomed to fill up with
prayer or reading, or perhaps telling witty stories, of which he had
a large store ; or freely exchanging jests with his friends ; but never
with ill nature or any breach of decorum. He spurned indecency
and slander as one would a serpent. So this illustrious man made
the day, the shortness of which many allege as a pretext for their
idleness, long enough for all the various public and private duties
he had to perform.''
Like Bishop Fisher, Dr. Warham frequently expressed his
fears as to the great injury the Church would ultimately
suffer from its connexion with the State.
Anthony Wood states that Archbishop Warham often
told his nephew (Dean of Canterbury), that if after his
death a man named Thomas should succeed him in the See
of Canterbury, he should in nowise serve him, or seek his
favour or acquaintance ; " for there shall be one of that name
shortly to enjoy this See, that shall by his vicious living and
wicked, devices, destroy, waste, and dishonour the whole
Church as it has been so long in England."
It is stated on the authority of a " catalogue book of
expenses," that Archbishop Warham expended the sum of
30,000/. in repairing and beautifying the different See
houses connected with the Archdiocese of Canterbury.
Towards the close of Archbishop Warham's life he did
much to effect a reform in the Ecclesiastical Courts under
his own jurisdiction. He reduced fees very considerably,
and set aside many of the claims so long put forward by the
clergy of " certain manors to fees and other local taxes."
He was very rigid as to the moral character of his clergy,

Death of Archbishop Warham. 249
and required a close attention to the sick and dying. He
warned the Seculars as tothe "coming storm;" but along
career of prosperity had enforced a false feeling of security ;
they could not read the ominous signs of the times.*
Warham was foremost in doing honour to Erasmus when
he visited this country. England was the land the great
scholar most esteemed ; and here he received a reception
from Churchmen and laymen who showed how high they
then appreciated learning, and the possessor of cultivated
genius. In the King's palace, and in the baron's castle,
the erudite foreigner was honoured and entertained ; bishops,
abbots, and heads of colleges, patronised him. Wolsey,
Warham, Richard Pace, Edward Fox, Richard Foxe (Bishop
of Winchester), Fisher, Longland, Collet, More, and all the
chief Churchmen, lawyers, and statesmen of England, " held
learned discourse with him ; " the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge threw open their doors to him. The great
houses of Mountjoy, Derby, Dorset, Northumberland, and
Talbot sought his services as tutor to their children, and
Bishop Fisher desired to become his pupil. The King of
Scots sought his services ; the French nobles offered him
wealth and honours ; but Erasmus felt more at home amongst
his English friends than in any other country. The story
circulated so long that this great scholar joined the "new
learning" is the fallacy of a past generation. That he was
an advocate of " Reform" is doubtless true ; but one of a

* For particulars concerning the Ecclesiastical Courts, see Lynwood, p. 170 ;
ibid. 181; Register of Archbishop Mepham ; also Archbishop Stratford;
Statute of Edward III., i. c. 4 ; More and Warham's Correspondence on the
corrupt state of the Ecclesiastical Courts ; Correspondence of Erasmus on the
same subject ; Wilkins, Collier, Joyce ; Archbishops of Canterbury, vols. vi.
and vii.

250 Death of Archbishop Warham.
very different type from that contemplated by Thomas
Cranmer and his coadjutors. When at school at Daventry,
a learned scholar of that place said that the " time would
come when that small boy would prove the wonder and envy
of all Germany." At the same seminary he met his future
patron, Adrian VI., and many others who became eminent
Churchmen. One speciality was remarked of him, that
he had a marvellous memory. " I had no vocation for
the Church," says Erasmus, " but when I took Orders
I could not violate my vows, nor do anything that
could be discreditable to the clerical character." Not
withstanding this, and many other professions, Burnet
and his Puritan contemporaries claim Erasmus as "one
of the standard-bearers of the Reformation." The life
and writings of this great cynic afford the clearest proof
that he had no sympathy with the " new learning," whose
preachers were so frequently the object of his withering
sarcasm and contempt. The inhabitants of Rotterdam, the
place of his birth, have honoured his memory in many
forms — by medals, statues, and paintings.
Archbishop WTarham, from his scholarly instincts, readily
gave to Erasmus, on his arrival in this country, the honour
of his estimation and the kindliness and generosity of his
patronage. The reception given to the great Dutch scholar in
England is a proof of how much the Universities, and
Churchmen cf all ranks, appreciated learning at that
critical juncture.

Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce. 251

CHAPTER XXIII.
ARCHBISHOP CRANMER PRONOUNCES THE DIVORCE.
The appointment of Dr. Cranmer to the See of Canter
bury, and that of Dr. Lee to the Archdiocese of York, was
a step towards the final adjudication in the divorce ques
tion. Those prelates were known to be retained by
the Crown, but unfortunately they were aided by other
bishops of a higher clerical reputation. The dishonest
conduct of the bishops and the Convocation enabled the
King to throw off the mask. A new scene was now to be
opened, in which something like falsehood and blasphemy
were to give a legal and virtuous appearance to one of the
most discreditable proceedings in which a husband and
wife could appear as litigants before a public tribunal.
The moment Archbishop Cranmer was enthroned at Can
terbury he commenced the work of corrupting the clergy*
He made himself certain of the support of a large majority
of the secular priests. The Convocation of York, under
the influence of Archbishop Lee, agreed with those
of Canterbury that " it was a lawful and just action to
divorce Queen Katharine." Thirty-six abbots and friars

* The appointment of Cranmer to the See of Canterbury, at this particular
crisis in the divorce litigation, is a rare instance of an Archbishop being nomi-
nated exclusively by the Sovereign. The object for which Henry appointed
Cranmer is manifest to posterity, and the appointment must be characterised
as an infamous transaction.

252 Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce.
voted for the divorce. In fact, not more than twenty of
the clerical body connected with Convocation sustained
the rights of the injured Queen. Gardyner and Bonner
were energetic in their services to the King on this occa-
" sion ; and they both seemed to feel a pleasure in adding
insult to injury. The regular clergy, as a body, denounced
the conduct of the abbots "as unjust and wicked;" they
—were accordingly marked out for the royal vengeance.*
The love correspondence and the litigation of the divorce
question, which was protracted for nearly six years, was
brought to a close by Dr. Cranmer. An unpleasant incident
interposed to place the Archbishop's judgment in a curious
light. A marriage of a clandestine nature took place some
months previous between the King and the newly-created
Marchioness of Pembroke, better known as Anna Boleyn.
Cranmer and his contemporaries are at variance as to
when the marriage took place. Judging from the clan
destine nature of the ceremony, it is probable the date was
fixed to suit " circumstances." The marriage was not
performed by Cranmer, who merely stated that he bad
" heard of such a ceremony taking place, but was unac
quainted with the period of its celebration." The ceremony
is said to have been performed by a priest named Lee,
who was rewarded with the bishopric of Lichfield for
his disregard of canon law. Mr. Hepworth Dixon, in his

* Wilkins, iii. ; Collier's Ecclesiastical History ; Dod's Church History, vol. i. ;
Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 467. All the ecclesiastical records
of the times prove that the bishops, their clergy, and many of the abbots,
were concerned in the conspiracy to remove Queen Katharine from her lawful
position as a wife. The hour of retribution quickly' followed ; but, unfor-
tunattly, all that were innocent and good amongst the clerical body suffered
for the deeds of their venal brethren.

Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce. 253

desire to give the appearance of propriety to this discredit
able transaction, assures his readers that " Roland Lee was
a respectable priest, a man of learning, and a friend to the
Reformation movement." Roland Lee, however, has no
claim to the attributes put forward in his favour by
Mr. Dixon. As far as assertion can sustain a bad cause,
Gilbert Burnet defends the clandestine marriage. He
contends that the impeachment of Anna's character had its
origin with her " bitter enemy, Sander." I could not do
Anna Boleyn the injustice to take Sander's evidence against
her, for he has been proved to be a false witness. Burnet,
however, must have known well that, some six-and-thirty
years before Sander had written one line on the subject
accusations were made and put forth in a very probable
form, and on high authority,* against Anna's conduct,
Lord Herbert, who wishes to remove some of the unplea
sant features connected with the matter, states that Cranmer,
the Duke of Norfolk, and Anna's father were witnesses to
the clandestine marriage.f If the Archbishop was present,
why was the ceremony performed by an inferior priest?
Was the Archbishop of Canterbury ashamed of being a
party to a clandestine royal marriage " before light in the
morning?" Or did the marriage take place before or after
Dr. Cranmer had. pronounced the decree of divorce between
Henry and Katharine ? These are questions that have not
yet been answered from any trustworthy source ; so that
the date and the exact circumstances under which the
marriage took place remain still a mystery.

* Le Grand, ii. 110 ; Stowe, p. 543.
t Lord Herbert's Life of Heary VIIL, p. 340.

254 Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce.
The historians that have dwelt most on this subject
must have felt the weakness of the claim this marriage had
to legality when they had recourse to such arguments as
Sharon Turner has used. He states that " it is not quite
clear whether the King had a private divorce from
Katharine before he wedded Anna." Mr. Turner cites
several authorities to sustain this view; but none of his
witnesses are able to testify by whom the private divorce
was granted. Cranmer could not have done so as a
prelate in January or February, for he was not consecrated
Archbishop of Canterbury until the 30th of March; but,
supposing he was Archbishop in February, and privately
granted the divorce, on what authority could he pronounce
such a judgment ? He was then the spiritual representative
of the Roman Pontiff in England, and as such could not
grant a decree. In another passage Mr. Turner contends
that the " Pope was the only authority on earth that
princes and subjects had to resort to for the determination
of such questions." Several eminent Protestant jurists
have expressed a similar opinion as to the state of the
law at that period. Then of what effect could be a
"private divorce" pronounced by some person unnamed?
In fact, Mr. Turner's argument is an acknowledgment that
the marriage took place before the decree of divorce was
pronounced. On Saturday, the 10th of May, 1533, Archbishop Cranmer
opened his Court at Dunstable, for the final adjudication of
Queen Katharine's case. On this occasion Cranmer was
assisted by Bonner and Gardyner. They sat thirteen days
in deliberation with a staff of ecclesiastical and civil lawyers,
to give an air of legality to the business. Queen Katharine

Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce. 255
still protesting agairst their proceedings, made no appear
ance. On the 23rd of the same month, Cranmer, as Arch
bishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and still
styling himself Legate of the Apostolic See, gave judgment
that " the Ladye Katharine of Arragon was not the lawful
wife of our good and blessed King, the said Henry, Sovereign
Lord by the Grace of God, of this realm of England." And
" I do declare and affirm," says Dr. Cranmer, " and do call
on the whole Court of Heaven, and the Holy Trinity, to bear
witness, and to attest the truth of these proceedings, that the
said Ladye Katharine of Arragon never had been, nor could
never be, the wife of the said King Henry."*
Bonner and Gardyner were present, as ecclesiastical
judges, and they expressed their full concurrence in the
judgment pronounced by their Primate ; although they were
well awart that the Court of Rome would never sanction
this mockery of a judicial proceeding.
Archdeacon Bedyll, one of the King's agents in this
divorce question, writes to Lord Crumwell, from the scene
of action at Dunstable, in these words : " My Lord of Canter
bury handleth himself very well, and very uprightly, without
any evident cause of suspicion to be noted in him."-f
This confidential note shows the underhand part that
Archbishop Cranmer was playing for his Royal master at
Dunstable. The Archdeacon was, as a matter of course,
another of the conspirators against Queen Katharine's
rights. A distinguished Anglican clergyman, in commenting
on the judicial proceedings at Dunstable, has no faith in

* State Papers ; Gardyner's Despatches to Lord Crumwell ; Lord Herbert ;
Thorndale ; HaU's Chronicle.
t State Papers, vol. i. p. 395 ; Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 476.

256 Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce.
the integrity of the Archbishop. " In looking," he writes,
" at the steps which were then taken by Dr. Cranmer, it is
impossible to exonerate him from collusion with the King."
And again : " There seems to have been a thorough under
standing between Henrv and Cranmer as to the character
of the ' process' which the Archbishop was thus to smuggle
through its rapid stages."* To return to the "clandestine
ceremony." Assuming for a moment that Cranmer's judg
ment was legal, no marriage could be valid UDtil he pro
nounced his decree at Dunstable Abbey. His judgment
was given on the 23rd, and on the 31st the Marchioness of
Pembroke was presented to the people of London as "the
new Queen ;" she could not be lawfully styled as Henry's
wife if she were not married at some time between the 23rd
and 31st. Now, there is no record, nor even the slightest
clue to a marriage between Henry Tudor and Anna Boleyn
at the time above indicated. Therefore the "clandestine
rite" was gone through before and not 'after Archbishop
Cranmer's decree at Dunstable.f David Hume, who like
other historians of note approaches the subject with evident
reluctance, contends that the Archbishop's judgment " ought
naturally to have preceded the marriage ;" and then Hume
makes the strange acknowledgment : " By a subsequent
decree Dr. Cranmer ratified the marriage of Henry Tudor
and Anna Boleyn."f That is, the Lord Archbishop of

* Rev. J. H. Blunt's Reformation of the Church of England, p. 187.
+ During the last three hundred years many eminent scholars have made
searches amongst ecclesiastical and other records, in order to throw some
light on this clandestine marriage ; but all have failed in being able to
establish a favourable verdict.
X Hume's History of England (folio, 1st edition), vol. iii. p. 173.

Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce. 257
Canterbury, ratified a marriage which is supposed to have
taken place four months before it could have been legal.
Amongst the records of Lambeth Palace are to be seen
the " ratification" of this mysterious marriage. The
" ratification" was given by Cranmer himself, just four days
after the divorce at Dunstable. The ceremony occupied
but a few minutes. Mr. Froude looks on this proceeding
in an unfavourable light. The " circumstances," he observes,
" under which the new Queen was presented to the people
was a scandal."* No fault, of course, is found with the King
or the Primate. Mr. Froude, and those who venerate Dr.
Cranmer for the part taken by him in the formation of the
Book of Common Prayer and the general Liturgy of the
Church of England, have been energetic in defending his
conduct on the divorce of Queen Katharine. They have
ransacked records and history for some precedent in the
Catholic Church, without effect. Sharon Turner goes back
to Archbishop Odo, in the case of Edwy and. Elgiva, to
produce a parallel, but he fails in establishing any analogy
between the two cases. None whatever.
The following account of the divorce has been quoted by
Lingard, Tytler, Miss Benger, and Mrs. Thompson : " The
proceedings at Dunstable terminated on the 23rd of May,
when Archbishop Cranmer pronounced not a divorce, but a
sentence, that the King's marriage with Katharine had been,
and was, a nullity, and invalid, having been contracted
against the Divine Law. Five days after Archbishop
Cranmer gave at Lambeth Palace a judicial confirmation to
Henry's union with Anna Boleyn."

* Froude's History of England, vol. i.
VOL. I. S

258 Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce.
The writer does not state on what grounds " a judicial
confirmation" was made in this case.
" I conceive," writes Dr. Lingard, " that immediately
after the judgment pronounced by Cranmer, Henry and
Anna were married again; otherwise Dr. Lee, Archbishop
of York, and Dr. Tunstal, Bishop of Durham, must have
assented a falsehood* when they told Queen Katharine that
after his Highness was discharged of the marriage made
with her, he contracted a new marriage with his dearest
wife, Queen Anna."f Lingard continues : " It is plain
from all that precedes and follows this passage, that they
mean after the divorce publicly pronounced by Archbishop
Cranmer. Of a private divorce preceding the marriage in
January, neither they, nor any others amongst their con
temporaries, had any notion. But a second marriage after
the judgment of the Court was necessary, otherwise the
issue of Anna could not have been legitimate. Henry had
been fully impressed by the fact of the irregularity of
marrying Anna before the divorce from Katharine."
Henry justified his conduct by declaring that he had
examined the cause in the court of his own conscience, which
was enlightened and directed by the Spirit of God, who
possesseth and directeth the hearts of Princes ; and as he
was convinced that he was at liberty to exercise and enjoy the
benefit of God for the procreation of children in the lawful use
of matrimony, no man ought to inveigh at this his doing."%
* Judging from the conduct of Lee and Tunstal towards Queen Katharine,
they were capable of fabricating any statement to promote the King's schemes.
Those prelates, like the other members of the King's Council, must be judged .
by their actions.
f State Papers of Henry's Reign, vol. i. p. 419.
J Burnet, vol. iii. ; Domestic State Papers, vol. i. ; Lingard, vol. v.

Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce. 259
Dean Hook's opinions are opposed to Cranmer's judg
ment in every form. The Dean is quite satisfied that
" nothing existed between Arthur and Katharine but a
marriage contract; and, in such a case, a Papal dispensa
tion was admissible."* This was the great point at issue :
the question raised, and contended for, by Katharine
at her trial, and which her perjured husband never
denied. Dr. Brewer says : " Marriage was a sacrament. From
the earliest days of Christianity all questions connected
with marriage, as an ecclesiastical rite, had been finally
settled by ecclesiastical authority. To abandon the right
of such determination now, to give it over into other hands,
to let it be settled by any Court not acting by the Pontiff's
express consent, or independent of his sanction — in fact, by
any national Court whose decision should be final, and from
which there should be no appeal — what was this except to
set up some special Court above that of Christendom ?
what else, but to concede the principle of the Reformation ?"
A remarkable statement from such a high authority.
The mode of action adopted by Cranmer in finally pre
paring the judgment at Dunstable has not been noticed with
that critical nicety which the dark intrigues of the chief
actor requires.f There is a paper preserved amongst the
Cotton MSS., which has been strangely passed over by his
torians. The paper in question is the most damaging
evidence ever produced against Dr. Cranmer. A writer in

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 196.
+ In the second volume of this work I shall go into the general history of
Cranmer's transactions with and for King Henry.
S 2

260 Archbishop Cranmer Pronounces the Divorce.
the Christian Remembrancer for July, 1859, argues the
illegality of Cranmer's divorce with considerable ability,
and adds another striking indictment to the dark catalogue
of the Archbishop's offences. I shall have occasion to
recur to this subject in the second volume of my work,
where the reader will find a lengthened review of Dr.
Cranmer's proceedings in Henry's reign.

Triumph of Anna Boleyn. 261

CHAPTER XXIV.
TRIUMPH OF ANNA BOLEYN.
Whilst the judicial proceeding was being enacted in the
village of Dunstable, preparations were making in London
for the coronation of the new Queen. On the 19th of May,
four days before the judgment, Anna Boleyn proceeded by
river from Greenwich to the Tower. The Thames was
studded with boats of all sizes, bearing the most fantastic
decorations ; the Lord Mayor, the Corporation, the nobles,
the knights, and the esquires, were seated in their stately
barges, with golden banners waving in the gentle May-Day
breeze; the motley crowds of sightseers lined the shore
and every available spot. Anna Boleyn was seated in a
gilded barge, preceded at a short distance by the Lord
Mayor. Just before the barge went a " foyst or wafter,"
full of ordnance, in which was a dragon continually moving
and casting wild fire ; round the foyst stood some terrible
monsters in appearance, and wild men casting up fire of
various colours, and producing a strange noise. The cannon
at the Tower kept up a brisk roar ; the ships in the river
were decorated, and had fireworks on board; trumpeters
were placed in the respective barges, who every five minutes
sent forth a flourish, which was received with acclamations.
In this order of "Venetian procession," Queen Anna
reached the archway of the Tower, where the King, sur
rounded by a magnificent retinue of courtiers, received her

262 Triumph of Anna Boleyn.
on the stairs — to use the words of Lord Cobham, "as if
she were some great enchantress from a fairy land, whose
loveliness had charmed and devoured all hearts."
One question presented itself at this eventful moment to
the steady and mature judgment of the critical or virtuous
citizens : " Where, or when, was the new Queen married ?"
On the day preceding her coronation Queen Anna paid
the accustomed visit to the City.* The display of wealth
and magnificence made on this occasion by the merchants
excited the jealousy of the foreigners then in London. The
chronicles of the times have furnished quaint descriptions
of the popular display, and the loyalty of the people to the
King. The houses in Cornhill and Gracechurch Street
were decorated in front with scarlet and crimson, in arras
and tapestry ; Cheapside was draped in cloth of gold, tissue,
and velvet. The Sheriffs of London and the Corporation
rode on horseback in rich trappings; the windows were
filled with youth and beauty ; the footpaths were railed off
the line of procession, to enable the people, the 'prentices,
and the guilds to behold the Queen. Amongst the diplo
matic body then in London, those only of France and
Venice took part in tbe procession. First came twelve
French knights in surcoats of blue velvet, with sleeves of
yellow silk, their horses trapped in blue, with white crosses
powdered on the hangings. The French Ambassador rode
beside the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seemed more
gratified with the scene before him than did the Church
dignitaries who were in his train. His reception from the
populace was chilling— unpopular as he ever was with the

* Saturday, 31st of May, 1533.

Triumph of Anna Boleyn. 263
masses. The Lord Mayor of London (Sir Stephen Peacock),
the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk,* the Knights of the
Garter, and several nobles, knights, and esquires, were in
the procession; the bishops and abbots, with mitres glittering
with diamonds, and gorgeous robes, were an object of
attraction; the barons were attired in crimson velvet, riding
two-and-two ; trumpeters preceded each order of nobility.
After the cavalcade came a number of musicians. Then
" high-born and courtly dames and maidens," seated in
chariots led by grooms in crimson velvet, embroidered with
gold, and a select number of knights-attendant on the
faire ladyes. First came the chariot in which was seated
the grandmother of Anna Boleyn, the venerable Duchess of
Norfolk, as proud and haughty as she had been forty years
previous. The Duchess was dressed in crimson velvet, with
a long mantle furred with ermine, her silver hair gathered
up under a coif, from which hung down a veil of black taffeta.
Her Grace looked on the scene before her like one who had
been well acquainted with Court pageants, and knew how to
estimate the acclamations of the populace at what they were
worth. In the spring of life the Duchess of Norfolk was
attached to the Court of Edward IV.; was the early
friend of Elizabeth Woodevylle, and her daughter ; of un
fortunate Anne of Warwick; had known Richard III.,
and danced with him. She was married in the reign of
Henry VIL, and was acquainted in her time with all the
great and notable persons of four reigns. Little did she.
imagine on the day of this procession that she would live

* Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, the former patroness and friend of Anna
Boleyn, was on her death-bed this day.

264 Triumph of Anna Boleyn.
to see the judicial murders and slaughter which so soon
followed, even amongst her own family. In the same
chariot with the Duchess of Norfolk sat Cecilia, Dowager
Marchioness of Dorset, whose delicate features and affable
manner formed her a contrast to the proud Duchess. This
lady was the widow of Elizabeth Woodevylle's son, by her
first marriage. The handsome and lively stepmother of Anna
Boleyn, the Countess of Wiltshire, and her daughter-in-law,
once known as Jane Parker, were objects of interest.
These ladies were dressed in white velvet, blazing with
jewels; the appearance of Lady Rochfort excited the uni
versal admiration of the people. Her whole bearing was
that of a bright dazzling woman of beauty, which was well
suited to win the hearts of an excited multitude, who went
to behold something of a tournament procession. The
haughty deportment and ill-concealed boldness of Lady
Rochfort passed for dignity with the uureflecting and super
ficial judges of human nature, who sometimes mistake the
blaze for heat. The ill-fated Katherine Howard was also
in the Royal train. The lady- attendants upon the Queen
came in the next chariot, dressed in white velvet richly
spangled, and with uncovered heads and loose tresses.
The most noticeable in this lovely group was Jane
Seymour, then in the spring of life. Thomas Wyatt, who
was present, describes her on this bright May-Day as " the
most lovely of all the Court ladies ; a glorious creature,
with sweet and beaming eyes, whose looks and smiles re
sembled those of an angel." How mistaken.
A discharge of cannon from the Tower and a renewed
flourish of trumpets announced "the observed of all
observers" — Queen Anna. Her Highness was seated in

Triumph of Anna Boleyn. 265
a white chariot, drawn by four palfreys with housings of
white damask and tails which swept the ground ; a golden
canopy borne above the vehicle "making music with its
sweet silver bells." "The Queen," says a contemporary,
" smiled like an angel. She was dressed in white tissue
robes, her rich black hair flowing loosely over her shoulders,
her temples circled with a coronet of gold and diamonds.
She looked the loveliest of beings at this exciting moment."
The giddy and unreflecting crowds revelled in a wild
enthusiasm ; the past seemed to have been forgotten. Was
there no recollection of Campeggio's procession, and the
" virtuous indignation" for the wrongs of the royal Castilian
lady who was at that moment in a distant village of
England, broken-hearted and weary of life? Honour,
chivalry, virtue — every noble and holy principle — seemed
forgotten on that memorable 31st of May.
In Fenchurch Street the Queen was met by a vast body
of children, dressed in fantastic costumes, who gave her a
welcome. Many quaint exhibitions were presented to her
notice. Lutes, harps, ballads, and singing were all in the
Queen's praise. In Leadenhall Street appeared " a little
mountain," which was hung with red and white roses. A
gold ring was placed on the summit, on which, as Queen
Anna approached, a white falcon was made to " descend as
out of the sky," and then came down an angel with sweet
melody, and set a close crown of gold upon the falcon's
head. And in the same pageant " sat St. Anne, with her
issue beneath her," and Mary Cleophas with her four
children, one of whom made an oration to the Queen on
the merits of St. Anne. " This was a very interesting
scene," writes Thorndale. The Corporation of London

266 Triumph of Anna Boleyn.
were profuse in hospitality to the crowds ; tables were laid
along the streets, covered with meats, bread, and ale ; the
conduits ran wine all day long; the 'prentices and com
mon people, who knew little of the merits of the rival
Queens, made merrie; but the women of the middle and
lower classes evinced more reserve, for they had good reason
to remember the humane Queen Katharine, to whom the
humblest of her sex could approach.
The public welcome to the new Queen was very grand ;
but there was "something absent here and there." The
church bells rang forth merrie peals ; but the great body of
the clergy, the monks, and the nuns, were absent. The bishops
were there, it would appear, to make " a final wreck of
their own character ;" and in the sight of whatever honesty
or virtue remained in the land, the prelates, with the grand
exception of John Fisher, must have appeared unpopular.
Sir Thomas More and Dr. Fisher were, as might have
been expected, absent from the coronation procession. The
wives and daughters of the venal nobles, knights, and
esquires assembled in large numbers to offer their welcome
and homage to the rising sun ; and, as it has been well
styled, to a Queen Consort who was about to be crowned
in St. Edward's chair under circumstances the most unpre
cedented in the history of England's Sovereignty.
The King was not present at this pageant, having
declared that his " darling was to be the undisputed object
of homage and love for that day."*
On the following day (Whit-Sunday, June lst), the

* The above order of procession has been summarised from the quaint
chronicles and State Papers of the period.

' Triumph of Anna Boleyn. 267

Queen was crowned in Westminster Abbey, with all the
solemnity and splendour usual to those times. The bishops,
the abbots, the monks, the secular and regular clergy were
there, but it was evident that the whole affair was compul
sory.* At eight of the clock, the Queen, amidst a flourish
of trumpets, entered the Abbey, the Duchess of Norfolk
holding her train ; and, in episcopal vesture, Bonner and
Gardyner, as Bishops of London and Winchester, were " on
either side of her Highness, bearing up the lappets of her
robe." She was arrayed in a dress of purple velvet, with
a wreath of diamonds circling her brows, her hair falling
loosely on her shoulders. She looked more thoughtful than
the day previous, and several times raised a crucifix to her
lips, and seemed absorbed in meditation. At " a certain
stage of the ceremonies her Highness was led to the high
altar, where Dr. Cranmer, as Archbishop of Canterbury, in
magnificent vestments, celebrated the Mass of the Holy
Ghost." Thomas Cranmer knew how to appear solemn
and grand, and even saintly, on such occasions. The Queen
received Holy Communion from the Archbishop. He sub
sequently anointed her as Queen of England. The Mass
concluded, her " Highness prostrated herself on her face,
and divers silver bells were rung ; the monks and abbots
repeated a solemn prayer, and the Archbishop of Canterbury
pronounced the benediction." The discharge of cannon,
and the flourish of trumpets from without, announced to
the multitude that the rival of the virtuous Spanish
Princess, who had been a wife and a Queen for twenty
years without reproach, had now been crowned in St.
Edward's chair.

Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vii. ; Queens of England, vol. ii.

268 Triumph of Anna Boleyn.
When Henry thought proper to make jubilee to celebrate
the realisation of his whims, however questionable, he was
supported, as I have already remarked, by the nobles and
many of the time-serving bishops and seculars ; but the
regular clergy were the virtuous exceptions on those occasions,
and were therefore marked out by the Court party for
extinction at the first suitable opportunity. The monks and
friars who were present at Anna's coronation were only there
at the command of Dr. Cranmer; Bishop Fisher and Sir
Thomas More refused to countenance the honours done to
Queen Anna. Crumwell informed them that " they deeply
offended the King by their absence." " I have only done
my duty," says Fisher. " My opinions are unchanged ; and
I still consider the Lady Katharine as our Queen ; and in
decency, therefore, I should not be present." Such were
More's words to Lord Crumwell.
A Flemish noble, who was then in England, states that
" all parties made themselves anxious to serve their new
Queen, who had a smile and a kind word for all who
approached her."
The foreign visitor relates that the " happy days" did not
last long. In the words of Anna's confidential lady friend,
" the King and Queen did not live happily together ; neither
party had confidence in the fidelity of the other, and bitter
words were used by the King to her whom he had so recently
styled ' his darling and angel ;' the Queen sometimes dined
and sat alone for hours ; her conscience was uneasy ; she
was far from being happy." Elizabeth Brooks, another
personal friend, heard the Queen repeat the words —
" The Tower, the Tower, how many brave . and innocent
people died there!" At the mention of the Tower she was

Triumph of Anna Boleyn. 269

always in a tremulous state, and had an evident dread of
some: future troubles.
Mr. Froude does not like the bearing of the new Queen
in her novel circumstances. In his reference to this occasion,
he depicts the " present" nature of Anna Boleyn — a nature
ignoring the past and future in the ecstasy of the instant.
" She was conducted,'' writes Mr. Froude, " to the high
altar and anointed Queen of England ; she received from
the hands of Cranmer, fresh come in haste from Dunstable
with the last word of his sentence against Katharine
scarcely silent upon his lip, the golden sceptre and St.
Edward's crown. Did any tinge of remorse, any pang of
painful recollection, pierce at that moment the incense of
glory which she was inhaling ? Did any vision flit across
her of a sad mourning figure which once had stood where
she was standing, now desolate, neglected, sinking into the
twilight of a life cut short by sorrow ? Who can tell ?
At such a time that figure would have weighed heavily upon
a noble mind, and a wise mind would have been taught by
the thought of it, that, although life be fleeting as a dream,
it is long enough to experience strange vicissitudes of fortune.
But Anna Boleyn was not noble, and was not wise — too
probably she felt nothing but the delicious, all-absorbing,
all-intoxicating present, and, if that plain suffering face pre
sented itself to her memory at all, we may fear it was
rather as a foil to her own surpassing loveliness."

*
2 70 The Rupture with the Court of Rome.

CHAPTER XXV.
THE RUPTURE WITH THE COURT OF ROME.
Archbishop Cranmer's judgment brought to an issue the
long-expected rupture with the Court of Rome.* In a few
months the College of Cardinals decided that " no fraud
was practised on Pope Julian ; that the solemn affirmation
made to the Pontiff by the Ladye Katharine of Arragon
that no canon law impediments " stood in the way of her
second marriage, was accepted as truthful; and that no
evidence was produced to contradict the solemn declaration
of the said Ladye Katharine, Princess of Spain, and for
many years since Queen of England." Out of two-and-
twenty cardinals, nineteen decided for the validity of the
marriage between Henry and Katharine, and three were in
favour of " further delay." , The Pontiff did not expect this
decisive majority, and was compelled to pronounce judg
ment in thirty-one days.f This was one of the last public
actions of Pope Clement, who died in a few months subse
quently. The unpleasant task of excommunicating the
King of England and Archbishop Cranmer was performed
by the new Pope, Paul, who desired to follow the cautious and
conciliatory policy of his predecessor ; but the time for conci-

* Several curious matters in connexion with the divorce of Katharine have
lately come to light from the valuable collection of historical documents pub
lished by M. Theimer, from the archives of the Vatican, and which fully con
firm all that has been gathered at different times from the Simancas MSS
+ Le Grand, vol. i. ; Lingard, vol. v. pp. 18, 19.

The Rupture with the Court of Rome. 271
liation had passed away. When the news reached England
that the Pope had excommunicated the King, the excitement
was immense. The eyes of all Europe were fixed on the
English monarch. Henry paused for awhile, as if-he felt him
self standing on the verge of an awful precipice. A bitter
struggle took place between the recollection of early associa
tions and human pride ; but the presence of such prelates
as Cranmer, Gardyner, and Tunstal gave renewed courage
to the Royal theologian. The bishops, with two exceptions,
were on the side of the Crown. The Bishop of Durham
(Dr. Tunstal) " denied the right of the Pope to interfere
in the internal affairs of the English Church." The bishops
declared they would remove the interdict. The secular
clergy and Convocation took the same view of the question.
The religious orders were firmly attached to the Pope as the
head of the Christian Church, The conflict in England was
coming to a climax. Bishop Fisher now stood in the front
rank of the few faithful shepherds that remained. No
Court smiles, no royal favours, no frowns, no threats, from
the King or Lord Crumwell could move him from the path
of duty. He was true to the monarchy and true to the
Church. The oath of supremacy was again tendered to the
clergy ; the vast majority of the seculars accepted the oath
with some "mental reservation;" others rejected it, and
were at once " marked men" — such was the term used by
an English lawyer of the time. The monks and friars
bravely protested against the King's spiritual headship.
Many of the abbots followed the bad example of the bishops,
and subscribed to the new oath tendered to them by the
King's Council. We are assured, on the authority of
Bishop Godwin, Thorndale, and Collier, that only three of

272 The Rupture with the Court of Rome.
the abbots had " courage enough to maintain the Christian
principles, and run the last extremity." These heroic clerics
were the Abbots of Colchester, Reading, and Glastonbury.
They died nobly in vindication of their principles. Godwin
describes them " as men whom neither bribery, the presence
of the scaffold, or death in any form, could induce to abandon
their religion." Every day the excitement became greater.
At last the die was cast ; the sword was drawn ; the King
and the Parliament of England, aided by the bishops and a
very large body of the clergy, broke off the spiritual
allegiance which the country had given to Rome for nearly
one thousand years. Let the reader, however, bear in mind
that at this time none of the principles of the Reformation
were introduced into England, for the contending parties
seemed to be equally hostile to the doctrines of Luther.
Hume admits that the Church in England was decidedly
adverse to the Reformation at this time (1536-7).*
In 1536 the Convocation were again doing the work of
the Reformers, whom they so often condemned. They
issued a manifesto, which shows the servile spirit by which
they were governed. The Convocation stated " that they
intended not to do or speak anything which might be
unpleasant to the King, whom they acknowledge their Supreme
Head, and whose commands they were resolved to obey ;
renouncing the Pope's usurped authority with all his laws
and inventions, now extinguished and abolished ,• and addict
ing themselves to Almighty God, and His laws, and unto
the King, and the laws made within this realm. "f
At the last moment Bishop Tunstal took some exceptions
* Hume's History of England, vol. iii. p. 211.
T Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 119.

The Rupture with the Court of Rome. 273
to the Supremacy Act. " If the clause," he said, " meant
nothing more than that the King was head in temporals,
why, he asked, did it not say so ? If the law meant that
he was ' head in spirituals,' it was contrary to the well-
known doctrines of the Catholic Church ; and he called on
the Convocation to witness his dissent from it, and to order
the entry of his protest amongst the acts of the Convoca
tion."* The King's prodigality first induced him to seize
upon the monastic property ; then his hostility to the Pope
caused him to aspire to the spiritual headship, and in both
schemes he was aided by dishonest and time-serving clerics
and laics, without whose assistance Henry could never have
entered upon his career of wickedness.
In the year 1534 a large number of clerics, holding high
positions, abandoned fealty to the Church, and subscribed a
document declaring that the Pope had no spiritual jurisdic
tion in England. The Bishop of Chichester, in opening the
conference in the case of Lambert (1538), spoke in a very
exulting tone of the King " having thrown off the usurpa
tions of the Bishop of Rome."t The great majority —
nearly all — of the bishops signed this remarkable declara
tion on the part of the English Church. J
Here is a statement, the outcome of unparalleled
research amongst State Papers, foreign and domestic, of an
eminent divine of the " present established Church of

* Wilkins, vul. iii. p. 745; Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. v.
t Godwin's Annals ; Thorndale's Memorials; Hume's History of En-land
(folio), vol. iii. p 229.
* A copy of this " clerical protest against tbe Pope" is to be seen in the
Cotton. Lib. ; and it is supposed that the " Originals" are somewhere in the
dusty archives ofthe Exchequer.
VOL. I. T

274 The Rupture with the Court of Rome.
England." Dr. Brewer writes : " The Papacy was not
only the highest, but it was the oldest monarchy of Europe.
Compared with it all other royal and imperial offices of
power and majesty were of a recent development : no small
consideration at a time when aristocracy and long descent
were so highly valued  It was fenced round with
traditions mounting up to Heaven. It had been the great
and chosen instrument of God for propagating and pre
serving the law, the faith, and the love of Christ among
ignorant and unsophisticated nations — a prophet among
babes, an apostle among barbarians. It had been the chief,
at one time the sole, depository of wisdom, art, law, litera
ture, and science to uninstructed and admiring men.
Whether St. Peter founded or not a primacy at Rome might
be a question of interest and importance to the disputants
of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries : it was of no
importance whatever to men before the Reformation.
Circumstances quite independent of St. Peter — deeds which
tbe Middle Ages could understand ; services of the highest
nature rendered to mankind, the silent and even the
obtrusive attestation of spiritual truths, of spiritual order
and authority rising above the confusion and the janglings
of this world — these and similar influences were the true
causes of the primacy of St. Peter. For these, kings and
emperors felt themselves constrained to bow down before
the representative of a heavenly authority, and grovel for
reconciliation and forgiveness at his footstool. To be at
amity with the Pope, to be dignified with some distinction
as his champion or assistant in the Faith, was an honour
coveted beyond all others. It was the more highly
esteemed because it was extended to a very few. To be

The Rupture with the Court of Rome. 275
one of so select a circle was to hold a higher rank in the
comity of nations. To stand aloof, to be excluded, was to
forfeit a distinction which kings and their subjects coveted
and appreciated. Looking at the whole career of Henry
Tudor, considering his education, the potency of long
custom, his own character, his subtle influence pervading
the very atmosphere of the time, it would be unnatural to
suppose that he now intended to break entirely with Rome,
and stand alone in his defiance of the Pope's authority. It
is unlikely that he would have braved the good opinion of
Christendom had he not been betrayed into a position from
which escape was impossible." The learned Professor
hesitates to state by whom Henry VIII. had been
" betrayed." All the memorials and proofs of the time
indicate Thomas Cranmer as that " betrayer."
Dr. Brewer's long study of the State Papers of Henry's
reign makes him a valuable witness in replying to an
assertion of Mr. Froude, almost unexampled for its igno
rance of the social history of the time, concerning the
lower type of working people purchasing and reading "with
enthusiam" Tyndale's Bible. Mr. Froude has been un
necessarily, yet very justly, contradicted by several writers
upon this subject ; but in this case I prefer the simple
statement of a learned gentleman who has spent a large
portion of his bfe amongst the State Records of the reign of
Henry VIIL, and whose high sense of integrity and
honour is beyond all suspicion.
" To imagine," observes the Rev. Dr. Brewer, " that
ploughmen and shepherds in the country read the New
Testament in English by stealth under hedges, or that
smiths and carpenters in town pored over its pages in the
t 2

276 The Rupture with the Court of Rome.

corners of their workshops, is to mistake the character and
acquirements of the age. So far as the doctrine and the
study of the Bible are concerned, the Reformation belongs
to a later period. It did not commence with the lower
classes or the laity, but with a certain class of the clergy
and the Universities.* .... There is no reason to suppose
that the nation, as a body, was discontented with the older
religion. Facts point to the opposite conclusion. Had it
been so, Mary, whose attachment to the faith of her
mother was well known, would never have been permitted
to mount the throne, or have found her ascent to it com
paratively easy, seeing that the Reformers under. Edward VI.
had been permitted to have tlieir own way . unchecked,
and to displace from honour and influence all who opposed
their religious principles."
Far down into the reign of Elizabeth — according to the
testimony of Sir W. Cecil at the time of. the .Spanish
Armada — the olden faith still nunibered three-fourths of
the population of England. The experiment would have
been hazardous to the promoters of the "new learning"
at any time, if, from the death of Henry VIII. down
to the Spanish Armada, a plebiscite could have been
impartially taken of the religious feelings of the people.
The people's attachment to the olden faith, and the
difficulty everywhere experienced by the Government and
the bishops in weaning the clergy and their flocks from
their pristine convictions, formed sufficient proof of its
cherished and widespread stability. And, considering
the temper of the English people, it is by no means.. pro-
* Brewer's State Papers, vol. iv. (Introduction).

The Rupture with the Court of Rome. 277
bable that immorality could have existed among the
ancient clergy to the degree which the exaggeration of
prejudiced preachers, reckless historians, and atrabilious
satirists would lead the unread masses to suppose. The
existence of such an evil condition of morals is not
verified by authentic documents, or by any impartial and
broad estimate of the character and conduct of the nation
before the Reformation. There is nothing more difficult
than for contemporaries to form from their own limited
experience a just estimate of the morality of the times in
which they live; and if the complaints of preachers and
moralists are to be accepted as authoritative on this head,
there would be no difficulty in producing abundant evidence
from the Reformers themselves, that the crimes and abuses
of their own age, under Edward VI. and Elizabeth, were
far greater than in the ages preceding.
How changed, how fallen from his grand position,, had
become Henry Tudor in the year of grace 1533 ! " No
knight-errant who had struck down a magician or a
powerful giant regarded his feat with more satisfaction than
did Henry regard his championship as the Head of the
Latin Church."* That championship, the more valuable
because the emanation of natural and unbiased conviction,
had won for him the gratitude of the illustrious Leo X.,
who then filled the chair of St. Peter, and the admiration
of Christendom. Still far more, it gained for him the
title of " Defender of the Faith"— a title which he had not
the grace to surrender even when he had forfeited the privi
leges of all faith, and ignored the last attributes of a Christian.
* Brewer's State Papers, vol. iv.

278 The Rupture with the Court of Rome.
The subsequent movements of the "Pilgrims of Grace,"
and later insurrections, prove that the overwhelming body
of the English nation still adhered to the old Latin creed
introduced in the far bygone by the missionaries from Rome.
The horrors of the putrid dungeon, the lash, the reeking
scaffold, and the hideous gibbet, did not affright the honest
and true hearts of Devonshire and other counties, until under
Somerset's Government the inhabitants were decimated;
the fertile fields of the West laid desolate, the towns and
villages pillaged and fired by ruthless German mercenaries ;
whilst the trees groaned with pendent bodies, and over the
wasted country roamed the widows and orphans of those
who perished in that dismal commotion.*

* State Papers of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.'s reign. " State of the
Realm ;" "Condytion of People in the Countrie Parts;" HaU's Chronicle;
Burnet, Lord Herbert, Rapin, Carte, Turner, Lingard, Blunt, Hook, and
Froude.

Birth of Elizabeth. 279

CHAPTER XXVI.
BIRTH OF ELIZABETH.
If the result of Henry's second nuptials did not " meet his
humour," it unquestionably created as marvellous effects as
the birth of monarch has ever wrought in the annals of
these realms. Hall, a contemporary, announces the advent
of the royal infant in these terms : " On the 7th day of
September, being Sunday, between three and four of the
clock in the afternoon, the Queen was delivered of a faire
ladye, on which day the Duke of Norfolk came home to the
christening." May it have been in satiric keeping with the
caprice of Henry, tbat the historic " Chamber of the
Virgins" had been used for the Queen's lying-in? Anna
Boleyn had long and fondly hoped for an heir to suit
Henry's wishes; but, with the apt readiness of maternal
and conjugal science, she made the best of a mutual dis
appointment. " They may now," said she, " with reason
call this room the ' Chamber of Virgins,' for a virgin is now
born in it on the vigil of that auspicious day on which the
Church commemorates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary." Strange as it may seem, the supremely Protestant
Haywood, referring to the fortuitous circumstance of date,
honoured the olden accepted Catholic sentiment so far as
to intimate that as Elizabeth was born under the especial
patronage of the Blessed Virgin, from the hour of her
birth she " for that cause devoted herself to a maiden life."

280 Birth of Elizabeth.
" The Lady Elizabeth," he says, " was born on the eve of
the Virgin's Nativity, and died on the eve of the Virgin's
Annunciation. Even that she is now in heaven with all
those blessed virgins that have oil in their lamps."
The ceremonies attendant on the christening of Elizabeth
were most imposing, the decorations resplendent, the
rejoicings wide-spread. The officiating prelate was Cuthbert
Tonstal, Bishop of Durham, who was also one of the god
fathers. The chronicles of the day ran riot in their fervour
of description; but the pens of loyalty the most abject
may be excused by the unwonted splendour of those
festivities. The eye, however, inevitably reverts from that
moment of grandeur to the scenes of later years, and scans
the fate of those who took part in that marvellous jubilation.
Archbishop Cranmer upon this occasion pronounced a
solemn benediction upon Queen Anna and the infant
Princess. The new Queen, perhaps, felt that epoch as the
happiest of her life ; but those who knew the all-pervading
caprice of the then proud father, had already foreseen the
day of rue and downfall.*
Meanwhile, in her rural retreat, delivered over to the
memories of a royal state, to which she had but imparted
the halo of her queenly attributes, rested Queen Katharine,
to whom the husband of her youth and love now thought
proper to pay the cruel compliment of informing her of the
passing events of his great breach of marital faith.
I may here remark that the multiplicity of characters
who enacted parts at this time compels great brevity with
reference to the least noted ; and so the reader learns that
* Queens of England, vol. ii.

Birth of Elizabeth. 281

the " Maid of Kent" was executed in 1534. The charges
against this lady were of a peculiar phase of treason.
She was occasionally labouring under delusions, and was
not accountable for her actions. At Tyburn she con
fessed that "wild hallucinations had taken possession of
her mind. She was only a simple woman, whose ignorance
might be an apology for her conduct. Just before
death, she said : " I now cry God and the King's High
ness most heartily for mercy, and desire you all good
people to pray to the Almighty to have mercy on me,
and on all those who are to suffer with me." At the
conclusion of her address, little Elizabeth Barton — for
. such was her name — was handed over to the headsma'n,
and met death bravely.* Then followed five friars, who
accepted the prophecy of Elizabeth Barton respecting the
" future fate of the King." The priests ascended the
scaffold singing hymns. Within forty minutes they had
all ceased to exist ; and then commenced the barbarous
process of quartering. Many of the most notable in the
land believed in the prophecy of the "Maid of Kent,"
Bishop Fisher, Lady Salisbury, and even the Princess Mary
being amongst the number.

* Hall's Chronicle, p. 814 ; Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIII. ; Godwin,
pp. 53, 54 ; Confession of Elizabeth Barton, MS. in the Record Office ; Lin
gard, vol. v. p. 27 ; Froude, vol. ii. p. 164 ; Queens of England, vol. ii. ;
Records of Executions in Henry's reign.

282 The Carthtisian Fathers.

CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CARTHUSIAN FATHERS.
I now approach the history of those Christian martyrs
known as the Carthusian Fathers. A recent essayist,
designated as of " Broad Church views," has described the
monasteries in the provinces as " comparatively virtuous,"
whilst the members of those near London were " lazy and
prdfligate." This allegation does not correspond even with
the prepared returns of Dr. London and Maister Layton to
Lord Crumwell. It may as well be seen what are the
mature opinions on the character of one of the most
important monastic houses in London, given by Mr. Froude
— that ofthe Carthusians : "In general the house was perhaps
the best ordered in England. The hospitality was well sus
tained, the charities were profuse, and whatever we may
think of the intellect which could busy itself with fancies
seemingly so childish, the monks were true to their vows,
and true to their duty as far as they comprehended what
duty meant. Among many good, the prior John Haughton
was the best. He was of an old English family, and had
been educated at Cambridge, where he must have been the
contemporary of Latimer. At the age of twenty-eight he
took the vows of a monk, and had been twenty years a
Carthusian at the opening of the troubles of the Reforma
tion. He is described as small in stature, in figure graceful,
in countenance dignified. In manner he was most modest ;

The Carthusian Fathers. 283

in eloquence most sweet ; in chastity without a stain. We
may readily imagine his appearance, with that feminine
austerity of expression which has been well said belongs so
peculiarly to the features of the mediseval ecclesiastics.
Such was the society of the monks of the Charter House,
who, in an era too late for their continuance, and guilty of
being unable to read the signs of the times, were summoned
to wage an unequal battle with the world."*
Men immured in monasteries, and only bending their
mind to the purposes of good, may not fairly be found fault
with for not being able to read the " signs of the times"
out of doors, .as traced by the felon hands of licentious
monarchs and their wicked instruments. In reading Mr.
Froude's pages one is almost led to the belief that it is the
work of many hands, so inconsistent with itself is that
history. The Carthusians had made themselves specially
obnoxious to Henry and Anna Boleyn in the divorce con
troversy, by justly espousing the cause of Queen Katharine.
They incurred, of course, the enmity of Anna's family and
those who acted with them ; and both the concealed and
avowed Reformers, who could ill brook the high reputation
nhich the Carthusians held, rejoiced at the fact that they
"crossed the King in his inclination." Such men as
London and Laytonf were glad that the outspoken honesty
of the Carthusians had placed them within the range of
danger; Lord Crumwell and his followers coveted their
property ; Cranmer, Poynet, Bale, and Coverdale were
deadly enemies, whilst their malice was carefully concealed.

* Froude, vol. li. p. 346.
t The principal members of the Monastic Commission. Of these men the
reader will find a detailed revelation towards the close of this volume.

284 The Carthusian Fathers.
Cranmer could not understand their high sense of principle ;
Coverdale's aversion arose from an envy of their blameless
character ; and Poynet, in his revels with Dr. London,
scoffed at their humility and questioned their chastity — a
virtue which the grossness of his nature could but little
comprehend. Such was a portion of the elements united
in 1535 for the immolation of the Carthusian Fathers of the
Charter House. More and Fisher lay in the Tower, awaiting
their doom. The oath of Supremacy was now about to be
tendered to the clergy, and a large number of the seculars,
and many of the regulars, being terror-stricken, accepted
it. The Bishop of Durham declaimed from the pulpit
against the Pope's spiritual authority ;* and Dr. Kyte,
Bishop of Carlisle, used unbecoming language as to the Pontiff.
This prelate was a particular favourite of the King.f
Every day the clergy and laity acted more subserviently
towards the Crown. " The King's ministers had all taken
the oath ;" and " why," said Sir Thomas Audley, " should
the good Fathers of the Charter House refuse to do as all
honest men did?" J The Royal Commissioners appeared at
the Charter House to give notice to the Prior and his
brethren that the oath of Supremacy should be taken by
" every loyal subject and pious Christian."§ It was a nice
thing to ascertain, or define, what was a " pious Christian,"

* Several of Dr. Tunstal's Sermons against the Pope are still extant. Upon
the accession of Queen Mary, and especially of her sister, Tunstal recanted
the opinions he had expressed against the Papal See in the reign of Henry. His
private character has never been impeached.
f In the History of Two Queens, vol. iv., Dr. Kyte appears in a very un
pleasant light in relation to "his friend," King Henry.
X Sir Thomas Audley's Letter to the Prior.
§ State Papers of Henry's reign (Domestic).

The Carthusian Fathers. 285

according to the teaching of such men as Audley and
Crumwell. The Prior of the Charter House replied to the
Commissioners most respectfully. He said " he knew nothing
of the matters mentioned : he was unacquainted with the
world without ; his office was to minister to God, and to
save poor souls from Satan." His explanation was rejected,
and he was committed to the Tower for one month. At the
suggestion of Dr. Bonner, the Prior agreed to take the oath
with " certain reservations." He was discharged from
custody on these conditions. Returning to the Charter House
he assembled his brethren, and told them the promise he
had made to Lord Crumwell. He was dissatisfied with what
he did : it looked like deceit ; he wished to save the
Carthusians from being dispersed ; but above all he hoped
to preserve the principles and vows by which they were so
long bound together. They apprehended the future, but
none of them could imagine that the hour of catastrophe
was so near. The Commissioners came again, with the
Lord Mayor of London, to tender the oath. It was rejected ;
imprisonment and torture were menaced; and, as it was
known that Lord Crumwell was " terrible in his wrath,"
the community gave way.
Maurice Chauncy, one of the few who subsequently escaped
his brethren's doom, describes what occurred. " We all
swore," he says, " as we were required, making one con
dition, that we submitted only so far as it was lawful for
us so to do. Thus, like Jonah, we were delivered from
the belly of this monster, this immanis ceta, and began
again to rejoice like him under the shadow of the gourd of
our own houses. But it is better to trust in the Lord
than in princes, in whom is no salvation ; God had pre-

286 The Carthusian Fathers.
pared a worm* that smote our gourd and made it to
perish." In a short time the Carthusians received notice that
their acceptance of the oath in the " form and feeling"
they adopted it, was an evasion of a legal obligation. As
the friends of Queen Katharine they would now bear the
full weight of Anna Boleyn's resentment; her influence
was all-powerful at the period, and she exercised it for the
disgrace or the destruction of those who had crossed the
path of her ambition. The Carthusian Fathers, therefore,
were placed under the ban of treason, and their enemies
became doubly vigilant. Every day brought them fresh
troubles, and the Prior considered their case hopeless.
One morning, having summoned all the monks before him,
he addressed them as follows : —
" ' Brothers, very sorry am I, and my heart is heavy, especially
for you, my younger friends, of whom I see so many around me.
Here you are living ia your innocence. The yoke will not be laid
on your necks, nor the rod of persecution, but if you are taken
hence, and mingle among the Gentiles, you may learn the works of
them, and having begun in the spirit you may be consumed in the
flesh. And there may be others among us whose hearts are still
infirm. If these mix again with the world, I fear how it may be
with them ; and what shall I say, and what shall I do, if I cannot
save those whom God has trusted to my charge ?' "
" Then all who were present burst into tears, and cried with one
voice, ' Let us die together in our integrity, and heaven and earth
shall witness for us how unjustly we are cut off.' "
" The Prior answered sadly : ' Would, indeed, that it might be
so : that so dying we might live, as living we die ; but they will
not do to us so great a kindness, nor to themselves so great an
* By the phrase ' ' worm" is meant the Supremacy Act, with high treason as
its penalty.

The Carthusian Fathers. 287
injury. Many of you are of noble blood, and what I think they
will do is this. Me and the elder brethren they will kill, and they
will dismiss you that are young into a world which is not for you.
If, therefore, it depend on me alone — if my oath will suffice for the
House, I will throw myself for your sakes on the mercy of God. I
will make myself anathema; and, to preserve you from these
dangers, I will consent to the King's will. If, however, they have
determined otherwise — if they choose to have the consent of us
all — the will of God be done. If one death will not avail, we will
all die — die together for God's truth and eternal glory.' "
Maurice Chauncy continues his narrative : " So then,
bidding us prepare for the worst, that the Lord when He
knocketh might find us ready, he desired us to choose
each our confessor, and to confess our sins one to another,
giving us power to grant each other absolution."
Mr. Froude remarks upon this scene : " Thus, with
an unobtrusive nobleness, did these poor men prepare
themselves for their end. I will not regret their cause ;
yet there is no cause for which any man can more nobly
suffer than to witness that it is better for him to die than
to speak words which he does not mean. Nor in this, their
hour of trial, were they left without higher comfort."*
The Carthusians received a further respite until the fate
of other clerics was decided. Lord Crumwell's vengeance
could no longer be delayed. Webster, Lawrence, and
Hampton, the friars of the Carthusian Houses, had been
summoned before the Council ; they were " still obstinate and
wicked in their opinions," and were committed to the
Fleet ; Reynolds, a learned monk of Sion, was also arrested.
These four clerics, men of learning and great personal worth,

* Froude, vol. ii. p. 351.

288 The Carthusian Fathers.
were brought on the 26th of April (1535) before the Privy
Council, of which Lord Crumwell was the leading spirit.
The Oath of Supremacy was again tendered to them, but
they respectfully declined taking it. Three days later they
were placed at the *bar before a special commission, and
indicted for high treason. They pleaded not guilty, con
tending that the statute itself was unlawful. What they
" had spoken in the Tower and before the Privy Council"
was adduced in evidence against them. One of the judges
asked Haughton, the Prior, " not to show so little wisdom
as to maintain his own opinion against the consent of the
King." Haughton replied, that " he had originally resolved
to imitate the example of his Divine Master before Herod,
and be silent." " But," he continued, " since you urge
me, that I may satisfy my own conscience and the con
sciences of those who are present, I will say that if our
opinion of the Supremacy Act might go by the suffrage of
men, it should have more witnesses than yours. You can
produce, on your side, but the Parliament of a single
kingdom ; I, on mine, have the whole Christian world except
this kingdom. Nor have you all even of your own people.
The lesser part is with you. The majority, who seem to be
With you do but dissemble to gain favour with the King, or
for fear they should lose their honours and their dignities."
Lord Crumwell inquired of whpm the Prior was speaking ?
Haughton replied : " Of all the good men in the realm ;
and when his Highness the King knoweth the real truth, I
know he will be beyond measure offended with those of his
bishops and priests who have given this advice."
"Why," remarked another of the judges, "have you,
Maister Prior, contrary. to the King's authority within the

The Carthusian Fathers. 289
realm, persuaded so many persons as you have done to
disobey the King and the Parliament ?"
" I have declared my opinion," replied Haughton, " to
no man living but to those who came to me in confession,
which, in discharge of my conscience, I would not refuse.
But if I did not declare it then, I will declare it now,
because I am thereto obliged to God."*
Haughton and his companions at the bar would not seek
mercy at the cost of what they felt to be a great religious
principle. About this time Crumwell had recourse to the most
detestable schemes to procure evidence against ecclesiastics
as to their opinions on the Supremacy question ; but the
most infamous of all the plans he devised was that of sending
persons of abandoned character to confession to " certain
priests," and " there and then" asking the confessor's
opinion on the Supremacy law ; declaring that they had
conscientious scruples against it. These persons elicited
the secret opinion of the confessor, and a few hours subse
quently placed a statement, based upon information obtained
by their sacrilege, in the hands of Lord Crumwell. This
device led to the arrest and imprisonment of many
priests, of whose special records there is now no accurate
statement ; but amongst the State Papers are to be seen
the declarations said to be " confessions" made by informers
in Crumwell's interest. Priests who were timid, or perhaps
dishonest, or of a worldly disposition, took the Supremacy
Oath publicly, and in " confession and otherwise" gave an
opposite opinion. This was unhappily the case with many
* Strype's Memorials, vol. i. p. 305 ; State Trials of Henry's reign.
VOL. I. TJ

290 The Carthusian Fathers.
of the secular clergy, who afterwards joined the " new
learning" party. Such conduct, however, is not to be
wondered at, for the terror of Lord Crumwell s fearful
vengeance seemed to have affrighted all classes of society,
lay and clerical. A priest in a " doubtful state of con
science," had, in 1534, an interview with Archbishop
Cranmer on the Supremacy statute. " I told," he says,
" the Archbishop I would pray for the Pope as the Chief
and Papal Head of Christ's Church. And his Grace
of Canterbury told me it was the King's pleasure that
I should not do so. 1 said unto him I would do
it ; and though I did it not openly, yet would I do it
secretly. And then the Archbishop said I might pray for
him secretly, but in any wise do it not openly."*
Mr. Froude doubts the accuracy of the above statement.
He thinks it is " coloured ;" and adds — " It is characteristic
of the mild, tender-hearted man who desired to glide round
difficulties, rather than scale and conquer them."t
But was not this advice of the " tender-hearted" Arch
bishop something like misprision of treason on the part of
his conscience to his God ?
To return to the Carthusian Fathers. The Fathers were
again consigned to the Tower, and on the following day
their case was submitted to a jury, for the accused were
indulged with the semblance of legality — a grim and cruel
farce. Five of them were charged with high treason ;
the evidence was of the usual character. Feron and Hale
threw themselves on the mercy of the Court. The jury

* Rolls House MSS. " concerning a Popish priest."
t Note on vol. ii. in Froude's History of England, p. 319.

The Carthusian Fathers. 291

hesitated for some time, but, it is said, on receiving a visit
from Crumwell they agreed to return a verdict of guilty
against four of the prisoners.*
Ferqn was acquitted. Father Hale and the Carthusians
" were not permitted to die together." Haughton replied
to the judge that his sentence was merely the judgment of
the world. They all appeared happy, and rejoiced, they
said, that they had an opportunity of dying for the Catholic
faith. Five days subsequently Haughton and the other
Fathers were executed at Tyburn in their "habits." A
chronicler of the times says : " Such a scene as hanging
priests in their ' habits' was never before known to
Englishmen." Haughton had the privilege of first ascend
ing the scaffold, when he addressed the populace as
follows : —
" My good people, I call to witness Almighty God, and all true
Christians, and I beseech you all here present to bear witness for me
at the Day of Judgment that, being here to die, I declare that it is
from no obstinate rebellious pretext that I do not obey the King,
but because I fear to offend the Majesty of God. Our Holy
Mother the Church has decreed otherwise than the King and his
Parliament have decreed ; and, therefore, rather than disobey the
Church I am ready to suffer. Pray for me, and have mercy on my
brethren, of whom I have been the unworthy Prior."
Kneeling down, he repeated aloud the fifty-first Psalm,
* II has been stated that, in this particular case, Crumwell did not " visit
the jury." It is easier to deny than to prove ; but the weight of allegation at
least, and the unwonted hesitation of the jury, go far in evidence of the " visita
tion." It is an undoubted fact, that Crumwell, in the beginning, treated with
juries, and even menaced them with death : but as he gained experience, he
adopted the readiest mode of having juries chosen who could " make a quick
return without any compunctious hesitation." The example has not since been
lost, and the practice extended to Ireland, where, during long years, juries were
compelled to find verdicts at the command of the Viceroys.
u 2

292 The Carthusian Fathers.

then making the sign of the cross with great devotion, he
informed the executioners that he was ready for them.
The remainder of the proceedings were brief. He was
"thrown off" amidst a thrill of horror. His brethren
followed on the same death-road, reciting a hymn, un
daunted and firm in appearance. They died in a manner
worthy of the martyrs of antiquity. " The faces of these
men," writes Mr. Froude> " did not grow pale, their voices
did not choke ; they declared themselves liege subjects of
the King, and obedient children of Holy Church, giving
thanks that they were held worthy to suffer for the truth."
All died without a murmur. The stern work was ended
with quartering the bodies, and the arm of Haughton was
hung up as a dismal sign over the archway of the Charter
House, to awe the remaining brethren into submission.
But the spirit of the old martyrs was in those young friars.
One of them, like the Theban sister, bore away the
honoured relic and buried it, and all of them resolved to
persist in their opposition.
After that sad and deadly sign, "another warning" was
sent to the Charter House, but of no avail. In six weeks
three more of the Fathers went through the form of a
trial. Hall alleges that they " behaved sulky and insolent to
Crumwell." Their unbending virtue would seem so to Hall.
As a body they were educated, well-bred men, and, in the
words of Haughton, " many of them of noble families."
Hall, whose servile adulation of Henry was conspicuous
even in that reign of slaves and terrorism, consulted his
own stupendous notions of obedience to kingly caprice in
describing facts, which, to judge from other statements
made by hira, would have been more justly presented if

The Carthusian Fathers. 293
left to his unbiased judgment and natural sense of justice.
But the more accurate description of the scene was that
they became indifferent to the deceptive formalities of the
trial, and proclaimed their adhesion to all the tenets of the
olden creed, denouncing the King as a " spiritual impostor."
These words sealed their doom, but they cared not; they
rejoiced in having an opportunity of dying for " God's
eternal truth." The jury, prompt at their task, pronounced
them guilty of high treason, and in a few days they were
hanged, drawn, and quartered. Some few of the brethren
fled to France, and others to Ireland; but the greater
number remained in the Priory to await their doom. Lord
Crumwell was well aware of the stainless reputation of this
community ; indeed, they were so far above reproach that
Dr. London and his spies did not attempt to impeach them.
Some persons who were in Crumwell's service promised to
procure evidence of " laziness and immorality" against six
of the Fathers. Crumwell replied that he "would not
hear the accusation, that it was false— wilfully so."*
Cranmer, at the eleventh hour, relented as to the Car
thusians, and sent his secretary to remonstrate with them ;
but it did not suit his sense of justice to go further-
perhaps he dared not do so.
Crumwell and the King again hesitated. Did they fear
public opinion? Not likely. Two secular priests— mere
creatures of Crumwell — were sent to take charge of what
remained of the Charter House community ; and ChauncV
states that those priests " starved and ill-treated himself
and his companions." Their friends and relatives were

* Cobham's Account of the Trials of the Carthusians, 1538.

294 The Carthusian Fathers.
sent to them "to advise and remonstrate on their con
duct ;" they were " coaxed and threatened" alternately,
but with no effect. Four of them were brought to West
minster Abbey to hear one of the Court prelates preaching
a sermon against the Pope. They " still continued obsti
nate." A number of them were then dispersed amongst
other communities, with pliant Secular priests as guardians.*
The Seculars could not change the Carthusians. The sup
posed worldly aspirations of the young, and the talent and
ambition of maturer age, were in turn tempted by seduc
tive promises of a future career, but with no effect ; gold
could not purchase even the semblance of au agreement to
the King's views of religion ; nor the scaffold, with its
reeking horrors of strangling, decapitation, and quartering,
brought no fear — none whatever. In the words of Mr.
Froude, "nothing answered." Two of the brotherhood
who escaped joined the Pilgrims of Grace ; a reward was
offered for their heads' — they were taken prisoners, and
without further ceremony hanged in chains near the city
of York. They died bravely, exciting the pity and admira
tion of the people.
The whole of the Charter House Fathers were now cut
off from their house and property. Crumwell laid his
hands upon all they possessed ; even family memorials, which
many of them wished to preserve, were carried away;
shame, decency, every element of honest or delicate feeling,
were ignored on this occasion, and the indignation of the
people was intense. The Carthusians were honoured and
loved by persons of all opinions. The tragic history of
the Charter House, however, does not end here. The

* Thorndale's Memorials ; Letters of Father Latchett on the Carthusians.

The Carthusian Fathers. 295

ten remaining Fathers were sent to the then hideous
dungeons of Newgate, where nine of them died from a
prison fever, produced by bad air, bad food, and disease.
The survivor of the ten was hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Maurice Chauncy, whose chronicle relates their sad story,
escaped to France. His narrative is borne out by many
of the records and State Papers of the time ; and its truth
is reluctantly admitted by hostile historians.
An official, named Bedyll, announced to Lord Crumwell
the death of the nine Carthusians in Newgate in these
words : " By the hand of God, my very good Lord, after
my most hearty commendations, it shall please your lordship
to understand that the monks of the Charter House, here
in London, who were committed to Newgate for their
traitorous behaviour long time continued against the King's
Grace, be almost now despatched by the hand of the Almighty
God himself, as may appear to you "by this bill enclosed ;
whereof considering their behaviour and the whole matter, I
am not sorry, but would that all such as love not the King's
Highness, and his worldly honour, were in a like case."*
Did Maister Bedyll believe in what he wrote? The
conduct of Bedyll, whilst attached to Dr. London's " roving
commission" amongst the convents, was atrocious. He was
quickly superseded by his friend Lord Crumwell, for his
conduct at Shaftesbury convent, to a lady of the ancient
house of Fortescue — a name long honoured in Devonshire.
Very few of the monastic establishments of England
suffered a more signal injustice than the Charter House;
but the benevolent community were spared the witnessing
of its results. The Royal Commissioners did their work
* State Papers, and despatches to Lord Crumweil.

296 The Carthusian Fathers.
thoroughly; and whilst seizing the property which the
Carthusian Fathers held in trust for the poor, they cleared
off the trustees by the gibbet, the rack, and the dungeon.
Such was one hideous phase of an epoch, when the passions
of a cruel monarch, abetted by unscrupulously wicked and
servile subordinates, overruled all the ordinances of law,
order, and justice.*
Andrew Borde, who sometimes in Latin calls himself
Perforatus, was a native of Sussex. He was educated at
Oxford, and subsequently joined the Carthusian order at the
Charter House. When the majority of the Carthusian
Fathers perished on the scaffold, or in the King's dungeons,
Father Borde, like Chauncy, escaped by a mere accident.
He travelled in France, Spain, Italy, and other parts
of the Continent. He settled down at Montpellier, where
he applied himself to the study of medicine, and became
" a regular doctor, with a licence to practise at the same
profession." On his return to England he was " incorporated
at Oxford, and also in the College of Physicians of London;"
and became an eminent practitioner. Anthony Wood has
chronicled a favourable character of this learned and
eccentric cleric. " For a considerable time," writes Wood,
" he had no fixed abode ; for a few months he remained with
his relatives in Pensey, who were persons of rank and
wealth, and no doubt furnished him with money. He

* The above narrative is in part extracted from Maurice Chauncy 's account
of the sufferings of his brethren. It was written in Latin, and printed in
France, about 1550, with the lives of More and Fisher, in a work entitled,
" Historia Martyrum Anglise ;" by Ritus Dulken, Prior of Mount St. Michael,
near Metz. In after years this work was printed in English, and " dressed up "
for the London book market by Burnet, Speed, Strype, and many later writers.

The Carthusian Fathers. 297
was most cordially received in respectable society on account
of his agreeable manners and conversational powers ; his
knowledge as a scholar was very extensive. He took up
his residence at Winchester — a place long known as the
haunt of learned men, and witty women, with charming
manners. Notwithstanding his rambling life and secular
occupations, he constantly practised the essential duties of
the Catholic religion. Three days a week he drank nothing
but water, and partook of bread as food ; he wore a hair
shirt at certain penitential times ; every night his shroud
was hung up at the foot of his bed, to place him in
remembrance of his last end, and the great hereafter that
was sure to follow. He was not only a strict observer of
his vows of chastity, but wrote warnings against those priests
and monks who had openly broken their pledges concerning
celibacy and chastity." This course of action created for
him a bitter enemy in the person of Dr. Poynet, the new
Bishop of Winchester, who would not countenance any
priest until he was first wifed. Borde's position in
Winchester was that of a layman, more than a cleric.
John Bale was also numbered amongst his enemies. Bale
made the vilest charges against this good man. It is likely,
howeyer, that few paid attention to the accusations of a
being like Bale. The "priest-doctor's" bfe was made
miserable. At last he was .arrested, brought to London,
and confined in the Fleet, where he died in 1549.* Father
Borde was the most eminent medical practitioner in
Hampshire, or the surrounding counties. He was beloved
by the people of Winchester. There was much humour

Anthony Wood, Oxon. ; Thorndale's Memorials ; Pomeroy.

298 The Carthusian Fathers.
both in his writings and conversation. He was the author
of several interesting works, now almost unknown. In
1542, Father Borde published a book upon " Fashions,"
and " Old Coins." Carlo Logario states that Borde had
written a book upon his travels, and the strange folks with
whom he became acquainted ; but the manuscript was
accidentally consumed by fire in Winchester. Logario
speaks in kindly terms of the goodness of Father Borde.
I cannot close the tragic story of the martyrs of the
Charter House without recurring again to Maurice Chauncy.
He was a native of Ireland, born within a few miles of the
picturesque bay of Carlingford. It is stated in an old book
I once met with, that Chauncy was a native of Suffolk.
Mr. Froude " does not believe he was an Englishman ; "
" he suspects he was born in Ireland." I have adopted the
statement of a Dominican friend, who felt a particular delight
in the history of the Carthusians. It may be asked —
" What would induce Irish priests or nuns to visit England
in those days? In the course of my research, ranging
over five-and-twenty years, I find that in the reign of
Henry VIL, and long antecedent to that period, many
priests and nuns from Ireland joined the English abbeys .
and convents ; and the nuns who made the bravest resist
ance to Lord Crumwell were Irish ladies, who courted
martyrdom on several occasions. Dean Leyton in a letter
to Crumwell states " that if the nuns were all Irishwomen
it would be impossible to put them down."* Two of
Chauncy's sisters were nuns in the convent of Shaftesbury,
and made a courageous resistance to Dr. Leyton and his
* Thorndale heard something similar from Leyton's own lips.

The Carthusian Fathers. 299
inquisitors. Father Chauncy continued a zealous advocate
of the doctrines of the Latin Church to the close of his
long life. In his history of the Carthusians of the
Charter House, he laments not having stopped and awaited
the martyrdom of his brethren. He excited the particular
hatred of Lord Crumwell and his Royal master. Thomas
Wyatt was informed by his patron Crumwell that the King
charged him specially to " hang Chauncy the moment he
was caught." It seems Father Chauncy, after the
fashion of Peto, denounced the King and Queen at Paul's
Cross; and passed a fervid eulogium upon Queen
Katharine, which was in itself considered an insult to
Queen Anna. Dodd describes Maurice Chauncy as " a
man of primitive zeal, and much esteemed by the English
residents on the Continent." Archibald Graham, a Scotch
Puritan, states that he would do a kind office for a Protestant
as soon as for one of his own creed, provided the person
was worthy of being aided." Jacob Alloar, a Prussian
Lutheran cleric, speaks in the highest terms of " the kind
and Christian feeling which .marked the intercourse of
Maurice Chauncy with those of opposing creeds." The
high-minded Anthony Wood pays an honest tribute to the
memory of this last survivor of the Charter House slaughter.
" It is not denied," writes Wood, " by any intelligent and
moderate Protestant, but that the name of Maurice
Chauncy is worthy of being kept in everlasting remem
brance." Upon the accession of Queen Mary, Chauncy's
community — few in number — returned to England for a short
period. In 1575 Chauncy again visited London in the guise
of a Flemish physician, when he discovered that nearly all
his former friends were either dead or immured in dungeons.

300 The Carthusian Fathers.
Dr. Chauncy, the kinsman of the expatriated Carthusian,
states that he accompanied him in a walk round West
minster Abbey, and amidst the ruins of the Carthusian
houses. On approaching those sacred wrecks, " he was
seized with a melancholy; clasping his hands and casting
his eyes downwards, he spake not a word for some time.
He then hastened from the spot, shedding many big tears."
He next visited the grave of Bishop Fisher at Barking.
Kneeling beside the last resting-place of the martyred
prelate, he begged to be alone. Here he remained in
meditation for awhile. On the following day he left for
Antwerp. "I never saw my good uncle again," adds the
narrator. I have been indebted for an account of Maurice
Chauncy's visit to London to an Irish gentlemen long
resident at Bruges, who possessed some MSS. — documents
once the property of Father Chauncy's nephew, who
followed the profession of a surgeon in London, but
subsequently became involved in some of the plots, or
alleged plots, against Queen Elizabeth, and escaped to the
Continent. He died at Antwerp at a good old age, rich
and happy, with three learned sons devoted to the service
of the Latin Church, and his daughter a distinguished
Abbess of a Spanish convent. Father Chauncy ended his
eventful life at Bruges, in July, 1581.* - He must have
been beyond eighty years of age at the time of his death.

* MS. Records of the Carthusians; Diary of Douai College; Athen.
Oxon. ; Dodd, vol. i. p. 527. '

The Bishop of Rochester.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.
The last survivor of Henry VII.'s Council, and the prelate
whom his mother recommended as a learned, wise, and
virtuous man, to become the preceptor of her grandson, was
the next person marked out for Royal vengeance.
John Fisher was born in the reign of Henry VI., in
the town of Beverley, where his family had been located
for centuries. He studied in Cambridge under Father
Melton, a learned and pious divine. In 1491 he was
ordained priest, at which period (says Bayley) "the almond-
tree began to bud ; all the arts and sciences were but his
tools, but this his occupation." In Cambridge his learning,
humility, and piety won for him the esteem and love of
"fellows, masters, and students;" and there he remained
until the University's highest honours were conferred, or
rather imposed upon him. The " good Margaret, Countess
of Richmond," aided by the solicitations of her son (Henry
VIL), induced him to become confessor and almoner to that
benevolent lady. In this office Father Fisher gained the
deserved respect of the Countess and the Royal Family, who
were " for years governed by his wisdom and discretion."
He constantly recommended to his wealthy penitent the
practice of charity in some amiable form — such as the relief
of persons of education who met with trials in life; to
succour orphans, especially females; to redeem captives; to

302 The Bishop of Rochester.
promote the marriage of poor and virtuous maidens, giving to
each of them a small dowry; to induce men to marry those
women whom they had dishonoured;, to repair bridges, that
the poorer people might go to market; to look after the
widow and the orphan; to reconcile village quarrels ; to induce
husbands and wives to love one another, and set a good
example to their children.* These were the maxims which
John Fisher inculcated upon his Royal penitent — injunctions
which her grandson obeyed in the hopeful morning of his
life. Cambridge in those days was in obscurity when compared
to Oxford. The rise and progress of Cambridge are, per
haps, to be attributed, in part at least, to the residence
thereat of Erasmus, and the munificence of his patron, Dr.
Fisher. Dean Hook writes in fervent terms of the learning
and the virtues which characterised the good Bishop of
Rochester. I cannot omit the following passage: "To Dr.
Fisher's transcendent virtues and noble qualities, justice,
through the party spirit of Puritanism, has never been done.
Fisher appointed Erasmus to the chair of the Margaret Pro
fessor ; and so great was his zeal in the cultivation of Greek
literature that in his old age he desired to place himself
under Erasmus as a student of that language. With the
generous assistance of the King's grandmother, he did more
than any other man in England to promote the cause of
learning; and so wise and judicious were his measures that
students in both the great Universities are at the present
hour receiving food and raiment from funds which his Royal

* Phillips to Collet, " on the good works of Maister Fisher ;" Henry Deane,
Archbishop of Canterbury, on the "goodly life of Dr. Fisher."

The Bishop of Rochester. 303
mistress placed at his disposal. Such was the man whom
Puritans generally loved to defame, because he would not
fall down with the costly sacrifice of an upright conscience
before King Henry."*
In 1504, Dr. Fisher was appointed to the See of Rochester
by Henry VIL, which appointment was confirmed by Pope
Julius II. He was at that time in his forty-fifth year. A
contemporary has remarked that " few priests or bishops
ever went so much among the people, or preached so many
sermons to them, as good Maister Fisher." The cause of
his promotion, it was alleged, arose from the interest he
possessed at Court ; but this allegation was contradicted by
the King, who declared that the " pure devotion, perfect
sanctity, and great learning which he had observed in the
man, was the cause which had induced him to recommend
the name of Maister Fisher to the Pope."t The numerous
friends of the new prelate had much difficulty in inducing
him to accept the mitre ; but when consecrated, he brought
all the energy of his vigorous mind and honest heart to pro
mote the interests of religion. " The humblest and frailest
had access to him, receiving relief, words of comfort, and
hope." Nearly two hundred, persons were fed daily at his
expense ; and the men of learning and science from foreign
lands received a hospitable reception at his palace. The
cause of his want of appreciation amongst ungracious Puri
tans may be found in the fact, that when Luther's writings

* Dean Hook's "Archbishop of Canterbury," vol. vi. p. 429.
+ The King's letter (in Latin) to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Farland
states that King Henry could not write a letter in Latin, and that it was com
posed by his Italian Latin Secretary. Very likely, but of little importance to
posterity.

304 The Bishop of Rochester.
were imported into England he denounced them in " vigor
ous language, and stood forth boldly for the maintenance
of the olden creed in all its integrity," which won for him the
secret hatred of worldly ecclesiastics and evil laity, of whom
there were many in those days ; but neither the efforts of
the venal laity, nor the subservient spiritual Convocation,
could influence his opinion as to what he styled the "coming
storm." A later synod having been convoked to " take into con
sideration certain Church reforms," Dr. Fisher addressed
the Cardinal of York and the assembled prelates in these
words : —
" May it not seem displeasing to your Eminence, and
the rest of these grave and reverend Fathers of the Church*
that I speak a few words, which I hope may not be out of
season. I had thought that when so many learned men,
as substitutes for the clergy, had been drawn into this body,
that some good matters should have been propounded for
the benefit and good of the Church, that the scandals that
lie so heavy upon her men, and the disease which takes
such hold on these advantages, might have been hereby at
once removed, and also remedied. Who hath made any the
least proposition against the ambition of those men whose
pride is so offensive, while their profession is humility ? or
against the incontinency of such as have vowed chastity ?
How are the goods of the Church wasted ? The lands, the
tithes, and other oblations of the devout ancestors of the
people, wasted in superfluous riotous expenses ? How can
we expect our flocks to fly the pomps and vanities of this
wicked world, when we that are bishops set our minds on
nothing more than that which we forbid ? If we should

The Bishop of Rochester. 305
teach according to our duty, how absurdly would our
doctrines sound in the ears of those who should hear us ?
And if we teach one thing, and do another, who believeth
our report ? which would seem to them no otherwise than
as if we should throw down with one hand what we build
with the other? We preach humility, sobriety, contempt
of the world, and the people perceive in the same men that
preach this doctrine, pride and haughtiness of mind, excess
in apparel, and a resignation of ourselves to all worldly
pomps and vanities. And what is this otherwise than to
set the people in a stand, whether they shall follow the
sight of their own eyes, or the belief of what they hear ?
Excuse me, reverend Fathers, seeing herein I blame no man
more than I do myself, for sundry times, when I have settled
myself to the care of my flock, to visit my diocese, to govern
my Church, to answer the enemies of Christ, suddenly there
hath come a message to me from the Court, that I must
attend such a triumph, or receive such an ambassador. What
have we to do with princes' Courts ? If we are in love with
Majesty, is there one of greater excellence than Him whom
we serve? If we are in love with stately buildings, are
their roofs higher than our Cathedrals ? If with apparel,
is there a greater ornament than that of the priesthood ? Or
is there better company than a communion with the saints ?
Truly, most reverend Fathers, what this vanity in temporal
things may work in you, I know not; but sure I am that,
in myself, I find it to be a great impediment to devotion ;
wherefore, I think it necessary, that we, who are the heads
sbould begin to give example to the inferior clergy as to those
particulars whereby we may all be the better comformable
to the image of God in this trade of life which we now lead;
VOL. I. x ,

306 The Bishop of Rochester.

neither can there be likelihood of perpetuity or safety to
the clergy as we remain at present."*
Dr. Fisher concluded by giving a solemn warning as to the
assumption of " spiritual headship" by the King. " Beware,"
said he, " that you leap not out of Peter's ship to be drowned
in the waves of all heresies, sects, schisms, and divisions.
' Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock wherein
the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule the Church
of God,' was not said to Kings, but to bishops. We cannot
grant this unto the King, without renouncing our unity
with the See of Rome. In doing this we should forsake
the first four General Councils. We should thereby renounce
all canonical and ecclesiastical laws of the Church of Christ.
We renounce thereby the unity of the Christian world.
The first General Council acknowledged the authority of
Sylvester, Bishop of Rome, by sending their decrees to be
ratified by him. The Council of Constantinople did acknow
ledge Pope Damasus to be their chief, by admitting him to
give sentence against the heretics Macedonius and Sabellius.
The Council of Ephesus admitted Pope Celestine to be their
chief judge, by admitting his condemnation on the heretic
Nestorius. The Council of Chalcedon admitted Pope Leo
to be their chief head ; and all General Councils of the
world admitted the Pope of Rome to be the supreme head
of the Church. And now, Fathers, shall we acknowledge
another head ? — or one head to be in England, and another
in Rome ? By this argument, Herod must have been the
head of the Church of the Jews ; Nero must have been the
head of the Church of Christ. The King's Highness is

Bayley's Life of Fisher (Black Letter) .

The Bishop of Rochester. 307

not susceptible of this donation. Ozias, for meddling with
the priest's office, was thrust out of the Temple, and smitten
with leprosy. King David, when bringing home the ark of
God, did he so much as touch the ark or execute the least
priestly function ? All good Christian emperors have ever
refused ecclesiastical authority. At the first General
Council of Nice, certain bills were previously brought unto
Constantine to be confirmed by his authority ; but he
ordered them to be burnt, saying, ' God hath ordained you
priests, and given you power to judge over us.' Valentine,
the good Emperor, was required by the bishops to be
present with them to reform the heresy of the Arians. He
answered : ' As I am one of the lay people, it is not lawful
for me to define such controversies ; but let the priests, to
whom God hath given charge thereof, assemble when they
will in due order.' Theodosius, writing to the Council of
Ephesus, saith ' it is not lawful for him that is not of the
holy order of bishops to intermeddle with ecclesiastical
matters.' And now, venerable Fathers, shall we cause our
King to be head of the Church, when all good Kings have
abhorred the very last thought thereof, and so many wicked
Kings have been plagued for so doing ? Truly, my lords,
I think they are his best friends who dissuade him from it ;
and he would be the worst enemy to himself if he should
obtain it. Lastly, if this thing be, farewell to all unity of
Christendom. For, as that holy and blessed martyr, St.
Cyprian, saith, all unity depends upon that Holy See as
upon the authority of St. Peter's successors ; for, saith the
same holy Father, all heresies, sects, and schisms have no
other rise but this, that men will not be obedient to the
chief bishop. And now for us to shake off our communion
x 2

308 The Bishop of Rochester.

with that Church, either we must grant the Church of
Rome to be the Church of God, or else a malignant Church.
If you answer she is of God, and a Church where Christ is
truly taught, and His sacraments right administered, how
can we forsake, how can we fly from such a Church ? Cer
tainly we ought to be with, and not to separate ourselves
from, such a one. If we answer that the Church of Rome is
not of God, but a malignant Church, then it wdl follow
that we, the inhabitants of this land, have not as yet
received the true faith of Christ ; seeing that we have not
received any other Gospel, any other doctrine, any other
sacraments, than what we have received from her, as most
evidently appears by all the ecclesiastical histories. Where
fore, if she be a malignant Church, we have been deceived
all this while. And if to renounce the common Father of
Christendom and all the General Councils, be to forsake the
unity of the Christian world, then the granting of the supre
macy of the Church unto the King is a renouncing of this
unity, a tearing of the seamless coat of Christ in sunder,
a dividing of the mystical body of Christ, His spouse, limb
from limb, and tail to tail, like Samson's foxes,' to set the
field of Christ's holy Church all on fire. And this it is
which we are about. Wherefore let it be said unto you in
time, and not too late, — Look you to that."
Bayley says of this synod : " After Dr. Fisher uttered
these and many other such words to this effect, with such
gravity as well became him, they all seemed to be astonished,
by their silence; and the Lord Cardinal's state did not seem
to become him." The address to the synod was evidently
levelled at the Cardinal of York and one or two wealthy
bishops who were profuse in their style of living.

The Bishop of Rothesler. 309
"Rich priests or rich bishops I look upon as bad men. As
the shepherds of Jesus Christ they cannot indulge them
selves in slothful ease, living on many dainty dishes, and
drinking exciting wines, whilst the sheep and poor little
lambs are wandering about cold and hungry. The shepherd
must be stirring with the lark, watching and seeking out
the stray sheep, and bringing them back to the one true
fold again. A priest must submit to every privation and
hardship ; he must have no family cares ; he must use all
his judgment and temper to bring back the fallen ; he must
execute this holy office by gentle remonstrance ; by never-
ceasing prayer to the Lord Jesus and the Court of Heaven,
and by good example, which has at all times had a power
ful effect on sinners."
Such were the words of Bishop Fisher to the Dean of
Rochester, a few months before he was committed to the
Tower. A man of these views could not have been very
acceptable to the men who favoured and compassed the
" new learning," or were careless in the practice of the
Latin creed.
In Dean Collet's sermon before the Convocation of the
Province of Canterbury, preached by the special desire of
Archbishop Warham, there is a powerful appeal made to
the prelates and clergy to become " less worldly in their
occupations; to preach sermons ; to distribute alms ; to give
good example to the people, and to study no other calling
but the salvation of souls."* Some Catholics have de
nounced Collet as a " heretic," and Anglican writers assert

* A very correct English translation of this discourse appears in Knight's
"Life of Collet," pp. 181-191.

3 io The Bishop of Rochester.
that he was " a hidden Protestant." He was neither ; but
rather an austere man, who wished to see Churchmen living
according to the discipline of primitive Christianity. This
was not altogether possible; still some approach might have
been made to primitive practices, and ordaining no man who
was not possessed of a " calling for the sacred office ;" or,
in the words of Bishop Fisher, who were not " well tested
and purged of worldly motives, by refraining from secular
occupations and the amusements of the laity." Collet was,
therefore, in no favour with the seculars, or those bishops
and abbots who were seeking at Court advantages for them
selves or their families. He " called out in Convocation and
in Synod for a more strict discipline of the clergy ;" for
" constant preaching ; for visiting and instructing the poor,
and reclaiming sinners." He had a high opinion of the
Carthusian Fathers. He never dissented from any Catholic
doctrine, but the reformation at which he aimed was that
of "morals and discipline."
Ambrose Asham (a Franciscan) represents Collet " as a
vain, proud, restless man, who thought himself the most
unblemished shepherd." One of the arguments advanced
for the Protestantism of Collet is that he " did not- make a
Popish will, having left no moneys for Masses for his soul ;
which shows that he did not believe in Purgatory." All
his sermons proved the contrary; and the fact of his
frequent visits to the Carthusians confirms his thorough
Catholicity. In 1529 the statutes for regulating the clergy met with
vigorous opposition from a few of the peers. Fisher spoke,
in indignant terms, of the irreligion and dishonesty of the
Commons. On the measure for "breaking off spiritual

The Bishop of Rochester. 31 1

intercourse" with Rome, Bishop Fisher, in a speech of
great power and vigour denounced the proposition. " Is
his Holy Mother," he said, " the Church, about to be brought
like a bondsmaid into thraldom ? Want of faith is the true
cause of the misfortunes impending over the State."* The
Duke of Norfolk replied in a speech wherein he used some
harsh language towards the aged prelate.. The peer told
the Bishop that the greatest clerks were not always the
wisest men ; to which Fisher replied that he " did not
remember any fools in his time that had proved great
clerks." The Commons, at the instigation of their Speaker,
Audley, expressed great indignation at the Bishop's obser
vations, and sent a deputation, headed by Audley himself,
to the King, to complain of "how grievously they felt them
selves injured by being charged with lack of faith, as if they
had been infidels or heretics." The deputation were con
veniently carrying out the King's policy : his Highness gave
them a flattering reception, blandly sympathised with their
" wounded feelings," and sent for Dr. Fisher to rebuke him
for his " bad discourse." The venerable Bishop appeared
before the King with undaunted mien, but loyal and respect
ful bearing. He said, " that having a seat and a voice in
Parliament, he spoke his mind freely in defence of the
Church which he saw daily injured and oppressed by the
lordly and territorial classes, whose office it was not to judge
of her manners, much less to reform them."f The King
seemed astonished at this bold reply, but knowing the high
integrity of his ancient preceptor, he perhaps secretly ad
mitted his judicious views of Church government. He dis-

* Bayley's Life of Dr. Fisher. t Ibid.

3 1 2 The Bishop of Rochester.
missed the Bishop with these words : " My good lord of
Rochester, use more conciliatory language in future. Harsh
words never mend a quarrel."*
Reginald Pole, who was personally acquainted with Dr.
Fisher, describes his virtues in glowing terms. In " Pro
Ecclesiastical Unitatis Defensione," he says, as to his High
ness the King, " that if an ambassador had to be sent from
earth to Heaven, there could not among all the bishops and
clergy be found so fit a man as John Fisher; for what other
man have you at present, nor for many years past, who can
be compared with him in sanctity, in learning, in zeal, and
careful diligence in the office and various duties of a bishop?
Above all other nations we may justly rejoice in having
such a man ; and if all the parts of Christendom were
searched, there could not be found one man that in all
things did accomplish the parts and the degrees of a bishop
equal to John Fisher." Sir Thomas More also bears testi
mony to Fisher's disinterested zeal in the cause which he
sustained with his words and example.
Dr. Fisher preached a series of sermons against Luther —
one of them at St. Paul's Cross, which was attended " by
Cardinal Wolsey, ten bishops, and five hundred ecclesiastics,
and an immense concourse of people." He also delivered
public lectures on the same subject at Westminster Abbey,
and in many of the metropolitan churches. He was most
energetic in his opposition to the men of the " new learn
ing ;" but that opposition was confined to moral means
alone ; he never persecuted himself, nor recommended others
to do so; yet he has been stigmatised as the "bloudie

Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VHI.

The Bishop of Rochester. 313

bishop." His opposition to the divorce of Katharine of
Arragon evoked the enmity of the King and of Dr. Cran
mer; and before the new form of oath was tendered to him
as a spiritual peer, Cranmer and the King were aware that
he would not accept it. The honour and integrity of the
man were not doubted by any of his enemies; and the King
himself declared to Rich that he "looked upon John Fisher
as the most able man in his kingdom; that his conscientious
character and general honesty could not be doubted ; that
he esteemed and loved him all his life, and would raise bim
to the highest position in his councils, if he only agreed
to take the oath of Supremacy."* Papal and anti-Papal
notables were sent to remonstrate with him on his "obstinate
perseverance against the command of the King." Audley,
Crumwell, Suffolk, and Cranmer argued the question with
him on several occasions; and then came Gardyner, Tunstal,
and Bonner, impressing " loyalty, and menacing the terrors
of the law." To all Fisher was alike indifferent, declaring
that he could not take the oath proposed, " without a vio
lation of a higher and more sacred obligation to his Eternal
Creator." Dr. Fisher in Convocation denounced the seizure of the
smaller monasteries, and in an expressive allegory indicated
the motives, and predicted the result. He told the bishops
and abbots that if they gave permission to the Crown to
destroy the smaller monasteries, it might possibly lead to
the destruction of the larger ones. "An axe," he remarked,
"which wanted a handle, came upon a certain time into the
wood, making his moan to the great trees, that he wanted

State Papers.

3^4 The Bishop of Rochester.
a handle to work withal, and for that cause he was con
strained to sit idle ; therefore he made his request to them,
that they would be pleased to grant him one of their small
saplings within the wood, to make him a handle. But now
becoming a complete axe, he so fell to work within the same
wood, that, in process of time, there were neither great nor
small trees to be found in the place where the wood lately
stood. Now, my lords, if you grant the King these smaller
monasteries, you do but make him a handle whereby, at his
own pleasure, he may cut down all the cedars within your
Lebanon."* The agents of the King in Convocation denounced Fisher's
allegory as " seditious and presumptuous language." But
it proved true.
The advice of Crumwell and Cranmer was now acted
upon, and the King, laying aside all hesitation, confirmed
his dire career of blood and despotism, by summoning before
the Council his aged preceptor. Before leaving Rochester, the
Bishop bade farewell to his palace, his servants and retainers,
and set out for London, accompanied by a vast crowd of
people. One of his quaint biographers describes the scene: —
" Passing through the city of Rocher there were a multi
tude of people gathered together, both citizens and country
men, and women too, and many scores of children, to whom
the goodly Bishop gave his blessing, riding by them all the
while bareheaded ; and the people were all crying and sob
bing, for they knew that he would never return to them
amore, and others in the crowd cursed those that were
persecuting their good old Bishop, who was so long amongst

Bayley's Life of Bishop Fisher, p. 108.

The Bishop of Rochester. 315
them like a father. And as the people thronged round he
had a good word for every man, woman, and child ; and
would have them to pray for his enemies. And then raising
his voice very loud he said warning words to them, to stand
by the old religion of England ; and the people all held up
their hands, and the women and young maidens were sore
affected at the sight, and prayed God to send him back safe;
but, alas ! he never came that road again. And in this way
and manner the holy Bishop did ride on his horse, and
reached London City about the night of the same day."
Upon his arrival at Lambeth Palace, Dr. Fisher went
through a series of captious examinations before Archbishop
Cranmer, Lord Audley, and Crumwell; but he could not be
prevailed upon to accept the new oath of Supremacy. After
each discussion he received so many days " for further con
sideration." But all proved in vain, and he was ultimately
committed to the Tower upon Tuesday, the 20th April, 1533.
When Fisher was committed to the Tower, Lord Crumwell's
agents visited his palace at Rochester, where the usual scene
of confiscation and plunder took place. A monk named
Jacob Lee, who professed the Reformation principles, was
one of the parties who took an inventory of the Bishop's
property, and called the attention of the inquisitors to a
strong iron box, which was concealed in an apartment for
many years, and was supposed to contain some golden trea
sures. Lee, on breaking open the box, exclaimed, — "Gold,
gold, for the Roman Antichrist; down with the Pope."
The box contained a hair shirt and two whips, which were
used by Fisher at certain times in "punishing his own
body." Crumwell expressed regret that the box had been
opened.

316 The Bishop of Rochester.
The gold cup presented to the Bishop by Henry's own
mother, as well as tbe memorials of bis grandmother, the
good Countess of Richmond, were confiscated. Bishop
Fisher's benevolent and interesting will was subsequently
cancelled by the King, upon which Bayley observes : " He
that made void so many men's wills, had his own made void
in every particular." When confined in the Tower, the
King again commanded Gardyner, Tunstal, and Bonner to
remonstrate with Fisher on the " imprudence of his conduct
in questioning the Royal supremacy." Bonner told him that
it looked like treason ; and Gardyner said that pious men
'¦' should be obedient to the powers that be." Tunstal,
taking him by the hand, said, " Beloved brother, do not be
obstinate ; try and please the King, if you can do so
without violating your conscience. The King regards you
much, and we all love you." His reply was : " My very
good friends, and some of you my old acquaintances, I
know you wish me no hurt or harm, but a great deal of
good ; and I do believe that upon the terms you speak of,
I might have the King's favour as much as ever. Where
fore, if you can answer me one question, I will perform all
your desires." " What's that, my lord ?" said several prelates.
" It is this : ' What will it gain a man to win the whole world
and to lose his own soul ?' " Gardyner and Bonner became
silent ; indeed, it would not have been prudent for them to
express any opinion in the presence of the King's spies.
And again Dr. Fisher said : " My lords, it does not grieve
me so much to be urged so sorely in a business of this kind,
as it doth wound me grievously that I should be urged by
you whom it concerns as much as me. Alas ! I do but
defend your cause, whilst you are pleading against your-

The Bishop of Rochester. 3 1 7
selves. It would, indeed, better become us all to stick
together in repelling the violence and injustice which are
daily put upon our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church, where
we have all in common, than to be divided amongst our
selves to help on the mischief. But I see judgment is
begun at the house of God ; and I see no hope, if we fall,
that the rest will stand. You see we are besieged on every
side, and the fort is betrayed by those who should defend
it ; and since we have made no better resistance, we are not
the men that shall see an end of these calamities. Where
fore I pray you, my lords, leave me and my cause to the
Almighty God, in whom alone there is comfort which no
man can deprive me of. You have often told me of the
King's heavy displeasure against me ; I therefore pray you
to remember me to his Highness, and tell him that I had
rather exercise the duty that I owe unto him, by praying
for him, than in pleasing him in the way and manner you
ask me to do."*
Thomas Crumwell, imitating the example of Maister
Rich, visited Fisher in the Tower, in order to discover his
opinions on the Supremacy and other questions. The
Bishop was courteous but unbending at the interview, and
Crumwell would have him to believe that he and Cranmer
held him in high esteem. After " much preliminary
discourse," Crumwell came to the matter of fatal impor
tance to Fisher. " My lord of Rochester," said he, " what
would you say if the Pope should send you a Cardinal's
hat? Would you accept of it?" Bishop Fisher replied,
"Good Maister Crumwell, I know myself to be so far

Bayley's Life of Fisher (Black Letter).

3 1 8 The Bishop of Rochester.
unworthy of any such dignity, that I think not of it. But
if any such thing should happen, assure yourself that I
should turn that favour to the best advantage that I could,
in assisting the Holy Catholic Church of Christ; and in
that respect I would receive it upon my knees." Crumwell
reported this conversation to the King in whatever form
suited his policy or his malice. Henry became indignant
on hearing of Fisher's reply to his minister. " Yea," said
he, " is the old man yet so lusty ? Well, let the Pope send
him a hat when he will. Mother of God, he shall wear it
on his shoulders then, for I will leave him never a head to
set it on."*
Upon Dr. Fisher's arrest his private property was seized,
as had been his public, and his very clothing taken from
him ; without " any consideration for his extreme age, he
was allowed nothing but rags, which scarcely sufficed to
cover his body."t
Many of the evil actions perpetrated against Dr. Fisher,
whilst in the Tower, have been attributed to Crumwell
or Audley ; no one imagined that the King was the
author of the falsehoods intended to "induce his acquies
cence. It is now important to know that King Henry
himself specially instructed Lord Crumwell to send word
to Dr. Fisher that "his friend, Sir Thomas More, had
just agreed to take the oath of Supremacy, and was
about to be released from the Tower." This falsehood
was suggested by Henry to induce the Bishop to abandon
his principles; but John Fisher was not the man to

* Bayley's Life of Fisher.
+ Fisher's Letter ; Fuller's Church History, Book V, p. 203 ; Bume
vol. iii. p. 192.

The Bishop of Rochester. 319
be moved by such reports. He was grieved at the state
ment, and expressed himself surprised to learn that Sir
Thomas More proved to be so weak-mipded, and thought he
would act otherwise. " Perhaps," said Dr. Fisher, " my
poor friend was induced to give way through his natural
tenderness for his numerous family, who are now starving.
But there is no such excuse for me ; no, none whatever. I
am a minister of the Gospel, and am particularly bound to
give good example ; and to stand by ' Peter's ship' to the
death — let death come in what form it may."* When
Henry heard of the failure of his false devices he muttered
curses, and spoke of the headsman.
After one year's imprisonment in the Tower, Fisher was
placed on his trial (June 17, 1534), before Lord Audley and
the High Commissioners, in the Court of King's Bench.
Lord Crumwell and the Duke of Suffolk were among the
Commissioners. Fisher, who was attired in a black gown,
was brought up in the custody of the Lieutenant of the
Tower. He was scarcely able to stand at the bar from
infirmity, old age, and hard treatment in prison.
The charge preferred against him was, that he had
" treacherously attempted to deprive the Kings Highness
of his title, by maliciously speaking the following words :
' The King, our Sovereign Lord, is not Supreme Head on
earth of the Church of England.' " The only witness for
the Crown was Maister Rich, the Solicitor- General, who,
as the reader is aware, visited the Bishop in the Tower, in
a " friendly manner," to " mend the quarrel" between the
King and him. Rich turned a confidential communication

* State Papers ; Sir Richard Rich to Sir Thomas Audley.

3 2 o The Bishop of Rochester.
into evidence, and appeared as a witness for the Crown. In
the history of judicial proceedings, there is perhaps nothing
on record to equal Rich's conduct on this occasion. Dr.
Fisher stood alone, without counsel or friend, agaiust the
Crown lawyers, judges, and commissioners. He spoke of
the manner in which the evidence against him was elicited :
" Maister Rich, I cannot but marvel to hear you come and
bear witness against me of those words. This man, my
lords, came to me from the King, as he said, on a secret
message, with commendations from his Grace, declaring
what good opinion his Highness the King had of me, and
how sorry he was of my trouble, and many more words
not now fit to be recited, as I was not only ashamed to hear
them, but also knew right well that I could in no way
deserve them. At last he broke to me the matter of the
Kiug's Supremacy, telling me that his Highness, for better
satisfaction of his own conscience, had sent him unto me
in this secret manner, to know my full opinion in the
matter, for the great affection he had always for me more
than any other man. When I had heard this message, I
put him in mind of the new Act of Parliament, which,
standing in force as it does, might thereby endanger me
very much, in case I should utter any thing against its pro
visions. To that he (Rich) made answer, ' That the King
willed him to assure me, upon his honour and on the word of
a King, too, that whatever I should say unto him by this
his secret messenger, I should abide no peril for it, although
my words were ever so directly against the statute, seeing
it was only a declaration of my mind secretly as to his own
person.' And the same messenger (Rich) gave me his
solemn promise that he never would mention my words to

The Bishop of Rochester. 32 1
any living soul, save the King's Highness himself. There
fore, my lords, seeing it pleased the King's Highness to
send to me thus secretly to know my poor advice and opi
nion, which I most gladly was, and ever will be, ready to
offer to him when so commanded, methinks it very hard to
allow the same as sufficient testimony against me to prove
me guilty of high treason."*
Dr. Fisher's speech was received with demonstrations of
applause. Almost every one present — save the judicial
lictors — felt horrified at the conduct of Rich, who rose to
reply undismayed or in any way abashed. He said that the
prisoner had fairly stated what occurred between them. He
excused his conduct by affirming in a solemn manner that
he " said or did nothing more than what the King com
manded him to do." And then, as counsel, as well as
witness for the Crown, he argued that, assuming the state
ment to be correct, it was no discharge in law against his
Highness the King for a direct violation of the statute.
Lord Audley and the other judges were of opinion that
this message or promise from the King neither did nor could
by rigour of law discharge the prisoner from the crime;
but in so declaring his mind and conscience against the
Supremacy — yea, though it were at the King's own request
or command — he committed treason by the statute, and
nothing could save him from death but the King's merci
ful pardon.
Dr. Fisher then contended that as the statute only made

* Burnet asserts, in variance with recorded facts, that " no Catholic was
over punished for mertly denying the Royal supremacy in official examinations."
But the communication between Bishop Fisher and Maister Rich was quite
" private." Mr. Froude considers his oracle " mistaken in this matter."
VOL. I. Tf

322 The Bishop of Rochester.
it treason "maliciously" to deny the King's Supremacy,
he could not be guilty by merely expressing an opinion
to the King himself; and that too by his Highness's own
order. Audley replied ih a triumphant tone that "malice did
not mean spite or ill-will in the vulgar sense, but was an
inference of law, for if a man speak against the King's
Supremacy by any manner of means, that speaking is to be
understood and taken in law as malice."
Bishop Fisher raised another important question — namely,
that in high treason accusations the law required two
witnesses ; whilst the Crown produced only one in his
case ; and that one under the most discreditable circum
stances that ever dishonoured a court of justice.* This
puzzling point was quickly overruled by Audley, who replied
that as this was a case in which the King's Highness was
personally concerned the law requiring two witnesses did
not, in his opinion, apply ! He then addressed the jury* for
the Crown in a speech which has been described as a " hteral
perversion of law, equity, and truth." His manner was
gross, insolent, and overbearing.
After a brief time of seeming deliberation, the jury
returned a verdict of guilty, to which the Bishop replied —
"I thank you heartily, Maister Jurymen, for your verdict;
and may the Almighty God forgive you and those at whose
bidding you have outraged truth and justice !"
Lord Audley " assuming a solemn appearance," said : —
" John Fisher, yon shall be led to the place from whence

* Mr. Froude coolly says, "The King's Counsel might have produced other
witnesses had they cared to do so." Of course they could; there was any
amount- of testimony then available, either from fear or avarice.

The Bishop of Rochester. 323
you came, and from thence again shall be drawn through
the city to the place of execution at Tyburn, where your
body shall be hanged by the neck ; half alive you shall be
cut down and thrown to the ground, your bowels to be
taken out of your body before you, being still alive, your
head to be smitten off, and your body to be divided into
four quarters, and afterwards your head and quarters to be
set up wheresoever the King shall appoint. And God have
mercy upon your soul !"*
Dr. Fisher then addressed the Commissioners, protesting
against the injustice of the proceedings against him, and
concluded in these words : — " My lords, I am here con
demned before you of high treason for denial of the King's
Supremacy over the Church of God ; but by what order of
justice I leave to God, who is the searcher both of the
King's conscience and of yours. Nevertheless, I have been
found guilty (as it is termed), and must be contented with
all that God shall send, to whose will I wholly refer and
submit myself. And now I tell you more plainly my
mind concerning this matter of the King's Supremacy. I
think indeed, and I have always thought, and do now lastly
affirm, that his Highness the King cannot justly claim any
such supremacy over the Church of God as he now taketh
upon him. Neither hath it ever been or heard of any
temporal prince before his day aspiring to that dignity.
Wherefore, if the King will now adventure himself in pro
ceeding in this strange and extraordinary case, no doubt
but he shall deeply incur the grievous displeasure of the
Almighty God, to the great damage of his own soul and of

* Bayley's Life of Bishop Fisher, p. 198 ; State Trials of Henry's reign.
v 2

324 The Bishop of Rochester.
many others, and to the utter ruin of this realm committed
to his charge, whereof will ensue some sharp punishment
at the hand of God. I pray God his Highness may re
member himself in time and hearken to good council, for
the preservation of himself and his kingdom and the peace
of all Christendom."*
Amidst a great parade of halbert men, executioners, and
jail attendants in their various liveries, the condemned
prelate was re- conducted to the Tower. The lamentations
of the populace, especially the crowds who came from
Rochester, much affected him. At the Tower gate he
thanked the officials for their attendance. " I thank you,"
he said, "for the labour and pains you have taken with
me this day; I am not able to give you any recompense;
for all has been taken from me, and I am as poor as
Lazarus. Therefore I pray you to accept of the only
thing I can give you — my thanks and good wishes."
Erasmus has left on record a portrait of Dr. Fisher's
appearance as he left Westminster Hall, upon receiving
sentence of death : — " One would think that he was re
turning from some festive scene. His countenance was
radiant with joy ; his step was light and steady ; his whole
manner bespoke an interior gaiety of heart. One could
see that the holy Bishop now felt that his soul was nigh to
that harbour of eternal rest, after which he had so long
yearned." The few days of life now allotted to Dr. Fisher were
chiefly occupied in prayer, Nevertheless, he was cheerful
and pleasant: he asked the cook for his dinner, and the

State Trials.

The Bishop of Rochester. 325

former stated that he had "prepared none that day, because
he had heard it rumoured that his lordship's head had been
chopped off on yonder hill, and therefore he would not want
a dinner." "Well," said the Bishop, "my good cook, you
.see I am still alive, and am very hungry just now; whatever
you hear of me, let me no more lack my dinner, but make
it ready as thou art wont to do, and if thou seest me dead
when thou comest, why then eat it thyself; but if I am
alive I miud, by God's grace, to eat never a bit the less."
" In stature," says Bayley, " Dr. Fisher was tall and
comely, exceeding the middle sort of men ; for he was to the
quantity of six feet in height ; and being very slender and
lean, was nevertheless upright and well formed, straight-
backed, big jaws, and strongly sinewed ; his hair by nature
black, though in his latter days through age and imprison
ment turned to white ; his eyes large and round, neither
full black nor full grey, but of a mixt colour between both,
his forehead smooth and large, his nose of a good and even
proportion ; somewhat wide mouth and big jawed, as one
ordained by nature to utter much speech, wherein was, not
withstanding, a certain comeliness; his skin somewhat tawny,
mixed with many blue veins; his face, hands, &c, all his
body so bare of flesh, as is almost incredible, which came
by the great abstinence and penance he used upon himself
for many years — even from his youth. In speech he was
mild, temperate, and kindly."
Those who approached Dr. Fisher at this juncture, were
struck with his heroic fortitude and piety : he expressed
something kind and endearing to all — even the executioner.
On the morning of his death he asked the Lieutenant of the
Tower " to indulge him with a sleep of two hours longer,"

$ $6 The Bishop of Rochester.
adding, " I have been coughing half the night; I could not
sleep, I am very weak; but, remember, my weakness does
not proceed from fear. Thank God, I have nothing to fear
in meeting death." At seven o'clock he arose, and dressed
with more than ordinary care. "This is our wedding day,"
he observed, " and it behoves us, therefore, to use more
cleanliness in preparing for the marriage table." At nine
of the clock a procession was formed, headed by the Lieu
tenant of the Tower ; the venerable prelate was so weak
that he had to be carried in a chair to the place of execu
tion, to which — as the " King's mercy " had changed the
brutal sentence at Tyburn to decapitation on Tower Hill —
the distance was short. In one hand the Bishop held the
crucifix, in the other a copy of the New Testament. Having
reached the scaffold he seemed to have received renewed
strength. The executioner made his usual address, " beg
ging forgiveness," &c, to which the Bishop replied, "I for
give you very heartily, and I hope you will see me overcome
this storm lustily." When his gown and tippet had been
removed, "he stood in his doublet and hose in the sight of
the multitude; and "they marvelled to see a long, lean, and
slender body, having on it little other substance besides skin
and' bones, insomuch as most part ofthe beholders wondered
to see a bving man so consumed, as he was the image of death
itself; and the people thought it mighty cruel for the King
to put such a man to death, he being so near his end."*
Notwithstanding the death-like appearance of Dr. Fisher,
his mind was still vigorous, and he addressed the populace
in a clear and audible tone. Coming to the front of the
* Bayley's Life of Bishop Fisher ; State Papers.

The Bishop of Rochester. 327
scaffold, he said, " Christian people, I am come hither to
die for the faith of Christ's holy Catholic Church ; and I
thank God hitherto my stomach hath served me very well
thereunto, so that yet I have not feared death. Wherefore,
I desire you all to help and. assist me with your prayers,
that at the very point and instant of death's stroke, 1 may
in that very moment stand steadfast without failing in any
one point of the Catholic faith, free from any fear. And I
beseech the Almighty God of His infinite goodness and
mercy to save the King and this realm, and that it may
please him to hold His hand over it, and send the King's
Highness good council." And then, opening the New
Testament, his eye rested on these words, " This -is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only True God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified
Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest
me to do." Upon this the Bishop closed the book, saying,
" Here is learning enough for me to my life's end."
Having engaged about ten minutes in prayer, he rose
from his knees, and looking towards the East said, " The
sun shines upon the scene about to be enacted." Then,
surveying the vast crowd with compressed lips, he made
the sign of the cross with great solemnity, and surrendered
himself to the executioners ; his eyes were bandaged ; an
awful silence pervaded the multitude; he laid his head
upon the block ; a murmur thrilled amongst the on-lookers,
and the throbbings of their hearts became painful; two
minutes and ten seconds had passed — a signal was given,
and at one blow the executioner severed the head of John
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, from the body. " The popu
lace," writes a spectator, whose words I modernise, " stood

328 The Bishop of Rochester.
horrified ; a hoarse sound of grief and terror arose from
the men, followed by the wild shrieks of the women of
Rochester, domestics, old retainers, pensioners, and friends.
The whole scene was one the like of which England .had
never seen before." Another writer says, "The people
were astonished to see so much blood flowing from so lean
a body." Bayley states that the executioner put the head
in a bag, intending to place it on London Bridge that
night as he was commanded to do ; but the Queen wished
particularly to see the head " before it was spiked ;" that
it was " carried to her," and looking at it some time she
said, "Is this the head that so often exclaimed against me; I
trust it shall never do me more harm." " The Queen,"
writes Bayley, "struck it upon the mouth with the back of
her hand, and hurt one of her fingers by a tooth that stuck
somewhat more out than the rest did, which finger after
wards grew sore, and put her to pain for many days ; and
when cured, the mark of the tooth remained to be seen on the
said finger." Henry Griffin, of Rochester, who was
present at the execution, states that the headsman carried
away the head in a " white bag," but makes no allusion to
this shocking narrative respecting Anna Boleyn.
Margaret Lee relates " that on the morning of Fisher's
execution, the Queen received Holy Communion (the
Lordes Bodye), and expressed herself troubled in mind for
the Bishop." If this statement be correct, I do not think
it possible that there is any foundation for the appalling
story respecting the Bishop's head. At the time Bayley
wrote, the Catholic party had an intense feeling of hatred
to the memory of Anna Boleyn ; the Puritans became her
champions, as she was reported to have been " a staunch

The Bishop of Rochester. 329
Protestant," whilst the Catholics execrated her as a rene
gade ; and, judging of her history from the pages of
Sander, they looked upon her as not only a traitor to
Catholicity, but by birth something that was abominable
and unnatural. Lingard observes that " Catholic writers
were eager to condemn, and the Protestant historians to
immortalise, the memory of Anna Boleyn."* So much
for the introduction of party feeling into the pages of what
is supposed to be honest historical relations of other days.
I have already proved the falsehood of Sander's state
ment respecting Anna's mother, the stainless Elizabeth
Howard. It may appear strange to the Protestants of the
present day, who have faith in Burnet, and those writers who
have adopted his statements, to learn that Anna Boleyn
never abandoned tbe religion of her fathers. She utterly
repudiated and ignored Protestantism. She was, however,
thoroughly deceived by prelates like Archbishop Cranmer,
who, whilst celebrating Mass daily with the most apparent
piety, were, at the same moment, engaged in a gigantic
conspiracy to overthrow the ancient religion of England.
It is difficult to elucidate the truth where deception, fraud,
and perjury have become interwoven, and carried to a
conclusion with a blasphemous courage that invokes the
" Holy Trinity and the High Court of Heaven " to attest
the truth and equity of its proceedings.
It is true that King Henry himself accused the Queen
of being the cause of Sir Thomas More's death ; and the
reader is aware that Wolsey had described her as the
" night crow " who haunted his path and pursued him to

Lingard, vol. v.

330 The Bishop of Rochester.
the death ! Yet these are mere allegations which have
never been proved. Neither Protestant nor Catholic seem
to have understood the peculiar construction of Anna
Boleyn's mind; and the problem is, certainly not clearly
solved even now.
Another revolting spectacle was that of the remains of
the Bishop being flung on a heap of sand by the headsman,
and remaining in that condition guarded by unfeeling
halbertmen until night, when an order came from Lord
Crumwell that the body was to be immediately buried.
Accordingly " two of the watchers took the corpse upon
halberts between them, and so carried it to a neighbouring
churchyard named Barking, where on the north side of
the cemetery, near the wall, they dug a hole with their
halberts, and therein, without any reverence, tumbled the
body of the good prelate. No Christian rites were per
formed. Such was the funeral of the Bishop of Rochester."*
No priest, no friend, no relative was present. It is im-,
possible to defend the clergy and bishops from a large
amount of censure for their conduct at this period. The
prelates were silent ; there was no remonstrance ; no
petition ; no supplication on behalf of their martyred
brother. Dr. Fisher had even to petition Lord Crumwell
to grant him the favour of a confessor, and a few pious
books to read. Surely the Bishop and clergy of London
• could have prevented the outrages heaped on the remains
of the dead prelate at Barking. Crumwell was not
altogether such a monster but they could prevail upon him
to give a suitable, or at least a Christian, burial to the
King's venerable preceptor, a privy councillor of the realm,

Bayley's Life of Dr. Fisher.

The Bishop of Rochester. 331
a bishop, a peer of Parliament, and a man without a
shadow of reproach during his long life. The conduct of
Gardyner, Bonner, and Tunstal in relation to Fisher adds
to the general odium attached to the memory of those
prelates. Who can defend their conduct ? They simply,
and no doubt unconsciously, performed the work of the
Reformers, and it followed that retributive justice haunted
them to the death.
Three days later Dr. Fisher's head was " spiked" on
London Bridge beside the heads of the Carthusian Fathers, who
suffered a short time previously in the same cause. Immense
crowds of people came daily to look at the bishop's head.
Some prayed, and the thoughtless and unreflecting indulged
in execrations against the King and Lord Crumwell. The
public feeling, however, was one of intense indignation ;
the King and his Council were severely censured; the
bridge itself, and every avenue leading to it, was completely
blocked up, and business almost suspended. After fourteen
days Lord Crumwell ordered the head to be thrown into
the Thames.
On the Continent the excitement was great. Charles the
Fifth sent for the English Ambassador, and told him that
Bishop Fisher was " such a man for all purposes, that the
King of England had not the like of him in his realms ;
neither was he to be matched throughout Christen
dom." And then, with much feeling, Imperial Charles
added, "Alas! your royal master hath in killing that
goodly bishop killed at one blow all the bishops in your
England."* Francis the First informed Sir John Wallop,
the English ambassador in Paris, that " his royal master
must have a very hard heart to put to death his ancient
* Sr Thomas Eliot's Despatches to Lord Crumwell.

The Bishop of Rochester.

preceptor, and so good a bishop." " I should," continued
Francis, " feel very proud indeed if such a prelate was a
subject of mine."*
The execution of Dr. Fisher was tbe topic of conversation
in every city and university in Europe ; and there seemed to
have been but one opinion on the subject — namely, that
King Henry " was a monster who dishonoured the name of
monarch." " In all things," writes Bayley, " belonging to the care
and charge of a true bishop, Dr. Fisher was to all the
bishops of England living in his days, the very mirror and
lantern of light." " He pressed, as it were," says Fuller,
" into the other world, and expired in constancy and great
ness." " He was one of the most worthy men of the side
he espoused," says Sharon Turner — a marvellous admission
from such a quarter. The Rev. J. H. Blunt, another high
Anglican authority, observes that " the good bishop's death
was worthy of him and of the Master in whose footsteps he
was humbly travelling, while he felt for a light whose
brightness he did not altogether see on this side of the
grave." Mr. Froude defends the deeds of King Henry and
his Council as essential to the ultimate success of the
Reformation. The learned gentleman favours pantomime
over the closing scene. " Many a spectacle of sorrow,"
he writes, "had been witnessed on that tragic spot, but
never one more sad than this. Let us close our lips, and
not speak of it."f
* Sir John Wallop's Despatches to Lord Crumwell.
+ The authorities cited throughout this narrative are all, with one exception
distinguished Protestant writers. Bayley, the quaint biographer of Dr. Fisher,
was a Catholic clergyman. His real name was Richard Hall, of Cambridge.
He died a Canon of St. Ouen's, in 1604.

The Bishop of Rochester. 333
Again I cannot help repeating the valuable testi
mony given on pp. 302-3 by Dean Hook, in reference
to this venerable evangelist of the good old Christian
Church, and the noble and kindly memories of its
upholders : — " To Bishop Fisher's transcendent virtues
and noble qualities justice, through the party spirit of
Puritanism, has never been done. He it was who
appointed Erasmus to the chair of the Margaret Professor in
Cambridge, and so great was his zeal in the cultivation of
Greek literature, that, in his old age he desired to place
himself under Erasmus as a student of that language.
With the generous assistance of the Lady Margaret * he
did more than any other man in England to promote the
cause of learning; and so wise and so judicious were his
measures, that students in both the great universities are,
at the present hour, receiving food and raiment from funds
which his royal mistress placed at his disposal. Such was
the man whom Puritans generally loved to defame because
he would not fall down with the costly sacrifice of an
upright conscience before King Henry VIII."f
The author of " Two Queens" is more favourable to Dr.
Fisher than Mr. Froude.
" A Yorkshire boy, born in the town of Beverley, though
he went to Cambridge early, had not lost his northern grit
and twang. His tones were rough ; his phrases curt. What
other men hardly dared to hint, Fisher would throw into the
simplest words. He called a lie, a lie ; a knave, a knave ;
not caring who might take offence. This roughness of his

* The reader is aware that "Lady Margaret" was the Countess of Richmond,
King Henry's grandmother. t Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 429.

334 The Bishop of Rochester.
speech combined with his repute for piety and learning,
took the world by storm. A thorough scholar, armed at
every point, he feared no combat, and his nature was
unyielding as a rock. But with this love of combat, he
combined a childlike veneration for the See of Rome 
 Margaret, Countess of Richmond, had named him
first of her professors. Henry, her son, had made him
Bishop of Rochester. After Henry's death, the aged
Countess had placed him near her grandson, by appointing
him one of her executors. His rough and ready talk
amused the King. His High Church views delighted Queen
Katharine. He enjoyed such large favour at the Court,
that had he been more worldly and aspiring, he might well
have thought the Primacy within his reach. But John
Fisher was a priest, and nothing could induce him to become
a privy councillor, and secretary of state."* " He was,"
continues Mr. Hepworth Dixon, "the cloth of his pro
fession." Dr. Fisher's warm sympathy for the poor and unfortunate
was the most remarkable feature in his character. He had
fixed days for visiting the hospitals and prisons of his
diocese ; and on such occasions he distributed alms in pro
portion to the necessities of the poor. He had always
some kind words for prisoners, or outcasts, and by his
sermons to them "turned many wicked people from the
error of their ways." He visited the humblest cottage and
gave spiritual comfort to the sick and dying. In his palace
he dispensed a liberal hospitality. Men of learning from
all nations were at times his guests. No sectarian feeling

History of Two Queens, vol. iii. p. 12,

The Bishop of Rochester. 335
was exercised against the learned Jew or Mahomedan, or
any other Eastern thinker. Poor students were welcome to
his board. The Irish monks were his special favourites,
" they are in earnest in their Christian feeling," was his
remark to the learned John Leland. French and Spanish
friars of learning were also amongst his guests. Three
hundred people were fed daily at his different houses. He
loved the people of Rochester, amongst whom he had lived
for nearly forty years. He seldom went to Court, which
annoyed the King. Erasmus has drawn a genial picture
of his fine social qualities, and the fashion in which Christ
mas was held in Rochester during the many years he ruled
that diocese.
In the early part of Henry's reign, he looked up to Dr.
Fisher as a father. He once told the French ambassador
that he felt assured that no monarch in Christendom could
boast of having in his dominions a prelate so wise ahd so
holy as the Bishop of Rochester. The great dignitaries of
the Latin Church throughput Europe held Dr. Fisher in the
highest esteem. The Council of Lateran having been con
voked, Dr. Fisher was chosen to be the representative of the
University of Cambridge ; but just as he was about to depart
on his honoured mission the arbitrary King " commanded
him to remain in his diocese." The Bishop obeyed the
summons of his former pupil, and remained with the people
whom he regarded with a father's love.
In Dr. Fisher Queen Katharine had a truly noble
advocate. King Henry never forgave him for the speech he
made in the Queen's behalf. He boldly told the monarch
to his face that " the marriage could not be dissolved by any
power, divine or human." "In the maintenance of this

33 6 The Bishop of Rochester.
opinion," continued Dr. Fisher, " / am willing to lay down
my life."* What a contrast with the conduct of Wolsey
and Gardyner on this occasion. Fisher's speech in favour
of Queen Katharine decided his fate.
Dr. Fisher was not what the world would call a " great
personage," but he was that which no sectarian prejudice,
no sentiment that acknowledges virtue can deny — a good
and holy Christian, and a just man. He had very few
equals in the long roll of English prelates ; he used no
weapons to enforce his convictions but those supplied from
the armoury of prayer and kindly counsel. His execution
was the first deadly sin in the terrible calendar of judicial
murders in England ; and although the Carthusians had
been favoured with the semblance of a trial, Bishop Fisher's
case was the first which proved that the highest officials
and attributes of the law were merely the preliminary
instruments of legal assassination.

* Brewer's State Papers (Domestic), 1529.

Sir Thomas More. 337

CHAPTER XXXIX.
SIR THOMAS MORE.
An illustrious name comes next on the list of English
martyrs — Thomas More. As the King's policy gradually
became known, the conscientious Chancellor considered he
could no longer hold office ; and though possessed of but a «
limited patrimony, he had no hesitation in surrendering
large emoluments, and the splendour of his position. He
therefore resigned the Great Seal to the evident disappoint
ment of the King, and was succeeded by Sir Thomas
Audley. The Royal Supremacy was the question upon
which the King and his Council were determined to test
the opinions of More. The new policy of the Crown was
delicately touched upon by Audley, but cautiously evaded
by the ex- Chancellor, who foresaw what would soon follow ;
nevertheless, he had no hesitation or wavering as to the
course he should pursue when his conscience was at stake.
It is a pleasing task to trace the early history of such a
man as More. At ten years of age the precocious son of
Sir John More became a page to Cardinal Morton, in whose
palace he received his early education. He is described at
this period as a " very graceful, witty, and intelligent child."
While amongst the Cardinal's household, he was often en
gaged in dramatic performances, and read Latin fluently at
ten years of age. His quickness and readiness of reply,
vol. 1. z

338 Sir Thomas More.
and the originality of his genius, made him an object of
general admiration. " Whoever lives to see it," observed
Cardinal Morton, " will find this most intelligent boy a very
rare man." The " little page " was much attached to the
Cardinal, who spoke to him on every subject of interest to
a young pupil. At eighteen years of age More entered
Oxford, where he studied for some years. At this Univer
sity, it is stated, he won the esteem of " young and old."
He studied with the greatest amount of industry, and " his
piety," says a contemporary, " made the lukewarm believers
ashamed." He wished very much to become a Franciscan
monk, but his father desired that he should be a lawyer.
With reluctance he obeyed his father's command. He
quitted his Greek and Latin studies at Oxford, and the
company of his learned tutor, Groceyn, and became a law
student at Lincoln's Inn. When a law student he fre
quently went to hear the eloquent sermons of his old con
fessor, Dean Collett ; he also visited the Carthusian Fathers
once a week. His public lectures on history and other
learned subjects attracted the attention of the educated
classes; even the King attended his discourses. As a
lawyer he sprang forward at once in his profession. The
general opinion of the public was to the " effect that Maister
More would never betray his clients." Lawyers and
attorneys in those times were considered as " very doubtful
in regard to honour and honesty." While employed in the
study and practice of the law, More had not deserted the
literary path in which he had first delighted. He improved
himself in all the learning then attainable ; he associated
with the most eminent and intellectual men of his time ; he
kept up a constant correspondence with Erasmus. He even

Sir Thomas More. 339
found leisure for literary composition. The " History of
Richard the Third" is published among his works ; but
some eminent college men have raised doubts as to whether
he was really the author of this work, which is attributed
to Cardinal Morton; that it was written in Latin, and
translated into English by More. It is certain that the
Cardinal employed young , More in translating Latin manu
scripts ; and it is equally true that the future Chancellor
would not put forward as a work of his own that which was
only a translation. " Utopia," upon which More's fame as
an author principally rests, is the history of an imaginary
commonwealth, in which he advances and advocates some
doctrines in philosophy and religion greatly in advance of
the age, with so much force and liberality, that it seems
surprising that the work escaped the censures of Henry's
despotic Council. It was written in Latin, and published
about 1516.*
Maister More first appeared as a popular speaker in tbe
Commons of 1504, when Henry VII. demanded a subsidy
for the marriage portion of the Princess Margaret, then
about to marry the King of Scots. More objected to the
sum demanded; the House adopted his amendment, and
the King had the mortification to find himself defeated.,
Maister Taylor, one of the King's Privy Chamber, went.
immediately from the House and told his Sovereign Lord
" that a beardless boy had disappointed him of all his ex--
pectations." f " Whereupon," observes Roper, " the King
conceived great indignation against More, and could not.

* Foss's Judges of England, vol ti,
t Roper's Life of Sir Tl.omas. More..
z 2

34° Sir Thomas More.
feel satisfied until he had in some way revenged it." More
almost retired from public life after this event, for he re
ceived a warning from the Bishop of Winchester to the
effect that he had " highly insulted the King and the Royal
Family." He was only twenty-four years of age at this
period. He went to the Continent for a time ; [then re
turned, and gave himself up to classical study down to the
death of Henry, when he resumed his labours as a lawyer.*
In 1509 Maister More was introduced to the King by
Wolsey, " as a very rising lawyer." His professional income
at this time was about .£450 a year — equal to a very large
*
sum at the present day. The King wished him to give up
the law for politics, and take office under the Crown, but he
could not see his way to such a policy. He was about this
time engaged in a suit in which the Pope was the plaintiff,
and the King of England the defendant. The merits of the
case were these : — A ship belonging to the Pontiff having
been seized at Southampton as forfeited to the Crown for a
breach of the law of nations, the Pope's Nuncio at the Court
of London instituted proceedings to obtain restitution, and
retained More as an advocate, " at which time there could
none of our law be found so meet to be of counsel." The hear
ing was in the Star Chamber before the Chancellor and other
judges. To plead against the Crown in the Star Chamber, and
before such judges, was a delicate matter ; and some persons
of legal knowledge looked upon More's pleading as hopeless, if
not dangerous. Maister' More displayed much firmness,
and his arguments were considered by the Court conclusive ;
the Lord Chancellor pronounced judgment in favour of

* Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. i.

Sir Thomas More. 341
More's client. This case brought More prominently before
the public. The King was present at the trial; and, in
stead of indulging in anger against Maister More, he joined
the general acclaim by offering his praise to the Pope's counsel
for the ability with which he argued the case. Shortly
after More visited the King at Greenwich, which was the
commencement of his intimacy. He was made Master of
the Requests, knighted, and sworn a Privy Councillor.*
About this time (1514) Sir Thomas More took up his
residence at Chelsea, where he was visited by the learned
and the witty of England and the Continent. The King
was frequently his guest ; also Bishop Fisher, Dr. Foxe, of
the See of Winchester, Erasmus, and other notable men.
The next step in promotion was the chair of the House of
Commons. The Commons felt delight and honour in
nominating him, and the King assured them that they had
made a choice of which he highly approved. Whilst
Speaker he upheld the dignity of the House and its privi
leges — a very difficult task in those days. According to
Erasmus, Wolsey " rather feared than loved More." The
Cardinal wished him to fill the office of a foreign minister ;
he did not wish him to be much about Court; but More
had a desire to reside in the vicinity of London, where
many of his dearest friends were located. Wolsey had no
friendly feeling for him — far from it.
When the Great Seal was delivered to More by the
King, he was inducted into his seat in the Court of Chan
cery " after a noble exhortation by the Duke of Norfolk,
as well to the Chancellor as to the people, and an answer

* Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More ; Lord Campbell's English Chancellors.

342 Sir Thomas More.

of the Chancellor." No previous example of any intro
ductory address on such an occasion occurs ; and the object
of the Duke of Norfolk's speech seems to have been to
justify the King's selection of a layman instead of an
ecclesiastic, by enlarging on the wisdom, integrity, and
genius of Sir Thomas More, and the extraordinary abilities
he had shown as a lawyer. More's answer was modest and
becoming, with a graceful and feeling allusion to the fall of
his distinguished predecessor.*
It has been stated, upon the authority of John Foxe,
that Sir Thomas More was " a cruel persecutor of the
Reformers, and caused even little boys to be flogged
because they adopted Protestant principles." Speed, Burnet,
and Hume have all " improved " Foxe's relation. More's
house at Chelsea has been represented as an " inquisition
jail," and the amiable Chancellor " acting the part of a
grand inquisitor;" that there was " a large tree in his
garden where the Reformers and other faithful soldiers of
Christ underwent cruel whipping, and that, too, under the
especial superintendence of Sir Thomas More himself."
Some of the leading Reformers, however, describe Sir
Thomas More as a man of unquestionable truth, kindness,
and hopour. Here is More's own version of the narrative
originally furnished by Maister Foxe : —
"Divers of them," says More, "have said that of such as were
in my house when I was Chancellor, I used to examine them with
torments, causing them to be bound to a tree in my garden, and
there piteously beaten. Except their safe keeping, I never else did
cause any such thing to be done unto any of the heretics in all my

* English Chancellors, by Lord Campbell, vol. i. ; Foss's Judges of
England, vol. v.

Sir Thomas More. 343
life, except only twain ; one was a child and a servant of mine in
my own house, whom his father, before he came to me, had mixed
up in such matters, and set his boy to attend upon George Jay.
This Jay did teach the child his own grievous heresy against the
Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, which heresy this child, in my
house, began to teach another child. And upon that point I caused
a servant of mine to strip him like a child before my household,
for amendment of himself and example to others. Another was
one who, after he had fallen into these frantic heresies, soon fell
into plain open frenzy; albeit that he had been in Bedlam, and
afterwards by beating and correcting gathered his remembrance.
Being, therefore, let at liberty, his old perversions fell again into
his head. Being informed of his relapse, I caused him to be taken
by the constables, and bounden to a tree in the streets, before the
whole town, and then striped him till he waxed weary. Verily,
God be thanked, I hear no harm of him now. And of all who ever
came into my hand for heresy, so help me God, else had never any
of them a stripe or stroke given them, so much as a fillip in the
forehead."* Alarmed at the progress of the Reformation, and shocked
by the conduct of many of its most zealous apostles in
Germany, More became determined to discourage what was
then styled the " new learning'' by every legitimate means.
He " never strained or rigorously enforced the law against
the Reformers." " It is," observes Erasmus, " a sufficient
proof of his clemency that, while he was Lord Chancellor
of England, no man was put to death for these pestilent
dogmas, while so many at the same period suffered for them
in France, Germany, and the Netherlands." He was pre
sent many times at the examination of persons charged with
heresy, and concurred with the Council in sending them to
prison; but he could adopt no other course, unless he

* Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More.

344 Sir Thomas More.
violated the existing law on the subject, which was one of
the King's favourite statutes. It was not till he had
resigned the Great Seal, and was succeeded by the pliant
Audley, that heresy was made high treason, and the scaffold
reeked with innocent blood.* Yet Audley was afterwards
the earnest supporter of the Reformation wherever or when
ever it suited his interests. As the colleague of Crumwell
and Cranmer, he carried out the schemes devised by a
capricious King against the lives and the property of the
English people.
From his own great rectitude, honesty, and piety, Sir
Thomas More entertained a horror for every kind of vice.
He sometimes punished depraved criminals severely; but
where he could perceive any feeling of repentance, he acted
in an opposite spirit ; never approving of the sanguinary
criminal code then in existence, he was consequently on the
side of clemency. " He was," writes Lord Campbell,
"three centuries in advance of his age." A passage in his
" Utopia" is illustrative of his real opinions on the cruelty
and injustice to which the people were subjected by the
existing statutes of England. He represents his observant
traveller, who had visited Utopia, and describes its institu
tions, as saying, " There happened to be at table an English
lawyer, who took occasion to run out in high commendation
of the severe execution of thieves in his country, where
might be seen twenty at a time dangling from one gibbet.
Nevertheless, he observed, it puzzled him to understand,
since so few escaped, there were yet so many thieves left

• Lord Campbell's Lives of the English Chancellors, vol. i. p. 548 ; Foss's
Judges of England, vol. v.

Sir Thomas More. 345
who were still found robbing in all places. Upon this I
said with boldness there was no reason to wonder at the
matter, since this way of punishing thieves was neither just
in itself nor for the public good ; for, as the severity was
too great, so the remedy was not effectual; simple theft
was not so great a crime that it ought to cost a man his
life, and no punishment would restrain men from robbing
who could find no other way of livelihood."
When More was committed to the Tower, the Constable
apologised to him for the " poor cheer the place furnished
for prisoners ;" to which More replied, " Good Maister,
assure yourself I do not mistake the cheer, but whenever I
do, then spare not to thrust me out of your doors." For
one month he was not permitted to see his wife or
daughter, on whom he impressed the solemn obligation of
not repining for him; declaring that he had violated no
law, and could never acknowledge the King as " Christ's
Vicar on earth." The Duke of Norfolk, Crumwell, and
other members of the Council, were sent to "remonstrate
with him; and, after them, Cranmer, who proposed to
argue the merits of the Supremacy statute with him. The
Archbishop, however, failed to convince, and only demon
strated by his manner that he was a personal enemy.
Almost every day commissioners or spies visited More ; but,
being an astute lawyer, he did not commit himself by any
unguarded expressions."*
On one occasion, when his noble daughter, Margaret
Roper, came to visit him, the Carthusian Abbot of Sion, and
three of his brethren of the Charter House, were " marched
* Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More.

346 Sir Thomas More.
by his window, on their way to execution for not accepting
the Supremacy oath," when More suddenly exclaimed, " Lo !
dost thou not see, Meg, that these blessed fathers be now
so cheerfully going to their death as bridegrooms to their
marriage ?" He then hinted to her that a like destiny
awaited himself. His daughter wished him to "yield to
the King in some way." He wrote to her a letter
of rebuke, and concluded with an assurance that " none
of the troubles that might happen unto him touched him
so near, or bore so grievously on him, as that his dearly
beloved child, whose judgment he so much valued, should
labour to persuade him to do what would be contrary to
his conscience." The good daughter's reply was worthy of
her parent. She submits reverently to his " faithful and
delectable letter as the truthful messenger of' his virtuous
soul," and rejoiced at " the philosophic grandeur of his
mind under such trials." She concluded in these words :
" Your own most loving obedient daughter and bedeswoman,
Margaret Roper, who desireth above all earthly things to
bear John Wood's stede, to do you some service."* When
Mrs. More visited her husband she " scolded him severely
for his foolery in being there at all." The poor lady was
sadly distressed at this time. In mental powers she was
vastly inferior to her illustrious husband. She was a
" plain housewife," destitute of ambition, and " devoid of
all heroic qualities." A woman of the world on a small
scale, her family was her universe. She cared nothing for
the respective claims of the injured lady of Arragon or

* John Wood was an old and faithful servant, whom Crumwell permitted to
accompany his master to the Tower.

Sir Thomas More. 347
her fascinating rival; she had heard of the greatness of
Wolsey and other prelates and statesmen ; yet she knew
not in what their greatness consisted ; she looked upon
Cranmer as a " schoolmaster " who had winning ways ; she
thought Fisher was too honest for the times ; and Gardyner
and Bonner were sensible men because they pleased the
King. She had enjoyed a cheerful and a happy home —
a gentle husband, and loving children. No wonder that
her mind became embittered, and that she appeared rude
and ungracious in manner. Here is the scene at the
Tower between the "rude housewife," as she has been
described, and her learned and witty husband. "Ah,
Maister More, I marvel that you who have hitherto always
been taken for a wise man will now so play the fool as to
lie here in this close filthy prison, and be content to be
shut up thus with mice and rats as your companions, when
you might be abroad at your liberty, with the favour both
of the King and his Council. ... I muse what in God's
name you mean here thus fondly to tarry ?" Having heard
his wife's discourse to an end, Sir Thomas More in his
usual good humour, said, " I pray thee, good Mistress
Alice, tell me one thing." " What is it ?" said she. " Is
not this house as near to heaven as my own?" The
" housewife " still maintained her views, and the husband
was unable to convince her that it was better to remain in
the Tower than to dishonour himself by accepting liberty
at the sacrifice of what he considered the highest and
holiest principles. But when the dark hour came, " Mrs.
Alice " proved herself to be a true woman and wife. She
was compeUed by necessity to sell her wearing apparel to
provide food for her husband, but recently the Chancellor of

348 Sir Thomas More.

a great kingdom, then wasting away his life in a damp
dungeon in the Tower amidst mice and rats. " Mrs.
Alice" was, however, cheered in her labour of love by her
amiable children ; and they all now looked on their
poverty, under such circumstances, as a necessary offering
at the shrine of truth and virtue.*
More's first wife died six years after his marriage,
leaving him four children — one son and three daughters.
It was chiefly to provide for the care of his family that
he entered on a second marriage. Alice Middleton, his
second wife, was a widow seven years his senior. More's
grandson says she was a woman who could not " hearten"
any man. " She possessed neither wealth, beauty, nor good
temper ; and to add to these deficiencies, she was a mere
commonplace housewife, but nevertheless a good kind of
matron." Strange companion for such a man ; yet the
good Chancellor agreed well with her.
The most disgraceful of the many schemes used to adduce
evidence against Sir Thomas More was that of sending
Maister Rich to visit him in the Tower. Rich was created
Solicitor-General, from the fact that, at the English bar —
low as it was in morality and honour at that period — there
was, perhaps, not another man who would stoop to the same
infamy to promote the policy of the King and his Council.
Fortified by an order of the Council, Maister Rich,
accompanied by Sir Richard Southwell and Mr. Palmer,
went to the Tower for the ostensible purpose of depriving
More of the few books with which he had hitherto been
permitted to soothe his hours of solitude. While they were

Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More ; Campbell's English Chancellors.

Sir Thomas More. 349
packing up the books, Rich, under the pretence of " old
friendship," fell into conversation with More; and in a
familiar and confidential tone, after a compliment to his
wisdom and learning, put a case to him. " Admit," said
Rich, " that there were an Act of Parliament made, that all
the realm should take me for a King, would not you, Sir
Thomas, take me for King?" "Yes, sir," said More,
"that I would." Rich became much elated, and put the
case further. " Suppose that there was an Act of Parliament
that all the realm should take me for Pope, would you not
then take me for Pope?" "For answer," said Sir Thomas,
" to your first case — the Parliament may well meddle with
the state of temporal Princes, but to make answer to your
other case — suppose the Parliament should make a law that
God should not be God, would you then Maister Rich, say
so ?" " No, sir," said Rich, " that I would not ; for no
Parliament could make such a law." Sir Thomas More
now suspecting that some dark plot was at the bottom of
this discourse, made no further observation on the questions
raised. On his departure Rich took leave of his "old
friend," as he styled him, in an apparently kind manner,
" assuring him of the regard he entertained for him, and
hoping that all would end well."*
On the 7th of May, 1534, Sir Thomas More was
arraigned in the Court of King's Bench, but the trial was
postponed till the lst of July, " to enable the Crown to
procure further evidence." When the trial was finally
arranged, Sir Thomas More was compelled to walk from the
Tower to Westminster clothed as a malefactor, before the

* English Chancellors ; Rossin's Life of Sir Thomas More.

35° Sir Thomas More.
gaze of a multitude of people. His hair had become grey
since he last appeared in public; his face, which, though
still cheerful, was pale and emaciated; his bent posture,
and his feeble steps which he was obliged to support with
a staff, showed the rigour of his confinement, and excited the
fervent sympathy of the people, instead of impressing them,
as was intended, with a dread of the King's vengeance.
His presence in the King's Bench as a prisoner for high.
treason awoke the bright memories of his past career, when
in that court arrayed in the robes of the Lord Chancellor
of England, he had knelt at the feet of his venerable
father, then the Lord Chief Justice, to ask his blessing before
he entered his own court to adjudicate as Chancellor. Very
many ofthe spectators at the trial had witnessed those scenes
between the father and the son ; and a bitter feeling of
sorrow and of indignation was perceptible in every face. The
King's Council being well aware that they were engaged
in an unpopular prosecution, and that public opinion was
against them, Crumwell made preparations to crush any
movement of the populace. " I know," said he, " how to
make the swinish multitude become tame." His ill-favoured
and fearless presence struck terror in the people's hearts.*
" After the lapse of three centuries," says Lord Campbell,
"during which statesmen, prelates, and kings have been
unjustly brought to trial in this same court — considering
the splendour of More's talents, the greatness of his acquire
ments, and the innocence of his life, we must still regard

* " Hang them up ! hang them up !" so frequently uttered in a ferocious
tone> by Henry, was first suggested by Crumwell, as a means of striking terror
into the populace. Perhaps it was Crumwell who originated the term for the
people, which has been so often misused.

Sir Thomas More. 351
his murder as the blackest crime that has ever been per
petrated in England under the forms of law."* Sir
Christopher Hale as Attorney-General conducted the trial,
aided by Maister Rich, the Solicitor- General. When the
frivolous indictment was read, Lord Chancellor Audley,
addressing the prisoner, said — " You see, prisoner, how
grievously you have offended the King's Highness, yet he
is so good and so merciful, that if you will lay aside your
obstinacy and change your opinions, we hope you may
obtain pardon." Sir Thomas More replied, " Most noble
lords, I have great cause to thank you for this your
courtesy; but I beseech the Almighty God that I may
continue in the mind I am in until my death." The charges
against him were substantially reduced to one — namely,
" Attempting to deprive the King of his title and dignity."
This accusation was unsupported by evidence. His alleged
treasonable letters to Bishop Fisher were not proved, on the
ground that they had been destroyed. Judging from the
legal position of the case at this juncture, it was Sir
Thomas Audley's duty to direct the jury to return a verdict
of " not guilty." He, however, called upon the prisoner
for his defence. "A deep silence now prevailed — all
present held their breath — every eye was fixed upon the
victim." Sir Thomas More was beginning by expressing
his apprehension " lest his memory and wit being damaged
with his health of body through long confinement, he
should not be able properly to meet all the matters alleged
against him." When he found that he was unable to
support himself by his staff, his judges evinced a touch of

English Chancellors, vol.

35 2 Sir Thomas More.
humanity by ordering him a chair. When he was seated,
after a few preliminary observations he considered the
charges against him in their order. " As to the King's
marriage," he said, " I confess that I always told his
Highness my opinion thereon as my conscience pointed out
to me, which I neither would nor ought to have concealed.
I do not consider it to be high treason to give my opinion
on the subject where the King sought that opinion from me
as his councillor. I should have basely flattered him if I
had not uttered the whole truth unto his Highness. As to
the letters to Bishop Fisher, the King himself stated the
contents of them, and showed that they were free from
blame."* On the charge that he had declined to declare
his opinion when interrogated respecting the Supremacy, he
answered, "that he could not transgress any law or incur
any crime of treason by holding his peace, God alone being
judge of our secret thoughts." The Attoney-General
interposed, with much rudeness of manner, saying, " Maister
More, although we had not one word or deed to assert
against you, yet have we not your sdence, when asked
whether you acknowledge the King to be the Supreme
Head of Christ's Church on earth, which is an evident sign
of a malicious mind in you?" More, however, reminded
the Crown lawyers of the maxim among canonists and
citizens, " Qui tacet consentire videtur." As to the last
charge, Sir Thomas More argued that the only proof was
his saying that "the statute of Supremacy was a two-edged
sword," which was interpreted as his reason for declining
to answer, and could not be construed into a positive denial
* Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More.

Sir Thomas More. 3153

of the King's supremacy. He concluded his defence by
solemnly declaring that he had "never spoken a word
'against the Supremacy Act to any living man."*
The jury were of opimon that there was no evidence be
fore them to convict the prisoner of high treason. They
hesitated, and seemed for a few minutes to disregard the
unmistakable looks and gestures of the judges and the
Attorney-General. But the suspense was soon removed by
the appearance of a new witness in the person of the
Solicitor- General. Maister Rich, " having been duly
sworn," made a statement as to the " confidential conversa
tion" which he had had with the prisoner in the Tower on the
removal of the books, when Rich raised a question, as the
reader is aware, touching the Supremacy law, and asking
More's opinion of the statute.
Every honourable man in court — apart from the judges
and prosecutors — felt horrified at the conduct of the Soli
citor-General, and the Chief Commissioners who permitted
it. The suppressed murmur, however, subsided when Sir
Thomas More rose, throwing aside his staff, and, with
renewed vigour of mind and body, commenced his reply to
the allegations of Rich : — '¦' My lords, if I were a man that
did not regard an oath, I would not at this time stand here
in the way I do before you. If the oath which you have
taken, Maister Rich, be true, then I pray I never see God
in the face ; which I would not say were it otherwise to
gain the whole world." Having related the conversation
with Rich, he continued, " In good faith, Maister Rich, I
am more sad for your perjury than for my own peril.

* Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. ii.
VOL. I. A A

354 Sir Thomas More.
Know you that neither I, nor any man else to my know
ledge, ever took you to be a man of such credit as either I
or any other would vouchsafe to communicate with you on
any matter of importance. As you well know, I have been
acquainted with your manner of life and conversation for a
long time, even from your youth upwards ; for we dwelt in
the same parish many years, and you were always consi
dered very light in your tongue, a great dicer, a gamester,
and not of any commendable or virtuous name iu the
Temple or elsewhere." Then, addressing Audley and the
judges, he said, " Can it, therefore, seem likely to your
lordships that in a case of such magnitude I should so un
advisedly overshoot myself as to trust Maister Rich — a man
always reputed to be possessed of little truth or honesty ?"
Sir Thomas More continued his address for some time, and
argued his case with all his wonted ability and with ^ the
energy of conscious rectitude. He made a deep impression
on the spectators, and even Crumwell's carefully selected
jury were again bewildered at the turn the trial took. At
this juncture Rich felt alarmed, and produced Southwell
and Palmer, who accompanied him to the Tower, in order
that they might corroborate his statements ; but these
gentlemen declined giving any evidence, declaring that they
did not listen to the "confidential conversation" which
passed between Rich and More. If Maister Rich presented
a bold and shameless front at this moment, the Chancellor
was his superior in the strength of unblushing audacity — at
once regardless of the honour of the ermine and the truth
and equity that should characterise the office of a judge.
Sir Thomas Audley, as the Lord Chancellor of England,
charged the jury. After complimenting the Crown lawyers

Sir Thomas More. 355
on the " ability and impartiality" with which they had con*
ducted the case, he proceeded to dwell on the enormity of
the offences charged against the prisoner; the danger to
the King's Highness and the tranquillity of the kingdom
by the course followed by the prisoner. He defended the
conduct of Maister Rich, stating that he gave his evidence
with delicacy and reluctance, and from the most loyal and
the most pure motives ; that his testimony stood uncontra
dicted if not corroborated, as the denial of the prisoner
could not of course be taken into account ; that as the
words related by Maister Rich undoubtedly expressed the
real sentiments of the prisoner, and were only abiding a
necessary inference, there was every probability that it was
spoken. If the jury, therefore, believed what Maister Rich
related to them, then the case for the King's Highness was
estabhshed against the prisoner."
The jury retired, and returned into court in twenty
minutes, declaring " Sir Thomas More gudty of high treason
against his Highness the King.
Sir Thomas Audley could not repress his too apparent
pleasure at the verdict so recorded, and immediately pro
ceeded to pronounce sentence of death, but was interrupted
by Sir Thomas More. " My lords," said he, " when I was
a judge it was the custom to ask the prisoner before sen
tence whether he could give any reason why judgment
should not proceed against him." Sir Thomas Audley be
came excited, and admitted he had made a mistake. The
question was then put. Sir Thomas More, in his reply,
denied the power of Parliament to pass the statute trans
ferring the Headship of the Church from the Pope of Rome
to the King of England. He took exception to the framing
A A 3

356 Sir Thomas More.

of the indictment, and the manner in which the trial was
conducted. But the judges were unanimous in their ap
proval of the verdict, and Chancellor Audley pronounced
sentence of death, " ordering that, after the head was cut
off, the body should be made four quarters of, and set over
four gates of the City, and the head to be placed, upon
London Bridge."
Sir Thomas More again addressed the court, and now
more freely expressed his opinions on the Supremacy Act.
He said that, after having " studied the question for seven
years, he could not discover by what possible means, or
argument, or. law, a layman could become the Head of the
Church. It appeared to him quite impossible." Sir
Thomas Audley asked him if he was wiser than all the
learned men of Europe. More Replied, " That, with very
few exceptions, the learned men of Christendom were just
of his way of thinking on this great question." Sir John
Fitz- James inquired if the prisoner had any more to add ?
After a pause, Sir Thomas More proceeded : — " As the
Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, was present and consenting to
the death of the proto-martyr, St. Stephen, keeping their
clothes that stoned him to death, and yet they be now twain
holy saints in Heaven, and there shall continue friends for
ever; so I verily trust, and shall therefore heartily pray,
that, though your lordships have been on earth my judges
to condemnation, yet that we may hereafter meet in Heaven
merrily together to our everlasting salvation. And now, my
lords, I heartily say, ' May God preserve you all, especially
my Sovereign Lord the King, and grant him faithful coun
cillors.' "
When Sir Thomas More resumed his seat, a profound

Sir Thomas More. 357
silence ensued, and after a few minutes he rose again, and
looking earnestly round the court, bowed to the judges,
commissioners, and bar. He then took his departure for
the Tower, with the headsman walking before him. Near
the gates of the old fortress a painful incident occurred.
His beloved daughter, Margaret Roper, rushed through the
crowd, and, pushing aside the halbert-men, threw herself
upon her father's neck, and kissed him repeatedly, not able
to speak, not able to cry. " And," writes a spectator,
" this scene made the hearts of the very halbert-men full of
grief; anon, she did speak, and the tears rolled down her
face, when she said, ' Oh, my father ! oh, my father ! are
you going to leave us? Are they so wicked as to take
your life ?' The father replied that his daughter should
submit to the will of God, and pray for his enemies. She
again clasped him in her arms, exclaiming, ' Dear loved
father, your blessing again !' " " After this farewell, he
felt that the bitterness of death was over, and he awaited
the execution of his sentence with cheerfulness."*
The Court party now used every effort to induce Sir
Thomas More to make a recantation of his opinions on the
Supremacy law ; but he " continued obstinate." T he
warrant was then issued for his execution. Having been
informed that the " King was pleased to remit the severe
parts of the sentence, and that he be merely beheaded," he
expressed a hope that none of his friends might experience
the like mercy from his Highness the King.
The day before his execution he wrote with a piece of
coal (pen and ink being prohibited) a parting letter to his
* Condensed from Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. i. ; also Foss's
English Judges, vol. v.

358 Sir Thomas More.
daughter, Margaret Roper, containing farewell blessings to
all his children, and even to his domestics. Adverting to
their last interview, he says : " I never liked your manner
towards me better than when you kissed me last, for I am
most pleased when your daughterly love and dear charity
have no leisure to look to worldly courtesy."
At an early hour on the morning of Tuesday, July 6th,
1535, the illustrious prisoner received intelligence from Sir
Thomas Pope, that it was the " King's command that he
should die before nine o'clock that morning." He was
further requested to "make no speech to the people." Sir
Thomas More expressed his thanks for the " good tidings,"
and said he should obey the King's command. He begged
one favour — namely, that his daughter Margaret might be
present at his funeral, to which Pope replied, " The King is
willing that your wife, children, and near friends may be
present at your funeral."* In two hours after this inter
view with Sir Thomas Pope, the procession to the scaffold
was formed. In his hand More carried a red cross, and his
looks were raised towards heaven. As he passed along, the
wife of a wine merchant pressed through the crowd, and
offered him a goblet of wine. He gently refused, saying,
" Christ at the time of His passion drank no wine, but
vinegar and gall." He was next addressed by Mrs. Rachel
Chylde, who rudely demanded some law papers she had
given him to examine into her case when he was Chancellor.
He replied, " Good Mistress Rachel, in an hour hence his
Highness the King will rid me of the care I have had of
thy papers." Another woman charged him with having

* Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More.

Sir Thomas More. 359

given an unjust judgment against her. " I mind you well,"
he answered, with much firmness ; " and were I again to
give sentence in your cause, I would not alter a word." A
mob was retained by the Boleyn party to deride and insult
him as he passed along to the scaffold. The conduct of the
lower classes on this occasion was, according to Griffin,
" brutal and disgraceful ;" yet there were many edifying
exceptions : " wives, children, and maidens," stood forth
upon the highway waving the cross and other emblems of
religion. A citizen of Winchester threw himself at his feet,
and asked his prayers. " Go," said Sir Thomas, " and pray
for me awhile, and when that while is gone, I hope to be
able to pray for you in heaven." Having reached the plat
form a murmur issued from the vast crowd, who were of the
better class at this fatal place, awaiting the "last farewell."
The sight of the late Lord Chancellor in such a position
struck almost all present with horror, for there was an
earnest popular opinion of his exalted virtues, his rectitude,
and amiability. Having knelt in prayer for a short time, he
rose, and, addressing the chief headsman in an air of
pleasantry, handed him an angel in gold, and said, " Pluck.
up thy spirit, man, and be not afraid to do thy office ; my
neck is very short ; take heed, therefore, that thou strike not
awry for saving thy honesty." When he had laid his head
on the block, he desired the executioner " to wait till he had
removed his beard, for that had never offended his Highness
the King."
A signal was given, and at one blow the head was severed
from the body, and held up to the gaze of the horror-
stricken people. In the course of the day the head was
spiked on a pole, and placed on London Bridge. The noble

360 Sir Thomas More.
daughter subsequently received it, and preserved it as a
precious relic during her life, and in her dying hour ordered
it to be laid with her in the same grave.
When the news of Sir Thomas More's execution reached
the King he was playing at " tables " with Queen Anna :
he was apparently startled, and turning his eyes upon her,
he is reported to have said, " Thou art the cause of this
great and good man's death," and immediately retired to
his private room, and permitted no one to approach him.*
The next day Henry was in a different mood. If he felt
any real sorrow or remorse at the recollection of the times
when he put his arm round Sir Thomas More's neck in the
garden at Chelsea, or was instructed by him on the motion
of the heavenly bodies from the house-top, or was amused
by his jests and innocent stories at the dinner-table or
supper, the feeling was transitory indeed, for he not only
placed the head of his "beloved friend" where it must have
been conspicuous to his own eye, as he passed almost
daily from Greenwich to old Whitehall, but gave further
evidence of his unforgiving vengeance by expelling the
widow and orphans from their residence at Chelsea. The
King " did not leave Dame More," writes a contemporary,
" a seat to sit upon, nor a blanket to cover her, and the
family were reduced to actual destitution ; and the King's
vengeance threatened anyone who might aid the More
family with either food or money." Popular feeling was
thoroughly debased. The rabble applauded every action of
the King which might hand over another victim to the

* Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIIL ; Campbell's English Chancellors,
vol. i.

Sir Thomas More. 361

headsman. The middle and upper classes only studied their
own interests and personal safety. The clerical party,
who, in former reigns, were ranged on the side of the
oppressed, were now silent spectators of the direst and
most heartless tyranny. The bishops were also silent.
The invincible courage of Fisher was not to be found in
their ranks.
The correspondence of Erasmus diffused a feeling of exe
cration throughout Europe against Henry and his Council,
and English ambassadors abroad were " looked upon as the
agents of an inhuman monster." Amongst Lutherans, as
well as " Papal and anti-Papal Catholics," there was an
unanimous denunciation of the murder of the " great,
learned, and most worthy Englishman."* Charles V. sent
for Sir Thomas Smythe, the English ambassador at his
Court, and addressed him as follows: — "Sir Thomas Smythe,
we understand that your royal master, the King of England,
has put to death his wise and most trustworthy Councillor,
Sir Thomas More." Sir Thomas Smythe looked abashed,
and pretended ignorance of what occurred. " Well," con
tinued the Emperor, "it is true; and this we will say, that
if he had been ours, we should sooner have lost the best
city in our dominions than so worthy a Councillor."f
It seems to have been the delight of Erasmus to introduce
men of learning and wit to More. Amongst the learned
and witty who visited the happy home at Chelsea were
Stephen Gardyner, Edward Fox, and other notable Church
men. Cresacre, the great-grandson of More, has chronicled

* "Reports from the English Ambassadors abroad, as to public opinion
concerning Maister More's execution."
t Memoirs of Charles V. ; Despatches of Sir Thomas Smythe.

362 Sir Thomas More.
anecdotes of his rich humour. " He never laughed at his
own witticisms, which flowed from him naturally and with
out an effort, but that he spoke them so gravely few could
say whether he were in jest or earnest; yet, though he never
left his mirth, his heart was ever humble and mortified, and
all the while he exercised acts of self-denial which worldly
men would have wondered at." Although More had cor
responded with Erasmus, he had not yet seen the great
scholar, who, with the desire to give a surprise customary
at the time, called upon the Chancellor without announcing
himself. Sir Thomas More was so delighted with the con
versation and learning of his visitor, that he exclaimed,
" You are either Erasmus or some being of the other world."
Collet informed Erasmus that in More's youth he was
the greatest genius he knew of in England. Another con
temporary states that he had many personal peculiarities.
" He had a habit of walking with his right shoulder higher
than his left, from no known motive but a desire to be
singular." Cranmer's opinion of him was of course hostile.
He thought Sir Thomas More " somewhat too conceited, and
desirous of esteem; that he would never vary from what he
had once expressed, whether wrong or right, because he
thought a change of opinion would lessen his reputation."
Lord Crumwell had a great admiration of More. When
More refused to take the Supremacy oath, it was reported
that Crumwell "wished his only son had lost his head rather
than that Sir Thomas More should have refused the oath."*
One of More's most endearing qualities was his warm
friendship to those whom he selected for his intimacy'; he

* Froude's History of England, vol. ii.

Sir Thomas More. 363

was formed by nature for social attachments. Reginald
Pole declared in after life that he was prouder of the friend
ship of More and Fisher than that of all the great princes
of Europe together. Cranvild states that he " would not
exchange the acquaintance and sweet conversation and friend
ship of More for the wealth of Croesus." On another occa
sion, the witty Chancellor told Cranvild that his " love and
courtesy shook away sorrow from him." "And," he added,
" I know no other remedy for the shortness of my friend's
letters but to read them again and again." " I know,"
says Erasmus, "my dear Sir Thomas, that your delight is
to be rich in faithful friends, and that in this you reckon
to consist your greatest earthly happiness. For the delight
which other men take in dice, chess, cards, music, and
hunting, is less than what you find in intercourse with a
learned and congenial companion. And so, though I know
you are well stored with this kind of riches, yet because I know
a covetous man can never have enough, and that this manner
of dealing of mine has before now changed luckily both to
you and to me, I deliver to your keeping one friend more,
whom I would have you accept with your whole heart. As
soon as you know him, I look to be thanked by you both,
as I was by Cranvild, who now so possesses your love that
I am well-nigh envious of him."
In writing to Peter Giles of Antwerp, More describes his
various occupations : —
"Whilst in pleading, in hearing, or deciding causes, or composing
disputes as an arbitrator, in waiting on some men about business,
and on others out of respect, the greater part ofthe day is spent on
other men's affairs, the remainder of it must be given to my family
at home, so that I can reserve no part of it to myself, that is, to

364 Sir Thomas More.
study. I must gossip with my wife, and chat with my children,
and find something to say to my servants ; for all these things I
reckon a part of my business, unless I were to become a stranger
in my own house ; for with whomsoever either nature or choice
has engaged a man in any relation of life he must endeavour to
make himself as acceptable as he can. In such occupations, days,
months, and years slip along ; and what time, think you, is left for
writing ? — without saying anything of what is wasted in sleep and
meals, which consume nearly half of our lives."
The discipline established in the family of More forms
the subject of an essay from Erasmus : —
" With what gentleness does my friend regulate his household,
where misunderstandings and quarrels are altogether unknown. In
deed, he is looked up to as a general healer of all differences, and was
never known to part from any on terms of unkindness. His house
seems to enjoy the peculiar happiness that all who dwell under its
roof go forth into the world bettered in their morals, as well as
improved in their own condition, and no spot was ever known to
fall on the reputation of any of its fortunate inhabitants. Here you
might imagine yourself in the academy of Plato. But, indeed, I
should do injustice to his house by comparing it with the school of
that philosopher, where nothing but abstract questions, and occa
sionally moral virtues, were the subjects of discussion ; it would be
truer to call it a school of religion, and an arena for the exercise of
all the Christian virtues. All its inmates apply themselves to liberal
studies, though piety is their first care. No wrangling or angry
word is ever heard within the walls. No one is idle ; every one
does his duty with alacrity, and regularity and good order are pre
scribed by the mere force of courtesy and kindness. Every one
performs his allotted task, and yet all are as cheerful as if mirth
were their only employment. Surely such a household deserves to
be called a school of the Christian religion."
Sir Thomas More was not fond of money. He felt a
pleasure in giving rather than in receiving. Nothing pleased
him so much as the power to do a good office for those who

Sir Thomas More. 365
were in need. When at Chelsea he " rambled about the
lanes and by-ways alone, giving alms to the poor villagers
whom he sought out in this way, with a liberality whose
extent was known to God alone." The south chancel of
Chelsea Church was rebuilt by his munificence, and furnished
with a service of altar plate ; the gift was accompanied
with one of those remarks almost prophetic — " Good men,"
he remarked, " give these things, and bad people take them
away." Of a selfish husbanding of his means he appeared
incapable. There is scarcely an instance on record, perhaps, ,
except the following, of his taking any pains to recover
money which he had lent, and then he made it the occasion
of a joke. Having lent fifty crowns to an attorney, who
showed no disposition to repay it, he ventured to give a
hint on the subject; but the borrower commenced to mora
lise on the contempt of riches and the sinfulness of hoard
ing up money. He told More that whether lawyers or
citizens we should not set our heart on money ; that our
time in this world was brief, and that it behoved us to
remember the maxim, " Memento morieris " " There you
have it exactly," answered More, " follow up your maxim,
my friend. Memento Mori aeris" (" Remember More's
money !")
This illustrious man had an aversion to the profession of
the law. He admitted no lawyers into his " Utopia," and
gives them but a questionable character. " I consider 1
them," he says, " as a people whose business it is to disguise
matters, and to wrest the law at their pleasure."
A portrait of Sir Thomas More, by Holbein, was to be
seen in 1867 in the Louvre, at Paris, which was supposed
to be the one of which Baldinucci relates an anecdote.

3^6 Sir Thomas More.
" The King of England," he says, " had a portrait of his
Chancellor (More), which he placed in a large room with
the pictures of other learned men. On the day of the
Chancellor's death on the scaffold, the King was angry with
his Queen, and told her she Was the cause of his death.
Queen Anna went to the apartment where the picture was,
and looking at it, she Was suddenly seized with remorse and
horror ; she fancied that its gaze was fixed on her reproach
fully ; she flung the picture out of the window, exclaiming,
" O mercy ! the man seems to be still alive ; he is looking
at me, he is looking at me !' " It is further alleged that
the picture fell into the hands of some one passing at the
moment, who sent it to the Pope. Another tradition
connected with this picture states that it was amongst the
rare collections carried by Bonaparte to the Louvre, and
that, at the period when the works of art were restored to
the Vatican, Prince Talleyrand contrived to have this picture
retained. The hair-shirt which More wore in " penitential seasons"
was left by Margaret Roper, at her death, to her cousin
Margaret Clements, a nun in the Augustinian Convent at
Louvain. At the time of the French Revolution this com
munity removed to Spetisbury, in Dorsetshire, where the
interesting relic is still preserved entire, with the exception
of one of the sleeves, which had been presented by the
Augustinian nuns to the convent of St. Dominic, at Stone,
in Staffordshire. The shirt is made of hog's bristles twisted
into a kind of net. Margaret Roper was buried in St.
Dunstan's Church, Canterbury. For one hundred years
subsequent to her death the leaden box containing her
father's head was to be seen -resting on her coffin. In 1835

Sir Thomas More. 367
the Roper vault was examined, and a small niche closed
with an iron grating was found in the wall above, into
which the box containing the head of Sir Thomas More was
removed ; and I understand it still remains in the same
spot.* One of More's early biographers observes, " With alacrity
and spiritual joy he received the fatal axe, which no
sooner had severed the head from the body but his soul was
carried by angels into everlasting glory, where a crown of
martyrdom was placed upon him which can never fade or
decay." " The innocent mirth," says Addison, " which had been
so conspicuous in his life did not forsake him to the last.
His death was of a piece with his life ; there was nothing
in it new, forced, or affected. He did not look upon the
severing of his head from his body as a circumstance which
ought to produce any change in the disposition of his mind,
and as he died in a fixed and settled hope of immortality, he
thought any unusual degree of sorrow and concern im
proper." The author of the " English Chancellors " remarks that
" More's character, both in public and private life, comes
as near to perfection as our nature will permit. . . . With
all my Protestant zeal, I must feel a higher reverence for
Sir Thomas More than for Lord Crumwell or Archbishop
Cranmer. I am indeed reluctant to take leave of him, not
only from his agreeable qualities and extraordinary merit,
but from my abhorrence of the mean, sordid, and unprin
cipled Chancellors who succeeded, and made the latter

Anecdotes of Distinguished English Catholics.

368 Sir Thomas More.
half of Henry's reign the most disgraceful period in our
annals."* Sharon Turner's commentary on More is unjust, ungenerous,
and untrue. He can find no genius, no talent, or goodness
in the man, and wonders why the world has lamented him
so much. The cause for this distorted assertion of opinion
may be found in the fact that Mr. Sharon Turner is an un
reasoning worshipper of Henry VIII. Mr. Froude, although
also the adorer of the same amiable monarch, affirms that
the execution of the " philosophic Chancellor was sounded
out into the far corners of the earth, and was the world's
wonder, as well for the circumstances under which it was
perpetrated as for the preternatural composure with which it
was borne. . . . Something of his calmness may have been
due to his natural temperament ; something to an unaffected
weariness of a world which, in his eyes, was plunging into
the ruin of the latter days. But those fair hues of sunny
cheerfulness caught their colours from the simplicity of his
faith; and never was there a grander Christian victory
over death than in that last scene lighted with its lambent
humour." I cannot better conclude this memoir of Sir Thomas
More, than by placing before the reader the eloquent and
earnest prayer said to have been found written in his Latin
diary, and which may be regarded as a reflex of his inner
life, and of his ever-present devotion to the Creator.
" Illumine, good Lord, my heart ; glorious God, give me
from henceforth Thy grace so to set and fix firmly mine

* Ellis's Royal Letters, first series, vol. i. ; Lord Campbell's English Chan
cellors, vol. i. p. 588 ; F°ss's English Judges, vol. v. ; and in Baga de Secretis
are to be seen several interesting matters in relation to the last days of More.

Sir Thomas More. 369
heart upon Thee, that I may say with St. Paul, the world
is crucified to me, and I unto the world : take from me all
vain-glorious minds, and all appetites of mine own praise.
Give me, good Lord, an humble, lowly, quiet, peaceable,
patient, charitable, kind, tender, and pitiful mind, and in
all my works, and words and thoughts, to have a taste of
Thy Holy Spirit. Give me a full faith, a firm hope, a
fervent charity, and a love to Thee incomparably above the
love to myself. May I love nothing to Thy displeasure,
but everything in order to Thee. Give me a longing to be
with Thee; not for avoiding the calamities of this wicked
world, nor so much the pains of purgatory, nor of hell ;
nor so much for the attaining of the choice of heaven in
respect of mine own commodity, as even for a very love to
Thee."

VOL. I. B B

370 Death of Katharine of Arragon.

CHAPTER XXX.
DEATH OF KATHARINE OF ARRAGON.
The first week in January, 1536, Henry VIII. received the
news of Queen Katharine's death. Henry was, it is stated,
seriously affected at the intelligence, and more especially
on reading a letter written by " brave Kate," as he once
styled his wife, the day before her death. As he read the
following lines Henry seemed immensely excited, sobbed, and
cried, and wished to be alone : —
" Mt most dear Lord, Kins, and Husband, —
" The hour of my death now approaching, I cannot
choose but out of the love I bear you advise you of your soul's
health, which you ought to prefer before all considerations of the
world or flesh whatsoever ; for which you have cast me into many
calamities, and yourself into many troubles. But I forgive you all,
and pray God to do so likewise.
" Por the rest, I commend unto you Mary, our daughter, beseech
ing you to be a good father to her, as I have heretofore desired. I
must entreat you ' also to respect my maids, and give them in
marriage (which is not much, they being but three), and to all my
other servants a year's pay besides their due, lest otherwise they
should be unprovided for. Lastly, I make this vow that mine eyes
desire you above all things. Oh! Henry, my long-beloved hus
band — farewell 1
" Kimbolton Abbey the 6th day of January, 1536."
This was the turning-point in the brilliant but brief
career of Anna Boleyn.. Anna had not the courage to

Death of Katharine of Arragon. 371

honour, nor the generosity to lament, her rival ; neither had
she the artful sense to apprehend the workings of Henry's
compunction. Even Burnet censures her conduct at this
critical period of her history. " She expressed," he
observes, " her joy at the death of Katharine beyond what
decency or humanity could permit."* Anna's first act of
indiscretion was to put on yellow mourning for the
"Dowager Princess of Wales," as Katharine had been
called, and made demonstrations little akin to merely a
questionable sorrow. She intruded upon the King's retire
ment in her fantastic dress, when with " a Tudor yell, he
told her to be off." No one can contemplate the life, the
character, and the lot of Queen Katharine without deep
feelings of sympathy — without sentiments of grief and
anger. As a wife she was above reproach : the basest of
her foes dared not impugn her conjugal modesty, nor could
her husband say aught against her loyalty and truth. As
a mother and a queen she was tender and dignified; she
was ever as amiable and meritorious as a parent as she was
sadly grand in her right-royal bearing before that- conclave
of guilty courtiers who divorced her from her temporal
throne, to enshrine her in the hearts of posterity.
In one of Katharine's last interviews with the Royal
Commissioners she spoke in bold terms of the wrongs that
were inflicted on her. " I would rather," she says, " be a
poor beggar's wife, and be sure of heaven, than Queen of
all the world, and stand in doubt thereof, by reason of my
own consent. I stick not for vain glory, but because I
know myself to be the King's true wife, and while you call

* Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. i., p. 182.
B B 2

372 Death of Katharine of Arragon.
me the King's subject, I was his subject while he took me
for his wife. But if he take me not for his wife, I came
not into his realm as merchandise, nor to be married to any
merchant; nor do I continue in the same, but as the
King's true and lawful wife." The Queen in strong
language denounced Archbishop Cranmer and those who
acted with him in the divorce judgment.*
Queen Katharine expired in the presence of her faithful
friend, Lady Willoughby, who came from Spain with her, on
the occasion of her marriage with Prince Arthur. Eustachio
Capucius, the ambassador of the Emperor Charles, and
Lady Salisbury, were also present.
Harpsfield draws a glowing picture of the respect and
love of the " country people " for the Queen, f He
describes the last days of Katherine as those of a for
giving, good woman. " At the time of the Queen's sorest
trials," says Harpsfield, " one of her ladies-in-waiting became
excited one day, and began to curse Anna Boleyn. The
royal lady was displeased. ' Hold your peace ; curse not ;
curse not her, but rather pray for her; for even now is
the time fast coming when you shall have reason to pity

* State Papers of Henry VIII. 's reign ; Lord Herbert's Life of Henry ;
Queens of England, vol. ii.
¦t Father Harpsfield wrote a history of the divorce trial of Katharine, and the
means by which it was effected. This work is almost unknown to posterity ;
but I am happy to learn that the Camden Society have resolved on bringing
it to light, and have solicited the Rev. W. Pocock to undertake the office of
editor of the work. The many State Papers now available will, in conjunction
with Nicholas Harpsfield's narrative, throw a flood of light upon the con
spiracy carried out by Cranmer, Gardyner, Bonner, and Tunstal, against the
Queen. Harpsfield held the office of Archdeacon of Canterbury at one time.
He wrote a history of England, to which the martyred Father Campion subse
quently made an addition.

Death of Katharine of Arragon. 373
her and lament her case.' " Such were the words of the
dying Queen as to her rival. " At Bugden," writes Harps
field, " Queen Katharine spent her solitary life in much
prayer, great alms, and abstinence ; and when she was not
this way occupied, then was she and her gentlewomen
working with their own hands something wrought in
needlework, costly and artificially, which she intended to
be offered for the honour and the glory of God in several
churches. There was in the house at Bugden a chamber
with a window that had a prospect into the chapel, out of
which she might hear the celebration of Mass. In this
chamber the Queen enclosed herself, sequestered from all
other company, a great part of the night and day, and upon
her knees used to pray at the same window, leaning upon
the stones  The said stones, where her head had
redined, were wet, as if a shower of rain had fallen upon
them ; the stones were imbrued with her tears, when she
prayed for strength to subdue the agonies of wronged
affections." " The grand abilities of Katharine of Arragon," observes
Miss Strickland, "the unstained integrity of word and
action, united with intrepid firmness, commanded even from
her enemies that deep respect which her sweetness, benevo
lence, and other saintly virtues would not have obtained,
unsupported by those high queenly qualities. Sustained by
her own innate grandeur of soul, her piety, and lofty recti
tude, she passed through all her bitter trials without calumny
succeeding in fixing a spot on her name. Among many
eulogists, one mighty genius, who was nearly her contem
porary, has done her the noblest justice. In fact, Shakspeare
alone has properly appreciated and vividly portrayed the

3 74 Death of Katharine of A rragon.
great talents, as well as the moral worth, of the right
royal Katharine of Arragon."*
"It is impossible," writes another Protestant biographer
of Katharine, " to contemplate the life and character of this
royal lady, without feelings of the deepest commiseration.
As a wife, the bitter humiliations which she was doomed to
undergo were entirely unmerited ; for not only was her
modesty unquestioned, but her whole conduct towards the
King afforded a perfect model of conjugal love and duty.
As a queen and a mother, her firmness, her dignity, and her
tenderness, deserved a far other recompense than to see
herself degraded, on the infamous plea set forth, from the
rank of royalty, and her daughter, so long heiress to the
English throne, branded with illegitimacy, and cast out
alike from the inheritance and the affections of her father."t
The story respecting Queen Katharine and Anna Boleyn
" quarrelling over a game of cards" is pure invention.
When I recur to the domestic pastime of Katharine, I find
that card-playing seems never to have been amongst her
amusements. These anecdotes have evidently originated
with Cavendish or Dr. Kyte, who was much about the Court
at the time of the alleged disputes. The State Papers show
that Anna Boleyn spent but a short time at Court ; " was
frequently invited, and dec-limed the invitation."
The description of Katharine's person, from the pen of
Ludovico Falieri, may not be uninteresting here. The
Venetian diplomatist says : — " My Ladye Katharine, the
Queen of England, is low of stature, inclining to corpulency ;

* Queens of England, vol. ii. p. 561.
T Aikin's Court of Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 15.

Death of Katharine of Arragon. 375
a woman of great repute, upright, and full of goodness and
devotion ; she speaks Spanish, Flemish, French, and English ;
she is beloved by these hardy islanders far more than any
queen they have had for a long time. She is forty-five years
old, thirty of which have passed since her first husband's
death." The foreign ambassadors who were resident in London in
Katharine's time, are unanimous-in_de&cribing_her love and
admiration for her husband as unbounded. "No wife could
be more loveable," writes De Pleine; auother ambassador says
" her queenly virtue stood high." Katharine once informed
a Russian diplomatist that, she "attributed the victory of
Flodden Field and the prosperity of England to the goodness
and piety of her husband." Very few amongst the admirers
of Katharine will be inclined to endorse this her early opinion
of the arch hypocrite, Henry Tudor, in whom the elements
of wickedness were artfully concealed for many years.
From Wolsey to Norfolk, from Gardyner to Cranmer, the
laity and clerics who participated in the divorce of Queen
Katharine seem to have had no "after-life" regret or
remorse for their conduct. Wolsey's sad fate is before the
reader. Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford, is described as
having died of the plague in " a state of horror ;" the Bishop
of Worcester exclaimed " it was an evil doing ; the Pope
was wiser than his English bishops : we were selfish men."
Cuthbert Tunstal, when Bishop of London, denounced the
Pope at Paul's Cross, and upheld the divorce and supremacy
assumptions of Henry. He had the temerity to tell Queen
Katharine that she was " a mere pretender, and had no right
to the title of Queen." And again, " You must now acknow-

376 Death of Katharine of Arragon.
ledge Queen Anna as the King's lawful wife."* " Never,
never," was the reply of the indignant and virtuous Queen.
The Court prelate met his reward from the daughter of
Anna Boleyn some twenty-five years subsequently.! Retri
butive justice was slow but sure in this case.
The history of Queen Katharine's wrongs is one of the
saddest on the roll of English Queens.

* Dr. Tunstal's Correspondence with the King. There are several
versions of this scene between Katharine and Tunstal, all agreeing in sub
stance. The cruel language of Archbishop Lee to the Queen outraged all
propriety. Yet Dr. Lee has been represented as a very ' ' worthy prelate."
t In the second and third volumes of this work the reader will see more of
the fate of those who promoted the divorce of Queen Katharine.

The Observant Fathers of Greenwich. 377

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE OBSERVANT FATHERS OF GREENWICH.
The Observant Fathers of Greenwich had many claims
upon the kindness and protection of King Henry. They
had been fostered and aided in good works by his father
and mother. His aunts, of the House of York, were constant
in their visits to Greenwich Chapel, where, before the great
altar, the Countess of Richmond knelt, and where the
Seventh Henry and his Queen had often received Holy
Communion ; in whose vicinity the Eighth Henry was born,
and baptized at the font in the edifice — where, too, Henry
Duke of York, in the presence of his father, mother,
grandmother, and aunts, made his first communion. Time
brought many other events. For instance, in the bloom
of a hopeful youth, this same Henry Tudor, then a King,
on an early morning in June, besought one of the Obser
vant Fathers to join him in wedlock to the " bride of his
first love." Twenty years had scarcely passed since that
interesting scene, yet all kindly remembrance seemed erased
on the King's part. Thorndale states that the Order was
not only broken up as a community, but its members had
been " hunted down," owing to a decree that " no religious
house should give them meat, drink, or shelter." The
Observant Order had many members. Two hundred of
their number were quickly imprisoned; and forty died
from "putrid or prison fever;" and the others, who were

378 The Observant Fathers of Greenwich.
in extreme old age, died from cold and hunger. Emis
saries were sent forth on the highways to denounce them as
" lazy and profligate." Unmeet and harsh treatment this
for such generous benefactors of the needy and sick. Yet
such was the course adopted in almost every case. Stow's
narrative of the circumstances which led to the King's
suppression of the Observants is an interesting document,
disclosing much observation on the " manners and passions
of the times." "The first that openly resisted or repre
hended the King's Highness touching his marriage with
Anna Boleyn was Friar Peto, a simple, devout, and fearless
member of the Order' of Observants. This goodly man,
preaching at - Greenwich upon the two and twentieth chapter
ofthe First Book of Kings — viz., the last part ofthe story
of Ahab, saying, " And even where the dogs licked the
blood of Naboth, even there shall the dogs lick thy blood
also, 0 King," and therewithal spake of the lying prophets,
which abashed the King,' &c. ; ' and I am,' quoth he,
' that Micaiah whom thou wilt hate, because I must tell
thee truly that thy marriage is unlawful ; and I know I shall
eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of sorrow,
yet because our Lord hath put it into my mouth I must
speak it.' And when he (Peto) had strongly inveighed
agamst the King's second marriage, to dissuade him from
it, he further saith, 'There are many other preachers, yea,
too many, who preach and persuade thee otherwise, feeding
thy folly and frail affections upon the hope of their own
worldly promotion ; and by that means they destroy thy
soul, thy honour, and posterity, to obtain fat benefices, to
become rich abbots, and get episcopal jurisdiction, and other
ecclesiastical dignities. There, I say, are the four hundred

The Observant Fathers of Greenwich, 379
prophets, who, in the spirit of lying, seek to deceive thee ;
but take good heed lest you, being seduced, find Ahab's
punishment, which was to have his blood ' licked up of the
dogs,' saying it was the greatest miscarriage of princes to
be daily abused by flatterers, &c. The King, being thus
reproved, endured it patiently, and did no violence to Peto ;
but the next Sunday, being the eighth of May, Dr. Curwin
preached in the same place, who most strongly reproached
Father Peto and his preaching, and called him dog, slan
derer, base beggarly friar, closeman, rebel, and traitor; say
ing that no subject should speak so audaciously to princes.
And having spoke much to that effect, and in commendation
of the King's marriage, thereby to establish his seed in his
seat for ever, &c. ; and then Dr. Curwin supposing he had
utterly suppressed Father Peto and his partakers, he lifted
up his voice and said, 'I speak to thee, Peto, which maketh
thyself Micaiah that thou mayest speak evil of kings, but
now thou art not to be found, being fled for fear of shame,
as being unable to answer my arguments.' But whilst he
thus speaketh there was one Elstow, a fellow friar to Peto,
standing in the rood loft, who, with a bold voice, said to
Dr. Curwin, ' Good Sir, you know that Father Peto, as he
was commanded, is now gone to a provincial council, holden
at Canterbury, and not fled for fear of you, for to-morrow
he will return again. In the meantime, I am here as
another Micaiah, and will lay down my life to prove all
those things true which he hath brought out of the Holy
Scripture, and to this combat / challenge thee, before God
and all equal judges. Even unto thee, Curwin, I say,
which are one of the four hundred prophets into whom the
spirit of lying has entered, and seek out of adultery to

3 Bo The Observant Fathers of Greenwich.
establish succession, betraying the King unto endless per
dition, more for thy own vain glory and hope of promotion
than for the discharge of thy dogged conscience and the
King's salvation.'
" On this Father Elstow waxed hot, and spake very
earnestly, so as they could not make him cease his speech,
until the King himself bade him hold his peace, and gave
order that he and Peto should be convented (cited) before
the Council, which was done the next day. And when the
lords had rebuked them there, the Earl of Essex (Thomas
Crumwell) told them that they deserved to be put into a
sack and cast into the Thames. Whereupon Elstow, smiling,
said, ' Threaten these things to rich and dainty folk, who
are clothed in purple, fare deliciously, and have their
chiefest hope in this world, for we esteem them not, but
are joyful that for the discharge of our duties we are driven
hence, and, with thanks to God, we know the way to heaven
to be as ready by water as by land, and therefore we care not
which way we go.' "
" Those friars and all the rest of their order were banished
shortly after, and then none durst openly oppose them
selves against the King's affections."*
Curwin was made Dean of Hereford for his pliant action
as to the King's conduct. When Cuthbert Tunstal preached
against the Pope's Spiritual Supremacy in England, he was
answered by several powerful sermons from the Observant
Fathers. They constituted missions throughout the country,
and enjoined the people " not to leap out of Peter's ship,"
and to beware of the false prophets who were ministering

* Stow's Chronicle, p. 562 ; Holinshed and Thorndale.

The Observant Fathers of Greenwich. 381
to the King's vanity.* In Yorkshire thousands of people
came forth to greet the Observant Fathers. They were
fearless in denouncing all encroachments upon the Church,
for which they earned the enmity of the Court party, con
currently with the reverence and affection of the people.
But, as even amongst the Apostles there was a faithless
one, Richard Gyht, one of the Observant Brotherhood of
Greenwich, was the spy of Anna Boleyn upon the actions
of the community, giving her constant intelligence as to
the opinions " expressed by the Fathers upon the merits of
the rival Queens." Gyht was rewarded by Anna with a
rich Church living.f Anna Boleyn being able to procure
church livings for her spies and agents is another amongst
the many proofs of the injury inflicted in those days upon
religion by its connection with the State. J
Many misrepresentations have been made by Puritan
writers as to the character of the Observants. The Observant
Fathers were long known to, and much regarded by,
Henry VII. He gave them a small piece of land near
Greenwich Palace, and some money to set them forward on
their works of goodness and mercy, all which works were
performed for " the honour of God." There were two
young friars in this community who were the special
favourites of Henry VIL— namely, John Forrest and
Wdliam Peto, both remarkable for their " calm and pious

* Adam Goodchylde's Account of the Sufferings of the Observant Fathers.
+ Ellis's Original Royal Letters, Third Series.
X In the Carew State Papers are to be found some of the troubles caused
to CrumweU and Archbishop Browne by the zeal of the Observant Fathers,
who made common cause with the Irish Catholics against the King's assump
tion of spiritual supremacy, and " all other approaches to the Reformation."

382 The Observant Fathers of Greenwich.
courage and their high sense of equity." The intercourse
between these friars and the Royal Family was courteous,
respectful, edifying, kindly. According to the rules of
the community, they were vowed to live in poverty and
obedience ; they supplied a meat dinner for visitors or for
the poor, whilst they themselves partook of vegetables,
bread, and water; they were to " attend the insane, the
outcast, and the leper : they were the unpaid nurses of the
sick, the unsought teachers of the poor ; they went into
woods and forests to seek outlaws and desperate characters ;
and converted many of the " sorrow-laden creatures," as
Archbishop Deane styled those who retreated to a forest
home for an existence. The Observant Fathers were cele
brated for the cultivation of herbs ; they studied medicine,
chemistry, and surgery; they were admirable gardeners, and
made most wholesome vegetable soup for the sick poor.
" I saw the young King and his bride," says Thorndale,
" sit down in a homely way and partake of soup with Father
Peto." The Observants' community tilled the land ; they
planted fruit trees for the poor beside the cottage homes ;
and, in the words of a distinguished Protestant writer,
" they did work which no one else would look after," and
took no payment for their labour. They were bound by
their vows to follow armies on the march, to shrive (confess)
the dying, and to decently cover the dead in the grave."*
In fact, most of the heroic deeds of the present day are
imitations of the examples of the " good fathers" of old ;
and the " Geneva Cross" of recent battle-fields is a welcome

* Thorndale's Memorials ; Plastow, the Dutch traveller ; Hepworth Dixon's
Two Queens, vol. ii.

The Observant Fathers of Greenwich. 383
repetition by conscious and unconscious believers of the
present day.in those unselfish men who derived their faith
and fearless devotion direct from the Cross 6f the Divine
Founder of Christianity. Queen Katharine was a Sister of
the Observant Order ; and the brotherhood were much in
debted to both King and Queen. At Greenwich the
Observants had five houses, which were dedicated to the
Virgin Mother,' to St. Francis, St. Joseph, and other .saints
of blessed memory. Henry VII. left five hundred marks
to keep those houses in repair. As soon as Katharine' be
came Queen she expended much money on this community.
Whilst at Greenwich she repaired every morning to the
neatly-decorated chapel. There she knelt and prayed be
fore the high altar, at which not many years before the
lovely and hopeful Castilian maid pledged her bridal vows
to Henry Tudor. Father Forrest and his community were
Katharine's devoted English friends. They had witnessed
the sunshine which surrounded her for many years ; later,
when the sudden change came they participated in the
darkness of her fortunes, and, as the thunderstorm burst
around the royal lady, these poor honest-minded men
shrank never from the way of duty. They took their part
in the path of danger, and were not only not afraid to vin
dicate the wrongs, but to the cold mind of philosophy
seemed officiously to anathematise the wrong, and denounce
the wronger, never afraid to speak " God's truth." When
divested of her queenly titles, the Observant Fathers still
adhered to Katharine. But the end soon came ; the Queen
sank into the grave a broken-hearted heir to the reverence
of posterity. Father Forrest perished by a barbarous
immolation, and the rest of the community were ruthlessly

384 The Observant Fathers of Greenwich.
driven from the dismantled home of their edifying and1
beneficent duties. And I must add, that the people of
the south of Ireland extended their hospitality and sym
pathy to a few of the Observant Fathers who landed at
Kinsale, half-naked, half-starved, hunted like the hungry
mountain wolf in their own once happy land, where they
had rendered so much service to religion and humanity.
Such was the end of Henry the Seventh's benevolent and
pious endowment for the " cure of souls and the honour
and the glory of God."

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 385

CHAPTER XXXII.
FALL OF ANNA BOLEYN.
In the autumn of 1535 the Queen underwent a marvellous
change; her courtiers were astonished; her manners became
reserved ; she curtailed her hours of pleasure ; the chase
was almost laid aside ; every morning she attended the
celebration of Mass, and visited her private chapel several
times daily, where she knelt before the altar alone. Mar
garet Lee affirms that on those occasions the Queen sobbed
and cried heartily. Her health was in a delicate condition
for some time. She was honoured with little of her royal
husband's society. Her leisure was occupied in needlework
with her ladies, and hearing "tales of distress." On two
days in the week she granted interviews to poor women,
heard their "sad stories and bettered their condition."
This was just following in the track of Queen Katharine.
Wxyatt relates that the matchless tapestry at Hampton Court
Palace was, for the most part, wrought by the skilful hands
of Queen Anna and her ladies ; " but far more precious,"
he says, " in the sight of God were those works which she
caused her maidens and those about her daily to execute in
shirts and other garments for the use of the poor ; and not
contented with that, her eye of charity, her hand of bounty
passed through the whole land."* This picture is drawn by

* Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. ii..
VOL 1. CO

386 Fall of A nna Boleyn.
the friend of her youth — an enthusiastic admirer ; but it is
borne out by trustworthy evidence. To the credit of Anna
it is also recorded that she directed a certain sum from her
privy purse to be distributed to every village in England for
the relief of its distressed inhabitants. With greater wisdom
she planned the institution of a variety of manufactures,
with a view of giving more permanent assistance to those
who were destitute of a livelihood, and without employment,
in consequence of the ruin of the religious houses. During
the last nine months of her life the Queen distributed
nearly 10,000/. — a very large sum in those days — in alms ;
she also caused many "promising youths" to be educated
for the Church — for that Church to which she had always
adhered. But whilst performing so many good offices,
Anna Boleyn continued to incite the King to persecute
Queen Katharine by depriving her of the solace of her
daughter's society, and exacting from the Princess Mary a
submission from which nature and religion alike revolted.
The proofs of the Queen's conduct to her step-daughter are
quite conclusive. In a. letter to Lady Shelton, her High
ness speaks in a contemptuous tone of the Princess Mary.
" She can neither do good or ill to me."* On another
occasion, Queen Katharine was styled " that old woman."
Those who desired to obtain the patronage or win the favour
of Anna, were persons who unscrupulously defamed the
dethroned Queen. At best Anna Boleyn was only the Queen
of a party. The old nobility and the independent gentry
despised the woman who had been created a Queen by the
perfidious aid of Archbishop Cranmer. All that was good

* Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. ii.

Fall of A n na Boleyn. 387
and virtuous in the land continued to honour Katharine of
Arragon. As I have already stated, the triumph of Anna Boleyn
over the royal lady of Arragon was but brief. Her con
finement of a dead son sealed her fate.* It is quite evi
dent, however, that Jane Seymour, and her brother Edward,
were for some time, by various schemes, undermining the
Queen's reputation. No being is so ready to find fault as
the man possessed by a foregone conclusion. Henry
employed the interval of his wife's illness to provide for her
displacement. The Queen was no longer " darhng Nan."
Judging by her own conduct to Queen Katharine, Anna
Boleyn suspected her ladies of playing false, yet she had
sometimes reason to doubt the sincerity and honour of those
" fair dames of qualitie." Here is a scene between Anna
and one of her concealed rivals : — " A lovely girl, whose
auburn hair and clear fair skin were contrasted with a dress
of ruby-coloured damask, denoting her rank as a knight's
daughter — and right to wear that costly material— stood
near the King, looking so innocent and childish that no
one could suspect her of doing anything dishonourable or
treacherous. The King placed a ring on her finger ; she
accepted the gift in a playful manner, and immediately
bounded to the Queen who was ill in another apartment ;

* According to the secret despatches of Palamedes Gontier, » gentleman
connected with the French embassy, the King and the Queen lived on the
" worst terms, for the last twelve months of her existence." For weeks she
dare not enter his presence, and his language to her was violent and often
indecent. Her life was sad in the extreme ; and she sometimes expressed fears
as to what might be her fate.-" Gontier knew Anna's domestic troubles well ;
she often sought the advice of that good and venerable French gentleman, who
was the friend of her old confessor, Stephen Gardyner, then in France.
r. r. 2

388 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
and kneeling before her royal mistress, asked permission to
kiss her hand. Anna's face became crimson with passion ;
she almost spurned her maid of honour, and in an excited
tone said, "Leave the room; go, go, at once !"* The innocent-
looking maid of honour was Jane Seymour, then carrying
on an intrigue with Henry. The " discreet and modest "
Jane Seymour was artfully approaching the object of her
ambition — the perilous position of a Queen Consort. One
day the queen noticed a jewel of great richness hung round
Jane's neck, and wished to look at it. Struck with the
young lady's reluctance to submit it to her inspection, the
Queen snatched it from her with violence, and found it to
contain her faithless husband's miniature. "Anna screamed
and fainted away." From that moment she dated her
decline in the King's affections, and foresaw the ascendancy
of her rival. There are several versions of this story. It
is certain, however, that Henry began to regard the conduct
of his once worshipped Anna with an altered feeling about
the close of 1535. The easy gaiety of manner which he had
formerly remarked with delight, as an indication ofthe inno
cence of her heart, and the artlessness of her disposition,
was now regarded as a culpable levity, offensive to his pride
and excitive of his jealousy. His impetuous temper scorned
to investigate proofs or to fathom motives ; a pretext alone
was wanting to his rage, and this he found quite soon.
May-day in those times was wont to be observed at Court
as a high festival. Joust and tournament were held at
Greenwich, before the King and Queen, in which Lord
Rochford was the chief challenger, and Sir Henry Norris

* This scene was witnessed by Lady Lee.

Fall of A nna Boleyn. 389
principal defender. The scene was very brilliant ; but in the
midst of the entertainment the King rose and suddenly
quitted the field in an affected anger. No cause was
assigned. Subsequent circumstances, however, proved that
the scheme was arranged several days previously. As hus
band and wife, Henry Tudor and Anna never met again in
this world.
The greatest partizans of Anna must admit that she was
guilty of " indiscretions." When Queen, she permitted
herself to be addressed by courtiers, and even by menials,
with a freedom of expression that detracted much from her
sustainment of the Queenly position. She was throughout
deficient in moral strength, manifested much vacillation of
mind, and too often displayed an absence of truth. The
slave of vanity, regardless of those high principles which
are the guiding star of a true-souled woman, the height to
which she had been exalted could not fail to have been
perilous even with a far more forbearing master.
The Wyatts, the Brooks, and other personal friends of
Anna Boleyn believed her to be far too clever a woman to
leave herself in the power of the men who became her
accusers. She thoroughly understood them. The con
spiracy against her was arranged by people who had the
most opposite interests at stake. Of course the King was
the unseen assassin; Crumwell and the Seymours arranged
the drama. The servants were bribed; the spy system
entered the Queen's bedroom, and even the ladies of the
Court could be purchased; and those who spurned the
bribe retired from the scene trembling with fear and horror,
afraid to tell the Queen what they had heard, whilst the
apparently unconscious Anna moved forward till the May-day

39<3 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
arrived. Had she any presentiment on that morning of
the future ? Did that teasing monitor Conscience conjure
up the by-gone? Margaret Lee states that the Queen did
not seem happy on May morning ; there was evidently
some terror hanging around her, although, as usual, artfully
concealed. The plot gradually unfolds, and the principal actors are
to be seen in the distance. The conspiracy is so compli
cated that I shall have to return to the same characters
frequently, as their actions lead to such apparently opposite
conclusions, and involve so many contradictions. The
¦policy of the King himself was to conceal from posterity
the motives which led to the impeachment of the Queen,
whilst his agents were looking to their own immediate in
terests, which were in danger as long as Anna exercised the
influence of a royal wife.
When the Queen left Greenwich Park on this memorable
May-day, she was not without misgivings. Having reached
the Palace of Placentia she quickly sought the King; but he
was not there. She could, however, perceive that a cold
and formal kind of respect was now tendered to her : the
homage, the enthusiasm, the love of yesterday had fled.
Who ever trusted in the friendship of courtiers but to be
deceived? There were a few noble exceptions, however,
amongst whom are named Margaret Lee and Mildred
Wyatt. Looking around her like a scared fawn, the poor
victim of a pre-arranged conspiracy remarked to her faith
ful friend, Margaret Lee, "Oh, Meg, they have watched me
so this last few hours." The night was one of terror to
Anna. In the morning she walked awhile alone in those
gardens to which, in a short time, she was to bid farewell.

Fall of A nna Boleyn. 391

Still she had faith in her husband's supposed love. Whilst
standing under an apple-tree, where the air was balmy, and
soothed for a moment by the morning hymn of the wild
songsters of Nature, two of the young maidens attendant
approached her weeping. " How be it ?" exclaimed the
Queen. " The Duke of Norfolk, Lord Crumwell, Lord
Chancellor Audley, and the Lieutenant of the Tower de
mand your presence immediately," was the answer of one
of the ladies. " I shall attend the summons," was the
reply, and she hastily entered the Council Chamber.
A solemn silence prevailed for some minutes. The Duke
of Norfolk spoke first ; then Chancellor Audley ; Lord
Crumwell silently regarded the Queen, his face assuming
an ill-omened smile, which she returned with a look of
scorn. In the words of a spectator, "the Lords Commis
sioners behaved with the utmost rudeness."
The unhappy Queen could not understand the nature of
the intrusion; she seemed petrified to a statue, every tinge
of colour faded from that fair face so long an object of ad
miration — there she stood, her hands clasped together as
in supplication, her eyes fixed and dim, her brow like
marble. Her attitude was full of imploring sadness ; it
seemed as if the prayer for mercy had been uttered, though
the lips had moved not. So still she stood that not a
movement disturbed the white jewel which hung around
her whiter neck ; so still, that she seemed entranced, or as
one ready to sink into the arms of death. Gradually, as if
awakening from a dream, the Queen saw and felt what was
around her.
The Constable of the Tower, a man unaccustomed either
to respect or delicacy in the presence of ladies, next ad-

39 2 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
dressed the Queen: — "Madame, I arrest you for high
treason, at the command of my Sovereign Lord the King."
" Impossible," exclaimed the Queen. " But I must see
my child Ehzabeth ere I go with ye."*
The Commissioners refused her request. With a wild
hysterical shriek she fell back in the arms of her maidens.
Faithful and compassionate, they tried to soothe her; but
the words — "My child, my child, may I not see my child?"
broke in tones of anguish from the Queen. Once more she
appealed to the Commissioners, and sinking on her knees
besought them to permit her to see the infant Princess. "No,
you shall not," was the stern reply of Lord Crumwell. After
a few minutes the captive recovered herself, and then,
addressing the Lieutenant of the Tower, she said : — " Sir
William Kingston. I am ready to depart." She walked
towards the door with queenly dignity — here her maidens
collected around her. An affecting scene ensued. Three
of the ladies, by permission of the Duke of Norfolk, accom
panied her to the Tower. The passage from Placentia to
the fatal fortress was soon accomplished. The name of
Traitors' Gate startled her. She threw herself on the
ground upon her knees, exclaiming, " Oh Lord, help me !
as I am guiltless of the crimes of which I am accused."
Anna was next led into the enclosure to which " Bloody
Gate " formed the ominous entrance, and was conducted
to a room or cell. Her knees tottered, and sinking down
on the rugged stones, there she knelt in prayer. Such was
the opening scene of Anna Boleyn's captivity in the Tower.
A few days before, the Queen had troops of friends and

State Papers concerning Anna Boleyn's arrest.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 393
worshippers; the Duke of Suffolk and Archbishop Cranmer,
who would eagerly kiss the hem of her garment, had now
deserted her ; nay, even her father and stepmother had
openly joined in the condemnation, pronounced by perjured
lips. For the first three days in the Tower, Dame Ursula,
an old maiden sister of Lord Wiltshire, was the principal
spy left in the Queen's apartment, to watch her every move
ment. This vicious woman was in the interest of Lady
Rochford and the King. Her conduct to the fallen Anna
was cruel and heartless — unbke what a woman's should be
in such a case. That night Lady Rochford, Audley,
Crumwell, and the Duke of Suffolk, had a long private in
terview with the King at the Palace of Westminster. There
is no record of Archbishop Cranmer having been there; but
in a diary (still extant) of Crumwell's, he spe.aks of having
seen Ralph Morrice, the Archbishop of Canterbury's secre
tary, on this occasion in secret conversation with Lady Jane
Rochford, before she had her private interview with the
King. Of course there is no record of what occurred at
this meeting, which "went far into the night." There
can be no doubt that this council was held to make final
preparation for the destruction of Anna Boleyn.
Archbishop Cranmer professed to be in utter ignorance
of the Queen's arrest. Dean Hook rather significantly
observes that it was strange that no notice of this pro
ceeding had been given to the chief member of the Privy
Council* "With Cranmer at my shoulder I could
accomplish anything," was the exclamation of Henry on
many occasions. Yet it is alleged that the "afflicted

Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 499.

394 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
Primate," to use the words of Burnet, knew nothing of the
arrest, although it was all arranged ten days previously.
Dean Hook again remarks upon Chancellor Audley's visit
to Lambeth, to let Cranmer know what occurred. " The
King was evidently determined," writes the Dean, " upon a
divorce in some fashion. Would the Archbishop act
obsequiously in this case, as he had done in that of Queen
Katharine ? This was the question. Would the Archbishop
of Canterbury commit himself as a partizan on the side of
the King ? The Chancellor saw at a glance that Cranmer
would not hesitate to do what the King might demand of,
him. That point gained, the next was not worthy of a
thought." In another passage on the very same page,
Dean Hook expresses his opinion in a more decided form,
when he says : — " The Chancellor was quite satisfied, when
he saw that the judge before whom the case (a new divorce)
would be tried would give the judgment required." *
Let me add that Chancellor Audley was an excellent
interpreter of human nature in aU its varied phases, and at
a glance he was able to know how far he could prevail upon
a man — even an archbishop — to become one of his judicial
creatures. These observations are merely a supplement of Dean
Hook's opinion of Cranmer when he says, " In every base
action Henry found an instrument in his Archbishop of
Canterbury." f Mr. Dixon states that the Archbishop had
every reason to suppose his judgment of divorce would be
followed by an order for the Queen's release ; but Cranmer

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 500.
t Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vii. p. 448.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 395
was fully aware of the reverse ; so that this statement is
but a poor attempt to vindicate his conduct in relation to the
Queen. It is well authenticated that the unfortunate lady
frequently stated in the Tower that Dr. Cranmer " was all-
powerful in his influence with the King." How did he use
that influence in the case of his Royal mistress ? The sequel
to the tragic story is the best reply to his advocate.
In the days of her prosperity Queen Anna was constantly
making enemies for herself. Notwithstanding the angelic
picture Mr. Hepworth Dixon and other writers have drawn
of her, she was intensely vindictive ; she never forgave. Her
ambition was seldom restrained by even common- place
prudence. She continually pointed out the alleged blunders
and extravagance of Wolsey to the King; but Henry
did not like this kind of interference, and sharply told her
that she was " misinformed, for he knew to the contrary."*
More, Fisher, and the Carthusians, were the victims of her
resentment, because they all repudiated her claims to be
styled Queen. In Thomas Crumwell, however, she made
a determined and an unforgiving enemy; her conduct in
his case was honest and just, but not prudent. She
threatened to inform the King that, under the disguise of
the " Gospel and religion," Lord Crumwell, and those who
acted with him, were thinking of their, own interests rather
than those of the King ; that Crumwell amassed a large for
tune ; that he put everything up for sale ; that he was accus
tomed to take bribes, to confer Church livings on persons of
bad character. Lord Crumwell received 100£. from Dean
Layton, the noted monastic inquisitor, as a " fee" for his

Brewer's State Papers,

396 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
promotion to the Chancellorship of Sarum,* that abbots,
bishops, and priests, paid Crumwell tribute. The proofs of
these charges are now most conclusive. Crumwell felt that
one of the two must fall. His daring and unscrupulous mind
soon procured material on which to build a plot against the
Queen. That plot had no sectarian foundation, as stated
by Mr. Dixon. It was a combination of men possessed of
no honest intentions; a combination of flagitious elements^-of
persons who, by their professions and actions, blasphemed
the name of God — men who cared little as to whose life
was sacrificed, provided they accumulated fortunes in a long-
organised confiscation. Thomas Crumwell was just the
man to conduct such an adventure to a successful issue.
Many other circumstances conspire to prove that
Crumwell had a strong interest in making away with the
Queen. For instance — his connections ; his son was married
to Jane Seymour's sister, and a close intimacy existed
between the two families. There can be no doubt that
Crumwell and his spies were aware, for six months at least,
of the King's attentions to Jane Seymour. Lady Rochford,
Wyatt, and Anna herself, could perceive what might be the
result. Crumwell had a double game to play on this
occasion ; — first, his spirit of revenge against the Queen for
having " crossed him in his peculations ;" and next, the
promotion of his ambitious schemes by a royal alliance for
the Seymours. About this time Edward Seymour was
"lavish in his attentions upon Lord Crumwell;" and
Cranmer actually became openly devoted to the man whom
he feared and hated. So wrote Lord Cobham to his son-
in-law, Wyatt.
* Thorndale ; Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. ; J. H. Blunt's Reforma
tion, vol. i. ; also, The Monastic Houses of England.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 397
During the secret meetings of the King's Council, who
were arranging the projected arrest and impeachment of
the Queen, Archbishop Cranmer was suddenly summoned
to take his place in the Star Chamber as a Privy Councillor.*
It is not difficult to understand the motive which prompted
this proceeding on the part of Lord Crumwell and his royal
master. Let it be remembered that those whom Crumwell
hated, those who noticed his frauds upon the public treasury,
were doomed. At such a crisis as this Cranmer's fears of
Crumwell's resentment might possibly have overcome his
honest convictions. In this state of terror, the Archbishop
was no exception. It certainly looks strange that, at such
a critical moment, the Archbishop should have been called
upon to take part in the secret proceedings of the infamous
Star Chamber.f
So much had Anna mistaken her friends, that she told
Sir William Kingston, " would I had my bishops, for they
would all go to the King for me."* The Queen's old and
steady friend, Dr. Gardyner, was at this time Ambassador
at the French Court ; so that Cranmer and his party had
" a clear field for action." Gardyner was a friend of the
Boleyn family ; and there are several letters of Anna's to
him still extant. She. addresses him—- "Dear Maister
Stephen." One of her letters reached Gardyner when in
Rome on the divorce business.^ At the time of the trial
of Anna the bishops were on the stronger side, from fear
or interest ; they followed the example of the Primate.
Writing from the Tower to her husband, Anna says : —

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vi. p. 500.
t Singer's Cavendish, p. 224 ; Ellis's Royal Letters.
X Gardyner's Despatches ; Brewer's State Papers.

398 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
" Try me, good King, but let me have a lawful trial ; and let not
my sworn enemies sit as my accusers and judges. Yea, let me re
ceive an open trial, for my truth shall fear no open shame ; then
shall you see either mine innocence cleared before God, your
suspicion and conscience satisfied, the ignominy and slander of the
world stopped, or my guilt openly declared. . . . But if you
have already determined to destroy me by death, and an infamous
slander, then I humbly pray that the Almighty God will pardon you
for your great sin against me ; and that at the judgment seat where
you and I must shortly appear, my innocence shall be openly known,
and sufficiently cleared.
" From my doleful prison in the Tower, this the 6th day of
May, 1536. " (Signed) " Anna."
Some doubts had been thrown upon the authenticity of
this letter from the Tower; but Sir Henry Ellis has proved
it to be a genuine document.* Miss Strickland looks upon
it as the honest statement of an innocent and injured
woman. It also meets with the approval of such critical
historians as Sharon Turner. Another class of writers, in
their anxiety to link the name of Anna with Matthew
Parker and the Reformation, put forward the silly assertion
that the " letter from the Tower was the composition " of
Dr. Parker. The style of the note in question is certainly
that of the royal captive. Margaret Lee was present when
it was written, and suggested some alterations. It was re-
written, and the copy of the letter remained in the posses
sion of Lady Lee.
I shall have occasion to recur again to Parker, in refer-

* Ellis's Royal Letters, lst Series, p. 53.

* Fall of Anna Boleyn. 399
ence to the delusion of his having visited the Queen at the
Tower. The conduct of the King from the arrest and execution
of Anna was shocking for its heartless levity. A " great and
curious change came on the court. The King was merry,
if not mad. He told the peers and ladies of his household
to enjoy tlieir lives. He ran about from house to house.
He danced, he diced, he romped with everyone. Taking
his verses in his hands, he read them everywhere, and put
his critics in the Tower to shame. He sat up late at night,
and came home from his revels in the early hours of morn
ing, attended by his torch-bearers, pipers, and singing men,
dressed in fantastic crimson costumes, boisterous and noisy,
startling good folks from their rest; and making others
think of midnight ghosts or dancing witches."
" The King is in the highest spirits since the Lady Anna's
arrest," wrote Champneys. " He is gadding from place to
place, supping with various dames of qualitie, and staying
out till after midnight. ... He supped at the Bishop
of Carlyle's* house last night. The Bishop said he was
wild with merriment; he showed him a ballad he had

* The history of Dr. Kyte, "Bishop of Carlyle," is very little known to
writers upon Henry's reign. He was first brought forward by Wolsey, and is
described by Dodd as one of the Cardinal's " creatures." He was more of a
social than a political character, and frequently entertained the King and his
convivial companions. Carlo Logario states that Dr. Kyte was concerned in
the plot against Lord Percy, and whilst acting as his friend, betrayed his love
secrets to Wolsey. Kyte was ranged amongst the bitter enemies of the Queen
at the time of her fall. Anna could never forgive him for his heartless conduct
towards Percy and herself. The reader can form an idea of Dr. Kyte's merits
from the fact that he was patronised by Lord Crumwell, the Duke of Suffolk,
and King Henry.

400 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
written upon the  -, once fondly called ' darling Nan.'
The Bishop was grieved at his language." Dr. Kyte grieved
at Henry's language ! Nevertheless he was one of the ¦
King's agents in the conspiracy.
" The ladies who were left to watch and report every
word about the Queen were her mortal enemies." Dame
Cousins had orders to induce her to " gossip about the in
cidents of the past, and to write down every word she
spoke." Two other women constantly watched the Queen,
" sleeping or waking ;" and the Constable of the Tower
slept upon a pallet outside the bedroom door; whilst a few
steps further on ranged a number of armed men. Every
approach was guarded. About this time the King inforined
his profligate companions that he was married to Lady
Anna by sorcery; that a woman wedded to him by a hun
dred devils could not be a lawful wife."* " Lords Suffolk
and Clinton," writes Cobham, " were shocked at the un
feeling conduct of the King." The levity of the monarch
must have been very unpleasant when it shocked the
worthies named.
These reports come from the gossip of the courtiers,
and from people who were eye-witnesses of the King's
conduct. The Bishop of Carlisle and his domestics
saw much of Henry's movements. According to Mr.
Hepworth Dixon, the Princess Mary was engaged in
a conspiracy — or something like one — against the Queen,
and in league with Jane Seymour ; and then it is insinuated
that Jane Seymour was " a staunch Reformer ;" and at
another time, she was " a friend to the Reformers." If

* Dixon's Two Queens, vol. iv. ; Letters of Lady Rochford ; Despatches of
Champneys ; State Papers.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 401
Jane Seymour was so attached to the Reformers the Princess
Mary would have had little action with her. But the facts
of the case are the opposite.*
If Mr. Froude becomes erratic over the "Boleyn tragedy,"
Mr. Dixon wanders still farther, and presents a novel view
of the actors and their motives ; but every historical fact
bears completely against the latter writer's assumptions.
" The men of the ' new learning' (he says) stood aghast.
They knew their prop was gone. They felt for Anna the
passion and the reverence which a Carthusian and a Minorite
felt for Katherine." .... In another passage Mr. Dixon
sayS : — " Champneys was master of the plot  Audley
and Crumwell had been raking in the Queen's ante-room
for evidence."t Mr. Dixon produces the statement of a
contemporary and a friend of Cranmer — Alexander Alesse,
who depicts the state of excitement in which the populace
were on hearing of the Queen's arrest. Here is a passage
that requires explanation from those who quote Alesse as
an authority. " It was easy to foresee," he writes, " that
the Queen's death would bring about a change of religion in
the Court." Now, Mr. Dixon and his Scottish authority
leads the reader to infer that the religion of the Court at
that time was not the Latin Catholic. And again : —
" Kneeling before a crucifix, Anna spent her last few hours
on earth. The agony was sharp, and, filled with hope —
for in her darkest hour she had been led to think her con
tract with another man had saved her from a cruel pang."
This description is little compatible with the expressed

* Champney's Despatches ; Brewer's State Papers.
+ History of Two Queens, vol. iv.
vol. 1. i> r>

402 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
opinion of one who had just stated that the Reformers
were in such " fright at the misfortunes of their patroness."
A few lines down, in the same page, Mr. Dixon observes : —
" In conversing with her ladies, the Queen had mentioned
Antwerp as the town to which she might retire if her life
was saved. Antwerp was the city of her soul ; a refuge of
Reformers ; a stronghold of the printing-press ; a magazine
of English Bibles. She would seek that haven on the
Scheldt  Norfolk and Crumwell wished to have a
private execution. They had tried her in the Tower, and
they were determined to kill her in that Tower 
Every believer in the ' new learning' considered her inno
cent." And Mr. Dixon might add — if it suited the policy
of his work — that the people of the " old learning" did not
believe Anna guilty of the charges made against her. The
author next indulges in a flourish of sentiment. " If men
were capable of being roused, what sight could stir them
into frenzy like that of their young Queen being hacked to
death, in order that another woman might enjoy her
crown?" This chivalrous indignation is a little out of
place. A woman of six-and-thirty cannot be well styled a
young Queen. Mr. Dixon occasionally becomes enraptured
with the beauty of his heroine, but in vol. iii. p. 193, he
says :¦ — " No critic, not even her tutor, would have called
the girl at Hever pretty." I should imagine that an artist,
and not a tutor, would be the better judge. Mr. Dixon
presents Audley and Crumwell as the inexorable enemies
of the Queen ; — no doubt they were. And then he infers
that a conspiracy was got up by those men, and others, in
the Papal interest to destroy the Queen, who was the
patroness of the Reformers. " No one," writes Mr. Dixon,

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 403
" could say how far a man like Audley, moved by strong
party rage, would fling his nets." Was not Lord Audley
the implacable, unflinching enemy of the Papal party?
Look at his conduct in the case of Sir Thomas More, Bishop
Fisher, and the Carthusians. WTho were his colleagues ?
Such men as Rich and Fitzjames. If a Protestant party
did exist at that time, there can be no doubt that Audley
and Crumwell were its chief supporters. They were both
the enemies of the temporal interests, at least, of the olden
Church. Burnet describes Crumwell as a Lutheran ; and
he was everything that Mr. Froude could desire. The
" Hot-gospel" writers, from Foxe and Speed, down to Old
mixon, all claim Thomas Crumwell as the " heaven-born"
of the Reformers. The author of the " English Chancellors,"
and several other writers, have placed on record the cha
racter of Audley, as one of the basest and most unprincipled
men connected with Henry's Court. Archbishop Cranmer,
who, Mr. Dixon informs his readers, " was the friend of the
Queen," was also the confidential adviser of Lord Crumwell
— that " man whom the Reformers loved" — and both held
the same religious opinions, if any. The political and
religious ties existing between Cranmer and Crumwell are
well known. Strype says that Cranmer " required direction
from Lord Crumwell in everything he did."* This admission
on the part of a partizan biographer places the relations
between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Crumwell in a
very clear light. The Duke of Suffolk, the King's brother-
in-law, was another of Anna Boleyn's enemies. Suffolk
was the attached friend of Cranmer, and is set down as a

* Strype's Cranmer, vol. i. p. 79.
D D 2

404 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
promoter of the Reformation ; and Sir Francis Bryan is
noted amongst the Reformers who were "suddenly com
mitted to the Tower as the friends of the Queen." Bryan
was the companion of the King's " pleasures," and not likely
to belong to any party but what his royal master desired.
Lord Clinton was of the same school. If the Queen was
secretly a Reformer — a Lutheran say some — it was very
ungracious, if not base and "irreligious," on the part of
men like Crumwell, Audley,, Suffolk, and Clinton, to con
spire against her life. But in the sequel Mr. Dixon, with
oblivious candour, presents Anna Boleyn as a Latin Catholic,
receiving all the sacraments of the Latin Church. Mr.
Dixon is fully aware that the Reformers had no places of
worship, no liturgy, no formation — for a period of eleven
years after the death of Anna Boleyn. During that period
Cranmer and his friend Latimer were annually engaged in
trying and condemning " heretics" to the stake — which
signified Protestants of some mode of belief. Dean Hook
states that Cranmer was not a Protestant at this period. It
would, however, be a nice question to determine what he
was then or at any other time. Alexander Alesse professed
to be a Latin Catholic at the period of the Queen's fall. In
after years he came under the censure of the Six Acts,
having married whilst in holy orders. I am afraid Mr.
Dixon has placed too much reliance upon the statements of
Alesse. Cranmer was very friendly to him ; he was ' an
inveterate gossipper, and made public many matters that
his patron possibly did not desire. Beyond doubt, Alesse
was well acquainted with the Archbishop's private opinions
on most important public affairs.
Under the heading of " Gospel Light," by which Mr.
Dixon meant to convey something anti- Papal, the following

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 405

passage occurs : — " The Queen set a high example to her
maids, not only by attending Mass and going to confession,
but by calling in her chaplains and desiring them to admonish
and exhort as they found need."* Mr. Dixon next refers
to Latimer, Shaxton, and Parker — the latter a newly ordained
priest — holding the office of chaplain. It is necessary to
allude to the fact, that Shaxton was suspended for im
morality ; and as for Latimer, he has been described as " a
strange composition of good and evil." Surely the Queen,
who went to Mass daily, and to confession so frequently, and
caused her ladies to do the same, was not likely to approach
an altar where such men were the officiating priests. To
do so would necessarily detract from the Queen's merits.
If Mr. Dixon wishes to present his heroine as a Catholic,
what does he wish the reader to deduce from the above
statement ? Latimer and his brethren were the chief lights
of Protestantism in the next reign ; and as they necessarily
must have been hypocrites, if they are truly described
by Mr. Dixon, Queen Anna's Catholicity could gain
neither sanctity nor credit from the dispensation of their
offices. Mr. Froude vindicates Henry, and places him in the
front rank of all that is equitable and just.
" As in the choice of the commission, as in the conduct
of the trial, as in every detail through which the cause was
passed, the King had shown but one desire — to do all which
the most strict equity prescribed." And again, the learned
gentleman observes: — "Twenty-seven peers of 'unblemished
honour' — the noblest blood in the realm — were charged with
investigating the Queen's character, and each of them

History of Two Queens, vol. iv. p. 186.

406 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
severally stated on their oath and their honours that she was
guilty." Never, perhaps, was there a greater mistake.
Those nobles were either poor, embarrassed, or greedy of
patronage ; all of them were notoriously servile to the
Crowm This character applies with equal justice to nearly
all the peerage of Henry's reign.
Mrv Hepworth Dixon in his "Two Queens," differs
widely from Mr. Froude with regard to the trial of the
Queen, and the merits of the men who were her judges.
" The King and his Peers," he says, " had come to an
arrangement, and the trial of the Queen was no other than
a sham."* Very true indeed.
Anon the reader will be able to judge of the " unblemished
honour" of those nobles. There is still preserved a long
list of the abominable charges made against the Queen.
Amongst other allegations she was accused of having
poisoned Katharine of Arragon, and conspired to murder
the King. There is, however, no record extant of the
" proofs." No witnesses were brought face to face with
the accused ; a long indictment was read in court, and the
Attorney-General stated that the charges therein made were
proved. The Queen was allowed no counsel. The whole
scene was a mockery of English law and equity — even as
then understood. The next scene in the drama was to
place fhe defenceless woman at the bar, and the twenty-
seven " unblemished lords" having heard the Attorney-
General's statement, at once pronounced her guilty of the
crimes set forth in the indictment. The Duke of Norfolk,
in a very feeling address, passed sentence of death — to " be

* History of Two Queens, vol. iv. p. 811.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 407
consumed by fire at a stake." This law was passed specially
by Henry for the punishment of women who might commit
treason. When the Duke of Norfolk concluded his address, the
Queen rose from her chair. She was much excited at first,
then recovering her self-possession, she was about to address
the court, when her father's glance rested upon her. She
gave a faint cry and fell back in tbe chair. A murmur
ran through the justice-hall. Order was quickly restored,
by Lord Crumwell. The Queen, who summoned all her
courage and dignity to the scene, now stood forward, and
lifting her beautiful hazel eyes to heaven, and appealing to
the Eternal Judge, she said — " O, Father ! Creator ! Thou
who art the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Thou knowest
that I have not deserved this sentence of death pronounced
against me."
Here the spectators became dreadfully excited, and some
ladies fainted; one of the peers fell back dangerously ill;
but Lord Wiltshire was in no way moved by the position
of his daughter. Order having been restored, the Queen
continued her address for nearly two hours, and concluded
in these words : —
"My Lords, I will not say that your sentence is ini
quitous ; nor will I presume to say that my opinion ought
to be preferred to your judgment  I call the Eternal
God to witness that I am entirely innocent of all these
charges, and for these things I cannot ask pardon of the
Almighty. I have always been a faithful and loyal wife to
the King;* I have not, perhaps, at all times shown him

* Early on the morning of Anna Boleyn's trial, the King wrote a note to

408 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
that absolute humility and reverence which his graciousness
and generosity deserved, and the honour he has done me
required. I confess freely that I have had fancies and
suspicions of him, which I had not strength and discretion
enough to conceal. God knows, and God is my witness,
that I never failed towards him in any other way ; and I
shall confess no other at the hour of death. Bring before
me those who accuse me. They must doubt their evidence
who dare not produce it to the light of heaven. I am
innocent of the charges made against me. I call upon the
Holy Trinity and the whole Court of Heaven to witness the
truth of my words. My Lords, let me have an* open trial ;
a fair trial ; then I shall have nothing to fear ; let not my
sworn enemies sit as my accusers and judges.* Do not, my
Lords, imagine that I say this in order to prolong my life.
God has taught me how to die, and He will fortify my
faith. But do not, I beseech you, think I am so rapt in
spirit as not to lay the honour of my chastity to heart, of
which I should make small account in my extremity if I had
not cherished it my whole life long, as much as any Queen
on earth. I know that these, my last words, will serve no
other purpose ; but they will serve to justify my honour
and my chastity. As for my brother, and those others who
are unjustly condemned to loss of life and honour, I would
most willingly suffer many deaths to deliver them. But

his "new darling," Jane Seymour, who was residing near his own residence,
that all would soon be over ; and by three of the clock in the afternoon he
should be able to send her word of the " woman's" condemnation. The
missive of Mr. Froude's hero to Jane Seymour is still extant. How interest
ing to the biographer !
* The Queen here alluded to Lords Suffolk, Crumwell, Clinton, and Audley.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 409
since I see that the King will have their lives, I willingly
accept their doom ; and shall accompany them in their
deaths ; but with assurance, that I shall pass with them
into eternal life."*
When the final sentence was pronounced by the Chief
Commissioner, Anna Boleyn — for such she was then called
— stood for some moments absorbed; her hands upraised,
her head thrown back, " and at this moment," writes a
spectator, " she was the figure of a wronged woman."
Then, in a slow, solemn tone the Queen again uttered these
words, " Oh, Father of Heaven, Thou that art the Way, the
Truth, and the Life, Thou knowest if I have deserved this
death." Bowing to the court and the excited spectators,
Anna Boleyn retired. From this moment her character
rose to sublimity, and her Christian fortitude became more
marked. The peers, as if to please the King, " specially recom
mended that Anna Boleyn should be sent to the stake."
Another recommendation was to the effect that she might
" suffer whatever death his Highness was pleased to order."
The law for sending women to the stake for high treason
was on the statute book from Henry's reign down to 1791.
Lady Bulmer was the only woman who was sent to the
flames for high treason; several women, however, suffered

* Crispin, Lord of Milherne ; Meterin's History of the Low Countries,
vol. i. p. 20; Sir James Macintosh, Tytler, and Miss Strickland, adopt
the above version of the Queen's speech. The foreign noble referred to
was present at the trial; ' I must, however, call the reader's attention
to the fact that Burnet, Lingard, and Froude, question the accuracy of
the speech attributed to Anna Boleyn. The Despatches of the French
Ambassador leave no doubt as to the accuracy of Anna's address to the Court ;
only a fragment of it has reached posterity.

4 1 o Fall of Anna Boleyn.
at the stake for their religious opinions in the days of the
Tudor dynasty. The crimes alleged against Catherine
Howard and Lady Rochford came within the range of this
infamous law, but the mercy of humane Henry handed them
over to an expert headsman. The next woman who came
to die for treason was the Countess of Salisbury. In her
case the " axe," and not the " stake," represented the
tyrant's will.* Mr. Hallam remarks ; — " Few have hesi
tated to admit Anna Boleyn's innocence of the charges
brought against her. But her discretion was by no means
sufficient to preserve her steps on that dizzy height which
she had ascended with more eager ambition than feminine
delicacy would approve. "f Lingard represents Anna
Boleyn as an " innocent and injured woman at this
period." The spectators at the trial of the Queen were shocked at
the fashion in which the proceedings were conducted. The
Lord Mayor of London, who was present, subsequently
stated that he could see nothing in the process of law but
that of a determined plan to take away the life of an inno
cent woman. The opinion of London's chief magistrate
was that of the intelligent portion of the citizens. As to
the " upper classes," they either affected to adopt the
King's views, or were silent. Perhaps the commercial
community stood more independent of the Crown at this
time than any other class. Henry often required loans of
money from his merchants, and in return was very compli
mentary to them, seldom interfering with their privileges,

* Statutes of the Realm ; Hallam's Constitutional Hist. vol. i. p. 32.
T Hallam's Constitutional Hist. vol. i. ; Lingard, vol. v.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 4 1 1
provided they did not " chatter too loud," a significant
saying of the monarch. Wyatt states that the general
opinion of the people of London and other places was that
Anna had " cleared herself in a wise and noble speech, and
that her conduct throughout the day was that of an innocent
woman." As Thomas Wyatt caught a glance of the Queen
during the trial, he remarked, " She now looks like Nan
of Hever, my playmate and early friend." The account
given in the Harleian MSS. is to the effect— " That, having
an excellent quick wit, and being a ready speaker, she did
so answer all objections that her acquittal was expected."
But the "unblemished lords" understood what the King
required them to do. Camden, always a correct authority
as to public feeling at the time, mentions that " the
people who were present at the trial had no doubt of the
Queen's innocence; but she was nearly circumvented and
worried out of life by the judges." "There is," says
Sharon Turner, " a combination of feeling, natural
eloquence, and good sense in her speech, which need no
panegyrist, and must, with her beautiful person, have made
a deep impression upon all present."
Some curious incidents occurred during the trial of the
Queen. The people present looked with horror towards
Lord Wiltshire. He sat like a statue, and never spoke
until the Lords Commissioners retired to "consider" the
king's commands. Of how he acted then there is no record.
Another figure present, if known to the public, would have
been an object of sympathy. A careworn, sottish, elderly
man, who looked frequently from a corner of the court
towards the prisoner at the bar, suddenly became ill, and
was removed in a state of great excitement. The man in

4 x 2 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
question was the Earl of Northumberland, once known as
Harry Percy, the early lover of Anna Boleyn.* In a
distant nook sat Thomas Wyatt, his handsome intelligent
face pale and thoughtful, his eye fixed upon the calm and
dignified being who had every moment to defend herself
against " fresh accusations." Margaret Lee, Wyatt's
sister, and another lady, were " at a small window peeping
into the hall, sobbing heartily."
Wyatt and Percy were early friends, and often met at
Hever Castle. The contrast between the two men was
remarkable. Wyatt relates a conversation he had with Percy
concerning Anna Boleyn on the very day he was married to
Lady Mary Talbot. " He told me," says the poet, " that he
had an honest love for Anna Boleyn, but he did not think
she was sincere as regarded him. ' Tell her/ said Percy,
had I thought she had been true to me, the Cardinal and
the King should have torn this heart from me ere I had
wedded another. But what matter it now ? No one
shall know of my feelings in the business. All rest here'
(pointing to his heart)." This story having been related
by Percy's secret rival, makes it more credible ; it is, how
ever, borne out by others connected with the family
history. For more than a century after the death of Anna
Boleyn and Harry Percy romantic stories were current in
the neighbourhood of Alnwick and Hever, in which the
people placed implicit credence. A tradition of Hever
states that a person disguised as a pilgrim stood in a corner
of the village church at the celebration of Percy's marriage,
and when he passed along a hedge, on his way from the

* Baga de Secretis ; Carlo Logario.

Fall of A nna Boleyn. 413
chapel, the pilgrim threw a casket in his way, and instantly
retired to the wood on the other side of the road. The
bridegroom, who believed in omens, picked it up and found
it contained a ring with a lock of dark hair; the initials
" A. B." were on the ring. The pilgrim was supposed to
be Anna Boleyn. It is certain that Anna felt delight in
romantic scenes and stories, but she cannot well have
participated in the one alleged, as she was not in England
when Percy was married. In 1548 Mary Graham, a " Border
Poetess," wrote a very feeling sonnet, entitled " Percy's
Farewell to Nan of Hever." Another "Border ladye"
wrote a story upon " Brave Harry Percy and False Nan,"
which was subsequently printed at Madrid, with some addi
tions by Don Francisco de Barbarine, about 1550.
In the early part of Elizabeth's reign three histories of
Anna Boleyn were published — one in Paris, another in
Germany, and the third at Venice. I have already alluded
to the latter work. Two of these books differed widely, and
were evidently written for party purposes. The German
writer represents Anna " as a most God-fearing Lutheran,
brought to the scaffold by the plots of the Papists. At
the scaffold the Queen kissed Tyndale's Bible, and told
the people to banish Popery out of the land." And again,
"I die a true follower of Martin Luther." The French
memoir attributed the most shocking crimes to Anna. It
charged her with having poisoned Katharine of Arragon ;
having violated her vows as a nun in France when twenty
years of age ; " the patron of immoral clerics in England ;
a woman of no generosity, pity, or humanity." Mere
assertions, as devoid of truth as the German fabrications.
Many works have been published in England during the

4 1 4 Fall of A nna Boleyn.
last 260 years on the career of Anna Boleyn, which are from
beginning to end "pure and unadulterated lies." Some
Catholic writers seem to have had as great a desire to
misrepresent Anna Boleyn as those Protestant historians
who claim her as the " standard-bearer of the Reformation"
in England. Both parties have displayed bad taste and
little regard for truth.
To return to the "judicial inquiry." The circumstances
which occurred subsequent to the Queen's trial prove how
far the King acted in the spirit of equity ascribed to him.
The Queen's statement to the Archbishop of Canterbury
of an " early indiscretion," may now be considered just as
questionable as that of being " not only formally, but really
and completely married to Lord Percy nine years previous."
But it happens that Percy was also examined before Arch
bishop Cranmer and Lord Crumwell, on oath. His evi
dence was solemn and remarkable. " I do swear," said he,
" before the Blessed and Most Adorable Sacrament, that
damnation may befall me hereafter, if ever there was any
contract or promise of marriage between Anna Boleyn and
me." . And on another occasion he made a similar declara
tion after receiving Holy Communion. In the face of this
declaration Archbishop Cranmer declared the marriage be
tween Henry and Anna to be null and void on the ground
of her previous engagement to Lord Percy. Cranmer's
own register places him in the wrong.*
Archbishop Cranmer's letter to the King on the Queen's
arrest, whilst speaking of her former goodness, delicately
insinuates a doubt as to her present innocence. " I am

Lambeth MS . ; State Papers ; History of Two Queens, vol. iv.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. 415
exceedingly sorry," writes the Archbishop, " that such faults
can be proved against the Queen as I heard of in this rela
tion."* This was- just the kind of suggestive sympathy and
advice Henry desired from his spiritual councillor, who,
judging by his conduct in the divorce of Katharine, and
other matters, in all probability knew his master's arrange
ments for another wife. Let it not be forgotten that, five
days before the arrest of the Queen, the future proceedings
were agreed upon as to her trial. A special commission —
another mockery of law — had been issued on the 25th of
April to various noblemen and judges for the investigation
of the charges to be preferred against the Queen. The
Commissioners having been duly sworn, they adjourned their
proceedings to the 10th of May, to send bills up to the
grand jury against the Queen, t Is it not quite clear that
these preparations were known to many persons of some
distinction and more or less connected with the Court ?
Although Cranmer's name is not in any way connected with
the Commission issued for the trial of the King's wife, five
days before she was either impeached or arrested, it is utterly
impossible to believe that the Archbishop was not fully
aware of everything that was being concerted for the ruin of
his patroness. Again, let the reader bear in mind that Dr.
Cranmer was a Privy Councillor, and one of the most trusted
of that body ; he was also the King's confidential adviser.
Henry wrote in a " free and easy" style to his Primate, and
consulted him on matters which he revealed to no other
man living. It is evident that a dark and murderous plot

* Cranmer's Records; Burnet, p. 2001.
+ Birch MS. in British Museum, No. 4293_.

4 1 6 Fall of Anna Boleyn.
was concerted for the destruction of the Queen. The King
was, undoubtedly, at the head of that conspiracy; the
Seymour intrigue is one of the proofs in that direction.
Crumwell was the man who arranged and carried out the
whole scheme. Could Crumwell have acted without Cran
mer's knowledge ? They were on close terms of intimacy
for years, and on all important public questions they were
known to agree. What are the probabilities of the case?
Sharon Turner, with evident reluctance, considers Cran
mer's letter to the King on this occasion " open to some
criticism." " Could the Archbishop," remarks Mr. Turner,
" forget his own obligations to the Queen, or his previous
estimation of her general merits ?"* A most puerile remark
in such a case.
Mr. Hepworth Dixon approaches Lord Wiltshire's posi
tion at this period with much delicacy. " Lord Wiltshire
received a royal order to attend as one of the Peers who
were to hear and determine the fate of his daughter.
He obeyed in silence. Those who had meant to crush him
were deceived. Anna's father was a masculine version of
herself. For many years he had been thinking of his end,
and length of days seemed less to him than to almost any
other man on earth. ' Erasmus had not written for him in
vain his noble treatise on the Preparation for Death.
If death were now come by either sudden stroke or
lingering pain, Lord Wiltshire and his children were
prepared to die."t
Mr. Hepworth Dixon's enthusiasm goes too far when
he writes in this fashion of a man who forced his daughter
* Sharon Turner, vol. x. p. 437.
t History of Two Queens, vol. iv. p. 309.

Fall of Anna Boleyn. a i 7

from the home of virtue and honour at Brie Convent, to
receive the addresses of another woman's husband. Lord
Wiltshire's degradation did not end with the immolation of
his daughter. A lower depth of shame and infamy awaited
him, before the grave closed over the quondam diplomatic
agent and clever envoy of Henry Tudor.
Mr. Froude contends that "Lord Wiltshire was absent
from the trials of his son and daughter, but was present
at the trial of the other prisoners."* Lord Wiltshire being
a peer of the realm could take no part in the investigation
ofthe charges against Norris, Weston, Brereton, and Smeaton.
In another passage Mr. Froude states that a petty jury
was returned at Westminster for the trial of the above-
named prisoners. ..." The four prisoners were brought
to the bar." Mr. Froude does not explain what part Lord
Wiltshire could take as a peer in the trial by a petty jury.
He forgets to inform his readers that the mode in which
the trial was conducted was almost without a precedent in
English history, t Mr. Froude feels displeased at posterity
attributing "wicked or unworthy motives" to his amiable hero,
Henry Tudor. Let the reader, however, closely consider
the antecedents of the monarch, and the relation in which
he stood to Jane Seymour at the very period of Anna's
impeachment and judicial murder, and the marriage which
took place in a few hours subsequent, then say what were
the King's motives.
Again Mr. Froude remarks of the Queen's trial —
" We can form no estimate of the evidence, for we do
not know what it was. We cannot especially accuse the

* Froude, vol. ii. p. 487. t Lingard, vol. v.
VOL. I. E E

4 1 8 Fall of A nna Boleyn.
form of the trial, for it was the form which was always
observed."* There appears, however, to have been but one
precedent "for the form" of trial, — namely that of the
Duke of Buckingham, whose judicial murder covers with
infamy all those connected with it. Simon Featherstone,
an experienced lawyer in Henry's reign, has recorded his
conviction that, illegal and arbitrary as had been the pro
ceedings against the Duke of Buckingham, they were
marked by a special degree of equity when compared with
those which attended the case of Queen Anna, wherein, at
every phase, the vengeful intention of the King was to be
distinctly recognised. Featherstone regards the Seymour
family as the nucleus of the conspiracy against the Queen.
It was their interest to be so, and interest in those times
was action.

* Froude, vol. ii. p. 491.

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 4 1 9

CHAPTER XXXIII.
LORD ROCHFORD AND HIS COMPANIONS.
Loud Rochford was charged with crimes amounting to
high treason, in connection with his sister's case, and like
the Queen, he was allowed no counsel to plead his cause.
No witnesses were called, but it was understood that his
wife was the chief accuser. He was confronted with no
witness; not one word was proved. Yet, judging from Mr.
Froude's reasoning, he was tried "according to law, and
legally condemned." Some of the jurors expressed their
horror at a man's life being forfeited upon the evidence
of one witness — and that witness Ms own wife ; others
referred to the fact that no witnesses appeared in court to
prove the case in the presence of the prisoner "as was right
in law." The Attorney- general replied that such was not
necessary ; the Crown prosecutors were satisfied with the
statements they received, and the Commissioners and Judges
should perform their duty to the King. " Is the prisoner
guilty or not. guilty?" exclaimed Sir Thomas Audley. A
silence ensued for some minutes; the question was again
put, when, with a shout, the Lords Commissioners pro
nounced the words, " Guilty, Guilty." The petty jury also
returned a verdict of Guilty. " Stand forward, George
Boleyn, once known as Viscount Rochford," was uttered by the
hoarse voice of a Crown official. Sentence of death, with
all the barbarous concomitants applied to treason, was at
once pronounced. e e 2

420 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
" Since I am to die," said Lord Rochford, " I will only
say that I am innocent.'" He requested that his debts
might be discharged before his property was confiscated to
the Crown. This was a request that Lord Crumwell and
his Royal Master seldom, if ever, granted to the condemned.
The prisoner was immediately removed to his room, where
he was subsequently visited by the Judges, and interrogated.
He calmly listened to the various charges, renewed again
and again. At length he said, "Do not, my lords, imagine
that I fear to die. My sister has to share my misery. On
my conscience, I declare before God to you that we both die
innocent; and again I call the Almighty God to witness the
truth of what I say. You, my lords, to-day are high and
mighty; but for many years past you have seen me such as you
are now. Your turn may come. If you judge me truly and
honestly, you will say that I am free from guilt. ... I
have always treated the Queen as a sister, and as a lady.
To be found guilty, and to be proved guilty, by an honest
jury, is a very different thing."
One of the " unblemished lords " who was standing iii the
room said that the remarks of the prisoner were audacious
and un-Christian. Another peer — I believe Lord Clinton
— observed that the " wicked saying deserved death."
The Commissioners next visited the Queen's cell, and
cross-examined her in a manner the most gross and un
feeling. In her answers she was dignified and queenly.
" My lords," she said, " I am broken down in health, and
overwhelmed with misery and sorrow. I am desolate and
friendless. Why strive to add more bitterness to my grief ?
All I can say is that, on my salvation, I have committed

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 42 1

no crime nor offence in any form against the King's
Highness." Sir Francis Weston is represented as gentle, kind-tem
pered to a degree, somewhat romantic; extravagant and
vain in the splendour of his dress ; he was brave and single-
hearted, honourable, generous, the beloved and sole object
of a widowed mother, and an only sister. Sir Henry
Norris was blunt and rough, but brave and handsome ;
expert in all manly exercises, and possessing a vein of
pleasantry, and an uncultured but ready wit, peculiarly
acceptable among the formalities of a Court like Henry's.
All the accused were speedily condemned. The prisoners
asked no other favour than a little time, in order to " con
fess their sins, and receive the Sacraments of the Church,
and die in peace with God." That favour was denied.
Sir, William Kingston specially waited on Lord Crumwell
concerning the request. The King at length permitted
them to have a confessor. It was late at night when an
old Franciscan friar, Father Barlow, entered Rochford's
cell. The good father had been the schoolfellow of George
Boleyn's uncle, and had known him from childhood. The
meeting and parting were affecting. It is stated on con
temporary authorities that Lord Rochford sent messages to
the King begging for mercy ; and it is even alleged that he
entreated (in a long letter) his wicked wife to intercede for
him with his Highness. This statement is scarcely pro
bable; but Cavendish, who was about the Court at the
time, affirms that Rochford "petitioned most humbly to
save his life after he was condemned." If Rochford's life
were spared, why not his sister's ? Lady Rochford never
troubled herself about any message of mercy. She inclined

422 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
the other way. Henry, however, had made up his mind to
slay the brother and sister ; and in such cases he always
fulfilled his intention.
Lord Rochford was a poet of some merit, and also well
versed in music. He was the author of a lyric popularly
known as "Farewell, my Lute," which it is said he sang on
the night before his execution. A doubtful story. He was
very differently employed on that last night of his existence.
Here are the words : —
" Farewell, my lute, this is the last
Labour that thou and I shall taste,
For ended is that we begun;
Now is the song both sung and past ;
My lute be still, for I have done."
Some mournful lines have been attributed to Anna
Boleyn, and it is contended that they were written on the
night of her condemnation. Many circumstances tend to
throw doubt upon the assertion. From the time the Queen
received sentence until the next morning she was in a state
of dreadful excitement, and quite incapable of such mental
exertion. Father Barlow likewise visited the other prisoners, all of
whom he had known in happier days. The unfortunate victims
seemed much reconciled to their fate after they had received
Holy Communion. The Confessor continued his labours
all night, remaining half an hour with each. They were
assured by the Constable of the Tower that there was no
chance of their lives being spared; the King's constant
exclamation being, " Hang them up, hang them up." If
the tyrant believed them to be guilty, he could not have
manifested a more ardent thirst for their blood. Great
exertion was made to save them. The dear little children

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 423
of Norris* were thrown in the King's way to beg their
father's life ; but they pleaded in vain. He dashed them
aside with a fearful oath. The relatives of Sir Francis
Weston used every interest to procure mercy. The French
Ambassador pleaded for him in the name of his Royal
Master. Lady Weston flung herself at the King's feet
and besought him to have pity on her son. The beautiful
young wife likewise appealed to Henry to save her husband.
She offered " to give up everything in the world, all the
property the family possessed." " Oh, great King, do not
take from me my husband, my first and only love ; have
mercy, have mercy, as you will some day yourself appear
before the Eternal Judge." In a gruff voice the tyrant
King replied, "No, no, I will not ;" and then with a ferocious
roar, " Let him hang, let him hang."t
The night preceding the execution of Lord Rochford and
his companions the King gave an entertainment at Green
wich Palace. His Highness led Jane Seymour to the dance ;
" trumpets and tabors resounded from the music loft ;" and
their notes were not the less merry that she, who was once
the brightest when those sounds of revelry were heard, then
lay in the Tower awaiting her cruel doom. No seeming
consciousness of a proximate tragedy visited the " high
born guests ;" no throb of sorrow mingled with the vibra
tions of the music. The King was " all courtesy, and
seemed full of noisy merriment," whilst Jane Seymour was
the centre of attraction. Next to her in beauty and magni
ficent robes, blazing in diamonds, appeared Lady Rochford,
whose husband was, through her unnatural instrumentality,

* Sir Henry Norris was one of the witnesses to the clandestine marriage of
Henry and Anna Boleyn, and was known to the King from childhood.
+ Letters of Carlo Logario to Father Cabrera, of the Spanish Embassy.

424 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
to die a few hours later. Shortly before the morning dawn
the revellers departed from Greenwich, and many of them
must have heard the solemn tones of the great bell of a
neighbouring church announcing prayers for those who were
at that moment walking in chains to the Tower Hill, to bid
a long farewell to a world which had proved to them at
their last hour to be one of deception and injustice. Ere
the lark had commenced its melodious welcome to the sun,
ere the May-dew evaporated in his expanding rays, " ere
the gossamer had vanished from the grass, or the elastic
heather had been flit over by startled bird, or trodden by
wandering lamb," Rochford and his companions reached the
scaffold, where some hundred people had loitered from mid
night. The incidents were marked and painful. On the
way to the scaffold young Lord Surrey, the companion and
friend of Rochford, rushed forward to take his farewell. The
" leave-taking" of two young and gifted poets was a scene
which moved even the thoughtless. In the words of Maister
Featherstone, " Men cried and sobbed like children. Maister
Kingston turned his head aside, for gaoler though he was, he
felt a human sorrow at seeing four fine young men going to a
death so preconcerted, and so flagitiously compassed. Sir
Francis Weston asked the people to pray for them, to which
all replied, ' We will, we will.' Lady Weston was present,
and held up a crucifix to her son. A broken-hearted
scream was heard from several young dames of high qualitie
and noble blood, but the guard did not permit them to
approach. It was three of the clock, and the morning looked
gloomy for the month of May."*

" The above has been modernized and condensed.

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 425
 1 
A London alderman, who was present, has left a de
scription of the scene, and noted the sympathies of the
people; many inquiring, "Where is all. this to end ?" The
old burgher adds : — " The Ladye Anna was not much liked
by the people. The women, in particidar, hated her, and
swore by the Virgin Mother that she was not a 'true
woman.' They loved the memory of good Queen Kate."*
The King had so far commuted the sentence that the
" gentlemen" were to suffer by the axe, and not the rope.
The good Franciscan father stood by his penitents to the
last. They kissed the Cross, embraced each other, and
" spoke their last adieux." Lord Rochford exhorted his
companions to die nobly in their innocence. They gathered
close to him, held him by the hands ; all were intensely
affected, each asked pardon of the other for any offence he
might have committed at any time. Rochford, on behalf
of his ill-fated friends and himself, addressed the populace.t
It is stated that Lord Rochford made a second declara
tion of his innocence, in presence of witnesses, and within
a few moments of his final preparation. His last words
were : — " Mother of God, intercede for me ; Lord Jesus
have mercy on my soul." Having made the sign of the
Cross with much reverence, his eyes were bandaged, and he
was led to the block by the Sheriff's men ; he knelt down,
the signal was given ; the headsman advanced, the " five

* The middle and lower classes of London could never be induced to style
Anna Boleyn Queen. Every circumstance in connection with Anna's private
and public history proves that she was merely the Queen of a party — a party
who were alike indifferent to religious principles and to national honour.
+ State Papers of Henry VIII.'s reign ; Lingard, vol. v. ; Strickland,
vol. ii. ; History of Two Queens, vol. iv.

426 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
minutes' grace" expired; no messenger of mercy arrived. The
Sheriff waved his wand for the last time, and after two terrific
blows from the executioner's weapon the head of George
Viscount Rochford was severed from the body. Thus
perished in the bloom of manhood an accomplished scholar,
a man of genius, a sweet poet, a musician, and an amiable
gentleman. Walpole remarks that " Rochford rose to a position like
Lord Rivers, through his sister Elizabeth Woodevylle, and
was innocently sacrificed on her account." There is no
case ir point between the alleged crimes of Rivers and those
of Rochford. Both men were unlike in abilities and men
tal culture. Anthony Woodevylle was young, handsome,
brave, and learned, but possessed by that sordid feeling
which characterized his family, and sometimes won the
contempt of the populace. So much for being Court1
favourites of those times.
To return to Henry's victims. The tragedy was not
yet concluded. The other three gentlemen were com
pelled to stand by at this fearful scene. They did so
with brave hearts, each awaiting his own turn with calm
ness and fortitude. Few words were spoken. Father
Barlow accompanied each of them to the front of the plat
form, where they called on the" Almighty to witness their
innocence of the crimes with which they were charged ;
they further declared the Queen to be an innocent and a
deeply injured woman; they begged of their friends and
relatives to pray for their souls' health, and told the people
to remember that they died in the faith of their fathers.
Morrice relates something to the same effect. No one
doubted their religious sentiments. Everyone present was

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 427

affected by the personal appearance and simple address of
Sir Francis Weston. " Even the executioner," writes
Cobham, " shed tears." This softness of heart in a busy
headsman of Henry's reign is exceptionally noteworthy, if
true. A Flemish gentleman, Paul Deboch, who was pre
sent, states that the blood was flowing copiously about the
scaffold, and the headless bodies, " half undressed," remained
there for some hours.*
It has been stated by spectators that Anna Boleyn wit
nessed the execution from a window in the Tower. There
is as bttle foundation for this story as for that of her father
and the Duke of Norfolk visiting her at an early hour on the
morning of her own death. The unhappy lady was aban
doned by all her kindred, and those who guarded her in the
Tower were " cruelly exacting in their watching." So says
Margaret Lee. Crumwell's brother was present at the
Tower on the occasion in question, and has left on record
an account of the "brave and Christian manner in which
Lord Rochford and his companions died, and that the
Queen was not allowed to witness the scene."
At five minutes to four of the clock on this sad
May morning the slaughter had ended, and the executioners
sat down in a businesslike manner to divide their blood-

* Godwin's Annals. There is no official record of the trial of Lord Roch
ford and his companions extant ; every document was destroyed. The accounts
of the proceedings are, in many instances, gathered from foreign sources —
letters, diaries, and traditions. Scant as the information to be derived from
those sources, it is quite sufficient to show that the King and his Council acted
in a most murderous spirit towards those unfortunate gentlemen. It is sup
posed that there are MSS. in some of the Continental libraries, Venice in
particular, that will yet reveal the true history of the plot to murder Anna
Boleyn.

428 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
stained spoil. The miserable servitor Smeaton, "not
being a gentleman," was consigned to the hangman, and
despatched by the rope awarded to common malefactors.
It is now certain that Smeaton was racked to extort a con
fession, and he remained firm, but being threatened with a
more " severe process," he cried out, " I will tell all."*
Then the vain boyish musician of the Queen, who followed
her "everywhere like a spoiled child," as Thomas Wyatt
would have it, criminated his royal patroness in a vile
manner. Grafton states that Admiral FitzWilliam, a
" creature of the King, induced Smeaton to sign a confes
sion, and then he would receive an immediate pardon. The
confession was signed, and Smeaton was hanged that he might
tell no tales to the people of what occurred." This was
very like Lord Crumwell's mode of action. " Two hours
later," writes Pomeroy, " came a message from the King
with the words, ' Hang him up at once.' " It is supposed
that Smeaton died without the rites of religion. Neither
Father Barlow nor Devett the Almoner were permitted to
see him. " Crumwell and the King," observes Pomeroy,
" had good reasons for preventing this wretched man from
seeing a clergyman, because they anticipated that at the last
moment he would recant the confession they had extorted
from his fears of the rack a second time." So Smeaton
perished. The chief victim still wore out an existence in the
Tower. Anna Boleyn was preparing to meet death upon
the scaffold in a few hours later.
Lady Rochford was one of the most heartless and unna-

* Constantyne's Memorials ; Sir James Macintosh's Hist, of England ;
Thirlwall's Last Hours of Queen Anna ; Pomeroy's Chronicle ; Logario's
Visits to the Tower.

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 429
tural characters connected with Henry's Court. She was
the daughter of Lord Morley.* At the time of her marriage
with George Boleyn she was a young widow. She dressed
magnificently, whether as Jane Parker or Lady Rochford.
The courtiers feared and hated her. There was something-
ungracious and insolent in her smile ; the white teeth which
it fully disclosed adorned a mouth of symmetrical beauty.
She was very handsome, tall, somewhat large in person,
and commanding in manner, with a pale, almost brunette,
complexion, and hair of jet black. Her brow was " wide
and full of intellect," her dark eyes seemed to read the very
soul of those who addressed her. Weston, Wyatt, and the
gentlemen of the Court disliked her ; the Queen and her
ladies feared her malice ; she had a violent temper, and was
deceitful and treacherous. During the divorce controversy
the ladies of Henry's Court had several sharp discussions
upon the projected elevation of Anna Boleyn to the throne,
The King interposed and sent three of the " noisy dames"
to the Tower for a month ; they were then discharged with
a reprimand. Strange to say, Lady Rochford was one of
the " patriotic three," as a writer of the last century styled
them. Lady Rochford held the office of maid of honour
to Queen Katharine for several years. At a subsequent
period she joined the King's party, and became a royal
favourite. Tradition states that one person listened to the announce
ment of Lord Rochford's execution with a smile. As the

• Lord Morley was the literary friend of the Princess Mary, and to his honour
be it told, did not forsake the Princess at the period of her father's persecution
of his "once-beloved daughter." Lady Morley was a true woman, andthe
devoted friend of Queen Katharine.

430 Lord Rochford and his Companions.
sound of the minute-gun reached Greenwich, Jane Rochford
stood before her toilet-glass, her magnificent dress and
jewels not yet withdrawn after the night's revelry; her
cheek was flushed with evil passions, her frame trembling
with emotion. She spoke not, but those who were near her
marked her countenance and read her fearful glance when
the concerted signal announced that her husband was no
more.* How pregnant with memories must have been the
mind of that unnatural and foresworn wife as she contrasted
the pomp of her dress, the heartless revelry in which she
had just participated, and the gallant but deserted victim
who, in the pride and confidence of love, had led her to the
altar, and whom her perjured tongue had, in return, con
signed to the scaffold. The dangerous court of a tyrant
should be the natural region for apprehensive thought. Did
no premonition of her own fate visit the brain of the guilty
wife, whose husband through her means now lay headless in
the Tower ? Are not such offences the result of a dominant
wickedness ? The crimes of the King begat the wickedness
of his surroundings, and men and women were gradually
led into the path of unrighteousness, by ambition, by fear,
or by example. All in high places have responsibilities
graduated by their power. How incalculable, then, is the
responsibility of a monarch who owns no guide but his
passions and his pride, and with no limit to his ability to
gratify them !

* Mary Langton, a relative of Lady Rochford's, was present, and describes
her friend as the most beautiful woman at Henry's Court ; and further, that
Jane Seymour was sometimes jealous of her. Many years subsequent Dame
Langton furnished Lady Fitzwalter with a minute account of Lady Rochford's
demeanour on the night in question.

Lord Rochford and his Companions. 431
In Dublin, and other parts of the Pale, a shout of exulta
tion was raised for the fate of Sir Thomas Brereton ; and
also for that of Anna Boleyn, who had long previously lost
her Irish popularity, which must have been very brief, and
probably contingent on Wolsey's proposed espousal of her
with her Irish cousin, James Butler. Some time before the
overthrow of Anna, Sir Thomas Brereton was despatched to
Ireland to put down an insurgent movement in the vicinity
of the Pale. He obeyed the King's command with great
barbarity, burning houses and slaying women and children.*
Hence the cause of his memory being so execrated in
Ireland.

* Irish State Papers, vol. ii.

43 2 The Queen's Death- Warrant.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE QUEEN'S DEATH-WARRANT.
The reader has seen the levity of the King at the
Greenwich ball — "time and circumstances" considered, it
seems almost impossible to realize facts, but that they are
so thoroughly authenticated. In a few hours later the
heartless monarch attended the Council Chamber, and, in the
presence of his Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, Lord
Crumwell, his council, and the secretaries, he signed the
death-warrant which consigned the once idolized Anna to
the headsman on the following day. Sir Richard Crumwell,
a Royal favourite, states that the King evinced no emotion
on signing the warrant, but seemed rather in good humour,
handing it (the fatal parchment) to the Chancellor saying,
with a smile — " There, I have done my part in vindicating
the law." What law? The tyrant's capricious will.
Crumwell adds : — " The King immediately retired ; and
the Lords looked one at another, but did not dare to wag
their tongues for fear."
It has been stated that the warrant was signed by
commission ; but such was not the case. The warrant
with Henry's well-known signature was amongst the State
papers of some twenty years ago, and is, perhaps, there
still. There are several cases on record where Henry
evinced the most vindictive feeling in signing the death-

The Queen's Death-Warrant. 433
warrants of illustrious subjects. In after years his
daughter, Elizabeth, followed his example in this mode of
action, especially in the case of the Queen of Scots.
Anna's fate was decided without pity or remorse. On
the day the King signed the death-warrant he had a private
interview with the Lieutenant of the Tower, when " he made
final arrangements" for the execution of the Queen on the
following day. Henry's instructions were of a minute and
business-like character, and he spoke in high spirits. This
information is derived from Kingston's confidential note to
Lord Crumwell, now to be found amongst the MSS.
records of the Grand Inquisitor.
On Thursday Anna was occupied at intervals in prayer
and writing letters to persons whom she had injured at
different periods. On the same day she sent Lady
Kingston " on a second mission " to the Princess Mary, to
implore of her, " on bended knees, to pardon the wrongs
and insults she had offered to her, when exercising a step
mother's authority."*
In the face of this statement, so well authenticated,
Mr. Dixon contends that the Princess Mary was treated
very kindly by her step- mother. Miss Aikin, a high
Anglican authority, states that Anna Boleyn "exercised
towards the Princess Mary a high degree of insolence and
harshness."t Nothing, however, could exceed the sorrow of
the fallen Queen for her ill-treatment of the Princess Mary.
The day passed, and with the twilight of the May
evening the hopes of the Queen had fled. The preparations

* John Speed first published this incident ; Queens of England, vol. ii.
p. 690 ; Lingard, vol. v. p. 75.
t Lucy Aikin's Court of Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 29.
VOL. I. F r

434 The Queen's Death-Warrant.
for her execution were going on, almost within her hearing.
In this last sad night what shadows of the past must have
risen before her ! She paced the room many times ; then
retired to her humble oratory, and knelt before a silver
crucifix, the gift of her early friend, Claude, Queen of
France. Another memorial of the past was the beads
which Dr. Gardyner brought her from Rome. Here Anna
prayed for some time alone. Again, she would speak to
her ladies, and make some loving allusions to Hever Castle ;
the hazel walk, the grotto, and her old domestics. At
times she became intensely excited, exclaiming, "Where
is my father ?" " Has he deserted me at this dreadful
moment?" "Oh, father, why have you joined with my
enemies?" "Do you believe me guilty?" " Oh, no, you
do not; you' cannot." "Where am I?" "Oh, my brain
is distracted." " Oh, mother, mother, dear kind mother,
where are you ? Have you forgotten your own Nan ?"*
" I have been cruelly handled by the King's Council. All
my friends have abandoned me ; and even the poor whom
I aided have shouted, 'Down with her.' Oh, Mother of God ;
oh, Jesus, give me strength to meet death as I should."
The entrance of Father Thirlwall gave her some comfort.
He prayed with her for nearly an hour. The holy water
from Westminster Abbey, which she desired, was brought
to her this evening by Margaret Lee. Lord Crumwell
gave full permission for the free exercise of every religious
rite on the part of the Queen. So wrote her confessor. f

* Lady Wiltshire was Anna's stepmother. Her own mother was dead four-
and-twenty years at this period.
t Thirlwall's Last Hours of Anna Boleyn; Kingston's Letters to Lord
Crumwell ; Archaelogia, vol. ii. ; Lingard, vol. v.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ? 435

CHAPTER XXXV.
WAS ANNA A LUTHERAN OR A CATHOLIC?
Much misrepresentation has taken place on the question of
the Queen's religion. I am therefore compelled, again and
again, to return to this matter, so obstinately debated by
various writers for the last three hundred years. Cranmer,
Latimer, and others of the same "disguised party," it is
alleged, visited the Queen on several occasions, and par
ticularly on the last night of her existence they brought
her " Gospel comfort ;" that " the King sent Dr. Cranmer to
her as a confessor;" then again, "Cranmer gave her
comfort from the Reformed faith." Did the " Reformed
faith" acknowledge "confession or the Real Presence?"
No one but those wholly ignorant of the Latin Church
could assert that Henry sent Cranmer to the Queen as a
confessor. Sharon Turner contends that Dr. Cranmer
visited the Queen on the ] 6th of May — three days before
the execution — as a confessor. For this statement he gives
a letter said to have been written by Kingston. I do not
believe that the letter named is genuine, because it is
contradicted by so many circumstances. It is affirmed by
other historians — Protestant historians — that the Queen
desired to have Father Devett, a " good old priest who was
long known to her family." All the " intricate surround
ings" of the case at once pronounce that the Archbishop
would be the last man living she would have selected for a
rr2

436 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ?
confessor on that special occasion. Even Henry would recoil
from such a sacrilege ; for base and reckless as he was at
this juncture, he would not send as a " confessor" to his
dying wife a man whom he knew had violated his religious
vows. Anna Boleyn likewise was aware of the Archbishop
having a wife ; and further, that his morals unfitted him
for any office of religion. As a Latin Catholic she could
not accept his " spiritual labours" on her behalf. However
repentance may be shunned or adjourned, a settled hour of
death compels the human soul which desires salvation to
an iron earnestness. This was, for Anna, no moment for
self-deception, or for the acceptation of deceit. What,
then, was the nature of Cranmer's visit ? His " diplomatic
note" to the King may be considered as the key to the
alleged interview. Father Thirlwall was in fact the con
fessor chosen by Anna Boleyn on the occasion ; he visited
her daily, and to him she made, what is known in the
Catholic Church as a " general confession." Father Devett
also attended, and the Duke of Norfolk, who is described
as a "hard-hearted man," sent specially Father Lavenue, a
French theologian, to " instruct the Queen in all ihe intri
cate doctrines of the Church." Father Lavenue reports
that " her Highness was well informed upon all the doctrines
of the Catholic faith in her youth." No doubt she was
well instructed in her youth. Her two uncles were priests,
and men of an exemplary character ; besides, the family
had two chaplains. Nothing, however, was more abhorrent
to the Boleyn family than the " religious" movement then
going forward in Germany.
Matthew Parker has been frequently named as a " Royal
Chaplain and confidential friend" of the Queen. Again, I

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic f 437
repeat, that there were many royal chaplains ; the office
was " honorary" as to most bf them ; it was a road to pro
motion through Court intrigue or favour — a very dis*
creditable manner of gaining preferment. Parker was not
ordained until 1527, and he received no licence to preach
for six years subsequently.* The first pulpit discourses he
ever delivered were in favour of the divorce of Katharine ;
he was recommended to the Court party for this purpose by
Dr. Skype, Bishop of Hertford, who was a friend of the
Boleyn family. Peto describes Parker's sermons in favour
of Anna Boleyn as " lying discourses, filled with shameful
flattery of the King and his brazen mistress." f Peto is a
high authority. For his pulpit advocacy of the divorce
Parker was appointed to a deanery in Norfolk, and " other
favours followed." Posterity owes to several historians the
statement that Parker's " Reformation sermons aroused the
King and Anna Boleyn to the necessity of a reform in the
Church." But Parker preached no such sermons in the
presence of either King or Queen. He was too astute and
too timorous to endanger his liberty or his life in a cause
like that. There is no record of his having done so, but
there are letters and other documents still to be seen which
prove that he was ready to promote the divorce of Katharine
by any means the King suggested* Nothing creditable
can be related of Parker in Henry's reign. In the case of
the Six Acts his conduct was characterised by the circum
spect cowardice then prevailing, and by the flexibility of a
man who had no regard for truth. For years he was in

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. ix.
t Letter of Father Peto to Maurice Chauncy.

438 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ?
the habit of celebrating Mass, almost daily, whilst at the
same time he had violated his vows of celibacy. In truth
he was a fearful hypocrite. Even his friend, John Bradford,
considered him a master of deception, " celebrating Mass
with Popish piety, and immediately after calling the Mass
a Popish fable."* Who could have faith in the principles
of such a " reformer of religion ?" Yet several writers of
high repute place his name amongst " The Apostles of the
Reformation." The reason is obvious. Matthew Parker
became Elizabeth's first Archbishop of Canterbury. Amongst
the venal and obsequious prelates of Elizabeth's reign none
more willingly yielded to her whims or her despotism than
did Matthew Parker. The reason I introduce the name of
Parker here is in relation to Anna Boleyn, and his " in
teresting interview with her in the Tower." The reader is
aware with what religious sentiments Anna died; therefore,
there is the strongest probability that she did not " recom
mend her child Elizabeth to the spiritual charge of a young
priest whose first sermons were preached in favour of the
divorce of Katharine of Arragon."t Although Anna
Boleyn made no public manifestation of her regret for
having done a dreadful wrong to Queen Katharine, never
theless it is well authenticated that she looked on that
incident as the blackest and most deadly crime of her life,
leading as it did. to so many judicial murders and massacres
throughout the land. Therefore, in the hour of her re
pentance, Anna Boleyn must have looked' upon the clerics

* Letter of Bradford to John Bale ; Aikin's Court of Elizabeth, vol. i.
+ Three Discourses of Maister Matthew Parker on the Sinful Marriage of
the King's Highness with the Ladye Katharine of Arragon.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic? 439
who promoted the divorce as being far more wicked than
herself. She repented with the tears and humility of a
Magdalen, but those who gave her evil counsel had no
regret — no remorse for the part they had taken. Standing on
the threshold of eternity the fallen Queen shrank from the
presence and advice of spiritual counsellors like Parker.
In fact, the whole narrative of the " interesting interviews
at the Tower" is pure fiction. It rests upon the authority
of Foxe, Burnet, and men of similar veracity. It is
curious that Dean Hook also clings to this assertion so
obstinately put forward by unreliable historians. The
Dean, in alluding to the " friendly" relations which existed
between Dr. Parker and Queen Elizabeth, observes : —
" Parker could never banish from his mind his last in
terview with the unfortunate Queen Anna, and her solemn
appeal to him to be the friend and protector of her
infant."* The closing scene of Anna's life should satisfy Dean
Hook that there is no probable proof of the " interview "
with Parker. In another chapter of the same volume the
Dean says — "Dr. Parker's visits were few and far be
tween." This passage is in reference to his office of
chaplain. Amongst the many admissions of Dean Hook as to the
religious sentiments of Anna Boleyn about the period of
her fall, he remarks : — " If Queen Anna had expressed a
doubt on Transubstantiation or Purgatory, or the Invocation
of Saints, or the Celibacy of the Clergy, or Auricular Con
fession, or the Seven Sacraments, the Royal controversialist

• Archbishops of Canterbury (Life of Parker), voL ix. p. 480.

440 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ?
would have translated her from the matrimonial couch to
the scaffold."* These admissions are valuable, when con
sidered in connection with other evidence.
Speed declares that Anna was " a pillar of the Gospel,"
meaning, says a Puritan commentator — that she was " a
God-fearing Protestant." In another chapter the same
author states that the Queen was " accounted a Lutheran ;"
and her " religion was different from all Papal forms."
Speed is silent as to the Queen's preparation for death.
Burnet wishes his readers to believe that Anna " received
some impressions of the Reformation at the Court of the
Duchesse d' Alencon." And again: — " The people generally
understood that she was a Lutheran." Now, these allega
tions are overthrown by well-certified facts.
Rapin dissents from his personal friends, Burnet and
Strype, as to the services rendered by Anna Boleyn to the
Reformation. He " cannot discover where the Queen pro
moted Protestantism."f He makes no allusion to the
alleged visits of Archbishop Cranmer to the Tower, " bear
ing Gospel comfort to the Queen." He indulges in none
of this Puritan cant. The only allusion Rapin makes to
Dr. Cranmer, as connected with Anna Boleyn's affairs at
this juncture, is that of her divorce, for which he censures
the Archbishop of Canterbury, but, at the same time, con-

* Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. ix.
+ Rapin de Thoyras' History of England, vol. i. This work was first
printed in French, and published at Antwerp, next at Berlin, Potsdam and
Vienna. The author was a distinguished officer in the army of William
the Third. The work was translated into English by the Rev. Nicholas
Tindal, and dedicated to Frederick Prince of Wales, father of King George the
Third. In the third volume of this work, under the title of " Conflicting
Authorities," I shall recur to the merits of Rapin as an author.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a CathoHc ? 441
siders " he was forced to do this unjust action." A poor
defence. Rapin passes over the scene at the Tower ; yet
he prints a letter of Sir William Kingston's to Lord Crum
well, describing the " preparations " for the execution.
This despatch differs from others written by the Constable
of the Tower about the same period. Here is a passage ; —
"'She'* sent for me this morning, that I might be with her
at such a time as ' she ' received the good Lord :" signifying
the Holy Communion.
Echard, a respectable Protestant historian, is quite satis
fied that Anna Boleyn " gave particular encouragement to
the Reformation ."t He gives no authority for this state
ment. Of course, either Foxe, Speed, Burnet, Strype, or
Oldmixon, were his guides.
Hume is silent as to the religious sentiments of the
Queen when condemned. He significantly remarks that
" when brought to the scaffold, she softened her tone a
little with regard to her protestations of innocence."! In
another passage he states that " the whole tenour of her
conduct forbids us to ascribe to her an abandoned character
such as is implied in the King's accusation." Burnet, in
remarking upon the incidents connected with the closing
scenes of the tragedy, contends that the King made the
most effectual apology for Anna by marrying Jane Seymour
the day after the judicial murder of his wife.§

* One of the orders issued by Lord Crumwell was, that the title of "Queen
or lady" was not to be applied to the " woman in the Tower." So the Constable
spoke of his prisoner as "she."
+ Echard's History of England, vol. i. p. 284.
X Hume's History of England, vol. iii. p. 208.
§ Burnet's Reformation, vol. i. p. 207.

442 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic f
Some curious incidents have been noted in connection
with Anna's alleged Lutheranism, when at the height of
her power. Ghy t, one of the Observant Fathers, who was
retained by the Queen as a spy upon his brethren, having
supplicated frequently for a secular appointment in the
Church, and having been as often refused, wrote to her
Highness, promising to celebrate "fifty Masses annually,"
for her soul's health; she at once complied with his request,
and gave him the desired preferment. This was very un
like the action of one who was a " staunch Lutheran," as
Burnet and many others have asserted.
I now arrive at the sequel of the misrepresentations as to
Anna Boleyn's religious principles.
Miss Strickland, in an evident tone of regret, avows that
Anna Boleyn " did not die a Protestant." " The Queen's
particular desire of having the consecrated elements to re
main in her little oratory — which in such cases is always
for the purposes of adoration — and the fact that she termed
the sacrament ' the good Lord,' proves plainly that she did
not die a Protestant. When she was about to receive the
sacrament she sent for Sir William Kingston, the Constable
of the Tower, that he might be a witness of her last solemn
protestation of her innocence of the crimes for which she
was sentenced to die before she became a partaker of the holy
rite."* "It is very difficult," adds Miss Strickland, "to
imagine any person wantonly provoking the wrath of God
by incurring the crime of perjury at such a moment. She
had evidently no hope, none whatever, of prolonging her
life ; she was quite resigned to die."
* Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. ii. p. 692.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ? 443
Lingard and Froude, though differing widely on many
subjects, in substance agree in their account of the Queen's
" religious rite." They state she used the words, " I will
receive our blessed Lord." Several Protestant historians
are silent as to this " ever memorable sacramental inter
view," as Paul de Lavenue describes it.
Mr. Hepworth Dixon is very minute, yet brief, in his
account of this important subject, upon which so many con
tradictory statements have been made. " The Constable of
the Tower," he says, " appeared at the Queen's request to
witness a scene which stirred his adamantine heart. He
heard the priest celebrate the Mass ; he saw the Queen kneel
down before the Host, and when the sacred wafer was placed
on her lip he heard her call on the Almighty God to witness
for her innocence."* These accounts quite agree with
Father Thirlwall's " Last Hours of Anna Boleyn." Thirl-
wall relates that the " Queen knelt on her bare knees for
nearly two hours before the Mass commenced, her face
bathed in tears ; that she was quite exhausted, yet still re
mained at prayer. Two of her ladies also received Holy
Communion, and a little boy some nine years old, a rela
tive of the Constable Kingston, made his first communion
kneeling beside the Queen." Father Devett, the Almoner,
and Father Lavenue, the French priest, and himself, each
celebrated Mass for the Queen at different hours on the
morning of the 19th of May. He makes no mention of
Cranmer or Latimer having visited the condemned lady.f
Mr. Dixon no doubt derives his information from several

* Hepworth Dixon's Two Queens, vol. iv. 332.
t Father Thirlwall's Last Hours of Anna Boleyn.

444 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic f
sources : but here he quotes Sir William Kingston as the
chief witness of the Queen's Catholicity. The above is
Kingston's official report to Lord Crumwell : but he wrote
more in detail to Dr. Gardyner, who deplored the fate of
his early friend; yet Mr. Dixon describes that prelate, then
in Paris, as engaged in the Popish plot to murder the
Queen. Gardyner entertained the highest opinion of the
moral character of the Queen. He had known her family
all his bfetime, and was her confessor for some years.*
" There is no name in the annals of female royalty over
which the enchantments of poetry and romance have cast
such bewitching spells as that of Anna Boleyn. Her wit,
her beauty, and the striking vicissitudes of her fate, combined
with the peculiar mobility of her character, have invested her
with an interest not commonly excited by a woman in whom
vanity and ambition were the leading traits." So writes Miss
Strickland. Anna Boleyn's powers of deception often baffled
her contemporaries and have left her biographers in doubt
as to her real opinions upon some of those great questions
with which her name has been linked for sectarian or party
purposes. It is evident that she deceived the anti-Papal
party, and they in turn practised deception to a shameful
extent. Anna Boleyn aided in the persecution of the Latin
Catholic party, not on account of any doctrine, but because
they denounced her claim to the position of a Queen. She
warred against the Observant Fathers at Greenwich and the
martyred Carthusians, who went to the scaffold singing
hymns of joy. Elleston and Peto and their brethren did not

* Gardyner's interesting letters to his young penitent are still extant ; they
are, I think, in the archives of some French cathedral at the present time.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ? 445
accuse Anna Boleyn of sustaining or promoting the German
Reformation in England. With them it was a question of
morality, not one of doctrine. The hostility of the Queen
to Fisher and More had nothing to do with religion.
Archbishop Cranmer and the future Reformers promulgated
the divorce to meet the King's desires, thus declaring
" right to be wrong." Cranmer and his coadjutors deceived
both Henry and Anna, and in the persistent deception
which they practised after their first success in the deposi
tion of Katharine, was laid the foundation-stone of the Re
formation in this realm. Of course, there may be a
diversity of opinion as to the issue raised by many com
mentators upon the causes which led to the English
Reformation. Dr. Brewer, in his review of King Henry's reign,
frankly admits that " if the English Monarch attained the
divorce he sought from the Court of Rome, there would
have been no Reformation in England."* The Crown
would have opposed it, and the subsequent confiscations
were not likely to have taken place. Again, I refer the
reader to the words of the Rev. J. H. Blunt : — " Many
were for confiscation, few for the reform of religion." This
phase of the history of those troublous times, so long the
subject of misrepresentation, may be fitly closed by a vigo
rous axiom of Dean Hook, that " The exposure of a lie is
the triumph of Truth."
Mr. Froude, who so ardently admires the Reformers,
pursues the alleged patroness of that party with as much
invective and fury as if he belonged to King Henry's Council.

Brewer's State Papers (Introduction), vol. iv.

446 Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ?
He states that Sir William Kingston, the Constable of the
Tower, " was too convinced of the Queen's guilt." But the
stern Constable's conduct towards his prisoner at once con
tradicts Mr. Froude's assertion on this point. Here are
the words of Sir William Kingston : — " I have seen many
men, and women too, upon the scaffold ; but none appeared
so resigned, so Christian-like, as she did."* Mr. Dixon
represents the Duke of Norfolk as leagued with Lord Crum
well and others to " undo and bring to a shameful death
his own niece." These statements have no foundation in
fact. Norfolk was a stern old soldier, impregnated by the
servile feeling of loyalty which characterised the times.
His conduct at the trial of his niece might have been un
paralleled but for the part played by the Queen's own
father, who was present as one of the Commissioners. The
Duke of Suffolk was another of those engaged in this mock
trial. He was a bitter enemy of the Queen, not as a Papal
Catholic, for the Reformers claim him as a disciple of the
" new learning." He was the friend of Audley, Crumwell,
Clinton, and Cranmer. It appears strange that the Arch
bishop, who is represented as the " real friend" of Anna
Boleyn, should likewise be the " prophet and guide" of the
above and other Reformers just named, who rank amongst
Anna's enemies. The Duke of Norfolk could not, and did
not, act from any religious feeling in this case. He avowed
that it was his interest and pleasure to perform what the
King desired, and he accordingly concurred in the prede
termined decision against the Queen. For many years,
however, Norfolk was known to be unfavourable to Queen
* Sir William Kingston's Despatches from the Tower, May 19, 1536.

Was Anna a Lutheran or a Catholic ? 447
Katharine. The Duke of Suffolk and his wife (Henry's
sister) were for a time opposed to the divorce, but ultimately
yielded to the arguments of Cranmer. The old nobles and
gentry were always hostile to Anna Boleyn. If Mr. Dixon's
view of the case be considered correct, then two of the most
deadly enemies are brought to act together against the
Queen — namely. Lord Crumwell and the Duke of Norfolk.
By inference, we are asked to believe that the conspiracy
against the Queen was in reality a blow struck at the
Reformation. Crumwell is pointed at as the leading spirit
in the plot; yet it is well authenticated that he was the
very man who confiscated the property of the Latin Church,
and crimsoned the scaffold with the blood of its clerics.
W"hatever were Norfolk's faults — and they were many — he
never persecuted men for a religious sentiment; but with
singular inconsistency he crushed down everyone who
opposed the King's supremacy in his claim to Spiritual
Headship.' He was well known to be an enemy to the
clergy ; yet he has assigned no reason for his enmity.
Hume states that no matter what Norfolk appeared, he was
a Latin Catholic at heart, but a man of much worldly am
bition and pride. It is true he was not a man of delicate
or tender feelings ; and, perhaps, he only regarded his niece
so far as the shame her impeachment had cast upon his
princely family. He was a mixture of loyalty and chivalry,
as ' such sentiments were then understood. The astute
Capucius described him as a " bad dissembler," a descrip
tion which might be taken in those perilous times to have
fairly depicted a man who generally desired to be honest,
although sometimes compelled to duplicity.

448 Incidents of the Last Day.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
INCIDENTS OP THE LAST DAY.
The reader has been already conducted to the scene where
early on this May morning the Queen heard three Masses
specially celebrated for her, and then received Holy Com
munion. Shortly after the religious ceremonies were over,
her Highness and Margaret Lee partook of breakfast.
Mildred Wyatt and Lady Kingston — a good, kind-hearted
woman — were of the party. The Queen spoke little, but
looked frequently at Margaret Lee, her eyes filled with
tears ; putting her arm around Margaret Lee's neck, she
embraced her again and again. " Oh, Meg, I never knew
how much I loved you till now. Will you remember me ?
I suppose Tom (Wyatt) will write a ballad on his old play
mate and friend — unfortunate Nan. Remember me to the
young maidens of Hever. Ask them to pray for me at the
Mass." Anna Boleyn sobbed and cried at this " first of
the leave-takings." She then retired to her oratory. " The
Host, surrounded by several lights," was placed on the
temporary altar by Father Thirlwall. Here she knelt alone
for nearly two hours. No human voice disturbed her com
muning with the Eternal. At eleven of the clock she
again joined her ladies. She appeared happy, and con
versed with them for a few minutes, again recurring to
Hever, the Hazel Walk, and the grottoes of other days ;
the " poor orphans whom she fed and taught, and also her

Incidents of the Last Day. 449
little ponies ;" and then, with fresh tears, she named " her
old nurse, Mary Orcharde." " I must now turn every
minute of earthly time to account," said the Queen. " I
must prepare for the last scene." In less than half-an-
hour her toilet was completed. She was dressed in a black
damask robe, a white cape falling from her neck. She
held a Latin prayer-book in her hand, and a gold cross
hung from a chain at her right side. Her dress was
arranged with taste and simplicity. She looked around
the room as if to say farewell. Fathers Thirlwall, Devett,
and Lavenue were at hand. The litany for the dying and
other prayers were recited, and the Queen answered the
responses in a distinct and audible voice.
At the conclusion of the prayers — in which her ladies all
fervently joined-' — a silence ensued for a few minutes, when
an authoritative knock at the door announced the arrival of
Sir William Kingston and his guard. The hour had come !
Kingston bowed most respectfully to the doomed lady and
her friends. Her courage seemed for a moment to fail,
and in a faint voice said, " Well, I am ready, Maister
Kingston." Then turning to her ladies, who all burst into
tears, in the softest and sweetest accents she observed, "Ah,
dear loved friends, be firm ; pray for me, pray for me now."
It was arranged that Margaret Lee should walk beside her,
ascend the scaffold with her, and perform the last sad office
of removing her dress. The other ladies were to remain at
the foot ofthe scaffold till the judicial murder was completed.
The procession moved along to the little green. A file
of soldiers armed with musquetoons (afterwards called mus
keteers) went first, then the officials of the Tower, Kingston
walking gravely and solemnly ; immediately after appeared
VOL. I. G G

450 Incidents of the Last Day.
two masked executioners, then came the Queen. " She
seldom looked so interesting," says Cobham ; the great
powers of her mind gave vigour to the body. When she
heard "sobbing" along the route, she several times ex
claimed, " The will of God be done ; pray for me, good
people." Father Thirlwall was on her right, Margaret Lee
on her left, the other priests followed, reading the service
forthe dead ; then came the faithful Mildred Wyatt and four
other ladies. About two hundred people were admitted to
the scene, besides the numerous officials of the Tower. The
Lord Mayor of London and several aldermen and merchants
of the City were ranged on one side, together with a few
distinguished gentlemen from Paris, Venice, Rome, and
Lisbon. Thomas Wyatt and the old retainers of Hever
were concealed in a distant window. Amongst this group
was the aged nurse of Anna Boleyn, Mary Orcharde. On
a raised platform to the right of the scaffold were seated
the King's Commissioners. Here was to be noticed the
well-known face of Lord Crumwell, and there were likewise
present Chancellor Audley, the Duke of Suffolk, the young
Duke of Richmond, and Maister Rich. The Duke of
Norfolk was not present, as so frequently stated. When
the procession reached the scaffold, a startling scene took
place. A burst of female shrieks issued from some distant
part of the buildings; the soldiers, the warders, the jailer,
everv one was affected but Lord Crumwell and his col-
leagues. At the foot of the scaffold the Queen parted with
her attendants, to each of whom she had given a cross and
a prayer-book that morning, and said some words of com
fort, even at this dread moment. With a firm step she
mounted the scaffold. Kingston stood apart, for in the

Incidents of the Last Day. 451
words of Mr. Dixon, " there was something not of earth
about this woman on the verge of death." Having received
permission from Sir William Kingston to address the
spectators, she came to the front of the scaffold, and sur
veying the crowd for a few moments, the Queen commenced
her speech, which was heard with breathless silence. " Good
people," said she, " I am come here to die. And according
to law and by law I am adjudged to death — therefore I will
speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no
man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused
and condemned to die. But I pray God save the King
and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler and
more merciful prince there never was, and to me he was
ever a good husband. If any person will meddle with my
cause, then I require him to do me justice, and tell the
world the true story of Anna Boleyn, sometime Queen of
England. With these words, good people, I take leave of
you all, and bid farewell to this world. One poor request
I now ask you all is, to pray for me at this awful moment,
when I am about to appear before the Eternal Judge."
Then clasping her hands, and looking heavenwards she said,
"Mother of Jesus, intercede for me. Lord Jesus, have
mercy on my soul."*
AU eyes were turned to the Queen as she stood preparing

* Thirlwall's Last Hours of Anna Boleyn. The speech given by Father
Thirlwall differs slightly from the addresses generally attributed to the Queen.
Morrice, Archbishop Cranmer's secretary, would appear to have been at the
execution, for in a letter to Lord Wiltshire he sets down several incidents which
occurred during the procession to the scaffold, and draws an interesting picture
of the devout manner in which the Queen died. He particularly notes "the
decent behaviour of the people, who, at the suggestion of the Lord Mayor,
knelt down to offer up prayers for the Queen's soul."
G G 2

45 - Incidents of the Last Day.
for the final scene. The Lord Mayor, and many others,
expected that at the " last moment" a King's messenger
would arrive bearing a white wand with the words " Mercy,
mercy." What hopes the Queen might have possessed
were quickly dispelled when her eye met the stern glance
of Lord Crumwell. Her ermine cloak and head-dress were
removed by Margaret Lee ; Mildred Wyatt assisted ; some
other ladies approached at this juncture, having implored
the Constable to "let them forward." Nothing could
exceed the kindly conduct of Sir William Kingston. The
Lord Mayor remarked that "the tears of the devoted
women softened and unmanned the Constable of the Tower."
When the Queen's dress was re-arranged, she knelt down
to pray ; Father Thirlwall was again rendering her spiritual
aid. The French executioner, wearing a sable dress, and
masked, stood along with his English assistants at the back
of the scaffold, awaiting a signal from the Constable and
the High Sheriff. The Queen rose from her knees ; all
was ready. She stood a moment, and took a last farewell
gaze around her. She kissed the faithful and heroic
Margaret Lee; then addressing a few words to Father
Thirlwall, who held a crucifix to her lips, she said in a loud
voice, " I am ready." Margaret Lee bandaged her eyes.
Both were silent. Poor Anna was led to the block by the
Sheriff and the Constable of the Tower. The Sheriff became
much affected, and burst into tears.
The tall French executioner and his assistants instantly
advanced. A profound silence was observed by the spec
tators, the majority of whom were kneeling. The moment
the Queen laid her head upon the block she exclaimed
aloud, " Lord Jesus, have mercy on my soul." Whilst the

Incidents of the Last Day. 453

words were on her lips the fatal blow was given, and the
head of Anna Boleyn severed from the body. A wild
shriek of affright burst from the lady attendants and other
women present; a murmur of heartfelt sympathy arose
from the people ; a malign smile seemed to pass over the
features of the young Duke of Richmond,* and a look of
triumph from Thomas CrumweU closed the scene.
Champuys wrote a minute account to Charles V. on
the day of the execution, in which he bears testimony as to
Anna Boleyn's religious sentiments. The foUowing passage
occurs in his despatch : — " The lady who has the particular
charge of the unfortunate woman (Anna) has sent me word
that before and after receiving the Holy Sacrament, the
Queen declared, on the eternal salvation of her soul, that she
had never sinned against her husband, the King." Champuys
himself believed Anna innocent of all the charges preferred
against her. In another despatch, this observant envoy
hints at the names of those who were engaged in the plot
against Anna. He does not believe that the Queen was
the victim of any sectarian movement. The leading
Reformers were the parties who combined against her in
secret ; their interests were not promoted by her. Here lies
part of the conspiracy. She was too outspoken as to
CrumweU's "peculations and black mail."
Champuys refers to Jane Seymour in an unmistakable
manner. " As to Jane Seymour, when he (the King) desires
a divorce from her he will find many witnesses of repute to
tell her secret story." A writer well informed upon the

* The Duke of Richmond was the illegitimate son of the King. He was
about eighteen years of age at this period, and promised to be "a character"
worthy^of his father. He died some months after QueeD Anna's execution.

454 Incidents of the Last Day.
transactions of this period states that it is quite certain that
Jane Seymour had intrigues with the King of some standing.*
Champuys' secret despatches are corroborated by several
circumstances. If Jane Seymour had lived some three
years longer it is possible that she also would have ended
her career on the scaffold.
A writer in " Excerpta Historica," discussing the
probable accuracy of the accounts extant as to Anna
Boleyn's execution, refers to a letter translated some years
back by the late Lord Strangford from the original, which
is to be seen in the library of the monastery of Alcobaga,
in Portugal. The letter in question is that of a Portuguese
gentleman who was present at the execution of Anna
Boleyn, and it differs from the statements published by
HaU and Burnet. Edward Hall, being a contemporary, was
in aU probability present, yet his version of the " last scene"
omits several passages given by Father Thirlwall. The
advice so fervently offered by the Queen to her ladies is thus
disposed of by Thirlwall: — "The Queen having concluded her
speech to the people, then received permission from the
Constable of the Tower to say a few words of advice and
comfort to her goodly gentlewomen, who gathered round
her, holding her hands in a most affectionate manner."
The Portuguese traveller gives the foUowing picture of the
last interview between Anna Boleyn and her faithful ladies :
"Then with her own hands, the Queen took her coifs from
her head, and delivered them to one of her ladies, and
putting on a little cap of linen to cover her hair withal,
she said " Alas, poor head, in a very brief space thou wilt
* J. H. Blunt's Reformation of the Church of England, vol. i. p. 197.

Incidents of the Last Day. 45 5
roll in the dust on this scaffold, and as in life thou didst
not merit to wear the crown of a queen, so in death thou
deserveth not a better doom than this. And ye, my
damsels, who whilst I lived ever showed yourselves so
diligent in my service, and who are now to be present at
my last hour and mortal agony, as in good fortune ye were
faithful to me, so even at this my miserable death ye do
not forsake me. And as I cannot reward you for your true
service to me, I pray you take comfort for my loss ; howbeit,
forget me not ; and be always faithful to the King's Grace,
and to her whom, with happier fortune, ye may honour as
your queen and mistress. Esteem your honour far beyond
your life. In your prayers to the Lord Jesus, forget not
to pray for my soul."
Miss Strickland notices with indignation the presence of
the King's brother-in-law and his natural son at the execu
tion. " The Duke of Suffolk and the young Duke of Rich
mond were both present in defiance of all decency and
humanity. They came there to disturb the unfortunate
lady's last moments with their unfriendly espionage, and to
feast their eyes upon her blood." Sir Henry Spelman has
recorded that Anna's eyes and lips were observed to move
when her head was held up by the executioner to the gaze
of the horror-stricken crowd. It is further related that,
before those beautiful eyes sank in the dimness of death
they seemed for an instant mournfully to regard her bleed
ing body as it fell on the scaffold. This statement was first
made by a French doctor who was present, and describes
the body "moving about in a convulsed form for some
minutes ;" and that the " great flow of blood caused several

456 Henry's Demeanour at the Death.
of the women near the scaffold to faint away with
horror." At the end of Father Thirlwall's " Last Hours of Anna
Boleyn," the above narrative was inserted. Thirlwall's little
black-letter book was privately printed at Antwerp in 1547,
the year of Henry's death.
HENRY'S DEMEANOUR AT THE DEATH.
It is stated by several unimpeachable authorities that the
King remained in the neighbourhood of London on the day
of the execution, and " at the firing of a gun as a signal,"
he cried out, " Ha, ha ! the deed is done ! uncouple the
hounds, and let us away to the chase." Mr. Hepworth
Dixon presents another version of the monarch's " where
abouts and his bearing" on the day of the Queen's execu
tion. " Not far away from the death-scene a group was
waiting for the Queen's last moment. Under a greenwood
tree, rising on a high level, overlooking the Thames, and
within earshot of the Tower guns, a few sportsmen were
enjoying dinner. Horses, ready for the chase, were
picketed about, and dogs were held by men in uniforms of
green and white. The merriest of that merry group was
King Henry himself. It was a sort of bridal feast. . . . The
King knew the time at which the sword would set him
free, for he had fixed that hour when ordering out his dogs.
As the time approached, he listened for the boom of guns,
and when the signal struck his ear, he rose and shouted
gaily, " Ah, it is done ; it is done ! Uncouple the hounds ;
let us follow the sport."* Henry was dressed in white
on this occasion. Cobham assured Margaret Lee that

* History of Two Queens, vol. iv. p. 342.

Henry s Demeanour at the Death. 457
Richard CrumweU, the convivial companion of royalty
— " mine own Dick" — wrote a letter to his brother
stating that the " King danced and was right merrie when
he heard the signal shot." " About dusk," on that memor
able 19th of May, King Henry reached Wolf Hall, where
the bride elect, the " discreet and amiable Jane Seymour,"
and a numerous company, received him. What a meeting!
On the following morning — not twenty-four hours as stated
— but twenty hours after his wife's murder, the " royal
ruffian" married Jane Seymour*
The name of Anna Boleyn seems still to enlist the in
terest of some, perhaps the sympathy of others. But there
is a great moral lesson to be derived from her story. How
feverish was her existence, how joyless were her pleasures,
how unsatisfactory her greatness,how awful her doom ! When
her life-dream was over, early sentiments returned, and she
became truly repentant for the many dreadful results of her
daring ambition. To the philosophic and unprejudiced
mind her death must seem the brightest phase of her
existence ; whilst Henry Tudor's exit from the earthly scene
was but the lingering flicker of a long-consuming lamp
which threw a sombre glare upon a heartless, tyrannic, and
impenitent profligate.
In July, 1536, Elizabeth, then only three years old, was
as completely out of favour with her father as the Princess
Mary, after her temporary reconciliation on the death of
Anna Boleyn. About this time the Princess Mary wrote
from Hunsdon a plaintive letter to the King, imploring his
* Queens of England, vol. ii. ; Brettom's Wiltshire ; Speed, Burnet, Sander,
Thorndale, and Pomeroy.

458 Henry s Demeanour at the Death.
merciful consideration for herself and her Uttle sister, who
were " meanly lodged and poorly clothed," and watched
over incessantly by Queen Jane's friends. The following
allusion to Elizabeth shows the kindly feeling that Mary
entertained for her, and the courage she must have possessed
even to name her to the King. The Princess wrote : —
" My sister Elizabeth is in good health ; and such a child
as 1 doubt not but your Highness shall have cause to re
joice in time to come."* An old tradition, once known in
Hunsdon, was to the effect that " little Elizabeth had no
shoes for three months, and was in tattered garments like a
peasant child."

* Queens of England, vol. ii.

'fane Seymour. 459

CHAPTER XXXVII.
JANE SEYMOUR.
The next most prominent woman entering upon the scene
at this eventful period was Jane Seymour, another reputed
Protestant Queen. This lady's real character and senti
ments have been incorrectly depicted by most writers.
" Jane Seymour was the fairest, the discreetest, the most
meritorious of all Henry's wives." So writes Lord Herbert,
the biographer of Henry Tudor. This assertion has been
generally repeated by several writers in whom posterity have
placed implicit confidence. The question may occur to the
reader — "In what did Jane Seymour's merits consist?"
Customs may vary at different eras, but the laws of moral
justice are unalterable. Indeed, it would be difficult to
reconcUe them with the first actions of this discreet maid of
honour, for discretion is the attribute peculiarly selected as
her own. It has been shown that Jane Seymour's shame
less conduct, in receiving the courtship of Henry, was the
commencement of the dire calamities that befel her Queen.
The Holy Scripture points out as an especial odium the
circumstance of a handmaid taking the place of her mistress.
Odious and vile as the case when Anna Boleyn supplanted
the right royal Katharine of Arragon, yet a sickening feel
ing of horror must pervade every right-feeling mind when
the proceedings of the " modest and discreet" Jane Seymour
are considered. She deliberately received the addresses of

460 fane Seymour.'

her mistress's husband, knowing him to be such; she pas
sively beheld the mortal anguish of the Queen when that
unhappy lady was in a state which peculiarly demanded
feminine sympathy ; she knew that the discovery of the
King's inconstancy had nearly destroyed her ; the shock
actually destroyed her infant ; nay, more, the " delicate-
minded and tender-hearted" Jane Seymour saw a series of
murderous accusations got up — deliberately arranged —
against the Queen, which finally brought her to the scaf
fold ; yet this same discreet young lady gave her hand in
marriage to the monster Henry before his wife's corpse was
many hours cold. Four-and-twenty hours had not passed
since the French sword was reddened with the blood of her
royal mistress when Jane Seymour became the bride of
Henry Tudor. " Let it be remembered," remarks Miss
Strickland, " that a royal marriage could not be celebrated
without previous preparation, which must have proceeded
simultaneously with the heartrending events of Anna
Boleyn's last agonising hours. The wedding-cakes must
have been baking, the wedding-clothes preparing, while the
life-blood was yet running warm in the veins of the victim
whose position as a wife was to be rendered vacant by a
violent death. The tragedy is repulsive enough, but it be
comes tenfold more abhorrent when the woman who caused
it is loaded with panegyrism."*
Jane Seymour was the eldest of the eight children of Sir
John Seymour, of Wolf Hall, in Wiltshire. The Seymours
were a family of country squires possessed of very limited
fortune. They were of Norman origin. Of the early youth
of Jane Seymour little is known. She spent her time in

* Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. iii.

fane Seymour. 461

the country ; and had few of the educational advantages of
Anna Boleyn. Her education was, however, finished in
France ; and, at some time not known, she received a
household appointment from the Queen of France. The
portrait of Jane Seymour in the Louvre represents her as a
full-formed maiden of eighteen or nineteen years of age.
The picture is placed as companion to another, a superb
whole-length of Anna Boleyn, known as that of " Maid of
Honour to Queen Claude."* The two portraits are clad in
the same costume, though varied in ornament and colour ;
they are not recognised in Paris as pictures of "English
Queens," but as compagnons suivantes of an English prin
cess who became . Queen of France — Mary, the sister of
Henry VIILf The picture of Anna Boleyn in Paris was
painted by Holbein, when in the spring of her beauty and
the noonday of her real happiness. There must have been
some dozen years between the time Anna Boleyn and Jane
Seymour were at the French Court. Jane Seymour, there
fore, could not have been connected with the Court of Queen
Mary, or Claude, but that of Queen Eleanor.
Nothing of interest occurred in the history of Jane Sey
mour untU Anna Boleyn discovered the attentions of the
King to Jane, and the encouragement given to his addresses
by her deceptive handmaiden. It is now ascertained that
for four or five months an intrigue was carried on between

* At the Luxembourg Palace, about half a mile from the Louvre, is to be
seen Paul Delaroche's " Last Days of Queen Elizabeth." It is a terrific picture
of a troubled spirit with whom ambition had played and then rejected.
Hope seems to have fled from the scene, and Remorse and Despair are, as it
were, holding their last council. If this famous picture were at the Louvre,
and placed in the vicinity of those of Anna Boleyn and Jane Seymour, with what
an intense emotion the student of history might contemplate the royal group !
+ Queens of England, vol. iii.

462 fane Seymour.

Henry and Jane Seymour, and the unfortunate Anna does
not seem to have gained any clue to the plot which was
laid for her destruction. I have already alluded to the
conduct of the Seymour family at the period of the Queen's
disgrace. Jane Seymour and her brother Edward were
fully aware of the plans arranged by Lord Crumwell twenty-
eight days before the arrest of the Queen.
While Anna Boleyn was waiting the day of her execution,
her husband wrote the following note to Jane Seymour : —
"My dear Friend and Mistress,
" The bearer of these few lines from thy entirely devoted
servant will deliver into thy fair hands a token of my true affection
for thee, hoping you will keep it for ever in your sincere love for
me. Advertising you that there is a ballad made lately of great
derision against us, which, if it go abroad and is seen by you, I
pray you to pay no manner of regard to it. I am not at present
informed who is the setter forth of this malignant writing, but if he
is found out he shall be strictly punished for it.
"For the things ye lacked I have minded 'my Lord' to
supply them to you as soon as he could buy them. Thus hoping
shortly to receive you in these arms, I end for the present.
"Your own loving servant and Sovereign,
"H. R."*
" My Lord" alluded to in the last passage, is undoubtedly
the Earl of Wiltshire, steward of the household, and the
unnatural father of Anna Boleyn.
" The Catholic historians," writes Miss Strickland, " have
mentioned Queen Jane with complacency on account of her
friendliness to Henry's ill-treated daughter ; the Protestants
regard her with veneration as the mother of Edward VI.,

* Halliwell's Letters of the Kings of England, vol i. p. 353.

Jane Seymour. 463

and the sister of Somerset, and thus, with little personal
merit, accident has made her the subject of unlimited party
praise. Her kindness to Mary bears an appearance of
moral worth, if the suspicion did not occur that it arose
entirely from opposition to Anna Boleyn."*
The day before the death of Anna Boleyn, Jane Seymour
returned to her father's residence in Wiltshire, where
preparations were making for the marriage to take place
the day after the execution of Anna.f
Several of the "unblemished nobles" were present at the
wedding, and congratulated the King " on all that occurred."
Sir John Russell — of infamous memory — told the King that
he "was the godliest person present." Russell was so
indecorous as to draw a contrast between the "personal
appearance of the bride and Anna Boleyn." A great feast
was given by Sir John Seymour, and the royal party pro
ceeded after dinner to Mardell, near Winchester, a country
seat belonging to the bishops of that see, which the King
had some time previously seized. At Mardell, the royal
party resided a few days, and then repaired to London, to
receive the "congratulations" of the obedient citizens.
"Nine days after the execution and marriage," Jane
Seymour was presented to the citizens of London as their
Queen. The parliament expressed their " valuable good wishes,"
and Chancellor Audley made a "long and tedious oration."
Lord Audley concluded his speech by proposing that the
Peers " offer up prayers for heirs to the crown by this
* Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. iii.
+ Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIIL; Miss Strickland's Queens of
England, vol. iii.

464 fane Seymour.

marriage." The Archbishop of Canterbury took charge of
this ceremony.
The "humble petition of the nobility," asking the King
to marry a third time, must have been presented, if at all —
during the lifetime of Anna Boleyn, and some months
before she was arrested.*
Jane Seymour's public entry into London did not in
many points equal in magnificence that of either of her
predecessors. It is difficult to imagine that the populace
could have received the woman with any feeling but that of
horror. The " unblemished Peers," and other courtiers,
played the part allotted to them by the King.
The only thing to note in Queen Jane's movements, as
a Sovereign Lady, was, that she crossed the frozen river
Thames in the severe January of 1536-7, on horseback,
accompanied by the King and his whole Court, amidst the
acclamations of the noisy populace, who looked upon their
King " as the fountain of justice and mercy." In the
summer Queen Jane and the Court visited Canterbury,
where the religious houses were then nearly despoiled of
their former adornment. The King and Queen attended
Mass at the Cathedral, when a sermon was preached in
eulogy of Henry, wherein he was described as " Defender of
the Faith." The Queen was also praised by the Court
preacher, who said " she was not like her predecessor ;
that she abhorred heretics, and to that effect." The
preacher's name is not known now, but it is certain he had
none of the honesty of Peto or Forrest. On the same day

* Record of Audley's Speeches ; Miss Strickland's Queens of England,
vol. iii.

fane Seymour. 465

the King and Queen were entertained at the monastery
of St. Augustine, by Father Goldell, the Prior of Christ
Church. Here the King again indulged in his desire to
"serve the Church, and put down heretics."
Holbein's picture of Jane Seymour does not agree with
the extravagant accounts furnished by different writers of
her " exquisite beauty." The great artist represents her as
a coarse, apathetic-looking woman, with a large face and
small features. Her eyes are blue, with a sinister expression ;
the mouth very small ; the lips thin, and closely compressed ;
the eye-brows very faintly marked ; high cheekbones, and
a thickness at the point of the nose quite opposed to an
artist's idea of beauty. Her complexion is fine, her features
regular, but their expression cold and hard; her figure stiff.
In this picture Jane appears to be about thirty-three years
old. Holbein's portrait of the Queen was taken about three
months before her confinement.
Queen Jane's career was brief. When the time of her
confinement arrived, the doctors asked the King, " whether
he wished his wife or the infant to be saved," to which his
Highness replied in a characteristic speech : — " The child
by aU means, for other wives can be easily found."* The
mother died in fourteen days — another instance of retri
butive justice. Henry retired to Windsor, and affected
great grief for the loss of his wife. But, notwithstanding
his " distressed state of mind" Lord Crumwell was instructed
to negociate with the Protestant princes of Germany for
another wife, " certified to be young and beautiful."

* Queens of England, vol. iii.; Puller's English Worthies ; Saunders, p. 87.
This statement of Saunders' is corroborated by several other authorities.
VOL I. H H

466 fane Seymour.

The. most blasphemous and slavish compliments were
paid to Henry on the birth of a son; but that of Latimer,
then simulating and swearing by the profession of profound •
Catholicity, is the most fearful. He addressed Lord Crum
well in this style : —
" Right honourable lord, we salute in Christ Jesus. And
here, my lord, is no less joying and rejoicing in these parts
(Worcester) for the birth of our prince, who we prayed for
so long, than there was, I trow, by the neighbours at the
birth of John the Baptist, as this bearer, Maister Evance,
can tell you. God give us grace to yield due thanks to our
Lord God, the God of England, or rather an English God,
if we consider and ponder well all His proceedings with us
from time to time. He hath overcome all our illness with
His exceeding goodness, so that we are now more compelled
to serve Him, and seek His glory, and promote His word, if
the devil of all devils be not in us. We have now the stock of
vain trusts, the stay of vain expectations; let us all pray for
his preservation. And I, for my part, well wish that his
Grace (the King) will always have, and even now from the
beginning, governors, instructors, and officers of right judg
ment. But what a great fewl (fool) am I ! So that devo
tion showeth at times, but little discretion. And thus the
God of England be ever with you in all your pro
ceedings."* So, then, according to this orthodox prelate, the worship
of God was to be graduated by auspicious royal events !
There are to be found in the State Papers the addresses
of several other Bishops to Henry at this time, which are

* State Papers of Henry VIII. 's reign.

fane Seymour. 467

freer from blasphemy, but remarkable for the servility which
was the fashion with too many of the clerical party.
The baptism of Edward Prince of Wales, which took place
by torchlight at Hampton Court Palace, was performed with
all the solemnity of the Latin Church. Many of the
notables who took part in it changed sides in the next
reign. Amongst the historical groups present at the baptism
there appeared an aged man who carried a taper of wax in
his hand, and was an object of contemptuous pity to every
eye: that man was the father of the murdered Anna Boleyn,
Lord Wiltshire 1 Two years subsequently (1538), having
worn out his character, his reputation, and his honour to
the very last thread, he expired, amidst the world's con
tempt — " unwept, unhonoured, and unsung."
Whether Jane Seymour was Protestant or Catholic is a
matter of little importance now, only so far as the interests
of historical truth may be concerned. At the time Jane
came to Court, her father, Sir John Seymour, was well
known to be a Latin Catholic ; he never changed his faith ;
his wife was a very rigid member of the olden faith, and
outlived him many years. She died in the reign of young
Edward, and shortly before her death sent a message of
" malediction " to her son Edward, then known as the
Protector Somerset, for his conduct in relation to the
change ofthe national religion. I shall return to this subject
. in the Second Volume.
The brothers of Jane Seymour were Catholic at the time
of Anna Boleyn's fall; and it is very possible they
would have remained so if there was no change of fortune
to be obtained by the confiscation of the monastic property.
h ti 2

468 fane Seymour.

With the exception of the Duke of Suffolk, no one received
so much of the Church lands as Edward and Thomas
Seymour. Sir John Seymour was a man after the fashion
of Anna Boleyn's father, which argues little in his favour.
He petitioned the King for an office for his daughter. In
every worldly relation the Seymours were unprincipled, mean,
and base ; and every wicked action of the tyrant King met
with the concurrence and acceptance of the Boleyns and the
Seymours. So much for the two families whom Catholic
and Protestant writers claim for their communion.
Lord Campbell in his " English Chancellors" falls into the
popular error — if I can use the phrase — as to Jane Seymour.
" Death," he observes, " delivered Bishop Gardyner from
the apprehensions he entertained of the ascendancy of Jane
Seymour."* The inference to be drawn from this passage
is, that Jane Seymour was the secret or avowed friend of
the Reformers. I contend that Jane Seymour was in no
way connected with the Reformers. In fact, she detested
them as bitterly as Henry himself. She did not even seek
their political support, as had Anna Boleyn. The only
hostility Gardyner could have had to. Jane Seymour, was
doubtless excited by the means through which she reached
the Throne. Better informed writers than the author of
the "English Chancellors" claim Jane Seymour for the
" Protestant fold." The learned Lucy Aikin, writing some
sixty-five years ago, considered Jane Seymour as " a warm
advocate of the Reformation ; but her support was given in
a clandestine manner."f There is no document or State

Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. ii. p. 44.
t Lucy Aikin's Court of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i.

yane Seymour. 469

record known to be in existence which could corroborate
this allegation. Miss Aikin, however, was incapable of
consciously making a false statement, but in her zeal,
perhaps, she adopted without reflection the assertions of
such historians as Speed, Burnet, Stripe, and Oldmixon.
Sharon Turner — a writer of immense research — quotes an
original letter (MSS. Nero, 1. 10) upon the " deathbed
scene" of Jane Seymour, in which the following passage
occurs : — " The Queen's Confessor had been with her this
morning, and hath done all that to his office appertaineth, and
is even now preparing to minister to her Highness the Sacra-*-
ment of Extreme Unction." The above is extracted from
the buUetin issued by the physicians who attended the
Royal patient. In the very next page Mr. Turner describes
Jane Seymour to be " as great a friend to the Reformation as
Anna Boleyn."* In truth, neither favoured the Reforma
tion as a creed, though the writer intended to imply it.
It may, indeed, be said that they were both what might to
day be called " bigoted Catholics." This brevity of vision, if
not obliquity on the part of Turner, is remarkable ; but not
more so than the concurrence of so many writers in such pal
pable contradictions. It is impossible to regard such anomalies
as oversights; and it would hardly be true to designate
them as mistakes. Mrs. Thompson, one of Anna Boleyn's
more recent biographers, contends that " the Queen (Anna)
was desirous of bringing about her such young persons as
Jane Seymour, that by her own example they might tend
to increase the Reformed faith. The family of Jane Seymour
were of that persuasion !" And again, Mrs. Thompson,

* Sharon Turner, vol. x. p. 485.

470 fane Seymour.

whilst finding fault with Jane Seymour's conduct in relation
to her Royal mistress, discovers some " redeeming qualities"
in the character of Jane. " Jane Seymour's reasoning
powers of native strength were soon developed, and she
bestowed their energy in a direction fortunately for this
country, by exercising them upon the great subject of the
Protestant faith." This averment leaves the marvels of
Foxe, Burnet, and Oldmixon in the shade, and even if
proved a fact, it is paying a strange compliment to Protes
tantism to claim for its patroness so worthless a creature as
Jane Seymour. Miss Strickland wishes to remove the opinion
so long held by Protestants as to the religious profession of
Jane Seymour. " All the rites of the Roman Catholic
Church were administered to Queen Jane; the official
statements are still extant, and prove how greatly mistaken
those writers are who considered Jane Seymour a Protes
tant.* Dean Hook must be accepted as a trustworthy
authority. His account of the religious sentiments of
Queen Jane, and the English Court of her time, is worthy
of consideration. " No theological differences," writes
Dean Hook, " of opinion at that time kept religious parties
separate. The Court was divided in its sympathies between
joy for the birth of Prince Edward and grief for the death
ofthe Queen (Jane). Twelve hundred Masses were celebrated
for the repose of her soul, and a solemn dirge at St. Paul's.
If there was a tendency to Protestantism on the part of the
King and of Cranmer— the King who ordered these Masses,
and the Archbishop who officiated at them — it was not at
this time much developed."t Here is a contemporary and

* Queens of England, vol. iii. p. '21.
t Archbishops of Canterbury, vol. vii. p. 70-71.

fane Seymour. 471

an official evidence ifpon the question at issue. Sir Richard
Gresham, writing to Lord Crumwell concerning the Queen's
obsequies, said — " I have caused twelve hundred Masses to
be offered up for the sowl of our most gracious Queen. And
whereas the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London were
lately at St. Paul's, and there gave thanks unto God
Almighty for the birth of our prince, I think it right that
there should also be a solemn dirge and High Mass, and
that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen should pray and offer
up divers prayers for the Queen's sowl."*
In subsequent years young King Edward spoke of his
mother as a " sainted woman." Did his uncle, Somerset,
tell him whether she was " a Protestant or a Catholic
saint," or did Archbishop Cranmer furnish him with a
list of the number of Masses he himself celebrated for
her Highness Queen Jane, or the amount of money in
"golden angels" the King's treasurer paid the said Arch
bishop for celebrating Mass for the dead Queen ? The
solution of this question — so long disputed — might pro
bably be of interest to the Protestant and Catholic
admirers of Jane Seymour, if there can now possibly exist
any of the latter.
Strong complaints were made that Queen Jane in all
possible ways strove to depress and insult the connections
and friends of her late mistress, and to exalt the Seymours.f
" Of course," observes Miss Strickland, " the power of so
doing was the chief inducement for her marriage, with all
its abhorrent circumstances." Her brothers, uncles,

* State Papers, vol. i. p\ 574.
f See Hearon's Sylloge for a proof of this statement.

47 2 fane Seymour.

sisters, and cousins quickly filled every lucrative office at
Court. The "peculations" of the Seymours were enormous.
Jane Seymour, like niany persons suddenly raised in the
world, laid down very vigorous rules regarding the etiquette
of dress at her Court. The maids of honour were expected
to wear costly girdles of pearls, and if these were not fully
set, they were not to appear in the Queen's presence. The
proud dames of noble and ancient lineage scarcely con
cealed their contempt for the woman, and were merely
courteous to her as the Queen. Even the King himself
did hot seem to think much of Jane's mental powers. He
speaks of her in " some notes" in this fashion : — " She was
but a woman." This phrase is used frequently in relation
to his " dear Jane." The opinion was expressed subsequent
to the death of Queen Jane.* But to the end of this
painful narrative. Jane Seymour took for her motto when
Queen, " Bound to obey and to serve." Completely devoid
of soul, but of wonderful coolness and caution, she acted
on the principle of " self and famUy." She supported her
burden of dignity as Queen with silent placidity. She
appeared to have adopted the very opposite policy of her
predecessor. She avoided sallies of wit and repartee, which
sometimes made enemies for Anna Boleyn. Jane Seymour's
actions were utterly passive, and dependent on the King's
wUl. Her husband desired that she should frequently visit
her private chapel, and she was to be seen there accordingly.
Henry found fault with Anna Boleyn for giving large sums
of money to relieve " deserving poverty ;" he could find no

* Jane Seymour was never crowned. The ceremony was several times post
poned in consequence of the plague raging in the neighbourhood of Westminster.

fane Seymour. 473

fault with Jane in this respect, for she was a thorough
Seymour, grasping after gold as a Shylock. The King
growled at the Reformers. " I am no patron of heretics ;
they must go to the fire," were the words of his Highness
about this time. Queen Jane, who it is alleged privately
encouraged the " new learning," treated its professors with
coldness, and that description of scorn which is to be ex
pected from a woman of her turn of mind. As a Queen
Consort she did no harm, but there is not one noble,
gracious, generous, or good action recorded of her. She
did not know how to fulfil a grand or queenly office, and
divested of fine robes and regal honours, she was merely
a handsome woman, of no ability, and of no pretence even
to the possession of a heart. Such is the true history of a
woman who has been made by many writers the heroine of
both parties — Catholic and Protestant.*
Here is an incident which shows that Jane Seymour was
soon forgotten by Henry, whose grief has been represented
as "intense." Mary of Lorraine, though perseveringly
wooed by two Kings, had waited to complete her year of
widowhood before she would aUow her finger to be encircled
by the sponsal ring of a second husband. James the Fifth
of Scotland had a formidable rival for this young and
beautiful widow in the person of his uncle, Henry VIII.
There is no reason to suppose that Mary wavered for an

* It is traditionally reported that when Henry first saw Jane Seymour at
Court he remarked that she was " too young and ' chittish,' and ought to
remain in the country with her governess for some years to come." Anna
Boleyn once observed to Wyatt that " young Jane was as innocent as she was
lovely." " Smooth waters run deep," was the poet's reply." Anna Boleyn
carefully noted the remark.

474 fane Seymour.

instant in her choice between the rival Kings. She was,
however, destined to become the wife of the youngest, the
handsomest, and the most agreeable of Kings. "Bluff
Hal" was so exasperated at the preference shown by Mary
of Lorraine for his nephew of Scotland, that when in 1538
requested to grant permission for her to land on the coast
of England in the event of her encountering stormy weather
on her passage from France to Scotland, Henry most
ungraciously refused it.* Mary of Lorraine subsequently
became the mother of Marie Stuart, whose sad history I
hope to investigate in the third volume of this work.

* Queens of Scotland, vol. ii.

The Wyatt Family. 475

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE WTATT FAMILY.
Thomas Wyatt was descended from an ancient family in
Yorkshire. In the days of the Crusaders the name was
spelt " Wiet." Radcliff Wiet was a standard-bearer to
Richard the First during that monarch's expedition to the
Holy Land. Sir Henry Wyatt, the father of the poet, was
the first of the family who came to reside at Allington
Hall, near Maidstone. He was a Privy Councillor to
Henry VIL, whose favour he gained in consequence of his
adherence to the House of Tudor during the reign of
Richard the Third, by whom he was imprisoned in the
Tower, and it is stated that he was racked on one occasion
in the usurper's presence, but nothing could induce him to
become an adherent of Richard's cause. He was one of the
supporters of the Earl of Richmond at Bosworth Field, and
subsequently appeared at the battle of the Spurs .* Having
faithfully discharged his duty to King and country, Sir
Henry Wyatt died at the age of 78 years, in 1538, leaving
issue two sons and a daughter. His son Henry remained
a country squire, whilst Thomas was destined to play a
more ambitious role. Margaret Wyatt became the wife of
Sir Anthony Lee. This lady appears in the most amiable
* There were tliree English knights present, each of whom had a daughter
that in after years became Queen of England; Sir Thomas Boleyn, the father
of Queen Anna ; Sir John Seymour, the father of Queen Jane ; and Sir Thomas
Parr, the father of Catherine, the last and sixth wife of King Henry.

476 The Wyatt Family.
light as the friend of Anna Boleyn. Her friendship was
noble, generous, and warm, with a reputation above
Teproach at a time when virtue and honour were little
esteemed. Thomas Wyatt, the poet, was born at Allington
about 1503. He was two years younger than his friend
Anna Boleyn. At Allington the poet had a lion's whelp
and an Irish greyhound as his playmates about the " posied
fields." On one occasion, when the lion became somewhat
strong, he flew at his young master's shoulder, when the
greyhound sprang forward in his defence. Having ex
tricated himself from the imminent danger he was in,
Wyatt met the next spring of the lion with a thrust of his
sword in the throat.
Young Wyatt was entered at Cambridge when only
twelve years of age, where he passed some years. Even at
this period he evinced a love of romance, and delighted in
telling fairy stories to his schoolfellows. He was then a
devout youth. One of his first attempts at letter writing
was an epistle in bad Latin to his early playmate, Nan,
then about to start for Paris, where her studies weTe
continued. Some years later, Thomas Wyatt married
Elizabeth Brooks, daughter of Lord Cobham, whom he
much neglected. Sir Henry Norris states that Elizabeth
Wyatt died of a broken heart. Anna Boleyn admonished
Wyatt as to the attention he should bestow on his wife,
desiring him to " spend more time at home." The future
Queen wrote to the poet in these words : —
" Dear companion of my childhood, friend of my youth,
good be ever with thee ; may every day be to thee renewed
sunshine ; may your own hearth be to you a true home — a
home of love and joy. Cherish and love your dear young

The Wyatt Family. 477
wife and child. Give up ambition to greedy knaves, and
seek happiness where it will not fail to greet thee, in the
old home."
Elizabeth Wyatt's married life was brief. She died in thir
teen months after her confinement of a son, who was known
in Queen Mary's reign as the ill-fated Sir Thomas Wyatt.
About the time of his wife's death Thomas Wyatt
retired from Court circles, a self-accusing conscience haunting
him. Too late he prized the enduring love which bore
neglect and absence so long. Anna Boleyn describes Eliza
beth Wyatt as "one of the most lovable and amiable
women, and a model wife."
I have already commented upon the platonic attachment
said to exist between Anna Boleyn and the poet. The
grandson of Wyatt does not credit the love narratives of
Anna and his kinsman. " It was the fashion of the times,"
he says, " to form platonic attachments for intellectual and
learned women." The romantic narratives of the poet
Surrey, and the "Fayre Geraldyne" have not yet been
cleared up, and perhaps never wiU. Dr. Nott remarks,
" We may believe Thomas Wyatt and Anna Boleyn to have
mutually regarded each other with the lively tenderness of
an innocent but a dangerous friendship. Often did Wyatt
make Anna the subject of his most impassioned strains ;
and often did she listen with complacency to his poetic ad
dresses, which, whUe they gratified her present love of
admiration, promised to confer upon her charms some por
tion of that poetic immortality which the romantic passion
of Petrarch had bestowed on his " Laura."
When Anna Boleyn was created Marchioness of Pem
broke, Wyatt felt sad at the false position in which she had

47 8 The Wyatt Family.
placed herself, and invoking the muse he sent her the fol
lowing sonnet : — i.
" Forget not yet the tried intent
Of such a truth as I have meant ;
My greatest travail so gladly spent.
Forget not yet.
ii.
"Forget not yet when first began
The weary life ye know ; since when
The suit, the service, none can tell.
Forget not yet.
in.
" Forget not yet the great assays,
The cruel wrongs, the scornful ways,
The painful patience and delays.
Forget not yet.
IV.
" Forget not — oh I forget not this,
How long ago hath been and is
The love tlvat never meant amiss.
Forget not yet.
v.
" Forget not now thine own approved,
The which so constant hath thee loved —
Whose steadfast faith hath, never moved.
Forget not yet."
At the coronation of Anna as Queen at Westminster
Abbey Thomas Wyatt officiated for his father as Chief Endever,
and poured scented water on the hands of the newly-created
Queen. At this time he was in favour with the King, but
was subsequently sent to the Tower. The nature of his
offence, if any, is not correctly known. He was released in

The Wyatt Family. 479
a few months. The Duke of Suffolk hated him, which may
account for his arrest. After the execution of Anna
Boleyn he seems to have attained more of Lord Crumwell's
confidence, which does not place the poet in a good light.
In 1537 he was appointed ambassador to Charles the Fifth.
Judging from Crumwell's State Papers, he gave both the King
and the Council general satisfaction. He had reason to com
plain that his " stipend" was not regularly paid ; but it must
be remembered that Crumwell made a percentage on the
moneys of aU officials who dare complain ; yet Crumwell is
represented as his friend. As a politician Wyatt was one ofthe
most time-serving and unprincipled of the King's agents. He
has been described as a leading man amongst the Reformers.
There is, however, no reliable evidence to that effect. He
received a portion of the monastic plunder ; and descended
into the grave long before the Reformers appeared as a reli
gious body in England. His " last days" prove that he
was still in communion with the faith of his fathers. His
position at Court was that of Poet Laureate, and sometimes
in waiting on the King or Queen. He had many grave
faults. When occasion drew forth his power of repartee,
few persons could more adroitly disguise truth with compli
ment, or fling the shafts of sarcasm with a more apparent
carelessness than this Court poet.
The most interesting part of Wyatt's history is that least
known — namely, his early associations with Anna Boleyn at
Hever Castle. No one of his time had a better knowledge
of Anna Boleyn than Wyatt and his sister Margaret. A
contemporary has described the poet and Anna as " spoiled
children, caressed and loved by relatives and friends, fated
to be unhappy, and end their days in sorrow." Margaret

480 The Wyatt Family.
Lee " believed that her brother had secretly loved Anna
Boleyn for many years, but she could never ascertain how
far Anna responded to that feeling." " True love is con
tented if it be but returned ; the real pang is to part when
regret is not mutual." These words are attributed to Anna
Boleyn. When thirteen years of age Anna " commenced
writing notes to young Wyatt, and they engaged in the in
nocent gossip of intelligent children." At fourteen she
writes from France to " Tom," describing the wedding of
the Princess Mary and Louis XII., and concludes her letter
as follows : — " Your loving little Nan." These words have
been described as the key-note to Anna's first love.
In 1541, Sir Thomas Wyatt was attacked by fever, and
after twenty days of suffering expired in his thirty-ninth
year. For some months before his death the once strong
mind became prostrated; he was sad and melancholy.
" My only comfort," said he to his cousin, " is now in the
practice of that religion which I had so long neglected."
Such was the end of the playmate, of the youth, the friend
of maturer years, and, as many contemporaries believed, the
long- concealed lover of Anna Boleyn.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 48 1

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE PILGRIMS OF GEACE.
The innovations and confiscations of the Crown caused the
angry feeling of the Northern population, who had hitherto
enjoyed much prosperity ; they beheld their old friends of
the monastic houses drifting to ruin ; the monks and nuns
who supphed them with bread, meat, and clothing in sea
sons of scarcity or adversity, were now reduced to seek a
meal from those whom they had formerly fostered and
cherished, and the people regarded them so much that they
divided their scanty meal ; nuns were found dead on the
roadside from the effects of cold and hunger, and many of
them aged women who had spent their lives in ministering
to the wants of the poor : the abbot, the abbess, the friar,
or the wise old nun ;* who settled village disputes ; who
reconciled the rude husband and his gentle wife ; who im
pressed upon children the obligations and the duties they
owed to God, their parents, and their country; who
reminded youthful manhood of the position it should hold
and its career : the maidens, the importance of their mission
as the future mothers of an honest and virtuous race. The

* Sister Mary, of the Cistercian Convent at Grantham, in Lincolnshire. In
Fitzherbert's quaint chronicle, concerning the " wandering monks and nuns,"
it is recorded that this lady died in 1562, in her ninety-second year, and in a
state of destitution.
VOL. I. II

482 The Pilgrims of Grace.
local friends of the people — their counsellors and benefactors
— were now despoiled; and anarchy and insurrection followed.
About sixteen hundred monks and friars joined in the cry of
discontent ; and the nobles and the gentry who complained
that they were deprived of the " corrodies"* reserved to
them by the charters of the founders, likewise joined the
popular movement.
The Archbishop of York, the Lords Darcy, Neville, Lum
ley, and Latimer, and many knights and gentlemen, joined
the insurgents. The people of Lincolnshire were the first
to appear in arms ; and Charles, Duke of Suffolk, who was
sent down to " despatch them at once," thought discretion
preferable to temerity, and made proposals for a negotia
tion ; he wished to know what tbey had to complain of.
The complaints were numerous, but might be reduced to a
few : the suppression of the monasteries, which had made
the poor man poorer than he had ever been before ; of the
Statute of Uses in relation to the /transfer of land ; of the
introduction to the King's Council of Thomas Crumwell and
Maister Rich. They described CrumweU as a low-born man,
once a robber in foreign parts, and then a robber in England;
and Rich as a dicer and a false-swearer: they protested against
the appointment of Cranmer to the see of Canterbury, and
Poynet to that of Rochester, stating that the chief object of
those men was to suppress the olden religion of England ;
Cranmer and Poynet seem to have been extremely un-

* This term was applied to a certain fund established at various abbeys and
convents for the relief of the descendants of those who endowed theHnstitution,
"if reduced to poverty." The descendants of "donors" had also a right to
claim " asylum for their old retainers."

The Pilgrims of Grace. 483
popular with the Pilgrims. The King gave a vague promise
to the people to redress grievances, and grant a general
pardon; but his agents soon caused dissension in the people's
ranks, which led to faUure. In five other counties the
movement became formidable. From the borders of Scot
land to the Lune and the Humber, the masses bound
themselves by a solemn oath to " stand together for the
love which they bore to Almighty God, His faith, the Holy
Church, and the maintenance thereof; to the preservation
of the King's person and his issue ; to the purifying of the
nobility ¦. and to expel all ' viUein blood,' and evil coun
cillors from the King's presence : not for any private profit,
nor to do displeasure to any private person, nor to slay or
murder through envy, but for the restitution of the Church,
and the suppression of heretics and their opinions."* The
men who took part in this enterprise adopted the quaint
title, "Pilgrims of Grace." On their banners were painted
the image of Christ crucified, and the chalice and Host, the
emblems of their belief ; and wherever they appeared, the
monks and nuns were restored to their former residences.
Hull, York, and Pontefract declared in favour of the Pilgrims.
Robert Aske, a gentleman of ancient lineage, at the head of
thirty thousand men entered Doncaster; here they were
soon afterwards confronted by the Duke of Norfolk and the
Earl of Shrewsbury, with some ten thousand disciplined
troops, cannon, and aU the appliances of war, but a "sudden
swell" in the river causing delay,' the Pilgrims of Grace
became disheartened, they again sought for an armistice,
which was granted by the Duke of Norfolk, in order to give

* Woodville's Anepdatesjrf the Pilgrims of Grace.

484 The Pilgrims of Grace.
time to bring up fresh forces, and, in the interval, excite
dissension in the Pilgrim camp. In this scheme he suc
ceeded. The King, however, thought proper to send a
written answer to the complaints of the Pilgrims of Grace ;
and gave authority to Norfolk to treat with them, granting
a full pardon to all but ten — six named and four unnamed.
This exception caused each of the leaders to fear for his own
safety : the Pilgrims rejected the terms. Another negotia
tion was opened, which was participated in by a large number
of the clergy, who met at Pontefract. Amongst the fresh
demands made on the King were "that heretical books
should be suppressed, that heretical bishops and laymen of
the same mind should either be punished according to law,
or decide the question with the Pilgrims of Grace in a brave
fair fight on the field of battle ; that the Statute of Uses,
and Treason of Wrards, with those which abolished the Papal
authority, bastardized the Princess Mary, suppressed the
monasteries, and gave to the King the tenths and first-fruits
of benefices should be repealed; that Lord Crumwell, Chan
cellor Audley, and Maister Rich should be tried as subverters
of the law and maintainers of heresy; that London, Legh,
and Leyton, the monastic commissioners to the northern
district, should be prosecuted for extortion, peculation, and
other abominable acts." The King and his Council rejected
the petition with contempt. " I marvel," writes his High
ness to the Pilgrims, " that such ignorant churls as you are
should presume to talk of theological subjects to me, who is
so noted in learning of that kind ; or that you should com
plain of my laws, as if, after the experience of eight-and-
twenty years, I did not know how to govern this fair king
dom of mine ; or that you should oppose the suppression of

The Pilgrims of Grace. 485
the monasteries. Is it not better, therefore, to relieve and '
aid me, as the Head of the Church, than to support the
slothful and wicked monks ?" And again he says, " You
can no more give judgment with regard to government than
a blind man can as to colours. We, with our whole
Council, think it strange that ye, who are but brutes and
inexpert folk, do take upon you to lecture us as to what is
right or wrong."*
In another letter King Henry seems to look on the
Northern rising as a serious affair, for he tells the people
how much he loves them ; " that the humblest of his sub
jects could have access to his Royal person and state their
grievances, which were sure to be redressed." Who so bold
amongst the " brutes " as to seek redress ? Nulla vestigia
retrorsum with Henry.
Time, so valuable to all popular risings, was vainly lost
by the Pilgrims in marching, counter-marching, and bootless
diplomacy, whilst it was utilised on the other hand by the
Royal General, who, having his army recruited, marched
into the heart of the country, spreading terror and devasta
tion far and near. The Duke of Norfolk's activity was met
with hesitation, want of generalship, and consequent panic
amongst the Pilgrims, whose once grand array seemed to
melt like a morning mist. The enterprise met with the
fate of all armed remonstrances, where the masses negotiate
before they conquer.
The King was not disliked by the Pilgrims, and they did
not wish to fight against him, but they entertained a natural
enmity to his mmisters. In their marchings and counter-

Despatches in State Papers of Henry VIIL

486 The Pilgrims of Grace.
marchings the Pilgrims aroused a very strong Papal feebng ;
they gloried in the name of " Latin Catholics." The Cross
was everywhere forward as an emblem by which the
" holy brotherhood " were known. The children wore the
Cross embroidered in various fancy forms on the right
shoulder. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the
women of aU ranks and ages. " The English women are
the noblest Catholics in the world," was the remark of Narsis
Lopez, the great Spanish architect, who visited England in
those troubled times.
In October the PUgrims of Grace marched in three
divisions from Pomfret. The. enthusiasm on this occasion
was great. Old men and women, on the " verge of the
grave, were carried out to see the Pilgrims on their march,
and to give a blessing to the cause for which they drew the
sword."* The tall and handsome Sir Thomas Percy, at the
head of five thousand men weU armed, carried the banner
of St. Cuthbert. Maister Aske and Lord Darcy came
next, commanding ten thousand men, all well attired and
effectively armed ; no motley groups were anywhere to be
seen. The emblems of the olden creed were as profuse as
they might have been amongst the Crusaders. The Pilgrim
cavalry excited the admiration of the country, and startled
the Government at every point. They numbered twelve
thousand men, " well mounted and appointed, and aU in
rich armour." This splendid body of cavalry had in its
ranks the knights, the esquires, and the yeomen of Rich-
mondshire, Durham, and other districts, as brave and fine
a body of men as ever rode to battle-field for creed or
* Woodville's Anecdotes ofthe Pilgrims of Grace.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 487
fatherland. " We were," writes Sir Marmaduke Constable,
"thirty thousand men, tall men, well horsed, and well
appointed as any men could be." Sir Marmaduke Constable's
statement is corroborated by the Government despatches
from the scene of action. Such a military display had not
been seen in England since the grandfathers of the Pilgrims
of Grace fought on Towton Moor, and the " Red Rose of
Lancaster faded before the summer sun of York." With
very few exceptions, all the great families of the North were
in confederacy with the Pilgrims. The Earl of Westmore
land was represented by the chivalrous Lord Neville ; Lord
Latimer was with them in person ;* Lords Darcy, Lumley,
Scrope, and Conyers were in the front ranks of the move
ment ; likewise the ancient family of Constable, the Tem
pests, the Boweses, the Brydges, the Fairfaxes (not yet
Puritan), the Strangways, the Danbys, the St. Johns, the
Bulmers, the Lascelles, the Nortons, the Moncktons, the
Lowthers,the Ingoldsbys— in fact, almost every family known
and recorded in Border story was represented amongst the
Pilgrims of Grace.f These men were very unlike the
King's description of them, " ignorant churls and brutes
that should be handed over to the hangman."! The Earl
of Northumberland, although sympathising with the cause,
refused to draw his sword against the King. His loyalty

* It is curious, if not strange, that the widow of that zealous Catholic, Lord
Latimer, should at a subsequent period join the Reformers, enter on a secret
campaign of proselytism, and become King Henry's last wife. In the second
volume of this work, I shall have occasion to recur to the history of this lady.
+ It is worthy of remark that the descendants of those great Catholic
famiUes are now— indeed long since-with scarcely an exception, Protestant
and Puritan. X State Papers of Henry VIII.'s reign.

488 The Pilgrims of Grace.
in this case would appear to have had a show of chivalry
towards the kingly office, for in reality he must have hated
Henry Tudor, who crossed him in the path of domestic
happiness some years antecedent to these transactions,
when, as Lord Henry Percy, he was the suitor for the hand
and affections of Anna Boleyn. The reader has already
seen the part taken by Wolsey and the King against Percy,
and the shameful mode of retaliation subsequently adopted
by the latter against the fallen Cardinal. But the Pilgrims
of Grace could not induce the Earl of Northumberland to
join them; he resolutely refused. The Pilgrims became
excited, and indignantly cried out to their leaders " to strike
off the proud Earl's head, and make Sir Thomas Percy (his
brother) the Lord of Alnwick Castle." When lying on his
deathbed the Earl of Northumberland received a deputation
from the Pilgrims. He assured them of his devotion to the
old Latin creed, but he " honoured the monarchy, and
could not in conscience appear in arms against it." He
was silent as to the King's demerits, only remarking that
he was dying, and forgave every one who injured him. In
reply to a more prompt message he said, " If the Pilgrims
of Grace think I am not a true man, then let them strike
off my head. I can die but once, and it will rid me of the
pain I am suffering now. I love my country, and shall
die in the old religion to which the Percys always clung."*
The better feeling of the Pilgrims of Grace prevailed ; they
retired from before the Castle walls of the Border Chief,
and left him to meet death in peace. " My darling Henry
never raised his head since the death of that wicked deceit-

Woodville's Anecdotes of the Pilgrims of Grace.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 489

ful woman, Anna Boleyn," were the words uttered by the
Countess of Northumberland, who attended her broken
hearted son in his last iUness, and closed his eyes in death.*
Such was the last scene in the eventful life of another of
Anna Boleyn's romantic lovers.
Mr. Hepworth Dixon, who may be considered a hostile
writer, furnishes the following account of the connection of
the Percy family with the Pilgrims : — " Henry Percy, the
sixth Earl of Northumberland, was a man of the highest
rank and power then living beyond the Trent. In the
antiquity of his line, in the fame of his fathers, in the
extent of his possessions, he stood without a rival. The
Lord of Alnwick, Wressil, Leckinfield, and other strong
places, he kept the state and exercised the power of a prince,
having his Privy Council, his lords and grooms of the
chamber, his chamberlains, treasurers, purse-bearers, some
of which offices were hereditary in noble houses  He
was the King's deputy in the North, Warden of the East
March and the Middle March, the fountain of aU authority'
in the Border lands. If any man could be made prince of
a new kingdom of the north, Harry Percy was that man.
Like his neighbours, Percy had been slow to follow the
great changes then going on in London. As yet the names
of Catholic and Protestant had not been heard in Yorkshire.
Those who were in arms for the King and Holy Church
had risen in favour of old ways and old things ; in favour
of Queen Katharine, of monks, friars, nuns, and religious
houses ; points on which Percy of Northumberland took
much the same view as his tenants and friends. But Harry

* Woodville' s Anecdotes of the Pilgrims of Grace.

49° The Pilgrims of Grace.
Percy was unthrifty,* a weak and ailing man, who had
never got over his love for Anna Boleyn, and who was
mourning in his great house at Wressil, on the Derwent,
her starless fate, when Maister Aske and a body of riders
dashed into the courtyard of Wressil shouting — ' A Percy,
a Percy.' The King's Warden of the Marches slipped into
bed, and sent out word that he was sick. The Pilgrims
would not take this answer ; they wanted a Percy in their
camp — Earl Harry if it might be — so that folks could say
they were marching under the King's flag, with law and
justice on their side. Aske sent fresh messages into the
sick man's room; either the Earl of Northumberland or
his brothers, Sir Thomas and Sir Ingram, he said, must
join the camp of the Pilgrims of Grace. These gallant
young knights were only too quick to obey his call. The
elder brother, Harry Percy, made a feeble protest, and after
they were gone, he revoked the commissions which they
held under him as officers in the Marches. Katharine,
their mother, widow of the Earl of Northumberland, de
tained them with tears, over what she felt would be their
doom. She came of a house which had known the Tower
and the block too well, her uncle being that Duke of
Somerset who was executed by Edward the Fourth ; her
great grandsire, that Earl of Warwick, who had given his
name to the Beauchamp Tower ; but Katharine Percy's

* When Thomas Crumwell carried on the trade of a money-lender in
London Lord Percy was amongst his victims. In an account-book of
Crumwell's still extant, the name of Lord Percy occurs ; he borrowed 40£.
at an enormous interest. To deal with such an extortioner as Crumwell, shows
that Percy deserved the title of " unthrifty Harry. " His father, according to
Cavendish, describes Percy as a proud, unthinking man, who wasted much
money.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 49 1

sons, though they paused for a moment at the warning
cries of their noble mother, instantly leapt to horse, and
clad in flashing steel, and flaunting plumes, rode forward
into the camp, where the PUgrims of Grace received them
with a wild enthusiasm. That shining steel, that dazzling
plume were afterwards cited as evidence that they had
joined the Pilgrims by deliberate choice, and his fine attire
caused one of the brothers to lose his head."*
Adopting this confirmation, Sir Thomas Percy and his
brother Ingram, decked with gay plumes and gorgeous
armour, were in the ranks of the Northern Pilgrims. Sir
Thomas Percy, who was heir to the earldom, was amongst
those who perished on the scaffold. The Earldom was sub
sequently conferred by Queen Mary on Sir Thomas Percy's
son, who was known in the reign of Elizabeth as the
" Stout Earl." This nobleman, in conjunction with many
others took up arms in favour of the Queen of Scots ; failure
and disaster followed. f He was sentenced to death; and
beheaded at York, and his body quartered. In 1585, the
next brother who held the title was committed to the Tower
on the charge of high treason. It is alleged that he com
mitted suicide ; but as he was a man under the influence of
reUgion, the statement is highly improbable. It was believed
at the time that Ebzabeth's secret agents murdered him.
The despatches of La Motte Fenelon, the French ambas
sador, throw a flood of light on the proceedings of Elizabeth

* In Sir Charles Sharpe's Memorials of the "Northern Rebellion," are to be
found some particulars as to the misfortunes of the Percy Family ; also vol. iv.
of Miss Strickland's Queens of England.
t Miss Strickland's Queens of England, vol. iv. p. 539 ; Davison's narra
tive ; Sir Harris Uicolas. f

49 2 The Pilgrims of Grace.
as to the " Northern Rebels," which exceeded in barbarity
the massacres perpetrated by her father against the Pilgrims
of Grace." In spite of the explanations given by the Government,"
writes Mr. Hepworth Dixon, " folks would not believe that
Percy, Earl of Northumberland, died by his own hand.
Sir Christopher Hatton bore the odium of contriving a
midnight murder ; for many years the event was spoken of
as a political assassination ; and that by men who like Sir
Walter Raleigh and Sir Robert Cecil, knew every mystery
of the Court."* Sir Harris Nicolas pronounces the accusa
tion of murder against Hatton to be " scandalous and
untrue." But Percy of Northumberland was undoubtedly
murdered by some of Lord Burleigh's or the Queen's agents.
An inquest on a political prisoner in the reign of Elizabeth
was a dismal sham. The true mode by which the unfortunate
nobleman was assassinated remains still a mystery. Sir
Harris Nicolas thus exonerates Hatton : he observes, " that
Sir Christopher Hatton's position rendered him an object of
envy cannot be doubted ; but he seems to have made more
friends and fewer enemies than any other Royal favourite."
The biographers of Hatton are at issue as to his merits.
Lord Campbell, Sir Harris Nicholas, and Mr. Foss all
disagree. Mr. Foss seems indignant at the allegation that
Chancellor Hatton " spent his time as the dancing favourite
of Elizabeth." Sir Robert Naunton and his contemporaries
thought otherwise. Sir Harris Nicolas, however, has no
faith in gossipping Naunton, whom he accuses of "petty
jealousy." Camden, the secretary and friend of Lord

Her Majesty's Tower, by Hepworth Dixon.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 493

Burleigh, although on "bad terms" with Hatton, speaks
of his "handsome and commanding figure winning the
Queen's affections." Hatton's letters to the Queen, which
had been little noticed until calendared by Sir Harris Nicolas,
some thirty-two years ago, are strange documents, and
breathe aU the warmth of a passionate lover, rather than
the respectful and humble address of a subject. " These
documents, and some others in this collection," writes our
great antiquary, " wiU probably raise a strong doubt upon
her Majesty's right to her favourite and well known
designation."* Elizabeth's answers to those extraordinary
missives are supposed to be somewhere in the Record Office.
Hatton, however, had many good qualities. " He was,"
observes one of his distinguished biographers, " the constant
resource of the unfortunate, knowing on such occasions no
distinction of religion; in whose cause, he nobly said,
neither searing nor cutting was to be used. He was the
frequent intercessor in cases of persecution, and the patron
and, better still, the friend of literary men, who repaid his
kindness by the only means in their power, thanks — the
Exchequer of the Poor — in the dedication of their works.
All that is known of Hatton proves that his heart and dis
position were amiable, his temper mild, and his judgment
less biassed by the prejudices of his age than that of most
of his contemporaries."
To return to the Pilgrims. The secular clergy were dis-

* In the Hatton Letter Bag (calendared by Sir H. Nicolas) are printed
several of Hatton's letters to the Queen. It is impossible to misunderstand
the meaning of those documents. Elizabeth's pet name for Hatton was
"Lids" or "Lyddes." His person was tall, handsome, and courtly, and he
had an exquisite voice. The Queen loved him passionately—" for awhile."

494 The Pilgrims of Grace.
affected in the provinces; they had reason to complain
bitterly of the conduct of the new ecclesiastical inquisitors.
George Lumley, a son of the nobleman of that name, stated
in his evidence before the Council, that the priests in the
north of England had " assisted the PUgrims of Grace with
money and provisions."* Many of the seculars were at first
opposed to the movement ; but when their " small house
hold property was seized upon by Lord Crumwell's agents,
they became exasperated ; still they did not join the popular
movement, t The next command from Crumwell was to
seize the Church plate ; the chalice was torn from the taber
nacle by the hands of such men as Richard Crumwell. A
lin vessel was supplied to each church or chapel, to be used
as a chalice.% When the government made this sacrilegious
confiscation the priests and the people at once coalesced.
Popular indignation was at its height; and the people cried
out for Lord Crumwell's head, whom they styled the " arch
heretic." " Down with the villein," was the shout raised
in every town and village. §
Disaster followed disaster with the Pilgrims of Grace.
Nearly all their principal leaders were taken prisoners.
Lord Darcy, Aske, Constable, Bigod, the Abbots of Foun
tains and Jervaulx, Sir John Bulmer, Lord Lumley's son,
Tempest, and thirteen others of ancient family, were tried
in London, and at once condemned to death. Some were
executed at Tyburn ; others at York and Hull. The King
indulged in one of his savage sayings — " Let there be no

* MSS. in the State Paper Office. f Thorndale's Memorials.
X Ecclesiastical Returns concerning Church Plate made to Lord Crumwell.
§ Anecdotes of the Pilgrims of Grace.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 495
delay; hang them up at once." Lady Bulmer, a very
beautiful woman, was consigned to the flames at Smithfield
by a special Tudor code, which condemned women to the
stake, "with its worst tortures," if they committed high
treason. Lady Bulmer died like a heroic woman. " /
have," said she, " come here to die for the old religion of
England ; I have nothing to regret ; and I rejoice and thank
my God that I am given an opportunity of offering up my
life for the true faith of Jesus Christ."*
Mr. Hepworth Dixon represents Lady Bulmer as insane ;
that she was the illegitimate daughter of Stafford Duke
of Buckingham, who was beheaded in the early part of
Henry's reign. And further, "she was not the wife
of Sir John Bulmer ; her name was Madge Cheyne."
And again he observes : " She was a devout woman, if
not an honest wife ; she brought with her into the
PUgrims' camp, not only her high blood and bickering
tongue, but Father Stonhouse, her family priest." If the
lady whose memory Mr. Hepworth Dixon thus traduces
held such a position, no Catholic priest, holding a bishop's
licence, could fill the office of chaplain and confessor to
her; so Mr. Dixon's allegations fall to pieces like a
house of cards. If a wild enthusiasm on the part of
the English matrons and their daughters in favour of the
Pilgrims can be construed into madness, then there was
plenty of insanity in the provinces. Mr. Dixon cannot
afford a good word for the Pilgrims, to whom he applies
many harsh epithets.

* Dr. Creci's Scenes at the Stake ; a very scarce black letter book ;
Woodville's Anecdotes of the Pilgrims of Grace.

496 The Pilgrims of Grace.
When Lord Darcy was examined before the Privy
Council, he turned on Lord Crumwell, " once his professing
friend," and now, regardless of his enmity, he said—
" Crumwell, it is thou that art the very special and chief
causer of aU this rebellion (movement) and mischief, and
art likewise causer of the apprehension of us that be (the
word here has faded away), and dost daily earnest (travel)
to bring us to our ends, and to strike off our heads ; but I
trust, that ere thou die, though thou wouldst procure all
the noblemen's heads within the realm to be stricken off,
yet shall there remain one head (and arm) that shall strike
off thy head."* In Lord Darcy's petition to the King he
says — " I beg to have confession, and at Mass to receive
my Adorable Maker (the Holy Eucharist), that I may
depart in peace from this vale of misery." In a letter to
Henry, he besought the King in pathetic words that his
" entire body" (when Royal vengeance was satisfied) might
be laid beside the remains ofthe wife of his early love, once
known as the beautiful Anne Neville — the type of all that
was generous and good in her sex. Lord Darcy further
implored, that his debts might be paid out of his own pro
perty. Aske and others petitioned that their families
" might not be reduced to poverty and ruin."t How far
such requests were attended to by Lord Crumwell it is
unnecessary to inquire.
Some of the Pilgrims acted in a half-hearted spirit on

* This brief address of Lord Darcy is to be seen in a MS. at the Rolls
House ; and, what is more curious still, it is in Lord Crumwell's own hand
writing—thus inditing a premonition of his own fate.
t State Papers of Henry's reign.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 497
their trial, but most of them were firm, and at the scaffold
behaved in a manner worthy of men whose fathers were
famed in the wars of the Plantagenets ; but, with that proud
feeling which was often evinced by the old historic families
of England, they protested against being stigmatised as
rebels ; they placed themselves in the position of " defenders
of the olden religion of the country," which, they argued,
was older than any monarchy in Europe. They were still
loyal to his Highness; but their loyalty to the Papal
Church could only be extinguished in their blood. The
scenes which took place throughout the country attested
the truth of their declarations ; for no men ever died at the
hands of the headsman with greater moral courage, venera
tion, and love for the creed of their forefathers than did
the leaders of the Pilgrims of Grace.
In York, HuU, Carlisle, and Pontefract, some seven
hundred persons were hanged, amongst whom were many
monks and friars. The scenes of slaughter ended with
" hanging upon the trees a score of men in every village
the King's generals passed along." The poor unlettered
peasantry died like heroes, but "without benefit of clergy!'
The " old nobles " were friendly to the Pilgrims of Grace,
and it is even aUeged that the Duke of Norfolk "secretly
wished them well." No action of his life, however, sup
plies credence to such an opinion. If he was a chivalrous
courtier, he always chose the strongest side, whereby his
interests were best promoted. A despatch of his from
Welby Abbey, throws some Ught on what manner of man
the " hero of Flodden Field" really was. He says :-" By
any means, fair or foul, I will crush the rebels (the Pilgrims);
VOL. I. K K

498 The Pilgrims of Grace.
I will esteem no promise that I make to them, nor think my
honour touched in the violation of the same."*
There was no lack of enthusiasm or bravery on the part
ofthe Northern Pilgrims, and they had a powerful incentive
to persevere in the fact that the Royal army were supposed
to be disaffected, both officers and men, who abhorred the
King's Council, especially Lord Crumwell. Nevertheless,
the Pilgrim generals lost their opportunities, perhaps through
the incapacity of Lord Darcy. Both parties have accused
him of treachery, but he was no traitor ; and many circum
stances plead in his favour. He belonged to the old class
of nobility, who looked upon a king as " the anointed of the
Lord." He served under Henry VIL, and gave many
sumptuous entertainments to that monarch. He had fought
against the Moors with King Ferdinand, and he had earned
laurels in France also. He had some military reputation.
In early life he travelled to the Holy Land ; he visited
Rome, and paid homage to the spiritual head of his religion.
He was strongly opposed to the German Reformation, and
when the question of the King's supremacy was raised, he
made several speeches in the House of Lords on the subject.
He was most outspoken on the question of the Pope's spiri
tual headship, and did not seem to care whether his senti
ments pleased the King or not ; but at the same time he
did not like to be stigmatised as a, rebel. The name
sounded odious in his ear. Mr. Froude insinuates treachery
and cowardice in his conduct; but it is easy to draw an
unfavourable inference from the uncertain accounts that
have reached posterity of the real circumstances which led

* State Papers, vol. i. p.-519.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 499
to the overthrow of the movement. It must be likewise
remembered that Lord Darcy was nearly eighty-two years
old, and weighed down with infirmity and domestic sorrows ;
nevertheless, he ascended the scaffold bravely, and died like
a true Christian man.
From the last terrible despatch of King Henry to the
commander of his army may be judged the kind of faith
with which monarch and general had conducted the nego
tiations with an injured people. " The further," writes his
Highness, " you wade in the investigation of the behaviour
of those monks, the worse you wUl find them."* In con
clusion, the proclamation says : —
" Our kingly pleasure is that, before you close up our
Royal banner again, you shall cause such dreadful execution
to be done upon a number of the inhabitants of every town,
village, and hamlet that have offended, as shall make a spec
tacle to others who might wish to offend hereafter against our
Royal command. Finally, as all those troubles have been
caused by the monks and canons of those parts, you shall,
without pity, cause all the said monks and all the said canons
that in any wise have been faulty to be tied up without further
delay or ceremony."
In 1513, many years before CrumweU and Cranmer be
came advisers to the Crown, Henry wrote to- Leo X.,
eulogising the religious orders of England — the Franciscans,
Minors, or Grey Friars being special objects of his com
mendation. He described them as " remarkable for Chris
tian poverty, sincerity, charity, and devotion."t

* State Papers of Henry VIII.'s reign.
t Ellis's Original Royal Lettere, vol. i. p. 166.
K K 2

500 The Pilgrims of Grace.
" Tied up" signified to be hanged from the nearest tree,
" without benefit of clergy." The Duke of Norfolk obeyed
the Royal command. In two days he hanged seventy-four
persons in Westmoreland and Cumberland. A large pro
portion of them were priests, some forty, fifty, sixty, seventy,
and one eighty-six years of age. To this number may be
added twelve abbots who were hanged, drawn, and quar
tered.* One of the abbots executed was Thomas Maigne, a man
of considerable learning and stainless character. At his
trial the abbot addressed the jury in an eloquent strain for
three hours ; but that tribunal having been " carefuUy
selected," Maigne was speedily consigned to the executioner.
He died bravely, telling his companions that they were
" about to suffer for the faith of Jesus Christ." Lord
Hussey went through the form of a trial ; he was found
guilty and executed.f The mode of dealing with this un
fortunate nobleman was marked by treachery and dishonour ;
yet it is alleged by some writers that Lord Hussey " had all
the advantages of a fair trial." The record of what took
place is the most conclusive answer that can be made to
this assertion.
As I have already remarked, seventy-four persons were
"hanged and quartered" in three days at Westmoreland
and Cumberland. Several of them were aged priests. J

• State Papers ; Woodville ; Sharon Turner, vol. x. ; Lingard, vol. iv. ;
Froude, vol. iii. In the Hardwicke State Papers, vol. i., some additional light
is thrown on the murderous proceedings of the King and his Council in rela
tion to the Pilgrims of Grace. \ Crumwell's State Papers.
+ Hall ; Stowe's Chronicle ; MS. State Paper Office.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 501

Here is Mr. Froude's commentary on this dreadful scene :
— " The severity was not excessive, but it was sufficient to
produce the desired result. The rebellion was finished. The
flame was trampled out."*
An old tradition of Cumberland states that a number of
poor women and their daughters collected the mutilated re
mains of the dead and gave them burial in a Christian
form. On the following day an Irish Dominican named
Ulick de Burgh celebrated Mass for the deceased Pilgrims;
he was soon after arrested, and hanged from a tree by
Richard Crumwell as an "incendiary offering prayers for
rebels who died ' without benefit of clergy.' "t
The Duke of Suffolk acted the part of a perfect monster
to the women who were arrested for " cheering on the Pil
grims." " Chuck these women off from the nearest tree,"
were the words of Suffolk to Colonel Talbot. The King
desired that the women who committed " high treason," as
he would have it, should be sent to the stake, in the same
manner as Lady Bulmer, but his officers pleaded for the
"rope" as the most expeditious.
The Pilgrims of Grace met with no quarter ; they were
decimated by the Royal troops in their broken retreat ; and
hundreds of them were found dead in the ditches and road
sides from hunger and exhaustion. The women in the rural
districts acted in the most heroic manner.
As iu all revolutionary movements, the Pilgrims were
guilty of some excesses, but not one-tenth of what has been
attributed to them. " Whenever they fell into the hands

* Froude's Hist, of England, vol. iii. p. 203.
f Woodville's Anecdotes of the Pilgrims of Grace.

502 The Pilgrims of Grace.
of the King's adherents they received no mercy — not even
to women or children. In a moment of " rage and red-hot
passion," the Pilgrims slew one of the principal canons of
the Cathedral of Lincoln. He was known to have been a
spy for Lord Crumwell, whilst at the same time expressing
sympathy with the popular cause. His murder was a
shocking affair. Mr. Froude alleges that several priests
cried out, " kill him." If Mr. Froude had stated that a
number of half-mad women cried out, Kill " Crumwell's
Judas," he would have approached nearer to the facts of the
case. The learned gentleman considers that Stow and
Holinshed "knew nothing of the movement of the
Pilgrims ; they are no authority." The reason is obvious.
The public are invited to accept Mr. Froude's narrative.
The wholesale butchery of the peasantry was " according to
law ;" therefore it should receive no censure. Richard,
brother to Lord CrumweU, was invested with the command
of some troops, but his real office was that of a spy for the
King, to ascertain whether " certain squires were in earnest,
true, and loyal." He writes in glowing terms of Sir John
Russell. " Russell assured him that his hatred of the Pil
grims was so great that he could eat them without salt."*
Another account is to the effect that Sir John Russell said,
" Leave the lazy monks to me, and I will soon dangle them
from the trees," to which Richard Crumwell replied, " I
would rather yoke them to a plough that they might taste
of hard work." Richard Crumwell performed many offices
for Henry of which there is no record extant. The term
" Lollard" was sometimes appUed to Richard Crumwell in

MS. State Paper Office.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 503
relation to his " sacking" convents in search of jewellery for
the King. He was a special favourite with Henry, who in
vested him with knighthood in a most gracious manner.
" Formerly," says the delighted monarch, " thou wast my
Dick, but hereafter shall be my diamond," and thereat let
fall his diamond ring unto him ; " in avowance whereof,"
writes Fuller, " these Crumwells have ever since given for
their crest a Uon holding a diamond ring in his fore paw.''*
The examination of some of the Pilgrims before Lord
CrumweU as to the " causes of the discontent" are of con
siderable importance.
" The discontent," says Aske, " extended to the county
families who shared or imitated the prejudices of their
feudal leaders ; every family had their own peculiar grie
vances. On the suppression of the abbeys, the peers ob
tained grants, or expected to obtain them, from the forfeited
estates. The county squires saw the desecration of the
famUiar scenes of their daily life, the violation of the tombs
of their ancestors, and the buildings themselves, the beauty
of which was the admiration of foreigners who visited
England, reduced to ruins. The abbeys were the most
picturesque and beautiful places in the realm, and always a
source of delight to the people of other nations. The
abbots had been the personal friends of the local gentry, the
trustees for their chUdren, and the executors of their wUls ;
the monks had been the tutors of their chUdren ; the free
tables constantly covered with good cheer had made con
vents and abbeys attractive and popular— especially in re
mote places, and during severe weather. The immediate

* Fuller's History of English Abbeys, edited by Dr. Brewer, vol. iii.

504 The Pilgrims of Grace.
neighbourhood of a large abbey or convent was a busy hive
of industry; no one hungry; the sick, infirm, and aged
cared for with tenderness."* Upon this report Mr. Froude
remarks — " I am glad to have discovered the most consider
able evidence in favour of some at least of the superiors of
the religious houses."f George Gisborne, who lived by
land, said that the poor people were left without the com
mons or patches of ground which their families held for
centuries; that they were oppressed by a new class of
squires, who doubled the rent.% Other witnesses dwelt
upon the losses their children and themselves had suffered
by the confiscation of the abbeys.
The grievances spoken of by the Pilgrims of Grace were
frequently alluded to by Hugh Latimer in his " rustic
speeches," yet those revolutionary proceedings were sug
gested and carried out by the very class of men with whom
Latimer was so intimately connected. These facts are
attested by the State Papers and records of the times, and
it is impossible to deny their accuracy.
The Pilgrims of Grace were neither traitors nor rebels, but
rather conservative and patriotic in all their actions ; they are
almost unknown to posterity ; they have been misrepresented
by some recent writers, as they had been cruelly calumniated
by others. Since the days of the first Crusade no such
enthusiastic movement of Catholics had taken place in
England to confront the present and pressing foe of their
belief. Youth and old age rushed to the standard of the
Pilgrims with self-devoted ardour. Those knights of the

* Examination of Aske ; Rolls House MS. ; Crumwell's State Papers.
t Froude, vol. iii. p. 89. X Rolls House MSS.

The Pilgrims of Grace. 505
Cross did not war against the King but with his Council,
who had overthrown the national religion and raised
anarchy, bloodshed, and confiscation in its place. Those
nobles, knights, and squires who were condemned to the
scaffold met death in a manner worthy of the heroes
of antiquity; like the Christian martyrs of yore, they
advanced to the headsman singing hymns of praise to the
Most High. And, standing on the threshold of eternity,
they proclaimed their devotion to the faith of their fathers.
Such is the story of the Pilgrims of Grace — another phase
of that impetuous tyranny which first made England
acquainted with a Christian Diocletian.

506 The King's Supremacy in Ireland.

CHAPTER XL.
THE KING'S SUPREMACY IN IRELAND.
Whilst a large number of the convocations, bishops,
clergy, and laity of England professed to accept the
King's Supremacy in spiritual matters, a very different
feeling existed amongst the English settlers in Ireland.
The native Irish and their chiefs outside the districts known
as the " Pale," or English colony, as a matter of course
ignored King Henry's rule in everything, whilst those
within the English district could not be brought to change
their creed. Archbishop Brown's letter from Dublin, in .
1538, exhibits the manner in which Lord Crumwell and
Dr. Cranmer endeavoured to introduce the Reformation into
Ireland, although both at this period professed to be mem
bers of the Latin Church; but what Cranmer professed
to believe, and what were his real opinions, seldom
harmonised. " Since my coming over here," writes Archbishop Brown, " I
have been unable, even in the diocese of Dublin, to induce any,
either religious or secular, to preach the Word of God or the
King's just title as Supreme Head over the Church  They
that then could, and would very often, even until the right Chris
tians were weary of them, preach after the old sort and fashion,
will now not once open their lips in any pulpit for the manifestation
of the same, but in corners and such company as them liketh, they
can full earnestly utter their opinions  The Observants are
worse than all the others, for I can make them ne.ither swear nor

The Kings Supremacy in Ireland. 507
preach amongst us. This comes from the extreme handling that
my Lord Deputy hath used towards me, what by often imprison
ment and expelling me from my own house, keeping there no hos
pitality at all, and so contemptuously villify me, that I take God to
record I had, but that hope comforteth me, rather forsake all those
to abide so many ignominious reproaches  For the love ye
bear to the sincere doctrine of God's word, and the setting forward
of our Prince's title, send to Master Treasurer, the Chief Justice,
the Master of the Rolls, or any two of them, such a straight (strict)
commandment over me and all other ecclesiastical persons, as I
perceive the King's Highness hath sent of late through England to
the sheriffs of every shire  There. is never an archbishop
or bishop but myself, made by the King, but he is repelled, even
now by provision. Again, for all that ever I could do, might I not
make them once, but as I send my own servants to do it, to cancel
out of the Canon of the Mass, or other books the name of the
Bishop of Rome  As for lack of dispensations they (we) are
compelled to sue to Rome. I think it necessary that we should
have dispensations, a vicar-general, and a master of faculties. A
pardon hath lately come from Rome much of consonant (similar) to
a pardon granted by Julian the Second in the time of the wars
between the French King and himself: and that was, that they
who should enjoy it were to fast on Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday, after they heard of the same ; and were to receive Com
munion on the Sunday following  Now, if such things go
unpunished whilst the King's High Commissioners are here (in
Dublin) in seeing these men so ready and prompt to admit the
Bishop of Rome's letters, and so sturdy and fling (ripe) against our
Prince's power, what will men think ?
(Signed) " George Brown.
" Dublin, January 8th day, 1538.
" To the Lord Privy Seal of England, Thomas Crumwell." *
The Viceroy's account of Dr. Brown differs widely from

* Carew State Papers (Brewer and Boleyn), 1515-1574, p. 135 6.

508 The King's Supremacy in Ireland.
the character drawn by that prelate of himself. Brown's
conduct was so unbecoming — in fact, so scandalous for a
man holding the position of a bishop — that King Henry
wrote to him a " severe rebuke." His drunkenness and
immorality were notorious, and he took little trouble to
conceal it. Even his friend, Dr. Cranmer, " gently " re
monstrated at first, and subsequently told him he was " a
wicked bad priest, who would bring disgrace upon the
Reformation, then in an infant state." The majority of
the clergy of the diocese of Dublin refused to preach at all,
rather than in favour of the King's Supremacy.* The
history of what occurred in Ireland at this time in relation
to the Reformation is of a fragmentary description, many
of the most important records having been destroyed.
Sufficient is known, however, to arrive at the conclusion
that both the " English of the Pale, and the native chiefs
and tribes," were united in their intensity of hatred to the
Reformation movement, which at this time presented itself
in the form of the " King's Supremacy."
In some despatches to Lord Crumwell, Dr. Brown com
plains of the " favours granted " to the Observant Fathersf
by the Lord Deputy ; Brown here makes some important
admissions, for he assures Crumwell that " the English by
descent and other settlers, have a decided distaste to any
change from the principles of the Bishop of Rome." In
another communication the Archbishop believes the English
of the Pale to be " as obstinate Papists as the wild Irish
themselves."

* Irish State Papers ; Lord Leonard Grey's Despatches.
* The above religious order were in connection with the heroic community
of Greenwich.

The King's Supremacy in Ireland. 509
Lord Leonard Grey and the Irish judges were at that
period hostile to Dr. Brown ; they had heard of the King's
claims to be Head of the Church with dismay, but a prelate
with a wife and two mistresses they ivould not tolerate. Lord
Grey subsequently became the victim of party conspiracy.
He was impeached for treason, but there is no record of it
extant. He was obnoxious to Archbishop Brown's friends at
the English Court, whose efforts to promote the Reformation
in Ireland were baffled by Grey and the Irish judges. Let
it be remembered that the Reformation assumed many un
defined forms at this period, the principal being hostility to
the Papal authority, a standard which gathered around it
many who had no idea of joining the "new learning," or
were actuated by political motives.
Several English historians contend that Grey rendered
much service to the English Crown in Ireland. The "Irish
difficulty" in those days caused ruin or loss of life to
several Viceroys. Lord Grey " never made recompense for
the wrongs which he inflicted upon Irishmen," has been
often repeated.* It is supposed that Archbishop Brown
was one of the principal witnesses against Lord Grey.
Grey's ignorance of Ireland, and the mode of managing
parties there, led him into many fatal mistakes ; he was
charged with having been bribed by the Irish chiefs ;f that
he had assisted the O'NeiUs to oppress the Maguires, who
were friendly to English rule; that he was mean and
treacherous, and "did nothing to conciliate the native

* Irish State Papers of Henry VIII.'s reign.
f This accusation was absurd. The Irish chiefs had no means to bribe;
they were miserably poor at the time. Lord Grey, however, was not the man
to disgrace the Viceregal office by such conduct.

5 10 The King's Supremacy in Ireland.
Irish." He was, however, neither mean nor treacherous ;
but sometimes hasty and rash. The charges brought against
him were ninety in number, but were reduced to five. One
of the indictments against him was that " he had aided in
the escape of that persecuted child, Gerald Fitzgerald ; and
further in corresponding with Cardinal Pole." Lord Her
bert alleges that he made a confession of his crimes, but
there is no document extant to throw any light on the
subject. Many years subsequent Lord Kildare solemnly
affirmed that Grey had no concern whatever in his escape.
The facts of the case were, that Henry VIII. vowed ven
geance against the Geraldines, and no less than six of that
ancient family perished on the scaffold in a few months.
Lord Leonard Grey's opposition to the " new learning "
made him unpopular with Archbishop Cranmer. The Arch
bishop's name does not appear in those proceedings, but
there are documents extant which prove that he sustained
the policy of Dr. Brown in Ireland. Lord Grey was
neither prudent nor discreet, as those qualities were then
understood ; he feU a victim to a combination formed
against him by men, who, whUst hating one another, acted
with fatal concord when their interests pointed to a sacrifice.
I shaU however, have occasion to allude to many similar
combinations in the course of this work.
The treachery with which Lord Grey has been charged
in relation to the Ul-fated and chivalrous Geraldines has not
been clearly established. He was surrounded in Dublin by
officials who had no regard either for the lives or the
liberties of the people. He held the office of Lord Deputy
of Ireland twice, and was in London at the period of Anna
Boleyn's overthrow. The most painful incidents of his life

The King's Supremacy in Ireland. 5 1 1
occurred about this time, for he was ordered by Lord Crum
well to take the command of the household troops, who
guarded the fallen Queen, from the Palace of Placentia to
the Tower. He dared not refuse ; he was, however, over
whelmed with grief at the recollection that the happiest
days of his youth were spent in the society of Anna Boleyn
at Hever Castle. " Like Thomas Wyatt," observes Barlow,
" my good master and noble friend loved Nan de Boleyn in
secret for years." A sad end awaited Lord Leonard Grey :
he was again impeached for high treason, in May, 1544, and
beheaded a few days subsequently. There are no records
extant of the exact charges against him, or by whom pre
ferred. It is affirmed by the chronicles of the time that he
died like a good Catholic and a brave man. In England
he was considered "amiable and harmless," and perhaps
the best member of the haughty and profligate house of
Dorset. His secretary, Roger Barlow, states that "very
early in Ufe he had a disappointment, a sweet romance, the
recoUection of which in after years made him sad." Barlow
adds : " He was passionately fond of Irish music, and gave
a kindly greeting to the bards of Ireland whenever they
came near unto him." Lord Leonard Grey and his heroic
young wife lived in love and harmony, always doing good,
seeking to reform the wicked, to console the unhappy, to
visit the sick, to shelter the friendless, and to have pity for
the unfortunate. Take him for aU and all, Leonard Grey
deserved a far better fate.

5 1 2 The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn.

CHAPTER XLI.
THE ABBOTS OF GLASTONBURY AND WOBURN.
The story of the last Abbot of Glastonbury is a grim
narrative. Richard James Whiting, Abbot of that wonder
ful and storied pile — grand even now in its extensive ruins
— had arrived at the age of eighty-four years when he
encountered the fatal anger of King Henry. Whiting
was both a lover and patron of learning, was distinguished
for his pious, gentle nature, and, as the long-standing repute
of the Abbey demanded, he was unboundedly hospitable.
Every Wednesday and Friday the poor of the neighbour
hood came in crowds to his gate, and on occasions as many
as five hundred of the country gentry were entertained by
the Abbot's cheer. Three hundred boys, the sons of
gentlemen, were educated, fed, and lodged at the Abbey.
The education given to those youths was, taking respective
opportunities of teacher and pupil, quite equal to that now
obtained at Eton or Westminster. A large number of
destitute orphans were also maintained by the Abbey, which
had borne a high reputation for centuries. But it was
now doomed. On a September morning (1539) Lord
Crumwell's Commissioners came suddenly to Glastonbury,
about ten of the clock. The Abbot was not at home, so
they at once proceeded to Sharphorn, another residence of
the community, and found the venerable Father in his
library at prayers. Neither his age nor high clerical position

The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn. 513
 !  ¦
could command respect. They spoke, as averred, with
grossness and insolence ; they questioned him on many
matters of which he appeared to have known nothing.
They brought him back to the Abbey, and when he went
to bed that night, they searched his study for letters and
books, and found secreted (they said) an MS. of his own
arguments against the divorce of the King and Queen
Katharine, which the Commissioners took " to be a great
matter ;';* also divers pardons, copies of Papal bulls, and
the " Counterpart Life of Thomas a Becket" in print.
The inquisitors, as the report continues, " could not find
any letter that was material, "f Dean Layton, however,
considered himself amply provided with materials for a
charge of high treason. He writes to CrumweU of the
Abbot's " crooked and treacherous conduct and bad heart."
At this very time Lord Crumwell was well aware of the
stainless character and generous feelings of Dr. Whiting.
In another letter Dr. Layton (to Lord Crumwell) thus
describes the aged Abbot : — " The Abbot of Glastonbury
appeareth neither then nor now to have known God nor
his King, nor any part of a good Christian man's religion.
They be all false, feigned, flattering hypocrites, knaves, as
undoubtedly there is more other of that sort." J There is
on record, in reply to this, abundant evidence of the utter
falsehood of Layton's correspondence. Mr. Froude states

* Katharine had been dead some three years at this time.
+ In Stephen's Monasticum, p. 425, it is stated as a positive fact that the
" King's searchers brought in this little book against the divorce, and con
cealed it in the library without the Abbot's knowledge." The Rev. J. H.
Blunt adds to this the brief but pregnant comment, " Nothing more likely."
X State Papers, vol. ii. p. 621.
VOL. I. L L

5 1 4 The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn.
that the Monastic Inquisitors " did not trouble themselves
to speculate on the intentions of the Abbot. His motives
were of no momenti" Of course not. The writer of official
slander on the Abbot was about six-and-twenty years of
age, and filled the office, not won by his virtues, of Dean
of York, and several pluralities. The Abbot was sent to
London " chained in a cart," under a guard composed of
drunken ruffians who were familiar with aU the barbarous
horrors of prisoners' treatment in gaol. The wealth of
Glastonbury was the subject of a long report from Layton,
and likewise of a curious paper dweUing at some length on
the services the monks rendered to the people, and the
popularity of the inmates from time immemorial. This
document was destroyed by Crumwell, at the suggestion of
Dean Layton, who said, "Do not let the King see this paper,"*
and so another report was " prepared for his Highness."
This was a matter of frequent occurrence. An inquirer,
with a certain degree of power, and an uncertain amount
of conscience; can compass, when left to " his own discre
tion," a report fully suited to the requirements of his em
ployer, or of himself. And this was the settled system of
the inquisitors, who were merely commissioned to approve
foregone conclusions of the most cruel and unjust nature.
Thorndale, who was well acquainted with the inquisitors
and the monks, states that he received this item of intel
ligence from Pollard, who consulted him frequently as an
architect as to the value of some old places that were con
signed to destruction. The mode of torture still continued.
Layton and Pollard made a fresh communication to Lord

* Layton's Despatches to Crumwell; Thorndale's Memorials.

The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn. 515
CrumweU. " They had discovered fresh treasons committed
by the Abbot." .... Those treasons ascribed to the
venerable Abbot and his community consisted in the en
deavour to conceal the sacred vessels of the church from the
hands of these inquisitorial marauders. The same "treason"
was said to have been committed in many communities.*
The fate of the Abbot of Glastonbury and his brethren was
arranged by Lord Crumwell three months before the Com
missioners proceeded to the Abbey ; the secret despatches
of Crumwell make his plans pretty clear. " The grand old
Abbot," as the Rev. J. H. Blunt styles him, " broken in mind
and wasted by sickness and imprisonment, was carted from
London to Wells to go through the form of a trial by jury,
the result having been duly arranged by a ' sorting' of the
evidence — CrumweU's own phrase. Never was there a
ghastlier outrage upon the forms of justice than trial by
jury at that epoch in England." Jurymen at the present
day are not in many cases famed for wisdom, and they have
even been accused of not being always honest. But in the
time I write of, the hapless juror went to his seat with his
own Ufe in his hands, as much as, if not more than, the life
ofthe accused. " The noble old Abbot," the Rev. Mr. Blunt
states, " could not comprehend the proceedings, being deaf

* There is a tradition at Durham that the jewels and plate of the Cathedral
ofthat see still remain in some undiscovered place of concealment. So late as
the year 1866 a fruitless search was made for the plate. The Earl of Bristol
(Bishop of Derry), the most popular English Protestant Bishop that was ever
quartered upon *. very unconcurring race, gave to the Catholic clergy of his
diocese, according to Dr. Stewart's "Antiquities of Armagh," a chestful of
vestments, sacred vessels, &c, supposed to have been buried in the reign of
Elizabeth, just before the " Flight of the Earls," one of whom lies in Rome, the
other in Spain.
L L 2

5 1 6 The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn.

and ill," and likewise aUowed no counsel. To judge of the
" counsel" of that time, it may be said, without question,
that the Abbot would have lost nothing by his deafness,
even if he could have procured " legal advice." Equity
and legal honour in England had for some three years been
buried in the headless grave of Sir Thomas More. In the
case under investigation, I may briefly state that the Abbot
of Glastonbury underwent a judicial mockery in the form
of a trial, and was condemned " within three hours," to be
hanged and quartered on the following day. He asked
permission to take leave of the monks, his domestics,
retainers, and many little orphans whom he had " gathered
from far and near," all of whom loved their benevolent
guardian. His " supplications" merely elicited the laughter
of Russell and Layton. A panic spread through the country,
and the people evinced a determination to " deUver or
avenge" the Abbot. Sir John RusseU, however, was prompt
and energetic in "subduing commotion," and having "hanged
half a dozen men, and lashed a few more at the cartfs-end,"
declared that " law, order, and loyalty were vindicated."
The very name of Russell struck terror into the hearts of
the , people of Somersetshire.
The next stage in the tragic history of Glastonbury was
the execution of the Lord Abbot. "At one of the clock
Richard Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury, was placed on a
hurdle, after the fashion of a murderer, and drawn through
the viUage to the top of Tor-hill, which overlooked the
Abbey of Glastonbury." Here the Abbot was again met
with insult, uttered in the vilest language by one of the
inquisitors, who demanded " a truthful confession and
acknowledgment of his crimes." " I have no crimes to

The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn. 5 1 7
confess," said the aged Abbot. " I have faithfully served
the King ; but my duty to God, and the commands of His
Church, I shall obey and defend, even though it may cost me
my life. I glory in the holy cause for which you are about
to shed my blood." Then turning to the newly-created
Lord Russell, the Abbot said, " I am now ready to die." *
Lord Russell's letter to Crumwell, stating "the good
work of the week," is brief, but to the purpose. The date
is torn off in the MS., but it is some day in the month of
October, 1539. " The Abbot of Glastonbury was arraigned,
and the next day put to execution, with two of his monks,
for the robbery of Glastonbury Church. On the Tor-hill,
* -~<<xt unto the town of Glaston, the said Abbot was executed,
s body divided in four parts, whereof one quarter standeth
i,t WeUs, another at Bath, and Ilchester, and Bridgewater,
the rest and his head were placed right over the Abbey gate
at Glaston." t
Such are the facts as to the end of the last Abbot of
Glastonbury, and of the last good that ever emanated to the
poor from that noble institution. Russell, the son of a
Bristol adventurer,, never performed his work by halves,
and the people of Somerset and Devon soon sadly verified
the statements, which bear undeniable attestation in the
handwriting of the chief actors and their agents. The hap
less Pilgrims of Grace could not well forget Glastonbury.
An aged prelate, honoured and revered by the country, is
sent to the scaffold and butchered for having stolen (as

* Thorndale, Collier and Stow.
+ Supp. Monas. ; Camden Society Papers; State Papers of Henry's Reign ;
Rev. J. H. Blunt's Reformation ; Lingard and Froude.

5 1 8 The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn.
alleged) his own property ; the altar plate, of which he was
the guardian, was claimed as the King's ; nay, the jewelled
mitre worn by Dr. Whiting was also to be surrendered.
And the non-compliance with these demands was followed
by judicial murder in its most revolting form. As to the
charges of high treason in this case, they were unworthy of
any consideration, and could only be brought forward by
such lawyers as Audley, Fitzjames, or the more infamous
Maister Rich — the worst man of a bad profession.
About this period the Abbot of Tendring and two priors
were likewise consigned to the scaffold, and died like
Christian martyrs.
I look in vain for any sign of Archbishop Cranmer's
intervention, or even mild remonstrance, against these judi
cial murders, and the sacrilegious rapine that quickly
followed. Let the reader remember that Cranmer was at
this very time (1539) the most influential man connected
with the King's Council, enjoying the friendship of the
monarch and his all-potent minister, Lord Crumwell.
Dr. Hobbes, the Abbot of Woburn, took the Oath of
Supremacy, but in a few months subsequent "fell into a
state of remorse" for having done so. One morning he
assembled the community in the great haU and told them
of his " sorrow for having acknowledged the King as
Christ's Vicar," and there and then renounced all spiritual
allegiance to the monarch, calling on his brethren to do the
same; but the majority of them by this time had, it is
stated, begun to study their own worldly interests. " Some
of the monks scoffed at the Abbot ; but the old men of the
brotherhood still sustained their spiritual father." They
reasoned with the young monks, but to no purpose. For

The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn. 519
the second and third time the Abbot assembled the monks,
but with no better result. " I am," said he, " determined
to follow on the same road journeyed by the Bishop of
Rochester and Sir Thomas More." These penitent principles
of the Abbot were soon betrayed ; his arrest quickly fol
lowed. He was brought to London in chains, and lodged
in the Fleet. In a few days subsequently he was interro
gated by Lord CrumweU and Maister Rich, when he " boldly
stated" that he acknowledged no man on earth to represent
Christ but the Roman Pontiff. "Then you go to the
scaffold," said Lord Crumwell. " Don't be an ass, to for
feit your life for the Pope," exclaimed Rich. The Abbot
replied, " Maister Rich, hold your tongue ; the world knows
what manner of person you are. Do not offer your advipe
to me. I fear not ; 1 am ready to meet death for such a
cause." " Then you shall die, and that before long. I will
soon clear the country of such vermin as monks," were the
words of Lord Crumwell. " Oh, thank God," replied the
Abbot.* In six days the Abbot of Woburn was hanged at
the outer gate of the Abbey. The body was quartered, in
the manner of those miserable times, and distributed as
lamentable precedents of a coming " reform." Thorndale
states that Sir John Russell was present, and behaved with
all the levity of manner which characterised his conduct at
executions. The entire community at Woburn were turned
adrift, and ten of the obstinate brothers hanged on the
nearest trees. After this plenary homicide the plunder of
the place commenced ; the library, which was rich in MSS.,

* Crumwell's State Papers ; Rolls House MS. ; Froude, vol. iii. ; Thorndale
and Pomeroy.

520 The Abbots of Glastonbury and Woburn.
and some most valuable works of art, were " carted away"
and sold for a few shillings. Fuller and Bale have written
in an indignant tone respecting the conduct of the Monastic
Commissioners at Woburn, as well as at many other places.
John Bale, indeed, was an eye-witness of those outrages
against civilization, enlightenment, and religion. All that
the old historic Abbey contained was cleared out, and the
building and its lands handed over to the Russells. Then
commenced the poverty, misery, and oppression of the
Bedfordshire peasantry, who had been thitherto remarkable
for their social comforts.
Amongst the many traditions circulated respecting the
last days of Glastonbury is one to the effect, that the Abbot
sent one thousand pounds in gold by his steward to Lord
Crumwell, " beseeching him to have mercy upon himself
and his community," and that the steward turned the
treasure to his own account, and fled to Scotland. It was
also hinted that Abbot Whiting gave a leather bag full of
gold to Layton, as " mercy money." This is likely enough ;
for the good Abbot might have thought he could stave off
the evil day from his numerous dependents by a largesse.
But he knew not Layton.

Dr. Gardyner. 521

CHAPTER XLII.
DR. GARDYNER.*
Stephen Gardyner, Bishop of Winchester, ranks next to
Wolsey and Pace as a statesman. Lord Campbell depicts
him as " a man of original genius, of powerful intellect,
and of an independent mind. Gardyner was a statesman
much in advance of the disjointed and dishonest period in
which he lived. His indisputable respect for the constitu
tional liberties of England, as they were then understood,
gained for him the hatred of foreign despots. He was as
inaccessible to the aUurements of Spain as he was to the
menaces of France, and was also proof against the subtleties
of obgarchical tyranny in the Republic of Venice." So far
Lord Campbell, who, of course, could not imagine that a
Catholic bishop, even if the exigencies of the strange times
in which he lived drove him into statesmanship, should not
have forgotten his higher duties as a minister of
reUgion. As Lord Campbell observes, he never quailed
before the menaces or wiles of foreign tyrants, but he
lamentably faUed, both in reUgious and social indepen-

* I may here state that no life of Dr. Gardyner has been specially written,
and his biography, if such it can be called, occurs incidentally in the history of
his time, from which a fair mode of judging of his merits cannot be derived.
Like Edward Fox, Bishop of Hertford, he was a far greater man than we have
any historical record of.

522 Dr. Gardyner.

dence, when confronted by the will, or lured by the per
suasions of a domestic despot. Dr. Gardyner was the first
who proclaimed the dictum that the Church should not be
under the direct control of the Pope — he would " adhere to
the doctrines of the Papal See, but the King should be
Head of the Church." This novel and most incongruous
theory of mingled allegiance — which in a manner accorded
to the Holy See merely the privilege of giving advice, and
to the King the power of adopting or rejecting it just as he
pleased, whilst it also suggested the confiscation of the pro
perty, along with the teaching right, of the Church — was
received by a large portion of the secular clergy with an
acquiescence which hesitated, but did not protest ; whilst the
spendthrift laity of the strong hand were at once acutely
conscious how fitting an instrument it could be made for
the contemplated onslaught on the possessions of the reli
gious houses — the vicarious bequest of charity, the chief
heritage of the poor. In Henry VIII.'s reign Dr. Gardyner
did more to undermine and injure the Latin Church in
England than any of its avowed enemies. His relation to
the divorce of Queen Katharine is a perennial odium upon
his name.
Little is known of the origin of Gardyner. Thorndale
states that his father was a gentleman connected with the
household of Lionel Woodeville, Bishop of Salisbury. It is
supposed that Stephen Gardyner was born in 1487, two
years after Henry VII. won the Crown at the battle of
Bosworth. Of his school days nothing is known until he
appeared as a student at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. There
he made great proficiency in classical learning, devoting
himself to the school of the " Ciceronians," then in high

Dr. Gardyner. 523

repute. At the same time he laid the foundation of his
future advancement by the special skill he acquired in the
civil and canon law. In 1520 he was admitted a doctor in
both faculties, and soon after he was made Master of
Trinity Hall. The link in his history is frequently broken
from the fact of the destruction of so many records bearing
on the college and public life of ecclesiastics and other
eminent men of the time. The Duke of Norfolk, to whose
son Maister Gardyner was Latin tutor, introduced him to
Cardinal Wolsey, then in the plenitude of his grandeur as
Lord High Chancellor of England. With his usual dis
cernment, Wolsey saw that the " pale-faced student" could
be rendered useful in the public service. Gardyner was ap
pointed a member of the Cardinal's private secretariat, in
which office he soon convinced his patron of the skill and
caution with which he drafted despatches, and offered sug
gestions on political affairs, daily displaying proofs of his
ability for diplomacy. The reader may judge of Wolsey's
confidence in him from the manner in which he writes re
garding him. He calls him, " Primarium secretissimorum
conciliorum Secretarium, mei dimidium, et quo neminem
habeo cariorem."
The treaty of alUance with Francis the First in 1525
being entertained, Gardyner was employed to draw up the
project, and the King, coming to his house at Moor Park,
in Hertfordshire, found him busy at this work. Henry
looked at the performance and approved it, but liked still
, more the secretary's conversation, and, best of all, his fer
tility in the invention of expedients* From this time Dr.

Lord Campbell's English Chancellors.

524 Dr. Gardyner.

Gardyner was consulted about the most secret affairs of
State. In a few months subsequently he was made a Royal
chaplain and almoner to the King.
When the divorce of Queen Katharine was contemplated,
Dr. Gardyner was considered one of the most useful men
for giving advice on the question ; his reputation as a jurist
and canonist stood high, and, as is alleged, the King placed
immense confidence in his " honesty and judgment." These
qualities were, unhappily, convertible terms in the case of
Gardyner. Misled by ambition, and eager to conform to
the King's advancing requirements, he now (1525-8) and
for several years afterwards, took a part of which he deeply
repented in Queen Mary's reign.
In 1528 Dr. Gardyner wrote to Pope Clement in a rude
and uncourteous style : —
" Unless some other resolution be taken than I perceive you in
tend to make, hereupon shall be gathered a marvellous opinion of
your Holiness, of the College of Cardinals, of the authority of this
see. The King's Highness and the nobles of the realm (England),
who shall be made privy to this shall needs think that your Holi
ness and these most reverend and learned councillors either will
not answer in this cause or cannot answer. If you will not, if you
do not choose to point out the way to an erring man, the care of
whom is by God committed to you, they will say to you, ' 0 race of
men most ungrateful and of your proper office most oblivious ; you
who should be simple as doves, are full of all deceit, and craft, and
dissembling. If the King's cause be good,' we require that you pro
nounce it good ; if it be bad, why will you not say that it is bad,
and so hinder a prince to whom all are so much bounden, from
longer continuing with it? We ask nothing of you but justice,
which the King so loves and values, that whatever sinister
things others may say or think of him, he will follow that with all

Dr. Gardyner. 525

his heart ; that, and nothing else, whether it be for the marriage or
against the marriage."*
Gardyner further informed the Pope of the likelihood of
dissent in case the Pontiff should not yield to Henry's
desire ; and then foreshadows that change in England whose
work was just then commencing in Germany.
" If the King's Highness and the nobility of England,"
writes Dr. Gardyner, " being persuaded of your good will to
answer If you can do so, shall be brought to doubt of your
ability, they will be forced to a harder conclusion respecting
this see — namely, that God has taken from it the key of
knowledge ; and they will begin to give better ear to that
opinion of some persons to which they have as yet refused
to Usten, that those Papal laws, which neither the Pope
himself nor his Council can interpret, deserve only to be
committed to the flames." Dr. Gardyner concludes by
giving a warning to the Pontiff to " ponder well on the
question at issue."t
Gardyner, like Wolsey and Cranmer, had a difficult task
to transact the business of the State with the King. When
anything went wrong, Henry burst into violent ebullitions
of passion. He had two modes of scolding : the written
one, which he caUed "betting," and the oral one, which
he styled "squaring." The more strongly worded the
former was the sooner did the Royal indignation subside, as
if it evaporated by the expression. When the courtiers
saw some of these letters they looked upon Gardyner as a

* Dr. Gardyner's Despatches to Cardinal Wolsey ; Lemon's State Papers,
vols. i. and ii. t Lemon's State Papers, vols. i. and ii.

526 Dr. Gardyner.

ruined man ; he, knowing the King's habit, feared nothing
from the rebuke. The squaring was almost as harmless,
and Gardyner soon learned to bend to the storm. When
Lord Wiltshire and Gardyner, on one occasion, had failed
to arrange a certain commission to the King's satisfaction,
the prelate was attacked with a hurricane of abuse ; but at
the conclusion of the conference the King took Gardyner
into his closet, and told him that the anger, though expressed
against him, was as strong against the Earl of WUtshire,
whom he could not address so freely.*
In 1529 Gardyner was intriguing for his royal master in
Rome. His letters thence to Cardinal Wolsey reflect little
credit on both. Neither Wolsey nor Gardyner could have
been deceived by Henry. f Ribadeneyra, a Spanish
Jesuit,' ascribes to Wolsey the scheme to divorce
Queen Katharine, and his motives were to be found
in the dislike he had for Charles the Fifth, and for
Katharine as his aunt. Pollini, a learned Dominican,
makes a similar charge against the Cardinal, but in a narra
tive more copious in its style and circumstances.} Cardinal
Pole believes that the question did not originate with
Wolsey ; whilst Le Grand is " quite positive that the mis
chief originated with the Cardinal of York." Lingard
remarks : — " Whether the idea of a divorce arose sponta-

* Foss's Judges of England, vol. v. and vi.
t The reader will perceive that the opinion expressed in this work of Pope
Clement's policy during the divorce litigation is very similar to that stated by
Lingard, vol. iv. p. 481 ; and also by Pallavicinno. And later still, in Brewer's
State Papers, the conduct of Clement appears in a very favourable light, and
his character has been defended in an equitable spirit by a Protestant writer.
X Pollini's Ecclesiastical Hist, of England, pp. 16-20.

Dr. Gardyner. 527

neously in Henry's mind, or was suggested by the officiousness
of others, may be uncertain; but the Royal wish was no
sooner communicated to Wolsey than he offered his aid,
and ventured to promise complete success. His views,
however, were very different from those of his sovereign.
Either unapprised of the King's intentions in favour of
Anna Boleyn, or persuading himself that the present amour
would terminate like so many others, he looked forward to
the political consequences ofthe divorce, and that he might
"perpetuate" the alliance between England and France,
had already selected for the successor of Katharine, Rene,
the daughter of Louis the Twelfth.* I wish again
to remind the reader of the scene between Wolsey
and Lord Percy, where the Cardinal tells the Border Chief,
" Thomas Boleyn's daughter cannot be your wife. She is
intended for another man." Who was the other man ? If
he contemplated the rank of Queen for the French Princess,
what position was Anna Boleyn to occupy? Next to the
King, a greater match than the heir to the House of
Northumberland was not attainable ; and judging from the
Cardinal's negotiation for the daughter of the French
monarch, he did not intend any honourable settlement for
Anna Boleyn. What might have been his ultimate plans it
is impossible to imagine. But the interview with Percy,
taken in connection with subsequent circumstances, brings
the Cardinal in very near collusion with his sovereign.
Dr. Gardyner practised no deception in this divorce ques
tion. From the beginning he was a persevering friend of
Anna Boleyn, up to the crowning wrong in the judgment

* Lingard, vol. iv.

528 Dr. Gardyner.
delivered at Dunstable, and in a few days later holding the
lappet of her robe at the coronation.
Some recent writers have described Gardyner as the
" chief of the conspiracy that brought Anna Boleyn to the
scaffold." I have already shown that these accusations are
destitute of foundation — " pure and unadulterated lies," as
modern courtesy might not style them, but as they have
been forcibly designated. Let the reader not forget that,
at the period of Anna Boleyn's fall, Dr. Gardyner was
ambassador in France, and, although in that high position,
he had lost his influence at Court.
In 1529 Anna Boleyn corresponded with Dr. Gardyner,
then at Rome. The " future Queen," as she may be styled,
writes : —
" Maister Stephen, —
" I thank you for my letter, wherein I perceive the willing
and faithful mind you have to do me pleasure, not doubting but
as much as it is possible for man's wit to imagine you will do. /
pray God to send you well speed in all your matters [the divorce liti
gation], so that you will put me in a study how to render you
high service. I do trust in God you shall not repent it, and that
the end of this journey shall be more pleasant to me than your first ;
for that was but a rejoicing hope, which, ceasing, the lack of it
does put to the more pain, and they that are partakers with me,
as you do know. Therefore, I do trust that this hard beginning
shall make the better ending.
" Maister Stephen, I send you herewith the ' cramp-rings'* for

* In Burnet's Records is to be seen the Latin formula of the ancient office
of the English Queens blessing cramp-rings. It commences with the Psalm
" Deus misereatur nostri," then follows a Latin piayer invoking the aid of
the Holy Spirit. The rings lying in one basin, or more, a prayer was said
over them: the rings were of silver, not iron, as has been generally supposed
They were to "expel all livid venom of serpents." The rings were blessed
with an invocation to the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob and

Dr. Gardyner. 529

yourself and Maister Gregorie (Cassali), and Maister Petre, and
pray you to distribute them, and assure them that I will be glad
to do them any pleasure (good) which may be in my power. And
thus I make an end, praying God send you good health.
"Written at Greenwich the 4th day of April, year of our
Lord 1529. " By your assured friend,
"Anna Bollein."*
A few months subsequent to the death of Anna Boleyn,
Dr. Gardyner began to perceive the wrong steps he had taken.
The web woven by Audley, Rich, Cranmer, and Crumwell,
was one that appeared likely to prove fatal for a time to
the existence of the olden creed of England, and with that
acute discernment for which he was remarkable, he with
drew from his course, and joined the old high Conservative
party. From that hour forward he was, perhaps, the most
zealous man in England in the maintenance of the Latin
Church ; yet still, with selfish weakness, indulged the King
in his claim to the " Headship of the Church." As the
reader has already seen, this policy was, both actively and

signed frequently with the Cross : in the last benediction the request is
made " that the rings may restore contracted nerves." A Psalm of benediction
follows, and a prayer "against the frauds of devils." The prayers being
repeated again, " the Queen's Highness rubbeth the rings between her hands,
saying, " Sanctiftce, Domine, annulos istos, " &c. The rest of the prayer implies
that " as her hands rub the rings, the virtue of the holy oil wherewith she was
anointed might be infused into their metal, and by the grace of God be effica
cious. " The ceremony concludes with holy water being poured into the basins,
and the Litany repeated. From the allusions to the patriarchs it is likely that
this quaint ceremony was of Hebrew origin. Several English Queens per
formed this ceremony, amongst whom were Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of
York, and Mary Tudor, to whom Dr. Gardyner was Chancellor. If he was
present when Queen Mary performed the ceremony, it was a moment to
awaken the memory of one sad event, at least, in Henry's disastrous reign.
* The above letter is to be seen in the State Paper Office.
VOL. I. MM

530 Dr. Gardyner.

passively, acquiesced in by several bishops and abbots,
with, no doubt, the alternative ofthe scaffold or the dungeon.
There seemed no English prelate so useful to the King as
Dr. Gardyner, because the morality of his private character
had always been unchallenged. Having been sent on an
embassy to Germany, he was shocked at the riot, bloodshed,
blasphemy, and destruction which he there witnessed from
the Anabaptists and other Reformers. On his return to
England he detailed to the King " all he had seen and
heard" concerning the " new learning," which Denny
relates " made an impression on his Royal Master, for
from that hour forward his Highness's feeling towards the
Reformers was of an unmistakable character." Still Henry
continued to be attracted by the artifices of Lord Crumwell,
who engaged to replenish the royal treasury from the pos
sessions of the Church, but " not to disturb its doctrines."
This proposition seemed to please the King, whose worst
profusion desired plunder, not perversion. Gardyner, how
ever, could not approve Crumwell's designs, and had several
interviews with Henry on the subject, but was out
manoeuvred in every way by the cunning and powerful
influence of Cranmer. There is one fact in relation to
Gardyner which reflects credit on his memory. Whilst
many of the so-caUed " Papal party" were as unscrupulous
as the Reformers in appropriating the heritage of the poor,
Stephen Gardyner did not receive the smallest portion of
the pUlage. To use his own words, " he was himself un
mercifully plucked by the Reformers.".
Amongst the missions in which Gardyner was engaged
for Henry was one for the purpose of " explaining to the
Duke of Saxe and other foreign princes that Dr. Fisher and

Dr. Gardyner. 531

Sir Thomas More were executed for treasonable practices."
Dr. Gardyner was instructed by Crumwell to inform those
princes that they " should not believe the false gossip and
scandals that the enemies of his Highness the King had pro
pagated on the Continent respecting the demerits of the said
traitors, John Fisher and Thomas More, who had justly been
slain on the public scaffold as an example to other evil-
inclined men."* In other words, Dr. Gardyner was enjoined
to traduce the characters of the two iUustrious victims, so
as to diminish, if not efface, the impression of horror caused
by the judicial murder perpetrated at Tower Hill. Among
the many bad actions of Gardyner, his conduct in this case
I have no hesitation in pronouncing the basest of all. In
fact, in his diplomatic missions Gardyner was the very
creature of his King, into whose hands he seems to have
surrendered his soul as well as his services. Henry found
in Cranmer, Paget, and Gardyner the most pliant repre
sentatives of his will, and the tyrant monarch's keen
knowledge of human nature understood those, three agents
so accurately, that he set aside for each some peculiar or
fitting office.
" Bishop Gardyner," says Collier, " was a better states
man than a controversial divine. For though his topics are
sometimes good, yet, generally speaking, his reasoning is
either foreign or faint. He floats in the dispute, flies off
from consistency, and wants either force or discretion."!
" Stephen Gardyner," writes Lord Campbell, " was no

* Lord Crumwell's instructions to Gardyner are to be found at the Record
Office, amongst Crumwell's State Papers— strange documents.
+ Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 391.

532 Dr. Gardyner.
enthusiast ; he was not naturally cruel, nor bigoted in his
creed, having several times shown that he could make pro
fessions of doctrine bend to political expediency 
When some zealous Catholics urged the imprisonment of
Peter Martyr, Dr. Gardyner pleaded that he had come over
by an invitation from a former Government, and he fur
nished him with money to return to Germany. As a
statesman Gardyner is to be praised for great discernment
and vigour. He had even a regard for the liberties as
well as independence of his country, and on several
memorable occasions gave constitutional advice to the
sovereigns whom he served. But whatever good intentions
he had, they were all under the control of ambition, and
never obstructed his rise."*
In the reign of Henry Dr. Gardyner frequently flattered
his sovereign " on his extensive knowledge of theology, and
his many amiable virtues." Maister Creci and Denny have
handed down in their diaries many items as to the flattery
practised by Gardyner upon the King, whenever the latter
was his guest. " Since Wolsey disappeared from the scene
there was no such elegant clerical courtier in England as
Dr. Gardyner." So writes Maister Walter Creci, once the
pupil of Thomas Cranmer. This opinion has been endorsed
by other contemporaries. I again approach a passage in
Gardyner's life which places him in a painful light as a
Catholic priest. In " De Vera Obedientia" the Bishop of
Winchester states that King Henry acted in the case of the
Royal Supremacy "with the consent of the most excellent
and learned bishops, of the nobles, and the whole people of
England." This statement is most untrue. It is, in fact
* Lord Campbell's English Chancellors, vol. ii.

Dr. Gardyner. 533

directly opposed to what occurred at that calamitous period.
The people were true to the old Latin creed. Many pas
sages in Gardyner's work prove the accommodating spirit
in which it was written. The preface to " De Vera
Obedientia" was written by Dr. Bonner, who writes of the
Pope in a manner both rude and insulting. He alleges
that the Papal traditions were for the most part repugnant
to the laws of God. He commends King Henry for his
piety and love of religion ; excuses Gardyner for disentan
gling himseU no sooner ; he contends that " Gardyner was
Dot the first that detected the Pope of misbehaviour."*
Like his kinsman, Lord Crumwell, Bonner had no party, and
was detested by everyone who adhered to Queen Katharine.
He was the pliant creature of the King for many years.
In the second volume of this work I shall have occasion
to enter at some length upon the career of Dr. Bonner. I
wUl only remark now that his voluntary evil deeds belonged
to the reign of King Henry, and not to those of Queen Mary.
To dismiss here the worst phase of Dr. Gardyner's life
 j.e.^ his servility to "the higher powers" of earth — it
must be recorded that at Henry's death he appeared in
the pulpit to " recount the good actions of the deceased
monarch." In this memorable funeral sermon Dr.
Gardyner " lamented the loss that both high and low had
sustained in the death of so good and gracious a King."\

* Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 391. The reader will also find
in Collier, vol. iv., commencing at p. 389, a summary of the leading points of
" De Vera Obedientia"— a work now almost unknown.
t The Bishop of Winchester's " Goodly Sermon on the Life and Death of the
great King Henry of Blessed Memory." At page 183, vol. v., of Collier's
Ecclesiastical History, is to be found a summary of Dr. Gardyner's work on
Holy Water. The few works written by Gardyner are now extremely scarce.

534 E)r. Gardyner.

" Oh, Death, where is thy sting '(" might not his contem
poraries sneeringly exclaim when Stephen Gardyner, Bishop
of Winchester, pronounced the panegyric of the English
ViteUius ? For then the death of Henry opened before the
eyes of the time-serving preacher the perspective of the brief
and wretched reign of the boy-King, with the rule of the
Protector Somerset, and the murderous cabals of antagonist
efforts for power. Better the dead lion than the jackals
usurping the arena. So may have thought the sadly men
dacious eulogist.
In the second volume of this work Dr. Gardyner will be
seen, in due course of events, holding his true historic
position as Churchman and diplomatist.

END OF VOL. I.

PHINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HANSON
LONDON AND EDINBURGH

1519

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