History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume V Part 41

While Clement was experiencing all the joy of a man just escaped from prison, Henry was a prey to the most violent agitation. Having ceased to love Catherine, he persuaded himself that he was the victim of his father's ambition, a martyr to duty, and the champion of conjugal sanct.i.ty. His very gait betrayed his vexation, and even among the gay conversation of the court, deep sighs would escape from his bosom. He had frequent interviews with Wolsey. "I regard the safety of my soul above all things,"[728] he said; "but I am concerned also for the peace of my kingdom. For a long while an unceasing remorse has been gnawing at my conscience,[729] and my thoughts dwell upon my marriage with unutterable sorrow.[730] G.o.d, in his wrath, has taken away my sons, and if I persevere in this unlawful union, he will visit me with still more terrible chastis.e.m.e.nts.[731] My only hope is in the holy father." Wolsey replied with a low bow: "Please your majesty, I am occupied with this business, as if it were my only means of winning heaven."

[728] Deumque primo et ante omnia ac animae suae quietem et salutem respiciens. Barnet's Reformation, II. Records p. vii.

[729] Longo jam tempore intimo suae conscientiae remorsu. Ibid.

[730] Ingenti c.u.m molestia cordisque perturbatione. Ibid.

[731] Graviusque a Deo supplicium expavescit. Ibid. p. viii.

And indeed he redoubled his exertions. He wrote to Sir Gregory Da Casale on the 5th of December (1527): "You will procure an audience of the pope at any price. Disguise yourself, appear before him as the servant of some n.o.bleman,[732] or as a messenger from the duke of Ferrara. Scatter money plentifully; sacrifice every thing, provided you procure a secret interview with his holiness; ten thousand ducats are at your disposal. You will explain to Clement the king's scruples, and the necessity of providing for the continuance of his house and the peace of his kingdom. You will tell him that in order to restore him to liberty, the king is ready to declare war against the emperor, and thus show himself to all the world to be a true son of the church."

[732] Mutato habitu et tanquam alicujus minister. (Ibid.) The dress being changed, and as if somebody's servant.

[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S ALTERNATIVE.]

Wolsey saw clearly that it was essential to represent the divorce to Clement VII, as a means likely to secure the safety of the popedom.

The cardinal, therefore, wrote again to Da Casale on the 6th of December: "Night and day, I revolve in my mind the actual condition of the church,[733] and seek the means best calculated to extricate the pope from the gulf into which he has fallen. While I was turning these thoughts over in my mind during a sleepless night ... one way suddenly occurred to me. I said to myself, the king must be prevailed upon to undertake the defence of the holy father. This was no easy matter, for his majesty is strongly attached to the emperor;[734] however, I set about my task. I told the king that his holiness was ready to satisfy him; I staked my honour; I succeeded.... To save the pope, my master will sacrifice his treasures, subjects, kingdom, and even his life.[735]... I therefore conjure his holiness to entertain our just demand."

[733] Diuque ac noctu mente volvens quo facto. (State Papers, vol.

vii. p. 18.) Day and night revolving in my mind the state of matters.

[734] Adeo tenaciter Caesari adhaerebat. (Ibid.) He still adhered closely to Caesar.

[735] Usque ad mortem. (Ibid. p. 19.) Even to death.

Never before had such pressing entreaties been made to a pope.

CHAPTER IX.

The English Envoys at Orvieto--Their Oration to the Pope--Clement gains Time--The Envoys and Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor--Stratagem of the Pope--Knight discovers it and returns--The Transformations of Antichrist--The English obtain a new Doc.u.ment--Fresh Stratagem--Demand of a second Cardinal-legate--The Pope's new Expedient--End of the Campaign.

[Sidenote: THE ENGLISH ENVOYS AT ORVIETO.]

The envoys of the king of England appeared in the character of the saviours of Rome. This was doubtless no stratagem; and Wolsey probably regarded that thought as coming from heaven, which had visited him during the weary sleepless night. The zeal of his agents increased. The pope was hardly set at liberty, before Knight and Da Casale appeared at the foot of the precipitous rock on which Orvieto is built, and demanded to be introduced to Clement VII. Nothing could be more compromising to the pontiff than such a visit. How could he appear on good terms with England, when Rome and all his states were still in the hands of Catherine's nephew? The pope's mind was utterly bewildered by the demand of the two envoys. He recovered however; to reject the powerful hand extended to him by England, was not without its danger; and as he well knew how to bring a difficult negotiation to a successful conclusion, Clement regained confidence in his skill, and gave orders to introduce Henry's amba.s.sadors.

Their discourse was not without eloquence: "Never was the church in a more critical position," said they. "The unmeasured ambition of the kings who claim to dispose of spiritual affairs at their own pleasure (this was aimed at Charles V) holds the apostolical bark suspended over an abyss. The only port open to it in the tempest is the favour of the august prince whom we represent, and who has always been the shield of the faith. But, alas! this monarch, the impregnable bulwark of your holiness, is himself the prey of tribulations almost equal to your own. His conscience torn by remorse, his crown without an heir, his kingdom without security, his people exposed once more to perpetual disorders.... Nay, the whole Christian world given up to the most cruel discord.[736]... Such are the consequences of a fatal union which G.o.d has marked with his displeasure.... There are also," they added in a lower tone, "certain things of which his majesty cannot speak in his letter ... certain incurable disorders under which the queen suffers, which will never permit the king to look upon her again as his wife.[737] If your holiness puts an end to such wretchedness by annulling his unlawful marriage, you will attach his majesty by an indissoluble bond. a.s.sistance, riches, armies, crown, and even life--the king our master is ready to employ all in the service of Rome. He stretches out his hand to you, most holy father ... stretch out yours to him; by your union the church will be saved, and Europe will be saved with it."

[736] Discordiae crudelissimae per omnem christianum orbem. State Papers, vol. vii. p. 19.

[737] Nonnulla sunt secreta S.D.N. secreto exponenda et non credenda scriptis .... ob morbos nonnullos quibus absque remedio regina laborat. Ibid.

[Sidenote: CLEMENT'S EMBARRa.s.sMENT.]

Clement was cruelly embarra.s.sed. His policy consisted in holding the balance between the two princes, and he was now called upon to decide in favour of one of them. He began to regret that he had ever received Henry's amba.s.sadors. "Consider my position," he said to them, "and entreat the king to wait until more favourable events leave me at liberty to act."--"What!" replied Knight proudly, "has not your holiness promised to consider his majesty's prayer? If you fail in your promise now, how can I persuade the king that you will keep it some future day?"[738] Da Casale thought the time had come to strike a decisive blow. "What evils," he exclaimed, "what inevitable misfortunes your refusal will create!... The emperor thinks only of depriving the church of its power, and the king of England alone has sworn to maintain it." Then speaking lower, more slowly, and dwelling upon every word, he continued: "We fear that his majesty, reduced to such extremities ... of the two evils will choose the _least_,[739]

and supported by the purity of his intentions, will do _of his own authority_ ... what he now so respectfully demands.... What should we see then?... I shudder at the thought.... Let not your holiness indulge in a false security which will inevitably drag you into the abyss.... Read all ... remark all ... divine all ... take note of all.[740]... Most holy father, this is a question of life and death."

And Da Casale's tone said more than his words.

[738] Perform the promise once broken. Burnet's Ref. ii. Records, p.

xiii.

[739] Ex duobus malis minus malum eligat. State Papers, vii. p. 20.

[740] Ut non gravetur, cuncta legere, et bene notare. Ibid. p. 18.

Clement understood that a positive refusal would expose him to lose England. Placed between Henry and Charles, as between the hammer and the forge, he resolved to gain time. "Well then," he said to Knight and Da Casale, "I will do what you ask; but I am not familiar with the _forms_ these dispensations require.... I will consult the Cardinal _Sanctorum Quatuor_ on the subject ... and then will inform you."

[Sidenote: THE DISPENSATION GRANTED.]

Knight and Da Casale, wishing to antic.i.p.ate Clement VII, hastened to Lorenzo Pucci, cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and intimated to him that their master would know how to be grateful. The cardinal a.s.sured the deputies of his affection for Henry VIII, and they, in the fulness of their grat.i.tude, laid before him the four doc.u.ments which they were anxious to get executed. But the cardinal had hardly looked at the first--the proposal that Wolsey should decide the matter of the divorce in England--when he exclaimed: "Impossible! ... a bull in such terms would cover with eternal disgrace not only his holiness and the king, but even the cardinal of York himself." The deputies were confounded, for Wolsey had ordered them to ask the pope for nothing but his signature.[741] Recovering themselves, they rejoined: "All that we require is a _competent_ commission." On his part, the pope wrote Henry a letter, in which he managed to say nothing.[742]

[741] Alia nulla re esset opus, praeterquam ejus Sanct.i.tatis signatura.

(State Papers, vii, p. 29.) There was need of no other thing besides the signature of his holiness.

[742] Charissime in Christo fili, etc., dated 7th December 1527. Ibid.

p. 27.

Of the four required doc.u.ments there were two on whose immediate despatch Knight and Da Casale insisted: these were the _commission_ to p.r.o.nounce the divorce, and the _dispensation_ to contract a second marriage. The _dispensation_ without the _commission_ was of no value; this the pope knew well; accordingly he resolved to give the _dispensation_ only. It was as if Charles had granted Clement when in prison permission to visit his cardinals, but denied him liberty to leave the castle of St. Angelo. It is in such a manner as this that a religious system transformed into a political system has recourse, when it is without power, to stratagem. "The _commission_," said the artful Medici to Knight, "must be corrected according to the style of our court; but here is the _dispensation_." Knight took the doc.u.ment; it was addressed to Henry VIII and ran thus: "We accord to you, in case your marriage with Catherine shall be declared null,[743] free liberty to take another wife, provided she have not been the wife of your brother...." The Englishman was duped by the Italian. "To my poor judgment," he said, "this doc.u.ment will be of use to us." After this Clement appeared to concern himself solely about Knight's health, and suddenly manifested the greatest interest for him. "It is proper that you should hasten your departure," said he, "for it is necessary that you should travel _at your ease_. Gambara will follow you post, and bring the commission." Knight thus mystified, took leave of the pope, who got rid of Da Casale and Gambara in a similar manner. He then began to breathe once more. There was no diplomacy in Europe which Rome, even in its greatest weakness, could not easily dupe.

[743] Matrimonium c.u.m Catharina nullum fuisse et esse declarari.

Herbert's Henry VIII, p. 280.

[Sidenote: KNIGHT DUPED BY THE POPE.]

It had now become necessary to elude the commission. While the king's envoys were departing in good spirits, reckoning on the doc.u.ment that was to follow them, the general of the Spanish Observance reiterated to the pontiff in every tone: "Be careful to give no doc.u.ment authorising the divorce, and above all, do not permit this affair to be judged in Henry's states." The cardinals drew up the doc.u.ment under the influence of De Angelis, and made it a masterpiece of insignificance. If good theology enn.o.bles the heart, bad theology, so fertile in subtleties, imparts to the mind a skill by no means common; and hence the most celebrated diplomatists have often been churchmen.

The act being thus drawn up, the pope despatched three copies, to Knight, to Da Casale, and to Gambara. Knight was near Bologna when the courier overtook him. He was stupefied, and taking post-horses returned with all haste to Orvieto.[744] Gambara proceeded through France to England with the useless _dispensation_ which the pope had granted.

[744] Burnet's Reformation, Records, ii. p. xiii.

[Sidenote: THE POPE GIVES THE COMMISSION.]

Knight had thought to meet with more good faith at the court of the pope than with kings, and he had been outwitted. What would Wolsey and Henry say of his folly? His wounded self-esteem began to make him believe all that Tyndale and Luther said of the popedom. The former had just published the _Obedience of a Christian Man_, and the _Parable of the Wicked Mammon_, in which he represented Rome as one of the transformations of Antichrist. "Antichrist," said he in the latter treatise, "is not a man that should suddenly appear with wonders; he is a spiritual thing, who was in the Old Testament, and also in the time of Christ and the apostles, and is now, and shall (I doubt not) endure till the world's end. His nature is (when he is overcome with the Word of G.o.d) to go out of the play for a season, and to disguise himself, and then to come in again with a new name and new raiment.

The Scribes and Pharisees in the gospel were very Antichrists; popes, cardinals, and bishops have gotten their new names, but the thing is all one. Even so now, when we have uttered [detected] him, _he will change himself once more_, and turn himself into an angel of light.

Already _the beast_, seeing himself now to be sought for, roareth and seeketh new holes to hide himself in, and changeth himself into a thousand fashions."[745] This idea, paradoxical at first, gradually made its way into men's minds. The Romans, by their practices, familiarized the English to the somewhat coa.r.s.e descriptions of the reformers. England was to have many such lessons, and thus by degrees learn to set Rome aside for the sake of her own glory and prosperity.

[745] Tyndale, Doctr. Tr. p. 42, 43.

Knight and Da Casale reached Orvieto about the same time. Clement replied with sighs: "Alas! I am the emperor's prisoner. The imperialists are every day pillaging towns and castles in our neighbourhood.[746]... Wretch that I am! I have not a friend except the king your master, and he is far away.... If I should do anything now to displease Charles, I am a lost man.... To sign the commission would be to sign an eternal rupture with him." But Knight and Da Casale pleaded so effectually with Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor, and so pressed Clement, that the pontiff, without the knowledge of the Spaniard De Angelis, gave them a more satisfactory doc.u.ment, but not such as Wolsey required. "In giving you this commission," said the pope, "I am giving away my liberty, and perhaps my life. I listen not to the voice of prudence, but to that of affection only. I confide in the generosity of the king of England, he is the master of my destiny." He then began to weep,[747] and seemed ready to faint.

Knight, forgetting his vexation, promised Clement that the king would do everything to save him.--"Ah!" said the pope, "there is one effectual means."--"What is that?" inquired Henry's agents.--"M.

Lautrec, who says daily that he will come, but never does," replied Clement, "has only to bring the French army promptly before the gates of Orvieto; then I could excuse myself by saying that he constrained me to sign the commission."[748]--"Nothing is easier," replied the envoys, "we will go and hasten his arrival."

[746] The imperialists do daily spoil castles and towns about Rome ...

they have taken within three days two castles lying within six miles of this. Burnet's Ref. vol. ii. Records, p. xiii.

[747] c.u.m suspiriis et lacrymis. (Ibid p. xii.) With sighs and tears.