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Title: Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell, Vol. 1 of 2 - Life, Letters to 1535
Author: Merriman, Roger Bigelow
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Notes
Hyphenation and punctuation have been corrected and standardised.
Cromwell’s letters, however, have been fully retained according to the
original text; no changes in spelling have been applied here.
Numbered ranges have been expanded in full, i.e. 1595-6 is now
1595-1596. Dittoes in the Table of Contents have been eliminated by
insertion of appropriate text. Internal references have been adapted
to match the numbering scheme used in this electronic version.
The following passages have been changed:
p. 28: 'England and Francis' → 'England and France'
Footnote 240: 'Harl. MSS 6, 148' → 'Harl. MSS 6,148'
Underscores have been used to highlight _italic_ text. The caret symbol
(^) represents superscript characters; multiple characters have been
grouped using a pair of curly brackets (^{text}).
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[Illustration: THOMAS CROMWELL
FROM A PICTURE IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY]
LIFE AND LETTERS OF
THOMAS CROMWELL
BY
ROGER BIGELOW MERRIMAN
A.M. HARV., B.LITT. OXON.
WITH A PORTRAIT AND FACSIMILE
VOL. I
LIFE, LETTERS TO 1535
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1902
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
_PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD_
LONDON, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK
PREFACE
This book is an attempt to present the life of Thomas Cromwell as a
statesman, and to estimate his work without religious bias. Though it
would certainly be difficult to overrate his importance in the history
of the Church of England, I maintain that the motives that inspired his
actions were invariably political, and that the many ecclesiastical
changes carried through under his guidance were but incidents of his
administration, not ends in themselves. Consequently any attempt to
judge him from a distinctively religious standpoint, whether Catholic or
Protestant, can hardly fail, it seems to me, to mislead the student and
obscure the truth. I cannot agree, on the other hand, with those who
have represented Cromwell as a purely selfish political adventurer, the
subservient instrument of a wicked master, bent only on his own gain. It
seems to me as idle to disparage his patriotism and statesmanship, as it
is to try to make him out a hero of the Reformation. He merits a place
far higher than that of most men of his type, a type essentially
characteristic of the sixteenth century, a type of which the Earl of
Warwick in England and Maurice of Saxony on the Continent are striking
examples, a type that profoundly influenced the destinies of
Protestantism, but to which theological issues were either a mere
nothing, or else totally subordinate to political considerations.
It has been justly said that Cromwell’s correspondence is our chief
source of information for the period immediately following the breach
with Rome. To transcribe _in extenso_ the letters he received would be
almost the task of a lifetime; for they form the bulk of the enormous
mass of material with which the editors of the Calendars of State Papers
for the years 1533-1540 have had to deal. But the number of extant
letters he wrote is, comparatively speaking, extremely small; it has
therefore been possible to make full copies of them in every case, and I
trust that the many advantages--linguistic as well as historical--that
can only be secured by complete, and as far as possible accurate
transcriptions of the originals, will be accepted as sufficient reason
for editing this collection of documents, twenty-one of which have
neither been printed nor calendared before. The rules that have been
observed in transcription will be found in the Prefatory Note (vol. i.
p. 311). The Calendar references to the more important letters received
by Cromwell, where they bear directly on those he wrote, are given in
the notes at the end of the second volume.
My warmest thanks are due to Mr. F. York Powell, Regius Professor of
Modern History in the University of Oxford, who has guided me throughout
in matter, form, and style; and to my friend and master Mr. A. L. Smith,
Fellow of Balliol College, whose advice and encouragement have been an
inspiration from first to last. It is not easy for me to express how
much I have depended on their suggestions and criticism. I am indebted
to Mr. Owen Edwards, Fellow of Lincoln College, for indispensable help
in the early stages of my work. The main plan of this book is in many
respects similar to that of his Lothian Essay for the year 1887, which I
regret that he has never published. My grateful acknowledgements are
also due to Mr. James Gairdner of the Public Record Office for
information about Cromwell’s early life; to Professor Dr. Max Lenz, of
the University of Berlin, for helpful suggestions in connexion with the
Anglo-German negotiations in the years 1537-1540; and to Mr. G. T.
Lapsley, of the University of California, for similar services in regard
to the Pilgrimage of Grace, and the reorganization of the North after
the suppression of the rebellion.
I beg to express my appreciation of the kindness of the Duke of Rutland,
the Marquess of Salisbury, Earl Spencer, Lord Calthorpe, William
Berington, Esq., and Alfred Henry Huth, Esq., in giving me access to the
manuscripts in their private collections.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the officials of the Public Record
Office, British Museum, Heralds’ College of Arms, and Bodleian Library,
for facilitating my work in every way; more especially Messrs. Hubert
Hall, R. H. Brodie, E. Salisbury, and F. B. Bickley, who have repeatedly
aided me in my search for uncalendared letters and continental
documents, and in deciphering the most difficult manuscripts I have had
to consult.
R. B. M.
BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD.
_February, 1902._
CONTENTS
VOLUME I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE OF THOMAS
CROMWELL 1
APPENDIX. PASSAGES FROM CHAPUYS, POLE,
BANDELLO, AND FOXE 17
II. THE PARLIAMENT OF 1523 27
III. WOLSEY’S SERVANT 47
APPENDIX. THE WILL OF THOMAS CROMWELL 56
IV. THE FALL OF THE CARDINAL 64
V. THE CHARACTER AND OPPORTUNITY OF
THOMAS CROMWELL 77
VI. IN THE KING’S SERVICE 89
APPENDIX. THE SUPPLICATION OF THE
COMMONS AGAINST THE ORDINARIES 104
VII. INTERNAL POLICY 112
VIII. IRELAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, CALAIS 147
IX. THE MONASTERIES 165
X. THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE, 1536 180
XI. CARDINAL POLE 202
XII. THE FOREIGN POLICY 213
XIII. THE CATHOLIC REACTION AND THE ALLIANCE
WITH CLEVES 242
APPENDIX. REPORTS OF THE LUTHERAN
AMBASSADORS TO ENGLAND IN 1539 AND
1540 272
XIV. THE FALL OF THOMAS CROMWELL 281
APPENDIX. PASSAGES FROM FOXE: CROMWELL’S
SPEECH AND PRAYER ON THE
SCAFFOLD 303
XV. THE WORK OF THOMAS CROMWELL 305
PREFATORY NOTE TO CROMWELL’S LETTERS 311
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1523-1530 313
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1531 335
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1532 343
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1533 352
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1534 372
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1535 396
VOLUME II
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1536 1
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1537 50
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1538 111
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1539 166
CROMWELL’S LETTERS: 1540 244
AN ITINERARY OF THOMAS CROMWELL, 1523-1540 279
A LIST OF THE MINOR PREFERMENTS OF THOMAS
CROMWELL, AND A DESCRIPTION OF HIS ARMS
AND CREST 283
NOTES TO LETTERS 285
LIST OF AUTHORITIES 313
INDEX 319
ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS CROMWELL _Frontispiece to_ vol. i
FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM THOMAS CROMWELL
TO LORD LISLE, AUG. 30, 1538 _Frontispiece to_ vol. ii
LIFE OF THOMAS CROMWELL
CHAPTER I
THE ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE OF THOMAS CROMWELL
The manor of Wimbledon comprises the parishes of Wimbledon, Putney,
Roehampton, Mortlake, and East Sheen, and parts of Wandsworth and
Barnes[1]. In West Saxon times it was one of the estates of the see of
Canterbury, but after the Conquest it was seized by Odo, the high-handed
Bishop of Bayeux: in 1071, however, it was recovered by Lanfranc, and
with one trifling interruption in the reign of Richard II., it remained
in the possession of the archbishopric until 1535. In that year Cranmer
surrendered it to Henry VIII. in exchange for the priory of St.
Rhadegund in Dover, and a little later the King granted it to Thomas
Cromwell[2], who was born there some fifty years before, the son of a
well-to-do blacksmith, brewer, and fuller. The early history of the
manor of Wimbledon is almost unknown, for we do not possess its Court
Rolls prior to the year 1461: they were probably lost or destroyed
during the Wars of the Roses. After 1461, however, they are continuous,
with the exception of the years 1473 and 1474.
An entry in these rolls, written in the year 1475, states that ‘Walter
Smyth and his father keep thirty sheep on Putney Common, where they have
no common[3].’ A number of subsequent mentions of this same Walter Smyth
shows that he was also called Walter Cromwell. The name Walter Cromwell
occurs more than ninety times in the rolls, and the name Walter Smyth at
least forty times. That both these names stand for the same person is
proved by one entry written, ‘Walter Cromwell alias Walter Smyth,’ by
two written, ‘Walter Smyth alias Cromwell,’ and by five written, ‘Walter
Cromwell alias Smyth.’ Who then was this Walter Cromwell, whence did he
come, and how did he acquire this double name?
The Cromwell family did not originate in Wimbledon. An entry in the
Close Roll of Edward IV. states that in the year 1461 John Cromwell, son
of William Cromwell, late of Norwell in Nottinghamshire, surrendered his
right in Parkersplace, Kendalsland and other property there to Master
John Porter, prebendary of Palishall[4]. Mr. John Phillips of Putney
further informs us that nine years before John Cromwell gave up his
lands in Norwell, he was granted the twenty-one years’ lease of a
fulling-mill and house in Wimbledon by Archbishop Kempe, lord of the
manor, and had moved there with his family[5]. It would be interesting
to know what Mr. Phillips’ authority for this statement is:
unfortunately he has given no reference for it. But whatever the precise
date and circumstances of their change of home, there can be little
doubt that the Cromwells migrated to Wimbledon from Norwell some time
before 1461. There is plenty of evidence in the Court Rolls to show that
Walter Smyth alias Cromwell was the son of John Cromwell, and the entry
of 1475 proves that they were both in Wimbledon in that year. The family
in Nottinghamshire from which they sprung was well-known and well-off;
both John Cromwell’s father William and his grandfather Ralph were
persons of wealth and position there[6].
Several entries in the Court Rolls indicate that John Cromwell’s wife
was the sister of a certain William Smyth, who is often mentioned as
‘William Smyth armourer,’ and sometimes as ‘William Armourer.’ It seems
probable that this William Smyth came with John Cromwell to Wimbledon
from Norwell, and the entries in the manorial records show that he lived
there with his brother-in-law. There is also reason to believe that the
latter’s son Walter was apprenticed to him during his younger days, and
so acquired the name Smyth.
Walter Cromwell grew up as a brewer, smith, and fuller in Putney. He had
an elder brother named John, who moved to Lambeth and settled down there
to a quiet and prosperous life as a brewer, later, according to Chapuys,
becoming cook to the Archbishop of Canterbury[7]. Walter, however,
remained in Wimbledon, and appears to have been a most quarrelsome and
riotous character. Most of the entries in the Court Rolls concerning him
are records of small fines incurred for petty offences. Forty-eight
times between 1475 and 1501 was he forced to pay sixpence for breaking
the assize of ale. In order to prevent the sale of bad beer in those
days, an ale-taster was appointed to pass, or condemn as unfit, all
brewing in the parish. Walter Cromwell did not go to the ale-taster
before he drew and sold his beer, and for failing so to do was fined as
aforesaid. There is also record that he was not seldom drunk. In 1477 a
penalty of twenty pence was inflicted on him for assaulting and drawing
blood from William Michell, and he and his father were very often
brought before the court on the charge of ‘overburthening’ the public
land in Putney with their cattle, and cutting more than their share of
the furze and thorns there[8]. But in spite of all these petty
misdemeanours, Walter Cromwell appears to have been a man of property
and influence in Wimbledon, and the Court Rolls in 1480 show that he
then possessed two virgates of land in Putney parish. To these were
added six more virgates in 1500 by grant of Archbishop Morton[9]. Walter
Cromwell was also made Constable of Putney in 1495[10], and his name
constantly occurs in the Court Rolls as decenarius and juryman[11].
Towards the end of his life, however, his character appears to have
become so bad that he forfeited all his position and property in
Wimbledon. In 1514 he ‘falsely and fraudulently erased the evidences and
terrures of the lord,’ so that the bedell was commanded ‘to seize into
the lord’s hands all his copyholds held of the lord and to answer the
lord of the issue[12].’ This is the last mention of the name of Walter
Cromwell in the Wimbledon Manor Rolls.
Walter Cromwell’s wife was the aunt of a man named Nicholas Glossop, of
Wirksworth in Derbyshire[13]. Mr. Phillips gives no reference for his
statements that she was the daughter of a yeoman named Glossop, and that
she was residing in Putney at the house of an attorney named John
Welbeck, at the time of her marriage with Walter Cromwell in 1474[14];
but we have no evidence that these assertions are incorrect. At least
two daughters and one son were born to Walter Cromwell. He may have had
other children, but as there was no registration of births, marriages,
or deaths in England until 1538, we can only be certain of these three,
of whom there are mentions in the Court Rolls and in other contemporary
records. The eldest daughter Katherine, who was probably born about the
year 1477, grew up and married a young Welshman named Morgan
Williams[15], whose family had come to Putney from Llanishen in
Glamorganshire. The Williamses were a very important family in Putney,
and John, the eldest of them, was a successful lawyer and accountant,
and steward to Lord Scales, who was then in possession of a residence
and some land in Putney parish. The youngest daughter of Walter Cromwell
was named Elizabeth. She married a sheep-farmer named Wellyfed, who
later joined his business to that of his father-in-law[16]. Christopher,
the son of Elizabeth Cromwell and Wellyfed, grew up and was later sent
to school with his cousin Gregory, son of his mother’s brother
Thomas[17]. We are now in a position to examine the many conflicting
statements concerning the son of Walter Cromwell, the subject of this
essay.
The traditional sources of information about Thomas Cromwell’s early
life are the characteristic but somewhat confusing stories of the
martyrologist Foxe, founded to some extent upon a novel of the Italian
author Bandello, the meagre though probably trustworthy accounts
contained in Cardinal Pole’s ‘Apologia ad Carolum Quintum,’ a letter of
Chapuys to Granvelle written November 21, 1535, and a few scattered
statements in the chroniclers of the period. To these were added in 1880
and 1882 the results of the researches of Mr. John Phillips in the
Wimbledon Manor Rolls[18]. Mr. Phillips has certainly brought to light a
large number of interesting facts about the ancestry and family of
Thomas Cromwell: it is the more unfortunate that he should have gone so
far astray in some of his statements concerning the man himself. He is
surely correct in assuming Thomas to be the son of Walter Cromwell; the
evidence afforded by the State Papers leaves no doubt of this. He is
also right in stating that the name Thomas Cromwell does not occur in
the Court Rolls. But it is more difficult to believe the theory which
Mr. Phillips has evolved from these data. As he finds no entry
concerning Thomas Cromwell in the manorial records, he seeks for some
mention of him under another appellation, and hits upon that of Thomas
Smyth as the most likely, owing to the fact that his father was called
by both surnames. He finds two entries in the Court Rolls concerning
Thomas Smyth, and assumes that they refer to Thomas Cromwell. These
entries occur in the records of Feb. 26, 1504, and of May 20 in the same
year. The first states that ‘Richard Williams came to the court and
surrendered into the hands of the lord two whole virgates of land in
‹Roe›hampton, one called Purycroft and the other called Williams, to the
use of Thomas Smyth, his heirs and assigns’; the second, that ‘Richard
Williams assaulted Thomas [Smyth] and beat the same Thomas against the
peace of the lord the King,’ and further that ‘Thomas Smyth came to the
court and surrendered into the hands of the lord two whole virgates of
land in Roehampton, one called Purycroft and the other called Williams,
to the use of David Doby, his heirs and assigns[19].’ Mr. Phillips has
made these entries the basis for an attack on the veracity of many of
the best-known stories of Bandello and Foxe concerning the early life of
our subject, but his whole case hangs on the assumption that Thomas
Smyth and Thomas Cromwell were one and the same man, and until he can
prove this ingenious but somewhat improbable theory his arguments cannot
be supported. He discusses at length the two entries in the Court Rolls,
adducing them as a proof of the falsity of the accounts which assert
Cromwell to have been in Italy previous to 1504, but concluding that the
record that Thomas Smyth disposed of his lands in Putney in May of that
year indicates that Thomas Cromwell left England at that time. To
corroborate this last theory he refers to the story of Chapuys that
Cromwell was ill-behaved when young, and was forced after an
imprisonment to leave the country, and also asserts, in order still
further to strengthen his case, that ‘the Court Rolls contain nothing
more respecting Thomas Cromwell than what we have already stated[20].’
It seems very extraordinary that Mr. Phillips should make this last
statement in view of his readiness to jump at the conclusion that Thomas
Smyth and Thomas Cromwell are identical. ‘Thomas Smyth,’ as a very
cursory examination of the Court Rolls will show, is mentioned therein
every year from 1493 to 1529 (inclusive), except in 1494 and 1516. As
there is certain evidence that Thomas Cromwell was in other places
during many of the years that Thomas Smyth was in Wimbledon, it is clear
that the two names cannot always stand for the same man. The question
which now arises is this: were there two Thomas Smyths, one of them
Thomas Cromwell and the other some other member of the Smyth family,
perhaps a descendant of William Smyth, armourer? Or is the Thomas Smyth
mentioned in the Court Rolls one man, and not Thomas Cromwell at all?
The second theory seems on the whole more probable than the first. There
are no contradictory statements about Thomas Smyth in the rolls, nor is
the name mentioned twice in any of the lists of the Homage or Frank
Pledge. Moreover had there been two Thomas Smyths, one of whom was
entitled to the name Cromwell, he would almost certainly have been
called so, in order to avoid confusion. On the other hand, it scarcely
seems likely that the son of Walter Cromwell should not be mentioned at
all in the Court Rolls. But this may be partially explained by Chapuys’
account of his youthful wildness and early imprisonment; it seems quite
probable that he was a mere boy when he left his home. The evidence
which we possess certainly seems to strengthen the conclusion that there
was but one Thomas Smyth: the man mentioned in the Court Rolls by that
name was probably a descendant of William Smyth, armourer[21]. Surely
none of the entries in the manorial records concerning Thomas Smyth can
be said to prove anything conclusive concerning the early life of the
subject of this essay. It has been the fashion to decry Bandello and
Foxe and to disbelieve all their stories, because of the undoubted
confusion of dates which vitiates their testimony. But if no reliance
can be placed on them, or on Pole, Chapuys, and the chronicles of the
period, must we not confess that our knowledge of the early years of our
subject’s life must reduce itself to an interrogation point? Let us
guard ourselves against accepting with implicit faith the statements of
these authors, but let us not cast them aside as utterly worthless. Let
us rather recognize that they still remain our most trustworthy sources
of information concerning the early life of Thomas Cromwell, and
therefore make a careful attempt to glean from their very confusing
statements the more probable facts concerning him.
None of the different accounts sheds any light upon the date of
Cromwell’s birth, but it is doubtful if it occurred later than 1485, in
view of his probable age at the time of his sojourn abroad. That he had
a quarrel with his father seems very likely: Bandello’s statement that
he came to Italy, ‘fleeing from his father,’ and Chapuys’ assertion that
he was ill-behaved when young, together with the many entries in the
rolls concerning the tempestuous and disorderly conduct of Walter
Cromwell, all point to the truth of this story[22]. Foxe moreover
asserts that Cromwell told Cranmer in later years ‘what a ruffian he was
in his younger days.’ Pole informs us that he soon became a roving
soldier in Italy, a statement which is borne out by the tales of
Bandello and Foxe that he was at the battle on the Garigliano (Dec.
28-29, 1503), in the service of the French army[23]. The well-known
story of the Italian novelist about Cromwell and Frescobaldo the
Florentine merchant, may well have some foundation in fact: there are
several mentions of Frescobaldo in the State Papers of the years
1530-1540, which prove that Cromwell was intimate with an Italian of
that name[24]. Some scholars have gone so far as to refuse to believe
that Cromwell ever went to Italy at all; but this must be the
incredulity of madness in face of the fact that all our contemporary
witnesses agree that he went there, and of the evidence afforded by his
wide acquaintance with Italians, and by his knowledge of their language
and literature.
From the date of the tale of Bandello up to 1512, the most probable
story concerning Cromwell’s life is that contained in Pole’s Apologia.
It is there stated that after his brief military career he became a
merchant, but did not remain a merchant long; and that he later attached
himself as accountant to a Venetian, whom Pole knew very well. Bandello
informs us that Cromwell returned to England after his stay in Florence;
it seems more probable, however, that he first went to Antwerp and
engaged in trade there; for Foxe and Chapuys both agree that he was in
Flanders, and the former asserts that he was in the service of English
dealers in the Flemish marts. Another singular but characteristic and
not improbable story of the martyrologist strengthens the theory that
Cromwell was in Antwerp some time after the battle on the Garigliano.
One Geoffrey Chambers was sent to Rome as a representative of the Gild
of Our Lady in St. Botolph’s Church in Boston, to obtain from the Pope
certain pardons or indulgences by which the severe rules concerning
Lenten observances might be relaxed; and passing through Antwerp he fell
in with Cromwell, whom he persuaded to accompany him. The latter entered
into the spirit of the enterprise; arrived at Rome, he procured some
choice sweetmeats and jellies, and armed with these lay in wait for the
Pope on his return from hunting. The delicacies were offered, Julius was
delighted with them, and granted the desired indulgences without delay.
Foxe states that this episode took place about the year 1510[25].
This story seems to indicate that Cromwell went to Italy a second time.
It fits in well with Pole’s statement that after his military experience
he became first a merchant, and then a clerk to a Venetian trader. The
absence of any trustworthy chronology, however, prevents us from
regarding any of the accounts of these different writers as really
historical; and when at last we meet with a date on which we can rely,
it is most tantalizing to find that the evidence which is afforded us in
connexion with it is of such a nature as to leave us almost as much in
the dark as before. In a letter written in June, 1536, a certain mercer,
by name George Elyot, addresses Cromwell as follows[26]: ‘Ryght
onourabyll sir my dewty Consethered as to youre Masterscheppe
apertayneth that hyt may plece your Masterscheppe For the love off god
to Exceppe my Rewd Maneres in thes behalf of wrytyng vnto you butt hyt
ys onely to schowe yowre Masterscheppe my pore mynd furste for the onour
of god & secondly For the god love & trew hartt that ‹I› have howtt vnto
you sensse the syngsson Martt at medelborow in anno 1512.’ This
quotation does not prove that Cromwell was at the Syngsson Mart at
Middelburg in 1512, nor does it shed much light on the position he
occupied at that time; still the probabilities strongly favour the
conclusion that he was either a merchant or a clerk to a merchant in the
Low Countries in 1512: the accounts of Foxe and Chapuys agree that he
was in the Netherlands in his younger days, and the letter of the mercer
seems to fix the date. We have also reason to believe that he was in
London soon after this practising as a solicitor. There exists in the
Record Office a document dated November, 1512, and endorsed, in a hand
which certainly resembles that of Cromwell’s later correspondence, ‘The
tytle of the manour Whityngham for Mr. Empson[27].’ The endorsement may
of course be of a very different date from that of the document itself;
still the evidence which it affords is not utterly valueless, especially
as another reason for supposing that Cromwell returned to England in
1512, or soon after, is afforded by the fact that his marriage must have
taken place about this time: the age of his son Gregory being such that
it could scarcely have occurred much later. The State Papers of 1512
give us more information concerning the early life of Thomas Cromwell
than those of any other year up to 1523. The sum total of the evidence
which they afford seems to indicate that he was in England and in the
Netherlands, that he was occupied both as a merchant and as a solicitor,
and that he was married in that year or soon afterwards.
Cromwell’s wife, to whom Chapuys refers as the daughter of a shearman,
was Elizabeth Wykys, descended from one of an ancient family of
esquires, who was gentleman-usher to Henry VII[28]. A reference in
Cromwell’s will of July 12, 1529, to one ‘Mercye Pryo_ur_’ as his
mother-in-law[29] has led some writers to suppose that he married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Pryor, and widow of Thomas Williams, a
Welsh gentleman; but a letter to Cromwell from one Harry Wykys of
Thorpe, near Chertsey, dated November 2, 1523[30], disproves this
theory, and corroborates the other. The most probable explanation of the
entry in the will is that Mercy Pryor married twice, and that she was
the mother of Elizabeth Wykys by her first husband[31]. Cromwell’s wife
was probably a woman of some property. He was exactly the sort of man
who would seek a wife with an eye to the financial advantages of the
match, and the theory that Elizabeth Wykys was rich fits in well with
the evidence that her mother was married a second time. Moreover
Cromwell’s property increased so fast during his years of service under
Wolsey, that even his notorious accessibility to bribes could not
account for it, had it not been augmented from some outside source.
Chapuys goes on to say that for some time after his marriage Cromwell
kept servants in his house, carrying on the business of his
father-in-law; a statement corroborated by his correspondence, which
shows that he plied his trade as a cloth and wool merchant at least as
late as 1524. There can be little doubt, however, that he continued his
business as a solicitor at the same time, for it would be impossible to
explain his sudden advance in legal prominence in the years 1520 to
1525, if he had not had long practice in the law beforehand. The strange
combination of employments in which Cromwell was engaged fitted in well
with the peculiar versatility of the man, and brought him into close
contact with diverse sorts of men, in diverse conditions of life. A more
detailed account of his career during the seven or eight years which
followed his probable return to England it is impossible to give, for
between 1512 and 1520 there occurs another extraordinary gap in the life
of Thomas Cromwell, during which we do not possess a single trustworthy
contemporary record concerning him. In 1520 there is certainly evidence
that he was known to Wolsey, but precisely how or when his connexion
with the Cardinal began, it is impossible to tell.
The statement in the Dictionary of National Biography that Wolsey
appointed Cromwell collector of his revenues in 1514 is apparently
unfounded[32], and no reference is given for the assertion in Singer’s
Cavendish[33] that the Cardinal first met his future servant in France.
Another unverified story is that Lord Henry Percy, who had been an
intimate of the Cardinal’s household in his early years, borrowed money
from Cromwell, and conceiving a high opinion of his creditor, introduced
him to Wolsey[34]; while Mr. Phillips informs us that Robert Cromwell
(the son of Walter Cromwell’s brother John), who was vicar of Battersea
under the Cardinal, gave to his cousin Thomas the stewardship of the
archiepiscopal estate of York House, after Wolsey had been made
archbishop there. Though Mr. Phillips has again failed to cite his
authority for this last statement, it is but fair to say that the
probabilities are strongly in its favour: the theory that Cromwell owed
his appointment as Wolsey’s servant to his cousin Robert seems
particularly plausible, as the latter was certainly well known to the
Cardinal. It is possible that the origin of the connexion had something
to do with the young Marquis of Dorset, who later became Cromwell’s
patron. Wolsey had long been acquainted with the Marquis; he had been
the friend and tutor of his father when he was principal of Magdalen
School, and had been given the living of Limington in Somerset by a
still older member of the family in 1500[35]. The date of the origin of
Cromwell’s connexion with Wolsey must remain as much a matter of
conjecture as its cause. It seems probable that those historians who
have placed it as far back as 1513 or 1514 have been at fault, for had
Cromwell entered the Cardinal’s service as early as that there would
almost certainly have been more entries in the State Papers to show it.
As it is, we possess only one piece of evidence in contemporary records
to show that he was known to Wolsey before October, 1520, and that is of
such a nature that little reliance can be placed on it. On the back of a
letter, written in August, 1514, by the Abbot of Winchcomb to
Wolsey[36], are some lines in a hand which bears some resemblance to
Cromwell’s, apparently intended as an exercise in penmanship; the
similarity of the handwritings, however, is not so striking that it can
be regarded as affording any very conclusive proof: moreover as the
words on the back have no connexion with the letter itself, it is quite
likely that they were written at a much later date. It is safe to say
that the lack of information on the subject in the State Papers makes it
probable that if Cromwell’s connexion with Wolsey began much before
1520, it was certainly of very minor importance.
In the autumn of that year, however, we possess a record which leaves
little doubt that Cromwell had at least become known to the Cardinal. An
appeal had been made to the Papal Court at Rome against the sentence of
the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in a suit between the vicar of
Cheshunt and the Prioress of the nunnery there. Wolsey, as Papal Legate,
soon afterwards received a copy of the citation and inhibition ‘with
other information by the letters of Thomas Cromwell,’ making clear the
rights and wrongs of the case, and the best method of handling it[37].
No other mention of Cromwell in connexion with the Cardinal occurs until
1523, when he drafted a petition to Wolsey in Chancery for a certain
John Palsgrave[38]. But these two records are enough to prove that he
was known to the Cardinal in the capacity of a solicitor and clerk from
a period at least as early as 1520. The gap between that date and 1512
is more difficult to fill. The supposition that Cromwell was in Wolsey’s
service as early as 1513 is perhaps the easiest method of disposing of
these years, but it certainly cannot be regarded as more than a theory,
unless some new document is found which corroborates it.
Most of the letters addressed to Cromwell during this period from 1520
to 1524 concern themselves with legal business, and request his aid as a
practised lawyer in some suit for the collection of debts or the
decision of a title to lands[39]. In August, 1522, he acted as an
‘indifferent person’ in a dispute between Richard Chauffer, alderman of
Calais, and Lord Mountjoy. In December, 1523, he served on the inquest
of wardmote in the ward of Bread Street. But it is also evident from his
correspondence that he had by no means lost interest in his business as
a cloth merchant and wool-dyer[40]. It may have been in this capacity
that he first became known to the family of the Marquis of Dorset. The
‘old lady Marques’ writes to him in August, 1522, as her ‘sonne marquys
s_er_v_au_nt,’ and desires him to send in haste ‘the trussynn bed of
cloth of tyssewe and the fether bed wyth the fustyons, and amateras
longyng to the same wyth the cownterpoynt ... tentes pauylyons &
hales[41].’ There is also record that Cromwell was a great lender of
money at high rates of interest. His friendship and reputation with
foreign merchants brought him an enormous amount of business, and his
property increased to a great extent. The training he received during
and after his journey on the Continent was probably the best that he
could have had to fit him for the difficult life-work that was given him
to perform. The spirit of the Italy of Machiavelli and Caesar Borgia
stamped itself deeply upon his youthful character. It gave him his
ideas, his theories. The hard school of adversity (at first almost a
struggle for existence), through which he passed during his early years,
afforded him the intimate knowledge of men and things, the wonderful
insight into human nature, and the ability to turn every event to the
advancement of his own purposes, that enabled him at a later day to
mould the destinies of the English nation.
‘And my experience happily me taught
Into the secrets of those times to see,
From whence to England afterward I brought
Those slights of state deliu’red vnto mee,
In t’which were then but very few that sought,
Nor did with th’umour of that age agree,
After did great and fearful things effect,
Whose secret working few did then suspect.’
Michael Drayton. The Legend of Great Cromwell, p. 13.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
I
PASSAGE FROM A LETTER OF CHAPUYS TO GRANVELLE, NOV. 21, 1535[42].
‘M^e Cremuel ... est filz dung poure marechal lequel en son vivant se
tenoit en vng petit villaige pres dici dune lieue et demye et est
sepulture au cemetiere de lad. parroiche dud. villaige de plus
pouurement que soient la son oncle[43] pere dung syen cousin qui‹l›a
desia fait fort riche estoit cousinier du feu euesque de Conturberi led.
Cremuel en sa jeunesse fust assez mal condicionner, et apres quelque
emprisonnement il fut contrainct vuider le pays et senpasser en flandres
et dois la en rome ou et ailleurs en italie il demeura quelque temps,
estant de retour il se maria a la fille dung tondeur de draps, et tint
quelque temps en sa maison seruiteurs exercent led. art apres il devint
solliciteur de causes et par ce moyen se feit congnoistre au cardinal de
york, lequel congnoissant la vigilance et diligence dud. Cremuel et
habilite et promptitude tant a mal que a bien, il le tint on nombre de
ses serviteurs, et l’employa principalement quant il fut question de
ruyner et demoler cinq du[44] six bons monasteres. Venant a descherir
led. cardinal il ny eust personne que saquittast myeulx enuers led.
cardinal que luy. Apres le decez dud. cardinal maistre valloup a present
ambassadeur en france le poursuyuant de injures et menasses le plus fort
du monde, et non voyant autre reffuge ne remede que de recourir au roy,
il fait tant par prieres et presens quil eust audience dud. roy auquel
il deust promettre de le faire le plus riche que oncques fut en
angleterre, et luy parla si bien et beaul qui le retint des lors de son
conseil, sans autre aduis et ne le decouurit led. roy a personne des
siens deans quatre moys apres Maintenant il a empiete de telle sorte
quil a baille le bout a toute la reste ‹si› ce nest a la dame, et le
tient tout le monde auoir plus de credit auprez de son maistre, que
neust oncques le cardinal du temps duquel en y auoit questoient en
concurrence de credit comme maistre Conton[45] et le duc de suffocq et
autres, mais maintenant il n’y a personne que face riens que luy, et ne
sert le chancellier synon pour mynistre et organe dud. Cremuel, lequel
jusques yci na voulu accepter led. office de chancellier, mais lon pense
bien tost il se layra persuader de lempoigner. Il est home bien parlant
en sa langue et mediocrement en la latyne francoyse et italyenne, home
de bonne chiere liberal et de ses biens et de bonnes et gracieuses
parolles, home manifique en trayn et batissement...’
II
PASSAGE FROM CARDINAL POLE’S APOLOGIA AD CAROLUM QUINTUM. Pars 1. p.
126, c. xxviii.
‘Sic ergo, si tale nomen quaeratur, Cromvellum eum appellant, si genus,
de nullo quidem ante eum, qui id nomen gereret, audivi. Dicunt tamen,
viculum esse prope Londinum, ubi natus erat, & ubi pater ejus pannis
verrendis victum quaeritabat, sed de hoc parum refert. Nunc si conditio
quaeratur, sic quidem de eo intellexi, aliquem in Italia fuisse
gregarium militem, fuisse etiam mercatorem, nec tamen longius progressum
in mercatura fuisse, quam ut scriba esset mercatoris, & libros rationum
servaret, optime vero novi illum mercatorem, qui Venetus erat natione,
cui operas suas locabat. Tandem hujus conditionis pertaesus, domum
reversus, causidicis se immiscuit, his qui jura Regni profitentur. In
quo eo magis se proficere sperabat, quod versuti & callidi ingenii sibi
conscius esset ad defendendum tam iniquum, quam aequum, quod ex
externorum commercio valde acuerat, cum nostrorum hominum ingeniorum
simplicitatem semper contemneret. Nec tamen in hoc genere valde crevit,
antequam ad Monasteriorum ruinam perventum est. Quod incoepit vivente
adhuc Cardinali Eboracense, dum Monasteria quaedam pene a suis deserta,
& illorum bona ac praedia in subsidium pauperum, qui in Gymnasiis
literis operam dabant, essent conversa. Hic vero notus esse coepit,
idque ostendit ad hanc artem solam se natum fuisse, ad ruinam &
vastationem, id quod crebra aliarum artium mutatio declaravit, in quibus
nihil crevit, in hac vero statim celebris esse coepit, & pluribus
notus, ita tamen in illis initiis hujus suae artis notus, ut cum
Cardinalis, cujus assecla fuit, & ex cujus authoritate et imperio illam
suam artem exercebat, ab administratione Reipublicae remotus esset, et
dignitate privatus, ipse omnium voce, qui aliquid de eo intellexerant,
ad supplicium posceretur. Hoc enim affirmare possum, qui Londini tum
adfui, & voces audivi, adeo etiam ut per civitatem universam rumor
circumferretur, eum in carcerem fuisse detrusum, & propediem productum
iri ad supplicium. Nec vero populus ullum spectaculum libentius
expectabat, nec ille rumor ex alia re nascebatur, nisi quod omnes eum
sciebant omni supplicio dignum ...’
III
NOVELLA XXXIV DELLA SECONDA PARTE DE LE NOVELLE DEL BANDELLO, Tomo
quinto, p. 251.
‘Francesco Frescobaldi fa cortesia ad uno straniero, e n’è
ben rimeritato, essendo colui divenuto Contestabile
d’Inghilterra.’
‘Ne la famiglia nobile et antica de i Frescobaldi in Firenze fu, non
sono molti anni, un Francesco, mercadante molto leale et onorevole, il
quale, secondo la costuma de la patria, essendo assai ricco, trafficava
in diversi luoghi e faceva di gran faccende, e quasi per l’ordinario
dimorava in Ponente, in Inghilterra, e teneva la stanza in Londra, ove
viveva splendidissimamente et usava cortesia assai; non la veggendo sì
per minuto come molti mercadanti fanno, che la contano fin a un picciolo
quattrino, come intendo dire che fa Ansaldo Grimaldo Genovese, che tien
conto fin d’un minimo foglio di carta e d’un palmo di cordella da legar
i pacchetti de le lettere. Avvenne un giorno che essendo Francesco
Frescobaldi in Firenze, se gli parò dinanzi un povero giovine, e gli
domandò elemosina per l’amor di Dio. Veggendolo il Frescobaldo sì mal in
arnese e che in viso mostrava aver del gentile, si mosse in pietà, e
tanto più, quanto che lo conobbe esser Inglese; onde gli domandò di che
contrada di Oltramontani fosse. Egli gli rispose che era Inglese; e
chiedendogli alcune particolarità, il Frescobaldo, d’Inghilterra, come
colui che assai pratico n’era, il giovine molto accomodatamente al tutto
sodisfece, dicendogli: Io mi chiamo Tomaso Cremonello, figliuolo di un
povero cimatore di panni, che fuggendo da mio padre son venuto in Italia
col campo de i Francesi, che è stato rotto al Garigliano, e stavo con un
fante a piedi, portandoli dietro la picca. Il Frescobaldo la menò in
casa molto domesticamente, e quivi alcun dì se lo tenne per amor de la
nazione Inglese, de la quale egli aveva ricevuti di molti piaceri; lo
trattò umanamente, lo vestì, e quando volse partirsi per ritornar ne la
patria, gli diede sedici ducati d’oro in oro fiorentini et un buon
ronzino. Il giovine veggendosi esser stato messo in arnese sì bene, rese
al Frescobaldo quelle grazie che seppe le maggiori, e se n’andò ne
l’isola a casa.’
* * * * *
[The next four pages are devoted to a more or less accurate account of
Cromwell’s life in London, his connexion with Wolsey, and his entrance
into the King’s service. The events narrated in the following passage
may be supposed to have taken place about 1535 or 1536.]
* * * * *
... ‘Dico adunque che in quei dì che il Cremonello era padrone e
governatore de l’isola, che Francesco Frescobaldo si ritrovava in
Italia, ove, come spesso a mercadanti interviene, avendo patiti molti
disastri e di gran danni ne la perdita de le sue mercadanzie, restò
molto povero; perciò che essendo uomo leale e da bene, pagò tutti quelli
a cui era debitore, e non puotè ricuperar ciò che da gli altri gli era
dovuto. Veggendosi egli ridutto a così povero stato, e fatto i suoi
conti e benissimo calculati, trovò che in Inghilterra aveva crediti per
più di quindici migliaia di ducati; onde si deliberò passar quindi, e
veder di ricuperar più che gli fosse possibile, e mettersi a viver il
rimanente de la sua vita quietamente. Così con questo pensiero passò
d’Italia in Francia, e di Francia in Inghilterra, e si fermò in Londra,
non gli sovvenendo perciò mai del beneficio che egli fatto già in
Firenze aveva al Cremonello; cosa veramente degna d’un vero liberale,
che de le cortesie che altrui fa, memoria mai non tiene, scolpendo in
marmo quelle che riceve, per pagarle ogni volta che l’occasione se gli
offerisce. Attendendo adunque in Londra a negoziar i fatti suoi, e
caminando un giorno in una contrada, avvenne che il Contestabile passava
anch’egli per la strada medesima, venendo a l’incontro del Frescobaldo.
Così subito che il Contestabile lo vide e gli ebbe gli occhi fermati nel
viso, si ricordò costui certamente esser quello, dal quale così gran
cortesia aveva in Firenze ricevuta, et essendo a cavallo, dismontò, e
con meraviglia grandissima di quelli che seco erano, chi v’erano più di
cento a cavallo de i primi del regno che gli facevano coda, l’abbracciò
con grande amorevolezza, e quasi lagrimando gli disse: Non sete voi
Francesco Frescobaldo Fiorentino? Sì sono, signor mio, rispose egli, e
vostro umil servidore. Mio servidore, disse il Contestabile, non sete
già voi nè per tal vi voglio, ma bene per mio grande amico, avvisandovi
che di voi ho giusta ragione di molto dolermi, perchè sapendo voi ciò
che io sono e dove era, devevate farmi saper la venuta vostra qui; che
certamente io averei pagato qualche parte del debito che confesso aver
con voi. Ora lodato Iddio che ancor sono a tempo; voi siate il benissimo
venuto. Io vado ora per affari del mio Re, e non posso far più lunga
dimora vosco, e m’averete per iscusato; ma fate per ogni modo, che in
questa mattina vegnate a desinar meco, e non fate fallo. Così rimontò il
Contestabile a cavallo e se n’andò in Corte al Re. Il Frescobaldo,
partito che fu il Contestabile, s’andò ricordando che cotestui era quel
giovine Inglese che egli già in Firenze in casa sua raccolse, e cominciò
a sperar bene, pensando che il mezzo di così grand’uomo molto gli
giovarebbe a ricuperar i suoi danari. Essendo poi l’ora di desinare, se
n’andò al palazzo del Contestabile, e quivi nel cortile poco attese che
egli rivenne. Il quale smontato che fu, di nuovo amicabilmente
riabbracciò il Frescobaldo, e volto a l’armiraglio, et ad altri prencipi
e signori che con lui erano venuti a desinare, disse: Signori, non vi
meravigliate de le amorevoli dimostrazioni che io faccio a questo
gentiluomo Fiorentino, perchè queste sono parte di pagamento d’infiniti
obblighi che io conosco e confesso di avergli, essendo nel grado che
sono per mezzo suo, et udite come. A l’ora, a la presenza di tutti,
tenendo sempre per mano il gentiluomo Fiorentino, narrò loro in che modo
era capitato a Firenze, e le carezze che da lui aveva ricevute; e così
tenendolo sempre per mano, se ne salirono le scale, e giunti in sala si
misero a tavola. Volle il Contestabile che il Frescobaldo gli stesse
appresso, e sempre l’accarezzò amorevolissimamente. Desinato che si fu e
quei signori partiti, volle il Contestabile saper la cagione, per la
quale era il Frescobaldo ritornato a Londra. Narrogli a l’ora tutta la
sua disgrazia il Frescobaldo, e che non gli essendo rimaso, de la casa
in fuori in Firenze et un podere in contado, quasi niente, se non quei
quindeci mila ducati che in Inghilterra deveva avere, e forse duo mila
in Ispagna, che per ricuperargli s’era ne l’Isola trasferito. Or bene
sta, disse il Contestabile. A le cose passate, che fatte non sieno, non
si può trovar rimedio; ben mi posso con voi dolere de gl’infortunii
vostri, come con il core faccio; al rimanente si darà tal ordine, che
voi ricuperarete tutti i vostri danari che qui devete avere, e non vi si
mancherà di quello che io potrò, assicurandovi, che la cortesia che
m’usate, non mi conoscendo altramente, mi vi rende di modo ubbligato che
sempre sarò vostro, e di me e de le mie facultà potrete disporre come io
proprio, e non lo facendo, il danno sarà vostro, nè più farò offerta
alcuna, parendomi che sarebbe superflua. Basti che questo vi sia ora per
sempre detto. Ma leviamoci et andiamo in camera, ove il Contestabile
serrato l’uscio, aperse un gran coffano pieno di ducati, e pigliandone
sedeci gli diede al Frescobaldi, e gli disse: Eccovi, amico mio, i
sedeci ducati che mi donaste al partir di Firenze, eccovi gli altri
dieci che vi costò il ronzino che per me comperaste, et eccovene altri
dieci che spendeste in vestirmi. Ma perchè essendo voi mercadante, non
mi par onesto che i vostri danari debbiano esser stati tanto tempo
morti, ma s’abbiano guadagnato, come è il costume vostro, eccovi quattro
sacchetti di ducati, in ciascuno de i quali sono quattro mila ducati.
Voi in ricompensa de i vostri ve gli pigliarete, godendogli per amor
mio. Il Frescobaldo, ancor che da grandissime ricchezze fosse caduto in
gran povertà, nondimeno non aveva perduto la sua generosità d’animo, e
non gli voleva accettare, ringraziandolo tutta via di tanta sua
cortesia; ma a la fine astretto per viva forza dal Contestabile, che gli
desse tutti i nomi in nota de i suoi debitori; il che Frescobaldo fece
molto volentieri, mettendo il nome dei debitori e la somma che gli
devevano. Avuta questa cedula, chiamò il Cremonello un suo uomo di casa,
e gli disse: Guarda chi sono costoro, che su questa lista sono scritti,
e fa che gli ritrovi tutti, siano dove si vogliano in questa isola, e
farai loro intendere che se fra quindici giorni non hanno pagato tutto
il lor debito, che io ci porrò la mano con lor dispiacere e danno, e che
facciano pensiero, che io sia il creditore. Fece l’uomo il comandamento
del suo padrone molto diligentemente, di maniera che al termine statuito
furono ricuperati circa quindici mila ducati. E se il Frescobaldo avesse
voluto gl’interessi, che in così lungo tempo erano corsi, tutti gli
averebbe avuti, fin ad un minimo denaio; ma egli si contentò del
capitale, nè volse interesse alcuno, che di più in più gli acquistò
credito e riputazione appresso tutti, massimamente sapendosi già da
ciascuno de l’isola il favore che egli aveva appresso la persona del
Contestabile. In questo mezzo, fu di continovo esso Frescobaldo
commensale del Cremonello, il quale di giorno in giorno si sforzava
d’onorarlo quanto più poteva. E desiderando che di continovo egli
rimanesse in Londra, piacendogli molto la pratica sua, gli offerse di
prestargli per quattro anni sessanta mila ducati, a ciò che mettesse
casa e banco in Londra e gli trafficasse, senza volerne profitto d’un
soldo, promettendogli oltra questo ogni favore ne le cose de la
mercadanzia. Ma il Frescobaldo che desiderava di ritirarsi a casa, e
viver il resto de la sua vita in quiete et attender solamente a se
stesso, infinitamente lo ringraziò di tanta suprema cortesia, e con
buona grazia del Contestabile, rimessi tutti i suoi danari in Firenze, a
la desiderata patria se ne ritornò, dove essendo ritornato assai ricco,
si mise a viver una vita quietissima. Ma poco tempo visse in quiete,
perchè quell’anno istesso che da Londra era partito, in Firenze se ne
morì.’
* * * * *
IV
PASSAGES FROM THE LIFE OF LORD CROMWELL AS CONTAINED IN FOXE’S
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, vol. ii. pp. 419-434.
‘Thomas Cromwell although born of a simple Parentage and House obscure,
through the singular excellency of Wisdom and dexterity of Wit wrought
in him by God, coupled with like industry of mind, and deserts of life,
rose to high preferment and authority;’
* * * * *
‘First as touching his Birth, he was born at Putney or thereabout, being
a Smiths Son, whose Mother married after to a sheerman.’
* * * * *
‘As touching the order and manner of his coming up, it would be
superfluous to discourse what may be said at large: only by way of story
it may suffice to give a touch of certain particulars and so to
proceed.’ ... ‘Nothing was so hard which with wit and industery he could
not compass. Neither was his capacity so good but his memory was as
great in retaining whatsoever he had attained. Which well appeareth in
canning the text of the whole new Testament of Erasmus Translation
without Book, in his journey going and coming from Rome, whereof you
shall hear anon.’
‘Thus in his growing years, as he shot up in age and ripeness, a great
delight came in his mind to stray into forreign Countries to see the
World abroad, and to learn experience, whereby he learned such Tongues
and Languages as might better serve for his use hereafter.’
‘And thus passing over his youth being at Antwerp, he was there retained
of the English Merchants to be their Clerk or Secretary, or in some such
like condition placed pertaining to their affairs.’
‘It happened the same time that the Town of Boston thought good to send
up to Rome for renewing of their two pardons, one called the great
pardon and the other the lesser pardon. Which thing although it should
stand them in great expences of money (for the Popes Merchandise is
always dear ware) yet notwithstanding such sweetness they had felt
thereof, and such gain to come to their town by that Romish Merchandise
(as all Superstition is commonly gainful) that they like good Catholick
Merchants and the Popes good customers, thought to spare for no cost, to
have their leases again of their pardons renewed, whatsoever they paid
for the fine. And yet was all this good Religion then, such was the
lamentable blindness of that time.’
‘This then being so determined and decreed among my Countrymen of Boston
to have their pardons needs repaired and renewed from Rome, one Geffery
Chambers, with another Champion was sent for the messengers, with
writings and money, no small quantity, well furnished, and with all
other things appointed necessary for so chargeable and costly exploit.
Who coming in his journey to Antwerp, and misdoubting to be too weak for
the compassing of such a weighty piece of work, conferred and perswaded
with T. Cromwel to associat him in that legacy, and to assist him in the
contriving thereof. Cromwel although perceiving the enterprise to be of
no small difficulty to traverse the Popes Court, for the unreasonable
expences amongst those greedy Cormorants, yet having some skill of the
Italian Tongue, and as yet not grounded in the judgement of Religion in
those his youthful days, was at length obtained and content to give the
adventure, and so took his journey towards Rome. Cromwel loth to spend
much time, and more loth to spend his money; and again perceiving that
the Popes greedy humour must needs be served with some present or other
(for without rewards there is no doing at Rome) began to cast with
himself what thing best to devise wherein he might best serve the Popes
devotion.’
‘At length having knowledge how that the Popes holy tooth greatly
delighted to new fangled strange delicates and dainty dishes, it came
in his mind to prepare certain fine dishes of gelly, after the best
fashion, made after our Countrey manner here in England, which to them
of Rome was not known nor seen before.’
‘This done, Cromwell observing his time accordingly, as the Pope was
newly come from hunting into his pavillion, he with his companions
approached with his English presents brought in with a three mans song
(as we call it) in the English tongue and after the English fashion. The
Pope suddenly marvelling at the strangeness of the song, and
understanding that they were English men, and that they came not empty
handed, willed them to be called in. Cromwel there shewing his
obedience, and offering his jolly junkets, such as Kings and Princes
only, said he, in the Realm of England use to feed upon, desired the
same to be accepted in benevolent part, which he and his companions, as
poor suters unto his Holiness had there brought and presented, as
novelties meet for his recreation etc.’
‘Pope Julius, seeing the strangeness of the dishes, commanded by and by
his Cardinal to take the assay. Who in tasting thereof liked it so well,
and so likewise the Pope after him, that knowing of them what their
sutes were, and riquiring them to make known the making of that meat, he
incontinent, without any more adoe, stamped both their pardons as well
the greater as the lesser: ... it seemeth that Cromwell obtained this
Pardon aforesaid about the year of our Lord, 1510.’...
[The rest of the story deals for the most part with Cromwell’s career in
the service of the Cardinal and of the King. Historically it is almost
worthless--nearly every paragraph contains statements which the more
trustworthy sources prove to be impossible. A curious legend of
Cromwell’s saving the life of the Earl of Bedford at Bologna is followed
by a more plausible account of the latter afterward commending his
preserver to the King. Foxe also states that Sir Christopher Hales, a
violent papist, but a friend of Cromwell’s, took an opportunity to say a
good word for him to Henry after Wolsey’s fall, that the King at last
had an interview with his future minister in Westminster Gardens, and
was advised by him to shake off the yoke of Rome. The latter part of
this story follows closely the account of Cardinal Pole (see chapter vi.
p. 92). Foxe goes on to an exhaustive defence of Cromwell’s actions
during his ministry, especially the suppression of the monasteries and
the measures adopted for the promotion of the new religion. The story of
the loss of Cranmer’s Book Against the Six Articles at the bear-baiting
on the Thames (see chapter xiii. p. 255) and the account of
Frescobaldo’s kindness to Cromwell in Florence are related at length.
Many other minor incidents of Cromwell’s life are also recorded: we are
told how he stopped a skirmish in Paternoster Row, how he prevented a
friar from wearing his cowl in the streets, how he imprisoned a ruffian
with long hair, and how he aided a poor man whose father had once
befriended him in distress. The story closes with an account of
Cromwell’s fall, sentence and execution, and gives the speech and prayer
he is supposed to have made on the scaffold. (See Appendix at the end of
chapter xiv.)]
CHAPTER II
THE PARLIAMENT OF 1523
The heavy veil that shrouds in mystery the early life of Thomas Cromwell
is not completely lifted until after he becomes counsellor to the King,
but even before and during his service with Wolsey, we catch several
interesting glimpses of him. Especially important is the information we
possess concerning the part he played in the Parliament of 1523. We have
no means of knowing how he obtained a seat there, but there are
fortunately preserved two documents of undoubted authenticity that shed
much light on the attitude he assumed towards the problems which came up
for discussion. The first is a speech which exists to-day at the Public
Record Office in the hand of one of Cromwell’s clerks, and contains a
distinct and careful enunciation of the policy which the future minister
actually pursued in after years. The second is a letter from Cromwell to
a friend, John Creke, in Biscay, in which he tells how he ‘amongyst
other indured a parlyament[46].’ This epistle is in itself an excellent
index to the character and political ideals of its author. Cromwell’s
ill-concealed contempt for the vague discussions and fruitless arguments
of the Commons, who finally in disgust left off where they began, his
evident disappointment that the ‘right large subsydye’ had been granted
in spite of his disapproval, and his sneering statement that this
Parliament had failed as signally as its predecessors had, to do
anything of real practical value to King or realm, but had wasted its
time in foolish theorizing and useless debate--all are perfectly
consistent with the characteristics revealed by his later policy and
actions.
In order to understand the speech which Cromwell wrote to deliver in
this Parliament, a preliminary survey of some of the business that lay
before the House may be helpful. The period immediately previous to the
session of 1523 had been occupied by Henry and Wolsey in sending
messages to the powerful and traitorous Duke of Bourbon, to obtain from
him a recognition of the King’s title to the throne of France. The
breach between England and France was becoming wider every day. Charles
V. had of course seized the favourable opportunity to ally himself with
Bourbon and Henry, and had as usual succeeded in making the latter do
the lion’s share of the work, and pay practically all the bills. Loans
to the Emperor and to the Duke, and the expense of keeping up the
defences in the north, where Scotland daily threatened to break out into
open war, had drained the country’s resources to their lowest ebb.
Under these circumstances Henry thought it fit to summon a Parliament,
the first since December, 1515. The policy of Wolsey, in regard to the
great legislative body of the kingdom, had up to this time been very
closely followed. He had not reached the point which Cromwell at a later
day was destined to attain; that is, he had not so completely obtained
the upper hand of the Commons that he could use them as a tool to
accomplish his will. He rather regarded Parliament as a dangerous power
to be suppressed at all costs, than as a means to attain his own ends.
Consequently it had not met for nearly eight years. But the present
crisis was one which called for more than the ordinary resources of the
nation; nothing could be accomplished against France unless an enormous
subsidy was granted; that subsidy could only be granted by Parliament,
and Wolsey, rather unwillingly, was forced to consent to the King’s
summoning it, relying on Henry’s great personal popularity, and the
peculiarly bitter national hatred of France, to make it accomplish for
him what he could not do for himself[47].
Sir Thomas More was chosen Speaker, probably because of his high favour
with Henry, who did not scruple to give Parliament broad hints of his
pleasure in all matters in which he was interested, and though, as Roper
says, More was ‘very loath to take this room upon him[48],’ yet the
King would not consent to his resignation. And the story goes on to tell
how Wolsey ‘found himself much grieved with the burgesses of this
Parliament, for that nothing was so soon done or spoken therein but that
it was immediately blown abroad in every ale-house[49],’ and how,
fearing that the subsidy bill might not pass, he determined to be
present at the debate himself, and was received, at Sir Thomas More’s
suggestion, ‘with all his pomp, with his maces, his pillars, his
poleaxes, his crosses, his hat, and his great seal too.’ But Wolsey need
not have been so anxious about the passage of his bill. Though at first
the House would not deign to consider the subsidy in his presence,
alleging that ‘there was not so much money out of the King’s hands in
the whole realm,’ it had been out of practice too long to realize its
own power, and after a great deal of haggling and fruitless endeavours
by the members to beg off for less than the £800,000 at first demanded,
Wolsey carried his point[50], and by the end of June was able to
announce to Henry that there was no further hindrance to the proposed
invasion of France.
While the debate was in progress, however, Cromwell was one of the
strongest opponents of the Cardinal’s scheme. The following speech,
which he wrote to deliver on this occasion[51], clearly reveals his
attitude on the questions before the House.
‘To recou_er_ agayne by the sworde the Realme of Fraunce, belongyng to
o_ur_ most Redowbtid Souerayne by good and iuste tytle, and to chaunge
the Sums of monay whiche we haue in sundrey yeres Receyued from thens
into the hole and iust Reuenues that myght there from yere to yere be
Leuyed yf we did peasibly enioye the same, who ys here present that wold
not gladly dispend not oonly all his goodys but also his lyffe yf euery
of vs had ten thowsand lyues to help to obtayne vnto o_ur_ most benygne
souerayne and his most noble Succession besydys the high honour and wyde
spredyng of his most glorious fame, whiche while this world endured
shuld euer be had in memory, suche yerely reuenues and wellyng
spryngg_es_ as[52] treasure as shuld by thyse means contynually be
browght into this Realme, Whereoff there were no dowte but that ryght
haboundant stremys shuld from his most liberall magnyfysence be dereuyed
into eu_er_y parte of this his Realme to the grete Inryching and
enprosperyng of vs and all suche as hereafter showld lyue vnder hys
obeysaunce and subieccion. And that this high and Magnanyme ent_er_pryse
ys at this p_re_sent by o_ur_ saide Souerayne not only in secret wyse in
his high cowrage conceyued, but also vttred to his most prudent
counsayll, and at sundrey tymes by his grace and them rypely dygested
debated ye and fynally concluded as the thyng by his most high wysdome
and thens thowg_ht_ not only possible but also very apparaunt and
lykely, all reasonable dowt_es_ auoyded, we All haue clerely persayued
as well by the mowth and reporte of my lorde legatt_es_ good grace as by
the Recapitulacion of the Right w_or_shipfull best Assuryd and discrete
Speker, in so moche that we haue ben_e_ adu_er_tised of the Indentures
all reddy passed bytwene o_ur_ said most noble Souerayne and the
Emparo_ur_s Magesty, conteynyng not oonly the nombre of horseme_n_ and
Fotemen, estemed sufficient for the saide enterpryse, but also the day
p_re_fixid for the Arryuall beyond the see of the saide Army. Whyche
thyng sythyns o_ur_ most Redowbted Souerayne hathe so depely myndyd,
that for the more effectuall puttyng in execucion of the same, his high
enterpryze, he hathe promysed in the saide endentures, to goo ou_er_ in
his owne noble p_er_sone Whoo ys here p_re_sent in this ryght
w_or_shipfull assemble, or any other his subiet Whatsoeuer he be whiche
to the vtterest of his power wold not payne and endeu_er_ hymself, that
this so glorious, so profyttable and so wysshefull an enterpryse myght
properously be atcheuyd and o_ur_ souerayne w_i_t_h_ assuryd hono_ur_ to
Reto_ur_ne agayne after this grete acte well and victoryously
p_er_fynysshed. But for somoche As yt hathe pleased o_ur_ most Redowbtid
Souuerayne of his most high and haboundant goodnes, to declare vnto vs
by the mowthe of my saide Lorde Cardinallis grace, not only this his
purpose, but also the manyfold p_ro_uocacions and hainous iniures done
aswell to his noble highnes, as to his most dere sist_er_ the quene
Douriere of Fraunce, in wrongus[53] w_i_t_h_holding of her Dowre, and
also the grete vexacion of his subiect_es_ by robbyng and spoylyng of
them, to theire vtter vndoyng, by Francoys now raynyng there, and on the
other side the manyfold policies and gracious meanes studied by o_ur_
saide most noble Souuerayne, and hys Counsayll, to establysshe a
generall peace amongyst all Crysten Prync_es_ and to stay the saide
Frauncoys yf yt had bene possible by ma_n_nys industry from his synyster
wayes and disturbyng of all Regions abowte hym. Me semyth that his
highnes hathe heryn Declared vnto vs the grettest loue that eu_er_ did
noble prynce vnto his humble and obeysaunt subiect_es_, seyng that his
high wysdome doth not disdayne to co_m_municate and declare vnto vs his
waighty entrepases and affayres, in this autentyk man_er_ assemblyd by
the mowthe of so notable a p_er_sonage, beseching god of his haboundant
goodnes and ynfynyte m_er_cye whiche w_i_t_h_drawyth not his lyght from
the poore and low estate but vnto humble hartt_es_ departyth of his
grace, that this notable benygnete of o_ur_ saide Souerayne be not
amongyst vs all frustrate, but that sum of vs here p_re_sent may say in
this weyghty matier the thyng vaylable and worthye in his most highe
Juggement to be regarded whiche by the Mowthe and report of the ryght
wyse dyscrete and excellently lettred speker may be benyng
Interpretacion And as we meane cu_m_ vnto his most g_ra_cious Erys.
Whiche my p_er_fyte trust ys that his noble grace wyll not so vtterly
regecte, but that yt may oons entre into his noble harte byfore the tyme
come that he shall put hys high entrepryse in execucio_n_ seyng yt ys
yet oon hole yere therunto and all thowgh I reckyn myselff of all other
the most vnworthy to haue in the awdience of so many sauge and notable
p_er_sons, any mann_er_ saiyngg_es_, especially in this weighty mattier
whiche makyth me to tremble, for fere, whan I thyncke upon hyt and
represent vnto my fantasy How the thre gou_er_no_ur_s of Crystendom,
accompanyed w_i_t_h_ so grete nomb_re_ of prync_es_ noble men and other
their Subgiett_es_ shuld after so manyfold p_ro_uocacions of dedely
hattred encounter togyder w_i_t_h_ theire Swordys in theire hand_es_, to
trye where the pleasure of god shalbe to stryke, and shew his
indignacion, Of whiche slawghter, most nedis ensue, the moste Lamentable
cryes, and sorowfull wryngyng of handys, that hath happened in
Cristendome many yeres. Neu_er_thelesse after my symple and yngnorant
man_er_, I shall humbly beseche yow all of yo_ur_ benygne Supportacion
that I may here w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ fauo_ur_s vtter my poore mynde whose
intent ys no_ne_ other but to geue vnto yow, whiche be of far more
assuryd Wysdom, Lernyng and experience then I, occasion to vtter yo_ur_
wyse counsayll_es_, for yn myself I know well ys nought ell_es_ but the
intent of good wyll, and entier desyre, of the Contenuaunce yn
p_ro_sp_er_ite of my most redowtyd souerayne, with the most frutefull
cons_er_uacion of the polytyk weall of this his noble Realme, and the
good fertheryng of all the enterprysys and affayres in any wyse
belongyng to the same.
‘To speke of peace certeynly as now hit ys no tyme, Albe hit that I doo
in my hart therfore ryght sore lament, but want of trowth ys so depely
in the Frenche Nacion enrotid, and theire insaciable apetite to extent
theire bond_es_ and to accroche from other their Domynyons and
possessions to the grete molestyng and trowbelyng of all the nacions
abowte theym, ys so manyfest and notorys to all the word[54],
w_i_t_h_oute any regarde hauyng ether to godde or Justyce, that thowgh
we Hadde for o_ur_ owne p_ar_ticuler causes no mann_er_ quarell_es_ vnto
them, yet cowld we not but haue in detestacion their false and fleyghty
Dealyng Wherw_i_t_h_ other Cristened prync_es_ be by them so sore
molestyd. But now ys hyt soo that our most Drad Souerayne ys soo notably
prouoked by the manyfold Iniuryes done aswell to hymself as to his most
derest Syster, and sundrey his Subiect_es_ that me thynckyth, there be
none, his true and faythefull Subiett_es_, that can refrayne to bere
toward_es_ them a worthy haatred and fast inpryntyd groutche, as vnto
the nacion, whiche eu_er_ ys onrestful, And of suche malicious nature
that there ys no remedy, but other they most be skowrgyd or ellys they
wyll suerly be a skowrge to other, and other their possessions must be
ruffilled and dymynysshed or ellys they wyll not cesse to Dymynysshe and
take away from other their possessions, of whiche Arogant Nacion thowgh
we haue of o_ur_ self_es_ by goddys Ayde and suffer_au_nce ben the
Chastners and terryble stronge yet at this p_re_sent tyme Allmyghty god
ys so benygne vnto vs that we haue now a muche grete aduauntage to
compell them not oonly to syt in rest but also gladly to com_e_ to
Reason seyng that by theyre sayde mysprowde arregancy the[55] Haue in so
sundry Wayes prouoked the saide Emparo_ur_s magestye vnto iust hatered
and dyspleasure agaynst them w_i_t_h_ whome o_ur_ most Redowbted
Souerayne ys most assurydly co_n_federate and alied, Whose high and
myghty power ys so great that Joyned vnto owers they be enverouned on
eu_er_y syde wyth the nacions, whiche by goddes grace shall afflycte
them and abate their pryde. Whiche thyng the emparo_ur_s maiesty hath
full well for his partie shewyd in Recoueryng agayne of Nauerne Where
they had no smale ou_er_throw and also by Wynnyng from theym the Cytte
of To_ur_ney and the hole Countrey Tornasyes adiacent therunto, and
farthermore to the more sorar encresyng of their A_n_guysshefull
abasshement and shame haue dryuen them quyte owte of Ittaly and
dispossessed them of the noble Dowchye of Millayne, the gettyng and
defendyng wherof hath ben_e_ so maruaylous chargeable vnto theym and
also to the Cyttyes of Genes w_i_t_h_ the Terretoryes therunto
belongyng. And we for o_ur_ partye haue spoyled and brent Morkesse,
Destroyed also a grete Contrey w_i_t_h_ sundry villag_es_ and Townes
therin, and to the grete and high hono_ur_ of o_ur_ soueraigne and his
valiaunt nacion, and the grete Lawde and Prayse of the well fortunate
and sawge Capetayn, the yerle of Surrey, whiche taryed in the Domynyons
of the saide Francoyse w_i_t_h_ a smale Nombr_e_ of men in comparyson by
the space or vj or vij wekys where all the power of Fraunce durst not
geue hym battayll whiche sayde valiant Capeteyne, I trust by goddes
help, shall ou_er_throw and subdue also the Skott_es_, whome the Frenche
men haue so custuously intertayned, and of so long tyme mayntayned
agaynst vs, whiche thingg_es_, yf almyghty god of his goodnes, wyll
suffre to contynue this a while, there ys no dowte but that their hawlte
and mysprowde Cowrage shall or owght long abate, and that we shall
constrayne theym to be glad to entret for pease as men dryuen in to
grete and extreme Dyspayre, seing their pec_es_ whiche they haue bene so
long in gettyng bene so valiauntly and w_i_t_h_owt any hardynesse in
theym to make Resystance pullid away from theym, and they dare not trye
hyt by the sworde, nother w_i_t_h_ vs, nor w_i_t_h_ the saide
Emparo_ur_s Subiect_es_ for whan soeu_er_ they so doo, they wyn nowght
ellys but a shamefull overthrow, as we all know, by good experyence. But
now myght yt be in questyon whyther hyt showld be for the more
aduaunsyng of o_ur_ most Rodowtyd Souerayns Hono_ur_ and the Empero_ur_s
Mageste also, and more vayllable for the spedy acheuyng of bothe their
desiryd purposys other to contynew styll thys kynde of warre whyche
hytherto god be thancked hathe so prosperously succedyd or ellys to
chaunge o_ur_ warre in to another kynde, more sharper, more violent and
also more terable, that is to say, where he hathe not bene so hardy as
to mete A meane Armyee, other of owers or of the Empero_ur_s, to conuey
now in to hys Realme on eyther of o_ur_ sydys, so grete and myghty a
puyss_au_nce as shalbe able by goddys ayde, clerely to vanquysshe hym
vtterly and to subdue hym.
‘To this question I beseche god that sum sauge and well experte man here
amongyst vs p_re_sent may say the thyng that may be honorable to o_ur_
most Redowted souerayne and proffyttable this to his noble Realme, As
for myne owne partye knowyng my most redowtyd Souerayns high pleasure
Whereof we haue all by my saide lorde Cardinall_e_s grace ben_e_ so
clerely enfo_ur_med, I am at a poynt suche as dothe becom_e_ an humble
and obeysant subiect to be, beyng adu_er_tisid of his Souerayns most
redowtyd pleasure, especially by the mowthe of hys most nere and
cheffest Counsaylo_ur_, declaryd, oonly oon thyng there ys whiche
puttyth me in no small agonye, me thowght I harde my lorde Cardynall_e_s
grace say that o_ur_ most gracious Souuerayne, more derer vnto any of
hys Subiect_es_ that hathe any man_er_ zele to o_ur_ co_m_men welthe
then hys owne propre lyfe, indendyth to go ou_er_ in his Royall
p_er_sone, Whyche thyng I pray god for my partie I neu_er_ lyue to see,
Most humbly beseching hys haboundant and tendre benygnyte of m_er_cy and
p_ar_done of this my saiyng, for the humble and obeysant loue I ow vnto
his noble p_er_son, causyth me in this case to forget obeysance, and I
cannot consent to obey vnto this hys pleasure wheryn lyith the hazardyng
of this his noble Realme, and apon the whiche myght follow (whiche god
defend) the grettyst Calamyte and afflation[56] that eu_er_ happynned
ther vnto by cause I am desyrous to be owte of all dowtt_es_ that I may
all my lyfe dayes hereafter be his humble and obeisant subiet, and see
w_i_t_h_ the prosperite and suretye of his noble parson, his Realme and
power subiect_es_ to lyue assuryd in tranquylyte and to be reconforttid
w_i_t_h_ his noble p_re_sence, whose welthe and prosperyte ys so
vrgently necessary vnto vs all that I am sure their ys no good Englysshe
man whiche can be mery the day whan he happenyth to thynk that his grace
myght p_er_ch_au_nce be dystemp_er_id of his helthe so that albe hyt I
say for my partie, I stomak as a sory Subiect may doo, the high Iniures
done by the saide Francoys, vnto his most dere souerayne, yet rather
then the thyng shuld goo so ferre forth I cowld for my partie be
contented to forget altogyther soo that I may know the parson of my
souerayne to be yn helthe, and suretye owte of the thowsand Daungiers
whiche chaunce in warre, and lyue at his high Pleasure and assuryd myrth
for yf the Frenche men haue establysshed an orden_au_nce amongyst theym
that their kyng in hys owne p_er_sone shall neu_er_ com_e_ in Raungyd
Battayll agay_n_st o_ur_ nacion bycawse of the sundry hazardys that
their saide prync_es_ haue suffred in their owne parsons,
notw_i_t_h_standyng their maruelous pollecy deuysed amongest them for
the certayn and the establysshid succession of their Crowne, how
neidfull ys hyt for us consideryng in what case we be to make the
humblest sewyt that eu_er_ did pore Subiect_es_ to theyre Souuerayne,
that he wyll for o_ur_ sak_es_ and specially for the tendre and Fathyrly
loue he beryth to his most dere and oonly dowghter upon whose wele and
sircumspecte bestowyng next his noble parson dependyth all o_ur_ welthis
som_e_thyng to Reffrayne his high magnanyme Courage and for o_ur_
assuryd welthe and quyet and specially of her noble p_er_son desyst from
that Dawngerows entrepryse, And whereas his highnes hath the Reno_u_m to
be the most faythefull and substauncyall prynce, Crystayned yn the trew
p_er_fo_ur_myng of all his promyses that hyt may lyke his grace to lay
the wyte on vs his poore Subiect_e_s thowgh that he breke in that poynt
the tenour of his Indenture, For yf his highnes wold so farre presse vs
by o_ur_ allegence that he wold nedys cary ou_er_ w_i_t_h_ hym the Armay
in the same Endentures expressed, I am suer there showld not be oon
amongest them all that had any reason in his hed but he shuld be more
metar to wayle and wryng hys hand_e_s than assuryd to fyght, whan he
consydered that yf otherwyse then well showld fortune to that prescious
Juell whiche he had for hys partye, in custody, yt were more metar for
hym to departe in to Turkey than to Reto_ur_ne agayne in to his naturall
Contray to hys wyffe and chyldren. And now as yt fortunyth naturally
where as a man ys fully p_er_swadyd in any matter as I am trewly that
o_ur_ most Redowtid soueraygne showld in no wyse passe the Sees in his
owne noble p_er_son consideryng the thyng_es_ aforsaide to fayne Reasons
to make for His purpose, soo doo I now Fantasye syns I am so extremely
desyrows that the noble parson yf[57] my saide Prynce showlde tarry
withyn Hys Realme that hit were better to trayne owre warre and by
lyttyll and lyttyll to attempte wery the saide Francoys then at oons to
send ou_er_ agaynst hym the power Royall of this noble Royalme.
‘In the reasonyng of whiche matter I shall but vtter myne ygnoraunce
afore Hanyball as o_ur_ ryght wyse spekar rehersid now of late, but syns
I am wadyd thus far vnder yo_ur_ benygne supportacion I shall here vtter
my pore mynde yf thys grete and puysaunt armaye of xxx Thowsand
foteme_n_ and ten Thowsand horsemen showld be co_n_ueyed in to the
partyes of beyond see I ymagyn w_i_t_h_ myself whiche wayes they myght
take to noy o_ur_ enemyes most Consideracion fyrst had vnto their owne
saufegarde, How they myght suerly be victualled and thus I reason yf
they shuld so invade Fraunce that they myght eu_er_ w_i_t_h_ suretye
haue victayles owte of the Archedukedome, than put I no dowbt_es_ but
they showld saufely Reto_ur_ne agayne, for any daungyer that showld
com_e_ vnto theym by their enemyes, for synse they durst not this yere
last past set vpon the Hardy and valiaunt Capetayn the Yerle of Surr_ey_
notw_i_t_h_standyng any prouocacions that he Cowld by hys exp_er_te
wysedome in the Featt_es_ of warre Imagyn to bryng them thervnto how
moche more wold they beware to mete w_i_t_h_ so howge an Armye whose
bruit I suppose god beyng indyfferent the poore of Fraunce were not
hable to susteyne, but by this meanes lyke as o_ur_ saide Armye shuld be
in saftye soo showld the harme whiche they showld doo to the Realme of
Fraunce be nothyng so moche as the harmys whiche we o_ur_selff_es_
showld susteyn in sowldyng of so great an army which were hable or iii
Somers were expyred to exhawste and vtterly consume all the Cogne and
bolyon w_i_t_h_yn this Realme whiche I coniecture can not passe moche
aboue a Million For yf all the valew of the hole Realme excede not iiii
Millions as my lorde Cardinall_e_s grace Declaryth playnly vnto vs all
of whiche the possessions were estemyd to amount to oone Hole Million,
me thynkyth that there ys no dowbte but that the Cornes, Cattall_es_
o_ur_ owne Co_m_modeties vtensill_es_ Apparayll for man and women whiche
was neu_er_ soo sumptuo_u_s and also the wares not oonly made of o_ur_
owne co_m_modetyes but also conveyed from the partyes of beyond the see
Hyther wherof was neu_er_ so grete Haboundaunce Dothe amount at the lest
vnto other ij Millions This yf we showld take thys way or eu_er_ we
showld doo to o_ur_ enemy any hurt that were worthy to be regardid we
showld be brought in to that case that we showld neu_er_ be hable
neu_er_ to hurt hym ne none other, nor to help o_ur_ Prynce, nor this
his noble Realme What adu_er_syte soeu_er_ shuld fortune to Hap ye and
what showld we then Doo, but sit in peace w_i_t_h_ the highest ignomine
and Desperat confusion that eu_er_ did nacion and be constraynyd for the
maynten_au_nce of co_m_mutacion and biyng and sellyng amongyst
o_ur_selffes to koyne lether agayne, lyke as we oons haue done, whiche
as for me I could well ynowgh be content with but yf yt showld fortune
o_ur_ most Redowtyd Souerayne, yf he wold nyedys go ou_er_ yn hys owne
p_er_sone to happyn by any adu_er_se fortune, whiche almyghty god defend
to cum into the hand_es_ of o_ur_ enemyes, how shuld we then be hable to
Redeme hym agayne yf they wyll nought for their wynes but golde they
wold thynck grete skorne, to take lether for o_ur_ prynce, ye and how
moche the Inhabitaunt_es_ of the saide Archedukedome be desirows to haue
moche of o_ur_ monaye for Lytyll of their victuaylis whiche showld the
sonner bryng this inconuenyence to passe, we haue hadde ryght good
experyence aswell whan o_ur_ moste Redowbtid Souerayne last went ou_er_
in His owne Royall parson as in the last yere, whan my lorde of Surrey
was sent by o_ur_ saide Souerayne in to those parties whose Soldyers at
their Retto_ur_ne made of the raryte and high prysed victuales no lytyll
complaynt. But yf we nedys wold conuaye o_ur_ armye by their possessions
and to make o_ur_ way as short as myght be, to goo the most nere and
dyrect way to Parrys where vndowbtyd were no small spoylle to be gotten
and in mann_er_ the place self not hable in strength to kepe vs owte
Assone as eu_er_ we were Dep_ar_tyd owte of the Marchys of the saide
Archedukedome, we showld then clerely p_er_sayue whatt mann_er_ warre
the Frenche men wold vse ayenst vs whiche neu_er_ wyll offer to medyll
w_i_t_h_ o_ur_ Armye, but lye yn wayte yf any of o_ur_ saide Armye
happened to straye or stragle abrode or to destroye the Conducto_ur_s of
o_ur_ victuayle. And as for victuaylys in o_ur_ waye we shuld be sure
none to fynde that other hadde legges to convey hyt sylf from vs or
elles by the diligence of the paysans myght convaide[58] to the next
strong holdys and then myght we p_er_ch_au_nce (whiche god defend)
p_er_sayue what high daunger to leue any strong holdys behynde vs,
whiche the most Saugge and Poletyke Prynce Kyng Henry the vij^{th} of
gracious memory thowght not best to doo. For when he passed the Sees to
wyn the ryght in Fraunce he began fyrst to lay Seige to Bolayn, or
eu_er_ he wold enter anye farther in to the land. And o_ur_ most
Redowtyd souerayne now raynyng beyng in purpose as I harde reportid goo
as farre as Parres after the occupacion of his sawge Counsayle began
Fyrst at Tyrouenne and the Empero_ur_s mageste Imployed A whosoeu_er_ be
in To_ur_nay bycawse yt was thowght to his high wysedome and hys noble
councellers euydently dawngerous yf he wold at any tyme hereafter passe
any farder by that way in to Fraunce, to leue suche strong hold in the
possession of his enemyes behynde hym at hys bakke, and soo yf we showld
for any dyspleasure done vnto vs ammuse o_ur_ Coscions armye abowte the
wynnyng of any those holdys, what maruelous Inconuenyenc_es_ Let of
purpose and Importable Charg_es_ we showld sustayn therbye o_ur_ most
drad souerayne lorde hathe theryn to good experyence in the wynnyng of
Tyrouen which cost his highnes more then xx^{ti} suche vngracious
Dogholes cowld be worthe vnto hym But yf we wold vtterlye leue this
waye, and Determyn to Invade Normandie Bretayn or sum other Contraye in
the possession of his enemye vpon the Ryvage of the see and make o_ur_
preparacions here w_i_t_h_yn this noble Realme suche as showld be
thowght conuenable for suche an armye Royall Thys thyng passith the
streche of my pore wyt to speke for oon_e_ thing I suppose, besid_es_
the Inestymable molestacion and charge whiche I ymagyn this noble Realme
showld sustayne for theyr p_re_paracion for ware I can se nothyng but
manyfest dawngier on eu_er_y syde to be toward_es_ the saide Armaye not
onely at their Arryvall amongest their enemyes at all tymes and so long
as they shall there tarry Whiche to shew theym their saide enemyes
showld have no smale aduauntage, and that in sundry wyse, but also how
they should surely be victayled for thowgh we made here neu_er_ so good
dylygence to prepare victailes for them in due tyme yet stode bothe we
and they in daungier of the wynde in whose oncerteynte god defend that
the Flower, nay in mann_er_ the hole Chyualry of this noble Realme
showld so be hazardid for thereby myght Chaunce the most lamentable
losse ye and w_i_t_h_out Recou_er_y that eu_er_ heretofore to me
happenyd For thowgh we be indowtyd ryght sore dymynysshed of o_ur_
Treasure, We haue yet a farr gretar want of defensable men whiche to any
good Englysshe man that ys not affeccionat to his owne pryuat lucre but
w_i_t_h_ good harte and true zele louyth the Commen wele ys to moche
manyfest at the yee, and hyt pleasid god of the contrary Wherby Supposid
that Almyghty god sent o_ur_ souerayne his desiryd purpose how showld we
be Able to possede the large Cuntreye of Fraunce whiche haue o_ur_ owne
Realme so meruelous rarely storyd of inhabytaunt_es_ and hable men, but
there paraadventure yt myght be saide vnto me Why puttyst thow so many
dowtt_es_ ayenst this my most redowtyd souerayns enterpryse, he beyng so
high in courage of maruelous wysdome and well tryed experyence in all
m_ar_ciall Condutt_es_ seyng other his progenito_ur_s of farre lesse
graces w_i_t_h_ an handfull of men in comparyson to his armye haue geuyn
them soo notable ou_er_throwes To thys question breuely to show my pore
mynde Trewly the manyfold victoryes that we haue had ayenst theym
bryngyth theym in playne dyspayre to trye hyt anye more w_i_t_h_ vs In
raunged battayll and to the experyence that they haue of o_ur_
Condicions bothe in warre and pease hathe geuyn the saide Francoys
hardynes thus haynowsly to prouoke o_ur_ Souerayne as he doyth for lyke
as he knowyth that in Armys o_ur_ nacion ys ynvincible so knowyth he
o_ur_ Impacience to Contynew in warre many yeres and in especiall in
wynter for we desier nowght elles but to trye hyt w_i_t_h_ o_ur_
hand_es_ at ones and that the Maruelous charge far aboue any other
nacion that we most nedys co_n_tinually be at for victuayles and other
necessaryes ys so grete that at the length we most nedys wery o_ur_self
as oftyn as we be assemblyd to fyght yf We soo togyther assemblyd long
contynew thowgh none other nacion fyght w_i_t_h_ vs I cowld here also
towche what polecye we haue to kepe thing_es_ when we haue gottyn theym,
but I let that passe and wyll now shew the notable adu_au_ntag_es_ that
our sou_er_ayns progenito_ur_s had ou_er_ that we haue now, the mean
warre ayenst Fraunce yn tymes past we had eu_er_ plac_es_ surlye to Lond
in other of o_ur_ owne, or of o_ur_ assured confederatt_es_ and alies as
Gascoyne Gwyen Bretayn and sumtyme Normandie and at the lest we had Sum
assuryd freynd_es_ there whiche wern grete men of power and furthermore
their Townes and holdes were nothyng of the m_er_uelous strength that
they be of at this p_re_sent but now all thyse thynges be chaunged
places. We haue none to lond in any of the saide Countrays but suche as
we may be sure to haue allema_n_n_er_ dyspleasure shewyd vnto vs that
they dare or may doo and as for any frend_es_ We haue that I dare not
p_re_sume to speke in, but as ferre as my pore coniecture ledyth me
there was neu_er_ nacion more maruaylusly Lynkyd togyder then they be
amongyst theymself_es_ nor more sundry prouysyons found how suche A[59]
nature hath made of high courage beyng borne amongyst them myght be
prouyded of welthful lyuynges vnder their obeysaunce to consent to any
Dysturbyng of their Co_m_men Welth thowgh he showld for that intent be
offeryd a great and notable Treasoure But how by[60] Coruptable all the
worlde w_i_t_h_ the m_er_uelows sleyght_es_ in excessyff gyft_es_ the
Empero_ur_s maiestye hathe for his partie had of late ryght euydent
experyence, For whyle he was here in thise parties occupied abowte the
wynnyng of To_ur_ney and other his affayres they had corrupted iij or
iiij of the grettest nobles of Spayne, apon whiche parsonages for their
euydent ontrewth the Empero_ur_s Magestye was constraynyd to do Justyce
at his Reto_ur_nyng thyther, whiche was no small losse onto hym yf they
had lyke trew subgiett_es_ accordyngly regarded their allegiaunce and
that is to be m_er_uayled at my lorde of Sheuerys[61] the most bounden
creature of the sayde Emparo_ur_s Maieste that eu_er_ was subiect to his
Souuerayne, me thowght I harde my lorde Cardinall_es_ grace reporte,
that he was also by their m_er_uelous subtyle pollice and gyft_es_
corrupt, and also yt ys euyde_n_t that synse the saide Empero_ur_s
Maiestie Reto_ur_nyd in to Spayne agayne the gou_er_no_ur_s of his
Archedukedome haue grauntyd dyu_er_s of safecondut vnto
m_er_ch_au_nt_es_ of the Frenche nacion ye and for their Sakys vnto
Skott_es_ also, whiche ys a maruelous hyndraunce after my pore
Jugeme_n_t to o_ur_ souueraynes and the saide Empero_ur_s warres. For yf
o_ur_ co_m_modeties had aswell ben_e_ kepte from theim as their
co_m_modeties be from vs many a thowsand artyfycer lyuyng vnder the
saide Francoys Domynyon whiche hathe none other lyuyng but by workyng of
o_ur_ wollys haue ben_e_ constrayned to haue made to their kyng
lamentable sute for peace, as people browght to extreme distresse and
not wottyng how to lyue.
‘Thus haue I here vttred my pore and symple mynde ryght hartylly
thanckyng yow all of yo_ur_ benygne Supportacion and how that yow haue
Wytsaufe to here so pacientlie my ignorance most humbly beseching the
tender benygnyte of my most dere and most redowtyd souuerayn whiche
w_i_t_h_drawyth hys m_er_cifull yee from Wylfull offenders yf they
humbly make sute vnto his grace for pardon, that he wyll of his
haboundaunt goodnes wytsaufe to take me as I meane whiche am as desyrous
that all his most noble entrepases should prosperously go forward as any
symple creature that eu_er_ was borne vnder his obeisaunce thinckyng
after my Ignorant Jugement that yf yt wold please his magnanime Courage
to conuert Fyrst and chief his hole intent and purpose not only to the
ouer ro_n_nyng and subduyng of Skotland but also to Joyne the same
Realme vnto his, Soo that both they and we myght lyue vnder oone
Bessaunce Law and Pollecy for eu_er_. He shold therby wyn the highest
honour that eu_er_ dyd any noble p_ro_genito_ur_s synse thys Iland was
fyrst Inhabyt to Joyne vnto his noble Realme so populus a Cuntray wherby
his strength shold be of no small parte e_n_cresid and of this acte
should follow the highest abasshement to the saide Francoys that eu_er_
happened to hym or any his p_ro_geneto_ur_s afore hym not oonly for that
he Left the saide Skott_e_s his auncie_n_t allies and which haue for hys
and their Sak_es_ p_ro_uokyd o_ur_ nacion so notably heretofore at thys
tyme vndefended by reason of o_ur_ souerayns naiuye whiche he dare not
encounter w_i_t_h_ nor neu_er_ dare send theim soco_ur_ so long as he
shall know the narrow sees substansially to be kept, but also for
somoche as he shall vnderstand that we haue chaunged o_ur_ ma_n_n_er_ of
warre, whiche were wont nought else to doo but to skore the nacions
abowt, but whan he shall p_er_sayue that by the hygh and pollytyk
wysdome o_ur_ saide most redowtid Souerayne they be Joyned vnto vs in
oone politik boddye what fere shall we then stand in to Lose his
possessions w_i_t_h_out any hope of Recou_er_e agayne, and thowgh hit be
a co_m_men sayng that yn Skotland ys nought to wyn but strokes, for that
I alledge another co_m_men sayng, who that entendyth Fraunce to wyn
w_i_t_h_ Skotland let hym begyn, Whiche enterpret thus truely hyt ys But
a Symplenesse for vs to thyncke to kepe possessions in Fraunce, ‹which›
ys seuowryd from vs by the ocean see, and suffre Skotland Joyne‹d› vnto
vs by nature all in oon Iland, vnto which we may haue Reco_ur_se at all
tymes whan we woll, whiche also to subdue, god beyng indiffere_n_t lyeth
eu_er_ in o_ur_ hand to lyue vnder a nother pollecy and to Recognyse
another Prynce send god that o_ur_ most Redowty Souuerayne ‹may conquer
Scotland› whiche whan we haue ones Joyned vnto o_ur_ polecy as a
memb_re_ by nature dyscendyng apon the hole, than shall we therby have
the experyence how to wyn and kepe other possessions of o_ur_ most
redowtyd souerayne of due ryght and enherytaunce belonging to his noble
Crowne whiche we ‹have› in the parties of beyond the see in whyche
entrepryses I beseche god send o_ur_ most dere and most redowtyd
souuerayn prosperous Succession and fortunat atcheuyng of all this his
noble entrepryse.’
There is no record that this speech was ever delivered; even if it was,
it certainly had no effect in this unwieldy and unpractical session of
Parliament. But the accuracy and force of the speaker’s reasoning were
destined to be proved by the subsequent course of events. For the
student of the present day, who is enabled to glance at the whole
picture from a distance, so that the various facts assume more or less
their proper proportion and perspective, Cromwell’s words on this
occasion will always remain as one of the strongest proofs of his
political wisdom and foresight.
After touching on the subject of the war, and assuring the House of his
conviction that any one present would give goods and life ten thousand
times over to recover France for the King (a shrewd beginning, for if
Henry was not present in person, no one knew better than Cromwell how
accurately every word spoken in the Parliament would be reported to him,
and how important it was for one who would gain the royal favour to put
his loyalty to the Crown first of all), he goes on, after a few
commonplace remarks about the war’s being waged with energy, to crave
the pardon of the House for addressing so noble an assembly. This
preface is eminently characteristic of the speaker. When not perfectly
certain of his ground, and in the presence of those whom he wished to
conciliate, none could be a more adroit flatterer than he; it was only
when he was completely master of the situation (and he had a peculiar
gift of discovering just what his position was in relation to other
people) that he became contemptuous, overbearing, and cruel.
But not even yet had he said enough to prove his loyalty to the King. He
agrees that war is inevitable, and that the question now is how it may
be most effectually carried on, but when he foresees that the King will
go in person, he is greatly distressed. He talks loudly about the danger
of the King being killed, hints that Henry possessed a courage and a
self-sacrifice to the interests of England which would render him
impervious to any argument about personal risk, and then launches
himself into the heart of his discourse. The King is an absolute
necessity to the welfare and progress of the State. If the King were
removed, the country would probably be brought face to face with the
horrors of a civil war. Cromwell thus brings his hearers to the first
great principle of the policy that he was destined later to pursue,
namely, concentration of power in the hands of the Crown, as a _sine qua
non_ of unity at home and safety abroad. This principle he enforces with
many other arguments. The danger from the hostility of Scotland was
enormous; let the King ‘Reffrayne his high magnanyme Courage’ and
remaining at home, so direct the movements of his forces, that England
and Scotland may together move as a unit. France has bought off many who
may seem to be England’s allies on the Continent. The consequence of an
invasion of France would be the scattering of the army; it might be cut
off in an attempt to capture Paris, and England would be left to the
mercy of its first invader. The country must make sure of its own
safety, before entering upon a war of aggression.
He brings up other points to prove his case, and here speaks against the
proposed subsidy. He saw, as a merchant, that the amount proposed was
excessive; his fear was that all the coin and bullion in the realm would
be exhausted by three summers of fruitless warring, so that the nation
would be forced ‘to koyne lether agayne,’ as it had done once before.
His appreciation of the importance of sound finance, and the evils of a
depreciated currency show a knowledge of economic principles far in
advance of his time. ‘Yf yt showld fortune o_ur_ most Redowtyd
Souerayne, yf he wold nyedys go ou_er_ yn hys owne p_er_sone to happyn
by any adu_er_se fortune, whiche almyghty god defend to cum into the
hand_es_ of o_ur_ enemyes,’ says Cromwell, ‘how shuld we then be hable
to Redeme hym agayne yf they wyll nought for their wynes but golde they
wold thynck grete skorne, to take lether for o_ur_ prynce.’ Cromwell had
early learned the lesson that money and brains were rapidly becoming far
more important factors in winning battles, than mere superiority in
brute strength or numbers. In his ingenious argument against the
subsidy, he had pleaded the cause of the poor people, on whom the taxes
fell most heavily, and had at the same time avoided arousing the
opposition of the other party, by his adroit flattery at the outset.
His appreciation of the increased difficulty of waging war abroad
compared with that in previous ages, because of lack of bases of
supplies and friendly towns on the Continent, which before had been
numerous, betokens great foresight and knowledge of details. Though he
expressly declares, at the beginning of his speech, his intention to
leave to ‘sage persons’ the task of deciding how the war should be
carried on, he hints that it would be better to play a waiting game and
weary the French, while things were consolidated at home, than to try to
conquer France by invasion. His attitude about Scotland is repeated with
great vigour at the close of his speech. For the King to unify England
and Scotland would secure him greater honour than his predecessors had
ever attained, and would in the end prove a much more telling blow
against France, than a direct invasion. The question of gaining
possessions across the sea is of secondary importance: the first thing
is to obtain control of a country which belongs to the same island.
Thus Cromwell succeeded in clearly enunciating the main principles of
the policy by which he was so soon to guide the affairs of England,
while he so flattered King, nobles, and people, that he made many
friends, and avoided the enmity of those opposed to him. The man who
could make such a speech as this, would not be likely to escape the
notice of such an astute man as Henry VIII. It was probably within the
walls of this Parliament, that Cromwell laid the first stone of his
future greatness as servant and counsellor of the King.
CHAPTER III
WOLSEY’S SERVANT
After the year 1524, there is no further mention of Thomas Cromwell as
the cloth-merchant and wool-dyer. He probably realized that his business
as a lawyer brought him into much more prominence as a public man, but
his term in Parliament doubtless aroused in him a desire for even
greater things than the life of a successful solicitor. His advance in
legal prominence, however, is marked by his admittance in 1524 as a
member of Gray’s Inn, and by his appointment in the same year as one of
the Subsidy Commissioners for the Hundred of Ossulton in Middlesex[62];
but such petty distinctions fade into the background in the face of a
matter of far more absorbing interest, that is, his rapidly growing
favour and intimacy with Cardinal Wolsey.
During the years 1524-1525 he was actively engaged in the Cardinal’s
service, and received many letters on legal business which he transacted
for his master[63]. Seekers for Wolsey’s mercy or patronage invariably
came to him, as a likely means of getting their wishes granted. In
several cases requests to the Cardinal are addressed directly to the
‘right worshipful Mr. Cromwell.’ It is evident from the tone of the
letters which he received, that to obtain his favour was the first and
most important step towards gaining that of his master. He was usually
spoken of as ‘Councillor to my Lord Legate,’ and was pre-eminent above
all the rest of Wolsey’s advisers. It has been thought by some that the
Cardinal employed him in connexion with his political schemes, but this
is an error. Cromwell began modestly, as befitted his lowly birth and
humble origin, and at this time, at any rate, was employed merely as an
agent, chosen for his wonderful knowledge of human nature and his great
capacity for business.
In the beginning of 1525, however, Wolsey felt that he had in Cromwell a
servant sufficiently capable to be trusted with the performance of a
work which was nearest the Cardinal’s heart, namely the destruction of
some of the smaller monasteries to furnish funds for the building of his
college at Oxford. So on the 4th of January of that year, he
commissioned Sir William Gascoigne, William Burbank, and Thomas
Cromwell, to survey the monasteries of Tykford, Raveneston, Poghley,
Medmenham, Wallingford, and Fynchingbroke and their possessions, and on
the same day he appointed Thomas Cromwell and John Smyth as attorneys
for the site and circuit of Thoby, Blakamore, Stanesgate, and Tiptree,
which had been granted to John Higden, Dean of Cardinal’s College[64].
It may seem strange that Wolsey’s suppression of the smaller religious
houses brought him so much unpopularity. It was certainly true that the
monasteries had long since ceased to observe the strict traditions of
religious asceticism, which had been the watchword of their foundation.
Some of them had become resorts of the idle and worthless, who were
permitted by supine or indulgent superiors to exchange a life of
monastic discipline for one of luxury and indolence, if not of downright
vice. But there were a few, seemingly unimportant facts, which
outweighed all these charges. In the first place the monks were the
easiest of landlords. In their practically defenceless state, it was
surely for their advantage to conciliate their fellow men in every way,
and to avoid disputes at any cost. They consequently suffered themselves
to be imposed upon by their neighbours and tenants, in preference to
risking their popularity by asserting themselves. So Wolsey’s measures,
which brought in stricter landlords, increased rents, and did away with
the good old slipshod management of so many years’ standing, met with
ill-concealed dislike. The monks, moreover, were the most hospitable of
people; the poor were never turned away unfed, the traveller could
always find shelter beneath their roof, and this fact, coupled with the
rooted opposition of the less educated class to any sweeping measure of
reform adopted apparently without reason, while the old system appeared
to all intents and purposes to work well, explained the rest. Wolsey’s
measures to suppress the smaller monasteries, and confiscate their
possessions to the use of his own colleges, may justly be described as
universally unpopular[65].
The first requisites for the accomplishment of such a design as the
suppression of the monasteries were an intimate knowledge of law,
especially as related to lands and property, and a far-seeing, harsh,
and rather unscrupulous nature. These qualities Cromwell possessed in
the very highest degree, and as he had been eminently successful in
carrying on all Wolsey’s legal business up to this time, and as the
Cardinal was too busy with his foreign policy to give his own attention
to this favourite scheme, it is no wonder that he chose Cromwell to
supervise it for him. The work consisted in surveying and estimating the
value of the property of the condemned monasteries, making careful
inventories thereof, and finally in stripping them of all their
transportable riches, which usually meant altars, furnishings, bells,
and tapestry, while their lands and permanent possessions were sold or
leased on the spot. The transfer of property, settlements with tenants,
and adjustment of claims were a task of far greater intricacy than
Wolsey had expected, and Cromwell’s success in carrying it out was
little short of marvellous. He was usually present in person at the
surrenders and dissolutions; when this was impossible one of his many
and faithful agents sent him an exact account of the proceedings in his
absence. The number of monks and nuns that were suddenly turned out upon
the world with small and irregularly paid pensions was not the least
evil feature of the ruthless way in which the suppressions were carried
on; but it was nothing to what was to follow a decade later[66].
In addition to surveying and confiscating monastic property, Cromwell
was employed directly in connexion with the new buildings at Oxford and
Ipswich. He drew up all the necessary deeds for both foundations, and
was appointed receiver-general of Cardinal’s College by Wolsey in 1527.
He kept account of all the incomes from the suppressed houses and all
the expenses incident to the building of both colleges. He was
continually superintending the workmen at Oxford and Ipswich, and
reported their progress to his master. The Dean of the college at
Ipswich wrote to the Cardinal, Sept. 26, 1528, how Cromwell came thither
with copes, vestments, and plate, and took great pains to see all the
stuff carried in safely, and to prepare hangings and benches for the
Hall. Long lists of the manors and monasteries, the incomes of which
were devoted to the building and establishment of the two colleges, are
to be seen to-day at the Record Office, and attest the gigantic amount
of labour that he performed[67].
Cromwell’s efficiency in carrying on this work was only equalled by his
notorious accessibility to bribes and presents in the disposal of
monastic leases. Adding to this the fact that the measure was radically
unpopular in itself, and that when no bribes were offered, Cromwell and
most of Wolsey’s other agents were harsh and overbearing in the extreme,
the reader ceases to wonder at the outburst of popular indignation. The
minute Wolsey’s back was turned Cromwell and his companion Dr. Alen, a
hard and grasping man equally well trained in business, proceeded to use
the power given into their hands to enrich themselves by every possible
means, some of which were utterly unjustifiable. The monastery which
could pay a large bribe was often left untouched; of those that were
suppressed, probably a certain proportion of the spoils was never
employed at Oxford or Ipswich, but went straight into the pockets of the
suppressors[68]. Petitions to save farms for poor people, or to get
benefices for those whose property was gone, were answered by Cromwell
favourably, if granting them meant a substantial reward for him;
unfavourably, if the reverse. He became so generally hated that in
August, 1527, it was said that a ‘sanctuary man’ lay in wait to slay
him, and Cardinal Pole, who was then in London and knew him well,
informs us that it was commonly reported that he had been sent to
prison, and would be punished for his crimes as Wolsey’s agent[69].
But in spite of all this, instead of being removed from his important
post, Cromwell kept on rising to higher favour and more importance. In
April, 1527, Henry Lacy writes to congratulate him on his promotion
through Wolsey’s favour. In May of the same year he is mentioned as a
granter of annuities. His position brought him a great amount of
patronage. In 1528 Richard Bellyssis promises him a good gelding, if he
will prefer a friend to the position of mint-master in Durham. A
merchant requests him to get his son a promotion from the Cardinal. He
received many petitions from poor men, who feared they would lose house
and home through the dissolution of the monastery from which they were
held. But the noble and great, as well as the lowly and humble, were his
correspondents and suitors. The Abbot of York writes his heartfelt
thanks for his kindness in speaking well of him and his monastery to
Wolsey, and Lord Berners begs for his aid in his dealings with the
Cardinal[70].
By far the greater portion of Cromwell’s correspondence during the years
1525-1529 is connected with the suppression of the monasteries or the
foundation of Wolsey’s colleges. Reports and receipts of money from his
agents who visited the religious houses in various parts of the country
at his orders, or who superintended the works at Ipswich and Oxford,
crowd in upon him with great frequency. Deeds of the sale of castles and
manors, valuations and inventories of the property of various
monasteries, are received by him in large numbers[71]. In these letters
we frequently meet with the names of William Brabazon and Ralph Sadler,
who were destined in the near future to become so well known as his
agents and commissioners when he entered the King’s service. Before this
period he had made the acquaintance of Stephen Vaughan, his friend and
correspondent in later years, who figured in connexion with Tyndale in
the Low Countries. Vaughan was certainly known to Cromwell at least as
early as 1523[72]; and in 1526 was employed by the Cardinal’s servant in
connexion with the college at Oxford. In April, 1527, we find Cromwell
helping his friend in the recovery of certain goods lost on the sea, and
in the following year Vaughan addresses a cordial letter to his
benefactor, reporting various things of interest in London, and
announcing that he has found so strong a chain for the wicket of
Cromwell’s house at Austin Friars Gate, that it will be impossible for
any one to enter by force[73]. A year later he was employed as
Cromwell’s agent in the Netherlands.
Though mainly occupied with Wolsey’s affairs, Cromwell’s correspondence
during the years 1524-1529 shows that he still kept up his business as a
lawyer independently. William Bareth writes in November, 1525, that he
trusts he will solicit his matter to Mr. Rowe, and sends his wife six
plovers ‘for to drynke a quart of wyn w_i_t_h_all[74]’; in August, 1526,
George Monoux, alderman, promises Cromwell that if his ‘grete matier’ is
brought to a safe conclusion, he shall have twenty marks[75]. A ‘lovyng
l_ette_re’ from the Aldermen of our Lady’s Gild in Boston, in Dec. 1528,
shows that Cromwell still retained the friendship which he probably made
years before by obtaining for them the indulgences from the Pope by the
offer of choice sweetmeats. It was doubtless through him that the Gild
gained the privilege of supplying rare and delicate fowls for the
Cardinal’s sumptuous table[76]. Cromwell also found time to correspond
with Miles Coverdale, who was then at Cambridge, and who writes with
enthusiasm of the pleasures of a visit to his friend in London[77].
It is probable that the terrible sweating sickness which ravaged
England from 1527 to 1528 carried off Cromwell’s wife Elizabeth, as
there is no further mention of her in his later papers and
correspondence, except in his will of July, 1529, where she is referred
to as his ‘late Wyff[78].’ She left him one son, Gregory, who appears to
have been a dull and plodding lad, and who, after his mother’s death,
was sent with his very precocious cousin, Christopher Wellyfed, and
several other boys, to be put under the care of a tutor at Cambridge,
John Chekyng by name, whose correspondence with Cromwell about the
progress of ‘his scolers’ is very interesting and entertaining[79].
Chekyng seems at the very outset to have been unfavourably impressed
with Gregory’s talents, declares that he has been so badly taught that
he could hardly conjugate three verbs when committed to his care, and
reports that he is now studying ‘the things most conducive to the
reading of authors,’ and spends the rest of the day in forming letters;
while Christopher does not require ‘much stirring up.’ A little later he
sends word that Gregory is getting on well in learning under his care,
and desires his father to send five yards of ‘marble frieze,’ for his
winter ‘galberdyne’; and again, in 1530, he declares that he has been so
successful in his teaching, that Gregory will be ‘loadyd with Latyne’
before he comes home again; but it is evident throughout that Chekyng
considers every step in advance to have been due to the excellence of
his own tuition, rather than to the aptitude of his pupil. If the tone
of Gregory’s letters to his father be taken as a criterion of the boy’s
character, he must indeed have been stupid and slow beyond belief[80].
But Cromwell was too much occupied with his own affairs, to pay much
attention to the remarks of honest John Chekyng. Indeed there is reason
to think that his grasping disposition showed itself in small ways to
such an extent that he did not always pay the very moderate bills that
the tutor sent in for Gregory’s board, lodging, and tuition; but instead
taunted Chekyng with not having done well with his ‘folks.’ To these
insults Chekyng replied that he had brought up six M.A.’s and fellows
of colleges, and that the least Cromwell could do was to pay for the
furniture which his scholars had ruined; he then goes on to tell how
Christopher ‘dyd hynge a candel in a playt to loyk apone hys boyk and so
fell ascleype and the candell fell into the bed strawe’ and there were
burnt the bed, bolster, ‘three overleydes and a sparver[81].’
In spite of his niggardly treatment of John Chekyng, it is certain that
Cromwell was in very comfortable circumstances during his years of
service under Wolsey. An inventory of his goods at his house at Austin
Friars, dated June 26, 1527[82], which exists to-day at the Public
Record Office, proves that his dwelling was furnished handsomely if not
luxuriously, while a draft of his will, written July 12, 1529[83],
indicates that his property at that time was by no means inconsiderable.
It is to this document that we owe the greater part of our present
information concerning Cromwell’s family. It is written in the hand of
Cromwell’s chief clerk, and was altered at a later date by Cromwell
himself[84]. The document is for the most part self-explanatory, but
there are a few interesting facts to be especially noted in connexion
with it. The bequests to Cromwell’s daughters ‘Anne and Grace’ and to
his ‘litill Doughter Grace’ are our only proof that he had other
children than Gregory; and the fact that both these items were crossed
out after the year 1529 possibly indicates that the daughters died when
young. We also learn that Cromwell’s nephew Richard, the son of
Katherine Cromwell and Morgan Williams, had followed in his uncle’s
footsteps, and was ‘s_er_u_au_nt w_i_t_h_ my lorde Marques Dorssett’ at
the time that the will was first composed; but he certainly received
other employment soon afterwards, for the name of his master was scored
through in the will by Cromwell at a later date, and we also know from
other sources that Richard Williams entered his uncle’s service and was
active in suppressing the monasteries and in subduing the Pilgrimage of
Grace, during the year 1536 and afterwards[85]. Before this date he had
changed his name to Cromwell, and later became great-grandfather to the
Protector[86]. His mother died before 1529, for Cromwell in his will
refers to Elizabeth Wellyfed as his ‘onlye Suster.’ Cromwell’s wife, as
we have already seen, had also died before the will was made; her sister
Joan married a certain John Williamson, an old friend of Cromwell’s, who
later figured prominently in the latter’s service. We also meet with
many of the other names mentioned in this will, in Cromwell’s later
correspondence. Nearly all the friends of his earlier days were employed
by him in one capacity or another as spies, agents, or even minor
ambassadors to foreign Courts, after he had entered the King’s service.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III
THE WILL OF THOMAS CROMWELL
R.O. Cal. iv. 5772 (1)
In the name of god Amen The xij^{th} Daye of Iulie in the yere of our
lorde god MCCCCCxxix^{ti}[87] and in the xxj^{ti} yere of the Reigne of
our Souereigne Lorde king Henry the viij^{th} I Thom_a_s Crumwell of
london gentilman being hole in bodie and in good and parfyte memorye
Lauded be the holie Trynytee make ordeyn and Declare this my p_re_sent
testament conteyning my last will in man_er_ and ‹fourme› Folowing.
FURSTE I bequethe my Sowle to the grete god of heuen my maker Creato_ur_
and Redemer beseching the most gloryous virgyn o_ur_ blessed ladie
Saynct Mary the vyrgyn and Mother w_ith_ all the holie companye of heuen
to be Medyatours and Intercessours for me to the holie trynytee So that
I may be able when it shall please Almightie god to call me out of this
miserable worlde and transitorie lif to inherite the kingdome of heuen
amongst the nomber of good christen people. And whan so eu_er_ I shall
departe this present lif, I bequethe my bodie to be buryed where it
shall please god to ordeyn me to die and to be ordered after the
discression of myn executours vndernamed And for my good_es_ which our
lorde hathe lent me in this Worlde I will shalbe ordered and disposed in
man_er_ and fourme as hereafter shall insue. Furst I gyue and bequethe
vnto my Soon Gregory Crumwell Syx hundreth threscore Syx poundes thirten
shelynges foure pens[88] of lawfull money of Englonde W_ith_ the Whiche
Syx hundreth threescore Syx powndes xiij^s foure pens[89] I will myn
executours vndernamed ymediatlye or assone as they conuenyently may
after my Decesse shall purchase lond_es_ tenement_es_ and
hereditament_es_ to the clere yerelye value of xxxiij^{li} vj^s
viij^d[90] by the yere aboue all charges _and_ reprysys to thuse of my
saide Soon Gregorye for terme of his lif And after the Decesse of the
saide Gregorye to the heyres Males of his bodie lawfully to be begotten
And for lacke of heires Males of the bodie of the saide Gregory lawfully
to be begotten to the heires generall of his bodie lawfully begotten.
And for lacke of suche heires to the right heires of me the saide Thomas
Crumwell in Fee. I will also that ymedyatly and assone as the saide
lond_es_ ten_emen_t_es_ and hereditament_es_ shalbe so purchased after
my deth as is aforsaide by myn executours that the yerelie proffyt_es_
thereof shalbe hollie spent and imployed in and about_es_ the educacyon
and fynding honestly of my saide Soon Gregory in vertue good lerning and
Maners vntill such tyme as he shall cu_m_ to the full age of xxij yeres.
During Which tyme I hertely desir _and_ require my saide executours to
be good vnto my saide Son Gregory and to see he do lose no tyme but to
se him v_er_teously ordered & brought vp according to my trust It_e_m I
gyue and bequethe to my saide Soon Gregorie When he shall cu_m_ to his
full age of xxiiij yeres Twoo[91] Hundreth pound_es_ of lawfull ynglissh
money to order then as _our_ lorde shall gyue hym grace and discression
Which cc^{li} I will shalbe put in suertie to thintent the same may
cu_m_ to his hand_es_ at his saide age of xxiiij^{ti} yeres. It_e_m I
gyue and bequethe to my saide Soon Gregory of such houseold stuf as god
hathe lent me Three[92] of my best Fetherbedd_es_ w_ith_ thayr bolsters
ij^o the best[93] payre of blankett_es_ of Fustyan my best Couerlet of
Tapistrye and my Quylte of yelow Turquye Saten, x payre of my best
Shet_es_ foure[94] pillowes of downe w_ith_ iiij payre of the best
pillowe beres foure[95] of my best table clothes, foure of my best
towell_es_ Twoo dosen[96] of my Fynest Naptkynnes and ij^o dozen of my
other Naptkynnes, ij^o[97] garnyssh of my best vessell, iij of my best
brasse pottes, iij of my best brasse pannes, ij^o of my best kettilles,
ij^o of my best Spitt_es_, My best ioyned bed of Flaunders wo_ur_ke
w_ith_ the best Syler and tester and other thapp_ur_ten_au_nc_es_ therto
belonging My best presse caruen of Flaunders wo_ur_ke and my best
Cupbourde caruen of Flaunders wo_ur_k w_ith_ also vj Joyned Stoles of
Flaunders wo_ur_ke and vj of my best Cusshyns It_e_m I gyue and bequethe
to my saide Soon Gregorye A Bason w_ith_ a Lewer p_ar_cell gilte my best
Salt gilt my best Cup gilt, Three[98] of my best goblettes gilt three
other of my best goblettes p_ar_cell gylt, Twelue of[99] my best Syluer
spones, Three of[100] my best Drynking ale pot_es_ gilt. All the which
p_ar_cell_es_ of plate and houseold stuf I will shalbe savelye kept to
thuse of my saide Soonne Gregorye till he shall cu_m_ to his saide full
age of xxij^{ti} yeres and all the which plate household stuf Naperye
and other the p_re_misses I will myn executo_ur_s do put in saufe keping
vntill my saide Soon shall cu_m_ to the saide yeres or age of xxij^{ti}.
And if he die before the age of xxij^{ti}[101] Then I will all the saide
plate vessell and houseold stuf shalbe sold by myn executours And the
money thereof cum_m_yng to be gyuen and equallie Deuyded amongst my
poure kynnesfolk_es_. That is to say amongst the children as well of myn
owne Susters Elizabeth and Katheryn as of my late Wyff_es_ Suster Johane
Wif to John Willyamson, And if it happen that all the children of my
saide Susters and Suster in law Do dye before the particyon and deuysion
be made and none of them to be lyuyng Then I will that all the saide
plate vessell and houseold stuf shalbe solde and yeuen to other my poure
kynnesfolk_es_ then being on lyue and other poure and indigent people in
Deades of charytee for my Sowle my Father and Mother their Sowles, and
all _Christ_en Sowles[102] Item I gyue and bequethe vnto my Suster
Elizabeth Wellyfed Wif to Wyllyam Wellyfed xl^{li}[103] iij Goblett_es_
w_ith_out a Cou_er_[104] a Macer, And A Nutt Item I gyue and bequethe to
my nephew Rycharde Wyllyams[105] lxvj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d[106]
sterling_es_ my best[107] gowne Doblett and Jaquet It_e_m I gyue and
bequethe to my nepue _Christ_ofer Wellyfed my nephe xl^{li}[108] my
v^{th} gowne doblett and Jaquett It_em_ I gyue and bequethe to my nephew
Wyllyam Wellyfed the Yonger xx^{li}[109] Item I gyue and bequethe to my
nece Alice Wellyfed to her Maryage xx^{li} And if it happen her to Dye
before maryage then I will the saide xx^{li} shall remayne to her
brother _Christ_ofer And if it happen him to Dye the same xx^{li} to
remayne to Willyam Wellyfed the yonger his brother. And if it happen
them all to Dye before their lawfull age or maryage, then I will that
their part_es_ shall remayne to Gregory my Soon. And if it happen him to
Dye before them then I will all the said p_ar_t_es_ shall remayn to
Rychard Wyll_ia_ms and Water Will_ia_ms my nephews[110] And if it happen
them to Dye then I will that all the said part_es_ shalbe Distributed in
Dead_es_ of charytee for my Sowle my Father and Mothers Sowles and all
christen Sowles. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my Mother in law Mercye
Pryo_ur_ xl^{li} of lawfull ynglissh money and her ch_a_umber w_ith_
certen houseold stuf, That is to saye A Fetherbed, a Bolster ij pillowes
w_ith_ their beres vj payre of Shet_es_ A payre of blankettes, A
garnyssh of vessell, ij^o pott_es_, ij^o pannes, ij^o Spyttes w_ith_
such other of my houseold stuf as shalbe thought mete for her by the
Discression of myn executours And suche as she will reasonablye Desire
not being bequethed to other vses in this my p_re_sent testament and
last will. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my said mother in law a lytill
Salt of Syluer a Maser, vj Silu_er_ Spones and a drinking pot of Syluer
And also I charge myn executours to be good vnto her duryng her lyffe.
It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my brother in law Willya_m_ Wellyfed
xx^{li} my thurde gown Jaquet and Doblet. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to
John Wyllyamson my brother in law c m_ar_k_es_[111] a gown a Doblet and
a Jaquet, A Fetherbed, A bolster vj payre of Shet_es_ ij^o table
clothes, ij^o Dozen Naptkynnes, ij^o towell_es_ ij^o brasse pott_es_,
ij^o brasse pannes, a Sylu_er_ pott A Nutte p_ar_cell gilt, and to
Iohan_e_ his wyf x^{li}[112]. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to Johane
Wyllyamson their Doughter to her maryage xx^{li} and to eu_er_y other of
their children vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d[113]. It_e_m I bequethe to Walter
Wyllyams my nephue[114] xx^{li} It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to Rafe
Sadleyer my s_er_u_au_nte cc[115] Mark_es_ of lawfull ynglissh money my
Seconde[116] gowne Jaquet and Doblet and all my bok_es_ It_e_m I gyue
and bequethe to Hugh Whalley my Seru_au_nt vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d. It_e_m
I gyue and bequethe to Stephen Vaughan sumtyme my s_er_u_au_nte c
m_ar_k_es_[117] a gowne Jaquet and Doblet. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to
Page my Seru_au_nte otherwise called John du Pount vj^{li} xiij^s
iiij^d[118] and also to Thom_as_ Auerey my s_er_u_au_ntt vj^{li} xiij^s
iiij^d[119]. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to John Horwood vj^{li} xiij^s
iiij^d[120] It_e_m that the rest of myn apparell before not gyuen ne
bequethed in this my testament and last will shalbe yeuen and equally
Departed amongst my Seru_au_ntes after the order and discression of myn
executours It_e_m I will also that myn executours shall take the yerely
profytt_es_ aboue the charges of my Ferme of Canberye and all other
thing_es_ Conteynyd w_ith_in my sayd lease of Canberye in the Cowntye of
Middelsex[121] And w_ith_ the proffyt_es_ thereof[122] shall yerelie
paye vnto my brother in law Will_ia_m Wellffe‹d› and Elysabethe his
wyffe myn onlye Suster Twentye powndes duryng thayr lyves and the longer
of them and after the discease of the sayd Will_ia_m and Elysabeth the
proffett_es_ of the sayd Ferme ou_er_ _and_ aboue the yerlye Rentt to be
kept to the vse of my Son gregorye tyll he Cu_m_ to the age of xxij^{ti}
and at the yeres of xxij^{th} the sayd lease _and_ Ferme of Canberye I
do gyue and bequethe to my sayd Son gregorye to haue the same to hym his
executors and assignes[123] and if it Fortune the saide Gregorye my Soon
to dye before he shall cu_m_ to the age of xxij[124] yeres My sayd
bruthure_n_ in lawe and syster being dede Then I will my Cosyn Rychard
Will_ia_ms shall ‹haue› the Ferme w_ith_ the appurten_au_nc_es_ to hym
and his executors _and_ assignes and yf it happen my sayd Brother in law
my Suster[125] my Son gregorye _and_ my sayd Cosyn Rycharde to dye
before the accoumplyshement of this my wyll touching_e_ the sayd Ferme
then I wyll myn executors shall Sell the sayd ferme and the moneye
therof Cummyng to Imploye in ded_es_ of charyte to praye[126] for my
Sowle and all _Christe_n Sowles. It_e_m I will that myn executours shall
conducte and hyre a pryest being an honest p_er_son of contynent and
good lyuyng to Syng for my Sowle by the space of vij[127] yeres next
after my deth and to gyue him for the same Fortye Syx pownd_es_ thertene
sheling_es_ Foure pens that ys to saye vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d yerlye for
his stypend[128]. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe toward_es_ the making of
high wayes in this Realme where it shalbe thought most necessary[129]
xx^{li} to be Disposed by the Discression of myn executours. It_e_m I
gyue and bequethe to eu_er_y of the v orders of Freers w_ith_in the
Cytee of London to pray for my Soule xx^s[130]. It_e_m I gyue and
bequethe to lx poure Maydens Maryages xl^{li}[131] That is to saye
xiij^s iiij^d[132] to eu_er_ye of the saide poure Maydens to be gyuen
and Distributed by the Discression of myn executours. It_e_m I will that
there shalbe Delt and yeuen after my decesse amongst poure people
howseholders to pray for my Sowle xx^{li}[133]. It_e_m I gyue and
bequeth to the poure p_ar_ochians Suche as by myn executors shalbe
thowght most needffull of the p_ar_oche Where god shall ordeyn me to
haue my dwelling place at the tyme of my Deth x^{li}[134] to be trewlye
Distributed amongst them by the Discression of myn executours[135]
It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to the poure prysoners of Newgate Ludgate
Kynges benche and Marshall See to be equallye Distributed amongst them
x^{li} Wylling charging and desiring myn executo_ur_s vnderwrytten that
they shall See this my Will p_er_fourmed in euery poynte according to my
trew meaning and intente as they will answer to god and discharge their
consciences.
[136]It_e_m I gyue and bequeth to Will_ia_m brabason my s_er_u_au_nt
xx^{li} st_erling_ A gowne A dublett A Jaquet and my second gelding.
It_em_ I gyue and bequeth to John averey yoman of the bottell w_ith_ the
kyng_es_ highnes vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d, and doublet of Saten.
It_e_m I bequeth to thurston my Coke vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequethe to Will_ia_m bodye my s_er_u_au_ntt vj^{li}
xiij^s iiij^d.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to Peter mewtes my s_er_u_au_ntt vj^{li}
xiij^s iiij^d.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to Rychard Swyft my s_er_u_au_ntt vj^{li}
xiij^s iiij^d.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to george Wylkynson my s_er_u_au_ntt vj^{li}
xiij^s iiij^d.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to my Frend Thomas alvard x^{li} _and_ my
best gelding.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to my frend Thom_a_s Russhe x^{li}.
It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequeth to my s_er_u_au_ntt John Hynde my
horsekep_er_ iij^{li} vj^s viij^d.
It_em_ I wyll that myn executors shall Saluelye kepe the patentt of the
Mano_ur_ of Rompney to the vse of my Son gregorye and the money growing
therof tyll he shall Cu_m_ to his lawfull Age to be yerely Retayned to
the vse of my sayd Son and the hole revenew therof Cumyng to be trewlye
payd vnto hym at suche tyme as he shall Cu_m_ to the age of xxj yeres.
The residue of all my good_es_ catall_es_ and debtt_es_ not bequethed my
Funerall_es_ and buryall p_er_fourmed which I will shalbe Don w_ith_out
any erthelye pompe and my Dett_es_ payed, I will shalbe sold And the
money thereof cu_m_myng to be Distributed in wo_ur_k_es_ of charytee and
pytee after the good Discression of myn executours vndernamed whom I
make and Ordeyn Stephyn Vaugh_a_n[137] Rafe Sadleyer my
s_er_u_au_ntt_es_ and John[138] Wyllyamson my brother in law. Prayeng
and Desiring the same myn executours to be good vnto my Soon
Gregorye[139] and to all other my Frend_es_ poore kynsfolk_es_ and
Seruaunttes before named in this my testament And of this my p_re_sent
testament and last Will I make Roger More myn Ouerseer Vnto whom and
also to eu_er_y of the other myn executours I gyue and bequethe vj^{li}
xiij^s iiij^d[140] for their paynes to be taken in the execucyon of this
my last will and testament ou_er_ and aboue suche legacies as herebefore
I haue bequethed them in this same my testament and last will. In Wytnes
Wherof to this my p_re_sent testament and last will I haue sett my hand
in eu_er_y lefe conteyned in this Boke the day and yere before lymyted
p_er_ me Thomam Crumwell[141]
_Endorsed._ Thomas Crumwell a Copy of my M_aster_ his Will And bookes of
debt_es_ owinge to him.
CHAPTER IV
THE FALL OF THE CARDINAL
In October, 1529, Cardinal Wolsey lost the King’s favour, and fell into
disgrace. He was forced to give up the Great Seal, sign an indenture
acknowledging that he had incurred the guilt of Praemunire, forfeit most
of his lands, possessions, and offices, and retire to his seat at
Esher[142]. His faithful biographer, Cavendish, gives a very touching
account of the Cardinal’s surrender of his goods, his removal from the
scene of his labours, and his enforced living in ‘estraunge
estate[143].’ Few fallen ministers have ever been in a more pitiful
position. To have incurred the ill-will of his master, as he had done,
meant certain ruin in those days; and besides this he had turned the
people against him by the part he had taken in the divorce. Anne Boleyn,
whose influence at the Court was at its height, detested him for his
failure to bring it about; the clergy and common people hated him for
attempting it. The few friends who retained their fidelity to him in his
trouble were prevented from showing it by their consciousness of the
royal and popular displeasure.
As Wolsey’s servant, counsellor, and friend, Cromwell naturally felt the
keenest anxiety lest he should be involved in his master’s ruin. It has
been already shown that his action in suppressing the monasteries had
made him very generally hated; and now that the prop that had supported
him in his difficult and unpopular task was gone, he had great need to
look to himself, if he did not wish to fall with the Cardinal. That he
was perfectly well informed of the position in which he was placed is
proved by a letter which he received from his friend Stephen Vaughan,
written at Antwerp, October 30, 1529, which tells him that he is more
hated for his master’s sake than for anything which he has wrongfully
done to any man[144]. Another letter from his companion in Wolsey’s
service, Sir Thomas Rush, who was employed with him at Ipswich, gave him
further warning of the evil reports that were circulated about him[145].
It is no wonder that he was seriously alarmed.
Modern investigation has made it certain that there is but little
historical foundation for the touching pictures drawn by Cavendish,
Shakespeare, and, at a later day, Froude, which represent Cromwell as
the faithful servant of his fallen master, unselfish, and exclusively
devoted to his interests[146]. There is no reason to think that
Cavendish, whose testimony is most valuable as that of an eye-witness of
the scenes he describes, wilfully distorted the facts, but it is certain
that his directness and simplicity often prevented him from drawing just
conclusions from them, when he had to do with such astute men as Wolsey
and Cromwell. By comparing his story with the events which followed, we
shall see that while Cromwell kept up the appearance of spending all his
time in helping Wolsey in his disgrace, he really was occupied in
serving his own ends, and in regaining the favour he had lost as the
Cardinal’s agent. Though he carefully abstained from doing or saying
anything prejudicial to Wolsey’s cause, for fear of alienating people by
laying himself open to the accusation of faithlessness to his master, he
really did nothing to the Cardinal’s advantage that did not redound, in
an infinitely greater degree, to his own profit and advancement. Let us
follow the letters of Cromwell, the narrative of Cavendish, and the
records of the Parliament of 1529, for our facts, but let us draw our
own conclusions from them.
‘It chanced me upon All-hallowne day,’ says Cavendish, ‘to come into the
Great Chamber at Assher in the morning, to give mine attendance, where I
found Mr. Cromwell leaning in the great windowe with a Primer in his
hand, saying our Lady mattens: which had bine a strange sight in him
afore.--Well, what will you have more? He prayed no more earnestly, than
he distilled teares as fast from his eyes. Whom I saluted and bad
good-morrowe. And with that I perceived his moist chekes, the which he
wiped with his napkine. To whom I saide, “Why, Mr. Cromwell, what
meaneth this dole? Is my lord in any danger that ye doe lament for him?
or is it for any other losse, that ye have sustained by misfortune?”
“Nay,” quoth he, “it is for my unhappy adventure. For I am like to lose
all that I have laboured for, all the daies of my life, for doing of my
master true and diligent service.” “Why Sir,” quoth I, “I trust that you
be too wise to do anything by my lord’s commaundement otherwise than ye
might doe, whereof you ought to be in doubt or daunger for losse of your
goods.” “Well, well,” quoth he, “I cannot tell; but this I see before
mine eyes, that everything is as it is taken; and this I knowe well,
that I am disdained withal for my master’s sake; and yet I am sure there
is no cause, why they should do soe. An evill name once gotten will not
lightly be put away. I never had promotion by my lord to the encrease of
my living. But this much I will saye to you, that I will this
afternoone, when my lord hath dined, ride to London, and to the courte,
when I will either make or marre, or ever I come againe. I will put
myself in prease, to see what they will be able to lay to my charge.”
“Mary,” quoth I, “then in so doing you shall doe wisely, beseeching God
to send you good lucke, as I would myselfe[147].”’
Cromwell performed his promise well. He dined with Wolsey on that
All-hallowne Day, and later helped him to discharge his servants,
causing his chaplains to pay part of the yeomen’s wages, in return for
the benefices and livings which they had received from the Cardinal;
setting an example himself, with unusual liberality, by a contribution
of five pounds to this end. He then desired of Wolsey leave to go to
London, which was granted, and he departed immediately with Ralph
Sadler, his clerk.
No one knew better than Cromwell that the best place for him to ‘make
or marre’ the Cardinal’s fortunes and his own, was in the Parliament
which was to meet November 3 (two days later), and, ‘being in London, he
devised with himself to be one of the burgesses[148].’ He sat as a
member from Taunton, as the records of Parliament attest[149], but there
are very contradictory reports about the way in which he obtained his
seat. According to Cavendish ‘he chaunced to meete with one Sir Thomas
Rush, knighte, a speciall friend of his, whose son was appointed to be a
burgess, of whome he obtained his rome, and so put his fete into the
parliament house.’ This may possibly be true, but it is not the whole
truth, for a letter of November 1, from Sadler to Cromwell, the
genuineness of which it is impossible to doubt, hints at a good deal
more than is to be found in Cavendish’s account, which must have been
made from Cromwell’s own story about his proceedings[150]. This letter
reads as follows:--
‘Wo_ur_shipfull S_ir_ it may please you to be adu_er_tised that a litle
before the receipte of yo_ur_ l_ette_re I cam from the courte where I
spake w_i_t_h_ Mr. Gage and according to your co_m_maundement moved him
to speke vnto my lorde of Norffolk for the burgeses Rowme of the
parlyament on yo_ur_ behalf And he accordingly so dyd w_i_t_h_out delay
lyke a faythfull Frende, wherevppon my saide lorde of Norffolk answered
the saide Mr. Gage that he had spoken w_i_t_h_ the king his highnes and
that his highnes was veray well contented ye should be a Burges So that
ye wolde order yo_ur_self in the saide Rowme according to suche
instructions as the saide Duke of Norff_olk_ shall gyue you from the
king Adu_er_tesing you ferther that the saide Duke in any wise willeth
that ye do speke w_i_t_h_ his grace to morow for th[at] purpose. In
token whereof his grace sent you by mr. Ga[ge] yo_ur_ Ryng w_i_t_h_ the
turques, Whiche I do now sende you by this berer. As touching mr. Russhe
I spake w_i_t_h_ him also at [the] courte if I then had knowen yo_ur_
pleasure I could now haue sent you answere of the same. Howbeit I will
speke w_i_t_h_ him this night god willing and know whether ye shalbe
Burges of Oxforde or not And if ye be not elect there I will then
according to yo_ur_ ferther co_m_maundement repayre vnto Mr. paulet and
requiere him to name you to be one of the Burgeses of one of my lordes
townes of his busshopriche of Wynchester accordingly. S_ir_ me thinketh
it were good, So it may stonde w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ pleasure, that ye did
repayre hither to morowe assone as ye conuenyently may for to speke with
the Duke of Norff_olk_ by whom ye shall knowe the king his pleasure how
ye shall order yo_ur_self in the parliament house Assuring you that
yo_ur_ Frend_es_ wolde haue you to tary w_i_t_h_ my lorde there as litle
as might be for many considerac_i_ons as Mr. Gage will Shew you who
moche desireth to speke w_i_t_h_ you. the king his grace wilbe to morow
at night at yorke place. Other newes at the courte I here none but
dyu_ers_ of my lorde his s_er_u_au_nt_es_ as Mr. Aluarde Mr. Sayntclere
Mr. Forest, Humfrey lisle Mr. Mores & other ben elect and sworne the
king his s_er_uaunt_es_. Mr. Gifforde & I cam from the courte togither
but when we cam into london he departed from me I knowe not whither.
Newes I inquiered of him but he sayed he knew none other then as I haue
wrytten you here, which Mr. Gage also shewed him. Humblie beseching you,
if it be yo_ur_ pleasure, to make spede hither. And thus I most hertely
beseche o_ur_ lorde god to sende you yo_ur_ hert_es_ Desire and to
induce and bring all yo_ur_ good purposes and affairees to good effecte.
From london in haste this p_re_sent all Saynct_es_ Day at iiij of the
clocke after none by
Your most humble S_er_u_au_nte
RAFE SADLEYER.’
From this letter then it seems probable that Cromwell obtained his seat
in the Parliament of 1529 through the influence of the Duke of Norfolk.
He was keen-sighted enough to see that at Wolsey’s fall all the royal
favour had been transferred to this man and to Gardiner. Both of these
were Wolsey’s enemies, and Cromwell, whose name was coupled everywhere
with that of the Cardinal, saw that to gain influence at Court, it was
necessary at all costs to do away with their hostility, which he must
have incurred as Wolsey’s agent. Thus Cromwell’s first move at the time
of his master’s disgrace was to take steps to get himself into favour
with Norfolk. Cavendish’s account is explained by the fact that Cromwell
would not have been very likely to tell Wolsey how he had gone straight
over to his bitterest enemy, but far more probably sent back to Esher
the incomplete tale about Rush and his son, which the honest and
simple-minded biographer probably never suspected for an instant. One
can hardly doubt that Cromwell would not have been elected to this
Parliament had he not secured the consent of the Cardinal’s worst foe.
He had thus killed two birds with one stone; he had gained his position
in the House of Commons where his influence would be felt, and he had
successfully escaped the odium of the chief person at the Court, which
would have naturally fallen upon him as Wolsey’s servant, and turned it
into at least a temporary friendship.
From the contents of the letter above quoted, we may also suppose that
Cromwell’s doings in the Parliament of 1529 were ‘ordered’ by the King.
The bill of attainder or ‘boke of artikels’ against the Cardinal was the
first business that lay before the House. It had passed the Lords and
was sent down to the Commons, but it was so violent and so false, that
even Henry and Norfolk relented. It had probably been very clearly
hinted to the Parliament that the King did not wish it to pass, and
royal ‘hints’ at this period of English history were generally respected
and obeyed. Cavendish tells us that when Cromwell had obtained his seat
in Parliament, and the attainder was brought forward, he consulted with
Wolsey ‘to know what answer he might make in his behalf; insomuch that
there was nothing alleadged against my lord but that he was ready to
make answer thereto,’ and he inveighed against the bill ‘so discreetly
and with such witty persuasions and depe resons that the same could take
none effect,’ so that ‘at length his honest estimation and earnest
behaviour in his master’s cause grewe so in every man’s opinion, that he
was reputed the most faithful servant to his master of all other,
wherein he was greatly of all men commended[151].’
This is all doubtless true, but whether or not he was alone in the stand
he made against the bill is quite another question. Henry was perfectly
satisfied with humbling the Cardinal to the extent that he had already
done, and did not wish him to suffer any more; in fact the opposition,
consisting of most of the nobles led by Norfolk and Anne Boleyn, were in
constant fear up to the day of Wolsey’s death, lest he should regain the
King’s favour. If Cromwell had gone openly over to the other side at
this juncture, he would have gained nothing, and incurred the odium due
to a deserter. He took the only generous and right side, but in serving
his master he served himself far more[152]. Wolsey, as we have seen, had
made a written confession of all his misdeeds as soon as the first blow
had been struck against him[153]. This confession was produced by
Cromwell, and it gave the proposers of the bill of attainder an excuse
for dropping it. Cromwell supplied the pretext for abandoning a measure
displeasing to the King, and consequently impossible to carry through
this very subservient Parliament; by so doing he gained the praise of a
saviour of his master in his extremity.
This was the first step: the second was to win the favour of other
nobles, while still preserving the appearance of loyally serving his
fallen master. It was scarcely less important than the first, and was
carried through by Cromwell with the greatest rapidity and success. His
method of accomplishing it, however simple, was eminently
characteristic, and merits description.
It has already been shown how thoroughly Cromwell realized the
importance of money as a political force. Though the traditional
reproach of parsimony and stinginess so often cast at Henry VII.[154] is
in great measure unmerited, it is undeniable that his careful financial
management and accurate audits had served to surround his government
with an atmosphere of ostensible frugality. Henry VIII., on the
contrary, delighted in outward splendour and magnificence; his Court
was by far the most brilliant that England had ever beheld, and nobody
could play his part there who was not prepared to lavish vast sums upon
his outfit. But the greater part of the nobles were quite unable to do
this. It had been an important part of the plan of Henry VII. for
establishing a strong kingship to keep all possible rivals of the Crown
in a state of financial dependence. Many items in the State Papers of
his son’s reign bear witness to the complete success of these schemes of
impoverishing the nobility[155]. Only by pawning and selling lands,
estates, goods and chattels could the nobility obtain sufficient sums to
make a good appearance at the brilliant Court of Henry VIII.
Such a state of affairs was a golden opportunity to a man in Cromwell’s
position and of Cromwell’s talents. To Wolsey, whose mind had been
intent on the larger schemes of his foreign policy, the notion of
staving off the hatred of the influential people about the King by gifts
of money, would never have occurred. Cromwell hit upon the scheme in a
moment, as the only sure road to favour at the Court[156]. Now that
Wolsey had surrendered himself almost wholly to the counsels of his
painstaking, watchful, close and wholly unscrupulous adviser, Cromwell
immediately persuaded him to grant annuities to the Court favourites.
The casual reader must not deceive himself into thinking that this was
done at Wolsey’s own suggestion; the measure was too evidently
Cromwellian to leave any room to doubt its originator, and if any
further proof be needed, it is furnished by evidence in the Cardinal’s
papers. In a letter to Cromwell written in December, 1529, Wolsey says,
‘Yf the desspleasure of my lady Anne be [some]what asswagyd, as I praye
God the same maye be, then yt shuld [be devised t]hat by sume convenyent
meane she be further laboryd [for th]ys ys the only helpe and remedy.
All possyble meanes [must be used for] atteynyng of hyr favor ..........
I comyt me to yower wyse handling[157].’ In the same month Cromwell made
out the draft of a grant by Wolsey to George Boleyn, Knight, Viscount
Rochford, son and heir apparent of Thomas Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond,
bestowing on him an annuity of £200 out of the lands of the bishopric of
Winchester, and a similar gift of £200 out of the abbey lands of St.
Albans[158]. Another letter from Wolsey to Cromwell in January, 1530,
says that, according to his servant’s advice, he has had Mr. Norris’s
fee increased from £100 to £200, and would like to have Sir John
Russell’s annuity of £20 made 40 or 50, if Cromwell thinks it
expedient[159].
It is thus clear that these and other similar gifts were bestowed at
Cromwell’s advice and suggestion, and that the inevitable consequence
was that the advantage resulting from them accrued to a far greater
extent to the Cardinal’s agent than to the Cardinal himself. Wolsey, in
his confinement at Esher, was forced to trust himself implicitly to the
shrewd and selfish counsellor, who moved about among those whom it was
most important for him to propitiate, and soon found means to make it
appear that Wolsey’s favours in reality emanated from him. Cromwell’s
selection of those to whom the presents were made seems also to hint
that he was working in his own interest more than in his master’s. He
must have known that the members of the Boleyn party, to whom the
greater part of the grants were made, hated Wolsey himself too
thoroughly to permit them to forget their grudge for the sake of a few
hundred pounds, but the sums bestowed were sufficiently large to make
the recipients of them very friendly to the Cardinal’s agent, who to all
intents and purposes appeared to be the real giver. Hints of all this
must indeed have reached Wolsey’s ears. Though throughout all the period
of the attainder his gratitude, as expressed in his many letters, was,
in view of the real facts, most unnecessarily effusive[160], he later
writes to Cromwell that he hears ‘he has not done him as good offices as
he might, in connexion with his colleges and his archbishopric.’ But
Cromwell had by this time got everything into his own hands, so that
Wolsey was forced to do exactly as he was bidden. Whenever the Cardinal
undertook anything on his own responsibility, without asking his
servant’s advice, it was greatly resented. If Wolsey dared to hint that
Cromwell was not wholly devoted to his interests, the latter sent back a
complaining and half-threatening reply[161]. The Cardinal was even
forced to write a humble apology to his agent for sending Edmund Bonner
on some mission without his advice[162]. The less able Wolsey became to
help himself, the more harsh and imperious was his all-powerful
counsellor. With the whole control of his master’s interests at the
Court in his own hands, it was exceedingly simple for a man of
Cromwell’s peculiar talents to dispose the funds committed to his care
in such ways as tallied best with his own interests, while casual
onlookers simply regarded him as an honest servant of his fallen master;
and Wolsey, unable to learn the true state of affairs at Court, was kept
practically ignorant of his real designs. Cromwell had thus succeeded in
attaining a most enviable position, which was aptly described in a
letter which he received from Stephen Vaughan, who took the opportunity
to congratulate him, and also to warn him against over-confidence in the
following words:--‘A mery semblance of wether often thrustithe men into
the Daungerous sees, not thinking to be sodaynly opprest wythe tempest
when vnwar_es_ they be preuented and brought in great ieop_ar_die. The
Wynd_es_ arn mutable vnsure and will not be caryed in mennys hand_es_ to
blow at a becke. Parell euerywhere followithe men, from the birthe to
the Dethe, And more thretenethe them whiche entreprise Difficult and
vrgent matters, then those whiche only sekethe easy and light matters ye
thoughe they have great apparance of vertue, such is thinstabilitie of
the worlde, wher we find undiq_ue_ miseriam[163].’
A final opportunity was given to Cromwell to ingratiate himself with
King and nobles when Henry took into his hands the revenues of St.
Albans and Winchester, and of the colleges at Oxford and Ipswich. In
this, even honest Cavendish could see that ‘Cromewell perceyved an
occasion given him by time to helpe himselfe.’ The intricacies of the
law of the period were such that annuities and fees out of the revenues
of these colleges, granted by the King, after he had seized them, could
only be good while Wolsey was living, because the King, having obtained
his right to them by Wolsey’s attainder in the praemunire, could not
retain that right after the Cardinal’s death[164]. Thus, to have the
grants secure during the lifetimes of the recipients, ‘there was none
other shifte but to obtaine my lord’s confirmation of their patents.
Then began every man both noble and gentleman who had any patents out of
Winchester and St. Albans to make suite to Mr. Cromwell to solicit their
cause to my lorde to get therin his confirmation, and for his paines
therin bothe worthily to reward him and every man to shewe him such
pleasures as should be at all times in their small powers, whereof they
assured him.... Now began matters to worke to bringe Master Cromwell
into estimation in suche sorte as was muche hereafter to his increase of
dignity; ... and having the ordering and disposition of the landes of
these colleges he had a great occasion of suitors, besides the continual
access to the King, by meanes whereof and through his witty demeanour he
grewe continually into the King’s favour[165].’
It is hard to realize how deeply Wolsey felt the seizure of his two
colleges. They had been the pride and joy of his declining years.
Instead of working earnestly to avert their surrender into the King’s
hands, as a true servant would have done, Cromwell permitted and almost
welcomed it, as a means to give him a chance to further his own ends,
and wrote empty, and, it would seem, almost contemptuous letters of
consolation to the Cardinal, of which that of August 18 is an excellent
example[166]. Instead of going to his master in his sorrow and disgrace,
as Wolsey repeatedly requested him to do, he held himself aloof, and
under the pretext of looking after the Cardinal’s interests at Court,
contrived for his own rise and advancement. It is true that he stood by
Wolsey in the parliamentary crisis in 1529, and that it was largely
through his efforts that Wolsey obtained his temporary pardon in
February, 1530; but when, at the last, the Cardinal’s enemies turned
against him a second time and secured his complete downfall, there is no
record of Cromwell’s saying a word or doing a thing in his behalf. On
November 29, 1530, Wolsey died, shattered and disgraced.
It is very unfortunate that there still exist so few of Cromwell’s
letters during the last two years of Wolsey’s life. There are preserved
at present only twelve letters from him during this period[167], seven
of which are addressed to Wolsey. In none of them does he give evidence
of a sincere desire to serve his master at all costs; the dominant note
of the greater part of them is one of selfish and rather supercilious
advice; of a morality easy and cheap, because the preacher of it
evidently felt himself beyond the possibility of its ever being
applicable in his own case. There is also very little trustworthy
information about the means he employed to introduce himself to the
King, except what has already been mentioned in connexion with Wolsey’s
fall. Foxe asserts that Sir Christopher Hales, Master of the Rolls,
commended him to Henry, and further affirms that Sir John Russell said a
good word for him, in return for Cromwell’s saving his life at Bologna,
so that the latter was enabled to have a private conversation with the
King in Westminster Gardens[168]. Part of this story is obviously false;
Cromwell could not have been at Bologna when Sir John Russell was
(between 1524 and 1528), because he was occupied in England at that
time, as his correspondence shows. To judge from this, little reliance
can be placed on the rest of Foxe’s tale; and there are no contemporary
documents that bear out his statements. Another story, which is perhaps
more probable, is that of Chapuys[169], who states that at Wolsey’s
death Sir John Wallop attacked Cromwell with insults and threats, so
that the latter for protection procured an audience with Henry, whom he
promised to make the richest king that ever was in England. Henry, it
appears, was so struck with this offer, that he immediately made
Cromwell a member of his Council, but told nobody about it for four
months. This tale is in many respects similar to the account contained
in Pole’s Apologia: but the story of the Cardinal does not mention the
quarrel with Wallop, and the report of Chapuys does not say a word about
the plan for the solution of Henry’s ‘grete matier’ by which Cromwell,
according to Pole, completely fascinated the King. All the accounts,
however, seem to agree that by some means he managed to secure an
interview with Henry soon after Wolsey’s death, at which he clinched
everything that he had already gained, and obtained the favour of the
King by one master-stroke. Pole’s story of this interview contains
information which leads us into the thick of Cromwell’s political
career. Before we proceed to examine it in detail a brief chapter must
be devoted to a description of the actors and past events of the great
political drama in which Cromwell was to play a part, and to a further
analysis of his own character and ideals.
CHAPTER V
THE CHARACTER AND OPPORTUNITY OF THOMAS CROMWELL
The condition of England at the time of Wolsey’s death was in many ways
an extraordinary one. At home and abroad she had already begun to reap
glorious fruits from the untiring efforts and masterful policy of the
first Tudor. United under a powerful monarchy, which had strengthened
itself at the expense of every other institution in the realm, she
rested secure in the enjoyment of internal peace and of a high degree of
estimation and respect in foreign lands. That she had lost nearly all
those continental possessions which had been the proudest boast of
Edward III. and Henry V. now proved an inestimable advantage. The wise
Cardinal had made use of England’s insular position to such good
advantage, that she had been able, at least up to the time when the
political situation had been complicated by the question of the divorce,
to keep the Emperor and the King of France in a state of constant
anxiety concerning her real attitude, and often to force the two rivals
to bid against each other for her alliance. In 1521 Henry had dedicated
to Leo X. a treatise which he had written against the heresies of
Luther, and had been rewarded with the proud title of ‘Defensor Fidei.’
Success abroad meant popularity at home, at least for the King, whose
enthusiasm and winning manners endeared him to his subjects, and who
usually contrived to shift the blame for the unwelcome measures of his
government on to the shoulders of the Cardinal. As long as the national
honour was upheld on the Continent without draining too deeply the
resources of the people at home, the country seemed quite willing to
trust the King to the full and to allow him to rule as well as govern.
Such was the bright side of the picture, the side which first claims the
attention of the casual observer. A more critical examination of the
state of the country, however, reveals an undercurrent of discontent,
which was almost lost in the crowning years of Wolsey’s greatness, but
which did not fail to make itself felt at a later day, when the
allegiance of so large a part of the people had been alienated by the
affair of the divorce. The surest proof that Henry and Wolsey were aware
of this latent hostility is afforded by the infrequent assemblings of
Parliament. Seldom did the King dare to face the representatives of the
nation with the demand for a subsidy; he preferred to veil his
oppressive financial exactions under the name of an Amicable Loan. The
poverty of the nobles was notorious; and the distress of the poor people
daily increased owing to a succession of bad seasons, thin harvests, and
a few outbreaks of a devastating plague. Economic and agrarian changes
contributed to swell the universal discontent[170]. The break-up of the
old manorial system, the increase of enclosures for pasturage, and the
substitution of convertible husbandry for the old three-field system all
served to displace labour, and so temporarily to diminish the demand for
it. Great distress among the agricultural poor was necessarily the first
result of these changes: unfortunately economic science was not
sufficiently advanced to enable men to discern that it was but a passing
phase, and that as soon as labour had adjusted itself to the new
conditions permanent advantages to it were bound to ensue. The
country-folk contrasted their own wretched condition with the many
reports which reached them of Henry’s sumptuous and luxurious Court:
small wonder if the government was wrongly blamed for a large share of
the misery which was inevitably the first consequence of sudden and
great economic development. Finally all malcontents were united in
opposition to the King’s attempts to gain a divorce from his first wife,
during the closing years of Wolsey’s ministry; so that the maintenance
and further strengthening of the powerful monarchy established at the
accession of the House of Tudor promised in the near future to afford a
problem of even greater difficulty than before.
To turn for a moment to the situation on the Continent. The House of
Hapsburg, under Charles V., seemed to have attained the acme of its
greatness, but its power was not by any means as real as it appeared.
The Emperor’s insatiable desire for foreign conquest had caused him to
neglect affairs in Spain and in the Empire, and to overtax his powers
and drain his resources by continual struggles with his great rival the
King of France. The bone of contention was ostensibly Italy; perhaps a
truer cause of the struggles of the two sovereigns is to be found in the
geographical position of the countries over which they ruled. The
newly-consolidated realm of France divided the dominions of the Emperor
into two parts: the dream of Charles was to connect them; the object of
Francis was to forestall him. Northern Italy belonged to neither, but it
was a rich prize and a fighting-ground easily accessible to both the
combatants, and so it very naturally became the field of war. Soon after
the Imperial election of 1519 the tide began to set slowly but surely
against Francis; he was a true soldier, and was not a man to submit to
any encroachment without a struggle; still he fought at a terrible
disadvantage, betrayed as he was by the Duke of Bourbon, and in 1525 he
was forced to acknowledge a thorough defeat, at the fatal battle of
Pavia[171].
Although the first idea that occurred to Henry and Wolsey after the news
of Charles’ great victory had reached them was a plan for the conquest
and subdivision of the kingdom of Francis, they soon came to the
conclusion that such a scheme would render the Emperor far too powerful.
Charles himself, moreover, had received with little favour the
extravagant proposals for an invasion of France which England had sent
him as soon as the result of Pavia was known, and had consistently
refused to allow Henry any share in his triumph. The Pope also, who had
watched with terror the victorious march of the Imperial army, ventured
for the last time to present himself as the centre of the opposition to
Charles V., and strove in every way to reconcile England and France. The
obstinate resistance that the Commissioners for the collection of the
Amicable Loan had encountered in the spring of 1525 was certainly no
encouragement for undertaking a war of aggression, and Henry and Wolsey
soon determined to abandon all plans of invasion, and to pursue the
wiser policy of maintaining neutrality between the two great continental
powers. With this thought in mind a treaty of peace was made with
Francis in August, and after the escape of the French King from
captivity in January, 1526, the two continental rivals were once more
placed on an even footing. With this restoration of equality Henry was
perfectly satisfied, and he took good care to avoid committing himself
permanently to Francis, by refusing openly to join the League of Cognac
in the following spring. At this juncture the matter of the divorce
began to occupy his exclusive attention, and the foreign affairs of the
next three years were left almost entirely in Wolsey’s hands.
Circumstances now drove the Cardinal temporarily to lose sight of the
policy which he had pursued for the most part up to this time--that of
strict neutrality--and to attempt to convert the peace with France into
a permanent alliance. And certainly the events of 1527 seemed to give
him every justification for this new departure. The sack of Rome
appeared to put Italy at the mercy of the Imperialists, and now the
difficulties connected with Henry’s matrimonial affairs pointed to the
need of securing a firm ally who would aid him in persuading the captive
Pontiff to consent to the divorce in opposition to the wishes of his
jailor the Emperor. With all his experience the Cardinal had hardly
learned how rapidly the diplomatic combinations of Europe could change.
The last great venture of his foreign policy resulted in disaster: the
French alliance utterly failed to accomplish what was expected of it. At
first indeed it seemed that the matrimonial projects which formed the
basis of it would succeed, but the crafty policy of Francis ruined all.
His war with the Emperor broke out again, as was to be expected,
immediately after his release from captivity, but secret negotiations
for peace were soon set on foot, and finally, in 1529, took shape in the
treaty of Cambray--the news of which came as a stunning blow to Wolsey’s
dearest hopes. The lesson which the Cardinal learned at the expense of
his office was by no means lost on his master. Absorbed in the attempt
to obtain a divorce from Katherine, Henry possibly had not been able to
foresee the course of events abroad any better than his minister; but
when, in 1529, the news of the treaty of Cambray aroused him to a true
appreciation of the state of affairs, he at once realized how dangerous
any permanent alliance with either Francis or Charles would be, as long
as the situation on the Continent remained so uncertain. He resolved
that, as soon as he could rectify the Cardinal’s false step, nothing
should tempt him again to abandon the only safe policy--that of strict
neutrality between the two great European powers--as long as the two
rivals remained nearly equal. This point has been purposely dwelt upon
here as a foreshadowing of what was to happen to Cromwell a few years
later. Departure from the policy of neutrality between France and Spain
helped to ruin Wolsey: a similar blunder in foreign affairs was destined
to lead his successor to destruction.
The entire attention of England was now turned to the absorbing question
of the divorce. The history of Wolsey’s failure to bring about the
separation of Henry and Katherine of Aragon, does not belong to the
ground covered by this essay. Suffice it to say that the Cardinal’s
ineffectual attempts to satisfy Henry’s chief desire, coupled with the
obvious error in his foreign policy, sealed his doom and gave Cromwell
his opportunity. There is little need to dwell upon the way in which the
attempt to divorce the Queen was regarded abroad. Henry was looked upon
as the disturber of Christian unity, not only by the Emperor, but also
by all continental Europe[172]. Charles, of course, was the obvious
person to avenge the wrongs of his aunt, but he was far too busy just
then with his schemes for suppressing the Protestants in Germany and of
checking the advance of the Turk into the borders of Christendom,
seriously to contemplate an invasion of Henry’s dominions. It was not
the only time that England’s fortunes were saved by the turn of affairs
in distant lands.
It now remains only to say a few words about the chief persons at the
Court of Henry VIII., preliminary to a description of Cromwell himself.
Foremost among these was of course Anne Boleyn. Born probably in 1507 of
a good English family, a niece of the Earl of Surrey, she had spent a
good part of her early life in France, as ‘one of the French queen’s
women,’ and returned to England in the latter part of the year
1521[173]. At Henry’s exceedingly corrupt Court she did not want for
admirers and suitors, foremost among whom was the King himself, who had
formerly been in intimate relations with her sister Mary. Henry’s
passion for her is sufficiently attested by a succession of royal grants
and favours to her father, beginning only two months after her arrival
in England, and continuing for over three years[174]. How far Anne was
responsible for causing Henry to take steps to divorce Katherine, and
how far he was moved thereto by a conscience that became over-sensitive
at suspiciously short notice, or by more legitimate political
considerations, it is not our business now to inquire; our best sources
of information are the grants to her father, above mentioned, and a most
remarkable series of love-letters[175]. Though she temporarily had the
King at her feet, no woman of Henry’s Court was really to be less
envied. Katherine and Mary, and, in consequence, the majority of the
people, were her bitter foes; to protect herself against the popular
odium, she gathered round her a following, known at Court as the Boleyn
faction, the chief person of which was her uncle, now Duke of Norfolk.
Norfolk was fifty-seven years old when Cromwell came into power. He was
a Catholic and against the New Faith. He had received in his younger
days a thorough military and diplomatic training, and in 1531 was
characterized by the Venetian ambassador, Falieri, as ‘prudent, liberal,
affable, and astute; associating with everybody ... and desirous of
greater elevation.’ This is a very flattering description of this crafty
and ambitious statesman. The chief traits that characterized him were a
cringing subservience to the will of the King, and a bitter hatred of
any rival to his influence with Henry; a hatred which first directed
itself against Wolsey, for whose downfall he laboured incessantly, and
later against Cromwell, whose opponent he was during the decade of the
former’s greatness. He was the equal of neither of these two as a
statesman; but his utter lack of honour and consistency, and his
willingness to break promises in order to please the King, rendered him
an invaluable servant of the Crown at a period when one startling change
followed on the heels of another. He threw himself heart and soul into
the interests of his niece when Henry’s love for her was increasing; and
yet when the royal passion waned, and Anne was accused in 1536, he was
not ashamed to preside at her trial and sentence her to death[176].
The other important person at the Court was Stephen Gardiner, who in
1531 became Bishop of Winchester. Ten years Norfolk’s junior, he was
introduced into political and diplomatic life by the Duke, and spent a
large part of his early life as Wolsey’s servant and ambassador. He did
not cherish any lasting friendship for the Cardinal, however, and he
seems to have been an adherent of the Boleyn faction at Wolsey’s fall;
we find Anne writing to him when the struggle between the two parties
was at its hottest, to thank him for his ‘wylling and faythefull
mynde[177].’ Still he took more or less a middle course on the divorce
question, and pleaded warmly, though vainly, for the restitution of
Wolsey’s colleges. But when the Cardinal’s fate was settled he certainly
expected that his old master’s favour with the King would be transferred
to himself, and when he was disappointed in this by Cromwell’s stepping
in, he developed a hatred for him which he never abandoned. He was less
active than Norfolk in his opposition to Rome, and though he lacked the
Duke’s subserviency, he was fully as able a diplomat. Neither of the two
men could have played the rôle of Cromwell: the scope of their talents
was more limited; they were merely exceedingly able politicians, but as
such they were by no means to be despised. When, however, they united to
procure their rival’s ruin it was difficult to resist them[178].
Thus when at Wolsey’s fall Cromwell entered the King’s service, the
situation of England both at home and abroad was critical in the
extreme. The relations of the government with Rome were strained, owing
to Henry’s proceedings in the divorce; his ‘grete matier’ was unpopular
with the country at large; France and Spain were both of them very
doubtful quantities, and might become friends or foes at any moment. At
the Court, various factions with different aims were disputing for the
precedence, and the best course to be steered by one who was about to
enter the King’s service, after leaving that of a fallen minister, was
not an easy thing to decide. Before inquiring into Cromwell’s action at
this crisis, a brief description of the person and of the character of
the man himself at this time will not be out of place.
Cromwell was a short, strongly-built man, with a large dull face. He was
smooth-shaven, with close-cropped hair, and had a heavy double chin. His
mouth was small and cruel, and was surmounted by an extraordinarily long
upper lip, while a pair of grey eyes, set closely together, moved
restlessly under his light eyebrows. He had an awkward, uncouth gait
which lent itself well to the other peculiarities of his personal
appearance, and gave one the idea that he was a patient, plodding, and,
if anything, a rather stupid sort of man. But this was all merely
external. According to Chapuys, who knew him well, he possessed the most
extraordinary mobility of countenance, so that when engaged in an
interesting conversation, his face would suddenly light up, and the
dull, drudging, commonplace expression give way to a subtle, cunning,
and intelligent aspect, quite at variance with his ordinary appearance.
His conversation at such moments was witty and entertaining to the last
degree, and the Spanish ambassador notes that he had the habit of giving
a roguish oblique glance whenever he made a striking remark. This
extraordinary power of facial control, according to the circumstances in
which he was placed, merely reflects one of the dominant characteristics
of the man. He obviously had remarkable power of quickly adapting
himself to his surroundings. He rarely failed to realize immediately his
relation to those with whom he came in contact, and his manner,
behaviour, and expression varied accordingly. No one knew better how or
when to flatter than Thomas Cromwell; on the other hand no one could be
more harsh and cruel than he, when he was in a position to dictate. He
had thoroughly learned the lesson
‘To beguile the time
Look like the time.’
There are many evidences of his good taste and love of beautiful
things[179]. A long and complicated correspondence with his friend
Stephen Vaughan about an iron chest of very curious workmanship, which
he wanted for his house at Austin Friars, of such expense that Vaughan
was almost afraid to buy it, is not without interest. There is record of
his purchasing a globe, with a set of explanatory notes, and the only
two ‘Cronica Cronicarum cum figuris’ that could be found in all
Antwerp[180]. Especially great was his love of Italian things. His stay
in Italy was of sufficient duration to steep him in the spirit of the
Renaissance; he read and studied his Machiavelli, so that it was a guide
to his future political career; we can well imagine him repeating to
himself the sentence in chapter xviii of The Prince which begins ‘Ma è
necessario questa natura saperla bene colorire, ed essere gran
simulatore e dissimulatore[181],’ or the passage in chapter xvii of the
same, ‘Deve pertanto un principe non si curare dell’infamia di crudele
per tenere i sudditi suoi uniti ed in fede[182].’ He doubtless
possessed many of the important Italian books in print at that time. In
April, 1530, Edmund Bonner writes to him to remind him of his promise to
lend him the Triumphs of Petrarch and the Cortigiano, and to make him a
good Italian[183].
Of his social gifts and of his charm as a host there is no room to
doubt. There are many proofs that he was a most magnificent entertainer,
and that his personal attraction, when he wished to make himself
agreeable, was such that no one could resist it. The letters of Chapuys
inform us that even the most careful and experienced politicians were
often completely put off their guard by Cromwell’s pleasing presence and
address; and more than once were induced to say things which should not
have escaped them.
But all these manners and externals were simply disguises to hide the
real inward character of the man. The whole essence of Cromwell’s
personality consists of different manifestations of one fundamental,
underlying trait, which may perhaps be best expressed by the common
phrase ‘a strict attention to business.’ Cromwell worshipped and sought
after the practical and the useful only, and utterly disregarded
everything else. The first evidence of this quality has been already
noticed, as coming in the shape of a contempt for the vague
generalizations of the Parliament of 1523, which beat about the bush for
an entire session without ever coming to the point[184]. Here it assumes
a somewhat negative form. Another striking instance of it occurs in the
conversation which Pole relates as having taken place between himself
and Cromwell, at Wolsey’s house, concerning the proper duty of a true
servant of a Prince[185]. Pole as usual began theorizing about the best
way to bring honour to one’s master, when he was rudely interrupted by
Cromwell, who advised him in few words to forsake the remote learning of
the schools, and devote himself to reading a new book which took a
practical view of the case, and which Pole later found was the adviser’s
favourite Prince of Machiavelli. Cromwell at the same time took
occasion to tell Pole that the great art of the politician was to
penetrate through the disguise which sovereigns are accustomed to throw
over their real inclinations, and to devise the most specious expedients
by which they may gratify their appetites without appearing to outrage
morality or religion[186]. It is not astonishing that Pole realized that
it was dangerous for him to remain in England, when Cromwell came into
power.
Another more positive and striking way in which this characteristic
stood forth, was in his utter lack of emotion. It was this quality which
enabled Cromwell to tick off in his memoranda the lives of human beings,
as if they were items in an account; or to send people to trials, of
which the verdicts had been determined beforehand, as ‘the Abbott of
Redyng to be Sent Down to be tryed & excecutyd at Reding[187].’ He
totally disregarded the justness or morality of any action; its utility
was for him its morality, and created its justification. He never struck
at his victims in a moment of passion, uselessly or capriciously; no
personal feeling of hatred mingled with his crime. On the other hand,
had the sacrifice of one of his nearest or dearest friends been
necessary to the accomplishment of his purposes, he would hardly have
hesitated a moment. Any means that could bring about the ends he sought
were _ipso facto_ for him justifiable. Whether his desires were attained
by fair means or foul, mattered little to him: he kept his eyes steadily
fixed upon the goal; the smoothness or roughness of the road to it was
of no consequence in his eyes[188].
Finally, and perhaps most important of all, Cromwell never lost anything
that might be turned to good account. It has been shown how he not only
succeeded in freeing himself from any ill-name at Wolsey’s fall, but
also actually used his master’s overthrow to further his own ends, and
make himself known and popular at Court. But this is only a slender hint
of what was to follow. It was precisely from this same practical
utilitarian standpoint, that he regarded and made use of to his own ends
the King’s amours, the suppression of the monasteries, the Reformation.
Catholicism and Protestantism passed over his head; he was not touched
by either of them. He simply used them as pieces in the great game which
he was playing.
Such was the man who, for the next ten years, was to have almost the
sole guidance of the course of English history. As was his purpose when
he rode on the afternoon of All Hallows Day to London to look after his
own interests and those of his master, so was his mission as minister
and counsellor of the King, ‘to make or to marre.’
CHAPTER VI
IN THE KING’S SERVICE
The decade which followed Cromwell’s appointment as counsellor to Henry
VIII. witnessed some of the most striking changes that have ever taken
place in England. The question which must obviously occur to every
student of the period, is whether the King himself, or his new minister,
was the real cause of the secular and religious revolution of the years
1530 to 1540. The difficulty of the problem is increased by the fact
that Henry and Cromwell made every effort to conceal their traces;
scarcely any information can be gleaned from their correspondence. We
are therefore forced to draw our conclusions for the most part from
external evidence and the reports of contemporary writers.
It may be justly said that in general the probabilities point to
Cromwell as the true originator of the startling changes which occurred
soon after his accession to power. The fact that the ultimate object of
all these changes was the concentration of power in the hands of the
Crown is not in itself of great value in determining the identity of
their originator; for the strengthening of the monarchy was an end which
both King and minister always kept in view: in the methods by which this
object was attained, however, we have a most valuable clue to aid us in
the solution of our problem. These methods were all intensely
Cromwellian: their directness and efficiency are essentially and
distinctively characteristic of the King’s new minister. In the contrast
between the dawdling ineffectiveness of Wolsey’s device for solving the
problem of the King’s divorce, and the summary, revolutionary process by
which it was finally secured after the Cardinal’s fall, lies our
strongest ground for supposing that it was at Cromwell’s instance that
the decisive step was taken. It seems almost impossible that Henry,
after having suffered himself to be guided so long by Wolsey, in the
management of his ‘grete matier’ should have adopted at the Cardinal’s
death a plan to secure his wishes, so thoroughly repugnant to the
principles of his old adviser, unless the idea had been put into his
head by another. When the King had once determined to break with Rome,
it followed as a matter of course that the advice of the minister who
had suggested the first step, should be adopted in devising measures to
secure the King in the new position which he had assumed. The means
employed to attain this end--the intimidation of the clergy and the
suppression of the monasteries, the attacks on the independence of
Parliament, the ruthless execution of those who opposed the late
innovations--all bear the stamp of the sinister genius of Cromwell as
unmistakably as the great revolution that rendered them necessary.
Documentary evidence too comes in to help us here; scarcely an important
Act was passed in Parliament between the years 1533 and 1540, of which
there is not some previous mention in Cromwell’s papers and memoranda.
Against these reasons it may be urged that none of the foreign
ambassadors at the English Court mentions Cromwell as an important
factor in the government until three years after he entered the King’s
service, and that the country in general certainly regarded the events
of the years 1530 to 1533 as the work of Henry alone; and that these
facts are strong testimony that the King’s new minister did not attain
any high degree of prominence until the crucial period of the struggle
with Rome had passed. But this paucity of contemporary information
concerning Cromwell’s earlier years in the King’s service may be better
explained in another way. If Henry’s new minister was the true author of
all the revolutionary measures of this period, it was certainly most
unlikely that he should be paraded before the eyes of the people as
such; it was, on the contrary, to his own interest, and also to the
King’s, that he should be kept in the background. By permitting the
people to think that Henry was the real originator of all the new
schemes for establishing the Royal Supremacy in Church and State, the
suddenness of the transition between Wolsey’s ministry and that of his
successor was disguised. Moreover, had the people known that Cromwell
was at the bottom of these changes, which were universally unpopular,
nothing would have saved him from their revenge. As long as the new
measures were attributed to the King, respect for the royal name was
enough to prevent a revolt. Cromwell, on the contrary, who was not even
of noble birth, could not have struck a blow in his own defence, had the
people fastened upon him as the cause of the hated innovations. It was
necessary to keep him concealed until his position was so secure that
the popular odium could not shake him from it. When, in 1533, the mask
was finally thrown off, Chapuys and the other foreign ambassadors
realized all at once that Cromwell’s sudden burst into prominence would
have been quite impossible, had not the ground been thoroughly prepared
for it by important services rendered during the first years of his
ministry.
Such, then, are the general reasons for thinking that Cromwell was the
man who planned out and carried through the various measures which have
rendered famous the period of his ministry. In examining separately the
different events which took place, we shall meet with other evidence
which points to the same conclusion. Most important is the account
contained in Pole’s Apologia ad Carolum Quintum, which describes at
length Cromwell’s first measure, his plan to secure Henry’s divorce from
Katherine of Aragon; a scheme by which he won the confidence of the King
and irrevocably committed himself and his master to the policy which he
followed to the end of his days. Henry, it seems from Pole’s story, had
become utterly discouraged at the time of Wolsey’s death concerning the
prospect of ever obtaining a separation from his first wife. He had
vainly attempted to get an encouraging reply from the English clergy,
and his failure in this added to his despondency; his council, which
lacked all initiative, could only rejoice that he intended to abandon
his efforts. At this juncture the _Satanae Nuncius_, as Pole names
Cromwell, solicited and obtained an audience with the King, and proposed
a plan by which Henry could free himself from Papal restrictions, marry
Anne, divorce Katherine, and yet ostensibly remain true to the Catholic
Faith.
Cromwell introduced himself with his usual tact and skill. In a few
modest and carefully selected sentences he excused himself for daring to
offer an opinion on a subject of which he felt himself to be so very
ignorant--but, he continued, his loyalty to the King would not permit
him to be silent when there was the smallest chance of his being able to
serve his sovereign at this momentous crisis. He was certain, he said,
that the King’s troubles were solely due to the weakness of his
advisers, who listened to the opinions of the common herd, and did not
dare to act upon their own responsibility. All the wise and learned were
in favour of the divorce; the only thing lacking was the Papal sanction;
was the King to hesitate because this could not be obtained? It would be
better to follow the example of the Lutherans, who had renounced the
authority of Rome. Let the King, with the consent of Parliament, declare
himself Head of the Church in England, and all his difficulties would
vanish. England was at present a monster with two heads. If the King
should take to himself the supreme power, religious as well as secular,
every incongruity would cease; the clergy would immediately realize that
they were responsible to the King and not to the Pope, and would
forthwith become subservient to the royal will. Henry may have been
surprised by the audacity of Cromwell’s scheme, but he was also much
pleased, as it promised to satisfy all his dearest wishes. The _Satanae
Nuncius_ received his hearty thanks, and was further rewarded by a seat
in the Privy Council[189].
Cromwell must have realized from the first, that the adoption of his
scheme to throw off the Papal authority in England would encounter the
greatest opposition from the clergy, but he had already devised a plan
by which every objection could be silenced and the refractory
ecclesiastics overawed. His whole policy in this crisis was based on the
knowledge that the position of the clergy since Wolsey’s fall was
completely altered. They were no longer in any sense popular. The State
Papers of the period contain many lists of the grievances of the Commons
against them[190]. They had received a severe lesson from the Parliament
of 1529; they were now isolated, timid and demoralized. Cromwell was the
first to perceive and make use of their changed condition. At the same
time he realized how completely the House of Austria had possessed
itself of the Papacy; the failure of Wiltshire’s embassy to the Emperor
in Bologna, in 1530[191], assured him, if he needed any assurance, that
the day of compromise with the Pope was passed, and that no divorce
would ever come from the Vatican; he saw that if a separation of Henry
and Katherine was to be secured at all, the battle-ground on which it
was to be won was not the Papal Curia at Rome, but the Houses of
Convocation and Parliament.
So it was conveniently discovered that Wolsey’s guilt was shared by
Convocation, the Privy Council and the Lords and Commons, and indirectly
by the nation itself; as all these had recognized the Cardinal in his
capacity of legate, and so had become, by language of the statute, his
‘fautors and abettors.’ Again conveniently, but also most unreasonably,
while the laity, who had eagerly availed themselves of the Cardinal’s
jurisdiction, were tacitly passed over, the clergy who had been the only
ones to make a stand in opposition to the legatine authority, were
included in the Praemunire. So in December, 1530, as Holinshed quaintly
puts it, ‘the kings learned councell said plainlie’ that the ‘whole
cleargie of England ... were all in the premunire[192],’ and the
Attorney-General was instructed to file a brief against the entire body
in the Court of King’s Bench. The clergy then assembled in Convocation,
‘and offered the King 100,000 pounds to be their good lord, and also to
give them a pardon of all offences touching the Praemunire, by act of
Parliament.’ To their surprise and dismay, however, Henry refused the
bribe, unless, in the preamble to the grant, a clause were introduced
making him ‘to be the Protector and only Supreme Head of the Church and
clergy of England[193].’ The whole plot on the part of the King and the
Privy Council was conducted with the greatest possible secrecy, and
their real motives were probably not guessed at by the world outside.
Even the astute Chapuys was completely deceived respecting the King’s
actual intention. In his letters of the 23rd and 31st of January, 1531,
he informs the Emperor that ‘when the King has bled the clergy, he will
restore to them their liberties, and take them back into his favour,’
and later declares that ‘the whole thing was done to bring about a union
between the clergy and the nobles[194].’ It was not until the 14th of
February, when the entire affair had been carried through, that the
Spanish ambassador really understood what was happening, and discovered
that it was all something more than a striking exhibition of Tudor
avarice[195].
In the meantime a number of Latin manifestoes appeared favouring the
King’s divorce, and inveighing against the Papal Supremacy[196]. But in
spite of all these intimidations, the clergy though weak did not intend
to surrender without a struggle. We are told that ‘ille de suprematu
regis conceptus haud bene placuit praelatis et clero, inde eum
modificari voluerunt. Per tres itaque sessiones cum consiliariis regiis
(among whom Cromwell doubtless was most prominent) ratio inita fuit
quomodo regis animum flectere possent ad mollioribus verbis exprimendum
articulum illum[197].’ At first Henry announced to the clergy through
Rochford that the only alteration he would accept would be the insertion
of the words ‘post Deum.’ In the end, however, he yielded in this
point, and consented to an amendment moved by Archbishop Warham, so that
in its final form the clause read ‘Ecclesiae et cleri Anglicani, cujus
singularem protectorem, unicum et supremum dominicum, et quantum per
Christi legem licet etiam supremum caput ipsius majestatem
recognoscimus.’ Both the Canterbury and York Convocations hastened to
accept this compromise, and the latter voted an additional grant of
£18,000. The only bishop who raised the slightest objection to the royal
demand was Cuthbert Tunstall, of Durham. It is obvious that if the
famous ‘quantum per Christi legem licet’ was really enforced, the
victory which the King’s party had gained was but an empty one: the
amendment has been characterized as ‘a clause by which all practical
value was taken out of the act[198].’ But Henry certainly had no idea of
permitting a restriction as vague as this seriously to interfere with
his schemes; if the qualification became really troublesome he was quite
prepared to have it expunged. For the moment he had been willing tacitly
to acknowledge that there was some force in the clause in order to
overcome the obstinacy of his opponents, but Chapuys was certainly not
far wrong in saying that it was ‘all the same as far as the King is
concerned as if they had made no reservation, for no one will now be so
bold as to contest with his lord the importance of this
reservation[199].’ The long-deferred pardon was at last granted: though
when it was first sent down from the Lords, the Commons discovered that
the laity were not mentioned and so were still in the Praemunire: a
deputation from the Lower House, however, waited upon the King and
expressed their doubts, and though at first Henry treated them harshly,
he finally succumbed, and the laity were included in the pardon[200].
But the struggle was not yet over. The following year witnessed a
continuation of the attacks on the independence of the clergy. This
time, however, Henry and Cromwell had determined that the brunt of the
battle should be borne by Parliament, which responded to the mandates
of the King and his minister with gratifying celerity. Shortly after the
opening of the session, in January, 1532, there appeared in the Lower
House that famous document, which is usually known as the ‘Supplication
of the Commons against the Ordinaries[201].’ The designation is
certainly misleading: so preponderant was the part played by one of the
Commons in the preparation of this memorable petition, that it cannot be
fairly regarded as the work of them all. The nature of the charges of
which the ‘Supplication’ was composed, its phraseology and the
handwritings in the various drafts of it which are preserved to us
to-day[202] leave little doubt that it was originally devised by the
genius of Cromwell. It was in fact the first of a number of measures
ostensibly emanating from Parliament, but in reality prepared by the
King’s minister and forced by him upon the very tractable Lords and
Commons. The purport of the supplication was, in brief, to accuse the
clergy of making laws and ordinances without the assent of the King or
his lay subjects, of demanding excessive fees, of dealing corruptly and
unfairly, especially with cases of heresy, and to request the King to
take measures for the remedy of these abuses. The Ordinaries, to whom
the petition was delivered from the King on April 12, at once composed a
temperate and dignified reply, in which the injustice and
unreasonableness of the charges preferred against them were courteously
but plainly pointed out[203]. Parliament in the meantime had been
prorogued for three months, but as soon as it had reassembled it was
forced to take up the cudgels again[204]. The clergy had stated their
case so well that Henry, in dread lest the faint-hearted Commons should
abandon too soon a quarrel into which his minister had led them, thought
it advisable to intervene himself in the dispute. A short interview
between the King and the Speaker was enough to reanimate the drooping
spirits of the House: Henry was even spared the trouble of a frank
avowal of his attitude in words--a gracious promise to be ‘indifferent’
between the disputants was quite sufficient to ensure the continuance of
the struggle. The Ordinaries were not slow to discover that their first
reply had been totally ineffectual, and hastened to compose a second
which, though maintaining in general the position which had originally
been assumed, contained a concession that no new laws should be
published without the royal consent[205]. A good deal more haggling,
however, was necessary before the final compromise was reached[206]. In
fact matters moved so slowly that the King was obliged to make (or let
Cromwell make for him) another of his suspiciously timely discoveries to
the effect that his sovereign rights as Supreme Head were not clear,
because every bishop at his consecration had made an oath of allegiance
to the Pope. The Commons were asked to rectify this, and were about to
pass severe censure on the bishops, when they were prorogued once more
on account of the ragings of the plague. Before he let them go, however,
the King had probably ascertained that the clergy intended to submit.
Threatened on all sides, Convocation on the 16th of May finally agreed
not to pass any more new regulations without the King’s licence, and to
examine and revise, according to the royal wishes, the canons already
made[207]. The most important result of the controversy for us to notice
is that the King, acting (as he evidently did) on the advice of
Cromwell, had succeeded in reducing Convocation to complete subjugation,
and in making Parliament pliant to his will, as it had never been
before. The scheme of controlling the clergy is doubly significant,
first, as the cause of a great change in itself; second, as the first
step of the dominant policy of the next ten years, for establishing the
Royal Supremacy in Church and State. It must not be forgotten however
that Cromwell’s action, in defiance of Papal authority at this juncture,
arose from no hate of the Romish dogmas nor from any love of the new
religion. He carried out all his schemes solely from political motives;
the religious, the emotional side left him absolutely untouched; the
practical, the politically serviceable aspect of the case, alone
appealed to him.
Popular as Henry doubtless was, Cromwell must have realized, when he
thus threw himself heart and soul on the King’s side in the divorce
case, that he had staked everything on the continuance of the royal
favour. The best of the clergy were strongly against the cause of Anne
Boleyn, and there were but few who disagreed with them. The general
sympathy of the nation for Katherine was greater than ever. Chapuys
tells us that Henry was urged by the crowd in the streets to take back
the Queen, and that Anne Boleyn was not infrequently publicly
insulted[208]. The mob, and still more the friars, spoke of her openly
as a common prostitute, who ‘ruled the King and beggared spiritualty and
temporalty also.’ A letter of the imperial ambassador tells us that the
provincial of the Friars Observants at Greenwich (better known as Friar
Peto) preached before the King, and told him that ‘the unbounded
affection of princes and their false counsellors deprived them of their
knowledge of the truth, and that Henry was endangering his crown by his
marriage, for great and little were murmuring at it.’ The King concealed
his vexation as best he could, but later ordered one of his chaplains to
preach there in his presence, and contradict all that Peto had said. At
the end of this sermon the warden arose, and answering for his minister
in his absence, dared to say in Henry’s presence that the royal chaplain
had lied. The King was very angry and had the warden and preacher both
arrested[209]. Most of the Greenwich friars were eager to stand by their
brethren, but some proved less incorruptible, and gave secret
information against the steadfast ones.
The result of all these murmurings among commons and friars was that
Cromwell was kept very busy in finding out and extirpating ‘sedycyous
opynyons’ as they were termed. In order to clinch the advantages that
were to accrue to Henry as a result of his newly-assumed ecclesiastical
position, it was as necessary to discover and either destroy or convert
the laymen opposed to it, as it was to keep in submission the clergy
from whose hands it had been snatched. Henry could have probably found
no abler man in the realm to accomplish this purpose than his new
minister. Early in 1532 Cromwell began to create a system of espionage,
the most effective that England had ever seen, that in a short time was
to render unsafe the most guarded expression of dissent in politics or
religion. The success which this organized method of reporting treason
later obtained, is one of the most striking proofs of the relentless
energy of its originator. But Cromwell’s efforts to extirpate sedition,
and to encourage the new ecclesiastical system, were not confined to
England alone during these first years of his ministry. The years 1531
and 1532 must not be passed over without some slight reference to his
connexion with William Tyndale. There was no counsellor about the King,
upon whom Cromwell could rely as an intelligent and consistent ally, to
help him carry out his schemes of ‘political Protestantism.’ In this
dilemma he turned to William Tyndale, who was at that time in the Low
Countries. The theory of ‘one King, one law in the realm; no class of
men exempt from the temporal sword, no law except the law of the land’
advocated in ‘The Obedience of a Christian Man,’ doubtless struck
Cromwell, if he read the book. It was perhaps the nearest approach he
had yet found in writing to the policy he was steadily pursuing; he
immediately desired to induce the reformer to return to England and to
enlist him in the defence of his great cause. The fact that Cromwell was
able to persuade the King to permit him to attempt this is a good proof
of his influence with Henry. In May, 1530, Tyndale had been denounced as
a perverter of God’s word[210]; but so great was the change which the
new minister’s accession to power had wrought in the royal policy, that
Henry now allowed Cromwell to write to his old friend Stephen Vaughan in
the Netherlands[211], and commission him to try and discover where
Tyndale was, and induce him to return to England. To this request
Vaughan sent a double reply to Henry and Cromwell, informing them that
he had written to the reformer (three separate letters to different
places, not knowing where he was) and had received his answer, in which
Tyndale said that the news of what had lately happened in England made
him afraid to go there[212]. In a confidential postscript to the letter
to Cromwell, Vaughan writes in most glowing terms about the reformer,
saying that he was of far greater knowledge than the King’s Highness
took him for, as plainly appeared by his works. ‘Would God he were in
England.’ As usual Vaughan’s enthusiasm had run away with his
discretion. He was the exact opposite of Cromwell in this respect; he
was ever full of emotion and feeling, while his master was to the last
degree practical and calculating.
In spite of his first rebuff, Vaughan persevered in his attempts, and on
the 25th of March sent Cromwell another letter, in which he expressed a
little more hope of getting Tyndale to go to England[213]. Three weeks
later his efforts received some more substantial reward, for on the 18th
of April he wrote to Henry[214], that he had at last obtained an
interview with the reformer, and that though the latter still refused to
comply with his request, his words had been such as to arouse the
enthusiasm of Cromwell’s agent more than ever. With this letter Vaughan
sent to Henry the manuscript of Tyndale’s new book against Sir Thomas
More, called the Answer, which the reformer did not wish to put in print
till Henry had seen it, because the latter had been displeased at the
hasty and unlicensed printing of his former work, The Practise of
Prelates. The letter and the book were not destined, however, to have
the desired effect on the King. The Answer was sufficiently plain to
indicate that Tyndale’s religious beliefs were not of the sort that
would ever be serviceable to Henry; the reformer was altogether too full
of Protestantism for its own sake, to suit either the King or his
counsellor. For once Cromwell had mistaken his man. To say that the King
was thoroughly vexed and annoyed, when he had perused Vaughan’s letter,
and the enclosed work, is a mild statement of the facts. The original
letter which Vaughan wrote is not extant, but there is a copy of it in
the British Museum which ends most abruptly with the words ‘To declar_e_
to yo_ur_ Magyste what In my pore Judgement I thynke of the man, I
ass_er_teyne yo_ur_ grace I haue not co_m_munyd w_i_t_h_ A man[215]’; a
fact which suggests the possibility that the irritable King vented his
anger on the unoffending sheet of paper, and tore it in two. The letter
with which Cromwell, at the King’s direction, replied to Vaughan, is a
still surer index to the impression which the latter’s report had
produced on the King. What with the precipitation of his emotional,
enthusiastic, and unpractical friend, Cromwell must have been placed in
a very awkward position. The many corrections and interlineations in the
draft of the letter he wrote in reply to Vaughan, sufficiently reveal
his great perplexity and bewilderment[216]. The subject-matter of the
letter will speak for itself. The rage of the King is vividly described,
and Vaughan is repeatedly warned to abandon the reformer: but in spite
of everything he continued to attempt to persuade Tyndale to return. He
had two more fruitless interviews with the latter, described in his
letters to Henry of the 20th of May, and to Cromwell on the 19th of
June[217], and after that came back to England for the summer. In
November he returned to the Netherlands, and wrote again to Cromwell
warmly on Tyndale’s behalf, but not a word did he receive in reply[218].
In the meantime Henry and Cromwell had dispatched Sir Thomas Elyot to
arrest the reformer and bring him home[219]. Vaughan finally saw the
danger he ran in advocating the cause of the author of the ‘venemous and
pestif_er_ous work_es_,’ and dared say no more. The rest of his letters
during these two years do not even once mention him. The whole Tyndale
episode is noteworthy as the nearest approach to a mistake in
Cromwell’s internal policy. Henry’s anger probably gave him a clear
warning that many more such would bring him to certain ruin. He was
saved from serious consequences in this case, only because he had amply
atoned for it by his brilliant success in obtaining the submission of
the clergy.
Cromwell was also occupied, during these two years, in re-establishing
Wolsey’s foundation at Oxford, under the new name of King Henry the
Eighth’s College. He was appointed receiver-general and supervisor of
all the lands belonging to it; and the adjustment of claims, transfer of
property, new foundation and charter kept him very busy, and gave him an
excellent opportunity to display his legal talent. He also superintended
the building of a new palace at Westminster, regulated the wages of the
men working on the fortifications at Calais, and was also busy with
minor duties in the King’s own household--the care of the royal plate
and jewels, and even the drawing of patterns for Henry’s robes of
state[220]. From the close of the year 1529 until his fall, the best
index to the various occupations in which he was engaged is afforded by
his famous ‘remembrances.’ These consist largely of short and usually
incomplete sentences, sometimes even single words, jotted down at odd
moments by Cromwell or his chief clerk, on loose sheets of paper--often
on the backs of letters and drafts of important documents. They are for
the most part absolutely disjointed and unconnected in matter, form, and
handwriting. Sandwiched in between apparently careless phrases which
later expand into the most drastic of parliamentary enactments, we find
minute details concerning the wages of labourers, the cost of New Year’s
presents at the Court, or even matters of a private nature: next to a
memorandum for the signing of a letter for some Spaniards occur the
significant words, ‘To Remembre the Auncyent Cronycle of magna Carta and
how _libera sit_ Cam into the Statute[221].’ The less important items
are of course by far the more numerous, especially in the first six
years when the King loaded his new minister with details of the greatest
variety and complexity. Towards the last the ‘remembrances’ are fewer in
number, and deal less extensively with minor matters; but even up to the
very end we find ample evidence that the King’s minister carried in his
head an amount of detail of a comparatively unimportant nature, which
would have been quite impossible for a man like his predecessor. The
Cardinal, absorbed in studying the great diplomatic combinations of
continental Europe, had shamefully neglected minor affairs at home.
Cromwell, in his ten years of power, not only atoned for the errors of
Wolsey, but also familiarized himself with every detail of domestic
administration to an extent that no King or minister had ever done in
England before. It would have been almost impossible to carry through
the tremendous changes which had followed the divorce, without the aid
of a counsellor of the peculiar talents of Thomas Cromwell.
The thread of our narrative now becomes so complicated, when the new
minister is at last fully installed in the King’s service, that it will
be necessary to depart from the chronological order of events hitherto
followed, and to treat separately each phase of Cromwell’s policy, up to
the reaction of 1539. The Internal and Foreign Administration,
Suppression of the Monasteries, of the Pilgrimage of Grace, &c., all
move on hand in hand, and in order to understand their bearing on one
another, it is only needful to remember that they were all the work of
one man, and were proceeding in general at the same time.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI
THE SUPPLICATION OF THE COMMONS AGAINST THE ORDINARIES.
Four drafts of this petition exist to-day in the Public Record Office.
One of them is written in a hand which may be recognized in the greater
part of Cromwell’s correspondence of the time, and which is probably
that of his chief clerk; it is corrected and revised by Cromwell
himself. Of the other three, one, which is uncorrected and probably a
final draft, is also written by the clerk--and the other two, chiefly in
a strange handwriting, are filled with interlineations by Cromwell. The
following copy was made from the first of these drafts (Cal. v, 1016
(4)). The words in brackets are crossed out in the original manuscript:
the words in italics are inserted between the lines. All the corrections
are in Cromwell’s hand.
‘To the King our Sovereigne Lorde
In most humble Wise Shewen vnto yo_ur_ excellent highnes and most
prudent wisedom your faithfull louyng and most humble and obedient
Subiect_es_ The Co_m_mons in this your p_re_sente parliament assembled
That where of late aswell thorough new fantasticall and erronyous
opynyons growen by occasion of Frantike sedycious and ou_er_thwartly
Framed bokes compiled imprynted publisshed and made in the englishe tong
contrarie and ayenst the veray trew catholique and Cristen Faith as also
by the {vnreasonable and} extreme {rygour vndiscrete} _and vncharytable_
behaueour and dealing of dyuers ordynaries _Ther Co_m_myssaryes and
Substytuttes_ which haue heretofore had and yet have thexamynacion in
and vppon the saide errours and hereticall opynyons moche discorde
varyaunce and debate hathe rysen and more and more daylie is like to
encrease and insue emonges the vniu_er_sall sorte of your saide
Subiect_es_ aswell sp_iri_tuall as temporall either ayenst other in most
vncharitable man_er_ to the grete inquietacion vexacion and breche of
your peax w_i_t_h_in this your most catholik realme. The speciall
perticuler greues whereof which most principally concerne your saide
Co_m_mons and lay Subiect_es_ and whiche ar (as they vndoubtedlie
suppose) the veray chief Founteyns occasions and causes that daylie
bredeth Fostereth Norissheth and maynteneth the saide sedycions
factyons dedelie hatered and most vncharitable parte taking_es_ either
parte and sorte of your saide Subiect_es_ spirituall and temporall
ayenst thother hereafter Folowinglye Do ensue.
Furst where the prelat_es_ and sp_iri_tuall Ordynaries of this your most
excellent Realme of Englonde and the clergie of the same haue in their
conuocac_i_ons heretofore made and caused to be made and also daylie do
make dyuers and manye _Facyons of_ lawes constytuc_i_ons and
orden_au_unc_es_ w_i_t_h_out your knowlege or most royall assente and
w_i_t_h_out the assent and consent of any your lay Subiect_es_ vnto the
whiche lawes your saide lay Subiect_es_ haue not onelie heretofore and
daylie be {boundene} _constraynyd to obbeye_ aswell in their bodies
goodes and possessions But also ben compelled daylie to incurre into the
censures of the same and ben contynuallie put to importable charges and
expens_es_ ayenst all equytee right and good conscience. And yet your
saide humble subiect_es_ ne their predecessours coulde eu_er_ be pryuey
to the saide lawes Ne any of the saide lawes haue ben declared vnto them
in thinglisshe tong or otherwise _publysshed_ By knowlege whereof they
might haue extued the daungiers censures and penaltees of the same Which
lawes so made yo_ur_ saide most humble and obedyent subiect_es_ vnder
the supportacion of your Maiestee Suppose to be not onelie to the
dymynucyon and derogacion of your imperyall iurisdiction and prerogatif
royall But also to the grete preiudice inquietacion and damage of all
your saide Subiect_es_ And also where now of late there hathe ben
deuysed by the most Reuerende father in god Wyllyam Archebusshop of
Caunterburie that in the Court_es_ whiche he callith his Courtes of the
Arches and Audience shalbe but onelie Ten proctours at his deputacion
which be sworn to p_re_ferre and promote the onelie iurisdiction {and
preferrement} of the saide Court_es_. By reason whereof if any of your
lay Subiect_es_ shoulde haue any lawfull cause ayenst the Judge of the
saide Court_es_ or ayenst any docto_ur_ or proctour of the same or any
of their Frend_es_ or adherent_es_ they can ne may in any wise haue
indifferent counsaill. And also all the causes depending in any of the
saide court_es_ may by the confederacie of the saide Few proctours be in
suche wise tracted and delayed as your Subiect_es_ suing in the same
shalbe put to importable charges costes and expenc_es_. And in case that
any matiers there being p_re_ferred shoulde touche Your Crowne Regallie
Jurisdiction and p_re_rogatif royall yet the same shall not be disclosed
by any of the saide procto_ur_s for fere of losse of their offices.
Wherefore your saide most obedient Subiect_es_ vnder the protexion of
yo_ur_ maiestee Suppose that your highnes should haue the nomynacion of
som conuenyent nombre of proctours to be alwayes attendaunt in the saide
court_es_ of tharches and audience there to be sworne aswell to the
preferrement of your iurisdiction and prerogatif royall as to
thexpedyc_i_on of all the causes of your Lay Subiectes repayring and
suing to the same.
And Where also many of your saide most humble and obedient subiect_es_
and specyallie those that be of the pourest sorte w_i_t_h_in this your
Realme ben daylie conuented and called before the saide sp_iri_tuall
Ordynaries their Co_m_missaries and Substytut_es_ ex officio somtyme at
the pleasures of the saide Ordynaries and Substytut_es_ for malice
w_i_t_h_out any cause and sumtyme at the onelie p_ro_mocyon and
accusement of their {false} Somoners and apparitours being veray light
and vndiscrete persons w_i_t_h_out any lawfull cause of accusacion or
credible fame proued ayenst them and w_i_t_h_out any presentement in the
vysitacion ben inquieted disto_ur_bed vexed troubeled and put to
excessiue and importable charges for them to bere and many tymes be
suspended and exco_m_munycate for small and light causes vppon thonelie
certificat of the proctours of the adu_er_saries made vnder a fayned
Seale which eu_er_y procto_ur_ hathe in his keping where as the partie
suspended and exco_m_munycate many tymes neu_er_ had any warning and yet
when he shalbe absolued if it be out of the courte he shalbe compelled
to pay to his owne procto_ur_ xxd and to the procto_ur_ which is ayenst
him other xxd and xxd to the Scribe besid_es_ a pryuey rewarde that the
Judge shall haue to the grete impouerysshing of your saide poure Lay
Subiect_es_.
Also Your saide most humble and obedient subiect_es_ Fynde them greued
w_i_t_h_ the grete and excessyue Fees taken in the said sp_iri_tuall
court_es_ and in especiall in the saide Court_es_ of tharches and
audience where they take for euery Cytacyon ii^s vi^d for eu_er_y
Inhibycyon vj^s viij^{d}, for euerie proxie xvj^d for eu_er_y certificat
xvj^{d}, for eu_er_y Libell iij^{s}. iiij^{d}., for eu_er_y answer to
any Lybell iij^s iiij^{d}, for eu_er_y acte if it be but two woord_es_
to the Register iiij^_d_, for eu_er_y personall Cytacion or decree iij^s
iiij^{d}. for euery sentence or iudgement to the Judge xxvi^{s}.
viij^{d}, for eu_er_y testi_m_onyall vppon any suche sentence or
iudgement xxvj^{s}. viii^d for eu_er_y significauit xij^_s_. for eu_er_y
co_m_myssion to examyn wytnes xij^s Which is thought to be importable to
be borne by your saide Subiect_es_ and veray necessarie to be
refo_ur_med.
And Furthermore Where the saide spyrytuall Ordynaries {many tymes
purposedlie to revenge their inwarde greves and displeasures and to put
their saide lawes in execucion} _theyr Co_m_myssaryes & Substytuttes_
sumtyme _for thayr own pleasures Su_m_tyme_ by the Synister procurement
of other sp_iri_tuall p_er_sons vse to make out proces ayenst dyu_er_s
of your saide Subiect_es_ and thereby compell them to appere before
themselff_es_ to answer at a certen day and place to suche articles as
by them shalbe of office afore themselff_es_ then purposed _and that
Secretlye and not in oppen places_ and fourthw_i_t_h_ vppon their
apparaunce w_i_t_h_out cause or any declaracion then made or shewed
co_m_mytt and sende them to warde Where they remayne w_i_t_h_out bayle
or mayneprise sumtyme half a yere and somtyme a hole yere and more or
they may in any wise knowe either the cause of their imprysonement or
any name of their accuser and fynallie their grete cost_es_ charges and
expenc_es_ therin when all is examyned and nothing can be proued ayenst
them but they clerelie Innocente for any Faute or cryme that can be
layed vnto them in that parte ben set ayen at large w_i_t_h_out any
recompence or amend_es_ in that behalf to be toward_es_ them adiudged.
And also if percase vppon the saide proces and apparaunce any p_ar_tie
be vppon the saide matier cause or examynacion brought Fourth and named
either as p_ar_tie or wytnes and then vppon the proffe and tryall
thereof not able to prove and verefie his saide accusacion or testymonye
ayenst the p_ar_tie so accused to be trew then the person so causeles
accused is {clerely} _for the more parte_ w_i_t_h_out any remedie for
his charges and wrongful vexacyon to be {in that parte} toward_es_ him
adiuged and recouered.
Also vppon thexamynacion of the saide accusacion if heresie be
ordynarylie layed vnto the charge of the p_ar_tie so accused then the
saide ordynaries or their ministres vse to put to them suche subtile
interrogatories concerning the high misteries of our feith as ar able
quyckelye to trappe a simple vnlerned or yet a well wytted lay man
w_i_t_h_out lerning and bryng them by suche sinyster introduction sone
to his owne confusion And Fourthw_i_t_h_ if there chaunce any heresie to
be by suche subtill polycie by him confessed in wo_ur_d_es_ and yet
neu_er_ co_m_mytted nor thought in dede, then put they _with_out ferther
fauour the saide person either to make his purgacion and so thereby to
lose his honestie and credence for eu_er_ orell_es_ as som simple sely
Sowle precyselie stonding to the clere testymonye of his owne well
knowen conscience rather then to confesse his innocent trouth to abyde
{thextreme examynacion of deth by the Fyer} _thextremyte in that behalf_
and so is vtterly distroyed.
And if it fortune the saide partie so accused to denye the saide
accusacion and so put his aduersarie to proue the {false} same vntrewlie
forged and ymagened ayenst him then for the more parte suche wytnesses
as ben brought fourth for the same be they but ij in nombre neuer so
sore diffamed of litle trouth or credence adu_er_saries or enemies to
the p_ar_tie yet they shalbe allowed and enabeled _onlye by Discrecyon
of the sayd ordenaryes ther Co_m_myssaryes & Substytuttes_ and
therevppon sufficient cause to procede to iudgement to delyu_er_ the
p_ar_tie so accused either to the seculer hand_es_ {and so to be burned}
after abiuracion w_i_t_h_out remedie and afore if he Submytte himself to
compell him when best happeneth to make his purgacion and bere a Fagotte
to his extreme shame and vtter vndoing.
In Consideracyon whereof most gracious Souereigne Lorde And Forasmoche
as there is at this present tyme and by a Few yeres past hathe ben
outrageous vyolens on thone p_ar_te and moche defaulte and lacke of
pacyent sufferaunce charitee and good will on thother p_ar_te, A
meruelous Disorder of the godlie quyet peax and tranquillyte that this
your realme heretofore eu_er_ hitherto hathe ben in thorough your
poletique wisedom in most hono_ur_able fame and catholik feith
invyolablye p_re_serued. It may therefore most benigne Souereigne lorde
lyke your excellent goodnes for the tender and vnyuersallye indyfferent
zele benigne loue and fauour that your highnes berith towarde both the
saide p_ar_ties, the saide articles if they shalbe by your most clere
and p_er_fite iudgement thought any instrument_es_ or causes of the
saide variaunce and disorder or those and all other occasions
whatsoeu_er_ accompted by your highnes to make toward_es_ the saide
factions depelie and weightylie after your accustomed weyes and man_er_
serched weyed and considered graciouslie to prouyde all vyolence on both
sides vtterlye and clerelie set a parte some suche necessarie and
behofull remedies as may effectuallie reconsile and bryng in perpetuall
vnytee your saide Subiect_es_ sp_iri_tuall and temporall. And for
thestablisshing thereof to make and ordeyn on both sid_es_ suche straite
lawes ayenst the brekers transgressours and offendours as shalbe to
hevye daungerous and weightie for them or any of them to bere suffer and
susteyne. Whereunto Your saide Comons most humblie hertelie and
entierlie beseche your grace as the onely hed Sou_er_eigne lorde
protectour and Defendour of bothe the saide p_ar_ties in whom and by
whom the onelie and sole redresse reformacion and remedie herein
absolutely restith and remayneth. By occasion whereof all your saide
Comons in their conscience surelye accompt that beside the meruelous
Feruent loue that yo_ur_ highnes shall thereby ‹gain› and engendre in
their hart_es_ toward_es_ Your grace Ye shall do the most pryncelie
Feate and shew the most honourable and charitable president and Mirrour
that eu_er_ did Souereigne lorde vppon his subiect_es_ and
therew_i_t_h_all merite and deserue of our mercyfull lorde eternall
blisse Whose goodnes graunt your grace in most godlie pryncelie and
honourable astate long to reigne prosper and contynew as the Souereigne
lorde ou_er_ all your saide most humble and most obedyent Subiect_es_.
[_Two blank pages here._]
And Where _also_ the said prelatis and ordinaries daily do p_er_mytte
and suffer the parsons vicars Curates p_ar_ishe prest_es_ and other
sp_iri_tuall parsons hauing Cure of soule w_i_t_h_in this your Realme
Ministring {vnto yo_ur_ said loving subgiett_es_} _to exact and take of
yo_ur _humble & obedyent Subiect_es _dyuers Su_m_mys of money for_ the
Sacrament_es_ & sacramentall_es_ of holy churche {as the holy sacrament
of the Aulter Baptyme, Matrimonye Confession, buriall weddyng
churching_es_ and suche other} _Sumtyme denying the same w_i_t_h_out
they Fyrst be payd the sayd Su_m_mys of money_ {& _to take_ for the
ministracion of the same of yo_ur_ said Subiect_es_ diuers and certen
so_m_mes of money allegging the same to be their dueties.} Whiche
sacrament_es_ and sacramentall_es_ yo_ur_ saide most humble & obedient
subiectes vnder the protection of yo_ur_ highnes doo suppose & think
ought to be in most Reuerent charitable & goodlie wise freely mynystred
vnto them at all tymes requisite w_i_t_h_oute denyall or {any maner
so_m_me or} _exaccyon of any man_er so_m_mes of money {or other duetie
or contribucion to be asked demaunded or required for the same} _to be
demaundyd or askyd for the same_ And also where in the sp_iri_tuall
court_es_ of the said Prelatis & ordinaries ben lymyted and appoynted
for many Judges Scribes Apparito_ur_s Som_on_ers praysours and other
ministres for the approbacion of testament_es_ Whiche coveting somoche
theire owne priuate Lucres and satisfaccion of the appetit_es_ of the
said prelat_es_ and Ordinaries that when any of your said loving
subiect_es_ do Repaire to any of the said Courtis for the probate of any
testamentes they do in suche wise {extorte and} _make long delays or_
excessively take of theym so large fees and Reward_es_ for the same as
is Importible for theym to beare directly against all Justice lawe
equite and goode conscience
{And also where most gracious soueraigne the Judges Constituted and
appoynted by the said sp_iri_tuall Ordinaries in their said Court_es_
to here and determyne causes there, do in likewise daily take many grete
and excessive fees and rewardes of your said pore subiect_es_ having any
cause or matier depending before theym as is aforsaid And ou_er_ that
when any Judgement or sentence by the said Judge shalbe yeven before
them wille also have grete so_m_mes of money for the same. So that no
thing is or can be obteyned in any of the said Court_es_ w_i_t_h_oute
money.}
_Wherfor_ Your said most humble and obedient subiect_es_ do therfore
vnder yo_ur_ gracious correction and supportacion suppose it were veray
necessary that the said ordinaries in the deputacion of suche Judges
shulde be bounde to appoynte and assigne suche discrete gravous and
honest p_er_sons having sufficient Lernyng witte discrecion &
vnderstonding and also being indewed w_i_t_h_ such sp_iri_tuall
promocions stipend and salarye as they being Judges in their said
Court_es_ myght and may mynystre to eu_er_y parson repairing to the same
Justice w_i_t_h_oute taking any man_er_ fee or Rewarde for any maner
sentence or Judgement to be yoven before theym. And also where as
diu_er_se sp_iri_tuall p_er_sons being p_re_sented aswell by yo_ur_
highnes and by other patrons w_i_t_h_in this yo_ur_ Realme to {any}
_dyuers_ benefices or other sp_iri_tuall promocion. The said ordinaries
and there mynystres do not onely take of theym for theyr L_ette_res of
Institucion and Induction many grete and {excessive} _large_ so_m_mes of
money & Reward_es_ But also do pact and couen_au_nte w_i_t_h_ the same,
taking sure bond_e_s for their indempnite to aunswer to the said
ordinaries the first frutes of the said benefices after their
Institucion so as they being ones p_re_sented or promoted as is
aforesaid ben by the said ordinaries veray {extremely} _vncharytablye_
handled to their no litle hynderaunce & impou_er_isshement whiche yo_ur_
said subgiett_es_ suppose not onely to be against all lawes right & good
consciens but also to be Symony and contrary to the Lawes of god.
And also where as the said sp_iri_tuall Ordinaries do daily conferre and
geve sundry benefices vnto certen yong folkes calling them their Nephews
_or Kynsfolkes_ being in their mynorite and w_i_t_h_in age not apt ne
able to S_er_ue the Cure of any suche benefice Wherby the said
ordinaries do kepe and deteyn the frutes & p_ro_fittes of the same
benefices in their owne handes and therby accumulate to themselff_es_
right grete and large so_m_mes of money & yerely p_ro_fittes to the most
p_er_nicious exsample of all yo_ur_ said lay subiect_es_ and so the
Cures & other promocions youen vnto suche Infant_es_ ben onely {youen
but} _Imployed_ to {enriche} _thenryching of_ the said ordinaries & the
pore sely soules of yo_ur_ people and subiect_es_ whiche shulde be
taught in the paroches yoven as aforsaid for lak of good curates do
perisshe w_i_t_h_oute doctrine or any good teaching.
And also where a grete nombre of holy daies whiche nowe at this
p_re_sent tyme w_i_t_h_ veray smalle Devocion be solempnised and kept
thorough oute this yo_ur_ Realme vppon the whiche many grete abhomynable
and execrable vices idle and wanton sportes ben vsed and ex_er_cised
whiche holy daies if it may stond w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ gracious pleasure _and
specyall suche as Fall in the heruest_ myght by yo_ur_ maiestie by
thadvice of yo_ur_ most honourable counseill prelates and ordinaries be
made fewer in nombre and those that shall herafter be ordeyned to stond
& contynue myght and may be the more Devoutely religiously &
reu_er_ently obs_er_ued to the Laude of almyghty god and to thencrease
of your high hono_ur_ & fame.’
_Endd._ ‘A boke ayenst the clergy for takyng excessyve Fees’
CHAPTER VII
INTERNAL POLICY
From the close of the year 1532 until his fall, the entire domestic
administration of England was in Cromwell’s hands. From the moment that
he entered the King’s service he had definitely committed himself to the
policy which he was to follow till the end of his days. His own theories
of internal government, the traditions of the Tudor monarchy, and the
situation of the realm at the time of his accession to power, combined
to convince him that the maintenance of an all-powerful kingship was
indispensable to England’s safety; the nature of the proposal by which
he first won Henry’s confidence was tantamount to an irrevocable
declaration of that principle, and a promise that it should be the
guiding thought of his entire administration. The revolt from Rome was
an incident rather than an aim of his policy. He had suggested it at
first as offering the only possible solution of the immediate
difficulties of the Crown, and as affording golden opportunities for the
increase of the power of the monarchy; but as soon as the decisive step
had been taken, he saw that the security of his own position had become
conditional upon the permanence of the new ecclesiastical system, which
in turn could only be ensured if the King, for whose sake it had been
created, was rendered supreme in Church and State. Cromwell’s very
existence had thus become dependent on the success of his endeavours to
maintain and carry further the policy initiated by Henry VII., and to
elevate the Crown to sovereign power above every other institution in
the realm. Perhaps no minister has ever had more varied problems to
confront him, than those which Cromwell had to deal with during these
eight years; and yet his action in every case is a logical, intelligent
application of the theory of internal government, which he believed was
the only sure road to national greatness. With this great principle
firmly borne in mind, the history of Cromwell’s domestic administration
becomes comparatively simple.
A further assertion of the Supremacy of the Crown in ecclesiastical
affairs was necessary, before Cromwell could attempt to strengthen its
already predominant position in the State. The chief object of the more
important measures of the years 1533 and 1534 was to utilize the
consequences of the breach with Rome for the benefit of the monarchy,
and to provide that none of the power of which the Pope had been
deprived should be permitted to escape the King. During the year 1532
Henry had deluded himself with hopes that his first attack on the
liberties of the English clergy might frighten Clement into acquiescence
in the divorce, but at last his patience came to an end, and he
surrendered himself entirely to the guidance of Cromwell, who had been
persuaded from the first that nothing further was to be obtained from
the Pope. In January, 1533, the King was secretly married to Anne
Boleyn; on the 10th of May Cranmer, who had lately been raised to the
see of Canterbury, opened his archiepiscopal court at Dunstable[222].
With a promptitude which must have been highly satisfactory to Henry
after the delays of the previous proceedings at Rome, the sentence of
divorce was pronounced. There can be little doubt that Cromwell gave
efficient aid in hastening the verdict[223]; but what is far more
important, he took effective measures, even before it was rendered, to
prevent its revocation. Parliament had been in session during the three
months previous to the assembling of the court at Dunstable: in
anticipation of the coming sentence, it had been induced to pass an
Act[224] to deprive Katherine of the only hope that remained to her by
forbidding appeals to Rome, and by ordaining that the decision of an
archiepiscopal court should be final, except in cases where the King was
concerned, when appeal might be made to the Upper House of Convocation.
A notable effort was made to conceal the obvious and immediate purpose
of this statute under a shroud of pious and patriotic verbiage. The life
of the Act, however, was but short. Though it had dealt the death blow
to the jurisdiction of the Pope in England, it had not made adequate
provision for the maintenance of the Supremacy of the Crown; so in 1534
the statute of the previous year was superseded by a new one[225], which
enacted that an appeal might always be made from an archbishop’s court
to the King’s Court of Chancery, the decision of which was to be final.
The abolition of the Annates (which will be considered in another place)
occurred at the same time. The effect of these two measures was to
complete the work begun in 1530, and to sever the last links of the
chain which bound the Church of England to Rome.
In the meantime the famous Act of Succession[226], bastardizing the
Princess Mary and establishing the offspring of Anne Boleyn as lawful
heirs to the throne of England, had also been passed in Parliament, and
before the year had closed a new statute[227] had formally recognized
the King’s ecclesiastical supremacy for the third time; for Henry was
not satisfied with the acknowledgements he had wrung from the clergy in
1531 and 1532, nor with the express assertion that the King was on earth
Supreme Head of the Church of England, contained in the oath to the new
succession, which Cromwell’s commissioners began to administer
throughout the realm in the summer of 1534. The last vestige of the
independence of the English bishops was also removed in the course of
this memorable year, by certain provisions of the final Act for the
restraint of Annates[228]. It had not been necessary, however, to
introduce any very radical innovation here. The bishops were already
virtually in the King’s hands, for the elections by chapters had long
been a mere farce, and the royal nominee had been almost invariably
chosen. So the Act had aimed at a legalization of the _status
quo_--merely adding a few new provisions to strengthen the King’s hold
on the Church. All relations with the Pope were of course to cease; the
bishops were to be consecrated by virtue of a royal commission; and if
the chapter failed to elect within twelve days, the King was empowered
to fill the vacancy by letters patent. But even this does not seem to
have been enough to satisfy Cromwell. A letter of Chapuys in the early
part of 1535 informs us that the King’s Secretary called some of the
bishops before the Council to ask them if the King could not make and
unmake them at pleasure: ‘they were obliged to say yes, else they should
have been deprived of their dignities: as the said Cromwell told a
person, who reported it to me, and said that the Council had been
summoned only to entrap the bishops[229].’ Cromwell followed this up,
later in the year, by causing a Prohibitory Letter to be sent out in the
King’s name, forbidding the bishops to visit any monastery or to
exercise any right of jurisdiction during the visitation of the
religious houses then in progress[230]. It appears that even Cromwell,
with all his audacity, was at a loss to devise a means to silence the
objections which were raised against this high-handed measure. He was
not ashamed to take a hint from the fertile brains of his two
blood-hounds, Legh and Ap-Rice, who suggested an ingenious argument to
crush all opposition, the gist of which is contained in the following
quotation from a letter which they wrote to Cromwell, Sept. 24,
1535[231]:--
‘Yf they (the bishops) had any Jurisdiction, they muste ned_es_ haue
receued ‹it› either by the lawe of god or by the busshop of Romes
Authoritie or els by the King_es_ grace permission. Which is no
sufficient discharge ageinst the statute.
‘Yf they saye by the Lawe of god, Lett theym bring foorth sc_ri_ptur but
I thinke theym not so impudent as to saye so.
‘Yf they saye by the busshop of Romes Authoritie. Lett theym exercise it
still, yf they thinke it mete.
‘Yf they saye by the Kinges permission why be they more discontent that
the king shuld call agein nowe to his hand_es_ that which came from hym
to theym, than they wolde haue ben_e_ yf he had never graunted it theym.
And surely they are not able to iustifie thexercise of their
iurisdiction hetherto.’ Fortified by such reasoning as this did the
Royal Supremacy pass into effect.
Having thus obtained the complete submission of the greater lights of
the Church, Cromwell consistently pursued his relentless policy with the
humbler orders of friars and monks. His method of dealing with the
latter did not differ materially from his policy with the former, except
that it was perhaps more sanguinary. Priors Lawrence and Webster, two
Carthusians who denied the validity of the King’s new title, were
examined by Cromwell, and when they stubbornly refused to retract their
assertions, they were promptly sentenced and executed[232]. Three
others, Houghton, Hale, and Reynolds, suffered death a little later, and
the latter dared to tell Cromwell that in spite of the terror he had
caused by his late proceedings, all good men in the kingdom really held
the same opinion, that the Headship of the Church was not the
King’s[233]. But notwithstanding the wide popular dissatisfaction at the
new measures, most malcontents, both lay and spiritual, kept their
thoughts to themselves. Men were beginning to discover how dangerous it
was to criticize the doings of the King and his minister. The elaborate
system of espionage and the commissions to seek out and punish treason,
which Cromwell had so laboriously established all over the country in
1532, had now begun to bear fruit. It was impossible to tell who the
government spies were: impossible to know when or against whom the next
accusation would be made. The words which men spoke in the bosom of
their families or to their most intimate friends and neighbours were as
likely to be laid to their charge as their utterances in public:
harmless, obscure and ignorant country folk were brought before the
magistrates as often as those of higher degree. Edmond Brocke,
husbandman, eighty years of age, of Crowle in Worcestershire, was
walking home in the rain from Worcester market on the Saturday before
St. Thomas’ Day, in company with Margaret Higons. ‘Yt ys long of the
Kyng that this wedre is so troblous or vnstable,’ he said, ‘and I wene
we shall nevir haue bett_er_ wedre whillis the Kinge Reigneth, and
therefore it makith no matt_er_ if he were knocked or patted on the
heed[234].’ These facts were declared on August 12, 1535, before John
Russell Esq., Justice of the Peace, by Richard Fulke, husbandman, and
Joan Danyell of Crowle. Brocke confessed that he had said ‘that it was a
hevy and grevous wether and that there was neuyr good wedring_es_
sithins the King began this busines,’ but what he meant by ‘busines’ he
could not tell: as to the rest of his words, he said, he was mad or
drunk if he spoke them--more than this he would not answer. William
Ferrall, of Eastbourne in Sussex, deposed before Sir John Gage on August
14, 1536, that Sir William Hoo, vicar of Eastbourne, and suffragan of
the diocese of Chichester, walking with him in the churchyard, said that
‘they that rule about the King make him great bankett_es_ and geve him
swete wynes and make him dronke,’ and that then ‘they bring him byllis
and he puttyth his sign to them whereby they doo what they will and no
man may Correcte them[235].’ Margaret Chanseler, of Senklers Bradfeld in
Suffolk, spinster, was forced to confess before Sir Robert Drury in
February, 1535, that, when drunk and under the influence of an evil
spirit, she had said, in presence of Edmond Tyllet and Anthony Harward,
‘that the quenes g_ra_ce had on_e_ child by our sou_er_eigne lorde the
Kynge, which the seid ‹child› was ded borne, & she p_ra_yed god that she
myght neuer haue other; also that the quen_e_s g_ra_ce was a noughtty
hoore & that the Kyng_es_ grace ought not to mary within his realme.’
Tyllet and Harward, when summoned, made the matter somewhat worse. They
declared that the spinster had called the Queen ‘a goggyll yed hoore,’
and that she had added ‘God save queen Katteryn for she was ryghtuous
queen, & that she trusted to see her queen Ageyn & that she should
warrant the same[236].’ All the magistrates before whom these
depositions were laid, received ample instructions from Cromwell how to
deal with every case; if the accusation was very heavy, the offender was
usually sent up to the minister himself, to answer for his misdeeds at
head quarters. The punishments in these cases were very severe: there
are almost no records of the penalties inflicted on those against whom
the depositions were brought, but there is reason to believe that
comparatively slight misdemeanours were not seldom rewarded with death.
But of all the devices ‘For the putting the Kyng_es_ subiect_es_ and
other in more terroure,’ as Cromwell once expressed it[237], the most
ruthless remains to be mentioned. The execution of the Carthusians had
had its effect, but Cromwell was persuaded that more blood would have to
be spilled before his victory could be considered complete. As was usual
with him, he laid the axe at the root of the tree, and chose as his
victims the noblest and foremost in the land. The opinions of Bishop
Fisher and Sir Thomas More were well known to be opposed to the Royal
Supremacy, and as such they carried enormous weight. Cromwell must have
seen that it would be impossible to establish the King in his new
position with any security, until these two men were either converted or
destroyed. So, never once swerving from his purpose, nor letting the
rank and position of these distinguished men change or deter him, he set
about the business of ‘making or marring,’ with his usual directness and
method. If he knew More and Fisher at all well, he must have been
reasonably certain that he could never alter their convictions, so it
became necessary for him to look for some adequate pretext for getting
rid of them. Such a pretext soon presented itself.
In July, 1533, occurs the first mention of serious disturbance due to
the visions and prophecies of Elizabeth Barton, better known as the Nun
of Kent[238]. Her reputation for holiness and for divine inspiration was
so high throughout the land, that her mad follies were everywhere
regarded with almost superstitious reverence. Cromwell, at the King’s
command, caused her to be examined by Cranmer, but apparently did not
succeed in eliciting the information he desired, for the investigation
was continued by other interrogators who were less leniently disposed
than the Archbishop[239]. The Nun was finally obliged to confess that
‘she nev_er_ Hadd Vision in all her Lyff, but all that ever she said was
fayned of her owne ymagynac_i_on, only to satisfie the Myndeis of theym
Whiche Resorted vnto her, and to obtayn worldly prayse[240].’ She and
her accomplices were forced to read their public confessions on a
scaffold erected at Paul’s Cross, while a sermon was preached in
denunciation of the fraud. In the following spring she was condemned to
death in Parliament, and in April she was executed with some of her
accomplices at Tyburn[241].
But the destruction of the Nun was only of secondary importance for
Cromwell’s plans; he was mainly looking for some mesh in which he could
entrap others of whom he was in much more fear than Elizabeth Barton.
Every effort appears to have been made to elicit from her a confession
of communication with the divorced Queen, but without success. More and
Fisher, however, were not destined to escape so easily. Because the
Bishop of Rochester, after several interviews with the unhappy woman,
had not reported to Henry her disloyal prophecies (which the Nun had
already made in presence of the King himself), it was taken as a sign of
treason and neglect of duty to the sovereign. The long letter which
Cromwell wrote to Fisher in February, 1534, gives a detailed account of
the numerous and unfounded charges against him[242]. This letter
impresses the reader as having been written _pro forma_ only. Cromwell
must have realized that he could never hope to overcome two men who were
so much his intellectual superiors as More and Fisher, in an argument.
He therefore carefully avoided having any conversation with them, and
wrote to them only in order to have some slight outward justification
for his arbitrary action. Fisher sent pathetic letters to the King and
the Lords, when Cromwell refused to accept his excuses or listen to his
arguments, but in vain. His name was included in the Act of attainder of
Elizabeth Barton and her accomplices which was passed in March, 1534,
but his life was spared until the King could find a more valid pretext
for actually destroying him[243].
The accusations in the case of Sir Thomas More were even more groundless
than in Fisher’s. The only charges that could be proved against him were
an unimportant interview with the Nun herself, a letter which he
confessed to have written to her, warning her to leave political
subjects entirely alone, and an insignificant conversation about her
with a certain father Resbye, Friar Observant of Canterbury[244]. So
much was made of these slight accusations, however, that More was forced
to write a long letter of excuse to Cromwell. His explanations about the
Nun and about his attitude on the Papal Supremacy appear to have been
satisfactory; when he was examined by Cromwell and Audeley, all the
inventiveness of his accusers seemed to be used to no purpose. ‘As the
King did not find,’ says Chapuys, ‘as it seems he hoped, an occasion for
doing him more harm, he has taken away his salary[245].’ But this
unfortunately was not destined to be the end of the affair; if the King
was not determined on the ex-Chancellor’s destruction, his Privy
Councillor was; but Cromwell was forced to bide his time and wait for a
better opportunity, so that further proceedings were stayed until the
following April.
In the meantime the new Act of Succession had been passed in Parliament,
and the oath of allegiance which it required was promptly tendered to
More and Fisher, who finally consented to swear to the statute itself
but not the preamble[246]. They were unwilling to give their reasons
for rejecting the latter, but Cranmer cannot have been far wrong when
he wrote to Cromwell that the cause of their refusal to accept it lay in
its attacks on the authority of the Pope and the validity of the King’s
first marriage[247]. The Archbishop, ever on the side of humanity, urged
the King’s minister to accept the compromise which More and Fisher
offered, but in vain. The ex-Chancellor and the aged bishop were
committed to the Tower, which they never quitted again. For more than a
year they remained there subjected to every sort of indignity, until on
May 5, 1535, they were summoned by the King, and told that unless they
swore to the Act of Succession and the Royal Supremacy, they would be
treated no better than the Carthusian monks who had lately been
executed[248]. They were allowed six weeks for reflection, but they
replied that they would not change their opinion in six hundred years,
if they lived so long. So strong was the popular feeling however, that
it is doubtful if Henry would have dared to execute Fisher, simply
because he said that ‘the King, our sovereign Lord, is not Supreme Head
of the Church of England’; but when it was announced that the Pope, at a
consistory held May 20, had created him a Cardinal, the King was so
enraged that he threw all caution to the winds. He declared in his fury
that ‘he would give Fisher another hat, and send his head to Rome for
the Cardinal’s hat afterwards,’ and ordered both his prisoners to swear
to his ecclesiastical headship before St. John’s Day, or suffer
punishment as traitors[249]. Cromwell had endeavoured from the beginning
to keep up the appearance of being reluctant to punish the aged bishop
and his noble companion, and there is record that when he heard of the
latter’s first refusal to abandon his beliefs, ‘he sware a great
oath[250].’ But in spite of this there is every reason to think that he
was the true cause of the ex-Chancellor’s death. It is not likely that
Henry would have consented to the execution of a man whom he had
formerly loved and respected as much as More, unless his counsellor had
poisoned his heart against him. Moreover, the mentions of More and
Fisher in Cromwell’s ‘remembrances’ are so frequent and of such a
character, as to leave little doubt that he had determined to ruin them
from the first. They both suffered death by beheading in the summer of
1535[251]. It was a terrible evidence of the ruthlessness of the forward
policy to which Henry had now committed himself by the advice of his new
minister. The most brilliant and cultivated Englishman of the time had
been brought to the block to bear testimony to the King’s relentless
anger; the gentleness and humility of the oldest prelate in the realm
had not shielded him from Henry’s wrath and the swift, passionless blow
of his all-powerful agent. Terror had mastered the country, and men
wondered what the end would be[252].
But though Cromwell’s truculent measures had gained the day in England,
they excited the anger and horror of continental Europe. Sentence of
excommunication had been passed on Henry in the summer of 1534; public
opinion would not have permitted the Pope longer to postpone the final
blow, even if he had wished to do so. It now became more than ever
necessary to defend the position of the King, and Cromwell was busily
occupied in filling the pulpit at Paul’s Cross with preachers who were
willing and able to expound the word of God to Henry’s profit and
advantage[253]. In this he was greatly helped by Bishop Rowland Lee of
Coventry and Lichfield, who later played such an important part in
connexion with the subjugation of Wales. In seeking means to defend the
Royal Supremacy Cromwell’s knowledge of the law stood him in good stead.
In a letter written in the year 1538, Sir Thomas Denys tells how
Cromwell three years earlier had advised him to ‘rede in a boke called
Bratton[254] nott vnwrittyn this cccc yer_es_ where he doth call the
King_es_ Grace _Vicarius Christi_, ... wherfor,’ he continues, ‘I do
rekyn a papiste and a traito_ur_ to be one thing[255].’ But the most
drastic of the measures which Cromwell adopted to strengthen the power
of the Crown was the famous Act about Proclamations, which he was able
to force the Lords and Commons to pass in 1539. By this statute, all
Proclamations made by the King and Council were given the force of Acts
passed in Parliament, save when they touched the subject’s lives, lands,
goods, or liberties, or infringed the established laws; and these
exceptions were expressly declared inapplicable to those who should
disobey proclamations concerning heresy. Cromwell had planned for the
passage of this statute from a period at least as early as 1535. A
letter[256] which he wrote to Norfolk in July of that year affords us
interesting information concerning the origin of the measure. In a
controversy about the best means of preventing the export of coin from
the realm, the Chief Justice had delivered the opinion that ‘For the
avoyding of any suche daungers ... proclamacyons and polyces so deuysyd
by the King & his cownsayll for any such purpose sholde be of as good
effect as Any law made by parlyament or otherwyse[257].’ The Chief
Justice probably came to this decision at a hint from Cromwell; in any
case the latter saw that the good work which had been already begun
could not be considered complete until the opinion expressed had been
given legal form. From this time onward there occur in his
‘remembrances’ frequent mentions of an Act to be passed in Parliament to
this effect, but the measure proposed was so radical, that with all his
energy and unscrupulousness, it was four years before he was able to
carry it through[258].
It is scarcely necessary to state that a legislative body which could be
forced to consent to such a statute as this retained in practice but few
traces of that independence of the Crown which it theoretically
possessed. The passage of the Act about Proclamations marks the
culmination of a process begun long before Cromwell came into power, but
only perfected at the close of his ministry, by which the subserviency
of Parliament to the royal will was secured. But though the system did
not reach its highest development until 1539, the earlier years of
Cromwell’s administration show such an advance over that of his
predecessor in this particular, that we are justified in regarding the
entire period of his ministry as the golden age of Tudor despotism. From
the time that the Commons permitted the King and his counsellor to force
on them the petition against the clergy in 1532, it is scarcely too much
to say that the sole function of Parliament was to register the decrees
which emanated from the royal council chamber.
Of course in order to render Parliament as ‘tractable’ as it was, it
became necessary for Cromwell to regulate the choice of members for the
King’s profit, and the success of his endeavours in this direction is
little short of marvellous. Royal interference in elections was
certainly not unknown before his time, but it had not attained the
proportions which it was destined to assume under Cromwell, and it was
often strongly resented by the people. It was only with ‘much
difficulty,’ that Henry VII., in the year 1506, succeeded in forcing the
citizens of London to abandon the right to elect their own sheriff,
which had been granted them by the charter of Henry I.[259], and to
accept the royal nominee to that office[260]. But thirty years later,
the Crown had carried its encroachment on the popular liberties so far
that it seemed to be usually regarded as a matter of course that a royal
nomination should take the place of a fair election. If any protest was
raised against Henry’s palpable infringement of ancient rights--and this
was very rarely the case--the King and his minister affected to regard
the complaint with a sort of indignant amazement. Let us examine the
details of an election in Canterbury, which took place when Cromwell was
at the height of his power. Writs had been issued for the choice of two
members to Parliament from that city in early May, 1536. Between eight
and nine in the morning of the eleventh of that month, the sheriff, John
Hobbys, caused the commonalty of Canterbury to assemble in the
accustomed place, where John Starky and Christopher Levyns were duly
elected burgesses. After the voters had dispersed, about noon-time, John
Alcok, the mayor of Canterbury, came to Sheriff Hobbys in great
perplexity, with a letter from Cromwell and Audeley, which desired, on
the King’s behalf, that Robert Derknall and John Bryges ‘shulde fulfill
the seid rom_es_.’ On the following morning the sheriff directed a
humble letter to Cromwell[261], stating the facts, and begging that the
election of Starky and Levyns might be allowed to stand, as the King’s
wishes were not known until too late; ‘if your seid l_ette_re had come
to me byfore the seid eleccion,’ he pleaded, ‘I wolde haue done the best
that had been in my powr to ‹have› Accomplished our Souereigne lord the
King_es_ pleasure and yo_ur_s in the p_re_mysses.’ But the King’s
minister gave no heed to the representations of John Hobbys: the fact
that an election had already been held did not trouble him in the least:
the King’s will was to be accomplished at all costs. On May 18 he
addressed a significant letter to the Mayor and Burgesses of Canterbury,
which was quite sufficient to induce the recipients to nullify their
former proceedings. The phraseology of the letter is noteworthy: the
King’s minister did not discuss the fact that his first message had
arrived too late. He simply reminded the burgesses that the King’s
pleasure had been signified to them, and that they ‘the same litle or
nothynge regardynge but rather co_n_temny_n_g’ had elected their own
candidates, according to their ‘owne wylles and myndes co_n_trarie to
the king_es_ plesure and comandeme_n_t in that behalfe.’ This of course
was a thing whereat the King did ‘not a lytell marvell,’ and the
burgesses were admonished ‘notwythstondynge the seyd elecc_i_on’ to
‘p_ro_cede to a new and electe thosse other, accordyng to the tenure of
the former l_ette_res’: they were also desired to notify Cromwell at
once ‘if any p_er_sone wyll obstynatly gaynsay the same,’ so that the
King’s minister might deal with the refractory burgess according to his
master’s pleasure. Two days later Mayor Alcok replied with the following
dutiful letter. ‘In humble Wise certefie you that the xx^{th} Day of
this p_re_sent monyth of Maye at vi of the Clok in the mornyng I John
Alcok mayre of Cauntebury receyved your lette_re_ Dyrected to me the
seid mayre Sheryf and Comynaltie of the seid Citie sygnyfying to vs
therby the kyng_es_ plesure and co_m_maundement is that Robert Darknall
and John Bryges shoulde be burgesses of the P_ar_lyament for thesame
Citie of Cauntebury by Vertue wherof accordyng to our bounde Dutye
immedyatly vppon the syght of your seid l_ette_re and conten_tes_
thereof p_er_ceyved caused the Comynaltye of the seid Citie to Assemble
in the Court Hall ther wher appered the nombre of Fower score and xvii
p_er_sones Citizens and Inhabit_au_nt_es_ of theseid Citie And accordyng
to the Kyng_es_ plesure and Co_m_maundement frely with one voyce and
w_i_t_h_out any contradiccon haue elected and chosen the fore-seid
Robert Darkenall and John Bryges to be burgesses of the p_ar_lyament for
thesame Citie which shalbe duly certefied by Indenture vnder the seales
of the seid Citizens and Inhabytaunt_es_ by the grace of the blyssyd
Trynyte Who p_re_s_er_ue you...[262].’ Such was the calm way in which
parliamentary suffrage rights were made of no effect and the King’s
pleasure enforced. It is important to notice in this connexion how
careful Henry and Cromwell were to cloak their most unwarrantable
proceedings by the preservation of ostensible constitutionalism. Never
was the now farcical form of a fair election abandoned; never did the
King fail outwardly to observe those legal restrictions by which the
Crown was supposedly fettered, and the liberties of the nation
theoretically preserved. The autocracy which Cromwell had done so much
to establish was carried on ‘within and upon the already existing
constitution,’ and the public protest was thus in great measure
disarmed.
It is no wonder that the invaluable services which Cromwell rendered to
the Crown were rewarded by an almost exclusive enjoyment of the royal
confidence, which enabled him soon to do almost what he pleased with his
two great rivals, Norfolk and Gardiner. At first he had cautiously held
himself aloof from these men, but now that he had outstripped them in
the King’s favour, his bearing towards them altered accordingly. It is a
very significant fact that in his ten years of service, he never left
the King for any considerable length of time, but often contrived to get
Norfolk and Gardiner sent away--the one to cope with internal troubles,
the other to act as ambassador to France. Cromwell succeeded in
harassing them both while they were at Court, and in making them abandon
every pretence to consistency. Chapuys, in a letter of December 9, 1533,
tells us that Norfolk, hitherto the most pronounced of Catholics,
uttered ‘a thousand blasphemies’ against the Pope, even more shocking
than those of the King, calling him ‘an unhappy whoreson, a liar, and a
wicked man; and that it should cost him (Norfolk) wife and children ...
and all that he possessed, or that he would be revenged on him. He has a
good deal changed his tune, for it was he ... who favoured most the
authority of the Pope; but he must act in this way not to lose his
remaining influence, which apparently does not extend much further than
Cromwell wishes; for which reason, I understand, he is wonderfully sick
of the Court[263].’ In the spring of 1535 the Duke was forced to
surrender entirely, and retire to his estate at Kenninghall. Gardiner
had to abandon the Secretaryship in 1534 in Cromwell’s favour. The new
minister tantalized him in much the same way as he did Norfolk, and
doubtless increased the enmity of the Bishop of Winchester, which he had
first incurred at the time of Wolsey’s fall, and which five years later
was to be such an important factor in effecting his own destruction.
Cromwell was perhaps the only man at the Court who, in the early days of
his ministry, had the least suspicion that Anne Boleyn might sometime
lose the royal favour. He was able to comprehend the King’s love for her
better than anyone else, and to discern that when the royal passion had
been satisfied, Henry’s affection for his second wife would be a thing
of the past. The King’s chagrin that Anne had not brought him a male
child, and the rage awakened by her subsequent miscarriage could not
have escaped him. From thenceforth he must have become convinced that
her ruin was ultimately certain, and he began to throw out hints that he
no longer wished to be reckoned among her adherents. In April, 1536, it
was notorious that there was a marked coolness between them, and a month
later a very unexpected turn in foreign affairs brought matters to a
head and forced him to take active measures against her, in order to
save his own reputation with the King[264]. There is reason to think
that he was the prime mover in the plot which led to her arrest. He
certainly worked against her at her trial, and was present at her
execution; in fact he took every possible step to forestall all chances
of being included in her fall. His sudden abandonment of one whom a few
years before he had done so much to support, should be enough to confute
those who have seen in his previous devotion to the cause of Anne Boleyn
an evidence that he favoured the Reformed faith. Anne was certainly a
professed Protestant; she possessed the English Bible and read it; but
it was only because her Protestantism was temporarily useful to
Cromwell’s designs, which were to obtain for his master a divorce from
Katherine, that he identified himself with her party during the first
years of his ministry. When the divorce had been secured, and Henry had
been declared Supreme Head of the Church of England; when the love which
Anne had once enjoyed had been transferred to Jane Seymour, and Cromwell
saw that to favour the cause of the unhappy Queen in opposition to the
King might mean ruin and disgrace, he deserted her at once.
Nor can the fact that Cromwell’s name figures prominently in connexion
with the publication of the Ten Articles of 1536 be justly urged as a
reason for ascribing to him any real devotion to the cause of
Protestantism. Now that the severance from Rome was complete, the King
and his minister saw that a definition of the faith of the Church of
England had become necessary, in order that the unity of the new
ecclesiastical system might be preserved. The Ten Articles of 1536 were
adopted to make good this deficiency. Circumstances had rendered them
inevitable, and the fact that Cromwell presented them to Convocation,
and signed them first of all the members proves nothing, except perhaps
the importance of his ecclesiastical office. The Ten Articles declared
the Bible and the three Creeds to be the only Rule of Faith: Penance,
Baptism, and the Eucharist were kept as sacraments: the veneration of
saints, soliciting of their intercession, use of images, and the usual
ceremonies in the service, though still held to be highly profitable,
and as such worthy to be retained, were pronounced in themselves
powerless to justify the soul[265]. But though the main aim of these
Articles was doubtless to preserve the integrity of the Church of
England at home, the time and circumstances under which they were
published seem to indicate that they were also intended to serve a
purpose abroad. We shall hear of them in this connexion in another
chapter.
Cromwell’s zeal for the publication of the Bible in English, and also
his injunctions to the clergy[266], must in the same way be attributed
to political rather than to religious motives. He saw what a powerful
weapon the Bible had become in the hands of the German Reformers, and
soon succeeded in forcing Convocation, on December 19, 1534, to present
a petition to the King for the suppression of treasonable books in the
vulgar tongue, and for a translation of the Scriptures into
English[267]. Less than two years later Cromwell’s efforts were rewarded
by the appearance of an edition of the Scriptures patched together ‘out
of Douche[268] and Latyn’ by his friend Miles Coverdale. There seems to
have been a very general impression current that all passages which
might have been interpreted in favour of Katherine, had purposely been
rendered in the opposite sense[269]. But this version was soon destined
to be superseded. The following year witnessed the appearance of the
edition which is usually known as Matthew’s Bible, and which consisted
of a combination of the translations of Tyndale and Coverdale. It
received the official sanction of Cromwell and Cranmer, but its life was
almost as short as that of its predecessor. In the autumn of 1537
Grafton and Whitchurch, two London printers whose names had been
connected with the previous editions, received a licence from the King
to publish a new version of the Bible at Paris, where the facilities for
carrying on their trade were better than in England[270]. At first the
work seems to have progressed with great success, and in September,
1538, the King’s minister, in anticipation of its speedy completion,
issued injunctions that a copy of it should be placed in every church at
the cost of the parson and the parishioners, and that no one was to be
discouraged from reading it: he advised, however, that ‘the explication
of obscure plac_es_’ be referred ‘to men of higher iugement in
scripture[271].’ But Cromwell was a little premature with his
injunctions. An unforeseen event occurred, which made the immediate
publication of the new edition impossible. The Royal Inquisition had
apparently got wind of the doings of Grafton and Whitchurch at Paris,
and just as the task was approaching completion, they and all their
subordinates, and the French printer at whose house the work was being
carried on, were suddenly cited to appear before the Inquisitor-General
for the realm of France[272]. The Englishmen made haste to escape,
without even waiting to collect the implements of their trade or the
Bibles that had already been printed. Cromwell, on hearing of the
disaster, went with a piteous tale to the French ambassador, telling him
that he himself had contributed 600 marks towards the publication of the
Bible in Paris, and begging him to ask his master to permit the work to
be continued there, or at least to allow the copies already finished to
be sent to England safely, and not to suffer the Inquisition to
confiscate them. But Francis replied that good things might be printed
in England as well as in France, but that bad things should never be
permitted to be printed in Paris, and he further refused to deliver up
the copies already completed. He was unable, however, to prevent the
final accomplishment of the work in London in 1539[273]. The new
version, commonly known as the Great Bible, was the last authorized
translation completed in the reign of Henry VIII., but apparently great
efforts had to be made to prevent the publication of unlicensed
editions. It was not long before a royal commission was issued to
Cromwell, commanding him, in order to avoid diversity of translations,
to see that no man printed any English Bible during the next five years
except persons deputed by himself[274].
Perhaps the strongest point of Cromwell’s domestic administration was
his financial policy. He never forgot the promise he had made on
entering the King’s service to make Henry ‘the richest king that ever
was in England,’ for he was shrewd enough to see that a full treasury
was the first essential to the attainment of the larger aim of his
policy, the establishment of a royal despotism. He skilfully contrived
that many of the measures of the earlier years of his ministry,
primarily intended to cut the bonds which held England to Rome, should
also serve to increase the wealth of the Crown. The most noteworthy and
successful of these measures was the abolition of the Annates. There can
be little doubt that it was through Cromwell’s agency that a
supplication was addressed to the King early in the year 1532[275]
urging him to arrest the payment of First Fruits to the Papacy: ‘bokes
of annates’ and remembrances concerning them are to be found in large
numbers among the minister’s letters and papers[276], and the petition
by which the measure to abolish the First Fruits was initiated was a
method especially characteristic of him, reminding us in many respects
of the way in which the independence of the clergy had been attacked but
a short time before. But the King was very cautious in granting the
request, which had thus been laid before him. He had not yet given up
all hope of a peaceful solution of his difficulty with the Pope, and was
not yet prepared, as Cromwell was, openly to defy the Holy See. So at
first he determined to try the effect of a threat. The immediate result
of Cromwell’s efforts was the passage in Parliament of an Act[277] which
abolished Annates, but preserved to the Holy See certain payments on
bulls obtained for the election of bishops: the ratification of this
statute by the Crown, however, was expressly withheld, and the Act
consequently remained inoperative, while a post was sent to Rome ‘to
frighten the Pope about the Annates[278].’ But this plan failed: Clement
refused to be terrorized into submission; the King became convinced that
a complete break was inevitable, and, in July, 1533, the Act was
ratified and declared in force by letters patent[279]. The following
year saw the passage of another statute, which abolished all the
payments preserved by the exceptions to the Act of 1532[280], and a
little later Parliament completed the work which Cromwell had forced it
to undertake by annexing the Annates to the Crown[281]. Supplementary to
these statutes was the Act concerning Peter’s Pence and
Dispensations[282], by which the Pope was deprived of all contributions
that had not already been arrested by the Acts about Annates. The use to
which the rescued funds were put is aptly described by a significant
‘remembrance’ of Cromwell’s to the effect that ‘thenhabitaunt_es_ and
peple of this realme shall pay yerely vnto the kyng for ever, in lieu
or stede of smoke pence, whiche they were wont to pay to the busshop of
rome, for eu_er_y hed or house a certayne small thyng for and toward_es_
the defense of thys Realme, whiche may be ymployed in makyng of
forteresses throughout the Realme[283].’ Another significant paragraph,
from a letter of Chapuys to Charles V., of Dec. 19, 1534, reads as
follows: ‘The King, besides the 30,000 pounds which he newly obtained
from the clergy, and an ordinary fifteenth from the laity, which was
granted him last year, and which may amount to 28,000 pounds, has just
imposed a tax by authority of Parliament, of the twentieth penny of all
the goods of his subjects, and that foreigners shall pay double, which
will amount to a great sum. These are devices of Cromwell, who boasts
that he will make his master more wealthy than all the other princes of
Christendom: and he does not consider that by this means he alienates
the hearts of the subjects, who are enraged and in despair, but they are
so oppressed and cast down, that without foreign assistance it is no use
their complaining, and it will not be Cromwell’s fault, if they are not
oppressed further[284].’
The King’s minister also appears to have been much occupied with the
coinage. He was constantly present at ‘assayes’ of gold and silver, and
further took active steps to stamp out the counterfeiters, of whom there
appear to have been a great number[285]. He caused a proclamation to be
issued ‘for the false and clipped Coyne going in this Realme with a
greate punyshment to euery person that is founde with any false or
counterfeit moneye.’ The systematic debasement of the currency that
disgraced the reign of Henry VIII. had begun under Wolsey, but appears
to have ceased entirely during Cromwell’s ministry: it began again after
Cromwell’s death, assuming far greater proportions than before, and
continued till the end[286]. That the King did not need to resort to
such costly methods of replenishing his treasury while Cromwell was in
power, bears eloquent testimony to the wisdom and success of his
minister’s finance. The latter’s efforts to prevent the ‘conveying of
coyne out of the realme’ shows that he saw the importance of securing
plenty of good coin for English trade, and that he did not want to
create an artificial cheapness. The statutes of Henry VII. forbidding
the export of precious metals had been renewed by his son in an Act
passed in 1511, but this law had run out in 1523, and from that time
onward there was no legal hindrance to the practice, though the statutes
enacted previous to Tudor times were still considered in force[287]. The
result was that the earlier laws began to be transgressed, and Cromwell,
in devising methods to prevent further infringements of them, hit upon
the expedient of a royal proclamation, as we have already had occasion
to notice.
Another most important measure passed during Cromwell’s ministry, was
the so-called Statute of Uses[288]. It was at the same time a legal and
a financial reform. In order to evade the common law, which prohibited
testamentary disposition of landed property and rendered it strictly
subject to primogeniture, the custom had long been prevalent that the
owner should name before or at his death certain persons to whose ‘use’
his lands should be held. These persons became to all intents and
purposes the true devisees; for though the trustee, or ‘feoffee to
uses,’ alone was recognized by the common law, the beneficiary or
‘cestui que use’ soon began to receive strong support through the
equitable jurisdiction of the Chancellor, and so was often able actually
to enforce claims which originally had rested merely on moral
obligation. This was the usual method of circumventing the laws of the
realm, in order to make provision by will for younger children. In this
particular it was perhaps legitimate, but at the same time it opened the
way to a great number of abuses, which are stated at length in the
preamble to the statute just mentioned. The chief of these were the
extraordinary complication of titles to land, which resulted from the
secret methods of devising it, and the loss to the King and the great
lords of the feudal dues on successions, wardships, and marriages. Two
ineffectual attempts had been made to remedy these evils in the reigns
of Richard III. and Henry VII.[289], and at Cromwell’s accession to
power the subject was brought up again. There is reason to think that
the Statute of Uses was under consideration as early as 1531, and the
main principle of it bears a close resemblance to the measure devised in
the reign of Richard III. A mention of it occurs in Cromwell’s
‘remembrances’ of the year 1535[290], but it was not finally passed
until 1536, probably on account of the popular opposition, which,
according to Chapuys, was very pronounced. The upshot of the statute
was, that all right to the estate was taken from the grantee to uses and
vested in the beneficiary, and the distinction between legal and
beneficial ownership was thus entirely destroyed. The ostensible tenant
was made in every case the legal tenant; those entitled to the use of
land became the actual holders of it. The Act further was intended to
abolish the right to create further uses in the future: the power of
disposing of interests in land by will was thus removed, and the King
was restored to the enjoyment of his ancient feudal dues.
Beyond the casual mention in his ‘remembrances[291]’ there is no precise
record of Cromwell’s connexion with this important measure. It is worthy
of note, however, that the attainments needed to plan and draft such a
statute were precisely those which Cromwell possessed in the very
highest degree--intimate knowledge of the law, and great shrewdness in
finance. The bold and effective way in which the measure struck at the
root of the evil, and caused the extra-legal practice which had grown up
to become its own ruin, is very characteristic of him. Furthermore,
Cromwell was certainly believed to be the originator of the measure by
the rebels in the Pilgrimage of Grace, which was partially caused by
it, and as such his death was demanded. It therefore seems highly
probable that it was he who devised this scheme in order to deal the
death blow to a very annoying practice of evading the law, and to enrich
the royal treasury. The statute, however, was not entirely successful in
attaining the ends at which it aimed, for by a strained interpretation
of the letter of the Act, the courts managed to evade the spirit of it,
so that it failed to do away with the old distinction between beneficial
and legal ownership, which it had been intended to destroy. In addition
to this, the popular outburst of indignation aroused by the Statute of
Uses was so strong that a few months before Cromwell’s death he saw the
actual right of at least partial testamentary disposition of landed
property obtained by the people. The Act concerning the willing of land
by testament[292], passed in the spring of 1540, gave to every tenant in
fee simple the right to bequeath at his pleasure all lands which he held
by socage tenure, and two-thirds of the lands which he held by
knight-service. The force of usage was such that when the King and
Cromwell attempted to abolish a practice, which had rendered the willing
of land possible under another name, the actual right to bequeath landed
property without circumventing the law was wrested from them.
The King was glad to entrust his capable adviser with the preservation
of that advantageous commercial position which had been won for England
through the masterful policy of Henry VII. Cromwell’s varied experience
in foreign markets and his intimate knowledge of all the details of the
wool-trade, which was by far the most important element of English
commerce, had taught him in his earlier years many lessons of which the
whole nation was to reap the benefit. In general his administration
witnessed but few departures from the highly successful commercial
policy inaugurated by the first Tudor. His aim was rather to strengthen
the advantages already gained, and to increase the security of English
commerce and industry against the competition of continental rivals,
than to attempt any radical innovations. The monopoly of the trade in
the Mediterranean which Venice had enjoyed in Lancastrian times, had
been a serious menace to the interests of the English merchants; but the
Italian wars had now almost totally deprived the Republic of that
prominent political position which she had occupied at the beginning of
the century, and with the loss of her national greatness her commercial
supremacy fell. The ancient privileges which had been granted to
Venetian merchants and galleys previous to Tudor times, had been
exchanged for a set of stringent enactments, which dealt a heavy blow to
her trade and shipping during the reign of Henry VII. Cromwell followed
the same policy, and further seized the favourable opportunity afforded
by Venice’s decline to foster the interests of English merchants in
other parts of the Mediterranean[293]. With the towns of the Hanseatic
League the case was slightly different. The extensive privileges the
merchants of the North German cities had enjoyed in earlier times, had
raised them to such a commanding position that the growth of English
commerce in the north was rendered well-nigh impossible. Henry VII.’s
aim had been to overthrow the supremacy of the Hanseatic League, by a
gradual withdrawal of the concessions which it had wrung from his
predecessors. The early part of his son’s reign had witnessed a
continuation of this wise policy, but during Cromwell’s ministry an
alliance which the threatening situation on the Continent had led
England to conclude with Lübeck, necessitated a temporary cessation of
the process of curtailing the privileges of the Hanse merchants[294].
But the loud outcries of the people against the destructive competition
of the Germans were sufficient to prevent Cromwell from making any
permanent stand in their favour. Political necessity alone had induced
him to postpone the complete withdrawal of their privileges: he knew
that the tendency of the times was irresistibly against the Hanseatic
towns, and he was perhaps the more willing to grant them a few temporary
concessions in that he realized that nothing could ever raise them again
to the position of dangerous rivals to English trade. His foresight was
justified by the event; the process which Henry VII. had begun was
completed by the fall of the Steelyard in the reign of Elizabeth. A more
difficult problem was presented by the Netherlands. England and the Low
Countries were commercially indispensable to each other; the English
wool-market in Flanders was the centre of the mercantile interests of
both nations. The merchants of the Netherlands, however, had contrived
to get the better of their English neighbours until the accession of the
house of Tudor; but the concessions which resulted from the temporary
removals of the English wool-mart from Antwerp to Calais by Henry VII.,
and the enormously advantageous commercial treaty which that King was
able to wring from the Archduke Philip when fortune had thrown the
latter into his hands in 1506, had completely altered the situation to
England’s profit[295]. The efforts of Henry VIII. and Wolsey had been
directed towards preserving the provisions of the agreement of 1506, the
validity of which the Netherlanders were of course unwilling to
acknowledge. Cromwell went further than this; his administration
witnessed not only the maintenance and increase of all the advantages
which his predecessor had secured, but also the discussion of a plan for
attaining complete commercial independence of the Low Countries, by
bringing home the English wool-mart to London[296]. This scheme was not
carried through, owing to the unwillingness of the King to offend the
Emperor; but the news of the proposals for it was soon known in the
Netherlands, and was not without its effect there. The merchants of the
Low Countries were greatly alarmed lest they should lose the English
trade, and instead of opposing every move which their rivals made, now
began to grant them all possible concessions. The Emperor’s dread of
alienating Henry also contributed to force them to adopt a more
conciliatory attitude than ever before, and it may be justly said that
at the close of Cromwell’s administration the mercantile relations of
England and the Netherlands were so regulated as to secure every
advantage for the former. Cromwell’s whole commercial policy was
strongly influenced by his desire to increase and improve English
shipping, especially at the last, when an invasion was threatened from
the Continent[297]. His ‘remembrances’ are filled with items for
appropriations for building and rigging vessels of various kinds, and
for making and improving harbours[298]. He did his utmost to clear the
Channel of pirates, and was diligent in writing letters to demand
restitution of goods taken from English merchants at sea[299]. In 1540
he caused an Act to be passed for the ‘maintenance of the navy[300]’:
one of its provisions restricted the privileges conferred on all foreign
merchants by a proclamation in the previous year[301] to those who
transported their wares in English ships.
Throughout Cromwell’s ‘remembrances’ occur countless minor items dealing
with miscellaneous questions of internal reform. Memoranda for the
building and improvement of roads and highways, for bettering the state
of the coast defences, and for the regulation of the rates of wages, are
especially numerous. In 1538 he aided Norfolk in suppressing a sort of
strike among the Wisbech shoemakers, who had agreed to stop work unless
their wages were raised from 15_d._ to 18_d._ per dozen boots
sewed[302]. It is perhaps unnecessary to state that this strike was
regarded as a revolt against authority, and that the masters gained an
easy victory over the men. Among Cromwell’s injunctions to the clergy in
1538 is an order to keep parish registers of births, marriages, and
deaths[303]. Apparently this measure was intensely unpopular, especially
in the south-west of England, where people seem to have got the notion
that ‘some charges more than hath been in time past shall grow to them
by this occasion of registering of these things[304].’ Precisely what
the immediate object of the injunction was it is difficult to say,
though there is little reason to think that the fears it aroused among
the people of Cornwall and Devonshire were realized. It has been
grudgingly applauded by one writer, and characterized as ‘an inadequate
attempt to supply the loss of the registers of various kinds which had
been kept by the monks[305]’; but its inadequacy, however great, might
well pass unmentioned, in the face of the many benefits which later
resulted from it. However unpopular the measure may have been at the
time, its author certainly deserves the thanks of posterity for
preserving a vast amount of valuable information which would otherwise
have been lost.
A few words remain to be added concerning Cromwell’s zeal for the
advancement of learning. As his political schemes had caused him
incidentally to take sides with the Reformation, his object was to
strengthen those who favoured the new religion and opposed Rome.
Education is necessary to reform; and Cromwell did not intend to leave
to ignorant men the task of carrying on the work he had begun. He
therefore took steps to see that the opportunities for learning were
improved. Among the injunctions which he issued to the clergy in
1536[306], is a clause providing for an increased number of exhibitions
at the schools and the Universities, ‘to thintent that lerned men maye
hereafter spring the more.’ His dealings with Oxford and Cambridge do
not seem to have been very important, although in June, 1535, he was
appointed Chancellor of the latter in place of Fisher. He appears to
have been much occupied in suppressing the various quarrels that
constantly took place between the students and the townspeople, and the
letters which he wrote to the Magistrates of Cambridge deal for the most
part with this problem[307]. In October, 1535, the King appointed him
Visitor to the University, and at the same time promulgated nine
injunctions in which he directed the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of
Cambridge to abandon the ‘frivolous questions and obscure glosses’ of
the schoolmen, to read and teach the Scriptures, and to swear to the
Royal Supremacy and the new Succession[308]. Henry’s minister, as
usual, was the instrument employed to see that the injunctions were
enforced. Of Cromwell’s relations to Oxford still less remains to be
said. There are letters from him concerning the admission of a President
of Magdalen in 1535[309], and the election of a Master of Balliol in
1539. The latter appears to have been a most disreputable character, and
Cromwell’s assertion that he was chosen without ‘any parcyalyte or
corruptyon’ was certainly false[310]. A very interesting but
comparatively well-known report from the pen of Dr. Layton gives us a
vivid picture of the state of the University in 1535, and tells of the
foundation of several new lectures at the various colleges[311].
As a reward for his success in the management of domestic affairs, the
King conferred on him the many dignities and titles which, in 1536,
marked the height of his power. He had been raised to the offices of
Privy Councillor, Master of the Jewels, Clerk of the Hanaper, and Master
of the King’s Wards in 1531 and 1532. The Chancellorship of the
Exchequer had followed in 1533. He became Principal Secretary to the
King in 1534, Master of the Rolls in the same year, Vicar-general and
Visitor-general of the Monasteries in January, 1535, Lord Privy Seal,
Vicegerent of the King in Spirituals[312] in July, 1536. He was also
created Baron Cromwell of Okeham in the same month, and Knight of the
Garter in August, 1537. During the last seven years of his ministry he
was granted no less than nineteen minor offices, through which his
income must have been very greatly increased[313]. Just prior to the
outbreak of the Pilgrimage of Grace, Cromwell’s position was almost that
of a despot. He was supreme in Convocation, Privy Council, and
Parliament; he enjoyed paramount authority in the direction of internal
affairs, and next to the King was by far the most important man in the
realm.
A letter of Chapuys in the summer of 1536[314], soon after Anne Boleyn’s
execution, tells us that it was even rumoured that Cromwell might marry
the Princess Mary, but the Imperial ambassador himself was too shrewd to
be misled by such an improbable report[315]. Had Cromwell seriously
entertained the idea of a union with the daughter of the divorced Queen,
he would scarcely have permitted himself to be made use of by the King
as an instrument for breaking down her resolution: he could scarcely
have written her such a brutal letter as that of June 10, 1536[316]. But
the inequality in rank is certainly in itself sufficient proof of the
absurdity of the proposition. Cromwell was about the last man in the
world to become reckless with success; he never for a moment forgot his
low birth, and the imprisonment of the brother of his rival the Duke of
Norfolk for presuming to wed the King’s niece was a warning of the
danger of such a proceeding, which could not have been lost on him[317].
If such a proposition were put forward at all, and we cannot believe
that it was, it could only have been as a pretext to prevent the
Princess from leaving the realm and joining with her cousin the Emperor
in an attempt to dethrone the King.
Cromwell was certainly shrewd enough to see that he could never hope to
marry into a reigning house himself, but he was none the less anxious
that his son Gregory should wed such a wife as would enable him to found
a noble family. In April, 1533, Gregory had been taken from Cambridge,
and sent to live with his father’s friend Dr. Rowland Lee, with whom he
appears to have spent a summer in hunting[318]. In 1535 he came out into
public life, and in 1539 he was summoned to Parliament as a peer of the
realm. Two years earlier he had been able to contract an advantageous
marriage with the widow of Sir Anthony Ughtred, sister of Jane
Seymour[319]. This fortunate match must be attributed to his father’s
influence, for Gregory seems to have been entirely without ambition, and
such an idea would never have entered his mind; his father, on the
contrary, was precisely the man to think of it. The number of grants
either made jointly to Cromwell and his son, or providing for the
succession of the latter at his father’s death[320], corroborates the
theory that the King’s great minister wished Gregory to be the heir of
all his possessions and emoluments as far as might be, and desired to
raise his family to a permanent position among the English nobility.
Of course Cromwell was obliged in large measure to abandon his private
business after he definitely entered the King’s service, but his new
position brought him far greater riches than he could possibly have
amassed in his old occupations. The various inventories of his goods
indicate great wealth and prosperity. He gave costly New Year’s
presents at the Court, and owned several houses, all of them
magnificently furnished[321]. After October, 1534, when he was made
Master of the Rolls, his correspondence shows him to have been
constantly in residence at the Rolls House, where he held his Court.
Writing in 1535, the Prioress of Little Marlowe complained that so great
was the crowd of his visitors there, that it was impossible to gain
access to him[322].
CHAPTER VIII
IRELAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, CALAIS
Though Cromwell was so busily occupied in England itself, he was far
from neglecting the adjoining countries. The subjugation of Ireland, the
pacification of Scotland, and the reform of Wales and Calais, played a
very important part in his political programme. He plainly saw that the
English King’s position could not be regarded as secure while these
countries remained in the state in which they were at Wolsey’s fall, and
he determined as soon as possible to deal with them in such a way that
they should cease to be a menace to the English Crown in the future.
When he entered the King’s service he probably found little difficulty
in persuading Henry that, in order firmly to establish his supremacy, he
must take Ireland in hand as he had never done before. Throughout
Wolsey’s administration the tranquillity of the country had been
continually disturbed by the feuds of two rival Anglo-Norman families,
the Fitzgeralds under the Earl of Kildare, and the Butlers under the
Earl of Ormond. To repress these quarrels the Cardinal had taken the
office of Lord Deputy from the young Earl of Kildare, and created the
Earl of Surrey Lord Lieutenant. After a year’s hard service in Ireland,
however, Surrey was recalled at his own request, and the Deputyship
devolved on Sir Piers Butler. He in turn was forced to resign his office
to his rival Kildare, who passed it on to Sir William Skeffington of
Leicestershire, just at the time of Wolsey’s fall[323].
The affairs of Ireland had naturally been thrown into confusion by these
numerous changes, and Cromwell became convinced that subjugation by the
sword was absolutely essential, before any attempt could be made to
govern the country, or to draw revenues from it. This policy brought
him into collision with his rival Norfolk, but he seems to have
succeeded in convincing the King of the superiority of his plan to that
of the Duke, whose idea had been to conciliate the Irish chieftains, and
to pacify rather than subjugate the country[324].
During his first two years in the King’s service, Cromwell was so busy
in establishing the Royal Supremacy, that he could not pay much
attention to Irish affairs. The three years of Skeffington’s
administration, moreover, appear to have been fairly quiet. In 1532,
however, a change came. The Earl of Kildare, by craftily misrepresenting
Skeffington’s doings at the English Court, secured the latter’s recall,
and obtained for himself the post of Lord Deputy for the third
time[325]. On regaining the coveted office, however, he returned to
Ireland, and instead of following out the King’s instructions, proceeded
to stir up his adherents into open rebellion, and neglected the English
at Dublin. Unmindful of his ‘hole duetie to the Kingis Highnes,’ he used
the royal authority deputed to him, ‘as a cloke or habyte to cover his
cruele persecutions, mynding utterly to extynguyshe the fame and honor
of any other noble man within that lande[326].’ It is possible that he
thus served Henry’s and Cromwell’s ultimate purpose of subjugation
better than he knew, as he certainly weakened the power of many of the
wildest clans, who hated the English rule as much as his. But his use to
the Crown in this direction, if it amounted to anything, was only
temporary, and things became ripe for his dismissal. Continual
complaints of him reached the King and Cromwell. Dublin was almost the
only place in the country, which remained perfectly loyal to England.
The neighbouring tribes were so hostile, that the citizens were hard put
to it for food, and its inhabitants almost perished from starvation.
John Deythyke, a priest, wrote sarcastically to a friend in the autumn
of 1533, that although it was the custom to refrain from meat on
Wednesdays as well as Fridays, provisions were so scarce that people
had become more devout still, and abstained also on Sundays, Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays. ‘This is a very sore abstenaunce ... the
country is so quiett that they dare nott ryde one myle owte of the
towne, to by any maner of vytteyles; and they make there complaynt to
the Deputie and the wynde hath blowen hym soo in the erys that he can
nott here them. But yt is a comon sayinge “whoo is so defe as he that
lyst not to here[327].”’ Things went on from bad to worse, and finally
John Alen, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was sent over by the Council
there to report Kildare’s doings at the English Court, and further to
submit to the King a set of articles for the reformation of the abuses
which had become prevalent in the country[328]. Alen finally succeeded
in procuring Kildare’s recall; and the Deputy arrived in London in
April, 1534, having left his eldest son, Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, in his
place. Efforts were made to induce the young man to come to England
also; and when he persistently refused to put himself into the King’s
hands, his father was arrested and sent to the Tower. These vigorous
measures, according to Chapuys, were due to Cromwell; they were the
beginnings of his policy of subjugation[329].
The arrest of Kildare, coupled with a premature report of his death, set
half Ireland aflame, and his son, making up a slight quarrel he had had
with his kinsmen the Desmonds threw off his allegiance. All the English
were ordered out of the Geraldines’ land before a certain day. The
Archbishop of Dublin attempted to flee the country, but encountering a
storm, was driven back on the Irish coast, fell into young Thomas’
hands, and was murdered with most of his following[330]. A formidable
revolt against the royal authority was evidently pending. Henry and
Cromwell were seriously alarmed, and the extraordinary popularity of the
rebellion among the people in England, who, as Chapuys said, thought it
‘a very good beginning to remedy matters at home,’ greatly increased
their fears[331]. Cromwell had to bear the brunt of all the blame, and
the Duke of Norfolk seized the opportunity to speak ill of his
successful rival. According to Chapuys, the Duke had ‘left the Court to
be away when the affairs of Ireland were discussed, and this out of
disdain that the King despised his advice, and at the suggestion of
Cromwell and Skeffington had ill-treated the earl of Kildare, and ruined
the affairs of Ireland. On this subject the Duke and Cromwell had
reproached each other with many things ... which shows the ill-will they
have borne each other a long time, however much they have dissembled
it[332].’ But Norfolk’s efforts to undermine the influence of his rival
were as yet unavailing. The time for pacific measures had now passed;
Henry would have been only too glad to grant Kildare peace on any terms,
but the latter refused every offer. Skeffington, who was Cromwell’s
friend, was sent over again as Deputy to quell the rebellion. After many
delays he crossed on the 14th of October, with troops which the King had
secretly raised for him[333].
Meantime the rebels had gained a decisive victory, and were just outside
the walls of Dublin. Piteous entreaties from the inhabitants, begging
him to come to the relief of the beleaguered city, reached Skeffington,
and after some delay he advanced. His arrival made the rebels retreat,
but instead of pursuing them vigorously, and striking a telling blow, he
remained at Dublin, and wasted time in trying to get a sentence of
excommunication passed against the murderers of Archbishop Alen[334].
But in spite of the Deputy’s dallying inefficiency, the superiority of
Cromwell’s policy to Norfolk’s was destined to be made evident by
succeeding events. A new complication in Irish affairs arose when young
Kildare, taking advantage of Skeffington’s inactivity, sent an embassy
to the Emperor, promising to hold Ireland as a fief of the Holy See, on
condition that he would offer him protection against the English
schismatics[335]. An ambassador, Dominick Power by name, was sent by
Charles to Ireland and Scotland, but Henry soon discovered it, and
complained[336]; Charles was not quite ready as yet to do anything
active in aid of the rebels, and so the affair came to nothing.
Meantime, at the request of Cromwell, Skeffington was induced to shake
off his apathy, leave Dublin and Drogheda, and move after the
rebels[337]. The Lord Privy Seal’s boast that the young Kildare would
soon be a prisoner in the Tower, was not as empty as Chapuys thought.
Maynooth Castle, a rebel stronghold, was besieged and taken[338]; many
rebels were executed, others fell away from Kildare, the young Earl
finally surrendered, and was sent a prisoner to London. Two years later
he was hanged with five uncles at Tyburn[339]. With his surrender other
chieftains came to terms; many districts became comparatively quiet, and
by the end of 1535 Ireland seemed further on the road to tranquillity
than she had been for some time. This was a significant triumph for
Cromwell’s policy over that of Norfolk, and did much to increase his
influence with the King. On the last day of December, 1535, Skeffington
died, and Lord Leonard Grey was made Deputy in his place[340].
Before Cromwell could hope to derive much benefit from Ireland, it was
necessary to establish some sort of government in the country, as well
as to subjugate it. To this intent, Lord Grey summoned a Parliament,
which met at Dublin in the spring of 1536[341]. Its first act was to
pass a bill securing the succession of Anne Boleyn’s issue: the report
of this came to Cromwell in London in June, two weeks after Anne’s
execution[342]. He must have been somewhat puzzled, when he heard the
news; events were moving so rapidly, that even an ‘ordered’ Parliament
could not keep pace with them. He finally wrote back that in case the
act for the succession was not ‘passed thoroughly’ they were to ‘staye
the same tyl further knowleage of his grac_es_ pleasure[343].’ It was
too late, however, to do this; but when the report came that Anne had
been executed, and that Jane Seymour had become Queen, the Parliament
was ready enough at once to rescind the old statute, and pass a new one
in favour of the issue of Henry’s third wife. Later there were enacted a
series of measures to loosen the bonds that held the Irish Church to
Rome[344], and George Browne, Provincial of the Austin Friars, who had
already made himself useful in forcing the oath of succession on his
brethren in the south of England, was nominated in 1535, by Cromwell’s
influence, to succeed Alen as Archbishop of Dublin. The Deputy meantime
carried on the subjugation steadily and consistently in the wilder
portions of the country.
Everything in Ireland was now proceeding to the complete satisfaction of
Henry and Cromwell, except the finances. Few could equal Cromwell’s
ideal, or satisfy Henry’s avarice in this respect. Ireland had never
paid its expenses before; and it was largely in the hope of deriving
revenue from a land which had hitherto been only a burden, that the King
and his minister had undertaken to subjugate it. A letter from Henry to
the Deputy and Council in 1537 blames them for taking excessive fees,
thinking only of private gain, and not taking care of the royal
income[345]. To remedy this Cromwell appointed and sent over
Commissioners, who were ordered to try to reduce expenses and increase
revenue, and, to this end, to inquire into the conduct of every royal
officer in Ireland, learn all the particulars of the local government,
and cut down the retinue of the Deputy and Treasurer to 340 men[346]. In
the list of Commissioners occurs the name of William Brabazon
(Cromwell’s old friend and fellow servant under Wolsey), who later
attained a very important position in Irish affairs. The extant letters
of Cromwell to the Commissioners deal for the most part with the
adjustment of petty land claims. The most interesting of them is the one
concerning the policy to be pursued towards ‘that traytor Bryan
Oconor[347].’
There are significant depositions against some of these Commissioners
who dared to murmur at Cromwell’s notorious accessibility to bribes,
which seems to have been more noticeable in his dealings with Ireland
than anywhere else. He appears to have received enormous sums from the
rich and powerful family of the Butlers, kinsmen of Anne Boleyn and of
the Duke of Norfolk, in return for a promise to protect their castles
from the search of the royal agents. There was a great deal of
discontent among the Commissioners on account of his rapacity, and
though they openly flattered him, they continually spoke ill of him
behind his back. ‘My Lorde Pryvee Seale hathe wrought to his awne
confusion and dethe,’ said one, ‘and of late tyme was veray nere the
same, and escapid veray narrowly ... noo lorde or gentilman in Englande
berith love or favor to my Lorde Pryvee Seale by cause he is soo great a
taker of money, for he woll speke, solicite, or doo for noo man, but all
for money.... I wold not be in his case for all that ever he hathe, for
the King beknaveth him twice a weke, and sometyme knocke him well aboute
the pate; and yet when he hathe bene well pomeld about the hedde, and
shaken up, as it were a dogge, he will come out into the great chambre,
shaking of the bushe with as mery a countenaunce as thoughe he mought
rule all the roste[348].’ We may well believe that Henry was willing
that Cromwell should make some private gains, provided he brought money
to the royal treasury as well.
The subjugation of the country, however, had not yet been thoroughly
accomplished. Though 1537 was comparatively quiet, the following year
witnessed a fresh outbreak. Taking advantage of the precarious condition
of England’s foreign affairs at the time, young Gerald, brother of the
late Earl of Kildare, and heir to his power, stirred up various
chieftains, and baffled all the attempts of the Deputy to lure him into
the King’s hands. Letters for aid were written to the Pope and to
Cardinal Pole, and were sent by a certain monk, as the safest means of
transmitting them to their destination[349]. The monk sailed from
Scotland in a French ship, which was blown ashore on the English coast
at South Shields; the messenger was captured, and the letter
intercepted[350]. In September, 1539, there were several skirmishes
between the various forces of the rebels and the Deputy; but the latter
was generally victorious, and another crisis was tided over[351]. Young
Gerald was forced to flee into Brittany, and the rebels were left
without a leader. The Deputy, Lord Grey, appears to have become very
unpopular during his term of service, however, and in the spring of 1540
he was recalled[352], on the accusations of violence to the King’s
Council, extortion, injustice, and maintaining the King’s enemies.
Affairs were in a bad state after he left; Scotch intrigues, even an
invasion of the country by James, were rumoured[353], and Sir William
Brereton, who temporarily filled Grey’s place, had a very hard time.
Grey was finally condemned and executed a year after Cromwell’s fall,
and Sir Anthony St. Leger, ‘the discreet,’ who had been the Chief of
Commissioners of 1537, was sent over as Deputy in 1541[354].
It may be said that from 1534 until his fall, Cromwell was the virtual
ruler of Ireland. His significant triumph over Norfolk and his policy of
pacification, mark the beginning of his influence. From that time onward
the King left to him the entire direction of Irish affairs; he appointed
the officers, regulated the revenues, and in short managed everything
connected with the country until 1540. From the instructions which the
Commissioners received in 1537, we gather that the main object of the
Crown was to get a revenue from Ireland, and the plan which Cromwell
pursued in order to attain this end is noteworthy, in that it differed
so entirely from his policy in all the rest of England’s dependencies.
Realizing that the country was worse than useless to the King, while it
remained in the state in which it was when he came into power, he saw
that it was so wild and disorganized, that subjugation by force would be
possible and profitable, if attempted vigorously, and in time. He
therefore pursued a most aggressive policy, which in Scotland, for
instance, where the conditions were so different, he would never have
dared to adopt.
In Wales he was confronted with a problem of a very different nature.
What was needed there was thorough legal reform. The country was not
large enough to render an insurrection there very formidable, but the
wild and lawless state of the Welsh Marches, which afforded
hiding-places for criminals of all kinds, was a source of much evil. One
Thomas Philips wrote to Cromwell in May, 1532[355], that the whole
country was in great decay, and that the King’s representatives there
took fines for felony and murder, and used the money for their own
purposes; he begged that such a council might soon be established in
Wales, that the best officer should ‘quake,’ if found in fault. The
Bishop of Exeter, who was President of the Marches, was an inefficient
ruler and took no pains to remedy the existing evils. The crimes of
making and uttering counterfeit money seem to have been extremely
common[356]. Cromwell saw that it was high time measures were taken to
rectify this lawlessness, and his ‘remembrances’ are full of items for
the reform of Wales. He replaced the Bishop of Exeter by his own friend
Rowland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, who in his younger days
had served with him under Wolsey[357]. Lee’s energetic and business-like
methods rendered him a fit man for the place, and he set about
reorganizing and reforming Wales in earnest. It was probably at his
instance that Cromwell devised several Acts, passed in the Parliament of
1534, to establish justice and maintain order[358]. As the King’s writ
did not run in Wales, it was next to impossible to get a case fairly
heard there; so Royal Commissioners were sent thither, with authority to
punish crimes and felonies (which were to be tried in the next English
court), and to establish Justices of the Peace. Chapuys, in a letter
written in December, 1535, describes the distress of the Welsh at these
measures as incredible, saying that Parliament ‘has just taken away
their native laws, customs, and privileges, which is the very thing they
can endure least patiently[359].’ He further states that the Welsh were
violently in favour of the cause of Katherine and Mary, and longed for
an opportunity to declare themselves. A rising was probably prevented by
the fact that the King himself was of Welsh descent. Cromwell was
exceedingly active in his endeavours to stamp out all sedition of this
sort, and was ably seconded by Lee, who, when the clergy in 1535 were
required to preach in favour of the Royal Supremacy, and against the
power of the Pope, declared himself ready to ride into his diocese in
his own person and carry out the decree, though, as he confessed, he had
never before been in a pulpit[360]. But Lee adopted other measures to
extirpate sedition, far more vigorous than preaching in favour of the
Royal Supremacy; he never failed to enforce his words by deeds. He hung
and beheaded offenders and criminals right and left, and sent full
reports of his doings to Cromwell, who must have rejoiced to find an
agent whose energy corresponded so closely to his own[361].
But in spite of Lee’s goodwill, the state of Wales was not satisfactory,
until Cromwell’s great statute of 1535 was passed[362]. By this Act,
Wales was formally declared to be incorporated with England, to be
entitled to the same privileges, and to be subject to the same laws. The
Marches were declared to be in disorder, and were annexed or divided
into shires. The King was further empowered by the Act to erect courts
in Wales every five years. These fundamental reforms laid the basis for
an entirely new method of administration of justice there, and the
country henceforth ceased to cause anxiety to its prince.
In striking contrast to Cromwell’s vigorous policy in Ireland and Wales,
was his conciliatory attitude towards Scotland. The strength and
proximity of this country, and the weak defences of the northern marches
of England, were a constant source of alarm, which was rather increased
than diminished by Henry’s strained relations with those continental
powers who were on the best of terms with James. It was obvious that in
case of a foreign invasion of England from the Continent, the enmity of
Scotland would be the only thing lacking, to render disaster certain. It
is also not improbable that an attack from the north would have been
welcomed by some of Henry’s more disaffected subjects. In his speech in
the Parliament of 1523 Cromwell had advocated a policy of unification
with Scotland: from this principle he never departed, but he saw that it
was now no time to gain his ends by force. He therefore adopted a
pacificatory attitude towards Scotland at the opening of his ministry,
and consistently followed it until the end. He began by persuading his
master to make every effort to strengthen the rather precarious truce
which, owing to French mediation, had been concluded between the
Commissioners of the two countries upon the Borders, Oct. 1, 1533[363].
Anxious to show all possible courtesy to the Scottish delegates who were
finally sent to London to open negotiations, the King prepared for them
a house, which had been occupied by the Grand Master of France, and,
contrary to his custom with most ambassadors, supplied it with choice
wines and provisions[364]. The Scots were not slow to realize the
strength of their position, and in proportion as Henry’s desire to
conclude a permanent peace increased, their movements grew more and more
deliberate. After long delays, which exasperated the King greatly, an
alliance was finally made, to continue during the joint lives of the two
sovereigns, and one year longer. During the two following years Henry
continued his pacific policy by making James a Knight of the Garter, and
by sending an embassy to induce him to abandon the Pope. The latter plan
was doubtless a suggestion of Cromwell’s; a mention of the ambassadors
Barlow and Howard occurs in his ‘remembrances,’ and Barlow later wrote
him continual reports of his progress. The mission was unsuccessful in
attaining its purpose; but there were no signs that James’ leaning to
Rome would render him an active enemy of England[365].
The year 1537 brought with it new developments of Scottish policy. James
had gone abroad to marry Madeleine of Valois, an alliance highly
displeasing to Henry, after all his efforts to counteract his nephew’s
tendency to lean upon the goodwill of Francis. The King proceeded to
express his vexation in an emphatic manner, and, contrary to the advice
of his Council, refused to permit James to return to Scotland from
France through England[366]. James’ marriage and Henry’s outspoken wrath
stultified all Cromwell’s efforts to bring about a cordial personal
feeling and a lasting peace between the two sovereigns. The Scots’ King
was forced to travel by sea; but events took place on the voyage which
filled Henry with suspicion. Twelve Englishmen boarded the Scottish ship
when it touched at Scarborough for provisions, welcomed James, and
promised their aid if he invaded England. This episode was repeated at
another town further north, and it was even reported that the Scottish
King had boasted, that if he lived a year longer, ‘he would himself
break a spear on one Englishman’s breast[367].’ Such incidents must have
been unpleasant, coming as they did just after a serious northern revolt
had with difficulty been quelled, and while the Borders were still in a
wild and lawless state. But any thoughts James may have entertained of
an invasion were interrupted by the sudden death of his young French
Queen. Henry perhaps had hoped that his nephew would come to him with
offers of peace and a petition for the hand of the Princess Mary, but,
if so, he was rudely disappointed. In October it was announced that
James was engaged to marry a second French wife, Mary of Guise[368]; and
though Henry, at that time a widower, made every effort to prevent the
match by putting himself forward as a rival to his nephew, his proposals
were courteously set aside[369]. That the King of France should have
distinctly preferred a Scottish to an English alliance when the choice
lay open, stung Henry to the quick; but he was quite aware that he could
not afford just then to quarrel with Francis or James, and he may have
regretted that he had not taken his minister’s advice to conciliate the
latter. The history of Henry’s relations with his nephew from this time
until Cromwell’s fall, yields ample proof of the complete triumph of the
English minister’s pacificatory policy. Attempts made in the past to
stir up Border jealousies were completely abandoned, and England seemed
almost suspiciously desirous to show every courtesy to her troublesome
northern neighbour. A letter of Cromwell to Sir Thomas Wharton[370],
deputy Warden of the West Marches, directs him to hand over to the
Scottish officers an arrant traitor who had made his escape to England,
even if the Scots failed to ‘doo the semblable.’ Actions as gracious as
this were a new thing on the Borders: the usual policy in the past had
been for each nation to give shelter to the outlaws who had fled to it
from the other. The news that David Beton, Abbot of Arbroath, had been
raised by the Pope to the cardinalate and was working at the Scottish
Court in the interests of Rome, made Henry still more anxious to
preserve friendship with his nephew, and to preclude all chances of his
being induced to join a continental league against England[371]. So in
January, 1540, we find him sending Ralph Sadler, Cromwell’s old friend,
to James, to counteract, if possible, the effect of the visit of
Beton[372]. By the capture of certain letters in a Scottish ship which
had been wrecked on the Northumbrian coast, Henry had been furnished
with the means of misrepresenting the objects of the Cardinal at his
nephew’s Court. Sadler was instructed to hint that Beton was plotting to
usurp all the authority of the King of Scotland, and to advise James to
be on his guard. The ambassador was further directed to conciliate the
Scottish King by a present of six geldings, to assure him of Henry’s
friendship, and to suggest that James augment his revenue by
suppressing the monasteries in his kingdom as his uncle had done in
England. Finally Sadler was to represent to the Scots’ King the
advantages of an alliance with England over one with France, and to
request him to ponder on the desirability of eradicating the ancient
enmity of the two peoples, especially in view of the fact that he might
some day himself succeed to his uncle’s crown. The result of the mission
taken as a whole was satisfactory. Though James refused to accede to any
of Henry’s more definite requests, and would not listen to any proposals
to abolish the old religion or to suppress the monasteries, he still
assured Sadler that no alliance he made on the Continent would lead him
to break with England, and further enlarged on the benefits that would
result from a meeting with his uncle, though he puzzled the envoy by
suggesting that Francis should also be present[373]. The mission of
Sadler marks the last stage of the relations of England and Scotland
during Cromwell’s ministry; and the fact that war between the two
countries broke out so soon after his fall, furnishes a final reason for
believing that it was by the able and unceasing efforts of the Privy
Councillor that an open rupture was so long averted.
Lastly, a few words remain to be said on the subject of the government
of Calais. If the name of that town were graven on the heart of Mary
Tudor at her death, from the grief which its loss during her reign
caused her, it must have been also graven upon the minds of her father
and his minister, from the trouble its maintenance gave them during the
last seven years of the latter’s power. In March, 1533, Arthur
Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, was nominated successor to that learned
soldier, Lord Berners, as Deputy there, and took the oaths at the town,
on the 10th of June[374]. The choice was certainly unfortunate, and
Lisle’s unfitness for his new position was destined soon to be made
evident. He seems to have been a man completely lacking in the qualities
necessary for a good ruler of such a place as Calais was in those days:
he possessed small discrimination in judging what things he could deal
with by his own authority, and what things it was necessary to report to
head quarters. Hence there are many mild rebukes among Cromwell’s
letters to him[375], in some of which he chides him for bothering the
King about such a trivial thing as a private quarrel between two minor
officials in Calais, while in others he ‘mervayles not a litel’ that he
should be so negligent as not to make immediate report of sacrilegious
preaching. Calais was by no means an easy post to manage; Henry and
Cromwell kept its officers and garrison exceedingly short of money; the
soldiers wrangled and mutinied, and religious conferences amongst the
townspeople sometimes took most violent forms, and not seldom resulted
in dangerous riots. Placed as a sort of spy on the movements of Francis
and the Emperor, in a town, the government of which on a small scale
presented all the difficulties of that of a great kingdom, the Deputy
was in a position which demanded resources greater than his own.
The first part of Lisle’s administration seems to have been
comparatively uneventful. Cromwell, always keenly alive to the necessity
of having the country in an adequate state of defence, at once caused
him to repair all breaches in the ramparts, a task which Lisle set about
without competent men or supplies; and the immediate result of his
ill-judged attempts to lay a new foundation for one of his walls was the
fall of the small part of the old fortification which was yet
standing[376]. Lisle was of course continually busied in preventing his
neighbours, French and Flemish, from meddling with the King’s Pale,
especially throughout the year 1536, when the war between Francis and
the Emperor broke out afresh[377]. He tried to keep the town well
victualled and in good defence, and was zealous to do as he was bidden
by Cromwell, though seldom successful, for he lacked ability. After 1537
he was confronted with a new and more difficult problem.
In the spring of 1538, Cranmer heard that there were seven or eight
persons in Calais, who manifestly denied Christ. His Commissary there,
John Butler, asserted that this report was false, but in a later epistle
advised the Archbishop that there were three papists in the town, who
slandered those who applied themselves to God’s word; the letter went on
to suggest that Cromwell be requested to write to Lisle to have them
punished[378]. The minister, however, had heard of the existence of
‘certayn Sacramentaryes’ or deniers of transubstantiation there, before
this report arrived, and had written the Deputy a severe reproof for not
informing him about them[379]. The state of foreign affairs at that
moment was such as to render it indispensable for the King to preserve
the appearance of being zealous for orthodoxy, and he had called on his
efficient minister to aid him in his attempts to extirpate heretical
doctrines. The rebuke which the latter had administered to the Deputy
seems in this case to have been undeserved, for Lisle, who apparently
was more on the watch than usual this time, had certainly sent home
information about the Sacramentaries before he received Cromwell’s
epistle: the two letters perhaps crossed on the way. That of the Deputy
reported the arrival in Calais of a young English priest, lately come
from Germany, who had uttered opinions about the Eucharist which the
King would not tolerate, and which had shocked the good people of Calais
beyond measure. This young priest can have been none other than Adam
Damplip, originally a strong papist, who (according to Foxe) had been
chaplain to Fisher, and at the Cardinal’s execution had left England and
travelled in France, Germany, and Italy. His sojourn in foreign lands
must have altered his opinions completely, for when he came to Calais
his doctrines were so ‘advanced’ and heretical, that as a result of a
warning of Cromwell’s, in his letter to Lisle of May 14[380], a decree
was made out by the Council of the town that Butler, the Commissary who
had given Damplip licence to preach, would be held responsible for any
false opinions that the priest expressed[381].
Determined as he was to extirpate unlawful and treasonable doctrines
both at home and abroad, Cromwell was too much absorbed in the
maintenance of his foreign policy, and the prevention of the pressing
dangers which threatened the country from without, to pay much attention
to Damplip at Calais during the latter part of 1538 and 1539. He was far
more anxious to have the town well victualled and defended, in case of a
sudden attack from France or Spain. Damplip himself, however, had gone
over to England to answer to the charges brought against him before
Cranmer[382]. The result of the examination seems to have been very
favourable to him, and the Archbishop, in a letter to Cromwell about it,
supported the position which the priest had taken up in only denying
Transubstantiation while admitting the Real Presence[383]. But the
accusations from Calais against the Sacramentaries did not cease. Lisle
and the Council, now thoroughly roused, kept sending in depositions
against Damplip, until Cromwell, in May, 1539, rebuked them for
uncharitable behaviour, saying that the affair was being made too much
of, and that the King was busy about other things[384]. Exhortations to
‘charyte and myld handeling’ were not Cromwell’s usual style; and in
this case at least they were superseded within ten days by instructions
of a very different nature. The cause of the sudden change is doubtless
to be found in the debate on the Six Articles, just then at its height.
Cromwell saw the trend things were taking, and understood that as the
doctrine of Transubstantiation was evidently about to be confirmed at
home, it would be extremely dangerous for him to urge leniency towards
those who opposed it at Calais. He consequently sent another letter to
Lisle[385], in which he retreated from his former position, and ordered
the Commissary and the parish priest of Our Lady Church to be sent in
custody to England. The subsequent appearance of these men before the
Privy Council seems to have resulted in their acquittal, and a public
recantation in the Market Place at Calais was deemed sufficient to
prevent a recurrence to the heresy. The recall of Lord Lisle in the
spring of 1540 was probably less due to his inefficiency in handling the
affair of the Sacramentaries, than to the many proofs he had given of
general incompetence. He was committed to the Tower, where he remained a
close prisoner till January, 1542, when a message was sent to him that
he was pardoned and restored to favour. The story is that his joy at
hearing this news was so great, that he died of excitement that same
night[386].
That Calais was not lost to England under the incompetent management of
Lisle (whose actions from first to last were too much influenced by the
whims of a foolish wife), was solely due to the guidance which he
received from Cromwell. The brilliant success of the great minister’s
administration in England was fully equalled by the wisdom and skill of
his dealings with her immediate neighbours and dependencies. In every
case the dominant principle of his policy had been the same; the
completion of the work begun by Henry VII.--the elevation of the Crown
to absolute power on the ruins of every other institution which had ever
been its rival. In attaining this end, which (as we must not forget) was
one that commended itself to most patriotic Englishmen of the time,
Cromwell had been confronted by a multitude of problems of great
difficulty and infinite diversity: he handled them all with uniform
success; and the monarchy, under his guidance, passed safe through one
of the gravest crises in the history of the realm, finally to emerge
triumphant, absolute, supreme in Church and State.
CHAPTER IX
THE MONASTERIES
The suppression of the English monasteries, though in one sense but a
single branch of Cromwell’s internal administration, still deserves to
be considered in a separate chapter. Of all the changes that followed
the breach with Rome, none bears as plainly as this the stamp of
Cromwellian origin. The sinister genius of the King’s minister
particularly fitted him for this task of destruction, and his title of
_malleus-monachorum_ is thoroughly well deserved. Cromwell’s intent in
suppressing the monasteries was obviously, like that of all the rest of
his internal administration, the strengthening of the Crown: how far his
measures were successful in accomplishing what was expected of them must
be determined not only from their immediate effects, but also from the
developments which later resulted from them.
It has been pointed out in an earlier chapter that the state of the
lesser monasteries was far from satisfactory in Cromwell’s time; but
that in spite of this, when Wolsey’s agents suppressed a few of them in
order to convert their revenues to the use of the Cardinal’s cherished
colleges, a loud cry of indignation was immediately raised among the
rural population. During his first few years in Wolsey’s service
Cromwell had acquired sufficient experience to master at least the
elementary principles of monastic confiscation, but before he had gone
half as far as he had probably intended, his master’s attainder and his
own consequent change of life had temporarily interrupted the work. We
have seen that as soon as the King had arbitrarily assumed the Headship
of the Church of England, Cromwell immediately cast about for means to
secure him in his new position. To this end he had weakened the bishops
and also the lesser clergy; the dissolution of the monasteries
immediately presented itself to him as a consistent method of following
up these measures. It all tended in the same direction of severing
England’s connexion with Rome and of establishing the Royal Supremacy.
The scheme of suppressing the monasteries also promised great things
from a financial point of view; Cromwell could have hit upon no better
plan than this to aid him to fulfil his promise to make Henry ‘the
richest King that ever was in Christendom.’ If the idea of dissolving
the religious houses in order to increase the wealth of the Crown, had
occurred to Henry during Wolsey’s administration, he would hardly have
dared to carry it out while there was any chance of avoiding a breach
with the Pope; but now the course of events had converted the only
objection to the plan into an argument in its favour. There was
certainly nothing in the conscience of the King or of his minister to
deter them from such a step, when so much advantage both political and
financial promised to result from it.
In January, 1535, two documents appeared--the first, a royal commission
to Thomas Cromwell authorizing him as the King’s Vicar-general to
undertake a general visitation of churches, monasteries, and clergy, and
to depute others to act as his agents; the second consisting of a series
of formal inquiries to be made concerning the state of the religious
houses, and royal injunctions for their reform. The latter is written in
a strange hand, copiously interlined and corrected by that of the King’s
minister[387]. The decrees were quickly put in operation. By the month
of August in the same year Cromwell’s two agents, Legh and Ap-Rice, were
hard at work among the Wiltshire monasteries, and sent in their reports
to their master full of ludicrously pathetic lamentations, when unable
to trump up any plausible charges against the monks[388]. Doctor Richard
Layton, who had come under Cromwell’s notice at the time of the trials
of More and Fisher, sent him a request for employment on the same
mission, and eventually got permission to go to Gloucestershire[389].
He had made a preliminary visitation at Bath and Farley, and while there
had aroused the jealousy and hatred of Legh, who wrote to Cromwell
complaining that he was not sufficiently severe, and urging the
necessity of uniformity of action[390]. A great many grumbling letters
of this kind were sent to Cromwell by his visitors. Layton and Ap-Rice
were not slow to revenge themselves on Legh by reporting to the
Vicar-general the pride, arrogance, ‘sumptuus vsage, and roughe
fasshyon’ of their hated colleague[391].
The bad character of Cromwell’s agents, and the devices to which they
were forced to have recourse in order to extort from the monks the
information they desired, furnish ample proof of the unfairness of many
of the reports which they made. The ‘Commissioners found means,’ as it
has been significantly stated, ‘to make divers monasteries
obnoxious[392].’ Cromwell had taken special pains that the efforts of
his agents should not be hindered by any external interference: it was
to this end that he had issued the Prohibitory Letter to the bishops in
the month of September[393]. Legh, Layton, and Ap-Rice were left a
perfectly clear field, and devoted themselves to examining into the
monastic discipline, and to inducing discontented monks to accuse their
fellows. The arrogant Legh was especially efficient in this particular,
as is shown by the letters Cromwell received from the monasteries he had
visited. One monk wrote to the Vicar-general that the inmates of his
house cared nothing for true religion, but came to mattins ‘as dronck as
myss and [played] sume at cardes, sume at dyyss[394]’--and finally
imparted the significant piece of information that Cromwell’s visitors
had ordered him to write these opinions to head quarters. Another, John
Placett by name, sent cringing letters to the Vicegerent, begging that
his zeal in advancing the new doctrines and in reporting those who
opposed them, might be rewarded by official exemption from rising at
midnight and from observing the customary fasts[395]. Epistles of this
sort form the bulk of Cromwell’s correspondence during the years 1535
and 1536. The chief reason why the Vicar-general did not protest against
this flood of defamatory information, which through the efficiency of
the zealous Legh continually poured in upon him, lay probably in the
fact that along with these reports there came also letters of a somewhat
different nature which afforded him excellent opportunities for private
gain. ‘I submytt myselfe,’ wrote the Abbot of Rewley, ‘fulle and holle
to your mastershipp, as all my refuge, helpe, and socor is yn yow, glad
of my voluntarye mynde to be bounde in obligacion of one hunderd powndes
to be payed to your mastershipp, so that our house may be savyd[396].’
We may well believe that this proposal did not fall on deaf ears. Though
we do not possess the reply of Cromwell in this particular case, the
letters which he sent to the Priors of St. Faith’s and of Coxford in the
same year, indicate that he was as willing to accept bribes from the
heads of monasteries as from any one else[397].
Less crafty but scarcely less efficient than the untiring Legh was his
brutal colleague Layton. The Sussex monasteries which he visited in
October, 1535, were so unfortunate as to incur his particular
displeasure. He does not appear to have troubled himself, like Legh,
with devising means to make the monks accuse one another: he reported
everything to head quarters on his own responsibility, and wrote to
Cromwell how at one place he found the abbot the ‘varaste hayne betle
and buserde and the aranttes chorle’ he ever saw, while at another he
swore that his master would scarcely believe ‘quanta sit spurcities.’ He
concluded with two philosophic reflections that ‘sacerdotes omnes non
creati ex natura angelica, sed humana,’ and ‘that the blake sort of
dyvelisshe monkes ... be paste amendment[398].’ He possibly bore a
personal grudge against these southern houses; at least this seems a
likely explanation of the fact that later investigation showed them to
be no worse than ordinary, and especially popular with their
neighbours[399]. Layton, however, found willing listeners to his
accusations in the King and Cromwell, and a commission was sent down to
confiscate the property of the monasteries of Dover, Langdon, and
Folkestone, and to take the surrender of these houses into the King’s
hands. It was the first step of the great devastation which was to ensue
during the following four years.
The next scene of the visitors’ operations was in the northern counties.
Early in 1535 Layton had taken occasion to inform Cromwell that he and
Legh were particularly competent to carry on the work there. ‘Ther ys
nother monasterie, selle, priorie, nor any other religiouse howse in the
north,’ he wrote, ‘but other doctor Lee or I have familier acqwayntance
within x or xii mylles of hit.... We knowe and have experiens bothe of
the fassion off the contre and the rudenes of the pepull ... ther is
matter sufficient to detecte and opyn all coloryde sanctitie, all
supersticiouse rewlles of pretensyde religion, and other abusys
detestable of all sorttes[400].’ Cromwell certainly had no reason to be
dissatisfied with the results which his agents had already accomplished,
and doubtless welcomed their zeal to continue their labours in a new
field. With most astounding rapidity the visitation was carried
through: all the houses in the north had been reported on by the end of
February. There was certainly an object in having the work completed so
quickly, for Parliament had already met, and was prepared to take action
on the ‘comperta’ or catalogue of offences sent in by Cromwell’s agents.
The extraordinary hurry in which the latter part of their task was
accomplished, and the suspicious uniformity of the offences reported,
furnish a last and most cogent reason for doubting the truth of the
statements of the visitors. There must of course have been some
immorality in the monasteries: the abbots and heads of houses were
elected by the monks themselves, who were sure to have an eye to their
own ease, and would tend to choose those whose discipline was lax. But
it must be a prejudiced person indeed who will accept word for word the
catalogues of the religious persons reported guilty of the lowest and
most degrading forms of vice, which Legh and Layton seemed to delight in
sending to their master. Parliament, however, was too completely in
Cromwell’s hands fairly to judge of the character of the visitors, or of
the circumstances under which they drew up their ‘comperta,’ and the
report was strong and clear; so it was not long before the first Act for
the dissolution of the smaller monasteries was passed. The statute
declared that ‘all Relygeous Houses of Monkes Chanons and Nonnes, whiche
may not dyspend Manors, Landes, Tenementes, & Heredytamentes above the
clere yerly Value of ij C li. are geven to the Kinges Highnes, his
heires and successours for ever[401].’ Another Act was passed at the
same time establishing a Court of Augmentations of the King’s
revenue[402]. Power was given to this court to collect the spoils,
lands, and buildings of the suppressed abbeys, and dispose of them in
the way most profitable to the Crown. It consisted of a chancellor,
treasurer, solicitor, and thirty subordinates. The chief persons in it
were friends and hirelings of Cromwell’s. In April commissions were sent
to the principal men in every county[403], authorizing them to inquire
further into the state of each house, to make inventories and estimates
of their property, and to ascertain the number of monks who desired
‘capacities’ for entering secular life, and the number who intended to
remove to some other religious house. It is significant that the reports
of these men, concerning the character and morality of the inmates, are
uniformly of a more favourable description than those of Layton and
Legh.
The process of the surrender immediately followed the first visit of the
Commissioners. They sent in their report to the Court of Augmentations,
which then issued its final orders for the dissolution of the house, and
its conversion to the King’s use. A ‘receiver’ was appointed to plunder
the church, and sell the lead, bells, &c. An interesting letter, from an
agent of Cromwell’s to his master, sheds some light on the usual methods
of these officials. ‘We ar pluckyng down an hygher vaute,’ writes the
receiver, ‘borne up by fower thicke and grose pillars xiiij fote fro
syde to syde, abowt in circumference xlv fote ... we browght from London
xvij persons, 3 carpentars, 2 smythes, 2 plummars, and on that kepith
the fornace. Euery of these attendith to hys own office: x of them hewed
the walles abowte, amonge the whych ther were 3 carpentars: thiese made
proctes to undersette wher the other cutte away, thother brake and cutte
the waules[404].’ Coupled with reports like this, came curiously
confused accounts of the saleable articles of the house, which had been
disposed of, such as
_Item_ ij brasse pottes sold to Edward
Scudamor iiij^s
_Item_ a vestment and ij tynakles of old
prest velvet sold to Johan Savage baylyf xiij^s iiij^d
_Item_ ij pannes vi^d
_Item_ a cope of tawny damaske xij^d
_Item_ a image of Seynt Katerine sold to Lee vj^d
_Item_ sold to John Webbe the tymber worke of
the hyegh quyer, and a auter of alablaster
in the body of the churche ix^s viij^d[405].
It will be noticed that the sums for which these articles were sold,
were very small. It is said that not more than £100,000 were obtained
from the sale of the jewels, plate, lead, bells, and other valuables,
which were seized in the first suppression of the monasteries. The
annual incomes of the three hundred and seventy-six houses which were
suppressed, however, probably amounted to about £32,000, a sum which was
quite sufficient to render the measure a successful one from a financial
point of view.
In spite of the Act of Parliament, which declared that the monks were
either to be pensioned, or else moved to some other religious house,
there is no doubt that great misery and wretchedness invariably
accompanied the dissolutions. Chapuys writes: ‘It is a lamentable thing
to see a legion of monks and nuns, who have been chased from their
monasteries, wandering miserably hither and thither, seeking means to
live, and several honest men have told me, that what with monks, nuns,
and persons dependent on the monasteries suppressed, there were over
20,000, who knew not how to live[406].’ The Act for the protection of
the exiled inmates cannot have been at all strictly enforced, and there
were certainly many monks, to whom no homes or means of living were
assigned. Sir Henry Ellis has printed a document, concerning the
dissolution of some of the monasteries, which was written in 1591 by one
whose father and uncle witnessed the scenes he describes. It tells how
‘it would have made an heart of flint to have melted and wept to have
seen the breaking up of the House, and their sorrowful departing; and
the sudden spoil that fell the same day of their departure from the
House. And every person had everything good cheap; except the poor
Monks, Friars, and Nuns, that had no money to bestow of any thing.’ The
people entered the church, ‘and took what they found, and filched it
away.... It would have pitied any heart to see what tearing up of the
lead there was, and plucking up of boards, and throwing down of the
sparres; ... and the tombs in the Church (were) all broken, ... and all
things of price either spoiled, carped away, or defaced to the
uttermost[407].’ Nor is this tendency of the people of the
neighbourhood to plunder in the least to be wondered at. They knew that
as the monasteries were to be pulled down they would lose all the old
charities, easy rents, and other advantages to which they had so long
been accustomed, and they naturally wished to make good the loss.
Cromwell probably did not object to this ruthless waste as much as one
would expect, for he saw that if he attempted to stop it, the feeling
against the suppression would be so strong, that it would be impossible
to continue it. As it was, the famous rebellion of the Pilgrimage of
Grace, which broke out in the northern counties, just as the first
houses were being suppressed, gave him a terrible warning of the general
unpopularity of the change. The insurrection, however, was soon quelled,
and Cromwell’s genius was able to turn it to his own advantage, and make
it the pretext for carrying out the scheme which had probably been part
of his original plan, namely the suppression of all the monasteries; a
step which, without some valid excuse, he would have hardly dared to
take.
In 1537 the visitors began to go to the larger monasteries, and
intimidate their inmates into surrender, mainly by threatening them with
punishment for complicity in the rebellion which had just been put down.
An excellent example of the way in which this was done, is given by the
story of the suppression of the two large Cistercian abbeys in
Lancashire, Whalley and Furness[408]. John Pasleu, Abbot of Whalley, had
been executed in March, 1537, by the Earl of Sussex for his treason in
taking part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. The Earl was commended for this
action by the King, who further desired him with ‘good dexteritie’ to
‘laye unto the charges of all the monkes there their grevous offences,
... and therwith assaye their myndes, whither they woll conforme
themselfes gladly for the redubbing of their former trespaces to goo to
other houses of their cote ... or rather take capacities and soo receyve
seculer habite[409].’ The Abbot of Furness was doubtless threatened with
death if he refused to surrender his house, for a month after the
execution of his brother at Whalley, he signed a document, by virtue of
which he handed over to the King his abbey, and all its lands and
possessions, ‘knawyng the mysorder and evyll liff both unto God and our
prynce of the bredren of the said monasterie[410].’
Another method of intimidation was to threaten punishment for
superstition and image worship. Against the latter Henry’s minister was
particularly zealous. Some of the images were very valuable, and could
be sold for a high price. Two of the most extraordinary of the venerated
relics found in the ‘defacement’ of the monasteries have become famous
to posterity, under the names of the Rood of Grace, and the Blood of
Hailes. The former was a wonder-working crucifix, held in great
veneration at Boxley Abbey, which Geoffrey Chambers[411], an agent of
Cromwell’s, found full of ‘certen ingynes and olde wyer wyth olde roton
stykkes in the backe of the same, that dyd cause the eyes of the same to
move and stere in the hede thereof lyke unto a lyvelye thyng[412].’ It
was seized and exhibited, first in Kent, and then in London, and the
‘abusion thereof dyvulged.’ The Blood of Hailes was a phial of liquid,
which a tradition of three centuries asserted to have been the blood of
the Saviour[413]. The head of the monastery brought it to Cromwell in
great perplexity, swearing that he was willing to suffer the most
shameful death, if the phial had been meddled with in his day. A
commission, appointed to inquire into it, took the liquid out of the
phial, and found it to be a thick, red, sticky substance. They then gave
it back to the abbot, to keep until he heard the King’s pleasure
concerning it. Meantime Bishop Hilsey had preached a sermon in
denunciation of the fraud, in which he asserted that a former abbot had
told his paramour that the phial contained only drake’s blood; but he
was later compelled to take back this last statement, as a result of the
Commissioners’ inquiry. What ultimately became of the Blood of Hailes
has remained a mystery, but it is noteworthy that Cromwell was so
annoyed, at having unearthed a relic which proved valueless from a
financial point of view, that when the ‘bluddy abbot,’ as Latimer called
him, came to consult him about it, he was forced to pay £140, his best
mitre, cross, and ‘another thyng or two,’ to make good the amount which
Cromwell had expected to obtain from the relic. The iconoclastic zeal of
the Vicar-general varied in proportion to the value of the image[414].
The first Act of dissolution had only given to the King the monasteries
of which the annual income was less than £200. But now that Cromwell, on
the plea of complicity in the late rebellion, had contrived to bring in
all the larger religious houses, so that a general suppression had in
fact begun, a fresh Act was needed to legalize his proceedings. So in
the spring of 1539, a new statute was passed for the dissolution of all
monasteries and abbeys[415]. But long before this the main part of the
work had been accomplished. When the monks refused to be terrorized into
submission, attainder and death invariably followed. It is but justice
to Cromwell’s agents to say, however, that their methods of intimidation
were so highly effectual that attainder was the exception, and surrender
the rule. The Commissioners may well have been surprised that any of the
abbots dared to stand out against them.
From 1537 to the end of 1539, the story of the suppression of the
monasteries is simply a catalogue of houses surrendered or confiscated,
on more or less unjust pretexts. So rapidly and thoroughly did Cromwell
and his Commissioners accomplish the work, that by the end of December
no monastery in the country had been left untouched, except Westminster
Abbey, and a few other larger houses. The climax of cruelty and
injustice was reached in the executions of the Abbots of Glastonbury and
Reading. Cromwell’s famous remembrance concerning the latter was
literally obeyed. There was no pretence of a fair hearing of his case.
He was sent down ‘_to be tryed and excecutyd_,’ as Cromwell had ordered
it[416]. The punishment of the Abbot of Glastonbury was, if possible,
even more unjust. Though weak and broken with age and illness, he was
arrested and sent up to the Tower, simply on the charge of having in his
monastery a book against the King’s divorce, divers pardons and bulls,
and a printed life of Becket[417]. It is stated that on examination
Cromwell discovered that he had lent money to the rebels in the
Pilgrimage of Grace, but it mattered little whether this serious charge
was proved or not. His execution was determined on long beforehand, and
his rich and ancient abbey was plundered immediately after his arrest.
His fate was sealed long before his mock trial at Wells took place; the
verdict of the ‘worshypfull jury’ was of course ‘guilty,’ and he was
executed two days later on Glastonbury Tor[418].
Hand in hand with the suppression of the monasteries came the fall of
the various houses of the friars. This had probably been a part of
Cromwell’s scheme from the very first; it will be remembered that
several houses suffered in the early part of his ministry, as a penalty
for permitting their inmates to preach against the King’s divorce. A
sort of preliminary visitation had been carried on in 1534, at
Cromwell’s command, by his agents Browne and Hilsey[419]: but a far more
energetic person was found in Richard Ingworth, Bishop of Dover, who, on
the 6th of February, 1538, was commissioned by the Vicar-general to
carry on a second investigation, in which he was to visit all the houses
of the various orders of friars in England, to examine into and correct
abuses, and to expel and punish the guilty inmates[420]. As he refers to
the King’s Vicegerent, as his ‘synguler helper for XII yeres past[421],’
there is reason to think that he had been an intimate of Cromwell’s
before the latter had entered the royal service: it is possible that
they had worked together in the suppression of the monasteries which
furnished funds for Wolsey’s colleges. A greater traveller than Ingworth
could scarcely have been found in those days. The number of houses he
visited during the first six months of 1538 is perfectly amazing, but
with all his energy, Richard of Dover was far less efficient than his
terrible master. When he hesitatingly wrote to Cromwell to ask whether
he should meddle with the White Friars of Winchester, he received a
smart rebuke for his doubts, and was told that though he had changed his
friar’s habit, he had not changed his friar’s heart[422]. The
Vicar-general found it necessary to give him a coadjutor, and chose a
singularly apt man for his purpose in Dr. John London, Warden of New
College, Oxford, who received a special commission with the mayor and
two others to ‘loke vpon’ the friars of that town[423]. The friars gave
the Commissioners more trouble than the monks. They seemed to have
secret ways of learning when the visitors were going to arrive, and
either carefully hid, or else sold all their valuables beforehand, a
fact which affords the most probable explanation of the amount of
poverty reported by the visitors. Still the houses fell without ceasing;
if not by voluntary surrender, by compulsion. Nor did the visitors
hesitate in the case of nunneries, to resort to the most shameful
devices to elicit a surrender. London’s conduct was so disgraceful, that
Cromwell was obliged to recognize the justice of the complaints of the
Abbess of Godstow against him, and ‘steye his procedinges[424].’ ‘Doctor
Londone,’ wrote the abbess to the Vicar-general, ‘whiche ... was
ageynste my promotyon and hathe ever sence borne me greate malys and
grudge like my mortall enmye, is sodenlie cummyd unto me withe a greate
rowte with him, and here dothe threten me and my susters, sayeng that he
hathe the kynges commyssyon to suppres the house spyte of my
tethe[425].’ It appears that London himself wrote to Cromwell the day
after to beg him to favour the abbess and her sisters[426]. Did he
perhaps feel that he had gone too far, or are we to infer that his usual
methods were even more brutal than this?
And thus the work was finished. Within five years of the time that the
first visitation of the monasteries had begun, a complete devastation of
all the religious houses had been accomplished, and a torrent of wealth
had been poured in upon the Crown, ‘such,’ says Hallam, ‘as has seldom
been equalled in any country, by the confiscations following a subdued
rebellion[427].’ The suppression which included the larger houses was
evidently a far greater financial success than the first. A new device
for gaining revenue had been invented, and put in operation during the
last few years. It consisted in imposing a fine on every place in which
a religious house had existed, ‘for the toleracyon and contynuaunce of
the monastery ther[428]’; an ingenious device, which yielded a most
substantial income. ‘The King had then in his hand,’ says Burnet, ‘the
greatest opportunity of making royal and noble foundations that ever
King of England had. But whether out of policy, to give a general
content to the gentry by selling to them at low rates, or out of
easiness to his courtiers, or out of an unmeasured lavishness of
expense, it came far short of what he had given out he would do.... He
designed to convert £18,000 into a revenue for eighteen bishoprics and
cathedrals. But of these he only erected six.... Great sums were indeed
laid out on building and fortifying many ports in the Channel, and other
parts of England[429].’
Lacking any evidence from the sources on the subject of the use to which
the revenues from the suppression of the monasteries were put, one must
judge from this passage, and from subsequent events. An Act giving Henry
the power to erect bishoprics by letters patent, was passed in
Parliament, May 23, 1539[430]. It was by the authority of this statute,
that the King founded the six new bishops’ sees above mentioned, and
also converted some of the old houses, such as Beverley, Ripon, and
Manchester, into collegiate churches. But the passage in Burnet also
hints at other methods of employing the money gained from the
suppression of the monasteries, which it seems likely that Cromwell
suggested. The use of the funds to strengthen the coast defences along
the Channel was always one of his favourite schemes; it is probable that
he found no difficulty in persuading the King how necessary such a
precaution was, in view of the danger of foreign invasion, which
threatened England at the close of 1539. But the plan of selling the
lands of the confiscated houses to the nobles at low prices, is even
more Cromwellian. It immediately reminds the reader of the course which
Wolsey, ten years before, had pursued at his servant’s advice, when he
bought off the popular hatred by grants out of his own lands and
revenues. Cromwell plainly saw that after the suppression, steps must be
taken to ensure the permanence of the reform he had effected. By
judicious grants he turned aside the hatred of some of the rural gentry,
who were at first opposed to the destruction of the monasteries, and
thus, by rendering the work popular at home, he secured himself and it
from the attacks of Catholic potentates abroad. But his action at this
juncture had another more subtle and more important result. For by the
grants which he made to the rural gentry, he laid the basis for the
foundation of a territorial aristocracy, destined at a later day to
wrest from the Crown the power which he had wrung from the older
nobility, lay and clerical. This after-effect of Cromwell’s policy,
which was in direct opposition to the aims of his government, did not
take place till long after his fall. It was rendered possible solely by
the movement of events over which he had no control, and he could have
scarcely anticipated it. But it is only fair to mention it here, in
order that we may be able to look on the suppression of the monasteries
and its after-effects as a connected whole. If we do this, the cruelty
and treachery of Cromwell and his agents in gaining their ends will not
make us blind to the fact, that in the end the destruction of the
religious houses in England certainly accomplished other and better
results than those it was originally intended to compass.
CHAPTER X
THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. 1536
When Cromwell entered the King’s service, it was inevitable that the
policy he adopted should force him to abandon all hope of popularity
with the people at large, as soon as his real position became generally
known. The efforts Henry and his minister made to conceal the identity
of the true author of the sweeping changes of the years 1530-1534, bear
testimony to the fact that they were both perfectly well aware of the
opposition the new measures must arouse in the minds of those who were
outside the Court circle and consequently could not see the reason of
them. For a long time these efforts were crowned with success. We have
seen that it was not until the year 1535 that those who were in close
proximity to the King discovered what a power Cromwell had become in
Church and State. It was even longer before the country people began to
realize the true state of affairs. News of the extraordinary revolution
in ecclesiastical matters, of the King’s divorce and second marriage, of
the packed Parliaments, and of the ruthless execution of so-called
heretics, slowly spread among the rural population. The changes were
certainly unwelcome, but they were universally thought to be the work of
the King alone, and traditional English respect for royalty was
sufficient to check any serious outbreak. The common people contented
themselves with vague murmurings and disloyal speeches which were soon
suppressed through the efficiency of Cromwell’s agents; and by the
opening of the year 1535 the King and his minister began to hope that
the crisis had been tided over.
But they were destined to be disappointed. At the very moment when he
began to think himself secure in his almost exclusive enjoyment of his
master’s favour, Cromwell took a measure which was destined to conduce
directly to the formidable rising that nearly hurled him from his
hard-won place. The moment the Vicar-general sent out his agents to
visit the monasteries, the Englishman of the country began to realize
that the puzzling changes, of which he had hitherto understood so
little, were going to have an important and also a disagreeable effect
on his own life. Up to this time he had been unwilling actively to
express his dissatisfaction at the new measures, because they had seemed
but remotely connected with his own fortunes: but now there came an
evidence to the contrary which he did not fail to appreciate. The army
of outcast monks and nuns, from whom in old days he had been accustomed
to receive every sort of kindness, now passed his door, begging for food
and shelter. The spoil which he had perhaps filched from the monastery
suppressed near by, had not been sufficient to repay him for the injury
to the inmates whom he had been taught to love and respect. His griefs
are vividly described in the following verses of a song written for the
Yorkshire rebels in the autumn of 1536:
1.
Crist crucifyd
for thy wound_es_ wide
vs co_m_mons guyde
which pilgram_es_ be
thrughe god_es_ grace
for to purchache
olde welth & peax
of the sp_irit_ualtie.
2.
Gret god_es_ fame
doith church p_ro_clame
now to be lame
and fast in bound_es_
robbyd spoled & shorne
from catell & corne
and clene furth borne
of howsez & land_es_.
3.
alacke alacke
for the church sake
pore comons wake
& no m_er_vell
for clere it is
the decay of this
how the pore shall mys
no tong can tell.
4.
for ther they hade
boith ale & breyde
at tyme of nede
and succur grete
in alle distresse
and hevynes
* * * *
and wel intrete.
5.
In troubil & care
where that we were
in man_er_ all bere
of o_ur_ substance
we founde good bate
at churche me_n_ gate
without checkmate
or vary_au_nce[431].
Such were the complaints which arose among the country folk as a result
of the suppression of the monasteries. And just at the moment that this
intensely unpopular measure began to be carried out in earnest, and
largely as a result of it, the veil which had hitherto prevented the
people from recognizing the true author of the hated innovations was
torn away, and a pretext was offered for a revolt, which had it been
directed against the King, would have been no better than treason. The
people fastened on Cromwell as the author of all their troubles; and the
thought that a man whom they knew to be low-born, of no better or more
noble origin than themselves, had been able to cause them such misery,
was enough to kindle a smouldering fire of discontent into a brilliant
blaze. A crusade against Cromwell, they argued, could not be regarded as
a revolt against the royal authority. They had no complaint against the
King, or even against any of the nobles, but they were determined to rid
themselves at one blow of the plebeian minister whom they thoroughly
detested and whom they had no cause to respect: with the destruction of
Cromwell and his agents, they were certain that the good old days would
return. The last verse of their war-song contained a frank avowal of
their object:
‘Crim[432] crame[433] & riche[434]
w_i_t_h_ thre lll[435] and _th_e liche[436]
as sum me_n_ teache
god theym amend
And that aske may
w_i_t_h_out delay
here make A stay
and well to end[437].’
The reasons why the rising against the authority of Cromwell, known to
posterity by the suggestive name of the Pilgrimage of Grace, was
organized, and set afoot in the northern counties, are not far to seek.
In the first place devotion to the Old Faith, and to the cause of Queen
Katherine, was far stronger in the north than in the south of England.
A comparison of the ‘comperta’ of the northern and southern monasteries,
or of the details of the different visitations, will easily convince the
reader of this discrepancy. In the south occur constant complaints by
the monks that their superiors failed to observe the canons of religious
asceticism; and on the other hand, whenever an abbot refused to
acknowledge the Royal Supremacy, his subordinates were always sure to
report him to head quarters, in the hope of gaining favour with the King
or Cromwell[438]. The letters of Dr. Legh from the south of England
contain frequent reports of ‘towardness’ among the inmates, and
willingness to adopt the New Faith[439]. In the north one finds none of
this. The reports concerning the monasteries there are of a very
different sort: immorality and unnatural crimes are the principal
charges against the inmates[440]. There is scarcely a record of
apostasy; scarcely a case of mutual accusation among the monks. The
abbots and their subordinates almost invariably supported each other,
and their loyalty to the Old Faith and their hatred of those who tried
to disestablish it, gave the Commissioners a far harder task in the
north than in the south. There is also reason to think that Cromwell’s
spy system operated less perfectly there, partly owing to this spirit of
conservatism and love of the old usages permeating every sort and
condition of life, and partly owing to the great spaces of wild,
uninhabited land.
This is only the religious side. But there were other almost equally
valid reasons for the localization of the revolt in the north. The south
was thickly populated, and to a certain extent commercial; the north
sparsely populated, and for the most part pastoral and agricultural.
Cromwell had done everything that he could to facilitate trade, and his
efforts in this direction had been rewarded by comparative popularity in
the commercial counties. The discontent in the agricultural north,
however, was most pronounced. The Statute of Uses had not been in all
cases correctly interpreted. It was said that the King made such laws
that when a man died his wife and children had to go a-begging[441].
Lastly, the proximity of the Scottish Borders, which were in a continual
state of disorder, offered great encouragement for undertaking a
rebellion in the north. Cromwell was constantly occupied with the
suppression of minor disturbances there[442], owing to the very lax
administration of the Courts and Wardens of the three Marches, while
across the Tweed an attitude of more or less active hostility to the
English government was always maintained. There was every probability
that a revolt in the northern counties of the realm would receive
substantial aid from Scotland.
But though the Pilgrimage of Grace was locally restricted to the
northern counties, it embraced all classes, animated by the most varied
interests[443]. The objects of the insurgents were secular and
religious, their mottoes conservative and progressive. On their banners
were borne the emblems of the five wounds of Christ, a chalice and a
host, a plough, and a horn. The first of these symbols indicated that
the insurrection had been undertaken for the defence of the faith; the
second was to remind the commons of the spoils of the Church. The plough
was to encourage the husbandmen, and ‘the horn was in token of
Horncastle’: for the banner ‘was brought among the rebels by the commons
of Horncastle[444].’ The watchwords of the rebels were of the very most
diverse nature. Some of them cried out for the restoration of the
suppressed monasteries; others for the renewal of guarantees against
exorbitant taxation, for remedies for the agrarian discontent, or for
legal permission to leave land by will to daughters and younger sons.
All of them united in demanding the destruction of Cromwell, whom the
people regarded as the cause of all their woes[445]. The leaders and
participants in the revolt were not of any one rank or station in life;
the popular and aristocratic elements were almost equally mixed. It is
no wonder that a rising, supported by men of such various classes,
which aimed at the extirpation of abuses of so many different sorts, and
which yet was united by the feeling that all these abuses were due to
one man alone, was regarded as ‘the daungerest insurrection that haith
ben seen[446].’
On September 29, 1536, when the Commissioners for the suppression of the
monasteries came to Hexham in Northumberland, they were rudely surprised
by finding the house there fortified, and prepared to defend itself to
the last. The Commissioners left the town and reported the affair to the
King, who ordered them to assemble all the forces they could muster, and
if the monastery did not yield, to treat the monks like arrant
traitors[447]. But scarcely was this danger past when news came that the
Commissioners for levying the lay subsidy, the collection of which was
superintended by Cromwell, had met with a similar experience at Caistor
in Lincolnshire. It seems they had feared some disturbance at their
arrival, and had invited several country gentlemen to join them in case
of any danger. A large force had meantime assembled to resist the
payment of the subsidy. The country gentlemen were pursued, taken, and
forced to write to Lord Hussey at Sleaford, to summon him to join the
rebel commons, unless he wished to be treated as an enemy, and also to
send to the King to seek a general pardon[448]. Hussey promptly reported
the state of affairs to Cromwell, and though he put a bold face on the
matter in presence of the rebels, it is evident that he was seriously
alarmed[449]. The King meantime himself received the letter the captured
gentlemen had been forced to send him, caused the bearers of it to
reveal the names of the ringleaders, and wrote to the Commissioners for
levying the subsidy, expressing his distress at the ‘vnnatural
vnkyndness’ of his subjects, and marvelling ‘that he that is worth xx li
sholde rebell for the payment of x s[450].’ But this sort of letter of
mild surprise, with which Henry had sometimes successfully warded off
pressing danger, did not prove to be sufficient in this case. He was
relieved from any apprehension on his own account; the rebels had
expressly denied any desire to be disloyal to the King: they only wished
that the Church of England should have its old privileges, ‘without any
exaction,’ that the suppressed houses of religion be restored, and that
they should not be taxed, except for defence of the realm in time of
war. Again and again did they repeat their demands for the surrender or
banishment of Cromwell, Audley, Cranmer, Riche, and others of the Privy
Council. That the King did not throw over his ministers in their hour of
need, surely shows that Henry was committed to them and to their policy,
and believed in it.
The situation was certainly alarming. It was very fortunate that at the
time of the outbreak the position of the King was otherwise so strong,
and England’s foreign affairs in such good condition, that every effort
could be centred on the suppression of the revolt. The insurgents
evidently meant business. Sir Christopher Ascugh, gentleman usher to the
King, wrote to Cromwell, October 6, ‘The rebels ar in nombre of men of
armys well harnesyd x or xii m spars and bows; & xxx m other sum
harnesyd and sum not harnesyd ... and all the contrey Rysys holly as
they goo before them.... Mellessent your s_er_u_au_nt they have hanged &
Baytyd Bellowe to deth wyth Dogg_es_ wyth a bull skyn vpon his bake wyth
many Regorous word_es_ agaynst your lordeshepp[451].’ Letters were sent
to the principal men in the county, asking them to use all their efforts
to check the revolt, and the King later declared his intention to take
the field himself[452]. Cromwell’s nephew Richard[453] got all the
arrows and implements of war out of the Tower, and dispatched a number
of men to Lincolnshire, among them sixty or eighty masons and
carpenters, who were at work on his uncle’s house. Cromwell himself was
in great fear. The Imperial ambassador informs us[454] that the whole
blame for the insurrection was laid on him. Norfolk was recalled to the
Court, whence he had been banished at Cromwell’s suggestion, and the
Duke arrived at London, happy as he had never been before in the thought
that the first step towards the ruin of his rival had been taken. But in
this he was doomed to disappointment, for Cromwell retained his
ascendancy; the King, according to Chapuys, had been very reluctant to
send for the Duke, and when the latter was dispatched again to raise men
and prevent the spreading of the revolt, he was overtaken by a most
‘discomfortable’ message from the Court, ordering him to send his son in
his place while he himself remained at home[455]. Cromwell had not only
succeeded in getting him away from the Court, but had also prevented his
having a hand in the suppression of the rebellion. The Lord Privy Seal
himself was content with maintaining his position at the King’s side. It
would have been sheer madness for him to have marched against the rebels
in person. If the Lincolnshire men could have murdered him, they
probably would have been induced to return quietly to their homes. Nor
did Cromwell even dare to give orders at arm’s length, or in any way to
undertake the management of the royal forces. He kept himself
consistently in the background; almost all our information concerning
the rebellion is contained in the correspondence of the King with
Norfolk and Suffolk. The few letters which Cromwell did write in
connexion with the Pilgrimage of Grace are quite unimportant[456]. They
consist for the most part of messages of profuse and almost hysterical
thanks to the leaders of the King’s party for their loyal service. It
was not until the revolt had been thoroughly suppressed that Cromwell
ventured again to assume the general direction of public affairs.
Meantime the Duke of Suffolk and the Earl of Shrewsbury had been sent
against the rebels, who were waiting in Lincolnshire for the King’s
answer to their first letter. Richard Cromwell had found great
difficulty in conveying to the scene the arms and artillery he had got
out of the Tower, because the people were at first unwilling to furnish
the requisite number of horses, owing to sympathy with the insurgents,
if one may believe the report of Chapuys’ nephew[457]. Finally, however,
he succeeded in overtaking the Duke of Suffolk, who was marching with an
army against the rebels from the south, at Stamford on October 10. The
Earl of Shrewsbury, according to the King’s orders, was advancing at the
same time from Nottingham. Caught between two armies supplied with the
ordnance which the insurgents so much dreaded, the Lincolnshire men,
further frightened by a proclamation from the Earl of Shrewsbury
transmitted to them by one Thomas Miller, Lancaster Herald, began to
lose heart and finally consented to surrender, on condition that they
should receive assurance of merciful treatment. The King was pleased,
ordered the rebels to deliver up their arms, and commanded Shrewsbury
and Suffolk to examine the country gentlemen who had aided them, and
report to him[458]. He further wrote an answer to the insurgents,
calling them the ‘rude commons of one shire, and that one of the most
brute and beestelie of the hole realme[459],’ expatiating on the trouble
he had given himself in their defence, and assuring them that they had
no grounds to complain of any of the new measures, either secular or
religious. He was just thinking that the worst part of the danger was
over, when suddenly news came from Lord Darcy, who was the chief person
in the north, that all Yorkshire had risen in a similar way[460].
The news of this outbreak was even more disquieting than that of the
first. Besides being much further from London, where the King’s armies
could only reach them with great difficulty, the Yorkshire rebels were
nearer the lawless and hostile Scottish borders. They had from the very
first been in sympathy with their neighbours in the south, and had
communicated with them by means of beacons burned on the banks of the
Humber[461]. The same motives had prompted them to rise in arms. They
elected as captain a young barrister named Aske, who issued a
proclamation for all men to assemble on Skipworth Moor, and take oath to
be faithful to the King’s issue and noble blood, to preserve the Church
from spoil, and be true to the commonwealth--a clever euphemism for
demanding the death of Cromwell and his adherents. The Yorkshiremen had
gone about their revolt with far more method and system than the
Lincolnshire rebels. The latter had been easily conquered, mainly
because they lacked a head; but the Yorkshiremen promised to give far
more trouble. They made musters by scrolls and bills nailed to the door
of every church in the county, and proclaimed that any one who refused
to take their oaths and rise with them should be put to death, whether
he was lord or peasant. It was even rumoured that they intended to send
an embassy to Flanders, to ask for aid in money and armed men, and to
petition the Pope for absolution for all offences committed in the
course of their holy pilgrimage[462].
The King replied at once to Darcy’s letter, commanding him to arrest all
seditious persons, and promising so to treat the originators of the
revolt in Lincolnshire that all York should soon learn that they had got
their deserts[463]. Darcy wrote to the Lord Mayor of York, warning him
to be prepared to resist the insurgents, while he himself proceeded to
Pomfret Castle to hold it against the rebels, and there awaited further
instructions from the King[464]. He succeeded in maintaining his
position at Pomfret for only ten days however, for on October 20 he
surrendered the town to the rebel army under the leadership of Aske, and
together with the Archbishop of York, who had sought refuge there, swore
to take part with the insurgents[465]. At his trial in the following
year he pleaded that he was unable to hold out any longer because the
provisions had run short, and further stated that he had been compelled
to side with the rebels under pain of death. He also alleged as an
excuse for his conduct that he thought that if he got in touch with the
insurgents, he could the more easily induce them to lay down their arms.
How loyal he really was to the King must remain a matter of conjecture,
but there is strong reason to think that he had much sympathy with the
revolt[466].
For a time the rebels seemed to carry all before them. Shrewsbury had
been ordered to go to Yorkshire and engage the insurgents there, now
that Lincolnshire was regarded as safe. Meantime Thomas Miller,
Lancaster Herald, who had been so successful in obtaining the submission
of the Lincolnshire men, was sent by the King from Scrooby, on October
21, to read a royal proclamation to the rebels at Pomfret, upbraiding
them for their conduct, but promising them pardon on condition that they
should immediately disperse. When he arrived at his destination the town
had been surrendered. Aske, although he treated the royal envoy with all
due respect, entirely refused to let him read his proclamation in
public, and sent him away with two crowns and his errand
unaccomplished[467].
Meantime the Duke of Norfolk, who two weeks before had returned sadly to
Kenninghall with all his hopes of regaining the royal favour blighted,
had been hurried to and fro in the south of England by a continued
stream of conflicting orders from Cromwell and the King, until he
finally heard of the disturbances in Yorkshire from Shrewsbury[468]. He
immediately turned his steps with a small company of men towards
Doncaster, in the hope of regaining the King’s favour by a prompt
suppression of the new outbreak. So anxious was he to recommend himself
to Henry, that he spent £1,500 of his own in paying the wages of the
King’s soldiers; and when this was not sufficient, and Henry refused to
advance any money, he asked for a loan to meet the expenses, and took
the responsibility for its payment upon himself[469]. Norfolk’s whole
proceeding in this crisis was eminently characteristic. He never
hesitated to spend money or to tell lies, if he thought that by so doing
there was any possibility of gaining the royal favour. He assured the
King that, in treating with rebels, he would pay no respect to what
others might call his ‘honour distayned,’ for he considered it perfectly
permissible to break promises in order to serve the Crown[470]. Henry,
it would seem, did not take Norfolk’s treacherous proposals to sacrifice
his own honour in the royal service in as good part as the Duke had
hoped, and wrote back hinting that if Norfolk made promises to the
rebels that he could not keep, he must make them on his own
responsibility, and take great care that the King’s name remained
unsullied.
When the Duke arrived in the rebel country he issued a proclamation to
the insurgents, commanding them in proud and haughty terms to submit,
and promising to be an intercessor for them with the King. This was on
October 27. But the very next day he wrote to Henry that he had been
forced to declare to the insurgents the royal pardon, in order to
‘sparple’ them, and get them to return to their homes[471]. It is
evident that in the meantime a meeting must have taken place between the
Duke and the rebels, in which the latter succeeded in convincing their
enemy that they, and not he, were in the position to dictate terms. A
general truce was arranged, and Lord Darcy was ordered to cease to
molest the insurgents[472]. The dread with which Norfolk awaited his
first interview with the King is vividly described in the letter in
which he announced to the Council his prospective return to the Court.
‘I come,’ wrote the Duke, ‘w_i_t_h_ my hert nere bresten ... inforced to
appoynt with the rebell_es_ ... and fearing how his maieste shall take
the dispeachyng of our bande[473].’
Norfolk finally arrived at Windsor with two emissaries from the
insurgents, who were to report their grievances and receive the King’s
answer. Henry was just composing his reply when news came that Aske had
attempted to stir up the rebels in the other northern counties. Norfolk
wrote to Darcy that the King suspected him of treachery in delivering up
Pomfret to Aske, and advised him to do his best to ‘extinct the ill
bruit,’ by taking the rebel leader dead or alive[474]. Meantime the King
detained Ellerker and Bowes, the two rebel envoys, as hostages, while
Darcy attempted to allay any fears of a third outbreak. The King in fact
was so seriously alarmed at the danger in the north, that he dreaded
that his letter to the Lincolnshire men in early October might not prove
sufficient to prevent their joining a new revolt, if such occurred. So
seeing their ‘maner, implieng a great repentance,’ and contrasting it
with the rebellious attitude of the Yorkshiremen, he sent them on the
14th of November a full pardon[475]. Meantime the report of the
probability of a fresh insurrection passed by, and Ellerker and Bowes
returned with the King’s answer, with which Henry had taken much
trouble, and had endeavoured to disguise the fact that he was really
suing for peace, by promising to pardon those who were truly penitent. A
conference for discussion of terms was arranged to assemble at Doncaster
on the 5th of December, in which Lords Scrope, Latimer, Lumley, Darcy,
and others were to represent the rebels, and Norfolk, Suffolk,
Shrewsbury, Rutland, and their subordinates the King[476].
Henry laid his plans carefully in preparation for this meeting. He
instructed Shrewsbury to do his utmost to prevail upon Aske and Darcy to
betray the rebels, upon promise of a free pardon for themselves. He also
ordered the Duke of Suffolk to hold himself in readiness with a large
force in case of another outbreak[477]. There was probably far less
danger that the truce would be broken by the rebels than by the King;
but the former certainly had no intention of returning to their homes
without at least an assurance of a general amnesty. Henry soon realized
that they were in earnest, and reluctantly instructed Suffolk, in a
second letter, to yield to their demands for a free pardon and a
Parliament as a last resort, if all other expedients to induce them to
disperse should fail[478]. The conference at Doncaster lasted four
days, but in the end the rebels were successful in gaining their wishes,
and the desired pardon was proclaimed on the 9th of December[479]. Henry
had never before been forced to acknowledge such a complete check at the
hands of his subjects, and the sensations of the proud King must have
been as disagreeable as they were novel. Still it was impossible for him
to give vent to his rage until he had once more obtained the upper hand.
So he wrote to Aske requesting an interview with him in London. The tone
of the letter is noteworthy. Though evidently beaten, Henry spoke as if
he were master of the situation, and began by stating that he had
learned that Aske was sorry for his offences in the late rebellion. The
King also did his utmost to stop any rumours on the Continent which
might give the impression that the rebels had come off victorious. He
instructed Cromwell to write a full account of the revolt to Gardiner
and Wallop at the French Court, ordering them to tell all people that
though at first the insurgents ‘made petic_i_on to haue obteyned certain
articles, ... in thende they went from all and remytted all to the
king_es_ highnes pleasure only in moost humble and reuerent sorte
desiring their p_ar_don, w_i_t_h_ the greatest repentance that could be
deuised[480].’ But Henry was a little premature with his boasts that
peace had been concluded on terms so favourable to himself. Aske indeed
came up to London, had what certainly appeared to be a most successful
interview with the King, and returned to the North, January 5, 1537, to
confirm the royal pardon, and to promise that all reasonable petitions
should be heard by Parliament[481]. But the other rebels did not seem by
any means as sure of Henry’s good faith. Aske wrote to the King a letter
containing six ‘marvilus congectures’ of the people, among which were
the dread with which they regarded the fortifying of strongholds, and
their distrust that Cromwell and his adherents were as high in favour as
ever[482]. Henry of course paid no attention to these complaints, with
the result that many of the insurgents, who ‘saw plainly,’ as the Court
historian writes, ‘that the King did constantly follow the reformation
of the abominable Church ... incontinently renewed the old practice of
rebelling again[483].’ A plan was evolved by Sir Francis Bigod and a
certain John Hallam, to attack and take both Hull and Scarborough: the
whole country was ready to rise again, and they anticipated an easy
victory[484]. But the success of this last outbreak was very
short-lived. The attempt which Hallam made against Hull failed, owing to
the fact that the plot had been reported to the mayor there, and Hallam
himself was captured[485]. At Scarborough Bigod was scarcely more
fortunate. He had succeeded in calling out the people of the East
Riding, and had harangued them; ‘Ye are deceaued by a colo_ur_ of a
pardon,’ he said, ‘for it is called a pardon that ye haue, and it is
none But a p_ro_clamacion.’ The commons responded to his words with a
great shout, and he marched off with a large following to repair his
comrade’s disaster at Hull, leaving the son of Lord Lumley with a
handful of men to attack Scarborough[486]. But Lumley deserted his post,
abandoning the command to two subordinates, who attempted to lay siege
to the castle of Scarborough in the absence of its keeper, Sir Ralph
Evers; the latter, however, soon returned, and they gave up the
enterprise, only to be captured and imprisoned. Bigod’s second attempt
on Hull had meantime also failed, and Bigod himself fled[487].
Meantime the Duke of Norfolk had returned into the north, no longer as a
peace commissioner, but as a messenger of death and destruction[488].
Now that the tide of affairs had turned and the rebels were weakened,
the King thought it at last safe to inflict the long-deferred punishment
on the leaders of the revolt. It is true that Norfolk was accompanied by
a few persons, who together with certain gentlemen in the north were to
compose a council to aid him in carrying out a general pacification:
this arrangement, however, was obviously temporary, and it was soon to
be replaced by a more stable form of government. The true mission of
the Duke was to do ‘dreadful execution.’ Before a permanent
reorganization of the north could be attempted, it was absolutely
essential that the chief rebels should be dealt with in such a way as
would deter others from attempting a fresh insurrection. The situation
demanded severity, and there can be no doubt that the inclination of the
King tallied closely with the dictates of political expediency. Norfolk
justified to the full the confidence that Henry reposed in his
ruthlessness. He reported that he thought that so great a number had
never before been put to death at one time, and confessed that had he
proceeded by jury, not one in five would have suffered[489]. All the
rebel leaders were taken and sent up to London, and by the end of July,
1537, Aske, Darcy, Hussey, Bigod, and many others had been condemned to
death as traitors. Darcy at his mock trial had dared to tell Cromwell:
‘It is thow that art the verey originall and chif causer of all thies
rebellyon and myschif ... and dust ernestly travell to bring vs to owr
end and to strik of our hedd_es_ and I trust that ... thought thow
woldest procure all the nobell mens hedd_es_ within the Realme to be
striken of, yet shall ther one hedde remayn that shall strike of thy
hede[490].’ But the Lord Privy Seal was still in too secure a position
to be harmed by any such words as these. He seemed in higher favour than
ever. If Norfolk had entertained the notion that he had begun to
supplant his rival in the royal favour, when the King chose him rather
than Cromwell to carry out the ‘dreadful execution,’ he was again doomed
to disappointment. The reason why the King had not been willing to
employ his favourite instrument of destruction in this case, lay for the
most part in the fact that he needed his aid in a far more important
task, to which Norfolk’s proceedings were merely a necessary
preliminary. For the moment had now arrived for the long-contemplated
reform of the government of the north, a matter in which the Duke vainly
attempted to give advice. His proffered counsel was consistently
rejected: in dealing with this problem the King preferred to consult
Cromwell.
The Border Counties of England had never been governed like the rest of
the kingdom[491]. The institution of the three Scottish Marches, which
at first included the greater part of Northumberland and Cumberland,
took its rise as early as the middle of the thirteenth century. Each of
these three Marches was placed in charge of a Warden, who, aided by a
special court, exercised general authority, judicial, military, and
administrative, according to his commission. There appears also at a
very early date a kind of informal conference or Council of the Marches,
composed of the ordinary March authorities, sitting in conjunction with
local magnates. When the war with Scotland broke out at the end of the
thirteenth century, the King attempted through the Privy Council to
increase his personal influence in the north. He did not disturb the
existing organization however. By special commissions he strengthened
the power of the Wardens, and later gave the government of the Marches a
definite head in an officer called the Lieutenant of the North, who
represented the King’s interest, and derived his authority from the
Crown and Council and not from Parliament. The Border Counties were thus
placed under a special jurisdiction and outside the ordinary
administration of the kingdom. The tendency of the Privy Council to
mingle in the affairs of the north increased during the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, and (as a result of the strained relations between
England and Scotland in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII.)
reached its culmination under Wolsey. The Lieutenant’s control had
meantime been extended southward into Yorkshire.
It may perhaps seem strange that the Tudors, with their special genius
for centralization and conciliar government, had not yet succeeded in
rendering the condition of the north more satisfactory, when its
administration lay so completely in their own hands. But the
ever-threatening danger of a raid from the Scots, coupled with the
bitter feuds of the local baronage, tended so far to disorganize the
region that the problem of the north had remained unsolved. The attempt
of Wolsey to reform the government of the Border Counties had consisted
in a thorough rehabilitation of the old Council of the Marches. He
replaced the ill-defined, loosely-constructed body which had hitherto
done service by a secret, permanent organization, composed principally
of northern gentlemen, but still entirely dependent on the Privy
Council. His reluctance to grant the local organ a sufficient degree of
autonomy was the cause of the failure of his plan. The renovated Council
of the Marches was forced to confess itself incompetent to deal with
even the simplest problems which presented themselves for solution, and
the old unsatisfactory state of affairs continued with little change,
until after the Pilgrimage of Grace.
The problem of the reorganization of the north was now vigorously
attacked by Henry and Cromwell during the absence of Norfolk. The
question which presented itself after the suppression of the revolt was
whether it would be better to create an entirely new form of government
for the north, or to reconstruct, readapt, and strengthen the old. The
principle of control by a permanent local council, first definitely
established by Wolsey, was essentially characteristic of the Tudor
policy, and Henry and Cromwell saw no reason to depart from it. It had
been one of the chief sources of the strength of their rule, that though
they never shrank from any change, however radical, which the demands of
a royal despotism in Church and State rendered necessary, they carefully
avoided any gratuitous innovations which they knew would be unwelcome to
the people at large. An entirely fresh organization of the north would
have been exceedingly unpopular, especially in that most conservative
portion of England: it was far less obnoxious, and equally effective, to
infuse new life into the old régime, by granting the Council of the
Marches a sufficient degree of independence, and above all by changing
its composition. The problem was in many respects similar to that with
which Cromwell had been confronted in connexion with the election of
bishops. No radical innovation was needed in either case; the _status
quo_, when fortified by official sanction, was perfectly satisfactory,
save for a few trifling readaptations. It was on this basis accordingly,
that Henry and Cromwell resolved to reconstruct the government of the
Border Counties. The old forms were retained though under different
names. The jurisdiction of the Council of the North (merely a new
version of the old Council of the Marches) was extended so as to include
the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, York, and
Durham. It was given wider competence in general administration, and its
judicial authority in certain cases was so strengthened as to exclude
that of the ordinary courts in the districts in which it exercised its
functions[492].
Far more interesting for our purpose than the jurisdiction of the
newly-organized Council, is its composition, especially as revealing the
identity of its originator. It seems that the new body was largely
composed of men of low birth, a certain indication that Cromwell’s was
the guiding hand in its organization[493]. The ‘base-born knave’ at
whose feet England lay had succeeded in proving to the King, that he and
others of humble origin had as much power and willingness to serve the
Crown as any nobleman in the land. Moreover the personal character of
many of the members of the new Council was not above reproach, and
though this fact does not seem to have disturbed the King, a bitter
protest was evoked from Cromwell’s rival, the Duke of Norfolk, who, from
his isolated position in the north, had watched with increasing
impatience the success of the Lord Privy Seal in maintaining his
influence at Court, and in organizing a body obviously intended to
supplant the temporary council composed in the previous January.
Norfolk’s anxiety to recommend himself to the King had alone induced him
to take upon himself the task of punishing the revolt; now that he
discovered that with all his subserviency Cromwell had again stepped
into the place which he had coveted for himself, his enthusiasm for
executing rebels gave place to petitions to be permitted to return to
Court. But Cromwell was strong enough to keep him in the north till
September, and the Duke was forced to content himself with writing
letters to the King and Council, to complain of the new arrangements for
the government of the Borders which had been made in his absence[494].
He and Cromwell came into collision here, just as they had done before
over Irish affairs: each had his own idea as to the best method of
government in both cases, and the antagonism of the two men was the
sharper in that each knew that his favour with the King depended on the
success of his plan of administration. The Duke from the very first was
convinced that ‘the wylde peple of all the Marches wolde not be kept in
order vnles one of good estimacion and nobilitie have the ordering
therof,’ while Cromwell and the Council asserted that the King had
already been ill served on the Borders ‘by _th_e reason of controversy &
variaunce depending between _th_e great men _tha_t ly upon _th_e same’;
but, they continued, ‘if it shal please his M_ajesty_ to appoynt _th_e
meanest man ... to rule & govern in _tha_t place; is not his Graces
aucthoritie sufficient to cause al men to serve his Grace under him
w_i_thout respect of _th_e very estate of _th_e personage?[495]’ The
dispute on this point began in early February, when Norfolk wrote to
protest against certain names in a list of officers for the north which
the Privy Council had sent him. ‘More arraunt thev_es_ and murderers be
not in no Realme,’ asserted the Duke, ‘then they haue of Long tyme been
and yet ar ... and the same shall not only cause Light p_er_soun_es_ to
saye and beleve that the King_es_ Highnes is fayne to Hire with Fees the
moost malefactors ‹in order› to syt in rest, but also not to Loke vppon
theire most detestable offenc_es_[496].’ An animated correspondence on
this topic continued for several months, the dispute finally centering
about the Presidency of the new Council and the Wardenships of the three
Marches; Norfolk insisted that only noblemen were fitted to hold these
offices[497]. In May the discussion was finally closed by the King, who
had steadily supported the position adopted by Cromwell and the Council.
Henry now took the matter into his own hands, and sent a peremptory
letter to the Duke. ‘We doo accept in good p_ar_te,’ wrote the King,
‘the declarac_i_on of yo_ur_ opinion for the March_es_. Neuertheles we
doubt not but you woll both conforme yo_ur_ owne mynde to fynde out the
good order whiche we haue therin determyned and cause other by your good
meane to p_er_ceyve the same. For surely we woll not be bounde of a
necessitie to be s_er_ued there with lord_es_, But we wolbe s_er_ued
with such men what degre soeuer they be of as we shall appointe to the
same[498].’ The Presidency of the Council was finally conferred on
Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham. The death of the Earl of
Northumberland in June, 1537, served as a convenient pretext for the
suppression of the Lord Wardenship of the East and Middle Marches, which
that nobleman had previously enjoyed; and the Earl of Cumberland, who
had hitherto held a similar office on the West Marches, was not
permitted long to retain it. Three Deputy Wardens, Sir William Evers,
Sir John Witherington, and Sir Thomas Wharton, were appointed in their
places by the King and Cromwell[499]; the three March Courts were
revived, and exercised concurrent jurisdiction with the new
Council[500], which was also composed as Henry and his minister had
originally planned it[499]. In every point the advice of Cromwell had
been taken in preference to that of Norfolk, and when the Duke finally
obtained leave to return to Court in September, it must have been with
the feeling that he had again suffered defeat at the hands of his
plebeian rival. The rebellion, which eleven months before had threatened
to hurl Cromwell from his place, had been completely quelled, and the
country had been again reduced to internal quiet. The danger while it
lasted had indeed been pressing, but so firmly had Cromwell been
established as the King’s chief minister by the events of the years 1530
to 1536, that the storm passed over him and left him scathless. The
failure of the Pilgrimage of Grace and the process of reconstruction
which followed it, bore witness to the thoroughness with which he had
carried out his main aim in internal government, and to the security of
the position to which he had elevated himself by his temporary success
in establishing a royal despotism.
CHAPTER XI
CARDINAL POLE
The story of the life of Reginald Pole and of the destruction of his
illustrious family will always be inseparably bound up with the history
of Thomas Cromwell. It affords the most striking example of the
unscrupulous policy of the King’s minister towards those who stood in
the way of the royal despotism in Church and State. It forms moreover a
valuable connecting link between the internal and foreign administration
of the time, as it concerns itself with nearly all the great problems
which Cromwell had to face.
To turn for a moment to the earlier history of Pole; he was born in
March, 1500, the fourth son of Sir Richard Pole, and his wife Margaret,
Countess of Salisbury[501]. In his youth Henry had helped him forward in
his education, paying twelve pounds for his maintenance at school, and
later obtaining for him a pension from the Prior of St. Frideswide’s,
while he was an undergraduate at Magdalen College[502]. Subsequently, by
the royal munificence Pole was enabled to go to Italy, where he worked
with the foremost scholars of the time[503]. He returned to England in
1527 and there received many marks of distinction, but wishing to
continue his studies, he soon removed to Paris. Henry was particularly
anxious that the University there should pronounce in favour of the
divorce, and with some difficulty induced Pole to carry on negotiations
with it to that intent. When the University finally came to the decision
that the King desired, Pole received a hearty letter of commendation and
was subsequently induced to return to England[504].
Henry now urged him openly to support the divorce, and offered him as an
inducement the archbishopric of York, which had been left vacant at
Wolsey’s death, but in vain. Pole firmly refused to approve of the
King’s new measures, saying that to do so would be inconsistent with his
principles[505]. A little later he witnessed the concessions wrung from
the clergy concerning the Royal Supremacy, and was not slow to perceive
that it was by Cromwell’s agency that the entire ecclesiastical system
of the country had been overthrown. He called to mind the conversation
he had held years before with the ‘Satanae Nuncius,’ when the latter had
dared to uphold the superiority of Machiavelli’s doctrines to the
scholastic learning, and soon became convinced that England was not a
safe place for a man of his ideas, while such a person as Cromwell was
in power. He accordingly requested leave to continue his study of
theology abroad, and obtained Henry’s consent[506].
He settled down at Padua, and there lived the quiet life of a scholar
until 1535, when the King determined to find out about him. He sought
information concerning Pole and his beliefs from one Thomas Starkey, who
had long been an intimate of the future Cardinal. In answer to the
King’s inquiries Starkey sent back an imaginary dialogue between Pole
and his companion Lupset, in which the former was represented as opposed
on principle to a royal despotism, but still personally faithful to
Henry VIII. The King, however, was not contented with this vague and
half-contradictory reply, and caused Starkey to write again to Pole and
ask him honestly to express his views about the divorce and the Royal
Supremacy[507]. To this Pole responded in May, 1536, with a letter
enclosing his famous treatise, ‘De Unitate Ecclesiae,’ which he sent by
his faithful servant Michael Throgmorton[508]. This work fulfilled all
too perfectly Henry’s request for a candid opinion; so plain were its
expressions of disapproval, that even Starkey himself felt obliged to
write to the King to say how much he had been shocked by its
violence[509]. Henry dissembled his anger, and sent Throgmorton back to
Pole with a message urging him to come home in order that he might talk
with him more fully. The King took good care to make Throgmorton himself
promise to return in any case[510]. Coupled with the King’s message came
a letter of reproof from Pole’s mother, which had evidently been written
at Henry’s command[511]. This letter aroused Pole’s suspicions and he
refused to return, alleging as his excuse the fact that the King
enforced with ‘sore severitie’ a law by which any man who would not
consent to his supremacy was declared a traitor. It appears from Pole’s
reply that Cromwell had also written to him, ‘to styrr hym the more
vehemently.’ If the letter of the King’s minister was half as savage and
threatening as those which he later wrote, it is no wonder that Pole was
alarmed.
On the 22nd of December, 1536, Pole much against his will was created
Cardinal at Rome, and two months later was appointed Papal legate to
England[512]. It appears that in spite of the Ten Articles the Pope had
not yet given up all hope of re-establishing his power in Henry’s
dominions, and had determined to make use of Pole as the most likely
means of accomplishing this end. The news of the latter’s new dignity
and of the Papal intentions against England was received with dread at
the King’s Court. It was remembered that as far back as 1512 a prophecy
had been made to the effect, ‘that one with a Red Cap brought up from
low degree to high estate should rule all the land under the King, ...
and afterwards procure the King to take another wife, divorce his lawful
wife, Queen Catherina, and involve the land in misery’; and that further
‘that divorce should lead to the utter fall of the said Red Cap ... and
after much misery the land should by another Red Cap be reconciled, or
else brought to utter destruction[513].’ We are told that Cromwell knew
this prophecy well, and that he often discussed it, and sought to learn
whether the last part of it should some day come to pass, as he had seen
the first fulfilled in his own time. Had Pole been able to arrive in
England promptly, so that he could have taken advantage of the
disturbance caused by Bigod’s rebellion, it is possible that Cromwell’s
fears might have been realized before his death, and that a
reconciliation with Rome might have taken place in 1537 instead of in
1554. But the bull of legation was unaccountably delayed till the 31st
of March[514]. Meantime the northern revolt had been crushed, Francis
and Charles were still at war, and Pole’s chance had gone. By this time
Henry had doubtless perceived that the new-made Cardinal could never be
induced to support his cause, but would certainly oppose it as long as
he lived. As reconciliation seemed impossible, the King turned his
thoughts to arrest or execution. The foreign affairs of England at that
juncture were in such a favourable condition that Henry felt strong
enough to dictate both to the Emperor and to the King of France.
Informed by the latter (who was just then in terror of losing England’s
friendship because of his war with Charles) that Pole was coming through
France with money to help the northern rebels, Henry was bold enough to
demand in answer that he should not be received as a legate, and also
that he should be extradited as a traitor; he also wrote to Gardiner at
Paris to keep ‘good espyall’ on his movements[515]. A letter from Sir
Thomas Palmer, a somewhat quarrelsome knight at Calais, would seem to
indicate that a plot to apprehend or assassinate Pole had been set on
foot as early as the spring of 1537, and Cromwell in a letter to
Gardiner of May 18 further discusses the matter[516]. Pole, however, had
been advised of these treacherous schemes, and had escaped first to
Cambray and later to the palace of the Cardinal of Liège, where he
remained, grieved and mortified at the failure of his mission, but
perfectly safe from Cromwell’s assassins[517]. Returning thence to Rome
at the Pope’s command, he reported the unsuccessful result of his
journey in October.
Meantime in January, 1537, Michael Throgmorton had fulfilled his
promise and returned to England[518]. If Henry had once thought that
Pole’s servant would put his loyalty to the Crown before his
faithfulness to his master[519], he must have been convinced of his
mistake by this time; but Throgmorton was saved from punishment for the
present by Henry’s temporary failure to subdue the Pilgrimage of Grace,
and anxiety lest fresh hostility should be aroused abroad; and was soon
sent back to carry to his master a final warning to desist from
attacking the Royal Supremacy[520]. From this errand Throgmorton did not
return; it would have been the act of a madman to do so, considering the
way in which events were moving. Instead, he wrote two long and
conciliatory letters to Cromwell, one from Rome on February 15, the
other from Liège on August 20[521]. In the first he attempted to appease
the anger of the King, which had been aroused by Pole’s acceptance of
the Cardinalate. In the second he insisted that Pole had always done his
utmost for the advancement of the King’s honour and good name, except in
matters which concerned the unity of the Church. Furthermore he pointed
out that though Henry had treated him as a rebel and put a price upon
his head, the Cardinal had shown great forbearance in not leaving his
book against the King in the hands of the Pope, who would infallibly
have published it, and in refusing the exercise of certain censures
which had been prepared against Henry in Rome. Throgmorton added,
moreover, that the Pope had just called Pole back to Italy to take part
in the General Council appointed for the following November, at which it
was inevitable that strong measures would be taken against England. He
assured Cromwell that if the King desired to avoid this danger it would
be indispensable for him to become reconciled to Pole, on whose attitude
at the Council so much depended. Throgmorton appears to have
supplemented this letter with a verbal suggestion that a conference
should be arranged between the King’s chaplain Dr. Wilson and the
Cardinal, before the latter’s departure for Rome, in the hope that some
final agreement might be reached. He promised to use his own efforts to
induce Pole to do his part, and seized the opportunity to excuse himself
for not returning to England, by observing in this connexion that he
could best further the King’s interests by tarrying with his master. At
first the plan which Throgmorton proposed seems to have found acceptance
with Henry. A favourable reply was drawn up by Cromwell, and Dr. Wilson
and his companion, Dr. Nicholas Heath, received instructions preparatory
to a conference with Pole[522]. But though Henry, discouraged as he was
by his failures to kill or capture the Cardinal, appears to have been
momentarily persuaded that Throgmorton’s suggestion was feasible, his
minister from the first was strongly opposed to it. The first draft of
the reply to the letter of Pole’s servant bears every evidence of having
been written under compulsion, and Cromwell must have succeeded, before
it was actually sent, in persuading the King that a mission which was to
meet the Cardinal on his own ground could only result in failure, and
that the sole thing to do was openly to menace Pole and his family with
assassination. Such at least seems the most probable explanation of the
fact that Wilson and Heath never started on their errand, and of the
singularly abusive and malevolent letter with which Cromwell finally
replied to that of Throgmorton[523]. The last hope of reconciliation
with the Cardinal had vanished; not he alone, but also his aged mother
and brother in England, had been threatened with destruction. Another
obstacle to Henry’s despotism was to be annihilated, as every attempt to
surmount it had failed.
Pole meanwhile remained in Italy, assured of his personal safety but
grieved to the heart that his mother and brother were still in England,
where the King could take vengeance on them for his own alleged treason.
In August, 1538, his brother, Sir Geoffrey Pole, was arrested and placed
in the Tower, where he was examined on the charge of having had
treacherous correspondence with his brother Reginald, and having
interfered with the King’s endeavours to arrest him[524]. His replies to
the questions put to him implicated many others, and before the close of
the year the heads of the powerful families of Montague, Courtenay,
Delawarr, and Nevill had been arrested and sent to the Tower[525]. There
is reason to believe that the confessions of Sir Geoffrey Pole were
extorted from him by threats of torture, to serve as an excuse for the
arrest of these noblemen, and a letter of Castillon to Montmorency
asserts that their destruction had been decided on long before, on
account of their connexion with the Yorkist dynasty[526]. Cromwell’s
activity in procuring matter for the various indictments is sufficiently
attested by an enormous number of notes of evidence and memoranda for
prosecution in the hand of his chief clerk. The apparent difficulty
which he had in trumping up any plausible charges against his victims,
would seem to show that no adequate proof of any really disloyal intent
could be found. Indeed, in order to have any sort of excuse for the
arrests of the Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter, Cromwell had to exhume
a long forgotten episode, and accuse the latter of having ridden in
disguise three years before to confer with the Holy Maid; while it was
remembered that the Marquis had been put in the Tower in 1531 on the
charge of assembling the commons of Cornwall for an insurrection, with
intent to depose the King. An unfortunate remark of Courtenay’s that
‘Knavys rule about the Kyng,’ and that he hoped ‘to gyue them a buffet
oone day,’ was brought up against him as a treasonable sentence; it
certainly could not have been pleasing to Cromwell, who was doubtless
the arch-‘knave’ referred to[527]. But it is very unlikely that any of
the unfortunate noblemen had been guilty of crimes which could fairly
be interpreted as treason. The French ambassador had hit upon the real
secret of their offences when he remarked that they all were adherents
of the White Rose[528]. In fact the whole plot against Pole may in one
sense be regarded as preparatory to a final attack on the Yorkist
nobles, whose position had never been secure since the accession of the
House of Tudor. Blow after blow had been struck against them by Henry
VIII. and his father, but still some vestige of them seemed always to
remain, to threaten the King’s position and endanger his succession.
There can be no doubt that Cromwell, whose action in the case was
certainly influenced more than usual by personal animosity, found little
difficulty in persuading the King that the existence of Courtenay was a
serious menace to the security of the reigning dynasty, on account of
the claim that he had to the throne as grandson of Edward IV. At any
rate, Henry seemed resolved on a wholesale destruction of all nobles who
could possibly be regarded as rivals of the Crown, and the relationship
of most of his victims to the family of the persecuted Cardinal afforded
him a pretext of which he did not fail to take advantage. Exeter,
Montague, and Nevill were beheaded in December, on Tower Hill, while Sir
Geoffrey Pole, who had been tried and condemned with them, was spared,
mainly, as Cromwell frankly told Castillon at the end of December,
because the King expected to get something more out of him[529]. He was
ultimately pardoned, but passed the rest of his life in musing, ‘going
about,’ says a contemporary writer, ‘like one terror-stricken all his
days[530].’
The Marchioness of Exeter and the Countess of Salisbury were meantime
held prisoners in the Tower. On May 12, 1539, ‘the moste tractable
parlament’ that Henry ever had passed a sweeping bill of attainder, to
legalize the wanton massacres of the preceding year and to destroy the
victims who still remained[531]. The Marchioness of Exeter was
subsequently pardoned, but the Countess dragged on a miserable existence
in prison for more than two years after her attainder. The only evidence
of her treason was a cloth which had been found in her house,
embroidered on one side with the arms of England and on the other with
the five wounds of Christ, the emblem carried by the rebels in the
Pilgrimage of Grace. Still execution was delayed, and it was not until
the spring of 1541, almost a year after the death of Cromwell, that an
insurrection in Yorkshire under Sir John Nevill sealed her fate, and she
was barbarously beheaded by a clumsy executioner on May 28[532].
Meantime the Cardinal at Rome, powerless as he was to prevent the ruin
of his family, was contriving in some way to humble the arrogant King
and the ruthless minister who had caused him so much woe. The Pope saw
that what Henry dreaded most of all was a coalition of Francis and
Charles, and as there was a good prospect of this event at the close of
1538, he sent Pole to each of these two sovereigns to urge them to agree
to stop all trade with England and lay the foundation for a continental
league against her. Pole gladly accepted the task, and careless of his
own safety, though he knew that his path would be full of Henry’s hired
assassins, he set out for Spain and reached the Emperor’s Court at
Toledo in safety in February, 1539. When the King heard of his arrival
there, he wrote to Charles in very much the same way that he had
addressed Francis two years before, accusing Pole as a traitor, and
demanding his extradition as such, or at least insisting that Charles
should not grant him an audience[533]. But unfortunately Henry was now
no longer in a position to dictate, and the Emperor, realizing this, saw
no reason to accede to his request, and answered, as Cromwell later
wrote to Wriothesley, that if Pole ‘wer_e_ his owne trayto_ur_,
co_m_myng from that holy father’ he could not refuse him audience[534].
But in spite of all this, the Cardinal’s mission was a failure. Charles
for the present was content with the slight rebuke that he had given
Henry for his bullying ways; cautious as ever, he did not propose to put
himself in a position from which he could not retreat until he was sure
of his ground, and intimated to the legate that the Pope had made a
great mistake in publishing censures which he could not enforce. Pole
could not obtain his consent to the Papal proposals and left Toledo much
discouraged[535]. He was also exceedingly suspicious of some design of
Sir Thomas Wyatt’s to cause his assassination, and mentioned it in a
later letter to Cardinal Contarini[536]. That his fears were not
entirely groundless is shown by a cipher letter from Wyatt to Cromwell
containing many passages pregnant with hidden meaning which can only be
explained if such a design is premised[537]. Pole soon betook himself to
his friend Sadolet at Carpentras, whence he sent a messenger to Francis
on the same errand as that on which he himself had gone to Charles. The
French King’s reply was as unsatisfactory as the Emperor’s had been, and
in 1540 the Cardinal returned to Rome with his mission unaccomplished,
and deriving only small consolation from the thought that he had been
successful in baffling the attempts of Henry’s and Cromwell’s assassins.
The story of Pole’s life between 1535 and 1540 is the thread which binds
together the foreign and domestic, secular and religious history of
Cromwell’s administration. The Cardinal’s attempts to make the King
renounce his title of Supreme Head and the other insignia of the
despotism to which Cromwell had raised him at home were an absolute
failure, and were punished with the shockingly unjust and cruel
destruction of his family. Still his efforts to thwart the main aim of
the foreign policy of the time, namely the separation of the interests
of France and Spain, though not directly successful, were instrumental
in bringing about the fall of his arch-enemy Cromwell. For the
endeavours of the Cardinal were one of a number of things which combined
to persuade the minister that the catastrophe which seemed imminent
throughout the year 1539 could not be averted without external aid, and
thus to induce him to take a step on his own responsibility which soon
led him into disastrous conflict with the King.
CHAPTER XII
THE FOREIGN POLICY
During the ten years of Cromwell’s ministry, the relations of England
with the great continental powers presented a problem fully as difficult
as that afforded by the course of events at home. Cromwell’s efforts to
cope with the dangers which threatened England from without were far
less successful than his internal administration: in the latter he never
failed to render invaluable service to the Crown, while in the former he
made the mistake which finally lost him the royal favour and brought him
to the block. As the results of the minister’s external policy thus led
directly to his fall, we may now return to the chronological order of
events, which was abandoned while the various phases of his home
government were under consideration.
Cromwell had entered the King’s service in 1530 with training and
talents which rendered him far more competent to undertake the domestic
administration of the country than to guide its foreign affairs. His
acquaintance with different trades, his legal ability, and his
experience in the suppression of the smaller monasteries for Wolsey’s
purposes were of inestimable value to him throughout his ministry in
dealing with problems at home. But in the management of affairs abroad
he was still very inexperienced. He had borne no part in the great
schemes of external policy which had occupied the Cardinal, and though
his speech in the Parliament of 1523 showed a very just appreciation of
the situation of England abroad, he had had no opportunity to put his
ideas into practice. Thus at the outset we find him cautiously remaining
in the background and awaiting the development of the King’s foreign
policy. In this he was wise, for at Wolsey’s fall Henry had resolved to
take the external administration of England into his own hands. We have
seen that the Cardinal’s failure had taught him the danger of concluding
any definite alliance with either France or Spain, while the two great
continental rivals remained at war. He had learned that England’s best
security lay in maintaining a position of neutrality between Charles and
Francis, and in balancing one against the other, while all disputes
between them were encouraged under cover of offers of mediation. It was
along these lines that Henry had determined to guide the foreign affairs
of England, as soon as order could be brought out of the chaos caused by
the divorce. How correct his decision was is proved by the utter
collapse of the Imperial alliance of 1543, the only really permanent
departure from the policy of neutrality which Henry ever made after the
death of Wolsey. A complete change of the political horizon led him into
it, only to be left in the lurch by the Emperor at the peace of
Crêpy[538] in the same way that he had been abandoned before by Francis
at the treaty of Cambray. But during the life of Cromwell the King made
no such blunder as this. Though he sometimes wavered, he never
definitely renounced the policy of neutrality, although his minister,
who sometimes doubted its efficacy, made several efforts to induce him
to abandon it. There can be no doubt that, from the very first, Cromwell
over-estimated the danger of a foreign invasion and failed to appreciate
the real strength of England’s isolated position: he was deceived by
constant menaces which never really bore fruit. A more intimate
acquaintance with the practical and calculating nature of Charles V.
would certainly have convinced the King’s minister that however much the
Emperor threatened, he would never actually embark on the somewhat
remote project of a crusade against England, until a great many affairs
in his own scattered dominions on the Continent had first been settled
to his satisfaction. But Cromwell’s inexperience in the management of
foreign affairs blinded him to this important fact: and his
over-eagerness to seek means for England’s defence proved his ultimate
ruin. After successfully co-operating with Henry for seven years on the
basis of maintaining strict neutrality between France and Spain, and of
encouraging all disputes between them, he abandoned the wise policy of
his master in favour of an alliance in Germany which, in one form or
another, had been under consideration on several occasions before, but
which had been abandoned every time as unnecessary. This new alliance
turned out disastrously. At the moment of its completion, the situation
on the Continent which had called it into existence suddenly changed; it
was thrown over, together with the minister who had originated it. Such
is the outline of the history of England’s foreign affairs from 1530
till Cromwell’s fall. We can now take up the very complicated story in
detail.
Although Henry ardently desired at once to put in practice the policy of
neutrality which he had learned from Wolsey’s failure, the affair of the
divorce had thrown everything into such confusion that an immediate
application of the new principle was impossible. In fact it was not
until the beginning of the year 1536 that the King was able to assume
the position he desired in his relations with France and Spain. The
alliance with France which Wolsey had bequeathed to Henry was so close
that the King saw that he must at least partially withdraw from it,
before he could hope to come to such terms with the Emperor as would
enable him to act the part of a neutral and benevolent mediator between
the foreign powers. But at this juncture the King’s anxiety to obtain a
legal justification for his second marriage was paramount in his mind.
In fact it almost seems to have blinded him temporarily to the policy
that he doubtless intended ultimately to pursue. His energies were all
bent towards securing the aid of Francis in his ‘grete matier’; and for
the moment he postponed his policy of conciliating the Emperor, who was
of course at that time in league with the Pope. Each pair of allies had
interviews and counter-interviews, but with very different results.
While Henry and Francis were at first most cordial, Clement counted
Charles’ proffered friendship as of slight weight, against the prospect
of losing the support of the two most powerful kings of Christendom,
and of being forced to submit to the summoning of the General Council by
which the Emperor proposed to rectify the abuses which had crept into
the Holy Church[539]. The visit at Bologna of Francis’ ambassadors,
Cardinals Tournon and Grammont, undid all that Charles’ threats had
accomplished[540], and Clement, although he feebly menaced Henry with
excommunication in case he proceeded with his second marriage[541],
refused to accede to the Emperor’s wishes that he should take more
active measures against England. Meantime Henry had endeavoured to come
to an understanding with the See of Rome concerning the hearing of his
case before a Council, in the hope that by giving the Pope fair words,
he might still obtain a favourable decision[542]. The King’s confidence
in the ultimate success of his efforts was so high at the opening of the
year 1533, that he dared to give it expression by increasingly harsh
treatment of Katherine. She was moved further away from the Court than
ever before, and hardly a day passed without seeing her subjected to
some new indignity. Every effort which her friends made on her behalf
seemed unavailing. As petitions to Henry himself were unanswered,
Chapuys in despair turned to Cromwell, whom he had by this time
recognized as the man who managed all the King’s affairs[543]. But
Cromwell succeeded in evading the demands of the Imperial ambassador
also; in fact he displayed such ability in ‘beknaving’ Chapuys that
Henry always employed him in future to answer the perfectly justifiable
complaints of the Spanish representative. Cromwell delayed the interview
which the ambassador had requested until he had had time to consult with
the King[544]: and when he finally met Chapuys, he spent much time in
applauding all the efforts that had been made to maintain friendly
relations between Spain and England. But when urged to do his best to
protect the Queen and Princess from the ignominies to which they were
subjected, Cromwell’s replies were evasive, if not absolutely
untruthful. Chapuys was so exasperated at the cool way in which his
claims to justice had been set aside, that he took occasion to hint that
Charles and Francis might some day join forces against England, to
‘which Cromwell assented, but showed no great joy thereat.’ The threat,
however, had no lasting effect. The treatment of the Queen went on from
bad to worse, and two months later the same conversation took place all
over again, with the same unsatisfactory result[545]. As long as
Cromwell consented to obey his master’s commands implicitly, and to
devote himself solely to finding means to carry out the plans which the
King’s riper experience told him were feasible, without trying to take
the lead himself, the two were an almost invincible combination.
But the time was soon to come when Chapuys’ prophecy of a coalition of
France and Spain seemed more likely to be fulfilled. Henry’s impatience
to conclude his matrimonial troubles finally led him to throw caution to
the winds. He had, as we have already seen, postponed the application of
his wise policy of neutrality in the hope of obtaining aid from France.
But the French King did not move quickly enough to suit him, and in the
summer of 1533 he committed such a breach of diplomatic courtesy that he
completely alienated his ‘nere and dere brother.’ He had overtaxed his
friendship with the King of France by requiring him to support every
move he made, and to threaten the Pope, if his Holiness refused to do
the same. Francis only partially acceded to Henry’s wishes. Meantime all
hope of obtaining the divorce from Rome had been abandoned owing to
Cromwell’s advice; the affair was tried in England, and Anne Boleyn was
publicly proclaimed Queen. A provisional sentence of excommunication was
passed on Henry in July, giving him till September to decide whether he
would take Katherine back or not. A few months before, Francis and Henry
had together endeavoured to win over the Pope against the Emperor: now
that the bull of excommunication had come, Francis continued his good
offices by offering to mediate for Henry with the Holy See. Henry,
however, blusteringly assured him that he was not in need of any
mediation--he hoped that Francis would not trouble himself[546]. But the
latter would not take the hint that England’s policy towards the See of
Rome had changed from conciliation to open hostility, and invited
Clement to meet him at Marseilles, to see if he could not bring about an
agreement. The Pope, who needed Francis’ aid in the furtherance of his
own plans for the prevention of the dreaded Council, readily accepted
the opportunity which had been offered[547]. Henry was of course unable
to prevent an interview between the two potentates, but he attempted to
throw cold water on the whole affair by sending an embassy to Clement
while the latter was the guest of the King of France, to announce to his
Holiness that he intended to appeal against his sentence to the very
General Council which the Pope was attempting to forestall. The chief
result of this extraordinary proceeding was simply to deprive the King
of the only ally that he had. Francis was naturally exceedingly angry,
and flatly refused to fight Henry’s battles for him any more[548]. Such
was the reward reaped from the alliance which Wolsey six years before
had been at such pains to bring about, in the hope of obtaining
much-needed support in the matter of the divorce[549]!
So far it certainly seemed as if Henry’s foreign policy, instead of
gaining him his desired position as neutral and pretended mediator
between France and Spain, had only served to alienate both. As his cruel
treatment of Katherine and Mary had not improved his position with
Charles, he had to cast about for other allies to counterbalance the
effect of his tiff with Francis. It is at this juncture that Cromwell
first steps into prominence in connexion with foreign affairs. There can
be little doubt that the negotiations with the Lutheran princes, which
began in July, 1533, were planned by him. It is of course natural to
look to the man, whose name six years later became inseparably
associated with a German alliance, as the originator of the scheme; in
addition to this there is documentary evidence. A letter which Chapuys
wrote to the Emperor, July 30, 1533, informs us that two of Cromwell’s
men (one of whom later turned out to be his trusty Stephen Vaughan) had
been sent to Germany presumably ‘to embroil’ all they could[550]; and on
August 3, a letter reporting the progress of the ambassadors was written
by them to Cromwell from Antwerp[551]. Vaughan and his companion, a
certain Christopher Mont, arrived in Nürnberg on the 22nd, whence they
sent home minute accounts of the state of religion in Germany; the one
observing, with apparent regret, that the country was not nearly as
disturbed as had been thought, while the other assured Cromwell that he
had never seen a land whose towns were so much divided[552]. Some time
in the autumn Cromwell sent a reply to Mont, praising his diligence, and
urging him above all things to discover the state of feeling in Germany
towards the King of England and the Emperor[553]. The envoy appears to
have returned from his preliminary tour of investigation before the
close of the year, for in January, 1534, he was sent back again to
Germany, this time accompanied by Nicholas Heath, with instructions to
convey to the Lutheran princes the sympathy of the King of England, as
being also an enemy of the Pope, and to express his willingness to unite
with them for the extirpation of false doctrines[554]. England’s
overtures, however, were not received with as much enthusiasm as Henry
perhaps had expected, and nothing definite resulted from the mission of
Heath and Mont for a long time. The Germans probably had serious
misgivings about the genuineness of Henry’s Protestantism, and their
suspicions of his sincerity were confirmed by a new development of
England’s foreign policy in the same year.
As one of the consequences of an unwarrantable act of piracy near the
English coast in the autumn of 1533, Henry had been able to get hold of
a prominent young man of the violently Protestant town of Lübeck, by
name Mark Meyer. At London he was treated with the greatest courtesy by
the King and Cromwell, and returned to his native city invested with the
honour of knighthood[555]. Such bounty was seldom showered on anybody by
Henry VIII. without some ulterior purpose, and Meyer’s case was no
exception to the general rule. It soon transpired that proposals had
been made for a close alliance between England and Lübeck[556]. Ever
since the peace of Stralsund in 1370, the cities of the Hanseatic League
had claimed a decisive voice in the affairs of the neighbouring realm of
Denmark[557]: the death of the king of that country in April, 1533, had
left the throne vacant, and Lübeck was at this moment bent on obtaining
the disposal of it. Henry signified his willingness to aid the Lübeckers
in this enterprise, on condition that they would promise that if they
were successful they would be guided by him in the final bestowal of the
Danish crown. In May, 1534, the Lübeckers sent an embassy to
England[558], and the proposals of the previous year were accepted.
The new alliance had a very important bearing on the larger issues of
Henry’s foreign policy. The social and political revolution which had
been in progress in Lübeck since 1530 had placed the power in the hands
of a party whose anti-papal tendencies were fully as violent as those of
the Wittenberg theologians, and whose conscientious scruples were of
less weight, when thrown into the scales of political expediency[559].
The treaty concluded with England contained certain doctrinal statements
which lay suspiciously close to the needs of Henry’s immediate
position[560], and the King must have been at least temporarily
convinced that he had obtained a valuable ally against the See of Rome.
The treaty with Lübeck was also a very distinct move against the
Emperor, for an Imperial candidate had been proposed for the vacant
throne of Denmark, and by supporting the Lübeckers Henry necessarily
opposed Charles. But the new alliance failed to accomplish what was
expected of it: in fact it actually worked to England’s disadvantage.
Before its conclusion, George Wullenwever, the demagogue whom the recent
upheaval had rendered temporarily supreme in Lübeck, had offered to
support the claims of the Lutheran Duke of Holstein to the Danish
throne; but when Holstein, unwilling to gain his ends by force,
prudently refused the proffered aid, the friendship of the Lübeckers was
converted into bitter enmity. They soon invaded his lands, but were
repulsed and besieged in turn in their own city: a peace of a most
extraordinary nature finally resulted, by which an agreement was reached
in regard to the affairs of Holstein, though both parties reserved the
right of continuing the war for the disposal of the crown of Denmark.
That country in the meantime, seeing that its sole chance of safety lay
in obtaining a strong and capable leader, elected the Duke of Holstein
to the vacant throne, under the title of Christian III.--a severe blow
to the pretensions of the Lübeckers, who were now robbed of their best
excuse for interference in Danish affairs, namely their professed desire
to introduce pure religion there[561]. Lübeck, however, had now gone too
far to draw back, and prepared to attack the new King in connexion with
England. Henry must have been much annoyed at the complication into
which his new alliance had led him--it seemed doubly foolish, in view of
his attempts to conciliate the German Protestants, that he should get
himself entangled with the enemies of those whom he wished to make his
friends. But though the King was advised by Dr. Barnes, the English
ambassador at Hamburg, to drop Lübeck and conciliate Christian[562], he
was as usual too proud to acknowledge that he had made a mistake. He
soon reaped the reward of his obstinacy, as the Lübeckers, in their new
attempt to overthrow Christian, were again completely defeated. Henry
had aided them with the services of two skilled engineers, and the
Danish King sent an embassy to demand an explanation of his
conduct[563]. Christian’s envoy was treated with scant courtesy by the
King and Cromwell, the latter vainly attempting to conceal his master’s
anxiety by several preposterous lies[564]. But still the King was
unwilling to consent to a complete reversal of his Lübeck policy, and
finally sent the ambassador home with an answer which Chapuys
characterizes as ‘obscure and ambiguous.’ Several subsequent victories
of Christian, in which certain English ships which had been sent to aid
the Lübeckers were captured, were sufficient however to convince Henry
that he had unduly despised the power of the new Danish King; and though
his relations with Lübeck continued to be friendly, he carefully
abstained from any further active measures on her behalf. But he had
already done enough at least temporarily to alienate his Lutheran
friends, who were shocked at the way in which the King of England
attached himself to people whose religious principles were as extreme as
those of the Lübeckers, and who had dared to attack one of their own
number.
Thus each of the two alliances with which Henry had sought to fortify
himself against France and Spain had rendered the other worthless. The
King probably bitterly regretted that his matrimonial difficulties had
led him to stray so far from the policy which he originally intended to
pursue. Had he been able to secure his desired position as neutral and
pretended mediator between France and Spain, he could have relied on
this eminently advantageous situation alone to secure safety for England
abroad, without troubling himself about any outside alliance. But to
attain this position was impossible, as we have seen, until he became
reconciled to Charles, and reconciliation with Charles was out of the
question as long as Katherine remained subjected to such indignity. Here
lay the key to the whole situation. The treatment of the divorced Queen
was the sole hindrance to a cordial relation between Spain and England,
and consequently to the final application of the policy which Henry so
ardently desired. But there could be no hope of an alleviation of her
sufferings, for the King and Cromwell were by this time irrevocably
committed to a brutal attitude towards Katherine and her daughter by the
course of events since the first trial of the divorce. The inference was
obvious. As long as Katherine lived, a reconciliation with Charles, with
all its attendant benefits, was impossible: her death alone could pave
the way for it. That these thoughts had already taken shape at least in
Cromwell’s mind is proved by a hint which the King’s minister dropped in
Chapuys’ presence in August, 1534, to the effect that the death of the
Queen and Princess would remove all occasion for a quarrel between their
masters[565].
But the autumn of 1534 saw several events which served to encourage the
King and his minister, and seemed temporarily to postpone the necessity
of coming to terms with the Emperor. The first of these events was the
death of the Pope in September, an occurrence which, according to
Chapuys, caused Henry and Cromwell such joy that the latter was ‘unable
to refrain from saying several times in public that this great devil was
dead, and it seemed as if he was very sorry that he could find no worse
name for him than devil[566].’ Francis moreover, solely on account of
his very strained relations with Charles, had slowly begun to recover
from the effects of Henry’s discourtesy at Marseilles, and had made
fresh efforts to come to terms with England again; while Henry,
unwilling as yet to proceed to extremities in order to gain the
friendship of Charles, welcomed the prospect of a renewal of amity with
France. But the satisfaction which the King derived from the attitude of
Francis was rudely dispelled in a few months. Several interviews which
had been arranged between the two sovereigns had failed, for various
reasons, to take place, but the Emperor meantime had not been idle.
Imbued with the idea of vindicating the rights of the Princess Mary by
some decisive stroke, he had actually sent the Count of Nassau to the
French Court to suggest that Francis should ask Henry to give her to the
Duke of Angoulême[567]. Francis considered the Emperor’s plan worth a
trial, and in October sent over an embassy under Admiral de Brion to
propose it to the King of England. Henry had little idea of the
unpleasant surprise that was in store for him, and made great
preparations for the reception of the Frenchmen, and Cromwell sent for a
number of beautiful young ladies to come to the Court to entertain
them[568]. There seems to be some doubt whether de Brion first proposed
that Mary should be given to the Duke of Angoulême or to the
Dauphin[569], but both suggestions were equally disagreeable to Henry.
An acceptance of either proposal would of course involve retracting his
declaration that Mary was illegitimate, and annulling his hard-earned
invalidation of his first marriage, and yet he dared not insult Francis
a second time. His first reply, according to Chapuys, was that he would
agree to give Mary to Angoulême if both would make a solemn renunciation
of all claims that they could bring forward to the English throne[570].
But the Spanish ambassador seemed to think that this proposal would not
prove satisfactory, and we gather from the official report of Henry’s
answer that the suggestion was dropped. Instead, however, the King
finally replied that if Francis could obtain from the new Pope a
decision that the sentence of Clement was void, he might be induced to
renounce his claim to the French throne in exchange for certain lands
and titles in the Netherlands, and further hinted that it might be
possible to arrange a match between Elizabeth and the Duke of
Angoulême[571]. But this proposal amounted to little more than a
diplomatic refusal of Francis’ request. De Brion went away disappointed,
and forgetting his usual caution, and the fact that England was still in
a stronger position than France, determined to avenge himself for the
failure of his mission by parading before the eyes of Cromwell and his
master the probability of the dreaded alliance of France and Spain, in
much the same way that Chapuys had done in the previous year. When
Cromwell appeared in the great hall to make the farewell present, the
Admiral disengaged himself from the crowd, and came to the Imperial
ambassador with the greatest civility, expressing his regret at not
having seen the Princess Mary, ‘the principal gem of the kingdom,’ and
finally declaring that if he and Chapuys could only bring their masters
to accord, all would go well[572].
In spite of Cromwell’s boasting, we may well believe that de Brion had
succeeded in making Henry feel very uncomfortable. The inferences which
the King must have drawn from the conduct of the ambassador at his
departure were further confirmed by the ominous silence from France
which followed the Admiral’s return. But Francis himself was in too
precarious a position to afford to throw away any chances, so after a
couple of months’ delay, he pocketed his pride and sent over another
embassy under Palamedes Gontier, Treasurer of Brittany, to continue
negotiations on the basis of a marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke
of Angoulême. Henry was all the more annoyed that Francis should take
him at his word, and entertain seriously the somewhat chimerical
proposal with which he had dismissed de Brion; and the mission of
Gontier failed as signally as its predecessor had done, in coming to any
definite conclusion[573]. But Henry had chosen a very poor moment to
administer this final rebuff; for the Emperor had departed on an
expedition against Tunis, and thus left Francis a comparatively free
hand on the Continent. The advantage of position had hitherto lain with
England, but the absence of Charles totally altered the aspect of
affairs. The French King felt himself once more master of the situation,
and was not slow to inform Henry that he did not propose to be dallied
with any longer. The reconquest of Milan was at this moment his heart’s
desire; to accomplish it he needed English aid. So he commissioned the
Bailly of Troyes to convey to Henry a Papal brief which had been sent to
the French Court, and which required all Christian princes to cease to
hold intercourse with the heretical King of England; he further
instructed his ambassador to make it clear that the sole consideration
which would induce the King of France to disregard the brief, would be a
liberal contribution of English gold, whenever he saw fit to make war on
the Emperor. This announcement, which was practically an ultimatum, took
Henry completely by surprise: angry words passed between him and the
French envoy, but there was no use disguising the fact that Francis had
the upper hand[574]. The King finally sent Gardiner to Paris to answer
the French claims; the instructions which the ambassador received reveal
a much more conciliatory attitude than Henry had yet adopted towards
France[575]. The gravity of the situation was further confirmed by the
seizure and detention at Bordeaux of several English ships, for the
recovery of which Cromwell kept writing urgent letters to the Bishop of
Winchester[576]. It was at this juncture that the King and his minister
made a feeble effort to reap some reward from the mission of Heath and
Mont to the Lutherans in the preceding year. Attempts were made to bring
the reformer Melancthon to England, or at least to prevent his going to
Francis, who had sent for him in order to obtain the support of his
followers against Charles[577]. The latter effort was superfluous; the
former failed. Melancthon had no intention of going to France, but the
King and Cromwell could not persuade him to come to England either.
Henry’s agent, Dr. Barnes, however, informed the Lutherans that the King
would not refuse to join in an alliance with them for the defence of the
Gospel, provided they would support him against the Pope, and he
promised them that another ambassador, the Bishop of Hereford, would
come and talk further with them[578]. At the close of the year the envoy
was received in Germany. Long negotiations followed, at first with some
hope of success. A request by the English ambassador that the Germans
would unite with his master in a refusal to recognize a General Council
convoked by the Pope, was favourably received; and the plenipotentiaries
of the Lutherans drew up a response in which they expressed themselves
as entirely in accord with Henry in regard to the See of Rome, and
offered the King of England the proud title of Defender and Protector of
their league. As long as the Bishop of Hereford restricted himself to
theological discussion and abuse of the Pope all went well, but when he
made the more practical demand for aid to his master in money and ships
in case of an invasion, the Germans drew back: they were not prepared to
go as far as this until a more complete agreement had been reached in
matters of religion. Trouble arose also over the question of the King’s
divorce: the Lutherans acknowledged that marriage with a brother’s widow
was wrong, but they refused to admit, if such a union had taken place,
that it was right to break it[579]. The news of the executions of More
and Fisher, moreover, had caused great consternation in Germany, where
every effort was being made to introduce the new doctrines without
bloodshed; and the Bishop of Hereford was finally sent away
empty-handed, the negotiations having resulted in a failure which
plainly foreshadowed the events of 1538 and 1539. Taken as a whole, the
year 1535 had simply been occupied in playing over again the game of
1534. Twice had the French alliance been tested, and it had failed.
Twice had Henry and Cromwell sought security in a league with the
Lutherans--without success. Two proofs had been afforded that a
reconciliation with Charles was the surest road to England’s safety; and
this time the alternative of a closer alliance with France, which, in
1534, had offered the King and his minister a temporary escape from an
ultimately inevitable conclusion, was out of the question. But a
reconciliation with the Emperor, as we have already seen, was impossible
during the lifetime of Katherine.
Under these circumstances then, we can scarcely wonder that the Imperial
ambassador reported to his master that the death of the Queen, which
occurred on January 7, 1536, was due to foul play[580]. Chapuys also
possessed other evidence, which tended to strengthen him in this
conclusion. He had not forgotten the sinister hint which Cromwell had
let fall in his presence in August, 1534; and he had apparently
discovered that in November, 1535, the King had plainly told his most
trusted counsellors that he must be rid of the Queen and Princess at the
next Parliament[581]. Nor did Henry’s unseemly conduct when he received
the news of the death of his first wife escape the notice of the
Imperial ambassador. Chapuys wrote to Charles how the King clothed
himself in yellow from head to foot, and spent the day in mirth and
revelry. ‘God be praised,’ had Henry exclaimed, ‘that we are free from
all suspicion of war[582].’ The ambassador also dwelt at length on the
suspicious secrecy and almost indecent haste with which the body of the
Queen was opened, embalmed, and enclosed in lead; on the very
significant testimony extracted from the chandler of the house who did
the work, and on the statements of the doctor and of the Queen’s
confessor. The verdict of the best modern medical authorities on the
post-mortem examination as reported by the chandler strongly favours the
conclusion that Katherine was not poisoned[583], but died of a disease
called melanotic sarcoma, or, more popularly, cancer of the heart: the
testimony of a sixteenth-century artisan, however, is but a poor basis
for a modern scientific investigation. If the Queen was murdered, there
is every reason to think that Cromwell was chiefly responsible for the
crime. To a man of his character and training such a step would have
been far less repugnant than to Henry, had he once assured himself that
it was indispensable to his purposes. He had had sufficient experience
of the Italy of Alexander VI. and Caesar Borgia to render him quite
callous to the ordinary sentiments of humanity in such matters. He had
never fully realized the innate strength of England’s isolated position;
he was always alarmed by the danger of foreign invasion far more than
his master, and consequently was more ready to adopt desperate measures
to avert it. It does not seem likely that the more experienced Henry
would have originated the plan of murdering his wife, until the crisis
in foreign affairs had become far more acute. Though he fully
comprehended the many advantages of a closer alliance with Charles, he
must have been reasonably certain that he had little cause to fear a
direct attack in the immediate future, especially as the death of the
Duke of Milan in the end of October had opened glorious possibilities
for a renewal of the quarrel between Francis and Charles. Of course it
is mere folly to suppose that Cromwell would have attempted to murder
the Queen without the King’s full consent. It is more than probable
however that--if poison it was--it was he who put the idea into Henry’s
mind, and took the responsibility for its execution upon himself.
In any event the death of Katherine, whether due to natural causes or
‘advancé sinistrement’ as Chapuys expressed it, was the means by which
Henry was at last enabled to attain the position in foreign affairs that
he had aimed at since the fall of Wolsey, and to put in practice a
policy which, combined with a fortunate turn of events abroad, was
destined, for two years, to lead to the most glorious results. It
removed the chief cause of jealousy between England and the
Emperor[584], and enabled Henry to point out to Francis, who as we have
seen had of late been taking a very haughty tone with him, that the
situation of the two countries had again been reversed, and that France
was no longer in a position to dictate. This task Cromwell performed
for him three days after the Queen’s death, with his usual directness
and efficiency. The King’s minister wrote to Gardiner and Wallop on
January 8, indicating that the death of Katherine had removed ‘the
onelie matier of the vnkyndenes’ between his master and the Emperor, and
instructing the ambassadors in their ‘conferenc_es_ and procedyng_es_
w_i_t_h_ the frensh kyng and his counsaile’ to keep themselves ‘the more
aloof and be the more Froyt and colde in relentyng to any their
ou_er_tur_es_ or request_es_[585].’ A comparison of this letter with one
which Cromwell had written to the Bishop of Winchester two months
earlier[586] reveals a very striking change of tone, which nothing else
than the death of Katherine could have rendered possible.
The King’s secretary was no less prompt in pointing out to the Imperial
ambassador the bearing of the decease of the divorced Queen on England’s
relations with Spain. He was not ashamed to remark to one of Chapuys’
men that the Emperor had the greatest cause to be thankful for the death
of Katherine, which in his judgement was the very best thing that could
have happened for the preservation of the amity between Henry and
Charles, as it completely removed the sole cause of jealousy between
them[587]. The Emperor was too hard-headed a politician not to see the
force of Cromwell’s words. We cannot doubt that he was exceedingly angry
at the death of his aunt, which he certainly believed was due to foul
play; but his situation was such that revenge was impossible, and with
characteristic calmness and self-control he determined to conceal his
resentment and conciliate Henry. It was doubtless with his full sanction
that Chapuys welcomed all Cromwell’s proposals, which looked towards a
more cordial relation between England and Spain. Meantime Francis had
not been slow to take the hint which Gardiner, at Cromwell’s command,
had given him, and was again using every effort to regain Henry’s
favour. The breach between the two continental sovereigns was, to the
King’s intense joy, becoming wider every day, with the result that each
was making frantic attempts to outbid the other for England’s
friendship. Henry’s position was for the moment almost ideal. All he
needed to do was to keep the two rivals just evenly balanced. But
precisely at this critical juncture, Cromwell for the first time in his
ministry made a move without the King’s leave, which, had it not been
instantly forestalled, would have completely upset the beautiful
equilibrium which Henry had laboured so hard to establish. The King had
doubtless ordered him to be cordial to Chapuys, in order to
counterbalance the effects of the warmth of Francis; but he had not the
least idea of entering into any definite agreement, which might lose him
his precious position of neutrality. But Cromwell did not see this. He
exceeded his instructions, was voluble in his disparagement of the
French in Chapuys’ presence, and finally brought matters to such a point
that he went with Chapuys to the King to propose an Imperial
alliance[588]. It was the most open avowal he had yet made of a leaning
towards Spain, that he had doubtless cherished for a long time. Born
among the common people, Cromwell’s early life had been spent in that
atmosphere of bitter hatred of France, which for generations had been
one of the most predominant characteristics of the lower classes in
England. In the first half of the sixteenth century, hatred of France
meant friendship with Spain, and from the first years of the reign of
Henry VIII. one encounters at every turn evidences of the devotion of
the common people to the Imperial cause. Wolsey’s policy of peace with
France had won him almost as many enemies among the lower classes as his
reputation as originator of oppressive financial measures. Cromwell had
determined not to make the same mistake that his predecessor had, but he
was foolish enough to err on the opposite side. During the year 1535 he
had given hints that he was no friend of France[589]. His rudeness to
the French ambassadors on more than one occasion had convinced Chapuys
that he favoured the Emperor, but as yet he had not gone far enough to
bring himself into collision with the King. But this time he had
forgotten his previous caution, and his rashness resulted in his first
serious quarrel with his master. Henry may well have been furious that
his minister’s recklessness had threatened to destroy the whole fabric
of a policy which he had been at such pains to put in operation. The
Imperial ambassador gives us an amusing account of a scene which ensued
in the Privy Chamber when he came with Cromwell to propose an alliance
between England and Spain. After Chapuys had propounded the terms of a
possible treaty, Henry called Cromwell and Audeley to him and retired to
another part of the room. ‘They talked together,’ writes Chapuys, who
kept a vigilant eye upon the gestures of the King and those with him.
‘There seemed to be some dispute and considerable anger, as I thought,
between the King and Cromwell; and after a considerable time Cromwell
grumbling left the conference in the window where the King was, excusing
himself that he was so very thirsty that he was quite exhausted, as he
really was with pure vexation, and sat down upon a coffer out of sight
of the King, where he sent for something to drink.’ Henry soon came to
Chapuys, and after being as rude as possible, reproaching the Emperor
with past ingratitude, and asserting that Milan rightfully belonged to
the French, waived the point at issue entirely, and was with difficulty
persuaded to look over the treaties at a later time. ‘At this slender
and provoking answer,’ writes Chapuys, ‘I left the Court, and went to
wait on Cromwell,’ whose regret was so great ‘that he was hardly able to
speak for sorrow, and had never been more mortified in his life, than
with the said reply[590].’
Ample justification was soon afforded for Henry’s strict adherence to
the policy of neutrality, for events on the Continent had moved rapidly
forward, and Charles and Francis were at last at open war. By
restraining Cromwell from making the mistake of cementing an alliance
with the Emperor, and by guarding himself against a too close intimacy
with Francis, the King had succeeded in placing England in such a
position that the two great continental powers were forced to grovel at
her feet. From the beginning of 1536 until the autumn of 1537, when the
truce between France and Flanders (forerunner of the peace of Nice in
the summer of 1538) was concluded, the history of the foreign policy of
England is as simple as it is glorious and triumphant. Henry, constantly
pretending to be desirous of arbitrating between France and Spain, ‘for
the peax and weale of Christendome,’ as he elegantly put it, was in
reality solely occupied with the endeavour to embroil them the more.
Alternately encouraging and repelling advances from both sovereigns, by
judiciously proposing and then retreating from alliances with each of
them, he succeeded admirably in keeping Charles and Francis in a
constant state of anxiety, as regarded his true position. Cromwell’s
letters tell the story of the time very clearly. ‘An answer soo general
that it doth neither refuse their alliance, ne moche encorage them, to
co_n_ceyue that they maye w_i_t_h_out difficultie obteyn their desire’
was the reply which the English ambassadors were ordered to give at the
French and Spanish Courts[591]. So secure did Henry feel himself abroad
that he dared to issue a manifesto in contempt of the General
Council[592], which the Pope had summoned to meet at Mantua, and to
publish the Ten Articles of 1536, which, while primarily intended to
serve another purpose, were politically useful as a formal refusal to
respect it. It was very fortunate for England that her affairs abroad
were so prosperous at this juncture, as the end of 1536 and the
beginning of 1537 were full of anxiety at home, owing to the outbreak of
the rebellion in the North.
This happy state of affairs however was not destined to endure, for
Francis and Charles soon tired of their strife, and in the autumn of
1537 there were signs of a reconciliation. Francis, moreover, had
strengthened his position by a league with the Turk, and began to feel
powerful enough to make a move without Henry’s leave. The first
intimation of this unpleasant fact came to Henry in the shape of a
refusal of a matrimonial offer. The death of Queen Jane had left him
free to marry again, and so gave him an excellent opportunity once more
to mix in continental affairs, which he did not permit to escape him.
Cromwell wrote a letter for him to Lord William Howard and Gardiner,
artfully instructing them to feel the way for a possible alliance with
Mme. de Longueville, who had just been affianced to James of Scotland.
It was too much of a favour to ask Francis to put aside the claims of a
sovereign who had always been his true friend, to make way for those of
the more powerful but perfidious King of England, and Henry’s offers
were, after some negotiations, politely but firmly declined, to the
latter’s intense chagrin[593]. An almost equally ominous note of warning
came from Spain at the same time. Sir John Dudley, ambassador to
announce the death of the Queen at the Spanish Court, had expressed to
the Emperor the King’s sorrow that his repeated offers of mediation with
France had been set aside, whereupon Charles turned on him, and informed
him that negotiations with France were already set on foot, though he
relieved Henry’s anxiety a little by assuring him that no actual treaty
should be made without the King of England’s being included as a
‘premier contrahent,’ a promise which Cromwell was continually harping
upon a year later, when the situation had entirely changed[594].
Thus the year 1538 opened rather darkly for England. The dread with
which Henry watched the increasing signs of good-feeling between Charles
and Francis led him into ridiculous and undignified action. As soon as
it was settled that Mary of Guise was to become James’ wife, Henry
literally scoured the continent of Europe in search of an alliance for
himself or his daughters, which would strengthen his position and avert
the impending crisis. A somewhat confusing set of double instructions
from Cromwell to his friend Philip Hoby, instructing him to negotiate
for possible marriages with the younger sister of James’ wife, with the
daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, and also with the Duchess of Milan,
and to obtain their portraits, is not without interest as revealing
Henry’s state of mind[595]. The first two of these unions, if
accomplished, would of course have rendered him safe from France; the
other would have put him on friendly terms with Spain; but none of them
was destined to succeed. The King even went so far as to permit Sir
Francis Brian, his agent at the French Court, to suggest that various
suitable ladies should be brought to Calais for his inspection, that he
might be sure that he made no mistake. Henry’s proceedings evoked such
ridicule and derision in continental Europe, that Castillon, the French
ambassador, contrived to convey to him the general feeling with such
directness and force that he actually drew a blush from the King
himself[596]. Finding that his endeavours to obtain a suitable wife for
himself were abortive, Henry looked about for an advantageous marriage
for his daughter Mary. By alternately holding out to the Emperor a
prospect of a match for her with the Infant of Portugal, and pretending
to accept a proposition of the French representative, Castillon, that
she should marry the Duke of Orleans, he contrived to lay the basis for
a continental quarrel. But his success in this scheme was very
short-lived. The only person that he could deceive at all was Castillon.
It seems that Cromwell, who again at this crisis took the opportunity to
show his decided leaning towards Spain, had openly disapproved of the
proposed French alliance, and when Castillon complained of this, Henry
turned fiercely upon his minister and reprimanded him, saying that he
was a good manager, but not fit to intermeddle in the affairs of kings,
and finally Norfolk was sent for. Cromwell’s ‘great Spanish passion,’ as
Castillon called it, had got him into trouble again, and the French
ambassador was delighted, thinking that he had at last obtained the
upper hand. But Castillon’s delusions were rudely dispelled three weeks
later, when he learned that the King and Council were resolved ‘to
withdraw from the French match,’ on account of offers which the Emperor
had made, and when Francis wrote that the King’s proceedings only proved
that he was jealous of the negotiations for peace[597]. It is needless
to state that neither of the proposed unions ever took place, and
Henry’s frantic endeavours to frustrate the steadily increasing amity of
France and Spain were entirely unavailing.
Matrimonial agitations being found useless to serve his purpose, Henry
had recourse to other methods to stir up suspicions between Charles and
Francis, and to prevent the dreaded peace. Whatever malicious
tale-bearing and false representations could accomplish was used to the
full by the King and his minister. Cromwell wrote to Sir Thomas Wyatt at
the Spanish Court, directing him to ‘declare how the frenche men show
themself_es_ so ernest to put al in the king_es_ hand _tha_t they offer
vpon any significac_i_on _tha_t themp_er_o_ur_ woll make ... to
condescende to the same,’ and telling how the French ambassador had
promised that Henry ‘shuld for the French king_es_ p_ar_te haue the hole
and entier manyeng of the Peax betwen him and Themper_or_[598].’ If
Henry could not obtain the ‘hole and entier manyeng of the Peax,’ he did
his best to convince Charles and Francis separately that his own
friendship was more valuable to each of them than that of the other.
Furthermore he took pains to assure each one of the two rivals apart,
that the other prized England’s amity so much that great concessions
would be necessary to regain it.
But in spite of all Henry’s efforts to avert it, the news of the truce
between Charles and Francis and of their subsequent interview at Aigues
Mortes reached England in July, 1538[599]. Still so confident was the
King in the wisdom of his original policy of strengthening England
solely by attempts to embroil these two powerful sovereigns under cover
of offers of mediation, that he refused definitely to abandon it, in
spite of the threatening outlook on the Continent. He remembered that
the situation there had often changed before, and saw that it would
probably do so again. He encouraged himself with hopes that in spite of
the failure of his attempts to contract a marriage in France, he might
still gain the hand of the Duchess of Milan, and with the reflection
that the inroads of the Turk into the Emperor’s dominions would be a
serious hindrance to any direct attack upon England. He was unwilling to
seek security in an outside alliance, for fear of imperilling his
hard-won position as a neutral between France and Spain. He wished still
to rely solely on judicious interference in the affairs of Charles and
Francis for England’s safety.
But with Cromwell the case was very different. The closing months of the
year 1538 were the turning-point in his career, for they saw him take a
step which was destined to bring him into collision with the King, and
later to lead him to his death. The original difference of opinion
between King and minister, which first came to the fore in the quarrel
of 1536, now broke forth again under a slightly altered form, which it
was destined to maintain till the end. At first we saw that Cromwell
vented his distrust of the policy of neutrality in favouring a definite
alliance with Spain. The changed situation on the Continent rendered a
league with Charles impossible now, so that the only refuge that
remained for England, if the policy which had been so successful in
1536 and 1537 really broke down, was to court an alliance with some
power outside the two great continental rivals. And Cromwell,
inexperienced, and overestimating the danger of foreign invasion,
certainly believed that Henry’s efforts to maintain his old position
between France and Spain were now doomed to inevitable failure. He did
not see, as the King did, that the friendship of Charles and Francis was
but temporary, and that the old quarrels were ultimately certain to
break forth afresh. He looked the situation as it was squarely in the
face, abandoned once and for all the policy of seeking safety by playing
on the mutual jealousies of Charles and Francis; he frankly recognized
the probability of war, and deliberately courted an outside league for
England’s defence. As he had always considered the friendship of the
Emperor more valuable than that of Francis, so he considered his enmity,
which he now regarded as inevitable, as more to be feared. Consequently,
in looking about for an alliance to fortify England, he sought one which
could be most effectively directed against Charles.
It will be remembered that in order to guard against the danger of a
possible coalition of the Emperor and the King of France in 1533 and
1534, some proposals had been made for a league with the Protestant
princes of Germany; but that owing to theological differences, the
Lübeck affair, and the death of Katherine and its results, the scheme
had been abandoned as useless. As long as the interests of France and
Spain were separated, the value of the German alliance as a defensive
measure was of course lost, and England thought no more of it. But now
that the news of the interview of Aigues Mortes had persuaded Cromwell
that mere meddling in the affairs of France and Spain was not sufficient
to prevent a coalition against England, he turned to his forsaken
friends in Germany once more. Cromwell must have had great difficulty in
bringing Henry to sanction a move to seek friendship with the Lutherans,
but so hopeless did the King’s efforts to prevent a cordial relation
between Charles and Francis appear, that he was at last induced to
consent to the experiment, though, as we shall soon see, his
acquiescence was only temporary. The opportunity for an alliance with
the Germans was in many respects most favourable. The proclamation which
Henry had put forth to show his contempt of the Papal authority to
convoke a General Council, coupled with the Ten Articles of 1536, had
called forth the most hearty approbation of the Lutheran princes. An
elaborate set of instructions in the hand of one of the King’s
secretaries directed Christopher Mont to go to the Germans again, and
tell them how nearly Henry’s theological views coincided with their own,
and to request them to send representatives to discuss with him points
of faith[600]. The fact that the proposals for the German alliance
ostensibly emanated from the King, is no sign that Cromwell was not the
real originator of it. An invitation to send ambassadors could scarcely
proceed from any other source than the Crown, so that the evidence
afforded by the authorship of the instructions to Mont is of small
weight; whereas the course of events in 1539 and 1540 leaves little
doubt that the guiding hand throughout was that of the King’s minister.
Henry’s name really appeared as little as possible in connexion with the
Lutheran alliance from first to last, and only in the most formal
manner. Cromwell’s was the moving spirit in it throughout, and Henry
really never cordially supported him, but regarded the measure in the
light of a disagreeable necessity, temporarily forced upon him by the
apparent failure of his own plans.
But the outside world of course knew nothing of the difference of
opinion between King and minister, and had no suspicion that the
foundations were being laid here for the quarrel which was later to
bring Cromwell to disaster. The Lutherans were greatly flattered by the
proposals that had been made to them, and in May an embassy, headed by
Franz Burckhard, Vice-Chancellor of Saxony, arrived in England. But in
spite of all the trouble that had been taken, the plans of the King’s
minister were not destined to bear fruit, for the only result of the
Lutheran embassy was procrastination which seemed little better than
failure. Theological differences were the ostensible reason for
inability to conclude an agreement, but not the real one. The
Protestantism of the Lutherans differed from that of Henry and Cromwell
in much the same way as that of Tyndale, years before: they cared for
their theology for its own sake, and not, like Henry, as a means to an
end, as a stepping-stone to political greatness. A theological
_entente_, however, would have been possible, had Cromwell and Henry
united to bring it about; but they did not. The true reason for the
failure to conclude an agreement was the obstinacy of the King, which
asserted itself at the very moment that his minister had hoped to gain
his complete consent to the proposed alliance. In the midst of the
negotiations with the Lutherans, Henry’s faith in his old policy had
been suddenly revived by the news that the extensive preparations of the
Emperor, which he at first had feared were to be aimed at England, were
in reality directed against the Turk[601]: the King was at least
persuaded that he had no cause to fear an attack in the immediate
future. Gardiner in Paris, moreover, had been steadily working to defeat
the plans of Cromwell[602], and at the crucial moment his efforts appear
to have borne fruit. The King refused to commit himself any further to
the policy to which he had given his temporary sanction, but which, if
definitely adopted, would have seriously hampered his own schemes. The
most that Cromwell could do was to persuade the King to keep up the
appearance of amity, and not to cut himself off from all chances of
returning to his Lutheran friends at a later date. So the envoys were
sent home in October, with a letter to the Elector of Saxony, telling
him that his representatives had given assurance of such sound erudition
and Christian piety, as would certainly lead to the best results; but as
the matter of the negotiations concerned the glory of Christ and the
discipline of religion, it required much more mature deliberation, and
that a second embassy would have to be sent over before matters could be
concluded[603]. For Cromwell, the dismissal of the Lutherans amounted
to a second rebuke from the King, for meddling in foreign affairs; but
this time the minister did not humbly accept the rebuff as he had done
before, but continued to oppose his schemes to those of his master.
Thus at the close of the year 1538, England was trembling at the
prospect of a coalition of France and Spain against her. The outlook was
certainly alarming, and demanded united action at home. But at this very
moment the King and his minister could not agree on the best method of
averting the peril which was threatening. Each adopted his own way of
meeting it, and the history of the year 1539 is the story of the varying
success of the two methods when brought into conflict. We shall see that
fortune twice inclined to favour Cromwell, only to desert him, after he
had become so hopelessly committed to the policy which he had adopted in
face of the opposition of the King, that there was no drawing back, and
he paid the penalty for his rashness with his life.
CHAPTER XIII
THE CATHOLIC REACTION AND THE ALLIANCE WITH CLEVES
The first few months of the new year brought no improvement in the state
of England’s foreign affairs. Having postponed the Lutheran alliance
which Cromwell had so strongly advocated in the end of 1538, for fear of
losing his position of neutrality between France and Spain, Henry was
driven back on his own policy of seeking safety for England in direct
negotiations with Charles and Francis. Matrimonial agitations had
failed--malicious tale-bearing had not borne fruit, so the King took the
more straightforward course of making direct complaints that he was
spoken of with too little respect in foreign parts. He sent grumbling
letters to his neighbours, accusing them of permitting evil reports to
be circulated about him. He caused the President of the Council of the
North to request James of Scotland to suppress and punish the authors of
several ‘spyttfull ballades,’ which had been published about the
wrongfully usurped authority of the King of England, and also wrote to
Wyatt in Spain, commanding him to protest against the malicious and
unreasonable lies of the ‘barking prechers ther’ who slandered him
behind his back[604]. But these petty remonstrances had no effect in
diminishing the growing cordiality of Francis and Charles, or their
hatred of England: in fact the two continental sovereigns seemed better
friends than ever. On January 12, representatives of both monarchs met
at Toledo and concluded an agreement not to make any new alliances,
either political or matrimonial, with the King of England, without each
other’s consent[605]. The news of this treaty was a deathblow to Henry’s
hopes; and the King was reluctantly forced to admit that his minister’s
scheme of a German alliance offered better chances of safety for England
than any other. So he again gave his consent to a renewal of
negotiations for an outside league, though, as we shall soon see, it was
on a basis somewhat different from that of the previous ones.
Disappointed by the King’s refusal definitely to accept the alliance for
which he had laboured so hard, Cromwell had meantime been amusing
himself with a very feeble plan for gaining friends against the Pope,
the chimerical nature of which was quite at variance with the direct and
practical character of most of his schemes. He had proposed a league of
England with the Dukes of Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino against his
Holiness, who had just challenged the title of the latter to the dukedom
of Camerino. An interesting set of instructions to Cromwell’s friend
Edmund Harvell at Venice tells the story of this negotiation very
vividly[606]. But the princes of northern Italy were too weak and the
scheme itself was too remote and far-fetched to promise any real
advantage, and Cromwell doubtless lost all interest in it as soon as the
King again consented to approach the Germans. The fact that three months
had been suffered to elapse since the return of the envoys in 1538,
without an acceptance of the King’s invitation to send other
representatives to discuss theological points, simply proves that
Henry’s treatment of the first embassy had not been such as to encourage
the Lutherans to persevere[607]. But now that the King had again veered
round to Cromwell’s policy, he ‘mervayled not a litel’ at the slowness
of the Germans, and sent Christopher Mont over to the Court of the
Elector of Saxony on January 25 to discover the feelings of John
Frederic and the Landgrave of Hesse, the leaders of the Schmalkaldic
League, towards the Emperor, to inquire further into their attitude on
the tenets about which they had so fruitlessly disputed with the
English bishops in the preceding summer, and finally to learn whether
the Duke of Cleves and his son were of the ‘old popisshe fasshyon’ or
no[608]. Appended to these very non-committal injunctions are certain
others from Cromwell himself of quite a different nature[609].
Completely dodging the theological issue, which he wisely left entirely
in the King’s hands, Cromwell took up the question of the German
alliance from a new and far more practical side, the matrimonial. He
instructed Mont to suggest to the Vice-Chancellor Burckhard the
possibility of two marriages; one between the young Duke of Cleves and
the Princess Mary, and the other between Anne, the elder of the two
unmarried daughters of the old Duke, and the King himself[610]. It
appears that Cromwell had already discussed the feasibility of the first
of these two matches with the Vice-Chancellor, when the latter had been
in England in the previous summer, and John Frederic had subsequently
written to the King’s minister that the plan met with his entire
approval. The proposal for Henry’s marriage, on the contrary, was now
brought forward for the first time. We shall soon see why it was that
Mont was sent to the Elector of Saxony, rather than to the Duke of
Cleves himself, to feel the way for these two alliances.
In order to understand the precise bearing on the foreign affairs of
England of the two marriages which Cromwell proposed, and of the
political league which would naturally go with them, we must make a
slight digression here and examine the very peculiar position in which
the Duke of Cleves found himself at this juncture. Various political
considerations, above all an increasing jealousy of the power of the
House of Saxony, had led the Emperor Maximilian in 1496 to declare
Maria, the only child of the Duke of Juliers and Berg, to be the lawful
heiress of these two provinces; a step which was in direct contravention
of a grant which Maximilian, at his election as King of the Romans, had
made to Frederic the Wise of the reversion of Juliers and Berg in case
of failure of male heirs in the ducal line there. This grant was
definitely revoked in various documents of the years 1508 and 1509; and
Duke John of Cleves, who in the meantime had married the heiress Maria
of Juliers and Berg, was permitted to unite these three rich provinces
in his own hand, and to establish a strong power on the Lower Rhine
which prevented undue preponderance of the House of Wettin, and
furnished a useful support for the Hapsburgs in the western part of the
Empire[611]. The peace-loving Duke John lived and died in friendship
with Maximilian and his grandson, although his desire to see a reform in
the Church had prevented his definite acceptance of the Imperial
invitation to join a Catholic League against the Schmalkaldner in 1537.
Instead he devoted himself to strengthening his power in his own
possessions by a series of wise and prudent measures, through which he
welded the three component parts of his dominions into one[612]. But
during the last year of his life (which ended on February 6, 1539, while
Mont was on his way to the Saxon Court) affairs took a turn which was
destined to bring his son and heir William into direct conflict with the
Empire. In June, 1538, the warlike Duke Charles of Gelderland, whose
possessions lay next to the province of Cleves on the north, died
leaving no children. His life had been spent in a struggle against the
pretensions to his hereditary dominions brought forward by the Emperor
as heir of Charles the Bold, and in order to prevent the substantiation
of the Imperial claims at his death he had planned to leave his lands to
the King of France[613]. This scheme however had encountered strong
opposition from the estates of Gelderland, who regarded with little
favour a proposal so threatening to their comparatively independent
position, and Duke Charles was finally forced, much against his will, to
designate young William of Cleves as his successor. The latter, though
by nature weak and irresolute, was not in a position to refuse the
chance which fortune had thrown in his way: he accepted the proffered
inheritance, and the death of his father soon after left him in full
possession of the four rich provinces[614].
The result was that he immediately became involved in a serious quarrel
with the Emperor, who realizing how dangerous a rival to his own power
had been created by the events just recounted, reasserted his claims to
Gelderland even more strongly than before. In looking for allies against
Charles, Duke William naturally turned to the Elector of Saxony, whose
rights to Juliers and Berg, once rudely revoked by Maximilian, had not
been forgotten, but who seems to have preserved sufficiently friendly
relations with the family in favour of which his claims had been set
aside, to marry Sibylla, one of the sisters of the Duke[615]. Common
enmity to Charles V. now drew them very close together, and at the
Imperial Court it was actually thought that Cleves had been formally
admitted to the Schmalkaldic League[616]. This however was a mistake.
Though Duke William was certainly not opposed to the Lutheran doctrines,
he had not as yet made open confession of the Protestant faith; and for
that reason the Elector and the Landgrave had steadily refused to make a
political alliance with him[617]. Still he was on very intimate terms
with John Frederic, who had promised, when he wedded Sibylla of Cleves,
to advance money for the marriage of her sisters, and thus had a certain
right to be consulted when husbands were to be chosen for them. Henry
was doubtless well aware of all this, and it was consequently at the
Saxon Court that Mont was instructed to obtain information about the
Duke of Cleves, and if possible to pave the way for the two matrimonial
alliances from which Cromwell hoped so much.
Having completed this preliminary survey of the position of the Duke of
Cleves, we are enabled to make some interesting observations on the
instructions to the English ambassador. It is very significant that the
inquiries which Mont was ordered to make concerning the religious
tendencies of Duke William were concerned only with his attitude towards
the Pope. Of course the King could not consistently ally himself with
firm adherents of the Holy See after the events of the past ten years;
but it is also of the utmost importance to notice that he apparently
preferred a league with powers which he knew had not definitely
committed themselves to the New Faith to an alliance with the
Schmalkaldner. Else why did he rather seek to unite with Cleves than
with Saxony? Both were politically valuable, as enemies of the Emperor;
the only difference was that Cleves was not as yet avowedly Protestant,
and Saxony was. It is possible that the idea which bore fruit five
months later in the Six Articles had already taken shape in Henry’s
mind; at least it seems certain that he was determined to keep a
perfectly free hand in religious affairs, so as not to be hampered in
his political relations with France and Spain. Thus when Cromwell at
last succeeded in persuading him reluctantly to return to a German
alliance, it was really only half a victory for the minister. There was
this great difference between the league with the Lutherans which
Cromwell had proposed and which never succeeded, and the Cleves alliance
which was now sought. The one would have been necessarily both political
and religious (for we have seen that the Lutherans had always refused to
join with England until a satisfactory theological agreement could be
made), while the other was solely political. It was simply another
expression of the old disagreement between Henry and Cromwell. The King,
always looking for a chance of reconciliation with Charles and Francis,
refused to enter an alliance the religious conditions of which would
greatly enhance the difficulty of a return to his favourite scheme. He
was only induced to enter a purely political league, which he doubtless
felt he could throw over at any moment if he wished to do so; an
agreement both political and religious he might have found it more
difficult to escape from. Cromwell on the other hand, having definitely
given up all ideas of direct negotiations with France and Spain, wished
to plunge headlong into the Lutheran alliance, caring little what he was
committed to provided he gained solid support. But, as we have seen, the
King would not agree to this, and the alliance with Cleves can thus only
be regarded as a compromise between the royal and Cromwellian policies,
which the King could abandon whenever affairs in France and Spain took a
more favourable turn. Later events in the same year furnish further
proofs of this most important fact.
Furthermore the King had contrived that the responsibility for the
proposed league with Cleves should fall almost entirely on his
minister’s shoulders, in order that he himself might the more easily
renounce it if occasion served. The fact that the new alliance, if
accomplished, would from its very nature commit him to far less than the
Lutheran league which he had put off in 1538, was not enough for Henry;
he must needs have other safeguards, and determined to make Cromwell his
scapegoat. All the practical and important parts of the instructions to
Mont were given by the King’s minister. The conciliatory expressions
with which Henry had directed the ambassador to sound the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse on the question of theology were
merely empty words, as is proved by the utter failure of an attempted
agreement four months later. Their sole object was to induce John
Frederic more favourably to receive the practical proposals which
followed. But the King purposely left to Cromwell the task of framing
the vital part of the message, and it is evident that he gave his
consent to the proposals it contained only in the most guarded and
non-committal manner. We are merely told that as regards the match
proposed for the Princess Mary, Cromwell perceived ‘the king_es_
hieghnes ... by his grac_es_ counten_au_nce and exterior Visage ... to
be of good Inclinac_i_on[618].’ On the more vital question of the King’s
attitude concerning his own marriage, the instructions of Cromwell to
Mont give us even vaguer information. The fact was that the King was
willing definitely to bind Cromwell, but not himself, to a plan which he
had resolved to abandon the moment that any favourable alteration should
take place in his relations with France and Spain. From the day that
Mont departed on his mission, the fate of the alliance with Cleves and
the fate of Thomas Cromwell were joined together beyond the possibility
of separation.
We unfortunately do not possess the letter in which Mont and his
companion, a certain Thomas Paynell, reported their first reception at
the Saxon Court, but the reply of Cromwell on March 10 gives us
considerable information about the success of the ambassadors[619]. John
Frederic had apparently welcomed the prospect of the two marriages by
which Henry proposed to bind himself to Cleves, and had promised,
through Burckhard, to do his best to bring them about. Cromwell’s letter
goes on to direct Mont to follow up the advantage already gained by
telling bad stories about Charles, and to ‘inculcate and p_er_suade vnto
the said duke and landisgrave the moment & i_m_porta_n_ce of that
grudge, which the_m_pero_ur_ doth beire, for the Bishop of Rom_es_
pleas_ure_ against them and oth_e_r of the avangelik sorte, which they
may nowe easely p_er_ceive by that he worketh and goeth aboute.’ At the
same time, another embassy, headed by a certain Dr. Nicholas Wotton, was
sent to Cleves to obtain confirmation of the promises of Burckhard, and
further to carry on negotiations for a supply of gunners and
artillerymen to be furnished to Henry in case he should need them; and
finally to signify the King’s willingness to make an offensive and
defensive league with Duke William[620]. The latter was at first less
eager to accept the alliance which England offered than his
brother-in-law was to promote it: he wanted to postpone a definite
answer in the hope that he might yet come to a peaceful solution of his
difficulty with the Emperor[621]. But as this prospect daily grew more
and more remote, he became correspondingly willing to entertain Henry’s
proposals, and the outlook for the accomplishment of the practical part
of Cromwell’s plan seemed very favourable. The comparatively unimportant
overtures for theological reconciliation with the Elector and the
Landgrave were apparently at first received with less enthusiasm by the
Lutherans, who had already had some experience of the King’s vacillating
policy and evidently thought it a little suspicious that Henry had
suddenly become so very urgent. We have seen that the King’s proposals
for a religious agreement were chiefly intended as a blind to cover the
more practical matrimonial proposals which had followed, but Cromwell
evidently thought it worth while to keep up the deception as a
precaution. A second letter from the King’s minister directs Mont and
Paynell to continue to urge on the Elector and Landgrave the importance
of theological unity, and to ‘conduce to haue them somw[hat reproved
for] ou_er_sight & slakenes, in shewing [so little] gratuite, and by
that for to pryk th[em to] redubb the same and give you more
f[avourable] a_n_swer.’
And at first Cromwell’s eagerness for the alliance with Cleves seemed to
have every justification, for Henry’s policy in other parts of Europe
appeared to have failed even more completely than before. Ominous
letters were received from Wriothesley, the ambassador in the
Netherlands, who did not hesitate to express his fear that war would
soon come and that his retreat to England would be cut off[622]. At the
same time Chapuys received orders to return to the Court of the Queen
Regent, and Cromwell consequently instructed Wriothesley to demand leave
to depart[623]. The exchange was finally effected, but that there was
deep distrust on both sides is proved by Cromwell’s orders for the
detention of Chapuys at Calais, until the safety of Wriothesley was
assured, and by the instructions of the Queen Regent to the Provost of
Mons to follow the English ambassador to Gravelines[624]. But
fortunately these precautions were unnecessary; no open act of hostility
took place, and the crisis seemed at least temporarily tided over by the
arrival of the Dean of Cambray in London to replace Chapuys, and by the
reception of Stephen Vaughan at Brussels in Wriothesley’s stead[625].
But the attitude of France was more disquieting. On February 5 Castillon
was recalled, and though he made a vague promise at his departure that
another should be sent in his place, the anxiety at the Court was but
little relieved thereby. The most that Cromwell could do, was to take
care that the French ambassador should carry back to his master full
accounts of the excellence of England’s defences, and her readiness for
war. So he took him, as he later wrote to the King, to his armoury,
showing him a ‘store of harneys and wepens ... the whiche he semed to
esteme moche,’ and telling him that there were twenty more armouries in
the realm as well or better equipped; ‘wherat he woundred and sayd that
he thought yo_ur_ grace the prince best furnished thereof in
Chr_ist_endom[626].’
But though Cromwell may have exaggerated the security of England’s
fortifications, his words to Castillon were by no means empty. Though
the King and his minister may have had differences of opinion in regard
to the conduct of foreign affairs, in the internal management of the
kingdom they were, as always, united. Here Henry suffered himself to be
guided at all points by Cromwell. And at no time is the masterfulness of
the latter’s domestic administration better exhibited, than by his
action at home the moment the first rumours of an invasion reached
England. Countless memoranda, lists of men fit for military service,
arms, ammunition, provisions, and other necessaries of warfare, all in
his hand, or in that of one of his clerks, attest his industry and
ability in preparing the country to repel the dreaded invasion. All
reports of the state of the coast defences at various places were sent
to him. General musters were ordered throughout the realm; every
precaution was taken to fortify all vulnerable points. Beacons were
placed upon all the hills, and no detail that could add to the strength
and efficiency of the defences was left out[627].
But just at this very moment, when everything seemed to point to an open
rupture with Charles and Francis, when the schemes which Cromwell had
opposed to those of the King seemed to have every justification, an
event occurred which totally changed the aspect of affairs, and restored
Henry’s badly shaken confidence in his own ability to stave off the
threatened crisis without the aid of outside alliances or an appeal to
arms. This event was the arrival in England on March 28 of a new French
ambassador, Charles de Marillac, who had come to replace Castillon. So
long a time had elapsed since the departure of the latter that Henry had
probably given up all hope of the fulfilment of the vague prospects that
had been held out that a successor might be appointed. But the
unexpected appearance of Marillac at once revived the King’s drooping
spirits. The letters in which the ambassador reported his reception at
the English Court to Francis and Montmorency give us a vivid picture of
the universal joy with which this apparent reassurance of friendship
with France was hailed[628]. Henry was delighted, and his satisfaction
was increased when Marillac, at his master’s command, followed up the
advantage already gained by renewed assertions of the cordiality of
France. The whole Court seemed ‘to wear a new aspect and to be quite
delighted[629].’ Had Henry seen the letter of instructions which
Marillac received from the French Court, he would have realized that
Francis was only endeavouring ‘to keep him in good humour[630],’ while
making a little more certain of his own relations with Charles; and he
might have been less encouraged. But Marillac’s cordiality seems to have
put him off his guard, and he was led, in his exultation, to welcome the
apparent friendship of Francis in ways which very nearly resulted in the
permanent stultification of all the laborious efforts of Cromwell to
maintain amicable relations in Germany. The events which took place in
England in the three months following the arrival of the French
ambassador furnish ample proof of this new departure in the royal
policy.
On April 28 Parliament had met, its assembling being indispensable to
carrying on the ‘Kinges busynes.’ Cromwell had practically appointed
every member, in order that Henry might have a ‘tractable’ House. His
usual methods of ‘ordering’ the elections of members have already been
described; suffice it to say that in this case he had completely outdone
himself; the Parliament of 1539 was undoubtedly his masterpiece[631]. It
will be remembered that it was in this session that he first succeeded
in forcing the Lords and Commons to sanction the statute by which royal
proclamations were given the force of laws. Cromwell’s ‘remembrance’ for
other Acts to be passed in the Parliament of 1539 is also noteworthy. It
makes casual mention of the attainders of Exeter, Salisbury, and Pole,
of plans for the fortification of the coast, and then designates the
scheme out of which the Six Articles were later evolved as ‘A devise in
the parliament for the vnitie in religion[632].’ It is very improbable
that Cromwell had any really accurate information concerning the King’s
real intentions in connexion with this last item. Henry had purposely
concealed them under a very non-committal statement. Doubtless the King
had long cherished the idea of making use of a declaration that in
matters of doctrine England still adhered to the Old Faith, to
facilitate a reconciliation with Charles and Francis; for such a
statement would remove the main pretext of the Emperor and the French
King for an attack on him, namely that they were undertaking a crusade
to suppress heresy. But so hopeless had been the outlook in the early
part of the year, that Henry had not had the courage to try this
experiment. He was rather led to shun all moves which would imperil his
friendly relations with Germany, so that he had scrupulously avoided any
direct statement which could lead to the belief that a Catholic reaction
was possible. But the assurances of Marillac had revived all his
enthusiasm for his old policy. He now abandoned all caution, and
promptly proceeded to disclose his real ideas in regard to the ‘vnitie
in religion.’ When Cromwell discovered the true state of affairs he must
have been dismayed; he probably already felt how deeply he had become
involved in the German alliance, and saw that the new trend which things
had taken boded no good to him. His position was now a very
uncomfortable one, and the fact that a committee of bishops under his
superintendence was utterly unable to cope with the difficulties of the
newly presented religious problem, is very significant. Henry was not to
be balked however. He quickly took the matter out of the hands of the
incompetent bishops, and placed it before the Lords; finally, to make
assurance doubly sure, he came to them in person, ‘and confounded them
all with Goddes Lerning[633].’ Henry’s theology was of course as
unimpeachable as it was confounding, and his energy was rewarded before
the middle of June by the definite passage in Parliament of the Statute
of the Six Articles. The doctrine of Transubstantiation was confirmed,
communion in both kinds was pronounced unnecessary, the marriage of
priests was forbidden, all vows of chastity were to be strictly
observed, and private masses and auricular confession were adjudged meet
and expedient[634].
In spite of the radically Catholic nature of the doctrines proclaimed
in this Act, however, Henry took good care that there should be no
mistake about his attitude towards the Pope. He was committed to
hostility to the See of Rome beyond the possibility of escape, and he
knew it. Though political expediency, internal and foreign, had led him
to proclaim the catholicity of the Church of England in matters of
doctrine, no consideration whatever could induce him to make the least
concession to the Papacy. In fact he took measures to show,
simultaneously with the passage of the Six Articles, that his contempt
of the See of Rome was stronger than ever. Marillac wrote that on June
15 there was played on the river in the King’s presence ‘a game of poor
grace, much less invention, of two galleys, one carrying the King’s
arms, the other the Pope’s, with several Cardinals’ hats (so he was
told, for he would have deemed it contrary to duty to be a spectator).
The galleys fought a long time, and ultimately those of the King were
victorious, and threw the Pope and Cardinals and their arms into the
water, to show people that this King will entirely confound and abolish
the power of the Holy Father[635].’ Demonstrations like this were of
course mainly intended to impress people at home. Let us now examine the
effect of the Six Articles abroad, first in Germany, and then in France
and Spain.
The rather large hopes of a religious agreement which Henry had held out
to the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League early in the year, merely as a
bait to induce them to favour the political alliance with Cleves, had
finally, owing to Cromwell’s representations, been accepted in all
seriousness by John Frederic of Saxony and Philip of Hesse. They soon
sent over another embassy under the leadership of Burckhard and Ludwig
von Baumbach, a councillor of the Landgrave, which arrived in London on
April 23. Henry was not yet quite sure of his ground with Marillac, and
had not fully decided what note should be struck in the ‘devise in the
parliament for the vnitie in religion,’ so at first he received the
Germans cordially[636]. On April 29 they were granted an audience, in
which Henry, though he carefully avoided committing himself to any
definite promises of an alliance, spoke in the warmest terms of the
Elector and Landgrave, cautioned the Lutherans against the treachery of
the Emperor, and boasted long and loud because of the recent collapse of
an expedition against England which, according to Wriothesley’s report,
had been preparing in Flanders since the previous February[637]. A
subsequent interview of the ambassadors with Cromwell and other members
of the Privy Council was equally satisfactory, and Burckhard and
Baumbach were convinced that their mission would ultimately be crowned
with success. Had they understood the meaning of the many excuses which
were offered for the failure to begin definite negotiations at once, the
opening of Parliament and the difficulty of gaining access to the King,
they might have been less encouraged. Henry merely wished to detain them
until he had made perfectly sure that they could be of no more use to
him. His relations with France were improving every day, but he had not
yet made sure of the state of affairs in the dominions of the Emperor.
On February 24, at Frankfort, the Electors of Brandenburg and the
Palatinate had opened negotiations with the Imperial plenipotentiary,
the Archbishop of Lund, in the hope of mediating between Charles and the
princes of the Schmalkaldic League[638]; Henry had determined to learn
the result of this meeting before giving the ambassadors a definite
answer. The news of the truce concluded between the Emperor and the
Lutherans on the 19th of April was finally announced in London towards
the middle of May: it at once decided the King to send the envoys home
empty-handed again, for it was obviously useless to continue
negotiations for an alliance, which was primarily to have been directed
against the very power with which the Schmalkaldner had just made a
temporary peace. So much had Henry been encouraged by the favourable
signs of the past few weeks, that he would probably have succeeded in
finding an excuse for dismissing Burckhard and Baumbach, even if the
result of the negotiations between the Emperor and the Schmalkaldner had
been reversed; as it was he was spared the trouble of exercising much
ingenuity, for, most unfortunately for the ambassadors, one of the
clauses in the Frankfort agreement contained a provision which in itself
was quite sufficient to stultify all their efforts. In the seventh
article of their treaty with the Emperor, the Schmalkaldner had agreed
not to admit any new members into their league during the period of the
truce. There is every reason to think that this provision was especially
directed against the English negotiations, for both Brandenburg and the
Count Palatine had always looked with disfavour on the attempts of
Saxony and Hesse to gain the alliance of Henry, and doubtless availed
themselves of this opportunity to persuade the Schmalkaldner to put an
end to them. In any case the King lost no time in acting upon the
intelligence he had received, and at once complained to Burckhard and
Baumbach, whose excuses and explanations were of no avail. Wearisome
disputes and attempts at a compromise ensued: the question of
reciprocity was discussed at length; the envoys insisting that England
was sure to derive quite as much benefit from the proposed alliance as
the Lutherans, the King and his ministers in turn demanding concessions
which they knew that the ambassadors were not authorized to grant. So
reluctant were the latter to return without having accomplished anything
however, that it was only with the utmost difficulty that Henry finally
succeeded in getting rid of them. To a blunt request that they depart
the envoys only replied with continued petitions for a more favourable
answer to their demands: finally, with pleasing frankness, they begged
that His Majesty would let himself be guided by the truth alone in
directing the religious controversies then in progress in Parliament.
Henry made no effort to conceal from Burckhard and Baumbach the anger
which this ill-timed and incautious request aroused in him, for he
probably realized that his best chance of hastening the departure of the
Lutherans lay in involving himself in some sort of an altercation with
them. We are not surprised to read that both parties immediately became
engaged in a violent discussion concerning the celibacy of the
clergy--in the midst of which the ambassadors apparently beat a somewhat
precipitate retreat: they seem at last to have had the wit to realize
that they had to do with a theologian, with whom it was extremely
dangerous to disagree. A fruitless interview with Cromwell followed, and
on May 31 the envoys finally departed[639]. In the meantime the Elector
and the Landgrave had continued to show touching but unwarranted
confidence in the sincerity of Henry’s professions, and had remained in
utter ignorance of the true state of affairs in England. Their hopes of
a speedy settlement of religious differences had doubtless received
considerable encouragement through the efforts of Dr. Barnes, who had
been earnestly labouring to remove the disagreeable impression which
Henry had made on Christian III. by his blundering Lübeck policy in
1534. Barnes had been sent to Hamburg for this purpose early in the
year. He was himself an ardent Protestant who never once suspected the
possibility of a Catholic reaction in England; and as his zeal more than
supplied the lack of diplomatic skill, his efforts seem to have met with
great success[640]. The King of Denmark was now in close alliance with
John Frederic, and Barnes was soon enabled to persuade them to arrange
to send a joint embassy to the King of England to treat of the political
league which was to follow a theological agreement[641]. But at this
juncture Burckhard and Baumbach returned with a very discouraging
report, which obtained full confirmation by the news which arrived a
week later, that the Six Articles had actually been passed[642]. The
enthusiasm of the Lutherans was of course considerably dampened, and
they wrote to Henry that if a league was to be treated of at all, he
would have to be the one to send ambassadors; they could not themselves
venture to visit England because of the machinations against the
Evangelical cause there[643]. Even in Cleves, where Henry and Cromwell
had sought an alliance of a purely political nature, unhampered by
religious restrictions, the news of the passage of the Six Articles
created profound distrust, and we may well believe that John Frederic
discouraged his brother-in-law from continuing negotiations with
England, after the proof of Henry’s perfidy that he had just received.
We are not surprised to find that the matrimonial projects which formed
the basis of the alliance with Cleves came to a complete standstill
during the month of July. The proposals for a match between Duke William
and the Princess Mary had apparently never been very popular: they were
now definitely abandoned and never revived. To the other plan, for a
marriage of Henry and the Duchess Anne, an unexpected objection had
arisen. It appears that ever since 1527 a plan for a marriage between
the King’s intended bride and the son of Duke Anthony of Lorraine had
been under discussion. For twelve years the form of continuing the
negotiations for this union had been kept up on both sides, with the
idea of bringing pressure on the Emperor, though all hope of an actual
completion of the match must have been abandoned long before this time.
But now that the union with England seemed less desirable, the Duke of
Cleves of course made the most of the opportunity of evading the
requests of Henry that was afforded by the Lorraine affair. The claims
of Duke Anthony and his son would have to be satisfied, he said, before
his sister could be offered to Henry[644].
Altogether it looked as if the German alliance would be abandoned, and
Cromwell, who of all people was most deeply involved in it, must have
been roused to a sense of his danger. But the threatened reversal of his
policy was destined to be postponed once more. For it soon appeared that
the exultation of the King at the apparent success of his own plans was
premature. We have seen that it was largely in the hope of conciliating
Francis and Charles by removing their main pretext for an attack on
England that Henry had caused the Six Articles to be passed. But the Act
did not accomplish what was expected of it. The courtesy of Marillac had
given Henry a very exaggerated idea of the cordiality of France. He did
not see that Francis was merely dallying with him, and had no idea of a
permanent friendship. The fact that Charles had refused to listen to the
proposals of Cardinal Pole had also been regarded as a good omen[645].
But when it appeared that dread of the Turks, who had advanced up the
Adriatic, was the sole cause of the Emperor’s apparent unwillingness to
offend England, and it was rumoured that there was immediate prospect of
another interview between him and Francis, Henry discovered his
mistake[646]. All the fair hopes he had entertained of preventing the
dreaded coalition against England were apparently blasted. The doctrinal
statement from which he had expected so much had proved but a feeble
weapon with which to arrest the current of continental politics. He
could consider himself fortunate if the Six Articles and his own
personal rudeness to the German ambassadors had not been sufficient to
preclude all hope of a return to the alliance, which a few months before
he had abandoned as useless, but which now seemed to offer the one
chance for England’s safety. Once more the policy of Cromwell seemed
justified, and Henry was forced to acknowledge it.
Fortunately for England, the situation, alarming as it was, had even
more terrors for the Duke of Cleves than for Henry. Charles’ refusal to
ratify the treaty of Frankfort had once more blighted the hopes of a
peaceful solution of the difficulties in Germany[647]; in May the
outbreak of a serious rebellion in Ghent made it imperative for the
Emperor to appear in person in the Netherlands, and in early August
Francis sent him an invitation to pass through France on his way to the
Low Countries. The prospect that Charles, in close alliance with his
former rival, would soon be brought within striking distance of
Gelderland, was by no means agreeable to Duke William. It was fairly
obvious that Charles would bend his energies to punishing the Duke of
Cleves for his contempt of the Imperial authority, before attempting to
chastise the King of England for the general weal of Christendom. The
Duke of Cleves was much more practical than his brother-in-law: like
Henry he never let religious considerations or conscientious scruples
weigh against the dictates of political expediency. As soon as the news
of the Emperor’s invitation from Francis was confirmed, Duke William’s
doubts concerning the pre-contract of his sister Anne and the son of the
Duke of Lorraine were cleared up with gratifying celerity. He probably
had some difficulty in obtaining the consent of the more scrupulous John
Frederic to a renewal of the negotiations with England, but his urgency
was such that he triumphed over every obstacle. A messenger from
Burckhard to Cromwell in the end of August was followed in early
September by four ambassadors from Cleves and Saxony who were authorized
to conclude the match[648]. The King must have been greatly relieved at
the arrival of the envoys. Since May 3 he had heard nothing from his
friends in Cleves except for the famous description of his intended
bride, which his ambassador Wotton had sent him, for lack of other news.
Anne appears to have been of very ‘lowly and gentle conditions.... She
occupieth her time most with the needle, wherwithall she ... She canne
reede and wryte her [own tongue but of] Frenche Latyn or other langaige
she [knows no]ne, nor yet she canne not synge nor pleye ... enye
instrument, for they take it heere in Germanye for a rebuke and an
occasion of lightenesse, that great ladyes shuld be lernyd or have enye
knowledge of musike ... your Graces servant Hanze Albein hathe taken
theffigies of my lady Anne and the ladye Amelye and hath expressyd theyr
imaiges verye lyvelye[649].’ In the end it proved unfortunate for
Cromwell that this letter, and the portrait which Holbein made[650] were
not sufficient to turn the King against her, without the need of further
confirmation. But even if Wotton’s description had been far less
flattering, it is doubtful if he could have persuaded Henry to abandon
the Cleves marriage at this crisis. The King was now as reckless in
accepting the alliance as he had been a few months before in refusing
it. He perhaps forgot that though his zeal for the national welfare had
never been hampered by religion or conscience, he had not yet put his
patriotism to the more practical test of a sacrifice of matrimonial
bliss. So the preliminaries of the match were hurried through with a
speed quite as remarkable as the delays in the previous negotiations
with the Lutherans. The ambassadors departed on October 6 to return to
Cleves and conduct Anne to Calais, where a noble company assembled to
welcome her, Gregory Cromwell being among the number[651]. Such were the
delays of travelling in those times (Wotton wrote to Cromwell that the
lady’s party could only make five miles a day[652]) that Anne of Cleves
did not arrive at Calais until December 11, and there she waited till
the 27th, for weather sufficiently favourable for her crossing[653].
Having landed, she proceeded to Canterbury, where Cranmer welcomed her
with due pomp and ceremony. He had received from Cromwell fifty
sovereigns to be presented to her on her arrival, and promised to do his
best to induce the townspeople to give her fifty angels more[654]. From
Canterbury Anne journeyed on to Sittingbourne and Rochester, where she
was received on December 31 by the Duke of Norfolk, with a great company
of nobles[655]. When Henry heard of her arrival there he determined to
visit her in disguise, and, accompanied by eight persons of his Privy
Chamber, he rode down to Rochester on New Year’s Day and saw for the
first time his intended bride[656]. It is unfortunate that we possess no
trustworthy information concerning the impression which Anne made on
Henry at this first meeting. A letter which Cromwell wrote to the King,
six months later, from the Tower states that when Henry, on his return
from Rochester, was asked how he liked the Queen, he had answered
‘hevelye And not plesantlye “nothing so well as She was spokyn of”,’ and
had added that had he known as much as he then knew ‘she shold not haue
Commen w_i_t_h_in this Realme[657].’ It will be seen in a later chapter,
however, that Cromwell wrote this letter under circumstances which
rendered it very improbable that he told the exact truth: there is every
reason to think that he greatly exaggerated the aversion which Henry
first conceived for Anne of Cleves. In any case if Henry felt any such
disgust as Cromwell described, he succeeded admirably in dissembling his
feelings. Two days after the meeting at Rochester, he rode in state to
meet his bride at Greenwich, and on January 6 he married her. ‘The
sonday after,’ Hall adds, ‘there were kepte solempne Justes, ... on
whiche daie she was appareiled after the Englishe fassion, with a
Frenche whode, whiche so set furth her beautie and good visage, that
euery creature reioysed to behold her[658].’
It is important to notice that even in this hour of national peril,
Henry did not make any overtures to the Elector of Saxony or the
Landgrave of Hesse. Not even the immediate prospect of war with France
and Spain could induce him to go as far as this and to bind himself by
ties religious as well as political. Even Cromwell had by this time
discovered the uselessness of endeavouring to persuade the King to
return to an alliance of which he had never really approved; more than
this, he at last seemed to realize, that as advocate of a policy which
his master had definitely abandoned, he ran great danger of losing his
influence if not his life. It was rather late for him to attempt to
break away from a plan with which his name had become identified; but he
saw that he must purchase safety at the cost of consistency, and he took
care in future to discourage all efforts of the Lutherans to come to an
agreement. The reception accorded to an embassy which the firm but
persistent Schmalkaldner sent to England in January 1540, and the words
which Cromwell spoke to the ambassador on that occasion give us a very
clear insight into the attitude of the King’s minister[659]. It was the
last attempt which the Lutherans made to treat with England during
Cromwell’s ministry, and its failure marks the end of the negotiations
which had begun with the mission of Vaughan and Mont in 1533. Philip of
Hesse had sent his councillor, Ludwig von Baumbach, to Henry’s Court
once more, with instructions to express to the King his sorrow at the
passage of the Six Articles, and his hope that they would not lead to
any action contrary to the word of God and the truth of the Gospels. The
Landgrave also trusted that the King would not suffer the negotiations
with the Lutherans to drop, but the ambassador was to make it clear that
a political alliance would be conditional, as always, on religious
agreement[660].
Baumbach arrived early in January and immediately betook himself to
Cromwell, whom he evidently considered the best friend the Lutherans had
at the English Court. But this time he met with a cold reception[661].
The minister kept asking him if he had power to conclude a political
alliance--a perfectly safe question, for no one knew better than
Cromwell that the Lutherans would insist on doctrinal reconciliation in
the first place. Baumbach tried to give an evasive answer, but was soon
summoned to Henry, who repeated his minister’s demand with still greater
directness. The ambassador could only reply that he must consult with
Burckhard, who having returned with Anne of Cleves to England, was still
in London. On January 12 the two Lutherans had a conversation with
Cromwell, in which the latter defined his position with absolute
clearness. He told the ambassadors that the King desired a political
alliance with them, but that this must come first; the religious
question could be settled later. Baumbach and Burckhard answered that
this was impossible; nothing could be done until a theological agreement
had been concluded. At this Cromwell could contain himself no longer.
With almost pathetic frankness he turned to the Lutherans and told them
that he plainly saw what they wanted in regard to religion; but, as the
world stood then, that he must hold to the same belief as his master,
even if it cost him his life[662]. Such was the faith of the man who six
months later was brought to the block on the charge of counter-working
the King in matters of religion! There is little need to dwell on the
rest of Baumbach’s stay in England. He had another interview with Henry,
who, angered at the firmness of the Lutherans on the religious question,
now took occasion to throw contempt on their usefulness as political
allies. He told some preposterous lies to Baumbach, informing him that
he had heard nothing of the danger of the coalition of Charles and
Francis of which the envoy talked so much, although he had faithful
ambassadors at both Courts. Even if he were attacked, he said, he was
fully able to defend himself, owing to England’s insular position and
strong navy, which was well manned by his own subjects. German soldiers,
on the contrary, would be of little use to him as sailors, for they
would certainly be always seasick. After making a few counter-proposals
which he knew would never be accepted, he dismissed Baumbach with a
polite but non-committal message to the Landgrave, and Cromwell, who
bade the envoy farewell on January 21, followed suit. But though the
minister had used this last mission of the Lutherans mainly as an
opportunity to break away from the policy which he had hitherto
advocated, but which he now realized the danger of being connected with,
his efforts to save himself were too late. We shall see in the next
chapter that the events of the previous years had so thoroughly
identified him with the Lutheran alliance in the minds of the people,
that his enemies were enabled to make use of his supposed adherence to
it, as a pretext for conspiring his ruin.
The Lutherans did not send another embassy to England for a long time.
Negotiations were not resumed until more than four years later, when the
situation had entirely changed, and even then they failed as signally as
before. But though Henry had thus dealt the death blow to the hopes of
the Schmalkaldner, he did not suffer the year 1539 to close without
attempting to form an alliance of a very different sort with another
prince of the Empire. As soon as he had heard of the failure of the plan
for the marriage of the Princess Mary and the Duke of Cleves, Henry
began to look about for another German husband for his daughter. It was
doubtless with the royal authority that Christopher Mont had let fall a
casual hint in conversation with a certain Nürnberg merchant named
Gundelfynger, that Henry would gladly see Mary wedded to a prince of the
Empire. The merchant responded by proposing Duke Philip of Bavaria as a
suitable candidate for her hand. This prince was a member of the
Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach family, and a nephew of the Elector
Louis. He had been a faithful servant of the Emperor and his brother
Ferdinand in the first outbreaks of the religious strife after the
formation of the Schmalkaldic League, and had been severely wounded in a
brave attempt to oppose the Hessian lanzknechts at the battle of
Laufen[663]. In spite of the fact that he belonged to a notoriously
wavering family, he appears to have been a firm adherent of the Old
Faith, at least at the time of which we are speaking. But on the other
hand he was certainly loyal to every tradition of Wittelsbach
impecuniosity. He had sacrificed all his property in the Emperor’s
service, and Charles had characteristically refused to make good his
losses, and had also insulted him by opposing his suit for the hand of
the Duchess of Milan. A financially successful marriage seemed to offer
Philip the only chance of recovering his lost fortunes, and it was at
this juncture that the possibility of a match with the daughter of the
rich King of England was opened to him. The proposal of Gundelfynger
seems to have met with Henry’s approval, and he soon signified to Philip
his desire that the latter should visit him in England. The Duke jumped
at the chance to conclude a marriage which promised so many pecuniary
advantages, and his anger at the ingratitude of Charles certainly did
not make him any less anxious to listen to Henry’s proposals. He arrived
in London on December 8[664], and at first the negotiations for the
match proceeded with unexpected rapidity. Against two points on which
Henry insisted, however, Philip raised strong objections[665]: the
first was that he should take Mary as a bastard, ‘incapable by the laws
and statutes of the realm of claiming any succession or title by right
of inheritance,’ The second was the King’s refusal to except the name of
the Pope from the list of those against whom the financial and political
agreement which was to accompany the marriage was to be concluded:
Philip, as a faithful Catholic, was apparently at first unwilling to
enter a league which might bring him into conflict with the See of Rome.
But the firmness of the King, coupled with the great financial profits
which the match promised to Philip, finally triumphed over the religious
scruples of the Wittelsbacher, and on January 24 he signed a treaty in
which he accepted the marriage and the compact under the conditions on
which Henry insisted: the agreement, however, was not to be considered
binding unless Philip could get it ratified by his relatives in Germany
before Whitsuntide, 1540. He left England, January 27, for this purpose,
but his attempts were unsuccessful, and the proposal came to nothing. It
was taken up a second time at a later date, and again abandoned. But
though the scheme finally fell through there are a few interesting
things to be noticed in connexion with the negotiations for it, which
serve to make clear the trend things were taking at the time of Philip’s
visit in London.
The whole affair was carried on so secretly, and we have so little
documentary evidence, that it is very difficult to form any certain
conclusions concerning this attempted compact. The name of Cromwell
figures prominently in connexion with it; we find Duke Philip consulting
with the minister at his house, and visiting the Princess Mary in his
company[666]; but it is pretty obvious that all the negotiations were
conducted throughout with the full approval of the King, and not, as was
the case with the Lutheran affair, partially in opposition to the royal
wishes. For the scheme was radically different from the proposed
Lutheran alliance which had failed, and not exactly similar to the union
with Cleves which had just been completed. It was far more cautious and
non-committal than either of them, and it was for this reason that
Henry liked it. In the first place, Philip was a Catholic, so that an
agreement with him involved no contradiction to the doctrines proclaimed
in the Six Articles. In the second place, he was ostensibly a close ally
of the Emperor’s and a member of the Imperial Order of the Golden
Fleece[667], though, as we have seen, the ingratitude of Charles after
his services in Germany must necessarily have tended to make their
relations less cordial. Henry was doubtless accurately informed of all
this, and saw in an agreement with a member of this powerful though
vacillating Wittelsbach family, an opportunity to gain valuable aid in
case he were really attacked, without ostensibly committing himself to a
policy which would at any time prevent a return to cordial relations
with France and Spain. In the next chapter we shall see that it was
precisely during Philip’s visit at the English Court that Henry’s hopes
of staving off the dreaded coalition of Charles and Francis against him
were once more revived in a most unexpected way. The terms of the
agreement which he attempted to conclude with the Duke may thus be
regarded as the first intimation of the complete reversal of England’s
foreign policy which was witnessed by the first six months of the year
1540. According to the draft of a treaty drawn up in England to be
presented to Philip for his approval, the Duke was to send to the King’s
assistance the number of ---- horse and foot if Henry was attacked by
any prince or private person, and was further to aid the King if he made
war for the recovery of any right of which he was defrauded[668]. We
unfortunately do not possess the original copy of the treaty signed on
January 24, but in an account of Philip’s life by his brother
Ottheinrich, it appears that the final agreement was that the Duke
should furnish the King with 1,000 horsemen and 4,000 foot-soldiers
against everyone except the Roman Empire[669]. The exception of the
‘Roman Empire,’ which was probably introduced at Philip’s request, was
a provision of so vague a nature that it could not bind either party
very strictly; it certainly could not have applied to a coalition of
Charles and Francis, which was all that Henry wanted, and it had the
additional advantage that it made it appear that the compact was not
especially directed against the Emperor, and so could not be resented by
him. On the subject of the Pope and the illegitimacy of Mary, the King,
as we have seen, had remained firm: to yield to Philip on these two
points would simply have been to stultify all the work of the previous
ten years, a step which Henry, even in the gravest peril, was not
prepared to take. But the other terms of the agreement were precisely to
his taste. The new treaty could be very useful if the crisis came, and
yet it was so arranged that with his well-known ability for quibbling,
the King could easily throw it over, if his hopes of a change for the
better in his relations with France and Spain were actually fulfilled.
It thus stands out in sharp contrast to the Lutheran alliance which
Cromwell had advocated, and which, if it had been accomplished, would
have irrevocably committed England to permanent hostility to Charles.
The terms of the treaty with Philip were cautious, carefully guarded,
and strictly non-committal; the Lutheran alliance, had it been carried
through, would have been rash, definite, and irrevocable. The contrast
between the two schemes is the contrast between the policies of Henry
and Cromwell. Though the treaty with Philip was never ratified and the
agreement which it proposed was thus never destined to succeed, the fact
that so many efforts were made to accomplish it at the very moment that
the negotiations with the Lutherans, of which Cromwell had been the
chief supporter, were finally abandoned, is very significant in
revealing the relative positions of King and minister at the opening of
the year 1540.
Briefly to review the state of affairs at this critical juncture. The
dread of an attack by the joint forces of France and Spain, which had
hung over England for more than a year, seemed to call for a defensive
league with some outside power. But even in this hour of national peril
the King did not forget the lesson that he had learned at Wolsey’s
fall: he remembered that the situation on the Continent had often
changed before and was likely to do so again, and therefore in his
search for a foreign alliance he took the greatest pains to keep his
hand free. Cromwell, on the contrary, was now too far advanced in the
policy he had followed since the summer of 1538 to be able to retreat
from it, though the warning conveyed by the reaction of June, 1539 had
certainly opened his eyes to the dangers of the course he pursued. But
it was in vain that he attempted to persuade his master to sanction an
alliance with the Lutherans. Henry refused to consent to any move which
would bind him as permanently as this. Instead the King directed his
efforts towards concluding an agreement of a very different nature with
Duke Philip of Bavaria, but his demands were so great that this scheme
also failed, owing to the unwillingness of the other members of the
Wittelsbach family to ratify the treaty. The only alliance which did
materialize was that with Cleves. It was a sort of compromise between
the Lutheran and the Bavarian plans; it committed England less
definitely than the one, though more so than the other. But the
responsibility for it had been made to rest entirely on Cromwell’s
shoulders, and the minister must have realized that his safety depended
on its success. While it was under negotiation, the danger from France
and Spain seemed so threatening that the policy of Cromwell was
apparently justified. Almost at the moment of its completion, however,
events took place which totally changed the aspect of affairs, called
for the abandonment of the alliance with Cleves, and led to the ruin of
the man whose fortunes were identified with it. What these events were
will be seen in the succeeding chapter.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIII
I
THE REPORT OF THE LUTHERAN AMBASSADORS TO ENGLAND IN APRIL AND MAY,
1539, ENTITLED.
‘S_um_marie bericht vnd verzeichnisz der gepflog_en_
handelu_n_ge in Engelant anno d_omi_ni 1539[670].’
Nachdem die gesant_en_ desz churf. zu Saxsen _etc_ vnd la_n_tgraue_n_ zu
Hesse_n_ vnser g. vnd g. hern rethte den viij tag aprilisz zu Franckfort
abgeraist sint sie den 23 deszselbig_en_ monatz zu Lond_on_ anko_m_me_n_
vnd nachdem die kon_igliche_ may_estä_t dazumal nicht dess orczt sondern
auff eynem schloisz Riczmu_n_t genant nicht fast verne von Lunden gewest
haben sie sich nichtsz destowinger biem hern Crumello, kon_iglichen_
may_estä_t zu engelant obersten vnd gehey_m_bsten raidt anczaig_en_
lassen. Als hat derselbige ob er wol etwas die cziet myt schwachait
belad_en_ solchsz kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t von stond_en_ an zu
erke_n_nen geben hat auch den gesant_en_ vo_n_ wege_n_ kon_iglichen_
may_estä_t eyn_e_ herberge vorordent vnd inen kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t
forderliche zukunff vormeld_en_ lassen mit anczaigu_n_ge_n_ dasz sie
kon_iglichen_ may_estä_t gancz wilcku_m_me_n_ were_n_ vnd dasz die
kon_igliche_ may_estä_t auff den nest_en_ sontag wilcher der 25 aprilisz
gewest der gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge genedicklich zu horen erpottick. Esz
ist auch der ko_nig_ myt den 26 aprilisz obgemeltz monatz gege_n_
Lond_on_ in ir_en_ pallast zu Westmo_n_ster kome_n_ und nachdem eyn
parlame_n_t beschriben gewest wilchesz auff de_n_ 28 aprilisz
angefang_en_ hat sich die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t desz vorczoigksz
halben entschuldig_en_ lassen vnd den 29 tag aprilisz der gesant_en_
werbu_n_ge anzuhoren besty_m_met wie dan geschehen. Vnd hat die
ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t denselbig_en_ tag der gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge
gehort die sie vormoge irer entpfa_n_en instrucion gethan. Alsz hat sich
die kon_igliche_ may_estä_t genedicklich_en_ darauff vorne_m_me_n_
lassen mit f.[671] dangsagu_n_ge_n_ gege_n_ den churf. zu Saxsen vnd
lantgraue_n_ zu Hessen mit dem anhangk dasz ir_e_ may_estä_t hern
Crumello vnd eczlich andere_n_ vnd vorne_m_misten vnd geheimste_n_ ir
mai_estä_t rethte befelich thon wolt_en_ mit den gesanten von eyner
erlichen trostlichen vorste_n_nisse zu handeln habe_n_ sich auch hoich
gege_n_ vnsere g.g. hern erpotten vnd von der franckfordissen
fridszhandellu_n_ge_n_ allerlii gefragk auch v.g.h. von Gulich vnd
Geldern gedacht, vnd in latinisser vnd franczosser sprach sich mit de_n_
gesante_n_ in gespreche ingelassen darauff die gesante_n_ siner
mai_estä_t allenthalben nach gelegenheit nottorfftig_en_ bericht gethan.
Es hat ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t in sondernhait erinneru_n_ge gethan dasz
sich obgemelte vnsere g.g. hern mit gut_en_ worten nicht wolten
vorfuer_en_ lassen dan sine m_aiestä_t wuste dasz man allerley wider ir
ch. vnd f. g. vnd der vorste_n_ vorwanten vorhette allein dasz ine_n_
bys anhere an forteil gemangeldt, darauff sie dan tag vnd nacht
traichten vnd bedorffte_n_ vlissigesz auffsehensz etc.
Es were auch gewisz dasz man sine m_aiestä_t hette mit den schiffen in
Selant vberfallen wollen aber Got lobp sine m_aiestä_t hette ire
prachticke vorno_m_men vnd were_n_ durch gute frunde vorwarnnet word_en_
hatten sich auch alszo zur gegenwere gestellet vnd die vorsehu_n_ge in
irer may_estä_t kon‹ig›rich thon lassen dasz sie vor inne_n_
vnerschrocken weren vnd wolte gerne dasz sie sich etwasz tetlichesz
vnderstand_en_ dan sie alszo entpfanen wurde_n_ dasz sie den schimp
gerucht solte haben etc. Item es hat sine ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t
angeczaigk dasz sie gewisz kunschafft hette wie dasz der kayser
driemalhundert thusent gulde_n_ iczt oister_n_ vorschier_en_ in Duczlant
etliche krigsvolck domit anzune_m_men vorordent darumb solte ma_n_ nicht
zu vil vortruen vnd die dinge in guter achtu_n_ge haben vnd nachde_m_
here Crumello duezumall etwasz schwach gewest hat die ko_nigliche_
m_aiestä_t begerdt eyn_e_ kleynne cziet gedult zu trag_en_ dan s.
m_aiestä_t wolt_en_ die saiche szo mogelich zu fordern beuelen vnd sindt
alszo daszmal die gesant_en_ von ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t
abgeschaide_n_.
Den andern tag desz monacz maij sindt die gesante_n_ in hern Cru_m_mello
hausz zu Lond_on_ erfordert do dan ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t rethte alsz
ne_m_melich die bayde herczogen Norfoick vnd Soyffoick desz richsz
engelant cantzeller der oberste a_m_merall her Crumell_us_ vnd der
bisschoff von Derm Tu_n_stalli_us_ genant Wilche erstliche_n_ desz
ma_n_datetsz halben allerley disputacionesz inngefort darauff inn_en_
vorlegunge vnd bericht darmit sie dozumall zufried_en_ gewest von d_en_
gesant_en_ geschehen vnd zu_m_ ander_n_ haben sie sich mit den
gesante_n_ der condicio_n_ halben vnd wilcher gestaldt die
confederacio_n_ auffzuricht_en_ auch wasz ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t vor
gege_n_hulff zu gewarte_n_ vntteredet denen die gesant_en_ inhalcz irer
instrucio_n_ nach der lenge bericht vnd anczaigu_n_ge vorgewant dasz
dan die rethte mit flissz angehort vnd der ding allenthalben
ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t zu berichten auff sich genno_m_men v_nd_ ist
gebetten die saichen so vil mogelich zu fordern domit kein vorczoigk
erfolge.
Nach disser vnderredu_n_ge vnd handelu_n_ge haben sich die dinge etliche
tage vorczug_en_ ausz vrsach dasz ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t rethte
obgemelt teglich insz parlament haben sin mossen vnd auff den xvi tag
maij sindt kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t rethte vnd die gesant_en_ yn
kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t pallast zu sent Jocop beim hern Cru_m_mello
zu_m_ ander_n_ male bie eynnander gewest, vnd haben die konnigliche
rethte angeczaigk wie dasz der ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vor gewissz ausz
Franckrich vnd Flander_n_ geschriben dasz der churf. zu Saxsen vnd
lantgraue zu Hessen sampt irer chf. vnd f. g. relionszvorwant_en_ sich
in der gepflog_en_ fridez handellu_n_ge zu Franckfort vorpflicht forder
in cziet desz anstansz nimancz in buntnissz zu ne_m_me_n_ wilchsz der
ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t fast befromdlich vnd beschwerlich ‹wird› vnd
darauff bericht begerdt etc. Alsz haben die gesantten vormoge irer
bieinstrucion dissesz puncktsz halben vnd sonderlichen auch auff dasz
schriben szo inen vom churf. ‹zu› Saxsen irem g. h. desz fordern tagesz
zuko_m_me_n_ war den bericht vorgewant dasz die kon‹ig›lich_en_ rethte
daran gut_en_ genug_en_ gehaipt vnd sich erpotten der koniglichen
mayestät solchsz zu_m_ forderlichest_en_ zu vormelden auch die saichen
irsz vormogensz zu fordern helff_en_ v_nd_ darbie esz daszmalsz blieben
vnd haben die gesant_en_ angehalt_en_ domit sie nicht lenger
auffgehalt_en_ mocht_en_ werd_en_.
Den xviij tag maij sindt die koniklichen rethte vnd die gsanten zu_m_
dritten male in obgemelt_en_ ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t pallast zu sent
Jocop zusame_n_ kome_n_ vnd haben die kongissen rethte nach lenge
erczelet dasz sie kon_iglicher_ may_estä_t alle handelu_n_ge mit vlisz
bericht gethan esz wusten sich auch ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t der
gesant_en_ werbu_n_ge selbst zu erinner_n_ were_n_ auch geneigk sich in
eyn erlich glichmessig vnd trostlich vorstentnissz mit ire_n_ her_n_
sampt derselbig_en_ relionszvorwant_en_ irem vorigen erbitten nach
inzulassen aber die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t kont nicht befind_en_ dasz
sulchesz vorstentnisz der geg_en_ hulff halben deren sich die chur vnd
fursten sampt iren relionszvorwantt_en_ erbiten theten die glichait oder
reciprocu_m_ mit sich breichte derhalben were der ko_niglichen_
may_estä_t genedigesz beger_en_ ob die gesant_en_ nach ferner befelich
hetten der gege_n_hulff oder reciproci halben dasz sie sich desz wolten
vnbeschwerdt vorne_m_me_n_ lassen.
Item die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t vormyrck dasz dasz ma_n_dat sere enge
vnd restringirt were wilchsz auch allerlij nachdencken hette bie siner
ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vnd ob die gesant_en_ vmb ferner befelich vnd
volkommener mandat schriben wolten.
Darauff ist den konigissen rethten geantwortt dasz esz die chur vnd
fursten dar aichten die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t alsz eyn vortrefflicher
berumpter richer konig wurde esz in solchen erlichen cristlichen saichen
wider desz romissen bisschoff prachticke vnd tiranni an eyner tapffern
su_m_ma geldesz zur defension nicht mangeln lassen ob sich auch ire ch.
vnd f. g. der gege_n_hulff halben nichtsz sonderlichesz erbiten tedten
v_nd_ aber nichtsz desto winger hetten sich ire ch. vnd f.g. vorne_m_men
lassen siner ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t im fall der nottorfft do solchsz
sin_e_ ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t begeren worde eczliche thuse_n_t zu
fuessz vnd etliche hundert zu rosz _etc_ zu zu schicken wilchsz
kriegszvolck ire ch. vnd f. g. anne tappern vnkosten nicht word_en_
vorgadern vnd auff eynn monsterplacz bring_en_ lassen mog_en_. V_nd_
domit sulchsz do da_n_nen forder s. may_estä_t zugeschickt wurde vnd im
fall dasz esz die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t darvor aichte dasz solchsz
geg_en_ der su_m_ma geldesz szo die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t erleg_en_
solte nicht szo gancz glich ader re_ci_procu_m_ were szo hetten doch
sine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t zu bedenck_en_ dasz esz siner ko_niglichen_
may_estä_t selbst zu_m_ besten gereichte allesz waisz ire ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t den chur. vnd f. sampt ire_n_ vorwanten gucz erczaigkt dan
der romisz bisschoff vbete sine prachtike nicht winger wider sine
ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t dan ire ch. vnd f. g. vnd ier ch. vnd f. g.
mitvorwante_n_ vnd do innen etwasz widerwertigsz wilchsz der almechtige
wend_en_ wolt begegen solte worde darnach s. kon_igliche_ may_estä_t
solchsz auch zu gewarte_n_ haben etc. Desz mandacz halb_en_ ist inne_n_
die anczeige geschehen dasz sie desz puncksz zufriede_n_ gewest vnd die
ding ko_niglicher_ may_estä_t zu berichten auff sich geno_m_men alsz ist
deszmalsz nicht witter gehandelt vnd auff den 26 tag maij habe_n_ die
ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t die gesant_en_ wiedervmb erforder_n_ lassen vnd
inne_n_ selbst angeczeigt desz[672] sie allenthalben vorno_m_men wasz
sich vor handelu_n_ge czuissen siner m_aiestä_t rethten vnd den
gesant_en_ zugetrag_en_ vnd wiewole sine m_aiestä_t gancz geneigk sich
in buntnisse mit den churf. zu Saxsen vnd lantgrau_en_ zu Hessen sampt
ir_en_ relionszvorwant_en_ ainzulassen szo vormirck doch ir_e_
ko_nigliche_ m_a_i_estä_t dasz die vorgeschlagene condicion der
geg_en_hulff nicht dergestaldt reciproce were wie sich ire ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t vorsehen hetten vnd esz auch billich in confederaci_on_ sin
solt dan seine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t begert eyn rumelich erlich vnd
baidersicz trostlich vorstentnisse vnd confederacio_n_ myt ire_n_ chur
vnd f. g. vnd iren relionsz vorwant_en_ auffzurichten vnd diewil die
gesant_en_ keine_n_ witter_n_ oder ferner_n_ befelich hetten dan wie sie
hie zuvor angeczeig[t] szo muste esz seine ko_nigliche_ m_aiestä_t dasz
malsz auch darbie wend_en_ lassen vnd wusten witer darauff mit ine_n_
nicht zu handeln, sondern wolten ine_n_ hiemit genedicklich wiedervmb
erlaubt haben. Auch wolte sine ko_nigliche_ m_aiestä_t iren chur vnd f.
g. schrifflich ire gemut anczaigen vnd do sie iren chur und f. g.
sunste_n_ fruntlichen willen erczaigen konte wolten ire ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t alleczeit willig befonden werd_en_ wie sie sich auch in
glichnisse herwider vorsehen theten. Alsz haben die gesant_en_ irer
ko_niglichen_ may_estä_t hinwider angeczaigk dasz sie sich von weg_en_
irer g. vnd genedigen hern nicht vorsehen hetten seine ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t worde sie nicht gancz vorgebelich abschaid_en_ lassen wil ire
may_estä_t wmb disse schicku_n_ge bei iren g. vnd genedig_en_ hern
ansuchu_n_g auch trostlich erbitu_n_ge gethan esz worden sich auch ire
chur vnd f. g. vile winger solchsz abschaidsz vorsehen vnd were disse
kegenhulff nicht szo geringe wie sie ire ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t achten
_etc_ Aber wie denn szo must_en_ sie esz darbie wend_en_ lassen vnd
wolten ire g. vnd genedige hern aller handelu_n_ge zu_m_
vnderthenigst_en_ vnd truelichest_en_ wilsz Got zu irer widerkumpfft
bericht_en_ vnd worden sich demnach ire ch. vnd f. g. geg_en_ seiner
ko_niglichen_ may_estät_ irer nottorfft nach zu halt_en_ vnd zu
vorne_m_me_n_ lassen wissen vnd nachdem vil reden gewest dasz die
ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t etczliche artikel der relion im parlament
handeln lassen alsz ne_m_melich von dem hoichwurdig_en_ sacrame_n_t desz
liebesz vnd bludez unsersz her_n_ Cristi it_em_ von der prister ehe
haben die gesant_en_ gebetten seine ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t alsz die die
warhait liebte wolte in dissen groswichtig_en_ saichen alleyne die
warhait forder_n_ vnd hanthaben _etc_ Darauff dan die ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t in eyne hefftige disputacio_n_ desz artikelsz die pristerehe
belang_end_ mit den gesant_en_ kome_n_ die seiner may_estä_t
nottorfftig_en_ bericht vnd anczaige gethan vnd darnach ire_n_ abschaidt
von irer may_estä_t geno_m_men _etc._ Vnd nachdem ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t schrifft_en_ an hoichgemelte vnsere g. vnd g. hern
vorfertiget vnd den gesant_en_ durch hern Cru_m_mello zugesteldt haben
sie gebetten sich zu berichten wesz doch ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t
maynunge sie der confederacio_n_ halb_en_ vnd wesz seine ko_nigliche_
may_estä_t vor condicio_n_ ader geg_en_hulff oder reciprocu_m_ begerte
darauff der here Crummellus angeczaigt dasz die ko_nigliche_ may_estä_t
eyne tapffere su_m_ma geldesz zu erlegen willig aber der gestalt dasz
solche geldt bayd_en_ teilen alsz seyner koko_niglichen_ may_estä_t vnd
vnsern g. vnd g. hern vnd iren relionszvorwant_en_ zuglich zum besten
kome vnd wilchsz tail eher angriffen ‹wurde› dasz daszselbige solche
geldt zu gebrauchen haben solte etc. Vnd do iren ch. vnd f. g. sulchesz
a_n_nemlich ‹wäre› woste eher[673] dasz die ko_nigliche_ mai_estä_t an
eyner tapffern su_m_ma geldesz niederzuleg_en_ nicht erwind_en_ lassen
etc. Alsz haben die gesant_en_ diewil sie dissesz artickelsz halben zu
handeln ader zu schlissen kein_en_ befelich gehaipt sich erbotten
daszselbige iren chur. vnd f. g. zu irer widerkunfft mit gotlicher hulff
vnderthenichlich_en_ auch zu berichte_n_ vnd alszo irn abschaidt den
leczten tag maij geno_m_men anno vt supra.
Franciscus Burchart
vicecanczler
s_ub_s_crip_s_i_t.
Ludowic_us_ de Baumbach
s_ub_s_crip_s_i_t.
_Endd._ ‘Relation Ludwigs von Baumbach vnd Mgr. Frantz Burghardi von
weg_en_ der sendung in Engellandt.’
II
ACCOUNT BY LUDWIG VON BAUMBACH OF HIS JOURNEY TO ENGLAND. DECEMBER, 1539
TO JANUARY, 1540[674].
Auff donstag nach triu_m_ regu_m_ byn ich myt gottesz holff zu Lond_on_
ankomen vnd mich bye dem Hern Crumello ansagen Lassen hat er mich auff
den freitag morg_en_ frue alszo balde gefordert vnd holen Lassen vnd
mich allerleii gefraugk wie esz im thucz_en_lant stehe vnd ab ich nicht
macht ader befelich habe dasz buntnisz myt ko. may_estä_t zu schlissen
etc.
Dar auff ich geantwort ich habe eyn credencz an die ko. may_estä_t vnd
eyne werbunge im geheym vnd vortruen syner may_estä_t anzusag_en_ vnd
derhalp dem h. crumello gebetten myr forderlich zu sin dasz ich auff
dasz erst szo mogelich von sin_er_ may_estä_t gehort moge werd_en_.
Dar auff der H. Crumellus geantwort er werde esz der ko. may_estä_t zu
forderlichesten ken grunewicz zu wyssen thon vnd vorsehe sich ir
may_estä_t werde mich zu forderlichesten hore_n_ diewil ir may_estä_t
mich ke_n_nen.
Auff den sonnobent byn ich von Cristoffel mo_n_t beschick vnd bericht
die ko. may_estä_t habe befolen ich solt auff den sonntag morg_en_ frue
zu ix vr_en_ zu grunewicz sin do wolle ir may_estä_t mich ghoren vnd ir
may_estä_t sie my_n_ner ankonfft wole zufried_en_.
Die ko. may_estä_t hat mich auff den sontag durch den hern Crumellu_m_
in s. may_estä_t innerst gemach fordern vnd fuer_en_ Lassen vor der
messe_n_ da habe ich nach dem die ko. may_estä_t die credencz erbrochen
vnd vorlesen allesz waisz myr befolen ist gewest nach der lenge myt
besten flissze erczalet vnd bericht dar auff ir may_estä_t myt flisse
gehort vnd alle wort zweygefraugk vnd alsz balde ich auszgeredt Hat s.
may_estä_t geantwort ich habe lange desz ko vom franckrichsz gemudt
gesport vnd vorno_m_me_n_ vnd er wolde eyn_e_ botschaffe sich der dinge
zu erko_n_ne_n_ thon vnd mich gefraugk ab ich solchsz auch lied_en_ moge
sonst wolle s. may_estä_t niemancz nicht meld_en_ dar auff ich s.
may_estä_t geantwort dasz moge ich wole lied_en_ szo verne niemancz
genent von wem s. may_estä_t disze dinge vorstand_en_ vnd mich gefraugk
ab ich keine befelich habe die buntnisz myt s. may_estä_t zu schlyssen
habe ich geantwort nein sonder_n_ s. may_estä_t zu raid_en_ dasz sich ir
may_estä_t irsz gemucz entlichen vorne_m_me_n_ Lasse vnd zu_m_
forderlicheste_n_ die bontnisz schlisse ehe esz zu kriege ko_m_me dar
auff ir may_estä_t gesag m. h. habe im geschriben ich solde eyn_e_
zeitlangk bie s. may_estä_t blieben dar auff ich geantwort desz habe ich
von m. g. h. keynen befelich.
Dar nach ir may_estä_t allerleii gemeine rede gehaipt vnd alsz balde in
die kirche_n_ gang_en_ vnd alsz balde ir may_estä_t in ir. kapellen
kome_n_ vnd mich gesehen haben ir may_estä_t myr gewinckt vnd
angesprochen vor allen here_n_ vnd gsaugk er habe my_nem_ g. g. hern
geschriben vnd sie haben im keyne antwort dar auff ggeben, vnd alsz
witter gefraugk ab ich keynen befelich habe witter myt s. may_estä_t der
buntnisz halber zu red_en_ dar auff ich geantwort von dem schriben habe
ich keine wisse der bontnisz halber wolle ich mich eyn kleinsz
bedencke_n_ vnd mych myt dem Sexsissen vice canczeller vnderreden vnd
sine may_estä_t beantworten.
Auff den dienstag darnach hat der H. Crumellus den vice canczeler vnd
mich gefordert vnd allerleii myt vnsz bayden geredt vnd gesaugk s. h.
der ko_n_nig sie geneigk sich myt vnsren h. zu vorbind_en_ vnd darnach
von der relionsz saich_en_ zu red_en_ angefang_en_ dar auff myr[675]
baide der vice canczeller auff latin vnd ich auff franczossiscz
geantwort esz were gotelichen vnd erlichen dasz s. may_estä_t sich zu
vor vnd ehe die pontnisz geschlossen myt vnsren g. h. desz gottlichen
worcz vorgliche dar nach worde got genade vorliehen dasz alle saichen
gudt word_en_ dar auff der. h. Crumellus gesaugkt er siehe vnser
maynu_n_ge den glauben betreffen aber wie die weldt iczt stehet wesz
sich sin her der ko_n_nig halte desz wolle er sich auch halt_en_ vnd
solte er darumb sterben er rade aber dasz die pontnisz beschlossen vnd
dar nach von bayderseicz gelarten zusam_en_ komen lasze vnd sich der
schrifft vnd gotlichesz worcz vorglichen lasse wilche teil dan recht
behalt dasz dem dan dasz ander teile folge vnd szo wyr myt s. h. dem ko.
der saichen halber zu red_en_ kem_en_ szo wolt er vnsz geraid_en_ haben
dasz wyr sidick vnd nicht zu hart myt s. may_estä_t reden wolt_en_ etc.
da myt s. may_estä_t nicht zue vngenad_en_ vnd vngeduld_en_ erregt
werde.
Dar nach von stonde an ist der H. crumellus zu dem ko_n_nige gang_en_
vnd alsz balde mich allein zu_m_ konnige zu kom_en_ gefordert vnd hat s.
may_estä_t angefang_en_ vnd gesaugk die dinge die ich s. may_estä_t
erczaldt habe nem_en_ s. may_estä_t wonder dasz dasz vorhand_en_ sin
solte vnd solte im szo lange vorschwig_en_ blieben sin in ansehu_n_ge
dasz er syne am_m_asatten an bayd_en_ ort_en_ habe, zu dem szo
ko_n_ne_n_ sie sich in ile szo starck nicht rusten er koncz in ile
erfar_en_ vnd szo sie den kreigk myt ime anfahen szo sollen sie
entpfanen werd_en_ dan s. konrich sie nicht eyn lant wie die lande in
thuczlant dan esz sie myt wasser vmbethom_me_ beflossen vnd konnt
niemancz zu im kom_en_ dan zu schiff.
Da habe ich die sachen der massen myt ploichehausern vnd polwercken auch
myt schiffen bestaldt vnd vor wart dasz sie entpfanen sollen werd_en_
szo habe ich gudte schucz_en_ vnd habe die von Lond_on_ hart bie myr vnd
sonsten ey_ne_ stedt ist myr zu ne_n_ne_n_ vorgessen da kan ich in ile
eyn czemelich volck auffbring_en_ auch szo habe ich die vorretter
gemeinklichen richten vnd die koppe abschlag_en_ Lassen dasz myr
niemancz lichlich eyn_en_ auffrure wirdt anrichten dasz magestu dyne_m_
hern sag_en_ aber ich bedanck mich kegen din_en_ h. wie gehort vnd ich
vorstehe die sache nicht anderst dan dasz er die saichen trueliche vnd
gudt myt myr maynt.
Vnd szo vile den ko_n_nig von dennemarck betrifft da habe ich nicht myt
zu schaffen ich waiss auch kein bontnisz myt im zu machen dan er hat den
alten konig nach gefang_en_ dasz isst wieder den pfalzgrau_en_ vnd myt
‹welchem› byn ich in willensz eyn fruntschaffe eynsz hiracz zu machen
etc.
Auch szo dynen myr die lanczknecht nicht dan alsz balde sie auff dasz
mere kome_n_ szo werd_en_ sie krancg vnd sint desz mersz nicht gewont
wie my_ne_ luede sint aber dasz wil ich rad_en_ dasz dyne hern der chur
f. zu saxsen my_n_ brueder der herzoig von klefa vnd gelderln vnd die
andern fursten in der bontnisz sampt hanburgk vnd bremen vnd nicht vile
vberlendisse stedt eyn erlichs bontnisz in allen gemeynen sachen
beschloss_en_, were von den selbig_en_ vberzog_en_ worde dasz im die
andern alle holff_en_ most_en_ vnd eynsz sachen aller andern sachen sin
most szo wil ich pfalcz auch dar zu bring_en_ dasz sie vnsersz teilsz
sin sollen.
Dan die Vberlendisse stedt haben sich nit witter dan wasz die relion
betrifft keigen eubere hern vorbond_en_ vnd ab der kaiser eyn ander
vrsach zu eubern h. suchen ‹werde› szo word_en_ sie in kein_en_
biestandt thon. gedenck an mich vnd due magest dym h. solchesz wolle
sag_en_ dar auff ich s. may_estä_t geantwort ich habe die
vorschribu_n_ge der bontnisz wie weidt sie sich streckt nicht gelesen
der halp ich s. may_estä_t keyne_n_ bericht dar von thon konde dar auff
ir may_estä_t gesaugk esz ist gudt vnd genugk darvonn geredt vnd myr die
hant gebotten vnd my_n_ abschaidt ggeben vnd der bontnisz nach malsz wie
vor begerdt dar auff ich siner may_estä_t geantwort Ich wolle die dinge
my_nem_ g. f. vnd h. szo verne mich got gesunt frist zu myner wieder
ankonff myt flissz berichten vnd zwifel nicht vnd zwifel nicht[676] s.
f. g. werd_en_ sich gancz frundelich alsz siner may_estä_t frundt vnd
der s. may_estä_t ere vnd gucz gunne von vor wisslichen vorne_m_me_n_
Lassen vnd byn do myt von s. may_estä_t abgeschaiden.
Auff dinstag nach sebastians vnd fabianes hat myr der H. crumellus
my_ne_ abschaidt der massen ggeben dasz im s. h. der konnig befolen myr
an zu sag_en_ my_nem_ g. h. sonderliche_n_ dangk zu sagen vnd sien ir
may_estä_t my_nem_ g. h. myt allem fruntliche_n_ willen auch allesz dasz
zu thon dasz my_nem_ h. zu ere_n_ vnd guttem kome zu willefare_n_ hoich
geneigk vnd ir. may_estä_t habe die saichen nicht anderst dan
truelich_en_ von myr vorstand_en_ vnd ir. may_estä_t sie myr vor myne
p_er_son myt allen genad_en_ geneigk dar auff gancz myn_en_ abschaidt
geno_m_me_n_. geschechen auff die tage wie ob stehet anno etc. xl in
vrkunt my_ne_ hant
D
Luodewig von baumbach
zu bynsfort sst.
_Endd._ ‘Relation Ludove. von baumbachs aus Engelland vff d. gesheene
ve_r_warnung.’
CHAPTER XIV
THE FALL OF THOMAS CROMWELL
While Henry and Cromwell had been occupied in negotiations with various
German princes, the Emperor and the French King had not been idle. Every
day seemed to bring some fresh confirmation of the unwelcome news that
the two monarchs were again on the most friendly terms. By the middle of
December the anxiety of England reached the highest pitch, for the
report came that Francis and Charles had actually met at Loches, and
that their first interview had been marked by every demonstration of
cordiality[677]. The French King accompanied the Emperor on his journey
northward, and on New Year’s Day they entered Paris together amid great
rejoicing. For eight days the Louvre saw a succession of balls, fêtes,
and jousts. It is said that Jean Cousin was ordered to make a bust of
the Emperor[678].
But if the meeting of Charles and Francis and their apparently perfect
amity were the cause of profound alarm in England, the proximity of the
two rivals furnished at the same time an admirable opportunity for a
last attempt to stir up jealousy between them. The King, who as we have
seen had never even in his most anxious moments abandoned the hope of
fomenting discord between the two sovereigns, was not the man to permit
this chance to escape him. Sir Thomas Wyatt, who had been recalled from
Spain a short time before, was now sent back to Paris to co-operate with
Bonner, the ambassador to France, in the endeavour to make use of the
situation for Henry’s purposes[679]. His instructions to express the
King’s joy at the prospect of a renewal of amity between Francis and
Charles were of course merely a blind to cover his real intentions. It
was not long before the character of the latter was made plainly
evident. Wyatt wrote a full account of his proceedings to Henry on
January 7, 1540[680]. In his letter he did not say whether he paid any
attention to the written instructions which the King had previously
given him or not, but reported his endeavours to obtain the arrest of
one Brancetour, an Englishman in the Emperor’s train, whom the Act of
Attainder of 1539 had condemned. From Wyatt’s account, however, it
appears that the actual taking of Brancetour was a matter of secondary
importance, compared to the possibility it opened of stirring up a
quarrel between Francis and Charles. The two ambassadors had waited upon
the French King, and had readily obtained his consent to the arrest.
Brancetour was taken, but insisted that he acknowledged no master except
the Emperor, and was consequently not amenable to English law. He
applied to Charles, who of course refused to give his servant up; the
matter was again brought before the French King, who, being far more
anxious to secure the good will of the Emperor than that of Henry, gave
orders for the prisoner’s release. At first it seemed as if the efforts
of the two ambassadors had merely resulted in drawing Charles and
Francis closer together. Chagrined at the failure of his efforts, Bonner
had made matters worse by rudely remonstrating with the French King for
permitting Brancetour to be restored to liberty. The chief result of
this proceeding was that the English ambassador became so generally
hated at the French Court on account of his bluntness and discourtesy,
that Henry felt obliged to recall him in favour of Sir John Wallop[681].
With the ground cleared by the retirement of his unpopular colleague,
Sir Thomas Wyatt was able to display to far greater advantage that
wealth of tact and diplomatic talent, which had rendered him such an
invaluable servant to Henry at the Emperor’s Court. He immediately saw
that it was useless to blame Francis, as Bonner had done, for an act
which the situation had forced upon him, and he forbore to mention the
affair of Brancetour again in the presence of the French King. Instead
he addressed himself to Charles, and in the most careful and guarded
phrases insinuated that the Emperor had shown ingratitude to Henry, in
obtaining the Englishman’s release[682]. Wyatt’s action throughout was
characterized by an external courtesy quite as remarkable as the
previous rudeness of Bonner, and his efforts were finally rewarded in a
manner which exceeded the King’s highest expectations. He had caught the
Emperor off his guard, and the first result of his representations was
to cause the usually imperturbable Charles completely to lose his
temper. The Emperor in his vexation let several words escape him, of
which Wyatt was prompt to take advantage. When reproached with
ingratitude, Charles had turned sharply on the ambassador with a few
angry words, which implied that it was impossible for him to be
‘ingrate’ to Henry, on account of the superiority of his own Imperial
rank. The Emperor confessed that ‘the inferyour’ might be ‘ingrate to
the greter,’ though the term was ‘skant sufferable bytwene lyke[683],’
but hinted that an accusation of ingratitude from the petty King of
England against himself, the acknowledged head of Christendom, was
entirely out of place. All this was reported at the English Court in
early February. The use which Henry made of the information is
remarkable. As a result of Wyatt’s communications, the Duke of Norfolk
was sent with a special message to Francis[684]. He was ordered to quote
all the conversation between Charles and Wyatt, but so to distort the
meaning of the Emperor’s angry words as to make it appear that Charles
was using Francis’ friendship merely as a stepping-stone to an ulterior
purpose, and perhaps to a plan for the domination of Europe. Charles’
unfortunate slip about superiors and inferiors lent itself well to such
an interpretation. On February 15 the Duke arrived at the French Court,
of which Charles had already taken leave, and was immediately received
by Francis[685]. From Norfolk’s own report it is evident that he had at
last succeeded in creating serious distrust of the Emperor in the mind
of the French King, and he reported to Henry that by Francis’
countenance he ‘dyd conjecte He was not content with thEmperours
wordes[686].’
Of course the intrigues of Norfolk and Wyatt were only one of a number
of things which contributed to cause the quarrel between Charles and
Francis to break out afresh. The ground had been pretty well prepared
for it by a series of petty but annoying occurrences, which had taken
place during the Emperor’s visit[687], and the efforts of the English
ambassadors were substantially aided by Charles’ flat refusal to fulfil
his promises to Francis about the Low Countries and Milan, after the
subjugation of the revolt in Ghent had once more left him a free hand.
But the part which England played in accelerating the rupture was in
itself by no means inconsiderable, and it is of the most vital
importance for our purposes here, to notice that the name of Cromwell
scarcely appears once in connexion with it. It is true that after
Norfolk had succeeded in driving in the first wedge which started the
breach between Charles and Francis, the King’s minister wrote two
letters to Wallop[688], directing him to follow up the advantage already
gained, but they were evidently dictated by Henry, and seem to have been
a necessity forced upon Cromwell by the action of his rival. The fact
was that Cromwell’s identification with the German alliance had cut him
off from bearing a hand in any other part of the foreign policy, and
that his place as a negotiator with France and Spain had been usurped by
his bitterest enemy, the Duke of Norfolk. The latter’s success at the
French Court had proved that the policy to which the King had always
pinned his faith, in opposition to Cromwell’s advocacy of an outside
alliance, had not lost all its efficacy, and the rapidly widening breach
between Charles and Francis showed that the league with Cleves was not
indispensable for England’s safety. More than this, it now looked as if
the treaty with Duke William, far from being an advantage, would become
a positive burden. Cromwell had sought the alliance in the hope of
gaining valuable aid in case England was attacked: it had not occurred
to him that some day the positions might be reversed, and that England
might be expected to give aid, rather than to receive it. The fact that
Charles, instead of planning an invasion of England with Francis, had
gone straight from Paris to the Low Countries[689] and did not disguise
his intention of regaining Gelderland, rendered this disagreeable turn
of affairs distinctly probable. Worst of all, the King’s disgust for
Anne of Cleves had increased so rapidly, that it was useless to attempt
to conceal it. Henry might pardon a political blunder alone, but when
combined with a matrimonial misfortune, it was more difficult to
forgive. Everything seemed to unite to call for a reversal of the
Cromwellian policy. The King’s minister had abandoned as hopeless a
scheme which his rival had been able to show was still feasible; he had
sought a cure before he was certain that prevention was impossible: the
cure he had prescribed, besides being unnecessary, had actually proved
dangerous, and lastly, the matrimonial alliance which formed the basis
of it had turned out a complete failure.
It was certainly the most favourable opportunity that had yet presented
itself for Cromwell’s enemies to compass his ruin, and Norfolk and
Gardiner, the most inveterate of his foes, were not slow to realize it.
The latter, ever since his recall from France in 1538, had used every
effort to undermine the influence of the man who had stepped into the
place which he had coveted for himself at Wolsey’s fall. In alliance
with Norfolk, who returned from his errand to the French King in March,
1540, he now succeeded in gathering to himself all the influential
persons at the English Court who desired the downfall of their plebeian
rival. It did not take very long to discover that Henry was ready to
abandon Cromwell, and as soon as his enemies were certain of this fact,
they saw that all that was necessary for the accomplishment of their
designs was to devise a pretext for the minister’s destruction, more
plausible than an accusation of advocating a useless alliance and an
unfortunate marriage. So faithfully had Cromwell served the King’s
interests, however, that at first it seemed almost impossible to find
such a pretext, but the astute Gardiner was soon able to discover the
one weak spot in his rival’s armour. It is hardly necessary to state
what this was. The only occasions on which Henry and Cromwell had been
brought into collision were disputes over questions of foreign policy,
and the Bishop of Winchester saw that the minister’s reputation as
advocate of an alliance with the Lutherans in opposition to the King’s
wishes, furnished the basis for a charge of supporting their religious
principles in defiance of the doctrines proclaimed in the Six Articles.
No accusation against Cromwell could have been more unjust than this. We
have seen that the minister himself had abandoned the Lutherans by this
time; moreover even in the days when he had urged an alliance with them,
he had never made the least concession to their religious tendencies. We
call to mind at once the significant words that he had spoken to
Baumbach in the previous January, when he had declared that his
theological beliefs were identical with those of the King. Cromwell’s
religion had always been dictated by political expediency; he certainly
had no sympathy for Protestant theology in itself, or indeed for
theology of any kind which did not lead to practical results. But
unfortunately the mass of the people were totally unable to see this
fact, and he was commonly looked upon as the greatest friend and helper
that the Protestants had. As opposition to the Pope had given him his
political greatness, the Reformers had flocked to him for protection
when the Six Articles were passed, and their trust in him was further
strengthened by the inferences which they drew from his foreign policy.
The Bishop of Winchester was perfectly well aware of the actual state of
affairs, and also of the gross misconception of Cromwell’s true
theological position which existed in the minds of the people. If he
could only catch his rival in some definite act which would justify a
distinct accusation of opposing the King in matters of religion, he saw
that the ground was already well prepared for the success of his plot.
The opportunity which he sought was soon to present itself.
It will be remembered that in the early part of the year 1539 Henry had
sent Dr. Barnes to Germany to conciliate the King of Denmark and the
Elector of Saxony. At the news of the passage of the Six Articles, which
of course stultified all his efforts, Barnes had come back to England,
profoundly disgusted at the King’s vacillating policy. Henry felt so
certain of his ground at the time of his ambassador’s return, that in
spite of the requests of Cromwell, he contemptuously refused to grant
him a hearing[690]. The King’s minister was either unable or unwilling
to take the hint, which his master had given him, that Barnes was no
longer in favour, and he was rash enough to attempt to console the envoy
for the ill-success of his mission, by promoting him to the prebend of
Lanbedye[691]. Cromwell had thus played into his enemy’s hand by an
action which lent itself to the precise interpretation which Gardiner
was seeking. It was now an easy matter to hold the minister responsible
for any rash act which his protégé might commit, and Barnes, who was one
of the very extreme Lutherans, did not take long to fulfil the hopes
which the Bishop of Winchester had entertained of his recklessness. He
was foolish enough to take violent exception to a sermon which Gardiner
had preached at Paul’s Cross, in which the latter had denounced certain
Protestant doctrines. Preaching in the same pulpit two weeks later on
the same text, Barnes denied all that Gardiner had said, insulted him
openly, and finally threw down his glove to the people, as a defiance
against the Bishop[692]. Barnes had doubtless presumed on Cromwell’s
protection to support him in this tirade, for it seems that the year
before, when his position had been much stronger, the King’s minister
had successfully defended his friend against a charge of heresy by
Gardiner, and had actually been able to remove the latter from the Privy
Council in revenge for his attack on the Lutheran[693]. But this time
Barnes had gone too far, and Cromwell, whose influence was by no means
what it had been, was unable to save him again. The Bishop of Winchester
complained to the King, who was scandalized, and ordered Barnes to be
examined before him; the Lutheran was utterly worsted in a theological
discussion; he was forced to recant and beg Gardiner’s pardon. This he
did with such ill grace and so many contradictions that he was arrested
and placed in the Tower with the others who had supported him.
All this happened in the last week of March. It was perfectly obvious to
those who had any real knowledge of the trend things were taking, that
Gardiner had made his complaint far more with the idea of harming
Cromwell, than of injuring Barnes himself, and the fact that the
minister had not been able to rescue his friend a second time led many
to predict his speedy downfall[694]. But Cromwell managed to stave off
the ultimately inevitable catastrophe for two months more, and to
maintain his ascendancy until the end of May. He certainly had no
delusions as to the gravity of the situation in which he found himself,
and he fully realized that his best chance of safety lay in making a
humble acknowledgement of his error in favouring the Lutheran preacher.
Though there is no actual record that he apologized to the Bishop of
Winchester, there is every internal evidence of it. That at least a
temporary reconciliation took place between him and Gardiner is proved
by a letter of Sir John Wallop which informs us that on March 30 the
Bishop of Winchester dined at London with the Lord Privy Seal, and that
they ‘were more than iiij hour_es_ and opened theyre hart_es_ and so
concluded that and therbe truthe or honesty in them not only all
displeasures be forgotton, but also in thayre hert_es_ be now perfight
intier frend_es_[695].’ It would have been hardly possible to bring
about even a temporary truce between these two men without an apology on
one side or the other, and it is not likely that Gardiner, backed as he
was by the King, would have been the one to make it. In order to
maintain his very precarious position, Cromwell had been forced to
grovel before a man, whom two years before he could have ordered about
to his heart’s content.
But it had been one of the greatest secrets of Cromwell’s success that
he had never been too proud to take any step, however humiliating, which
he deemed necessary for his profit or safety. Nevertheless it is
doubtful if his apology to the Bishop of Winchester, unaided by any
outside occurrence, would have been sufficient to prevent his immediate
overthrow. The month of April, however, saw two events, one at home and
the other abroad, which further raised his hopes and encouraged him to
renewed efforts to regain his influence. The first of these was the
assemblage of Parliament, an occasion on which Cromwell had always been
able to make himself particularly useful to the King. He was not slow to
realize the opportunity that was offered him, and he laboured with all
his might for the passage of the measures which he knew his master
desired. He made an opening speech in the House of Lords, in which he
said that the King wished concord above all things and desired to
suppress all dissension concerning religious doctrines: and he
emphasized his words by providing for the appointment of a commission to
correct all abuses and enforce respect for the Scriptures[696]. What was
accomplished in this direct endeavour to extirpate heresy is less
important than a move of a more practical nature, which bears every
evidence of being planned by Cromwell. The ancient military and
religious order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem was the sole
remaining stronghold of monasticism in England that had been suffered to
escape the onslaught of the King’s minister. To complete the work of
destruction which he had begun their downfall was essential, and an Act
to abolish them and confiscate their property finally passed both Houses
after a prolonged debate[697]. A complicated Taxation Bill, which was
carried through at the same time, seemed also to bear the stamp of
Cromwellian genius. Such services to the Crown had not been suffered to
go unrewarded, for on April 18 those who had prophesied the ruin of the
King’s minister were amazed by his being created Earl of Essex and Great
Chamberlain of England[698]. The French ambassador, who only seven days
before had reported to Francis that Cromwell was tottering to his fall,
now confessed that the new-made Earl ‘was in as much credit with the
King as ever he was, from which he was near being shaken by the Bishop
of Winchester and others.’
The other event which gave Cromwell a momentary ray of hope was the
arrival of a piece of news from France, which at first looked like a
vindication of his foreign policy as against that of the King. Early in
April it was rumoured in London that the French were fortifying Ardres,
and the King’s minister wrote a letter to Wallop on the twelfth
instructing him to demand an explanation from Francis[699], who
(according to the ambassador’s report) replied that ‘He knewe not but
that He myght aswell buyld there or fortefye uppon his borders as the
Kinges Highnes dothe at Callais, Guysnes, and other his
fortresses[700].’ These words, though spoken ‘very gently and nothing in
collour,’ appear to have caused profound anxiety at the English Court,
and Henry’s faith in the success of his plans of fomenting discord
between Charles and Francis received a rude shock. Everything which
tended to justify the alliance with Cleves as a defensive measure was of
course welcome news to Cromwell, who privately must have been as much
encouraged by the messages from France as others were dismayed by them.
But the satisfaction which he derived from the report of the
fortifications at Ardres was only of short duration. There were no
further hostile developments for the present, and an announcement was
soon received from the Netherlands which offered reasons for the
abandonment of the alliance with Cleves far more cogent than those which
the news from France furnished for its continuance. It was reported that
the Emperor, immediately after the subjugation of the revolt of Ghent,
had repeated his demands for the cession of Gelderland[701] by Duke
William, and there seemed every probability that in case of refusal he
would enforce them by the sword. The bearing of this move on the
alliance of England with Cleves has been already indicated. We have seen
that when Charles first turned his steps from Paris to the Low
Countries, Cromwell probably realized for the first time that the league
on which he had based all his hopes might actually work to England’s
disadvantage, and that Cleves might be the sole gainer from it. The news
from the Netherlands was virtually a confirmation of the minister’s
gravest fears. The prospect that he would soon be called upon to defend
an ally whom he had expected to defend him, and for whom he had no real
regard, must have been intolerable to Henry, and the state of his
relations to Anne of Cleves at the time tended of course to increase
rather than to diminish his vexation. Add to this the fact that tidings
of a somewhat disquieting nature kept coming in from Scotland and
Ireland, the blame for which could easily be made to fall on Cromwell,
and one can well believe that any gains the King’s minister may have
made in the Parliament which had met in April were more than
counterbalanced by the losses he had sustained in the course of affairs
abroad. Norfolk and Gardiner probably siezed this favourable opportunity
to weave further plots against their hated rival, and to devise fresh
measures to poison the King’s ear against him[702]. But even had the
enmity of these men been turned into friendship, Cromwell’s political
blunders had got him into a position from which nothing could extricate
him. He had incurred the enmity of a master who never forgave, and his
ultimate ruin could only be a question of time.
The events of the month of May were but foreshadowings of the end. On
the ninth the King summoned Cromwell to a council, at which the
definite abandonment of the minister’s policy must have been openly
discussed[703]. Records of the conference are not preserved to us, but
the result of it was that two days later Cromwell was forced much
against his will to write a letter to Pate, the new ambassador to the
Emperor, directing him to take steps to conciliate Charles and hinting
that the alliance with Cleves might be thrown over at any moment[704].
The latter part of the month brought with it further confirmation of the
minister’s impending fate. Duke William had sent ambassadors to the
English Court, to ask the advice of his powerful ally in regard to the
answer he should give to the Emperor’s demands for the cession of
Gelderland. Henry treated the envoys with marked coldness, and replied
to their requests in the most non-committal manner: he could do nothing
for the Duke of Cleves, he said, until he had more explicit information
concerning the rights and wrongs of the case[705]. The ground on which
Cromwell’s feet rested was being cut away on all sides, and yet
Marillac, in a letter of the first of June, seemed to think that the
arrest of Dr. Wilson for having ‘Popish leanings’ was an indication that
the minister and his few remaining adherents still retained some
influence. He acknowledged, however, that things changed so rapidly that
no person could tell what was going to happen, only he was certain that
one party or the other must presently succumb[706].
The catastrophe came like a thunderbolt, less than two weeks after
Marillac had written this letter. An entry in the Journal of the House
of Lords on June 10 reads: ‘Hodie Vicegerens Regius ... Comes Essex in
hora pomeridiana per Dominum Cancellarium et alios Dominos in Arcano
Domini Nostri Regis Consilio, ex Palatio Regio Domini Regis _Westm._
hora tertia pomeridiana super Accusationem Criminis lese Majestatis
missus est in Arcem _Londinens_[707].’ This bald statement is confirmed
by letters from Marillac to Francis and Montmorency at the time[708],
but a much more striking account of the arrest is contained in another
letter from the French ambassador to the Constable, written two weeks
later. It tells us that ‘as soon as the Captain of the Guard declared
his charge to make him prisoner, Cromwell in a rage cast his bonnet on
the ground, saying to the Duke of Norfolk and others of the Privy
Council assembled there, that this was the reward of his services, and
that he appealed to their consciences as to whether he was a traitor:
but since he was treated thus he renounced all pardon, as he had never
thought to have offended, and only asked the King not to make him
languish long. Thereupon some said he was a traitor, others that he
should be judged according to the laws he had made, which were so
sanguinary that often words spoken inadvertently with good intention had
been constituted high treason. The Duke of Norfolk, having reproached
him with some “villennyes” done by him, snatched off the order of St.
George, which he bore on his neck, and the Admiral, to show himself as
great an enemy in adversity as he had been thought a friend in
prosperity, untied the Garter. Then by a door which opens upon the
water, he was put in a boat and taken to the Tower, without the people
of this town suspecting it, until they saw all the King’s archers under
Mr. Cheyney at the door of the suspected prisoner’s house, where they
made an inventory of his goods which were not of such value as people
thought, although too much for a “compaignon de telle estoffe.” The
money was £7,000, equal to 28,000 crs., and the silver plate, including
crosses, chalices, and other spoils of the Church, might be as much
more. These moveables were before night taken to the King’s treasury, a
sign that they will not be restored[709].’
On the day of the arrest, a royal messenger was sent to the French
ambassador, to tell him that he must not be amazed at what had happened,
for though common ignorant people spoke of it ‘variously,’ the King said
that he was determined that Marillac should know the truth. Henry stated
that while he was trying ‘by all possible means to lead back religion to
the way of truth, Cromwell, as attached to the German Lutherans, had
always favoured the doctors who preached such erroneous opinions, and
hindered those who preached the contrary, and that recently warned by
some of his principal servants to reflect that he was working against
the intention of the King and of the Acts of Parliament, he had betrayed
himself and said he hoped to suppress the old preachers and have only
the new, adding that the affair would soon be brought to such a pass
that the King with all his power could not prevent it, but rather his
own party would be so strong that he would make the King descend to the
new doctrines even if he had to take arms against him[710].’ From this
and from another letter written by the council to Wallop at the same
time[711] it appears that the King had been able to devise no more
plausible pretext for the destruction of his minister than that which
had been suggested by the Bishop of Winchester, a pretext which as we
have seen was false and unjust in every respect, but convenient in many
ways, especially as it was sure to win the approval of the mass of the
people, who looked upon Cromwell as a true Protestant and hated him as
such, not being able to see that it was solely owing to political
motives, that he had been connected with the Reformers[712]. But the
fact that the charge on which he was convicted was totally
unjustifiable does not in any way imply that Cromwell was wrongly
condemned. There were other perfectly valid reasons for his punishment,
which, however, it was quite impossible to bring forward against him,
simply because the King had shared his guilt. If the number of innocent
persons, whom the minister’s influence had brought to the block, be not
a sufficient warrant for his conviction and execution, it would be
difficult to find a character in English history who merited the death
penalty. But all these crimes could not be laid to his charge because
the King had supported him in them, and he was arrested instead on the
false accusation of opposition to the master to whose service he had
devoted his life.
Cranmer was the only man who dared to say a word to the King on
Cromwell’s behalf. He wrote a pathetic letter to Henry the day after the
arrest, expressing his wonder and distress that one whom he had deemed
so good and so faithful, should be accused of treason, but in vain[713].
The fallen minister was not even permitted a trial in which he could be
heard in his own defence. That terrible engine of extra-legal
destruction, the attainder, by which so many of his own enemies had been
annihilated, was used as a swifter and surer means to bring him to the
block. The Act of Parliament which attainted him was read in the House
of Lords just one week after his arrest[714]: it simply enumerated
various acts and speeches which had been laid to his charge, as
indicating that he had plotted to make himself more powerful than the
King in matters both religious and political, and stated that he had
thus incurred the charge of high treason, for which he was condemned to
die. He was to suffer as a heretic or a traitor at the King’s pleasure,
and forfeit all property held since March 31, 1538. That Cromwell was
deprived of all titles and prerogatives on the day of his arrest, and
was called only ‘Thomas Cromwell, shearman,’ and that his servants were
forbidden to wear his livery, led Marillac to think that he would not be
beheaded, as befitted a lord, but would be ‘dragged up as an ignoble
person, and afterwards hanged and quartered[715].’ This impression was
current two weeks later, for Norfolk told Marillac on July 6, that
Cromwell’s end would be ‘the most ignominious in use in the
country[716].’ It was not until the day of his execution that ‘grace was
made to him upon the method of his death,’ and beheading was substituted
for a more painful and ignominious penalty[717]. For though his arrest
had been immediately followed by his attainder, execution was delayed
for six weeks more, in order that the King might make use of him for a
last time, to gain an end which Cromwell had successfully secured for
him once before, namely a divorce from a hated Queen.
From the day of his arrest, his execution had been a foregone
conclusion; there was no chance of ultimate salvation for the fallen
minister. But as a drowning man clutches at a straw to save himself from
death, so Cromwell, at Henry’s request, wrote a letter, which he must
have known would be useless, to say what he could on his own
behalf[718]. The letter speaks for itself: its denials of the charges
are not as frequent as the acknowledgements of guilt and pleas for
mercy, but it produced no effect on the angry King. What the injudicious
words spoken before Throgmorton and Riche were, it is impossible to
tell; they were probably simply sentences into which a treasonable
intent was read, as into those mentioned in the attainder; the ‘secrete
matier’ which Cromwell was accused of revealing without leave may well
have been a project of Henry’s to get rid of Anne, which for many
reasons it was expedient for him to keep secret, until he was certain
that he could free himself by one blow from the marriage which by this
time had become intolerable to him. To this purpose all the King’s
energies were now bent, and conscious that his fallen minister had known
more of his relations with Anne than any other, he sent him in the end
of June a list of questions on the subject, couched in such judicious
language, that if Cromwell gave the replies he confidently looked for,
they would supply cogent reasons for his divorce[719]. He was sure, he
said, that now that Cromwell was condemned to die, he would tell the
truth and not damn his soul also, by bearing false witness at the
last[720]. Whether Henry’s assumption here was correct or not, it is
impossible to tell. Cromwell knew of course that his chance of pardon
was almost nothing, but he was not so foolish as to throw it away
absolutely; he also knew that the King’s heart’s desire was a divorce
from Anne, and he saw that his only hope lay in aiding Henry to his
utmost to free himself from her. Nor was Cromwell the sort of man to
whom dying with a lie on his lips would mean very much; his whole
interest was absorbed in the endeavour to make the most of the one very
faint chance of escape that was offered to him. Hence it is possible
that the testimony he bore in this case may not have been strictly true.
He appears to have written two letters in answer to the King’s
interrogatories; one of them is in the library of the Marquis of
Salisbury at Hatfield House; the other, badly mutilated, in the British
Museum[721]. Both of them are filled with abject pleas for mercy, and
one of them, which was carried to the King by Cromwell’s faithful Ralph
Sadler, moved Henry so much, that it is said that he commanded it to be
read to him thrice[722]. The two letters tell the same story in slightly
different words: they give a full account of everything that Cromwell
had seen of Henry’s relation to Anne, since they first met at Rochester.
They dilate on the King’s disgust at the first sight of the ‘great
Flanders mare,’ tell how he endeavoured to put off the wedding, alleging
as his excuse the previous engagement of Anne and the Duke of Lorraine’s
son, and finally quote a conversation of Henry and Cromwell, the day
after the marriage, in which the King appears to have informed his
minister that consummation had not followed. The truth of this last
statement is apparently corroborated by a letter which Anne sent to her
brother a few days later[723]. Experience of the very unscrupulous
methods of Henry VIII., especially when matrimonial issues were at
stake, leads the reader, however, at least to recognize the possibility
that Anne may have written this letter under compulsion and the threat
of death if she refused. The testimony with which the King had armed
himself for the struggle he anticipated over gaining a divorce from his
fourth wife, was thus all of it obtained under circumstances that
certainly cast grave suspicions on its veracity; and the modern student
may well be excused for refusing to accept it with that pleasingly
implicit faith which the Convocations and Parliaments of this period
almost invariably placed in the statements of the sovereign[724].
Certainly there was little cause for Henry to doubt his own ability to
wrest a decision of the nullity of his marriage from clergy, Lords, and
Commons. Ten years of Cromwell’s masterfulness had been enough to
convince them of the absolute futility of opposing the King in any
matter on which he had set his heart. The evidence wrung from the fallen
minister almost under the shadow of the scaffold, and the confirmatory
letter elicited from Anne, coupled with a ‘breve trew and parfaict
declarac_i_on’ from the King himself[725], were quite sufficient to
cause Convocation after three days of debate finally to agree on the
judgement that the union was unlawful, and to send their decision to
Parliament on July 12. An Act to proclaim the marriage null and void
from the beginning was hurried through the Houses with all possible
speed, and on the 14th it was passed[726]. From that time onward the
‘lady Anne was treated as a sister by the King’; she was suffered to
live in retirement, adequate lands and money were apportioned to her,
and she remained in England, contented and happy that execution had not
been substituted for divorce[727]. The Duke of Cleves was naturally
enraged at the treatment of his sister, and resolutely refused to
acknowledge that she had been honourably dealt with; but he knew that he
was too weak to avenge the insult, and coldly promised that the
nullification of the marriage would not cause him to ‘departe from his
devotion leage and amytie’ with the King of England[728].
The story of Cromwell’s arrest, followed by the report of the divorce of
Anne of Cleves, was also immediately communicated to France and Spain.
Francis appears to have received the news of the first with unfeigned
joy, and was not slow to signify to Henry his satisfaction at the
unexpected turn of affairs[729]. He wrote again to the King a little
later, asserting that Cromwell had adjusted a dispute over some prizes
taken by the ships of the governor of Picardy, the Sieur de Rochepot, in
such a way that he had derived personal gain from the transaction; this
complaint was sent to Cromwell in the Tower, and drew from him the reply
contained in the last existing letter which he wrote[730]. Francis’
enthusiasm at the ruin of a minister whom he had such reason to hate,
seems to have been somewhat diminished when he learned that Anne’s
marriage had been dissolved, as he naturally saw that this step would
immediately put England and Spain on a better footing. An interesting
account of the ambassador Carne’s breaking the news to Francis, is given
in a letter of Wallop’s to Henry of July 10. Francis, as it appears,
‘fett a gret sighte,’ as if reflecting on the vacillating methods of his
‘nere and dere brother,’ but finally assented that Henry’s ‘owne
conscience shuld be judge therein[731].’ The French King, though he
greatly rejoiced in Cromwell’s fall, was evidently somewhat taken aback
by the first result of the consummation of his hopes. Charles showed
none of the same outward enthusiasm, when Pate declared to him the news
of Cromwell’s arrest; he did not even send a message, but left the
ambassador in a later letter to the King to supplement his silence with
his own approval. His replies to the news of the divorce of Anne were
likewise calm, but he certainly was much relieved by what he had
heard[732]. The common opinion which the sudden reversal of Cromwell’s
policy had caused on the Continent seems to have been, as Pate wrote to
Norfolk on July 31, that Henry had ‘lost the hartes of the Electors of
thEmpire’ but had ‘contravailed thEmprour or the Frenche King in there
places[733].’
On July 27 the Parliament closed, having finished the work that the King
had mapped out for it. Since Cromwell’s arrest it had practically undone
all that his foreign policy of the two past years had accomplished, by
nullifying the marriage of Henry and Anne. The rest of its proceedings
are unimportant, except perhaps the attainder of Barnes, Garret, and
Jerome, the Lutheran preachers, who were convicted of heresy and
sentenced to die at the stake[734]. With the divorce from Anne secured,
and those whom the minister had favoured at home condemned, there was
now no longer any impediment to the completion of the final act of the
tragedy, and on July 28 ‘Thomas Cromwell, shearman,’ was led forth to
execution. In a letter to Francis, Marillac simply mentions the fact of
his death[735], but a more complete account of the end of the great
minister is fortunately preserved to us in the chronicles of Holinshed
and Hall, and the history of Foxe[736].
From the stories of all these chroniclers it appears that Cromwell on
the scaffold made an address to the people, declaring the faith in which
he died. That his speech was printed and publicly circulated is attested
by Pole; and the fact that Holinshed, Hall, and Foxe give it in almost
exactly the same words corroborates the truth of the Cardinal’s
statement. Pole, however, goes on to say that though at first he
accepted the printed speech as a true version of Cromwell’s words, he
later learned from trustworthy persons that what Cromwell had actually
said was something very different[737]. The words of the speech
certainly have the appearance of being composed beforehand and forced
upon Cromwell’s dying lips. He confessed that he had done wrong, asked
forgiveness of his King, and finally asserted that he died in the
Catholic Faith, not doubting in any article of his faith, ‘no nor
doubting in any Sacrament of the Church[738].’ This last statement was
certainly untrue; nor would it have been in any way less false, if
Cromwell had said that he died a true Protestant[739]. His religious
beliefs were, as far as can be discovered, absolutely nothing when
disconnected from practical ends, and he probably made his last speech
at the King’s command, either to save himself from a more shameful death
than beheading, or else, as is quite probable, to avert the ruin of his
son Gregory, who he perhaps feared would fall with him. On this point,
however, he need not have had any apprehension; Gregory Cromwell,
perhaps on account of his fortunate marriage with the aunt of Prince
Edward, appeared to be in as high favour as ever[740], and the title of
Baron Cromwell, which his father forfeited at his attainder, was
regranted to the young man by patent, Dec. 18, 1540[741].
Besides this speech, which has given historians so much trouble, Hall
makes mention of the fact that Cromwell ‘made his praier, which was
long, but not so long as both Godly and learned[742].’ This prayer is
given in full in Foxe, and, as it reads there, it certainly justifies
the use of the epithets that Hall applied to it[743]. Whether Foxe’s
words were Cromwell’s words, or whether Cromwell’s words were his own,
and not those of the King which were given him to speak, is however
entirely another matter. It is unfortunate that we have no more credible
authority than the martyrologist on this point. Cromwell’s prayer, as he
gives it, was certainly that of a man who humbly acknowledged his
faults, and threw himself solely on the mercy of God; but the words
which he spoke are suspiciously devout, for those of a man to whom
religion mattered so little.
‘And thus,’ says Foxe, ‘his Prayer made, after he had godly and lovingly
exhorted them that were about him on the Scaffold, he quietly committed
his Soul into the hands of God, and so patiently suffered the stroke of
the Ax, by a ragged and butcherly Miser, which very ungodly performed
his Office[744].’
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIV
PASSAGES FROM FOXE’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
Vol. ii. p. 433.
‘A true Christian confession of the L. Cromwel at his death.’
‘I am come hither to die, and not to purge my self, as some think
peradventure that I will. For if I should so do, I were a very wretch
and a Miser. I am by the Law condemned to die, and thank my Lord God,
that hath appointed me this death for mine Offence. For sithence the
time that I have had years of discretion, I have lived a sinner, and
offended my Lord God, for the which I ask him heartily forgiveness. And
it is not unknown to many of you, that I have been a great Traveller in
this World, and being but of a base degree, was called to high estate,
and sithence the time I came thereunto I have offended my Prince, for
the which I ask him heartily forgiveness, and beseech you all to pray to
God with me, that he will forgive me. And now I pray you that be here,
to bear me record, I die in the Catholick Faith, not doubting in any
Article of my Faith, no nor doubting in any Sacrament of the Church.
Many have slandered me and reported that I have been a bearer of such as
have maintained evil Opinions, which is untrue. But I confess, that like
as God by his holy Spirit doth instruct us in the Truth, so the Devil is
ready to seduce us, and I have been seduced; but bear me witness that I
die in the Catholick Faith of the holy Church; and I heartily desire you
to pray for the Kings Grace, that he may long live with you in health
and prosperity; and that after him his Son Prince Edward that goodly
Impe may long Reign over you. And once again I desire you to pray for
me, that so long as life remaineth in this flesh, I waver nothing in my
Faith.’
‘The Prayer of the Lord Cromwel at his Death.’
‘O Lord Jesus, which art the only health of all men living, and the
everlasting life of them which die in thee; I wretched sinner do submit
my self wholly unto thy most blessed will, and being sure that the thing
cannot Perish which is committed unto thy mercy, willingly now I leave
this frail and wicked flesh, in sure hope that thou wilt in better wise
restore it to me again at the last day in the resurrection of the just.
I beseech thee most merciful Lord Jesus Christ, that thou wilt by thy
grace make strong my Soul against all temptations, and defend me with
the Buckler of thy mercy against all the assaults of the Devil. I see
and knowledge that there is in my self no hope of Salvation, but all my
confidence, hope and trust is in thy most merciful goodness. I have no
merits nor good works which I may alledge before thee. Of sins and evil
works (alas) I see a great heap; but yet through thy mercy I trust to be
in the number of them to whom thou wilt not impute their sins; but wilt
take and accept me for righteous and just, and to be the inheritor of
everlasting life. Thou merciful Lord wert born for my sake, thou didst
suffer both hunger and thirst for my sake; thou didst teach, pray, and
fast for my sake; all thy holy Actions and Works thou wroughtest for my
sake; thou sufferedst most grievous Pains and Torments for my sake;
finally, thou gavest thy most precious Body and thy Blood to be shed on
the Cross for my sake. Now most merciful Saviour, let all these things
profit me, which hast given thy self also for me. Let thy Blood cleanse
and wash away the spots and fulness of my sins. Let thy righteousness
hide and cover my unrighteousness. Let the merit of thy Passion and
blood shedding be satisfaction for my sins. Give me, Lord, thy grace,
that the Faith of my salvation in thy Blood waver not in me, but may
ever be firm and constant. That the hope of thy mercy and life
everlasting never decay in me, that love wax not cold in me. Finally,
that the weakness of my flesh be not overcome with the fear of death.
Grant me, merciful Saviour, that when death hath shut up the eyes of my
Body, yet the eyes of my Soul may still behold and look upon thee, and
when death hath taken away the use of my Tongue, yet my heart may cry
and say unto thee, Lord into thy hands I commend my Soul, Lord Jesus
receive my spirit, Amen.’
CHAPTER XV
THE WORK OF THOMAS CROMWELL
It is inevitable that there should be the widest divergence of opinion
concerning every great figure in Reformation history, and it is idle to
attempt to form an estimate of the character and work of Thomas Cromwell
that will satisfy those who take different views of the great struggle
during which his life was lived. But Catholics and Protestants must
agree on the fundamental and permanent nature of the changes which he
wrought: whether his work was good or bad, no one can deny his success
in fulfilling his life’s aim as declared to Cavendish on the All Hallows
Day when he rode forth to London ‘to make or to marre.’ He was the first
chief minister that England had ever had, who was base-born and yet not
a cleric. He stood completely outside the great religious movement of
his time, and only made use of it to further his own political ends. He
came at a time when things were in an unsettled state and ready for a
change: his personality, emotionless, practical, stern, impressed itself
on every phase of the national life. It was not alone in Parliament,
Convocation, or Privy Council that he reigned supreme; on every
department of the government service the stamp of his individual genius
remains indelibly fixed. The permanence of his work was largely due to
the way in which he clinched every reform which he introduced. He
followed up the separation from Rome by attacking in turn the bishops,
clergy, and friars, and by suppressing the monasteries. He obtained the
support of the King in almost every measure which he invented, and then
forced Parliament formally to legalize it. His action was in no case
ineffective; the immediate result of it was almost always the attainment
of the goal at which he aimed.
To the student of the present day, however, who is enabled to survey the
decade of Cromwell’s rule after a lapse of more than three and a half
centuries, the immediate effects of his measures fade into the
background and lose their importance, in the face of later and far
greater developments. The latter were not always the results Cromwell
wished to attain; in many cases they were ends which, if he could have
foreseen, Cromwell would have been the last person to promote. They came
years later, indirectly, as it were, and were rendered possible only by
the lapse of time, the influence of other statesmen, and the growth and
progress of civil and religious liberty, but none the less were they due
to the impulse of Thomas Cromwell. By following out the effect of a few
of the more important steps of his policy, it will not be difficult to
see what some of these later developments were.
Let us take in the first place his action in rejecting the authority of
the See of Rome. Cromwell advised the King to shake off his allegiance
to the Pope, solely because he saw that a divorce from Katherine of
Aragon could never be obtained from Clement VII., as long as the latter
was in the power of Charles V. His aim was to please the King by
enabling him to divorce Katherine, so that he might marry Anne Boleyn;
he realized that his desire could not be accomplished while the country
remained true to the Old Faith; he cut the bonds that held England to
Rome, and gained what Henry wished. The direct result, the only thing he
cared about, was accomplished; but far more important than that, it was
by Cromwell’s means that Protestantism gained a footing in England,
which even the Six Articles and the terrible persecution under Mary
could not shake. To guard against the return of the Papal power, and the
annulling of the divorce, Cromwell attacked and subdued the clergy, and
negotiated with the Protestants on the Continent. His immediate object
was solely political safety; the ultimate result was the loosening of
some of the strongest bonds of Romanism, and the opening of the road for
the incoming of the new religion. Thus out of moves first made to attain
and ensure a questionable end, grew consequences so great and so
far-reaching that it is only with difficulty that one can trace their
origin.
The same remark will be found to hold true of the results of the
suppression of the monasteries[745]. The main object of the King’s
Vicegerent in destroying them was undoubtedly to fill the royal treasury
with the spoils of the Church, and to clinch the advantages gained by
the separation from Rome. But the later result of his measures was
actually to undo much of the work which they were first intended to
perform. For though they had weakened religious opposition to the Crown,
they strengthened the secular element in its later struggle against the
royal autocracy which Cromwell had laboured to establish. We have seen
that the lands of the suppressed houses had been either given away, or
else sold at exceedingly low prices to the impoverished nobles by
Cromwell’s advice, in order to ward off the opposition aroused by their
destruction. This measure certainly attained its immediate purpose, but
it also laid the foundation for the growth of an extremely powerful
territorial aristocracy, that later on was to use its influence to
oppose the royal prerogative and pave the way for modern
constitutionalism. While Cromwell, in his attacks on the older nobility,
thought that he was removing the last impediments to absolute monarchy,
he really, by enriching and strengthening this new aristocracy, was
rearing an infinitely more potent enemy to the kingship for which he had
sacrificed everything. It is well known that such families as the
Russells, Seymours, and Cavendishes, who later figured most prominently
in opposition to the Crown, owed their power to gifts out of the
revenues of the suppressed monasteries. The smaller gentry also claimed
a share in the general advancement to wealth and prosperity among the
landed proprietors, and a sudden burst of political activity in the
Lords and Commons bore witness to the fact that the Houses had once more
asserted their right to govern.
This brings us to Cromwell’s relations with Parliament. It is here that
we find the most striking instance of the contradiction between the
immediate and the permanent effects of the changes he wrought. We have
seen how his attitude towards Parliament differed from that of his
predecessor. We have seen how Wolsey had looked upon the national
assembly as a great force which continually hampered his schemes, so
that his dislike of it led him to summon it as infrequently as possible,
and only when it was absolutely necessary. We have seen how Cromwell was
destined to go one step further, and how by packed elections, fraud, and
violence, he succeeded in converting it into an utterly subservient
instrument of the royal will. It was now no longer a power to be feared,
but one to be relied on; a firm ally that consistently obeyed the
slightest hint of the wishes of the Crown. Consequently instead of
rarely assembling as under Wolsey, it was being constantly summoned, as
a necessary means to accomplish the designs of Henry and his minister.
While the latter lived, everything worked exactly as he had intended,
and the Parliament remained ‘tractable.’ But when after his death the
idea of autocracy had passed away, and England had begun to recover from
the terror Cromwell’s ministry had inspired, Parliament suddenly
realized that it had a power of its own. Its frequent assemblings which
of course had helped the Crown, as long as under Cromwell the Houses had
remained subservient, now began to work just the other way, and aided it
in shaking off the fetters that bound it to the King. It had been
Cromwell’s plan that it should keep up the forms of constitutional
liberty, as a sort of sop to the popular feeling, while in reality all
its legislative vigour was lost. Now that the pressure of his hand was
removed, the animating spirit revived, and finding all the old
traditionary customs still intact began to infuse itself into Lords and
Commons. The earlier independence of the Houses returned and increased,
so that the final result of the work of Cromwell was on the one hand to
thwart all efforts to compass the omnipotence of the Crown, and on the
other to lay the basis for a constitutional government.
Had the English character been one that could permanently suffer any
form of tyranny or absolute monarchy; had the ends the great minister
aimed at been such that when the temporary madness and terror inspired
by his own personality had passed by, they could have aroused one spark
of enthusiasm in the English heart, Cromwell’s would have been the
grandest figure in his country’s history. But it was not destined to be
so. The national drift was throughout bitterly opposed to him and to the
ideas for which he stood, so that much of his policy was reversed in the
years that followed his death. There can be, it seems to me, no doubt
that Cromwell was perfectly sincere in his attempt to establish an
all-powerful kingship under the forms of ostensible constitutionalism.
He did it not from selfish motives, but because he believed it to be the
only sure road to national greatness. The crimes that marred his career
cannot be excused, but may be palliated by this consideration, and by
his dauntless courage in resolutely destroying the Curial control of the
English courts and English Church; on this side of his work he was the
true successor of Wyclif, the true predecessor of his own great kinsman.
Cromwell lived in an age when a wave of monarchical enthusiasm swept
over the entire west of Europe: a belief in the absolute power of kings
was the most salient characteristic of the political atmosphere of his
day. He was essentially a man of his time in his faults and in his
virtues, and could scarcely have anticipated modern constitutionalism.
Thus his policy perished with him, but his work remained and was
permitted by change and reaction finally to attain results far more
glorious and lasting than he had hoped for. The despotism of the Tudors
fell with their dynasty, the liberties of the nation survived.
LETTERS OF THOMAS CROMWELL
PREFATORY NOTE
Here follow a complete collection of the letters of Thomas Cromwell
arranged as nearly as possible in chronological order, an itinerary, and
a list of his minor preferments. The letters have been copied from the
original manuscripts, save in a few cases duly noted, when transcripts
have been made from the official copies at the Public Record Office,
from Strype and Ribier, or from the collections of Sir Henry Ellis. The
spelling follows the original, all contractions are extended but
italicized: the original punctuation, paragraphing, and use of capitals
are preserved.
But (1) I have disregarded ‘unintelligent’ or faulty marks of
contraction, occurring in words in which no letter is omitted. (2) I
have not italicized uncontracted letters inserted above the line. For
example: the name ‘Thomas’ is almost always written ‘Thom^{a}s’ in the
original: I have transcribed it ‘Thomas’ and not ‘Thom_a_s.’ On the
other hand, the word ‘your’ is usually written ‘yo^r’ in the manuscript:
in this case I have taken the superior ‘r’ as a contracted form of ‘ur,’
and so have transcribed it ‘yo_ur_.’ (3) In the originals the same
script form is used for ‘I’ and ‘J’; I have followed the modern use. (4)
The bracket [ ] signifies that the words or letters enclosed would have
been in the manuscript had it not been injured. The bracket ‹ ›
signifies that the word or words enclosed have been inserted by me to
complete the sense. The parenthesis ( ) signifies that the enclosure is
bracketed in the original. (5) Sentences and words crossed out or
underlined in the manuscript have been set below, except when evident
mistakes of the writer. The letters ‘_c.o._’ signify that the passage
against which they are written was crossed out or underlined in the
original.
In dating letters, I have followed the modern use, and have taken the
first of January and not the twenty-fifth of March as the beginning of
the year. I have used the bracket ‹ › in the headings to indicate that
the name or date enclosed has not been given in the letter itself, but
has been found from external or internal evidence. Letters which bear no
indication of the day and month in which they were written are placed at
the end of the year to which they apparently belong. The abbreviations
‘R.O.’ and ‘B.M.’ refer to the Public Record Office and British Museum
respectively throughout the collection.
LETTERS
1. CROMWELL TO JOHN CREKE.
R.O. Cal. iii. 3249. Aug. 17 ‹1523›.
A letter of friendship, containing an account of the
proceedings of the Parliament of 1523, in which Cromwell
sat. News concerning Creke’s friends in England.
Maister Creke as hertelye as I can I co_m_mende me and in the same wise
thanke yow [for your] gentill and louyng l_ette_res to me at sundrye
tymys Sent and wher as I accordinglye haue not in lyke wise remembrid
and rescribid it hath bene for that I haue not hade anything to wryt of
to yo_ur_ adu_au_ncement. Whom I assure yow yf it were in my lytyll
power I coulde be well contentyd to p_re_ferre as ferre as any on_e_ man
lyuyng. But at this p_re_sent I being at Sum layser entending to
remembre and also remunerate the olde acquayntaunc_es_ and to renew
o_ur_ not forgoten Sundrye co_m_munycacions Supposing ye desyre to know
the new_es_ curraunt in thes p_ar_tyes for it is said that new_es_
refresshith the spy[rit] of lyffe, wherfor ye shall vnderstonde that by
long tyme I amongist other haue Indured a p_ar_lyament which contenwid
by the space of xvij hole wek_es_ wher we co_m_munyd of warre pease
Stryffe contencyon debatte murmure grudge Riches pouerte penurye trowth
falshode Justyce equyte discayte opprescyon Magnanymyte actyuyte force
attempraunce Treason murder Felonye consyli ... and also how a co_m_mune
welth myght be ediffyed and a[lso] contenewid w_i_t_h_in o_ur_ Realme.
Howbeyt in conclusyon we haue d[one] as o_ur_ p_re_d_e_c_e_ssors haue
been wont to doo that ys to say, as well as we myght and lefte wher we
begann. ye shall also vnderstond the Duke of Suthffolke Furnysshyd
w_i_t_h_ a gret armye goyth ou_er_ in all goodlye hast [whit]her I know
not, when I know I shall aduertyse yow. Whe haue in o_ur_ p_ar_lyament
grauntyd vnto the King_es_ highnes a right large Subsydye, the lyke
wherof was neuer grauntyd in this realme. all yo_ur_ frend_es_ to my
knowlage be in good helth and specially thay that ye wott of: ye know
what I meane. I thinke it best to wryt in parables becaus[e] I am In
dowt. Maister Vawhan Fareth well and so doth Maister Munkcaste[r].
Maister Woodall is merye w_i_t_h_owt a wyffe and co_m_mendyth hym to
yow: and so ys also Nych_ol_as longmede which hath payd Will_ia_m
Wilfforde. And thus as well f[are] ye as I woolde do my Self At london
the xvij daye of August by yo_ur_ Frende to all his possible power
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To his [esp]ecial and entyrelye belouyd Frende John Creke be this
youyn Bylbowe in Biscaye.
2. CROMWELL TO ELIZABETH HIS WIFE.
Ellis’ Letters, 2nd Ser. ii. 125; Cal. iv, App. 57. Nov. 29 ‹1525›.
Sends her a doe. Desires that Richard Swift resort to him at
Begham or Tonbridge. Asks for news.
Elyzabeth I commend me unto you and have sente you by this berer a fatt
doo, the one half whereof I pray you may be delyvered unto my gossyp
mastres Smyth, and with the rest to use your pleasure. And further yf
Richard Swifte be cum home or fortune to cum shortly, I will that he
resorte to me at Begham or Tonbridge with all dylygence. Such news as ye
have in those partyes I pray you sende me parte by this berer. At Begham
the xxix^{th} day of November. And farther I pray you sende me word in
wryting who hathe resorted unto you syns my departuer from you to speke
with me.
Per your husbend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my well beloved wyf Elyzabeth Crumwell agenst the Freyers
Augustines in London be this given.
3. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. iv. 955 (3). ‹1524 or 1525.›
Desires that the lands of John Fleming, who has broken
covenant with Cromwell, be put in execution.
Syr in my most herty mann_er_ I co_m_mend me vnto yow aduertesing yow
that after knowlege hade of yo_ur_ dep_ar_ture In to the north partyes
was veray sorye that my chaunce was not so happye to haue spokyn
w_i_t_h_ yow befor wheruppon I was constrayned for the Singuler trust
and conffydence which by long co_n_tenuaunce hath Succedyd & ben
approuyd In yow toward_es_ yo_ur_ Frend_es_ and louers to wryt vnto
yow[746] Syr So hyt is that on_e_ John Flemyng of Crofton in the Countye
of Yo_ur_ke in the moneth of may last passid Solde vnto Rob_er_t Bolt
Certayn land_es_ Tenementt_es_ & heredytamentt_es_ to the Clere yerlye
valew of Nyntene pound_es_ and xvi d. of good and lawffull monaye of
Ingland to myn_e_ vse to the S_u_m of ccclxxxj^{li} vj^s viij^d wheroff
the sayd John Flemyng resayuyd In p_ar_tye of payment on_e_ hundereth
fortye eight pownd_es_ nyne sheling_es_ & Syx pence and the rest of the
sayd S_u_m which amountyth vnto ccxxxij^{li} xvij^s ii^d was put in the
Saffe custodye and keping of yo_ur_ Frend Maister Butrye ther to remayn
vntyll Suche tyme the sayd John Flemyng sholde haue p_er_formyd all his
couen_au_ntt_es_ according vnto a payre of Indentures For the which
Su_m_mys of Monaye and for the non p_er_form_au_nce of the sayd
Couen_au_ntt_es_ the sayd John Flemyng standyth bounden to the sayd
Rob_er_t Bolt In a statute of the Staple of Westm_inster_ in on_e_
thousand mark_es_ payable in the Fest of Saynt Bertholomew the appostill
last past the date wherof is the xx^{th} daye of Maii in the xv^{th}
yere of o_ur_ souerayng lord kyng henrye the viii^{th}, and forasmoche
as the said Flemyng hath brokyn Couen_au_ntt w_i_t_h_ me In eu_er_ye
poynt I am Compellyd to take the execucyon vppon my statute which by
this bringer I haue sent vnto yow desyring and her[tely] praying yow
that ye will be so Frendlye vnto me yf it be possyble beffore yo_ur_
retorn hetherward_es_ to make Suche Instaunce vnto the Shereffe of
Yorkeshyre that the sayd execucyon may be taken[747] and that all suche
land_es_ as the sayd John Flemyng hathe within Yorkshyre maye be put in
execucyon and extendyd befor yo_ur_ retorne owte of Yo_ur_kshyre and
that the wryt of execucyon may be reto_ur_nyd and what so eu_er_ charge
shalbe For the Furnysshyng of the same I promyse yow and bynde me by
this my l_ette_re to Satysfye and Ferther to reco_m_pence yo_ur_ paynys
in suche wyse I trust that ye shalbe contentyd. Syr I hertelye desyre
and praye yow to haue me excusyd that I sholde be so bolde to requere
yow to take Suche payn for me howbeit the experyence which I haue in
yo_ur_ good and gentyll approuyd humanyte makyth me the more bolde
w_i_t_h_ yow hauyng no dowbt but that ye will accept & take vppon yow as
moche payne For yo_ur_ Frend as any man lyuyng Ferther Syr ye shall
vnderstonde
_On the dorse_
A fragment of a document containing indentures and
agreements concerning the manor of Kexby.
The manor of Kexby--
her after shall Inswe the abredgment of certayn Indentures evydence
charters ded_es_ esc[riptes] and Mynument_es_ concernyng the manno_ur_
of Kexbye w_i_t_h_ the appertena_n_ces w_i_t_h_in the Countye of Yorke
Delyuery[d] ... by Iohn Aleyn Cytizen and Altherman of London to the
hand_es_ of Sundrye Right worsshypfful and discret p_er_sons
Councello_ur_s vnto the most reue[rent] Father in god Thomas lorde
Cardenall legate de latere archbusshop of Yo_ur_ke pry ... and
chaunceler of Inglonde to the vse of the sayd most Reuerend Father in
god the datt_es_ of the whiche Indentures evydenc_es_ charters ded_es_
escript_es_ & Mynimentt_es_ cons_er_nyng the sayd Manno_ur_ w_i_t_h_
p_ar_te of the effect_es_ conteynyd [in] the same mor playnlye herafter
shall appere
4. ‹CROMWELL› TO LADY ‹DORSET›.
R.O. Cal. iv. 3053 (ii). April ‹1527›.
Reports a letter received from ‘my lorde’ and addressed to
her ladyship, and encloses the copy of another from ‘my lord
George,’
Pleasyth it yo_ur_ good ladyship my specyall dewtes fyrst remembred that
as vppon Wensdaye being the xvij^{th} daye of Aprell I resayuyd from my
lorde a l_ette_re directyd vnto yo_ur_ good ladyship w_i_t_h_ also all
his honourable aduenture In to Scotland[748] theffect wherof yo_ur_
ladyship shall resayue in yo_ur_ l_ette_res Ferther I resayuyd the same
daye a l_ette_re from my lord George the teno_ur_ and Copye wherof I
haue sent yow herin Inclosyd Madame as ye shall Thinke by yo_ur_ good
and vertuese discresyon it may please to adu_er_tyse my good lord which
I thinke shalbe well takyn when he shall parsayue that ye doo and shall
contenually studye for the aduansment of his honeur.
5. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹VISCOUNT ROCHFORD›.
R.O. Cal. iv. 3741. ‹December, 1527.›
Legal information and advice concerning a suit in which
Cromwell has been retained as counsel by the wife of Sir
Robert Clere, the sister of Rochford.
Pleasyth it yo_ur_ good lordship to be adu_er_tysed howe that it hath
pleasyd my ladye yo_ur_ sust_er_ wyff to S_i_r Rob_er_te Clere Knyght to
requyre and desyre me to be of counsayll w_i_t_h_ the sayd S_ir_ Robert
her husbande in a certayn[749] Matyer in varyaunce betwene the lady
Feneux late the wyff of s_ir_ John Feneux Knyght cheffe Justyce[750]
desseasyd of and For the deffence of a wrytt of extent of late passyd
out of the Kyng_es_ hygh courte of the Chauncery dyrected vnto the
Sheryff of Norffolke and Suffolke aswell for the extendyng of the
land_es_ of the sayd s_ir_ Rob_er_te w_i_t_h_in the sayd countyes as
alsoo For the puttyng in execution the bodye of the sayd s_ir_ Robert
Clere for the satysfactyon and payment of Foure hundreth pound_es_
supposyd to be due to the sayd late cheff Justice disceasyd And For
asmoche as by the reporte of my sayd lady yo_ur_ sust_er_ and alsoo by
the syght of certayn Indentures of Couen_au_ntt_es_ & deffauntt_es_ made
aswell bytwene s_ir_ John Paston Knyght disceasyd and the sayd S_ir_
Rob_er_te Clere as alsoo bytwene the sayd late cheff Justice and the
sayd s_ir_ Robert yt maye appere that the sayd Statute of the Staple of
cccc^{li} was made and delyu_er_ed to none other intente but onlye For
the p_er_fformaunce of certayn couen_au_nt_es_ of Maryage For the
assuraunce and onlye aduaunseme_n_t of a Joynter to be made to one
Elyzabeth late the wyff off one Will_ia_m Clere disceasyd so_n_ne and
heyre at that tyme to the sayd s_ir_ Rob_er_te whiche Elyzabeth ys nowe
wydowe and was lately the wyffe of the sayd late lorde Feneux cheff
Justice all whiche couen_au_nt_es_ of Maryage the sayd s_ir_ Robert
Clere hathe always as I am Informyd bene redye and yet ys to p_er_fourme
notw_i_t_h_standyng[751] that the sayd S_ir_ John Paston in hys lyffe
nor s_ir_ Will_ia_m Paston nowe lyuyng so_n_ne and heyre of the sayd
s_ir_ John wolde ne wyll not accordyng to suche couen_au_ntes[752] as
the ‹same› be boundyn vnto paye vnto the sayd s_ir_ Roberte Clere
cc^{li} Resydue of foure hundreth Mark_es_ for the sayd[753] assuraunce
of the sayd Couenauntt_es_ of Maryage[754] yet dewe and vnpayd the none
payment wherof ys A greate matyer and it were gret pytye and also ayenst
bothe reson & Conscyens that the sayd s_ir_ Roberte shulde haue his
land_es_ extendyd and be co_m_pellyd to paye the sayd so_m_me of foure
hundreth pound_es_ consyderyng the sayd bounde was made but for the
p_er_formaunce of the couen_au_ntes of Maryage whiche[755] the sayd Syr
Robert was and ys Redye to performe and good Reason it were that the
Couenauntt_es_ on the p_ar_tie of the sayd S_ir_ John Paston also sholde
be p_er_formyd and the sayd cc^{li} payde. Neuertheles the sayd Syr
Robert Clere ys vtterlye w_i_t_h_out Remedye by course of the co_m_mon
lawe[756] to defende the execucyon of the sayd wrytt_es_ of extent so
that the sayd cccc^{li} shalbe recou_er_yd of hys land_es_ and bodye
onles yt may please yo_ur_ good lordeshyp to moue my lorde hys grace in
Conscyens to graunt a wryt of Iniu_n_ctyon[757] to be dyrectyd ‹to› the
sayd lady Elyzabeth Feneux Commandyng her by the same no ferther to
prosecute thexecuc_io_n of the sayd wrytt_es_ of extent vppon the sayd
statute of cccc^{li}. And alsoo ayenst the sayd S_ir_ Roberte as my
sayde lord_es_ grace may gyue co_m_maundement[758] that no wrytt_es_ of
liberata goo out of the sayd courte of Chauncerye vntyll suche tyme ‹as›
the hole matyer tochyng the p_re_mysses may dulye and accordyng to
conscyence be harde and examyned And yo_ur_ lordshype thus doing shall
do the thing in my poore opynyon which shall ‹stand› w_i_t_h_ reason and
good Conscyens as knowyth the holye Trynyte whom I most hertelye beseche
to p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordshyp in long lyffe good helth and moche
hono_ur_
6. CROMWELL TO WOLSEY.
R.O. Cal. iv. 4135. April 2, 1528.
Reports his proceedings in connexion with the monastery of
Wallingford. Description of the progress of the Cardinal’s
colleges. Desires the benefice of St. Florence for Mr.
Birton.
Please it your grace to be aduertised how that I according to your most
gracyous co_m_maundement haue repayred vnto the late monasterye of
Wallingforde Where I founde aswell all the ornamentt_es_ of the churche
as all other ymplementt_es_ of houseolde clerely conueyed awaye and
nothing remayning. Sauyng only the euydences Which I sorted and conueyed
vnto yo_ur_ colledge at Oxforde And the same delyvered vnto yo_ur_ Dean
there. And afterward_es_ Mr. Croke and I surueyed amended and refourmed
aswell the l_ette_res patent_es_ graunted by the king his highnes vnto
yo_ur_ grace as also yo_ur_ gyftes and g_ra_untt_es_ made vnto yo_ur_
said colledge in suche wise I trust that no defaulte or omyssyon at this
tyme is lefte vnrefourmed.
I haue also founde offyces aswell of the saide late monasterye of
Wallingforde and of all the lond_es_ and tenementt_es_ belonging to the
same w_i_t_h_in the Counties of Oxforde and Berk as also of suche
omyssions as were omytted within the saide counties belonging to
Frediswid_es_ and Lytlemore. And now I do repayre into the Counties of
Buck and Bedforde for offyces to be founde there aswell of suche
lond_es_ as apperteyne to the saide late monasterye of Wallingforde as
also to the late monasterye of Praye besid_es_ saincte Albons.
The buyldinges of yo_ur_ noble colledge most prosperouslye and
magnyfycently dothe arryse in suche wise that to euery mannes iudgement
the lyke thereof was neu_er_ sene ne ymagened hauing consideracyon to
the largeness beautee sumptuous Curyous and most substauncyall buylding
of the same.
Your chapell w_i_t_h_in the saide colledge most deuoutely and vertuously
ordered And the mynistres w_i_t_h_in the same not onely dyligent in the
s_er_uyce of god but also the seruice daylie doon w_i_t_h_in the same so
deuoute solempne and full of Armonye that in myne opynyon it hathe fewe
peres.
There is a benefyce voyde w_i_t_h_in the dyoces of saincte dauyes in
Wales which is of yo_ur_ gracyous gyfte by meane of the chauncelorship
of Englonde. Yf it may please your grace to gyue the same to Mr. Byrton
he shoulde be the more able to do your grace seruyce. The name of the
saide benefyce is called sayncte Florence. I assure yo_ur_ grace the
saide Mr. Byrton is a right honest man And by somme reporte right well
lerned and shall do yo_ur_ grace good seruyce.
My besyness accomplisshed I shall according to my duetie repayre vnto
yo_ur_ grace. Most humblye beseching the holie trynytee contynuallye to
preserue the prosperous astate of the same in long lif and good helth.
At Oxforde the Seconde day of Aprell.
Your most humble s_erua_unt
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my l...
_Endd._ M^r Cromewel ii^{da} Ap_ri_lis 1528
7. CROMWELL TO THOMAS ARONDELL.
R.O. Cal. iv. 4441. June 30 ‹1528›.
Requests him to send information concerning Wolsey’s wishes
about various matters in connexion with the Colleges at
Ipswich and Oxford.
Right woorshipfull sir in my right hartie maner I commende me vnto youe,
Aduertising the same, that I have receyued my lorde his gracious
l_ette_res, wherin his grace commaundethe to be diligent in
thexpedic_io_n of suche busynes as Do concerne the perfeccion of his
colledge in Gypswiche, whiche I do intende (god willing) to put in
execucion withe all spede, howbeit certeyne thing_es_ arn first to be
knowen of my saide lorde his gracious pleasure, or euer the same can be
perfected accordingly. Wherof one is, that it may please his grace to
name the p_er_son that shalbe his Dean of his saide Colledge, And also
to send to me ayen the Bille assigned of the licence graunted to his
grace by the kyng his highnes to erect the saide colledge in Gipswiche,
so that the signet and pryuye Seale may be made out vpon the same, And
that we maye examyn the boke of erection which nowe must passe by my
lorde his grace with the same bille signed in euery poynt. His gracious
pleasure must also be knowen whether that (the Dean of his saide
saide[759] colledge being Decessed, or by any other mean Depryued or
amoued from the saide Deanrie) his grace then wille that thellection of
a new Dean shalbe emong_es_ them of the colledge or whether his grace
will remytt the same to be ordred by his Statutt_es_ by hym to be made
accordingly. It maye please youe also to moue his grace whether he wille
absolutelie haue a guyfte made to his colledge in Oxforde of the late
Monasterie of Wallyngforde the p_ar_sonage of Rudbye, and suche other
lond_es_ as his grace hathe purchased of s_ir_ Antonye and s_ir_ Roberte
Ughtred in the Counties of Yorke and Lyncoln, or that he will haue the
same Mon_asto_ri and other the premisses geuyn vpon condicion to his
saide Colledge in Oxforde, to thyntent that they shall make a lyke
guyfte of the lond_es_ apperteynyng to the late Mon_astor_is of Snape,
Dodneshe, Wyk_e_ and Horkisley to his saide colledge in Gipswiche,
whiche condicion in myn opynyon shulde well serue for all casualties,
and compelle them of the colledge in Oxforde to make a guyfte of the
same accordingly. One speciall thing ther is that ye must moue his grace
in which is, that he maye not in any wise p_ro_cede to therrection of
his saide colledge in Gipswiche, before the xxj. daye of Julye next
comyng, for asmuche as thoffices in the Chauncerie shall not expire,
vnto the full accomplishment of iij Monethes vntill the saide xxj Daye,
nor his grace cannot haue the Syte and circuyte of the late Mon_asto_ri
of Saynct Peter suppressed, vpon the whiche the saide colledge muste be
erected by thordres of the lawe of thie londe before the saide xxi Daye.
His gracious pleasure knowen in the premisses I trust by thassistence of
my lorde chief Baron vnto whome I wille resorte from tyme to tyme for
his good counsaile to perfo_ur_me fulfille and accomplisshe euery thing
according to his said gracious pleasure, in suche wise that he shall
therwithe be right well contented. Hartely Desiring youe to moue his
grace for the signature of the l_ette_re for the poore man of Arragosco
who lyeth here to his great and importunate cost_es_ and charg_es_ in
maner to his vtter vndoyng, And also for the signature of one other
l_ette_re in Frenche Directed to the gouernours of the Towne of Depe for
the Delyuerie of certeyn Englisshe mennys good_es_ beyng marchauntt_es_
of London of late taken vpon the See by men of warr of the saide toune
of Diepe. It maye also please youe to shew my lorde his grace this
l_ette_re and that I maye haue answer of his gracious pleasure withe all
spede, whiche shalbe a great furtheraunce to his busynes. The mynute of
his erexion is all redye Drawen and shalbe p_er_fected vpon his answer
And thus o_ur_ lorde preserue youe At London the xxx Daye of June.
At your co_m_maundement
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right woorshipfull maister Thomas Arondell be this youen.
_Endd._ From Mr. Cromwell the xxx day of Junii about the p_er_fectinge
of the Cardynalls ij Colleg_es_ of Oxford and Ipswich.
8. CROMWELL TO WOLSEY.
R.O. Cal. iv. 4697. ‹Sept. 3, 1528.›
Details concerning the colleges at Oxford and Ipswich, and
the revenues from the lands and monasteries appropriated for
their use.
Please it your grace to haue in remembraunce yo_ur_ Fynours of Duresme
whose contynuaunce here is not onely to their greate cost and losse of
tyme but also to the greate hinderaunce of your werk_es_ ther, and also
they be veray poore, your gracious pleasure therfore wold be knowen
whether they shall resorte to yo_ur_ presence, or howe otherwise yo_ur_
grace will they shalbe ordred
I haue according to your moste gracious co_m_maundement sent herein
inclosed the clere yerely valeurs of all suche lond_es_ as ye haue
purchased in the Counties of Yorke and Buckingham, and also the clere
yerely value of the late monasterie of Wallingforde
If it may stonde with yo_ur_ pleasure to appoynte in whose name yo_ur_
grace intendithe to dedicate your colledge in Gipswiche, and by what
name the maister and fellowes shalbe called, the lycence of erexion, the
l_ette_res patentt_es_, pryuate Seales and other thing_es_ necessarie
for the same myght be put in a redynes so that no tyme shulde be loste
I haue caused suche bill_es_ as be allredie signed to passe the pryuy
signet and pryuate Seale, and shall nowe put to wryting the l_ette_res
patentt_es_ for the brode Seale, so that after the iii monethes expired
yo_ur_ grace may geue the lond_es_ conteyned within the same according
to youre moste gracious pleasure. It shalbe well done that yo_ur_ grace
haue in remembraunce thapp_ro_p_ri_a_ci_on of the benefices to your
colledge in Oxford, and that an ende maye be takyn withe all ordynaries
which I thinke is not yet done
I haue spoken with maister Babington nowe lorde of Kylmayne for the
exchaunge to be made bitwene yo_ur_ colledge in Oxforde and his religion
for Saundforde, It may therfore please your grace that yo_ur_ pleasure
may be knowen whether this vacacion yo_ur_ counsaile shall farther
co_m_mune withe hym and other whiche haue auctoritie in that behalf, or
not, whiche in myn opynyon shulde be well done, and will sett yo_ur_
purpose in a great forwardnes
It may also please yo_ur_ grace that these instruccions herein inclosed
may be sent to maister Holgill for thordering of hymself in taking
possession lyueraye and season at Rudby, whiche Instruccions were
deuysed by the Judges, and it shalbe necessarie that he haue them withe
spede.
Yo_ur_ gracious pleasure knowen touching the pr_e_miss_es_ I shall most
humblie indeuoir myself according to my duetie to accomplisshe yo_ur_
most gracious co_m_maundement, As knowithe the holly trynytie vnto whome
I shall daily during my lyfe praye for the p_ro_sperous conseruacion of
yo_ur_ good grace
Your most humble s_er_v_au_nt
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my lorde his grace.
_Endd._ From Mr Cromwell touching rudby
Instruccions for Maister Willyam Holgill for posses_si_on
lyueraye and season to be taken in the p_ar_sonage of Rudby
in Clevelonde
First to cause my lorde Conyers to serche his euydence towching
thaduowson of the patronage of Rudby, and to se whether it be aduowson
appendaunte, that is to saye, apperteyning to a manor or to an Acre of
londe, or that it be aduowson in grosse, that is to saye, aduowsonage
onely appending to no manor ne yet to none Acre of londe, And to receyue
the saide Euydence of the saide lorde Conyers concernyng the said
aduowson
Itm to knowe whether the saide aduowson be intailed, and whether it be
intailed to theires males, or to theires generall, and to receyue the
dead_es_ of Intaile, or Fynes if any suche be, of the saide lorde
Conyers
Itm that thattourneis named in the deade of Feoffement made to the saide
Willyam Holgill and other, do enter into thacre of londe named in the
saide deade of Feoffement, and delyuer season by a turfe, to the saide
maister Holgill, and also to delyuer possession and season by the ryng
of the churche dore
Itm after possession, lyueraye and season taken in the saide Acre of
londe, and by the ryng of the churche doore as is aforsaide, that then
the saide Attourneis do enter into the saide p_ar_sonage and also to
delyuer possession lyueraye, and season in the p_ar_sonage vnto the
saide maister Holgill, and that the deade of Feoffement be redd in all
thre_e_[760] places, and to take at the leste xxx or xl witnesses,
calling therto asmany yonge children as ye may
9. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
R.O. Cal. iv. 5186. Jan. 18 ‹1529›.
Has been unable to repair to the Cardinal, on account of the
press of work in connexion with his colleges. Description of
the damage done by the overflowing of the Thames.
Worshipfull S_ir_, after most hartie comendacyons it may please you to
aduertise my lorde his grace that the cause Why I do not repayre thither
at this present ys for that I haue certen bok_es_ to be don and
accomplisshed concerning his colledge in Gipswich That is to say a deade
of gyfte from his grace to his saide colledge of the late monasteryes of
Felixstowe Rumburgh and Bromehill The King his l_ette_res patent_es_ of
assent to the Suppression of the same late monasteryes, The King his
l_ette_res patent_es_ of assent to the pope his bull of exempcyon of the
saide colledge The King his l_ette_res patent_es_ of lycence for
thimpropryac_i_on of the benefyces belongyng to the saide late
monasteryes A deade of gyft from the Duke of Norff. to my lord his grace
of the saide late monasterye of Felixstowe A relesse from the prior and
conuent of Rochester of all theyr right tytle and patronage of in or to
the same late pryory of Felixstowe A relesse from the abbot and conuent
of Saynct Maryes in Yorke of all their right and tytle in or to the late
pryory of Rumburgh A relesse from my lorde of Oxforde of all his right
and tytle in the late pryory of Bromehill And a relesse from the Frenssh
quene and the duke of Suffolk of all theyr right and tytle in the
manours of Sayes courte and Byckeling and in the late pryorye of Snape.
All which bok_es_ be not yet in a redynes ne parfyted vnto my mynde
Intending assone as the same shalbe fynysshed and made parfyte, whiche I
trust shalbe to morow at nyght or wenesday by none at the Ferthest to
repayre vnto my lorde his grace, vppon his gracyous pleasure knowen for
thinsealing of the same accordingly. It may also please you to aduertise
my lorde his grace that Sythen his repayree to Rychmond I have ben at
Lyesnes Where I saw one of the most pyteous and greuous sight_es_ that
ev_er_ I saw which to me before the Sight of the same was incredyble
concernyng the breche out of the Thamyse into the marsshes of Lyesnes
which be all ouerflowen and drowned And that at the last chaunge the
tyde was so high that there happened a new breche which hathe fordon_e_
asmoche worke there as will cost ccc^{li} the new making of the same In
so moche that if my being there had not ben to haue incouraged the
workemen and labourers I assure you all the labo_ur_ and money that
hathe ben ther spent heretofore had ben clerely lost and cast away. And
the workemen and labourers wolde haue departed and left all at chaunce
whiche shoulde haue ben the gretest yuell that eu_er_ happened to the
countrey ther. Nev_er_theles I w_i_t_h_ thaduyse of suche wyse men as
ben in the countrey there haue set suche dyrectyon in the same that I
trust all shalbe well and the work_es_ there ended w_i_t_h_ good spede
god willing. For the furnyture and accomplisshment whereof there is a
new assesse made and my lorde his colledge for theyr parte ben assessed
at ccxx li which money of necessyte must be had out of hande Prayeng you
so to solycyte my lord_es_ grace that the same money may be had
incontynent Assuring you that his grace shall do as merytoryous a deade
in the delyu_er_ing of the saide money for his colledge at this tyme as
though he gaue so moche money for godd_es_ sake Considering the grete
hurte myschief losses and inconuenyenc_es_ that is lyke to insue to the
countrey there and to the King his streme and also the hurte that may
insue to his colledge in the losse of suche grounde and land as they
haue there Whereunto for the quantytee thereof ys none lyke to the same
in that countrey ne few in any other countrey. Yf the saide breche be
not shortly amended and spedely prouyded for I assure you suche
inconuenyenc_es_ may insue that yt were to grete pytee. And to thintent
that ye may be the more assured of the trewth in the pr_e_mysses I haue
sent you a l_ette_re here inclosed which I receyued from one of the
maisters of the said work_es_ ymedyatly after the wrytyng of this
l_ett_re Intending to repayre vnto Lyesnes, w_i_t_h_ all spede for the
redresse and fortheraunce of the p_re_misses asmoche as in me shalbe
possible. Hertely beseching you to procure that I may haue answer of my
lord_es_ pleasure in eu_er_y thing concerning the content_es_ forsaid by
this berer my seru_au_nte. And thus o_ur_ lorde p_re_serue yo_ur_ long
lyf At London the xviii day of Januarye.
Yours most bounden
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right wo_r_shipfull Maister docto_ur_ Gardyner be this
yeuen w_i_t_h_ spede.
_Endd._ Letters from M. Cru_m_wel of the xviij daie of Januarij
10. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. iv. 5757 (ii). July ‹1529›.
Has written in favour of the chaplain. Requests the
recipient to desire his wife to take the daughter of
Cromwell’s sister, and bring her up. Promises to recompense
him and his wife.
... C ... ert as hertelye as I can I co_m_mende me vnto you and
m_er_vayle gretlye that ye haue made no better spede for yo_ur_ chaplayn
In whos Fauours I haue wryten vnto Mr. Chaunceler of Wynchester trustyng
that he wylbe good maister vnto hym For my sake I wooldbe veray lothe
that ye sholde mysse yo_ur_ purpose Syr I praye you be so good vnto me
as to lett me send my systers daughter vnto the Jentylwoman yo_ur_ wyff
and that ye wyll on my behalf desyre her to take her and to bryng her
vpp for the which her goodnes yf she wylbe content so to doo I shold
rekyn my self moste bounden both to you and her_e_ and besyd_es_ the
payment For her borde I wyll so content your wyff_e_ as I trust she
shalbe woll pleasyd that I may know yo_ur_ answer herin I hertelye praye
yow and thus hartelye Fare ye well.
At london the ---- daye of July.
11. CROMWELL TO MR. CLAYBROOK.
R.O. Cal. iv. 5812. ‹July, 1529.›
Desires him to seek out all registers, and the bulls of the
Cardinal’s legation, so that the same may be shown to the
King’s attorney.
Maister Cleybroke this to adu_er_tise yow as ever ye inte_n_d to doo my
lord pleasure or s_er_uyce that ye w_i_t_h_ all dylygens seke owt the
register of Maister Tonneys and also all other registers w_i_t_h_ also
the bullys of my lord_es_ legacye to thentent the same may be shewyd
this nyght to the Kyng_es_ attorney for suche Causes as I declaryd vnto
yow at my last spekyng w_i_t_h_ yow of answer by thys berer I praye yow
that I may haue knowlege and fare ye woll.
Yo_ur_ Frend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
12. CROMWELL TO WILLIAM BRABAZON.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6099. Dec. 19 ‹1529›.
Desires him to ride with Mr. Copeland to the north, and
assist him with advice in his affairs there.
Willyam Brabazon I comende me vnto you And wolde if ye be at conuenyent
leysour that ye do Ryde w_i_t_h_ Maister Cowplonde this berer into the
North part_es_ and to assiste him w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ counsaill in suche
matiers as he hathe there to do according to suche instruxions as I haue
drawen and delyuered to the same Mr. Cowplande Not doubting but he will
consider your paynes accordinglye And thus fare ye well. At London the
xix^{th} day of December.
Your louyng maister
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
13. SUMMARIES OF CROMWELL’S LETTERS.
MSS. Jesus Coll. in Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. c. 74, pp. 262 ff.; Cal. iv. 6076.
‹1530.›
Various items concerning the relations of Cromwell and
Wolsey after the latter fell into disgrace. Cf. Letters 18,
19.
‘Crumwell to the Cardinal, July 12, ‹1530›.
‘As touching the p_ro_cesse ag_ains_t yo_ur_ Grace out of the Exchequer
and all other matters and suites brought ag_ains_t yow I haue pleaded
yo_ur_ pardon, w_hi_ch is allowed in all _th_e King’s Court_es_ and by
the same yo_ur_ Grace discharged of all man_n_er Causes at the K^s
suite.
Cromwell tells the Card^l this solliciting his Cause hath bin very
chargeable to him and he can_n_ot susteine it any Longer without oth_er_
Respect then he hath had hertofore. I am 1000 l. worse than I was when
yo_ur_ troubles began.
As touching yo_ur_ Colleges, the King is determined to dissolve them,
and that new offices shall be found of all _th_e Lands belonging to them
newly to intitle his Highnes w_hi_ch be allready drawn_e_ for this
purpose. But wheth_er_ his Highnes, after the dissolution of them meane
to revive _th_em againe and founde the_m_ in his owne name, I know not.
Wher_e_fore I entreat your Grace to be content, and let yo_ur_ Prince
execute his pleasure.’
‘Cromwell to the Cardinal, May 17, 1530.
‘That the King hath received his Lett_er_s and is very sorry _th_at he
is in such necessity, yet that for Releefe his Ma^{ty} hath differed it
till he speak w_i_th his Counsail. The D. of Norfolk p_ro_miseth you his
best ayd but he willeth you for the present to be content and not much
to molest the King (concerning payment of yo_ur_ Debts etc) for, as he
supposeth, the time is not meet for it. His Grace (i.e. _th_e King)
shewed me how it is come to his knowlege that yo_ur_ Grace should haue
cert_e_in words of him and other Noblemen vnto my L^d of Norfolk since
the time of yo_ur_ adversityes w_hi_ch words should sound to make
sedition betwixt him and my Lord of Norfolk.
Mr. Page received yo_ur_ Lett_er_s directed vnto my Lady Anne, and
delivered _th_e same. there is yet no answer. she gaue kind words, but
will not p_ro_mise to speake to the K. for you.
Certein Doctors of both the Vniversityes are here for the suppression of
the Lutheran opinions. The Kings H^{nes} hath caused the sayd doctors at
divers times to assemble, and hath com_m_oned w_i_th them. The fame is
that Luther is dep_ar_ted this Life. I would he had never bin borne.’
‘Cromwel writes to Card^l Wolsey, August, ‹1530›.
‘Intreating him to haue patience etc. that there shall be some offices
sent into York and Nottinghamsh. to be found of yo_ur_ Lands, belonging
to yo_ur_ ArchB_isho_prick. This will be very displeasant to you, but it
is best to suffer it. for if they should not be found you could not
howld yo_ur_ B_isho_prick quiet, notw_i_thstanding yo_ur_ p_ar_don: for
yo_ur_ Restitution made by yo_ur_ Pardon is cleerly Voyd, for that the
King did restitute yo_ur_ Grace before He was intitled by matter of
Record. When these offices shall be found, yo_ur_ p_ar_don shall be good
and stand in parfait effect.
He tells him that his modest behavio_ur_ and humility hath gayned him
the Love and good report of the Country where he now Lives and allso in
the Court, yet his Enemyes depraue all. S_ir_, some there be that do
allege that yo_ur_ Grace doth keep too great a Howse and family and that
you are continually a-Building--for the Love of God ther_e_fore haue a
respect and refraine etc.’
‘Crumwell writes to _th_e Cardinal, Octob‹er, 1530›.
‘I am informed yo_ur_ Grace hath in me some diffidence as if I did
dissemble w_i_th you or p_ro_cure anything contrary to yo_ur_ p_ro_fit
and hono_ur_ I much muse that yo_ur_ Grace should so think or report it
secretly considering the paines I haue taken etc. Wherfor I beseech you
to speak w_i_thout faining if you haue such conceit, that I may cleere
myself. I reckoned that yo_ur_ Grace would haue written plainly vnto me
of such thing, rather than secretly to haue misreported me etc. But I
shall beare yo_ur_ Grace no Lesse good will etc. Let God judge between
Vs. Trewly yo_ur_ Grace in some things overshooteth your self; there is
reg[ard] to be given what things ye vtter and to whom etc.’
‘I find by these Lett_re_s that Cramwel kept certein scholers in
Cambrige, for he entreats _th_e Card^{l}. to p_re_ferre the_m_ to
Benefices w_hi_ch should fall in his ArchB_isho_prick.’[761]
14. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹WOLSEY›.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6368. May 5 ‹1530›.
Information concerning the progress of the Cardinal’s
affairs at Court. Advises him to comply with the King’s
requests.
After my right hartie Co_m_mendac_i_ons to yo_ur_ grace according to
yo_ur_ desire specified in yo_ur_ L_ette_res of answer to the request
made vnto youe by the King_es_ maiestie for the Treasourership of York I
haue so solicited the matier bothe to his hieghnes and to docto_ur_
Leighton that bothe be content that your gift shall stande so as yo_ur_
grace do accomplishe the teno_ur_ of his hieghnes L_ette_res nowe
eftsones directed vnto youe, whiche myn advise and counsail is that youe
shall in any wise ensue, and that yo_ur_ chauncelo_ur_ shall do the
semblable in another request made by his Maiestie vnto him w_i_t_h_out
staye tract or further stycking. And in any thing ell_es_ wherin I maye
do vnto your grace stede or pleasure I shalbe as glad to doo thoffice of
a frend_e_ as you shalbe to require the same of me. Thus moost hartely
Fare youe well. From St. James besid_es_ Westm_inster_ the v^{th} of
Maye.
15. CROMWELL TO WOLSEY.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6431. June 3 ‹1530›.
Promises to send a full answer to his letters by Ralph
Sadler. Recommends the bearer.
Please it your grace to be aduertised that I haue receyued your
l_ette_res by Thomas Rawlyns and haue perceyued the content_es_ thereof
and will make answer to the same p_ar_ticulerly by my seru_a_unt Rafe
Sadleyr, who o_ur_ lorde willing shalbe w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ grace w_i_t_h_
all spede. Your grace I assure you is moche bounde to the gentilman this
berer for his good reporte in eu_e_ry place who I assure yo_u_r grace
hathe not lefte in eu_e_ry presence to say of you as by lykelohod ye
haue gyuen him cause. I assure yo_ur_ grace he and such other haue don
yo_ur_ grace moche good, it shalbe in myn opynion therefore right well
don to give him thank_es_ accordingly, for by my faith he is right
worthye. And thus the holie trynitee preserue your grace in long lyf
good helth and moche hono_ur_. At london the iii^{rd} daye of June.
Your most humble s_er_u_au_nt
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ my lorde Cardinall‹s› grace.
16. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹WOLSEY›.
B.M. Cott. App. L. 7; Cal. iv. 6482. June 30 ‹1530›.
Fragment of a letter, in answer to several minor requests of
the Cardinal. Various details.
... as to send yo_ur_ grace any quayles it ys not possybyll For ther ys
non that will Carye them as For Sedes I wyll Send yow by the next
maister Stubbis Sayth he will p_ro_uyde baudekyn for yo_ur_ grace I am
sorye for hym he ys Swed in a primineri by burges which was ons ellect
p_re_sydent of Maudlen Colledge I thinke it wyll cost hym money or he
get owt,[762] my lord chaunselo_ur_ hath p_ro_mysyd that Masteres lacye
shall bere the Cost_es_ of them that shall bryng vp John lawrans and
Robert Turner. I beseche yo_ur_ grace to be so good lorde as to send me
A gelding and I trust shortlye after to se yo_ur_ grace by the assistens
of o_ur_ lorde whom I most hertelye beseche to p_re_serue yo_ur_ grace
in long lyffe good helth and moche hono_ur_ at london the last daye of
June
17. CROMWELL TO WOLSEY.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6530. July 24 ‹1530›.
In favour of his kinsman Dr. Carbot; requests Wolsey to take
him into his household and service.
After my most humble Recommenda_ci_ons w_i_t_h_ my dailie s_er_uice and
contynuall praier May it pleas yo_ur_ grace to call to yo_ur_ good and
most graceous remembraunce how that I being w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ grace in
yo_ur_ gallerie at the Chartrehouse at Shene most humblie supplied[763]
vnto the same for the acceptac_i_on of this berer Mr. doctour Carbot my
kynsman vnto yo_ur_ s_er_uice At which tyme it pleased yo_ur_ grace
beninglie to graunt me to accept hym promising both vnto him and me that
ye wolde be his good and graceous Lorde vpon the which he hath tarried
here in these p_ar_ties Contynuallye to his great cost Supposing that I
sholde haue repared w_i_t_h_ him vnto yo_ur_ grace by meane wherof he
thought the better to be esteemed But forasmoch as he now p_er_ceyueth
that for dyuers causes I maye not he hath desired me to write vnto
yo_ur_ grace in his fauo_ur_s Most humblie and effectuallye beseching
your grace to receyue him into yo_ur_ house and s_er_uice Whome I trust
yo_ur_ grace shall finde apte mete discrete dilligent and honest And
suchon that Willinglie Louinglie and obedientlie shall and wilbe gladde
to s_er_ue yo_ur_ grace in any thing that yo_ur_ pleaser shalbe to
commaunde him Trusting fermlie that bye experience ye shall right well
lyke him Eftsones most humblie and effectuallie beseching yo_ur_ grace
to be his good and graceous Lorde for my sake and at this my poure and
most humble sute and contemplac_i_on to take him w_i_t_h_owt reiection
And thus the holie trenitie p_re_s_er_ue your grace in long lyf and good
helth. At Londe‹n› the xxiiii^{th} daye of July.
Your most humble s_er_u_a_unt and bedysman
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ my lordes grace
18. ‹CROMWELL› TO WOLSEY.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6571. August 18 ‹1530›.
Information concerning the progress of the Cardinal’s
affairs at Court and elsewhere. Begs him to cease building
for a time, in order that his enemies may have no chance to
accuse him of extravagance. News from England and the
Continent. Cf. Letter 13.
Please it your grace to be adu_er_tised[764] that after the Receipt of
yo_ur_ l_ette_res dated at Southwell on saynt Laurence Day I p_er_ceyued
how that yo_ur_ grace remayned in som displeasure and anxietie of mynde
for that I by my l_ette_res had before c_er_tefied you of the fynding
certen offic_es_ concerning yo_ur_ busshopriche of Yorke The Fynding
whereof as I p_er_ceyue by yo_ur_ l_ette_res ye do suppose should be
moche to yo_ur_ dishono_ur_ & detriment For the which intent that yo_ur_
grace may put yo_ur_self in repose & quietac_i_on of mynde I haue sent
vnto you this berer who shall at length declare vnto you besid_es_ the
demonstracion of the copies of suche offic_es_ as be drawen for that
purpose that the Fynding of the said offic_es_ savyng onelie that in the
preamble of the same there is touched the conuiction of yo_ur_ grace in
the p_re_munir_e_ which all the wo_ur_ld alredie knoweth shalbe for
yo_ur_ good onelie proffit and availe And yet yo_ur_ pardon and
restitucion stand in good & p_er_fite effecte So that yo_ur_ grace shal
haue no nede nether to be in fere of losse of any your sp_irit_uall or
temporall good_es_ or to be troubeled for the same ne also to be put to
any new Sute in the obteyning of any other pardon or restitucion. And if
in case yo_ur_ said pardon and restitucion were in any parte
insufficient I assure yo_ur_ grace I know that the king_es_ highnes wold
it should be made as good as by any counsaill it could be Devised And
doubt ye not but his highnes is yo_ur_ gracyous and benigne Sou_er_eigne
lorde and wold in no wise that ye should be greued molested or
troubeled. Wherfore it may please yo_ur_ grace to quiet yourself and to
take the fynding of these offic_es_ pacientlie and vppon the reto_ur_ne
of the same there shalbe such orders taken that yo_ur_ grace shall not
be interrupted in the receyuing of yo_ur_ reuenues ne otherwise be
molested in any man_er_ case for any new sute As touching yo_ur_
colledges the offic_es_ shalbe founde houbeit the Deane and suche other
as haue sued to the king_es_ highnes haue had veray good answer wherof I
think they haue certefied yo_ur_ grace or this tyme. As touching the m^l
mark_es_ of the reuenues of Wynchester I doubt not but it shalbe
obteyned at the audite And conc_er_ning Batyrsey it may please yo_ur_
grace that such thing_es_ as ye haue sent me the copies of may be sent
hither vnder seale for they woll trust no scrowes and also that Serche
may be made for Busshop Bothes will concerning the same. Strangwissh
continually cryeth and maketh exclamac_i_on in the courte of you
insomoch that the lord_es_ of the counsaill haue determyned to wryte
vnto you in that behalf wold to o_ur_ lorde your grace were rid of that
man. As concerning the p_re_bends of Witwang doubt ye not but in that
all thing is and shalbe ordered to yo_ur_ good contentac_i_on. Sir I
assure yo_ur_ grace that ye be moch bounde to o_ur_ lorde god that in
suche wise hath suffered you so to behaue and order yo_ur_self in thes
p_ar_ties to atteyne the good myndes and hert_es_ of the people[765]
there the reporte whereof in the courte and ell_es_where in these
p_ar_ties is & hathe ben[766] to the aquyryng & augmentyng the good
oppynyons of many p_er_sons toward_es_ yo_ur_ grace beseching your grace
therfore to contynue[767] in the same after Suche a Sorte and Fashyon as
ye may daylye increase not onlye in the Fauours of the pepull ther but
also here and ell_es_where to the pleasure of god & the prynce And
notwithstonding yo_ur_ good vertuous and charitable demeaning and vsing
yo_ur_self[768] in thes p_ar_ties ys not by your enemies[769]
interpretyd after the best Fashyon yet always Folow and p_er_seu_er_ ye
attemperatelye in suche thing_es_ as yo_ur_ woorldlye affeccyons Sett
apart Shall serue to stand best w_i_t_h_ the pleasure of god and the
kyng S_ir_ som ther be that doth alledge in that yo_ur_ grace doth kepe
to grete a house & famylie and that ye are contynually buylding for the
loue of god therefore I eftesones as I often tymys haue done most
hertelye beseche your grace to haue respecte to eu_er_y thing and
consyderyng the tyme to refrangne your Self for a Season from all
mann_er_ byldingg_es_ more than mere necessite requireth which I assure
yo_ur_ grace[770] shall sease and putto Sylence Som p_er_sons that moche
spekyth of the same. For the gelding_es_ which yo_ur_ grace Dyd send me
I do most humblie & hertelie thank you beseching yo_ur_ grace to gyue
Further Credens to this berer, who shall declare vnto your grace other
thing_es_ not wryttyn[771] I do Relys your grace right happye that ye
be now at libertye to s_er_ue god and to lern to experyment how ye shall
banyshe and exyle the vayn desyrys of this vnstabyll warld, which
vndowtydlye dothe nothing ell_es_ but allure eu_er_y person therin And
specyally such as o_ur_ lorde hath most endewyd w_i_t_h_ his gyft_es_ to
desyre[772] the affeccyons of theyr mynd to be satysfyed In Finding and
Sekyng wherof most p_er_sons besyd the gret trauayll_es_ and afflyccyons
that men Suffer daylye bene dryuyn to extreme Repentance and Serching
for plesure and Felycyte Fynd nothing but So trowbyll Sorow anxyete and
adu_er_syte Wherfor in myn oppynyon your grace being as ye ar I suppose
ye woolde not be as ye werre to wyn a hundreth tymys as moche as ye were
possessyd off the Busshop of Bayon_ne_ ys daylye lokyd For and my lord
of Wyltshyre ys cu_m_myn home the Saying here is that the emperoure
hathe good obbedyence of his Subiect_es_ in all thing sauyng that they
wyll not discent from the lutheran sekt it ys also sayd that empro_ur_
doth mak musters for a gret army to be p_re_paryd agenst the turke to
passe into Hungarye for the recou_er_ey of that Regyon And that the
seconde Son of the emperour ys dep_ar_tyd this p_re_se_n_t lyffe the
news here ys that the Germayns wyll medlye haue a gen_er_all Consaylle
for the reformacyon of many thing_es_ the Florentynys doth styll
contenew and defende the power of the pope and it ys Supposyd that they
shall vynce by meane that ther ys a gret pestylence Fallen amongst them
being in the Felde of the popis partye ther ys also a gret Carystye in
Italye of all mann_er_ of grayn in so moche A quarter of whet ys worth
generallye Fortye shelyngg_es_. they loke daylye for an ambassadour from
the pope who at the Ferthest wilbe here w_i_t_h_ xiij dayes the kyng_es_
highnes is this nyght at amptell and ther wyll Contenew this xiiij
dayes. it may please yo_ur_ grace to p_ar_don me that I do not repayre
vnto yow at this tyme for vndowtydlye it ys not possyble as this berer
shall Ferther Declare vnto yo_ur_ grace o_ur_ lord knowyth my wyll and
mynde. and I trust verelye that yo_ur_ grace doth p_er_ffytlye think
that I woolde be glade to see yow and vnfaynydlye I woolde haue sene
yo_ur_ grace long er this yf I hadde not bene lettyd by Importune
busynes wherfor I eftsones most humblye besech yo_ur_ grace of p_ar_don
and though I am not w_i_t_h_ yow in p_er_son yet be ye assured I am and
duryng my lyff shalbe w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ grace in hert spyryt prayer &
s_er_uyce to the vttrest of my poore and symple power as knowyth o_ur_
lorde whom I most hertelye besech to p_re_serue yo_ur_ grace in long
lyff good helth w_i_t_h_ thincreace of yo_ur_ hertys desyre. at london
the xviij^{th} daye of August. I beseche yo_ur_ grace to depeche this
berer whom I mygh‹t› evyll haue forbern at this tyme but onlye that I
p_er_sayuyd by yo_ur_ l_ette_res that ye moche desyryd to be put in
quyetacyon and that besyd myself I Coulde not send any that Coulde
certefye yo_ur_ grace of the effect_es_ of such thing_es_ as ye desyre
to be answeryd in But onlye he eftsonys beseching yo_ur_ grace spedlye
to send hym home for my busynes ys such that I cannot lake hym.
_Endd._ my lorde Cardenall.
19. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹WOLSEY›.
B.M. Cott. App. L. 81; Cal. iv. 6699. Oct. 21 ‹1530›.
Begs the Cardinal’s favour for Doctor Carbot, Nicholas
Gifford, and Cromwell’s scholars at Cambridge. News of the
Emperor’s movements. Information concerning the Praemunire.
Cf. Letter 13.
... eyen three monethis in Chaunserye, howbeit yo_ur_ grace shalbe so
prouydyd for that ye shalbe owt of all dowtt_es_ for all the kyng_es_
offycers in the meane Season. I most humblye beseche yo_ur_ grace to be
good lorde vnto my poore kynsman Docto_ur_ Karbott and let hym haue
su_m_ lytyll offyce vnder yo_ur_ grace. I dowt not thoughe he be Sumwhat
Symple in Aparence yet he shall discharge hymself yf ye put hym in trust
and A lityll auctoryte. I beseche yo_ur_ grace [a]lso to be good lorde
vnto yo_ur_ Seru_au_nt Nych_ola_s Gyfforde ... when Anything shall
happen to Fall which may do ‹him› good to Remembre hym for my sake
yo_ur_ grace shall [fin]de hym in myn oppynyon thoughe he be yong and
[some]what wylde[773], on disspossyd bothe to trewthe [hone]ste and
hardynes, and he ‹is one› that wyll loue yow [with] all his harte. yf
any thing Falle I beseche yo_ur_ grace [to re]membre my scolers in
Cambryge and bothe they [and I sha]ll pray to o_ur_ lord Jh_es_u Crist
to preserue [you] in long lyff good helth w_i_t_h_ Increase of [honour.
Th]emperour wyl be at Colayn In the Feaste of ... w_i_t_h_owt Faylle the
P_ar_lyment ys prorogyd [vntil the] vi daye of January. The prelatt_es_
shalnot appere [in the] premunire. Ther ys Another way deuysyd in [place
thereof] as yo_ur_ grace shall Ferther know. the prync_es_ of [Almayne]
Can ne wyllnot Agree to emperowr and [I bese]che the holy trynyte
preserue yo_ur_ grace ... [in] quyetnes and Contentacyon I beseche
yo_ur_ ... for this l_ette_re ... Wrytyn for lake of ... [in] hast the
xxi of octobre
20. CROMWELL TO MR. BOROUGH.
R.O. Cal. iv. 6800 (i). ‹Dec. 1530.›
Desires to know if Borough wishes to buy a friend’s horse,
which certain Frenchmen are anxious to purchase.
Mr. Borough in my most hartie wise I co_m_mende me vnto you And so yt ys
that my frende Mr. So_m_mer may at this tyme sell his horse right well
and proffutablye but forasmoche as he before this hath promised you that
ye shall refuse him before any other he hathe desyred me to know yo_ur_
mynde So that yf ye will not medell he may do his best. for there be
certeyn Frensshe men which moche desyreth to haue the saide horse
Wherefore I hartely pray you that I may know yo_ur_ mynde by this berer
in wrytyng what ye will do And this[774] hartely fare ye well At London
this p_re_sent Saterdaye.
Assurydlye your frende.
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right worshipfull Mr. Henry Borough be this yeuen.
21. ‹CROMWELL› TO STEPHEN VAUGHAN.
B.M. Galba B. x, 338; Cal. v. 248. ‹May, 1531.›
An account of the reception of William Tyndale’s book, _The
Answer_, by Henry VIII., and of his anger at the opinions it
advanced. Cromwell urges Vaughan to cease advocating
Tyndale’s cause, and to request Frith to abandon him[775].
Stephen Vaughan I co_m_mende me vnto you And haue receyued your
l_ette_res dated at Andwerpe the xviii^{th} day of Aprell w_i_t_h_ also
that parte of Tyndall_es_ boke _Sewed and_ inclosed in lether which ye
w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ l_ette_res directed to the king_es_ highnes After the
recept whereof I dyd repayre vnto the courte and there presented the
same vnto his royall maiestee who _after the recept thereof_ made me
answer for that tyme that his highnes at oportun leyso_ur_ wolde vysite
ouersee and rede the content_es_ aswell of you[r] l_ette_res as also the
saide boke And at my next repayre thither it pleased his highnes to
call for me declaring vnto me aswell the content_es_ of yo_ur_
l_ette_res as also moche of the matier conteyned in the saide boke of
Tyndall_es_. And albeit that I might well perceyue that his maiestee was
right well pleased and right acceptablie considered your diligence and
payn[es] taken in the wryting and sending of the saide boke as also in
the p_er_swading and exhorting of Tyndall to repayre int[o] this realme
_in the accomplisshement of his high pleasure and comaundement yet I
might coniecture by the ferther declaracyon of his high pleasure Which
sayed vnto me that by your wryting it manyfestlie appered how moche_
{yet his highnes nothyng lyked the sayd boke being fyllyd w_i_t_h_
Scedycyous Slaunderous lyes and Fantastycall oppynyon‹s› Shewing therin
nether lernyng nor trewthe and ferther Co_m_munyng w_i_t_h_ his grace I
mygh‹t› well coniect that he though‹t› that ye bare moche} affection
_and zele ye bere_ toward_es_ the saide Tyndall whom in his maners
_modestie and Symplycytee_ {& knowlage in woordlye thing_es_} ye
vndoubtedlie {in yo_ur_ l_ette_res} do moche _more_ allowe and
co_m_mende _then his_ {whos} work_es being so replete w_i_t_h _lyes and
most_ {_then the warke of hit Self is able to deserue_} {being replete
w_i_t_h_ so} abhomynable Sclaunders {& lyes} Imagened and {onlye} fayned
to infecte _and intoxicate_ {_as it semythe_} the peopull _may to
indyfferent Judgement declarethe him, for the which your fauours
Supposed to be born to the saide Tyndall (who assuredlie sheweth himself
in myn opynyon rather to be replete w_i_t_h _venymous envye rancour and
malice then w_i_t_h _any good lerning vertue knowlage or discression)
hathe put the kinges highnes in suspectyon of you considering_ {dothe
declare hym bothe to lake grace vertue lernyng discrecyon and all other
good qualytes [n]othing [e]ll_es_ p_re_tending in all his work_es_ but
[to] seduce [and d]yssayve} that _ye should_ {ye} in such wise {by
yo_ur_ l_ette_res} _lene vnto and fau_our _the evill doctryne of so
peruerse and malycyous a person and so moche prayse him_ {prayse
Setforth and avaunse hym} {_bothe to lake lernyng_} {to be envyous and
to lake lernyng gra[ce]} {_vertue and all good discrecyon_} _who
nothing_ {_whiche nothing ell_es} {pretendyth[776]} _goeth about or
pretendeth_ but[776] _onelie to Seduce deceyue and disquiet the people
and comenwelth of this realme Whose_ {_Repayre thether ys to be estuyd_}
_cummyng into Englonde the king_es _highnes can right well forbere and_
{and sowe sedycyon among the peopull of this realme. The king_es_
highnes therfor} hathe co_m_maunded me _exp_re_ssely to wryte vnto you_
{to adu_er_tyse you that is plesure ys} that ye should desiste and leve
any ferther to persuade or attempte _him thereunto_ {the sayd tyndalle
to Com into this realme} alledging that _his maieste so euydentlie_ {he}
p_er_ceyuing the malycyous perverse vncharytable {and Indurate} mynde
_and disposicyon of the saide Tyndall is rather veray glad that he is
out of his Realme then_,[777] {_Joyous to haue his realme destytute_}
... {of the sayd Tyndalle ys in man_er_ w_i_t_h_owt hope of
reconsylyacyon in hym and ys veray Joyous to haue his Realme destytute
of Such a person for hys highnes right prudentlye consyderyth} if he
were present by all lykelohod he wold shortelie (which god defende) do
as moche as in him were to infecte and corrup[t] the hole realme {_which
now ys so Indurate_} to the grete inquietacyon and hurte of the
co_m_menwelth of the same. Wherfore {Stephen} I hertelie pray you _that
fromhensfourth_ in all your doing_es and_ proceding_es_ and wryting to
the king_es_ highnes ye do iustely trewlie and vnfaynedlie _shew yo_ur
_self to be no Fauto_ur _vnto the saide_ {w_i_t_h_out dyssymulacyon Shew
your self his trew louyng and obedyent Subiect beryng no mann_er_
Fauo_ur_ loue or affeccyon to the sayd} Tyndale ne to his wo_ur_k_es_ in
any man_er_ of wise but _rather_ vtterlie to contempne and abhorre the
same assuring you that {in so} doing _the contrary_ ye shall not
oneli[e] cause the king_es highnes_ royall Maieste whose _highnes_
goodnes at this tyme is so benignelie and gracyouslie mynded toward_es_
you ([778]_as by your good dyligence and industrie to b_[_e_] _vsed to
serue his highnes and extewing and avoyding_ [_to_] _favour and allow
the saide Tyndale his erronyous workes and opynyons_) _ye are like
shortelie to atteyne_ ([779]_So to prouyde for you So to aduise you_ So
to Sett you forwardes as all yo_ur_ louers & frend_es_ shall haue gret
consolacyon _in you_ of the same [_b_]_oth welth honestie and promocyon
at his gracyous handes to the singuler ioy pleasure and comforte of all
yo_ur _Frend_es) and by the contrarie _to_ {doing ye shall} acquire the
indignacyon of god _and_ displeasure of yo_ur_ Sou_er_eigne lorde and by
the same _compell_ {cause} yo_ur_ good Frend_es_ which haue ben euer
glad prone and redie to _adu_au_nce_ {bryng} you _vnto the_ {into his
gracyous} favours _of yo_ur _prynce_ to lamente and sorow that their
sute in that behalf should {be frustrate and} not {to} take effecte
according to their good intent and purpose, hauing therefore firme
trust that for the {_Feare ye haue in god obedyens to yo_ur _souerayn
lord_} loue ye owe to yo_ur_ self _me_ and _other_ yo_ur_ Frend_es_ ye
_wilbe_ will beware _from hensfourth_ {and estew} to enter into any
_such_ opynyons {_or to the prayse of any such p_er_son_} whereby any
sclaunder dishonestie _or_ daungier {or Susspycyon} might insue
toward_es_ you whereof I promyse you I wold be as sorie as yo_ur good_
{natural} father.
As touching Frith mencyoned in yo_ur_ saide l_ette_res the king_es_
highnes heryng tell of his towardenes in good l_ette_res and lernyng
doth _Regrete and_ {moche} lament that he should in such wise as he doth
Set fourth Shew and applye his lerning and doctrine in the semynacyon
and sowing such euill seed_es_ of dampnable and detestable heresies
mayntening bolstring and adu_au_ncyng the venemous and pestyferous
wo_ur_kes erronyous and sedycyous opynyons of the saide Tyndale and
other Wherein his highnes _as_ {lyke} a most vertuous and benigne
pr[ince] and gou_er_no_ur_ hauing charge _commytted vnto him_ of his
people and Subiect_es_ {&} being {veraye} sorie to here tell that any of
the same should in suche wise Ronne hedling and digresse from th[e]
lawes _and p_re_cept_es {_and holsom doctryns_} of almightie god {_and
holye Fathers_} {and most holsom} _into suche dampnable_ {and most
holsom doctryne of holye Fathers into suche dampnable} heresies and
sedycyous opynyons _and_ being eu_er_ inclyned willi[ng] and gretelie
desirous to forse and prouyde for the same {& moche desyryng the
reconsylyacyon of the sayd Fryth} _and also_ fermelie trusting that _the
said Frith_ {he} be not so far as yet inrouted in the evill doctryne of
the saide Tind[all] {& oder} but that by the grace of god louyng
charitable and frend[lie] exhortac_i_ons and adu_er_tisement_es_ of good
people he may be _revoked and_ called agayne to the ryght way _wylleth_
{hath therefore} _and desireth you_ {wyllyd} {_and Co_m_maundyd_} {me to
wryte vnto yow that ye} accordyng to his trust and expectacyon {will}
w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ frendelie persuasions admonycyons and holsome
exhortac_i_ons _to_ counsaill and aduyse the said Fryth if ye may
conuenientlie speke w_i_t_h_ the same to lev[e] his wilfull opynyons and
like a good Christien to reto_ur_ne _vnto o_ur _Saueour Christe and
also_ into his natif cuntrey _So that by his proceding_es _as he
begynneth there be no m_[_ore_] [_se_]_dycyous infections and heresies
sowed amongst the kinges peopull_ {wher he assurydly shall Fynde the
kyng_es_ highnes most m_er_cyffull and benygnlye vppon his conversyon
disposyd _toward_es _hym_ to accept hym to his grace & m_er_cye}
Wherefore eftesoones I _hertelie pray you and_ {exhort you} for the loue
of god _do_ not onelie _exhorte you_ vtterlie to forsake leve and
w_i_t_h_draw yo_ur_ affectyon from the saide Tyndale and all his secte
but also as moch as ye can poletiquelie and charytablie to allure all
{the said Fryth and other} suche p_er_sons _as ben_ {being in thes
p_ar_tyes which in any wyse ye shall know or suppose to be} Fautours and
assistent_es_ to the same from all their erronyous mynd_es_ and
opynyons. In which doing ye shall not onelie highlie merite _of_ {in}
Almightie god but also deserue high thank_es_ of the king_es_ royall
maiestee who will not forgett yo_ur_ deuoyrs and labours in that behalf
So that his maiestee may {evydentlye} p_er_ceyue that ye effectuallie
{do} intende the same.
And as touching yo_ur_ diligent adu_er_tisement vnto the king_es_
highnes of the nombre of Shippes arryued w_i_t_h_ corne and grayn in
those p_ar_ties he hathe co_m_maunded me on his behalf to gyue vnto you
condigne thank_es_ for the same And being moche desirous to know and
atteyne the trewth of that matier his grace hathe co_m_maunded me to
wryte vnto you that by all good dexteritee polycie and meanes ye should
indeuoyr yo_ur_self to atteyne to the knowlege of the Maisters,
s_er_u_au_ntes owners or other that made sale of the saide grayn brought
thither to thintent that by thexamynacyon of som his highnes might haue
knowlege of the rest and that ye shall w_i_t_h_ all diligence aduertise
h[is] highnes of their names, and in likewise of such other newes
concerning themperours affayreses the discending of the turke into
Germanye the preparacyons ayenst him the gifte of money in the low
countreys to themp_er_o_ur_ the abyding of themperour in the low
p_ar_ties the agremen[t] bytwen him and the prynces of Germanye as ye
sha[ll] here by m_er_chaunt_es_ or otherwise most certeynlie to
acertey[n] his grace by yo_ur_ l_ette_res w_i_t_h_ as moch dyligence as
ye can. Prayeng you therefore substauncyallie and circumspect[lye] to
indeuo_ur_ yo_ur_self to serue the king_es_ highnes herein effectuallie
So that yo_ur_ towardenes good mynde duet[ie] of allegiaunce and seruice
toward_es_ his royall maiest[ie] may be apparaunt and notoryous vnto the
same. Which I doubt not shalbe to yo_ur_ singuler proffite and
aduauncement.
22. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. STRETE.
R.O. Cal. v. 277. ‹May, 1531.›
Encloses a commission to survey the lands of the bishopric
of Coventry and Lichfield, and to receive the rents for the
King, and orders to cease collecting rents in Chester. Cf.
Letter 43.
Mr. Strete after most hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons these shalbe to
adu_er_tise you that by the berers hereof ye shall receyue the king_es_
comission and warraunte yeuyng you auctoryte to S_ur_uey the lond_es_ of
the bisshopriche of Couentre and Lichfeld and to receyue the rent_es_
and p_ro_fites of the same to the king_es_ vse. And also ye shall
receyue his gra_ci_ous l_ette_res directed to the Eschetor of the
Countie palentyne of Chester vppon the sight whereof I doubte not but he
will not onelie Surcease to medle any Ferther w_i_t_h_ the receipt of
any rentes there but also in case he haue receyued any, will repay the
same vnto yo_ur_ hand_es_ accordinglie. Not dowbting but ye will
diligentlie effectuallie and trewly put in execuc_i_on the teano_ur_ and
effecte of yo_ur_ saide Co_m_myssion in suche wise as shalbe most for
your honestie & to the Kinges most p_ro_fite and adu_a_untage. And for
yo_ur_ paynes and diligence alredy taken and susteyned aboute his
affayres there his highnes hathe co_m_m_a_unded me to yeve vnto you his
most hertie thankes. And trustith that ye will so indeuo_ur_ yo_ur_ self
in the receipt of the said rent_es_ and reuenues as before the feaste of
the Natyuyte of Saynt John Baptist next ye will bryng or send vp the
hole half-yeres rent or the most p_ar_te of the same and that ye will
have good awayte and regarde to his hauk_es_ in the Cauke there wherein
ye shall do and admynister vnto his highnes right good and acceptable
s_er_uyce.
And as touching the Catell at the pryorie of Calliche the king_es_
grac_i_ous pleasure is that ye shall suffer the berers hereof named
Fyndern and Curson to haue the p_re_ferrement in the byeng of the same
vppon suche reasonable prises as they may conuenyently lyve on taking of
them som money in hande and such sufficient bonde and suertie for the
residue as the king may be trewly answered of the same. And so Fare ye
well &c.
Your mastership.
23. CROMWELL TO ‹GARDINER›.
B.M. Vesp. F. xiii, f. 154; Cal. v. 302. June 18 ‹1531›.
Requests him to examine and correct the enclosed ‘Mynewte’
before presenting it to the King. Excuses himself for not
coming in person.
Right honerable after due reco_m_mendac_i_ons may it please the same to
be adu_er_tysed that I haue sent herein Inclosed the Mynewte with your
Instruccions Beseching you to Survey the same and if ye shall fynde any
erroure to order and correcte hit according to your wysdo_m_me and
goodnes or eu_er_ ye shall p_re_sente the sight thereof vnto the
King_es_ highnes which ons do_n_ne and his highe pleasure knowne I shall
w_i_t_h_ dylygence cause it to be engrossed and sent I wold myself haue
co_m_myn therew_i_t_h_ if other of the King_es_ Busines had not Lettid
me, Beseching you to make myne excuse and to depeche this Berar And this
the holy trenyte p_re_serue you in Long lief & good helth w_i_t_h_
thencrease of muche hono_ur_ at London this xviij day of June.
Yours most bounden
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
24. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. v. 458 (i). Oct. 1 ‹1531›.
Requests, on the King’s behalf, the preferment of Thomas
Beryer, warden of the Grey Friars of Blois, to be warden of
the Grey Friars of Paris.
Right worshypffull after most hertye co_m_mendacyons this shalbe to
adu_er_tyse you that the king_es_ plesure ys that ye on his gracyous
behalf shall effectuallye move the Frenche kynge for[780] the
p_re_ff_er_ment of on Frere Thomas Beryer which ys now gardyen of the
grey Freers of Bloyse so that he at the co_n_templacyon of his highnes
may be now elect to be gardyen of the grey Freers in parys for
assurydlye his highnes desyrethe moche the adu_a_uncement of the sayd
Freer and wooll that ye in most effectuous wyse do solycyt the same vnto
‹the› Frenche king_es_[781] requyryng the same on the his[782] graces
behalf to move the gen_e_rall of the sayd relygyon now being at parys in
the effectuall prefferment of the aboue sayde Freer and that ye Fayle
not therof the kynges highnes requirythe yow. His Highnes also woll that
ye shall moue the gret maister in that behalf For I assure you his
maiestye moche tenderyth the adu_a_un_ce_ment & p_re_fferment of this
Freer and thus hertelye Fare ye well.
At london the Fyrst daye of octobre.
25. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. HERON.
R.O. Cal. v. 458 (ii). Oct. 3 ‹1531›.
Advises him to permit the bearer, Richard Johnson, to retain
the farm granted him by Heron’s parents, as Heron’s interest
in it comes from the King.
Maister Heron in my right[783] hertye wyse I co_m_mende ‹me› vnto youe
and so it is that this berer whos name is Rychard Johnson hathe
Supplyed[784] vnto the kyng_es_ highnes alledgyng that he being
possessyd of a certayn Ferme being p_ar_cell of the manno_u_r of Highe
Hall[785] of the dymyse and graunte aswell of yo_ur_ Father as also
of[786] yo_ur_ mother late disceasyd whose sowlys o_ur_ lord pardon owt
of the which as he affermyth ye wooll expel hym Syr my aduyse shalbe
that ye according to Justyce do Suffr the sayd Johnson to occupye his
Ferme, consyderyng that yo_ur_ Interest In the same C_u_mmyth of the
kyng_es_ graunt for assurydlye his grace wyll thinke straunge yf ye
sholde expell his s_er_u_au_nt hauyng a lawfful grante aswell of yo_ur_
Father as mother[787] as he affermyth. Wherffor methinkyth ye shall do
well to let hym occupye his Ferme w_i_t_h_owt yo_u_r Interrupcyon, he
paying For the same as to right appartaynyth For I woolde ye sholde not
be notyd extreme in your p_ro_ceeding_es_ and specyallye agaynst yo_ur_
Felowes the Kyng_es_ s_er_u_a_unttes and thus hertelye Fare ye well at
london the thyrde daye of Octobre
26. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. v. 458 (ii). ‹Oct. 1531.›
Advises him not to receive any of the King’s ‘courser men’
in his monastery.
My lord aftr right hertye reco_m_mendacyons this shalbe to C_er_tiffye
yow of the receipt of yo_ur_ l_ette_re and being veray Sorye of
molestacyon doo aduyse yow not to suffr anye of the kyng_es_ Courser men
to lye w_i_t_h_ yow. For yo_ur_ monasterye vndowtydlye ys moche to small
to Resayue the king_es_ Coursers.
27. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹SIR RALPH ELLERCAR›.
R.O. Cal. v. 671. ‹1531.›
Thanks him for advice concerning a bargain that Cromwell is
about to make for the manor of Belthrop in Yorkshire.
Woorshipfull S_i_r in my most hertye manner I co_m_mend me vnto yow and
In the same wise thanke yow for yo_ur_ good and kynd chere made vnto my
s_er_u_a_unt which that of late was w_i_t_h_ yow[788] my Sayd S_er_uaunt
Informyd yow how that I hadde concludyd a bargayn with John Ardren of
and For the Mano_u_r of Belthrop and ye then aduysyd my said Seru_a_unt
to Adu_er_tyse me Substancyallye to loke vppon the sayd bargayn which
aduertysment hath Sumwhat put me in dowt wherfor Syr I hertelye desyre
and also pray yow that yff ye know anye manner dowt ambygwyte or Any
acte done by the sayd John Ardren or anye other Wherby I myght Sustayn
Any manner displeasure danger or losse conc_er_nyng the sayd Manno_ur_
or the purchasing of the same that I may be certeffye‹d› by this berer
in evere poynt concernyng the same as my specyall trust is in yow and ye
so doing shall bynd me
* * * * *
_The letter ends abruptly here, the bottom of the sheet being cut off._
On the dorse is the draft of part of a letter from the King
concerning an intended invasion from Scotland by the Duke of
Albany, aided by the King of France.
28. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹GARDINER›.
R.O. Cal. v. 723. ‹Jan. 1532.›
Sends news of the first reading of the Bill of Annates in
the Lords. Has asked for money for Gardiner from the King,
who grieves at Gardiner’s absence.
My lorde after myn humble and most hertie reco_m_mendac_i_ons these
shalbe to adu_er_tise yo_ur_ lordeship how that I haue receyued your
gentill l_ette_re to me dely_ue_red by thandes of Mr. Wrythesley And
whereas I do p_er_ceyue by my kynnesman this berer that ye moche desire
to here newes from hens I assure you that here be non but such as
vndoubtedlie by a multytude of yo_ur_ Frend_es_ (which are Farre more
secret and nerer the knowlege of the same then I am) be to yo_ur_
lordeship all redie related and knowen but yet to adu_er_tise of som
parte that I know, as thys day was Redd in the higher house a bill
touching the Annates of busshopriches fo_r_ what ende or effecte it will
succede suerlie I know not. And as yesterday because I knew yo_ur_
lordeship not to be Furnisshed of all thing_es_ necessarie for yo_ur_
being there I moued the King_es_ highnes aswell for money to be defrayed
in and about_es_ the furnyture of yo_ur_ purpose and affayres as also
for yo_ur_ Reto_ur_ne hither sayeng that vppon myn owne coniecture
yo_ur_ lordeship was wery of being there whereunto his highness
answered me that you were not so wery of yo_ur_ being there but he was
as sorie Sayeng by these word_es_ exp_re_sselie. (His absence is the
lacke of my right hand for I am now so moche pestred w_i_t_h_ busynes
and haue nobodie to rydde ne depeche the same) So that yo_ur_ lordeship
may well know that yo_ur_ absence is not to you so moche paynefull and
greuous as yo_ur_ p_re_sence here should be pleasaunt and comfortable to
the King_es_ highnes and all other yo_ur_ poure Frend_es_ beseching
therefore yo_ur_ lordeship to Fynde som meanes on yo_ur_ p_ar_te as
moche as in you is that yo_ur_ Reto_ur_ne hither may be shortelie which
is long loked and wisshed for As o_ur_ lorde knoweth etc.
_Endd._ A mynute of my mr.’s le_tt_re.
29. ‹CROMWELL› TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. v. 1055. ‹May, 1532.›
Has had the news from Ratisbon translated into English. The
English ambassadors are going to meet those of the Emperor
at Dunkirk.
May hit please yo_ur_ most r_o_yall magestye to be adu_er_tysyd that of
suche news as hathe Cum from Ratyspone I haue causyd the same to be
translatyd owt of Italyon into Inglysshe and according to yo_ur_ high
co_m_mawndment to me youyn yesterdaye haue Inclosyd them in this my
l_ette_re, wherby yo_ur_ highnes shall and may woll p_er_sayue of what
Importaunce they be of. I haue also resayuyd a l_ette_re from Stephyn
Vawhan which ys of no gret weight but that he wrytythe that yo_ur_
gracyous ambasadours do now repayre to the emperours ambassadours to
Dunkyrke affermyng them to be Suffycyentlye Furnysshyd to answer all
thing_es_ layd by the co_n_trarye parte and nothing dowtyth but that
they shall haue veray gud Successe in all yo_ur_ gracyous affayres and
thys o_ur_ lord Jesu Crist preserue and continew the most Royall estate
of yo_ur_ most Ryoyall magestye in long lyffe & good helthe
30. ‹CROMWELL› TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. v. 1092. June 13 ‹1532›.
Sends the book that the Friar Carmelite brought him. Cannot
yet inform the King of the conclusion of Ap Howell’s matter.
News from Rome that the Turk is to invade Italy with a great
army.
Pleasythit yo_ur_ most Royall mageste to be adu_er_tysyd how the Freer
carmelyte browght vnto me this mornyng a boke willing me on yo_ur_
gracyous behalf w_i_t_h_ all spede to send the same vnto yo_ur_ highnes.
Which I haue done accordinglye I cannot yet certeffye yo_u_r grace
touching the Conclusyon of Jamys Gyrffyth ap Howell_es_ matyer for
asmoche as yet I haue not spokyn w_i_t_h_ mayster Thesaurer of yo_u_r
most honorable howshold who vndowtydly this daye wilbe at Westm. Strange
news haue arryuyd here aswell from Rome as Venyse of the turk_es_
Repayre vnto and toward_es_ Italye w_i_t_h_ a m_er_velous puisauntt
Armye what shalbe the Successe thereof o_ur_ lorde knoweth it ys
Suppossyd that gret afflyccyon will Insew not onelye to the pope & the
See of Rome but also to the emprour and his conffederatt_es_ wherfor it
may please the holye trynytie in whos Inffinyte goodnes power & wyll
Restyth the the[789] order and traunquylyte of all thing_es_ to bryng
peax good oppynyon and quyetacyo_n_ amongyst Cristen pryncys and eu_e_r
conserue preserue & kepe yo_ur_ highnes in long lyff good helthe
w_i_t_h_ quyetacyon of yo_ur_ most vertuous most noble and most
charytable mynde At london the xiii^{th} of June
31. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE MAYOR OF HAVERFORD WEST.
R.O. Cal. v. 1106. June 19, 1532.
Notifies him that Sir William Wolff is discharged of his
appearance before the council.
Master Maier I hartely recommende me vnto you And where for Certaine
causes ye toke bounde of Sir Will_ia_m Wolff clerke somtyme chapplaine
vnto Rice app Griff. Esquier disceased and of other suert[ies] with him
by recognisaunce that the saide S_ir_ Will_ia_m shoulde k[epe] his
personall apparaunce here in the Sterre chamber before the king_es_ most
hono_ur_able counsaiell there for certayne causes to him to be obiecte
on the king_es_ behaulf in this p_re_sent Terme as in the Condicion of
the same Recognisaunce is comprisid. I doo you to vnderstonde that the
saide S_ir_ Will_ia_m Wolff is clearly dischargyd of his saide
apparaunce byfore the saide counsaill wherefore I praie you to cause the
saide Recognisaunce withe the condicion [to be] made frustrate and Void.
And thus Jhu kepe you writen the xix^{th} daie of June at London in the
xxiiii yere of the Reigne of oure Sou_e_raien Lorde the Kinge Henry the
Eight.
_Add._ To Maister maier of Harfford Weste this be deliu_er_ed.
32. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. ROWLAND.
R.O. Cal. v. 1185 (i). July 19 ‹1532›.
The King desires him to pay the bearer £5, to the use of the
dean and canons of his college at Oxford, for the annual
portion of his parsonage of Garsington, due to the late
suppressed monastery of Wallingford.
Maister Rowland after my herty co_m_mendac_i_ons this shalbe to
adu_er_tyse you that hitt is the king_es_ grac_es_ pleissuire and
co_m_maundeme_n_t that ye shall paye i_m_mediately after the sight off
theis my letters to the hand_es_ off Maister Herry Williams beyrrer
heiroff Fyve pownd_es_ off good and lawfull money off Englonde to the
behoiffe off the deanne and Canons off his grac_es_ Colledge in oxford
now lately erected. The whiche saide su_m_me off Fyve pownd_es_ was deue
to haue byn payed by yow att the Feiste off sayntte Michell tharchangell
laste paste For thannuall porcio_n_ goyng owtt off yo_u_r p_ar_sonage
off Garsinto_n_ vnto the late suppressed priore off Wallingford. And
theis my letters shalbe vnto yow a suffici_en_t warrauntt & acquyttaunce
For the paym_en_t off the Forsaide Fyve pownd_es_. Faill you nott thys
to doo as ye tendre the king_es_ pleissuire and thus Faire ye well. In
haist From london the xix^{th} daye off July.
33. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. v. 1184. July 19 ‹1532›.
Recommends Robert Hogan, the King’s chief cook.
Right worshipfull after moost hartie Reco_m_mendacions thiese shalbe to
aduertise you that my louynge felowe and freende Robert Hogan Maister
Coke to our sou_er_aigne Lorde the King_es_ grace hathe obteyned lycence
of his grace to repaire into your p_ar_ties for suche his Affaires and
busynes as he hath there to do. Whom I hartelie desire you to
entreteigne and accepte in makinge and showinge vnto hym suche freendlie
and louynge Chere and other pleasures for my sake, as ye wolde to me, yf
I were there with you presente And in so doynge ye shall mynystre unto
me a right singler good pleasure, not to be forgoten in tyme co_m_mynge
in suche your Requestes and Affayres as ye shall haue here to do by the
grace of god who euer kepe you. Att London the xix^{th} Daie of July.
34. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. v. 1185 (ii). July 20 ‹1532›.
Requests him to grant the farm of Myxberye in Oxfordshire to
John Welsborne, one of the gentlemen of the King’s privy
chamber.
My lorde after most hertye reco_m_mendacyons this shalbe to desyre and
hertelye praye ‹you› to be so good at my poore Instaunce and request to
graunte the Ferme of Myxberye vnto my veraye Frend and Felow Mr. John
Welsborne on_e_ of the gentylmen of the Kynges preueye chaumbre in doing
wherof besyd_es_ the good wyll ye shall obteyn of hym ye shalbynde me to
‹do› yow suche poore pleasures as shall lye in my lytyll power as
knowyth o_ur_ lorde who eu_er_ p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordship wrytyn at
londen the xx^{th} daye of July
35. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE LORD ‹CHIEF JUSTICE FITZ-JAMES›.
R.O. Cal. v. 1340. Sept. 24 ‹1532›.
The King has directed his letters for the election to the
abbacy of Bruton in Somersetshire of that person whom Lord
Lisle and Fitz-James have recommended. Fitz-James may
postpone the election for the trial of the King’s title if
he sees fit.
My lorde after most hertie co_m_menda_ci_ons these shalbe to adu_er_tise
yo_ur_ lordeship how that I haue receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res and
according to the contents of the same moued the King_es_ highnes
concerning thelection of the Abbote of Bruton And like as I wrote vnto
yo_ur_ lordeship in my last l_ette_res that ye should stay the saide
election vntill the King_es_ title might be tryed So his high pleasure
is that ye shall do if ye see good matier to bere it. Neu_er_theles his
highnes at the sute of my lorde Lisle Supposing that he and you do both
sue for the adu_a_uncement of one p_er_son to be Abbot of Bruton forsaid
as my lorde playnlye affermyd to his grace hathe theruppon directed his
grac_i_ous l_ette_res for that purpose whiche notw_i_t_h_standing his
high pleasure is yf ye se cause that ye shall stay thelection vppon the
tryall of his title, as is aforsaide And in case yo_u_r lordeship will
haue that p_er_son p_ro_moted for whom he hathe written his grace is
therew_i_t_h_ right well contented So that his highnes may ‹haue› me
remembryd Sumwhat, lyke as yo_u_r lor_de_shyp wrot vnto me in yo_u_r
last whyche he onelye Remyttythe to yo_ur_ wisedom and discrecyon for
his highnes p_er_fectlye trustith that ye will substauncyallie loke
thervnto, who woold as Fayne that ye were well neyhboryd as ye woold
yo_ur_self, my lord in this and all other that shall lye in my Lytill
power I shall allway_es_ do as I haue p_ro_mysyd and thus most hertelye
Fare ye well at london the xxiiii^{th} daye off Septembre
36. ‹CROMWELL› TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. v. 1298. ‹September, 1532.›
Reports the making of patterns for the King’s collar, and
the accounts of the King’s jewels. Edmund Knightley has been
committed to the Fleet for contempt of the King and his
laws.
Please it yo_ur_ highnes to be adu_er_tised that according to yo_ur_
grac_i_ous co_m_maundement I haue caused patrons to be drawen after
yo_ur_ grac_es_ Deuyse albeit I haue wyllyd yo_ur_ goldsmyth not to
p_ro_cede to the making of any thing In p_er_ffeccyon vntill yo_ur_
grac_i_ous pleasure shalbe Ferther knowen for the which purpose both he
and I shall repayre vnto yo_ur_ highnes on Saterday night or Sondaye in
the morning and to the Intent yo_ur_ grace may determyn yo_ur_ pleasure
I haue Sent by this berer the patron of yo_ur_ Coller of balasys and
Dyamond_es_ drawn according to yo_ur_ graces fyrst deuyse touching a
certen matier in varyaunce betwixt thexecutours of Sir[790] Will_ia_m
Spencer disceasyd and[791] my ladye spencer whereas informacion was made
vnto yo_ur_ highnes that grete Spoyle of the good_es_ of the saide
_Sir_[790] Will_ia_m Spencer was made by the saide executours and how
that the executo_ur_s wold haue put owt my ladye late the wyff of the
sayd Will_ia_m from the execucyon of the testament the matier hath ben
harde here before my lorde the kep_er_ of yo_ur_ grete seale S_ir_
Willya_m_ Poulet and me[792]. And as it appereth by thexamynacion as
well of the executors as by Edmond Knyghtley and Rychard his brother the
hole spoyle and eloyning[793] of the sayd goods & plate was made onely
by the sayd Edmond Knyghtley his brother Rychard and the sayd ladye
spencer thayr suster notw_i_t_h_stand_ing_ that ther was Agrement made
betwene the executors and the ladye spencer that she sholde entyr into
bargayn w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ highnes and also into the execucyon of the
testament w_i_t_h_ them as an executrix which vndowtydly she hadde done
yf Edmond Knyghtle hadde not bene Which Edmonde Knightley hathe not
onelie trauayled asmoche as in him is to sett pyke betwene the sayd
ladye and the executors and to defeate yo_ur_ grace of yo_ur_ title to
the heire of the saide Spencer but also Justeffyed the same befor my
sayd lorde kep_er_ of _th_e gret Seale wher on the other partye it was
openlye p_ro_uyd that yo_ur_ grace hade good tytyll and all his
allegacyon vntrew yet neuertheles for the reducing of the same his
vntrew p_ur_pose to effecte and to the Intent to slaunder yo_ur_ gracys
tytill and others he hathe caused to be made certen proclamacions in
yo_ur_ Countyes of Warwyke leycest_er_ & Northampton in dyu_er_s of
yo_ur_ highnes Towns there to the high contempte of yo_ur_ grace and
yo_ur_ lawes For it hathe not ben seen nor herd that any Subiecte
w_i_t_h_in this Realme sholde presume to make p_ro_clamacion w_i_t_h_in
this yo_ur_ realme but onelie in yo_ur_ grac_es_ Name Wherefore for his
offenc_es_ and other contempt_es_ ayenst yo_ur_ highnes in that behalf
my lorde the kep_er_ of yo_ur_ grete ‹seal› takyng that matyer to be a
greuous offens ayenst yo_ur_ Crown & Imperyall magestye hathe
co_m_mytted the sayd Edmond Knyghtley to yo_ur_ pryson of the Flete
where he now remayneth vntyll yo_ur_ high plesure shalbe Ferther knowen
in that behalf. As touching the Cup of golde & Corporas Case I sent
yo_ur_ highnes woorde by Thomas Alvard the treuthe whereof this berer
Stevyn Vawhan can Informe yo_ur_ grace who hathe made p_er_fytte bokes
aswell of the sayd Cuppe & Corporas Case as also of all other yo_ur_
highnes Jewell_es_ now being in the hand_es_ of Cornelys to be orderyd
according to yo_ur_ grac_es_ plesure and thys the holye trynyte
p_re_serue yo_ur_ most royall estate of yo_ur_ most excellent magestye
37. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ABBOT OF ST. EDMUNDS BURY.
R.O. Cal. v. 1573. Nov. 24 ‹1532›.
Desires the farm of Harlowberry, in Essex, near Honysdon.
Will do all he can for the monastery.
My lorde after my hartie man_er_ I com_m_ende me vnto you. Adu_er_tising
you that for dyu_er_se considerac_i_ons I am verray desirouse To haue
some house in essex nere vnto Honysdon. And forasmoche as yo_ur_
p_ar_sonage of Harlowebery shall shortly be in yo_ur_ Handes and
Letting, By Reason that the lease whiche Malery and his Wyff hathe is
nowe all moost expired, I shall desire and instantly pray you to lett
yo_ur_ said Farme of Harlowebury vnto me by lease for terme of lx yeres
for the same stokke Rent and Ferme that haithe byn of Olde tyme
accustumyd paid and p_er_ceyuyd for the same. In doing whereof ye shall
bynde me to do you and that yo_ur_ monastary suche pleasure as may ly in
my Lytell power, in tyme to com. And what shalbe your towarde mynde
herin I pray you to Adu_er_tise me in wrytyng by this berer my
serv_a_unt. And as for the yeres that malery and his wyff haithe yitt to
com ye shall vnderstaund that I haue Agred w_i_t_h_ theym for his lease
Thus fare ye hartely well from Elth_a_m, the xxiiii day of Nouembre.
_Add._ To my Lord Thabbot of Seynt Edmound_es_ Bury geve this.
38. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND›.
R.O.; not in Cal. ‹Dec. 1532.›
Congratulates him on the success of his last raid against
the Scots, and assures him of the King’s favour. Urges him
to keep on his guard against a surprise.
After myn humble co_m_mendacions please it yo_ur_ lordeship to be
adu_er_tised that I haue receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res the content_es_
wherof I haue right well p_er_ceyued And touching yo_ur_ prosperous
fortune and victorie in yo_ur_ last rode agenst your enemyes Shewing
therby yo_ur_ valiaunt courage glad hert and mynde to serue the King_es_
highnes and annoye his enemyes, I assure yo_ur_ lordeship there is no
man lyuyng gladder to here thereof then I am yo_ur_ poure Frende,
Wisshing to god that yo_ur_ lordeship did knowe and here as I do how
louynglie and acceptablie the King_es_ highnes doth Regarde and take the
same. which vndoubtedlie wold double the hardynes and courage of any man
lyuyng to do his grace s_er_uice. And because it is to be thought that
after this rode yo_ur_ enemyes the scottes will invente & studie to be
reuenged to yo_ur_ like annoyance or more if they can, my poure aduise
shalbe that by all the wayes meanes and polycies ye can, yo_ur_
lordeship do circumspectlie and w_i_t_h_ vigilant eye make such
espialles and watches and so in most poletique and warlyke Facion will
forsee studye and p_re_pare as in no wise by yo_ur_ saide enemyes ye be
preuented But rather that yo_ur_ lordeship as ye alredy haue begon will
so contynue endeuouring yo_ur_ self to greue and annoye yo_ur_ enemyes
by doing of such valiant act_es_ and exploytt_es_ to thincrease of
yo_ur_ high merite and worthie praise So as the Fame renowne and noble
victorie which yo_ur_ lordeship hathe now won and obteyned be in no wise
hurte blemisshed or defaced by any acte or exployte to be don hereafter
for lacke of good forsight or p_re_uencyon Thus I am bolde to gyue your
lordeship my poure frendely aduise beseching the same to excuse my
boldenes and to thinke I do it onelie for that I bere unto yo_ur_
lordeship my hertie good mynde and will And no man more gladder then I
to here tell of any thing which should sounde to yo_ur_ lordeshippes
good Fame and hono_ur_, the increase and augmentacion whereof I doubt
not but yo_ur_ lordeship will contynew to p_ro_cure w_i_t_h_ no lesse
diligent propence glad hert and mynde to serue the king in his affairees
there then as ye haue begon to the vtter grief displeasure and
annoyaunce of yo_ur_ enemyes wherein I beseche o_ur_ lorde to sende you
as p_ro_sperous fortune and good successe as yo_ur_ noble and valyaunt
herte could wisshe or desire At london etc
_Endd._ mynute of a l_ette_re
39. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ABBOT OF BURY.
R.O. Cal. v. 1719. ‹1532.›
Regrets to hear that he has detained several workmen in his
district, in spite of the King’s need of them in London.
Urges him to send them up at once.
My lorde after all dew reco_m_mendacyons this shalbe to adu_er_tise
yo_ur_ lordshyp how that I and other hauyng charge aswell of the
Kyng_es_ Bulding_es_ at his Towre of london as also at Westm. haue bene
for lakke of masons Carpenters and other woorkmen compellyd to sende in
to all the plases of this Realme For p_ro_uysyon of the same by the
king_es_ co_m_myssyon and albeit that the king_es_ mesenger by the
auctoryte of his Co_m_myssyon hathe repayryd into dyuers p_ar_tyes of
Suffolke ther to execute the same and also to Burrye Saynt Edmond_es_
and therabowtt For to haue taken and prestyd masons For the
accomplyshment of the kyng_es_ sayd woork_es_ ye lytell Regarding the
kyng_es_ auctoryte and Co_m_myssyon have stayed dyuers masons and
woorkmen abowte yow wherof I do moche m_er_vayle my lorde I woolde be
loth and also veraye sorye the the[794] kyng_es_ highnes sholde be
Informyd of yo_ur_ demeanure in that behalf For I dowt not though
p_er_aduenture his highnes woolde esteme yow to be Abbot of his
Monasterye of Burye, yet he woolde not forget that he ys yo_ur_ kyng and
sou_er_ayng lorde, who p_er_case might thinke sum vnkyndenes and also
p_re_sumpcyon in yow so to handell hym or his auctoryte w_i_t_h_in his
owne Realme Wherffor my lorde I thinke it shalbe well done in aduoyding
Further busynes to sende vpp those masons and not to Contend w_i_t_h_
yo_ur_ prynce ne w_i_t_h_ his auctoryte I beseche yo_ur_ lordshyp to
p_ar_don my playne wrytyng For assurydlye I woolde be veray lothe that
the king_es_ highnes sholde haue Anye occasyon to thinke anye vnkyndnes
or disobedyence in yow and thus the holye trynyte p_re_serue yo_ur_
lordshyp in long lyffe and good helthe
40. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE BISHOP OF ELY›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 312. April 6 ‹1533›.
The King desires his presence at the next session of the
Council, if his health will permit. Recommends the bearer
Mr. Jones.
My specyall good lord after my most humble reco_m_mendacyons ‹it› may
please the same to be adu_er_tysyd how that the kyng_es_ highnes hathe
Co_m_maundyd me to gyue yow knowlage that yf ye may by any possyble
meanys yo_ur_ helth and lyffe preseruyd Repayre hether this next terme
yt sholde be moche to his gracyous contentacyon and Comfort to haue
yo_ur_ presens and Cow_n_sayle in his affayres and his grace dowtyth not
but ye wyll yf it be possyble for yow to trauayle accomplyshe all thing
that maye be to the Satysfaccyon of his pleasure. I assure yo_ur_
lordshyp his grace hathe not a Few tymes lamentyd in the presens of
yo_ur_ frend_es_ not onlye yo_ur_ absens but also yo_u_r Infyrmyte
wherfor his grace hathe bene veraye Sorye. And my lord bycause this
berer Maister Jonys dothe now repayre vnto your lordshyp for yo_u_r
Fauours and goodnes to hym so shewyd toward_es_ his p_re_fferment vnto
whom yt may please you at my poore Sute & medyacyon to be specyall good
lorde Assuryng yo_ur_ lordeship that he ys a p_er_ffect honest gentylman
and such on_e_ as ye shall neu_er_ Repent the thing that ye shall doo
For hym as knowyth the holye trynyte who euer p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordshyp
in long lyffe and good helthe At londen the vi^{th} daye of Aprell.
41. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹LORD SCROPE›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 383. April 25 ‹1533›.
The King has received his letters, and is glad that he will
let him have the manor of Pyssow in Hertfordshire. The King
will give him good lands in exchange.
My specyall goode lorde after all dew Reco_m_mendacyons this shalbe to
adu_er_tyse the same that the kyngys highnes right thankffullye dyd
accept yo_ur_ l_ette_res to hym dyrected & delyuered by mr. chasye and
his grace ys m_er_veylouslye well contentyd that yo_ur_ lordshyp wooll
let his grace haue yo_ur_ mano_ur_ & p_ar_ke of Pyssow in exchaunge.
Wherfor his Magestie hathe Co_m_maundyd me to Inserche for land_es_ for
yo_u_r Recompens which I shall doo w_i_t_h_ all conuenyent spede and as
to the rede howsys with the other thing_es_ mouyd to me by this berer
yo_ur_ s_er_u_a_unt I wyll vndowtydlye doo my best so that yo_u_r
lordeshyp by the next shalbe certeffyed of the kyng_es_ Full and
determynate pleasure in all thing_es_ as knowethe o_ur_ lorde who eu_er_
p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordshyp in long lyffe & good helthe at london the
xxv^{th} daye of Aprell.
42. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE DUKE OF SUFFOLK›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 415. April ‹1533›.
The King is pleased with his willingness to surrender his
patent of Earl Marshal, which has been granted to the Duke
of Norfolk. Suffolk is to have the Justiceship of the
Forests on this side of the Trent for life, in exchange.
Advises him to come to Court at once.
After my most humble Reco_m_mendacions it maye please yo_ur_ grace to
Vnderstande that the King_es_ highnes hath been assuredlie aduertised
howe that yo_ur_ grace is contente to surrendre yo_ur_ patente of the
office of Therle Marshall into his hand_es_ Whervpon his Magestie hath
graunted the same vnto my lorde of Norff_olk_ his grace Whose Auncestors
of longe tyme hadd thesame vntill nowe of late. And his highnes is
contente that yo_ur_ grace in the lewe and place therof shall haue his
l_ette_res patent_es_ of the Justiceshipp of his Forest_es_ on thisside
Trente for terme of yo_u_r lyfe. Assurynge yo_u_r grace his highnes doth
not onlie repute moche hono_ur_ in yo_u_r grace for that ye soo kyndlie
will dep_ar_te w_i_t_h_ the saide office of marshalshipp vnto my saide
lorde of Norff_olk_ but also his magestie supposeth and p_er_fectlie
p_er_cevith that yo_ur_ grace hath moche more estimacion and zele to
Norisshe kyndenes and love bytwene my saide lorde of Norff_olk_ and you
then ye haue to thatt or any other office whiche vndubtelie is highlie
to his gracious contentacion to see and p_er_ce_i_ue so grate and
honorhable p_er_sonages his subiect_es_ so lovynglie and Frendlie the on
to love thother. Wherfore as he that always rekonith hymselfe [bou]nden
vnto yo_u_r grace and beyng also ver[ayly] Joyouse to p_er_sayve howe
pleasauntlie the king_es_ highnes taketh in gude parte and repute yo_u_r
honorhable and moost gentill demeano_ur_s in this and all other yo_u_r
procedyng_es_ thought I coulde no lesse doo then to adu_er_tise you
therof to thintente that ye knowynge thesame myght and may determyn
yo_ur_ self therafter. And amongest other thing_es_ as I can p_er_ceyue
it shulde not be vnthankfullie taken toward_es_ the king_es_ highnes and
yo_ur_ grace yf it were yo_u_r ease and pleasure to repayre to the
Courte w_i_t_h_ Resonable spede consyderyng that shortlye my lorde of
Norfolke dep_ar_tyth toward_es_ his gret Jorney in Ambassade. Beseching
yo_ur_ grace to p_ar_don my bolde & Rude wryting whiche I am movyd vnto
For the poore good wyll I b[ear] [yo_u_r] grace as knowyth the holye
trynyte who preserue yo_ur_ grace in longue lyffe good helth w_i_t_h_
thincrease of moche hono_ur_ at London the ---- daye of Aprell.
43. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. STRETE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 645. June 14 ‹1533›.
Recommends various persons to receive the land, cattle, and
corn of the late priory of Calwich in Staffordshire. Gives
directions for the administration of Strete’s office. Cf.
Letter 22.
Maister Strete as hertelye as I Can I co_m_mend me vnto yow and wher as
by my last l_ette_res I wrott vnto yow in the Fauors of Curson and
Fyndern to be p_re_fferryd vnto the Catell and Corn of late belongyng to
the pryorye of Colwyche and Sythyn that tyme I wrotte vnto yow on the
behalf of Mr. longford for his p_re_fferment vnto the demaynes of the
sayd late pryorye so hit ys that now the sayd maister longford by his
Father in law Mr. Fyzherbert moche desyryth to haue the Tythys and also
suche Corn as at this tyme ys Sown vppon the demaynes of the sayd late
pryorye for this yere whych tythe and Corn Sown vppon the demaynes I
require yow that he may haffe at suche prysys as ye shall thinke
convenyent and in such wyse as the kyng_es_ highnes may be
Substauncyallye answeryd of the p_ro_ffytt_es_ growing of the same
w_i_t_h_out any Fauo_ur_ to be born to anye othre p_ar_tye and wher as I
wrott in myn other letter that Curson and Fyndern shold haue the
p_re_ffermentt of the Catell and Corn I dyd not wrytt for anye Corne
growing on the grownde ne yet for any tythys which in no wyse ye shall
Suffer them to haue but to order hyt as ys afforsayd most to the
kyng_es_ p_ro_ffytte & adua_u_ntage. I well p_er_sayue who grauntyth
suchemen an Inche they wyll take an ell. I am Infformyd they avaunte
them selfs to haue Co_m_myssyons and grauntt_es_ of the kyng which ys
vntrew I praye yew aduyse them to vse no suche Facyons. Syr the kyng_es_
highnes trustyth that ye w_i_t_h_ all spede will bryng up the half yeres
Ferme and Rentt_es_ of the Busshopryche which I praye yow may be here
before his gracyous dep_ar_tyng in p_ro_gresse. and as to the Chanon off
Colwyche ye may translate hym vnto Sum good howse of that relygyon being
nere vnto yow and to gyue hym sumthing after yo_ur_ discrecyo_n_ suche
as may stand w_i_t_h_ the kynges hono_ur_ and also to his honest
Contentacyon and thus trustyng in yo_ur_ approuyd wysdom and experyence
Co_m_mytt all the p_re_mysses vnto yo_ur_ discrecyon trustyng eu_er_
that ye wyll haue respect to yo_ur_ dew[tie] and charge and also that I
may haue short answer of thes and other my l_ette_res and so Fare ye
well at london the xiiii^{th} daye of June
44. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 706. June 26 ‹1533›.
Desires him to admit Bartholomew Peters as surgeon of
Calais. Will do his best to obtain Lisle’s requests for the
town.
My lorde after my right hertie reco_m_mendacions these shalbe to
adu_er_tise [y]o_ur_ lordeship that where it hathe pleased the king_es_
highnes to gyve and [g]raunte to Bartholomew Petres the rowme of Surgeon
in his grace ... w_i_t_h_in the towne of Calays, as by a bill signed for
that purpose ... ye shall receyue of the saide Bartholomew more
playnelie shall ... [a]ppere I shall therefore requyre yo_ur_ lordeship
that insuing the teano_ur_ p_ur_port and effecte of the king_es_ saide
g_ra_unte ye do see the saide Bartholomew admytted into the saide rowme
when tyme shall requyre accordingly. And concerning suche matiers as ye
latelie haue written in for the towne of Calays, I do not ne shall not
cesse to do my best to reduce and bryng the same to suche good passe and
effecte as shalbe thought most requysite and expedient. I trust to
yo_ur_ good contentacion. And so o_ur_ lorde p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordeship
in long lif and good helth w_i_t_h_ thincrease of hono_ur_. At London
the xxvi day of June
Yo_ur_ lordshyppis assuryd
THOMAS C[RUMWELL]
I wrytt to yo_ur_ lordeshyp For this berer by the King_es_ expresse
Co_m_mandmentt.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and his singuler good lorde my Lorde
Lisle deputie to the King_es_ highnes of his town and m_ar_ches of
Calays be this youen.
45. CROMWELL TO ‹THOMAS BEESTON›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 776. ‹June-July, 1533.›
Ordering him to repair to the Emperor’s Court and deliver
the King’s letters to Dr. Hawkins there, with directions to
turn them over to the Emperor. He is to return with the
Emperor’s answer.
First the king_es_ highnes pleasure is that ye hauing receyued yo_ur_
packet of l_ette_res and instructions directed vnto Mr. docto_ur_
Hawkyns, shall ymediatelie put yo_ur_self in aredynes to dep_ar_te
toward_es_ the p_ar_ties of beioynde the See, inserching by yo_ur_
polycie the nerest wayes to suche place where it shall happen the
Emperour to lye.
Itm when ye shall repayre to themp_r_o_ur_s Courte ymmediatly to
delyu_er_ the saide packet vnto the saide Mr. Hawkyns w_i_t_h_ hertie
greting_es_ and salutacions from the king_es_ highnes adu_er_tesing him
ferther that the king_es_ pleasure is that when tyme shall Requyre, he
shall not onelie intymate declare and communycate the effect_es_ of
suche l_ette_res and instructions conteyned in the saide packet,
w_i_t_h_ themp_r_o_ur_, alwayes insuing the teano_ur_ purpose and
meanyng of the same, But also after his accustomed wisedom dexterite and
good polycie shall indeuo_ur_ himself so to propone handle and set
fourth all thing_es_ as he by his good discression shall se tyme place
and occasion So as the same may take effecte according to the King_es_
high trust and expectacion in that behalf.
Itm that after declaracion of the p_re_misses and co_m_munycac_i_on had
at length w_i_t_h_ themp_er_o_ur_ in the same, the saide Mr. Haukyns
shall then if he so thinke good, devise determyn_e_ and conclude
w_i_t_h_ you for yo_ur_ depeche and reto_ur_ne hither w_i_t_h_
l_ette_res and instructions purporting suche answeres articles and
allegacions as by themp_er_o_ur_ shalbe answered leyed and obiected to
those thing_es_ which the saide Mr. Hawkyns shall intymate and declare
as is aforsaide on the kyng_es_ behalf, which being don_e_ and
accomplisshed the kyng_es_ gracious pleasure is that ye shall make all
conuenyent haste spede and diligence to repayre hither to his grace
w_i_t_h_ the same accordingly.
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Endd._ mynute.
46. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE MERCHANT TAILORS›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 698. ‹June, 1533.›
Requests them to continue and increase the annuity granted
to Nicholas Glossop, servant of the late Archbishop Warham.
Right wellbeloued Frendes I recomend me hartly vnto yowe And where I am
enfourmed that at the request of my late lorde of Caunterbury, whose
sowle god pardon, ye graunted to his seru_a_unt Nicholas Glossop, an
olde Auncient of youre Felisship of m_er_chaunt Taillours a certeyn
Annuytie of xxvi s. viii d. toward the Sustentacion of his lyvyng for
terme of his Naturall life. Wherof by his report, he hath be‹n› well
and truly Answered of a long tyme. Howe be it nowe upon the deceas of
his said maister, as it ys said, that ye entende to withdrawe From hym
youre saide Benyuolence and graunte, which shulde be to his great
Discomfort and Hyndraunce. And forasmoche as I bere good Mynde and
Favo_ur_ towardes hym And it were more charitie rather to Augemente his
lyving than to dymynysshe it or withdrawe the same, specially nowe in
his great Age, whan he hath most nede of help and Socoure. I hertly
desire yowe that for my sake ye wille not only contynue the payment of
the said Annuytie to hym for terme of his life according to yo_ur_ said
graunte, But also of youre larger Benyvolence and charitie to encreas
the same xiii s. iiii d. more by yere. Wherby in myne opynyon, ye shall
not only do the thyng whiche may be right meritorious to yowe, but also
right honorable for youre said Felisship, and to me right great
pleasure. and for the same doing He may hereafter do yowe pleasure And I
shalbe glad to doo yowe pleasure or any good that I can for yo_ur_
Felowship at alle tymes As knoweth god who p_re_serue yowe. And Further
I desire yowe of yo_ur_ good Answere in this behalf the morowe Folowing
yo_ur_ next Courte Day by yowe to be holden at yo_ur_ halle
_Endd._ A l_ett_re for Nicholas glossop.
47. CROMWELL TO MR. THOMAS ALEN.
R.O. Cal. vi. 791. July 9 ‹1533›.
For failing to pay his debts to Cromwell, and to give
sureties for the money his brother owes the King, Alen has
forfeited 1000 marks to the Crown. Requests an answer by the
bearer.
Maister Alen after right hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons these shalbe to
aduertise you that long or this tyme I loked to haue harde from you and
trusted not onelie to haue had and receyued from you now at Midsomer
last passed my Hundreth pound_es_ which of gentilnes I lent you but also
sufficient bondes and suertie for yo_ur_ brother tharchebisshop of
Duntlyn concerning the payment of vii^c[795] mark_es_ which he oweth to
the king_es_ highnes according to suche bonde as you and other w_i_t_h_
you stonde bounde in for the complement of the same. For lacke and
defaulte whereof ye haue forfaited to the king_es_ highnes the So_m_me
of one thousande mark_es_ which me thinketh ye ought substaunciallye to
loke vppon for the king is no p_er_son to be deluded nor mocked
w_i_t_h_ all. And considering that for yo_ur_ sake I so gentillie
departed w_i_t_h_ my money me semeth that reason and good honestie
requireth ye should se me payed ayen. prayeng you that I may be
adu_er_tised by this berer what ye mean and intende to do in the
premisses. And so hertelie Fare ye well. At London the ix^{th} day of
Julie.
Yo_ur_ louyng Frend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To his louyng Frende Mr. Thomas Alen be this yeuen at Raylegh.
48. CROMWELL AND AUDELEY TO HAWKINS AND
RANDALL, BAILIFFS OF WEYMOUTH.
R.O. Cal. vi. 858. July 18, 1533.
Warrant for the delivery into the nearest prison of six men
taken in the ship _Trinity_, of Hull. The goods and the ship
are to be delivered to William Gonson.
Wellbelouyd we grete you well, and Where as Will_ia_m Gonson of london
hathe shewed vnto vs an Indenture datyd the viii^{th} daye of June last,
made betwene Edward Waters and you specyfyeng the deliu_er_auns of a
Ship namyd the Trinite of Hull and lxiiii Hoggyshedes of gascon wyne
w_i_t_h_ dyu_er_s other thing_es_ therin conteynyd to yo_ur_ Handes. We
certefye yow that the Kyng his pleasure is that ye shall incontynent
deliu_er_ or cause to be deliu_er_ed all thing_es_ conteanyd in the said
Indentures to the said Will_ia_m Gonson or his assignes. and as towching
the sixe pryson_er_s taken in the said Ship and lykewyse deliu_er_yd
into your kepyng that ye deliu_er_ theim into the next pryson to you,
ther to be surely kepte till the king_es_ pleasure be to you Further
knowne wheche deliu_er_aunce of Ship and goodes & prysoners shall be
vnto you a sufficyent dyscharge at all tymes herafter Wryton at London
the xviii daye of July the xxv^{th} yere of the Reigne of our
sou_er_aigne lorde kyng Harry the viii^{th}.
THOMAS AUDELEY Kt. chauncelo_ur_
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To our Welbelouyd Will_ia_m Hawkyns and Will_ia_m Randall
Baylyff_es_ of the towne of Waymowthe.
49. CROMWELL TO SIR ANTHONY FITZHERBERT AND WALTER LUKE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 872. July 19 ‹1533›.
Requires him to delay the trial of a case which may be
prejudicial to Cromwell, as the jury has been packed, and
will be likely to give an unjust verdict.
After my right hertie co_m_mendacions Forasmoche as there is a
Nisipri_us_ passed out to be tried before you at the next assises to be
holden at Lyncoln concerning the tryall of the title of Anthony
Stydolffe who is my warde Which Nisiprius is secretlie sued out and
passed w_i_t_h_out my knowlege so as p_er_case the same may be moche
p_re_iudiciall vnto me in that thing whereunto I haue good iust and
lawfull title as ye shall apperceyue by suche deades and writing_es_ as
my Frend this berer shall shew vnto you, I therefore considering yo_ur_
worshippes and good indifferencies, trusting that ye will do me none
iniustice in this behalf Do most hertelie require and pray you to staye
the tryall of the saide Nisiprius, Vntill ye shall haue Ferther knowlege
of the matier, the rather for that I am crediblie infourmed that the
enquest is alredie so parciallie impaneled that vndoubtedlie it is
thought they will passe directlie ayenst the trowth. Eftesones therefore
most hertelie requyring you to provyde and forsee myn indempnyte in this
parte, And for the good acquytall of yo_ur_ gentilnes to be shewed vnto
me herein if there be any thing wherein my poure powers can extende to
do yow pleasure I shall not Faile godd willing to accomplisshe the same
to the vtterest of my lytill power. And so most hertelie Fare ye well.
At London the xix^{th} day of Julie.
It may please you to gyve firme credence vnto this berer in such
thing_es_ as he shall declare vnto you on my behalf
Yo_ur_ assuryd Freend
_Thomas Crumwell_.
_Add._ To the right worshipfull Mr. Anthony Fitzherberte knight one of
the king_es_ iustic_es_ of his comen benche and to Mr. Walter Luke
esquier and to either of them.
50. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. MUSTIAM.
R.O. Cal. vi. 878 (ii). July 19 ‹1533›.
Desires him to permit the bearer to enjoy a lease of the
farm of Brokesley.
Mast_er_ Mustiam I hartely co_m_mende me vnto you. And in the same wise
beseching you at this my poure contemplac_i_on and request to be good
master and Frende vnto ... berar hereof, in letting hym to opteyne, and
peacably to occupie and enyoye the hole effect of a lease of the ferme
or p_ar_sonage of Brokesley, in the p_ar_oche of Detford in the Countie
of Kent to hym demysed by one Mr. Otywell of Westm_inster_ diseased
w_i_t_h_out any yo_ur_ further let grief or disturbauns. Vntill suche
tyme as ye shall knowe further of my will and pleasure, and inso doyng
ye shall mynyster vnto me right singul_e_r pleas_ure_. And this hartely
fare ye well At London this xix day of July
51. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. MUSTIAM.
R.O. Cal. vi. 878 (ii). July 20 ‹1533›.
The bearer complains that Mustiam intends unjustly to take
the tithe corn of Brokesley from him. Advises Mustiam not to
do this.
Maist_e_r Mvstyam I hertelye co_m_mende me vnto yow adu_er_tysing the
same that the poore man berer herof hathe shewyd me that ye do Intend to
do hym wrong in takyng From hym the tythe Corn of Brokleye, other wyse
wyse[796] Called west greenwyche whervnto I thinke ye haue no tytyll nor
Interest, wherfor I shall aduyse yow to stay to doo any thing in the
same vntyll suche tyme as ye shall be hable honestlye to to[797] Clayme
therin and thus Fare ye well at london this xx^{th} daye of July
52. CROMWELL TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. vi. 887. July 23 ‹1533›.
Reports the examination of certain Friars Observants, who
have been taken by Cromwell’s spies. Two of them would
certainly confess much if examined by torture. Desires
instructions how to proceed. Has inquired of Cranmer about
the men, as the King desired.
Please it your highnes to be aduertised that vppon myn arryuayle at
London I receyued certen l_ette_res out of the North directed vnto your
grace from the lorde Dacre. Which I haue sent to yo_ur_ maiestee herein
closed w_i_t_h_ also certen l_ette_res and Newes sent vnto me from my
Lorde Deputie of Calays. And touching the Freres obseruant_e_s that were
w_i_t_h_ the prync_e_s dowagier, being subtillie conueyed from thens
were first espied at Ware by suche espialles as I leyed for that
purpose, and hauyng good awayte leyed vppon them were from thens dogged
to London, and there (notw_i_t_h_stonding many wyles and cauteles by
them invented to escape) were taken and deteyned till my cu_m_myng home.
So as vppon my arryuayle here I called them before me and vppon
examynacion of them coulde gather nothing of anye momente or grete
importaunce, but entring into ferther co_m_munycac_i_o_n_ founde the one
of them a veray sedycious person, and so co_m_mytted them vnto warde
where they now do remayne till yo_ur_ gracious pleasure knowen.
Ymmedyatelie afterward_es_ repayred vnto me the warden of the grey
Freres of Grenewich who semeth veray desirous to haue the punycyon of
the saide two Freres, being named Hugh Payne and Cornelius, and made
grete intercession vnto me to haue them delyu_er_ed vnto him, Shewing
unto me ferther that the mynyster and generall Co_m_myssarie of this
prouynce of Englonde had made out certeyne co_m_maundement_es_ vnto the
said Freers willing them by vertue of obedience to repayre vnto him to
Rychemont to thintent they wold haue the correction of them
accordinglie. Which co_m_maundement_es_ being conteyned in certen
mynut_es_ of paper I haue sent to yo_ur_ grace herein closed. It semeth
assuredlie that the saide mynyster is a right honest and discrete person
and Fayne wolde haue prevented and taken the saide Freers if he had
coulde by any meanes, Beseching yo_ur_ grace tha[t] I may knowe your
gracious pleasure Whether I shall kepe and de[t]eyne them in warde and
bring them w_i_t_h_ me at my repayree to the courte, or Whether yo_ur_
grace will haue them sent y_m_medyatelie to any other place or what
other direction to be taken therein as shall and may stonde w_i_t_h_
your high pleasure. It is vndoubted that they haue intended and wolde
confesse sum grete matier if they might be examyned as they ought to be
that is to sey by paynes, for I perceyue the saide Hugh Payne to be a
subtile Felowe and moche gyuen to sedycyon.
I haue also eftesones sent vnto my lorde of Caunterbury according to
your grac_i_ous co_m_maundement touching the dissymuled holynes and
supersticious demeanures of the Ipocryte Nunne, And haue declared yo_ur_
gracious pleasure vnto the Staple whom in man_er_ I do Fynde agreable to
all thing_es_ according to yo_ur_ grac_es_ demaunde sauyng onelie they
as yet requyre lenger dayes for the payment of the some of x m[798]
pounds by them now graunted, and also fermely requyre that yo_ur_
highnes will graunt them their house for a reasonable so_m_me of money
yerelie, which I do stycke w_i_t_h_ them in. and as to morowe they will
gyve me a resolute answer in the hole.
And thus I shall daylie pray vnto almightie god for the prosperous
conseruacion of yo_ur_ royall maiestee in long lif and good helth
felyciouslie to indure. at London the xxiii day of Julie. Yo_ur_ highnes
most humble subiectte and s_erua_unt
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the king_es_ royall maiestee.
53. ‹CROMWELL› TO AUDELEY.
R.O. Cal. vi. 894. July 26 ‹1533›.
Desires him to permit the annuity of £20 which has just been
granted to Stephen Vaughan to bear date from a year ago this
summer, as there was already £20 due to Vaughan for one
year’s service.
Right honourable syr after myn_e_ hartie commendac_i_ons. So it is that
the king_es_ hieghnes hathe lately graunted Vnto a seruant of his named
Stephen Vaughan a certeyne annuytie of xx li by yere to be paide from
the faste of the natyuytie of saynt John Baptiste now last passed Vnto
the whiche Stephen by cause there is owyng by the kyng_es_ hieghnes xx
li for one yeres seruyce ended at Mydsomer now laste paste, therefore is
it that by cause he hathe no waise to demaunde it of maister Tuke by
patent or other sufficient warrant from his hieghnes. he hathe desyred
me who vndoubtidly do know that his pleasure is that he shulde be payde
the sayde xx li. to Requyre yow that when his annuytie co_m_mythe to the
greate seale your pleasure maye be to suffer it to bere date from
Mydsomer Was a yere and that he maye by force therof be payde the yere
now passed. And doubte ye not thus to do. for the king_es_ pleasure is
he shulde be paide the xx li due for the yere passed. And I shall
alwayse warrant yow to be sufficiently discharged and to be blameles for
so doyng. The saide Stephen had obteyned the king_es_ warrant for the
same, oneles his highnes had now sent hym into Germany for thexpedicion
of certeyn his affayres there. And thus the holy trynytie p_re_serue
yo_ur_ lordeship in long lyfe goode healthe and much hono_ur_. from
London the xxvi daye of Julye.
_Add._ To the right honourable S_ir_ Thomas Audley knyght lord
chancello_ur_.
54. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ABBOT OF WOBURN.
R.O. Cal. vi. 778. ‹July, 1533.›
Requests him not to maltreat the Abbot of Vawdy in
Lincolnshire; has heard he intends to depose him. Desires
him to cause Davys Edward, the monk of Vawdy, to amend his
ways.
My lord aft_er_ my duetie reme_m_bred, soo it is that I am credibly
enformed how that ye beryng inwarde grudge & disples_ure_ to my
welbeloued Frend thAbbot of Vawdy entende studie & goo about_es_ by
sinistre meanes to depose hyme from his abbacye for the p_ro_mocion
therunto of oon of yo_ur_ awne monk_es_ being the cellerer of yo_ur_
house. My lord I pray you vse yo_ur_ selffe vnto my saide frende as
accordeth to yo_ur_ religion, For I knowe certainly that he is a good
religious man, And that his house wiche was in gret debt at the tyme of
his p_ro_mocion, is nowe by his good policie reduced to good & welthy
state and condic_i_on aswell in catoll as in corne furnisshed w_i_t_h_
other requisit_es_ & necessaries. Wherfor my lord my trust ys that ye
wol circu_m_spectly loke therupon baring yo_ur_ good & lawfull fauo_ur_
unto hyme, like as good charitie requireth. And the rather at my disire
& request ascertaynyng you that I haue at this tyme writen my semblable
l_ette_res in the fauo_ur_ of my said frend vnto thabbot of fountayns
not doubtyng but that he at my requisic_i_on wol lovingly vse and
intreate my said frend in all his busuynes. And wher as ye haue w_i_t_h_
you a monk of the said house of Vawdy oon Dauys Edward Clerke, wiche ye
knowe well haith gretely mysordred hymselff. I trust that ye woll
instructe hyme soo fruteffully that he shall not nede to be further
reconsiled to amend his lyvynge Wherby ye shall doo averay good &
charitable dede as knoeth god who kepe yow
_Add._ To thabbot of Woborn
_Endd._ a l_ette_re for the abbot of Woborne
55. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1064. Sept. 1 ‹1533›.
The King is displeased at Lisle’s desire for new
arrangements for ‘the restraynyng of Corne.’ Lisle should
not take every man’s or his own wife’s advice concerning
things pertaining to his office.
After my right harty reco_m_mendation vnto your good lordship This
shalbe to adu_er_tise the same that I have resceyved your l_ette_res
wherein ye and the Mayer of Calays do desire to have newe p_ro_visions
concernyng the restraynyng of Corne otherwise then hathe byn vsyd yn
tymes past. I ensure yo_ur_ lordship the king_es_ highnes is not a litle
displeased withe that your desire, but supposith yo_ur_ besynes to be
veray small that will in any wise ymportune his highnes withe any soche
matiers Sayeng that before this tyme the Towne and marches of Calays
hathe ben well maynteynyd and prospered w_i_t_h_out any soche newe
devises. And I assure your lordship as your frynd to my power that I
have great m_er_vayll that ye will so sone enclyne to eu_er_y man_n_ys
devise and ... specially in matiers of small ympor[t] ... ye and ...
reportyd ... nite me on ... causes as me semythe ... nothyng ... ne
gentilwymen, for although my lady be right hono_ur_able and wise yet yn
soche causes as longithe to yo_ur_ auctoritie her advise and discresion
can litle prevayle. Wherfore I pray yo_ur_ lordship to consider the
same, and to ymportune the king_es_ highnes w_i_t_h_ none other matiers
then of necessite ye ought to do. And thus the blessed Trynyte preserue
you. At london the first day of September.
Your lordshyppis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lord my lord Vicount Lisley the king_es_ deputie
at Calays be thus youen.
56. CROMWELL TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR.
Huth Library; Cal. vi. 1128. Sept. 15 ‹1533›.
Reports the arrival of Danish and Norwegian ambassadors at
the Court of the Queen Regent of the Netherlands to conclude
an alliance.
Mons_ieur_ lambassade_ur_ Le Roy mon maistre a este aduerty par son
agent estant en Flandres. Que puisnagueres les ambassadeurs de
Danemarche Norwege & Holst au nom du conseil et Royaulme de Danemarche,
sont arriuez a la court de la Royne douagiere de hung_i_erye regen_e_
deflandres auec le nombre de xxxii p_er_sonnes ou enuiron et co_m_me son
d_it_ agent peult entendre avecques plain et suffisant pouuoir et
auctorite A conclure et affermer vne bonne allyance et paix auecques
l’empere_ur_ et tous ses pais & dominions tant defensiue que offensiue,
Aussy autant qu’il peult entendre Lad_ite_ Royne & son conseil sont
determynez a traiter et conclure auecques lesdits ambassade_urs_
auecques telle condition que quiconques sera eleu Roy par dela
(l’election duquel est encore prolongee & differee po_ur_ l’espace dung
an) Il Jurera ratifiera & confermera la_di_te allyance & Traycte de
Paix. Desquelles choses le Roy mon d_it_ M_ais_tr_e_ ma co_m_mande vous
aduertir affin que en c_on_uenient diligence vous en vuelles rescripre
au Roy Tres chr_estie_n v_ost_re m_aist_r_e_ et Ladviser quil seroit bon
de penser sur cest affaire et essayer sil Luy semble expedient a
estoupper le_ur_s propoz et aultreme_n_t y po_ur_veoir ainsi quil Luy
semblera conuenable. A tant Monsie_ur_ Lambassade_ur_ apres mestre
affectueuseme_n_t Reco_m_mande a vous je prie n_ost_re seigneur quil
vous ait en sa tressaincte & digne garde. Escript a Stepney le xv jour
de Septembre
V_ost_re entier et parfaict amy
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ a mons_ieur_ Lambassade_ur_ du Roy Treschr_est_ien a Londres
_Endd._ de M^r. Craumeuelle
57. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1141. Sept. 21 ‹1533›.
Requests him to permit the executors of Robert Baynham
freely to administer his testament, notwithstanding his
former letters to the contrary.
Aftre my right harty Commendac_i_ons to your lordshipp Whereas
heretofore I addressed my l_ette_res vnto your lordshipp at the sute of
my s_er_u_a_unt Bartholomew Bayneham concernyng the steye of such
good_es_ as lately apperteyned to his Father Robert Baynam of Calaish
vntil suche tyme as ye harde Further of my mynde in that behaulf. These
shalbe most hertely to desyer and praye youe the rather at the
contemplac_i_on hereof to suffre thexecuto_ur_s of his sayd Father
Robert Baynam to execute and mynistre according to the meanyng of the
Testament and last wyll of his sayd Father in as ample wise as
heretofore they haue doon my sayd former l_ette_res notw_i_t_h_standing.
And being enformed of your goodnes and also of my lad_es_ of late shewed
vnto my sayd s_er_u_a_unt p_ar_tely as I take yt for my sake I thanke
you most hertely for the same and though my lady for her p_ar_te might
haue been better before yet I requyre you bothe for my sake ye nowe to
contynewe the goodnes which youe doo presently extende Vnto him. Wherein
ye shall admynystre Vnto me Veray acceptable pleas_ur_. And thus Fare
you hertely well From Stepney the xxi^{th} day of Septembre
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my Veray good lorde my lorde the Viconte Lisle Deputie of the
king_es_ Towne of Calaysh and Marches of the same.
58. CROMWELL TO RICHARD AND WILLIAM HAYBOURNE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1332. Oct. 24 ‹1533›.
The Lord Chancellor and Cromwell will sit on the dispute
between them and Elizabeth Colcoke the Friday after All
Hallowday.
I co_m_mend me vnto you. Adu_er_tising you that it is fully det_er_mynyd
betwixt my lord Chaunceler and me that we will sitt vpon the mater in
variaunce betwixt E_li_zabeth Colcoke widowe and you the Friday after
Alhallow day. Wherfore I requyre you in any wise to be here the day
before that ye may be redy for that purpose and that ye in no wise faill
so to do vpon yo_ur_ peryll. And thus fare ye well. At london the
xxiiii^{th} day of October.
Yo_ur_ Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my frynd_es_ Richard Haybourne and Will_ia_m Haybo_ur_ne be
this youen.
59. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ABBOTS OF FOUNTAINS AND BYLAND.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1408. Nov. 8 ‹1533›.
Is surprised that they have not yet elected a new Abbot of
Rievaulx as the King wished. Advises them to delay no
longer.
After my full hertie man_er_ I recommende me vnto you. And where as it
hathe pleased the king_es_ highnes to directe his moste grac_i_ous
l_ette_res vnto you nowe at this p_re_sente tyme for the elecc_i_on of a
newe Abbote of Ryvaulx wherein his grace hathe bene adu_er_tised ye haue
not heretofore indevored youreself_es_ to thaccomplishemente of the same
according to his said l_ette_res and co_m_maundemente (whereof I
m_er_vaile not a little) that ye wold incurre his high displeasure for
the none executing of the same. therefore I hertely requyre you and
neu_er_thelesse doo advise you in exchewing of further Inconvenyenc_es_
and displeasures that maye thereby ensue (all affeccions sette ap_ar_te)
ye doo accomplishe the said elecc_i_on according to the teno_ur_ and
purporte of his moste grac_i_ous l_ette_res directyd vnto you and to the
Convente of the same monastary in that behalf. And thereby ye shall not
oonly des_er_ue the king_es_ moste grac_i_ous thank_es_, but alsoo haue
me to doo for you in all yo_ur_ good causes the beste I can. As knowethe
our Lorde who kepe you. Written at London the viii^{th} daye of
Nouembre.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able in god my Lorde Abbote of Funtaunce and
Bylande and to either of theym.
60. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1413. Nov. 11 ‹1533›.
Has heard of the trouble that has arisen owing to the blow
the knight porter has given to a ‘lewde Felowe.’ Thinks that
there is no cause why the knight porter should be molested
for his action.
My lorde after my right hertie co_m_mendacions I haue receyued your
lordeshippes le_tte_res And haue p_er_ceyued by the same what contencion
is arrysen there by meanes of a lewde Felowe for a stroke yeven vnto him
by S_ir_ Cristofer Garnysshe the knight porter, Which matier hath ben
debated here by the king_es_ counsaile who p_er_ceyuing the saide stroke
was yeven but onelie for correction and for none entente to breke any
law statute or ordenaunce of that towne of Calays, do thinke the same
but a veray light matier to make any suche busynes of and no cause why
the saide Sir Cristofer should be put to any molestacion for the same.
Wherefore yo_ur_ lordeship may let it passe and wey it as it is And so
o_ur_ lorde p_re_serue your lordeship in long lif and helth w_i_t_h_
moche hono_ur_ At London the xi day of Nouember.
[I] do also hertelie thanke yo_ur_ lordsship for yo_ur_ grete chere made
to my s_er_uaunte [Will]yam Johnson and to this gentilman straungier for
whom I do wryte vnto yo_ur_ lordeship at this tyme by myn other
l_ette_res. And for all other yo_ur_ lordshippes gentilnes I do most
hertelie thanke you trusting if I lyue to requyte the same if I can.
Yo_ur_ lordshyppis assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and his singuler good lorde the lorde
vicount Lisle deputie to the king_es_ highnes of his towne and marcheis
of Calays.
_Endd._ M. Cro_m_well the xi^{th} of nove_m_br
61. CROMWELL TO THE ABBOT OF NETLEY.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1502. Dec. 6 ‹1533›.
Desires him to grant his friend John Cooke a new lease for
sixty years of Roydon farm near Southampton, as it lies by
the sea and is convenient for Cooke in his office of the
Admiralty there.
In my right hartie maner I co_m_mende me vnto your good lordship. And
where as my frynd John Cooke the king_es_ graces s_erua_unt berer herof
hath and holdeth a Ferme of yo_ur_s callid Roydon by lesse wherof the
yeres in the same be almost expyred And forasmoche as your said ferme
lieth nygh the see syde necessaryly for my saide frynd to serue the
king_es_ highnes in his office of the admyraltie in those parties I
hartely desyre you at the contemplacion of thies my l_ette_res that ye
will graunte vnto the saide John Coke a newe lesse of the saide ferme
vnder your Conventuall Seale for terme of lx yeres paying vnto you and
yo_ur_ Successours the accustumable rent therof. And for your towardnes
herin I shalbe glad to requyte the same to your good contentacion And
farther I perceyve by the reporte of the same Cooke that ye have shewed
vnto hym and other that hathe byn w_i_t_h_ hym to do the king_es_
highnes s_er_uice at the See muche Jentylnes and lib_er_alitie, for the
whiche ye have deserved the king_es_ right harty thank_es_. And therfore
I for my parte hartylye thanke you And of your conformable mynde herin I
pray you to adu_er_tise me in wrytyng by this berer. And thus fare ye
hartylye welle. At london the vi^{th} day of December.
Yo_ur_ lordshyppis Freend.
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the reu_er_end father in god the Abbot of letley[799] be this
youen.
62. CROMWELL TO ‹THE OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS›.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1625 (iii). (1533.)
The King wishes Robert Bonvell, merchant of Paris, to come
to England with certain jewels, of which he desires a
special account to be kept, for the payment of the duty.
In my Right harty manner I Co_m_mend me vnto you Adu_er_tis[ing] the
Same that the king_es_ pleasure is that Robert Bonvell m_er_ch_au_nt of
parys sholde Repayre into this Royalme Toward_es_ his highnes w_i_t_h_
c_er_teyn Juell_es_ wherfore his speciall Co_m_maundment is that ye
seing the same Jewell_es_ do make Therof a Specyall note by byll_es_
Indentyd betwyxt you and the Seid m_er_chaunt mensyonyng eu_er_y
p_ar_cell therof and what the Custom therof maye Amounte vnto, not
chargyng hym For any Custom or other Charge due vnto his highnes For the
same for hys grac_es_ pleasure ys that if he do sell any w_i_t_h_in this
Royalm that he shall therfore paye Custom as Reason is and for that he
Cannot Sell here to carry A waye w_i_t_h_ hym A gayne w_i_t_h_oute
payeng therfore any Custom or other dut_es_ Wherfore I requyre you
takyng Surety in case he do make Sale to paye the Custom accordyngly
That ye do p_er_mytt & Suffer the same m_er_ch_a_unt w_i_t_h_ the Same
Juell_es_ to disch_ar_ge And vnlade the Same Accordyng to the Effect_es_
hereof
The coppy of Mr. Crumwell_es_ l_ette_re Sygned w_i_[t_h_] hys hand.
63. Drafts of Portions of Cromwell’s Letters.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1625 (i). ‹1533.›
Thanks the recipient for sending news. Has presented his
letters to the Duke of Norfolk as he desired.
After most hertye Salutacyons this shalbe ‹to› thanke yow of yo_ur_
exceding louyng kyndnes shewyd in the dylygent wryting to me of yo_ur_
newse and according to yo_ur_ request I presentyd yo_ur_ l_ette_res vnto
my lorde of Norffolk_es_ grace who I assure yow ys singuler good lorde
vnto yow and wher ye wryt in yo_ur_ Fyrst l_ette_res ...
Memorandum concerning the resignation of the chantry of
Barking Church, in Essex.
M^{d} that maister Kendall Chauntrye preeste of the Chauntrye Foundyd in
Barkyng Churche may optayne my lorde of londons Fauo_ur_ ‹in› the
resignacyon of the sayd Chauntrye vnto S_ir_ Will_ia_m Cowplaunde my
friend.
End of a letter, urging care and perseverance in reporting
important matters, and promising favour.
... thus Fare ye hertelye well trusting that ye will p_er_seu_er_e as ye
haue bego_n_n I meane so Freindlye and secretlye as thes thing_es_ that
shall passe betwene vs may be p_ro_ffytable to vs bothe so that yo_ur_
wryting matyers of grauytie & Importaunce wherin maye be persayued good
will myxyd w_i_t_h_ wisdom and trowthe I then[800] may haue Corage as an
entyre frende[801] to p_ro_secute For yo_ur_ forderaunce & aduauncement
with recuperacyon of that which I am sure ye most desyre which as I
shall See opportunyte I will not undowtydlye forget and ons agayn Fare
well[802] daylye lokyng For answer
64. ‹CROMWELL› TO CHRISTOPHER MONT.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1374. ‹1533.›
Encloses two letters from the King to the Dukes of Bavaria
and Landgrave of Hesse, with copies. Urges Mont to discover
the state of feeling in the Empire. Sends a bill of exchange
for £30.
Felowe Cristofer I co_m_mende me vnto you And albeit sythen your
departure ye haue not receyued any l_ette_res or instructions from the
king_es_ maiestee concerning the execucion of suche his gracious
affayrees as his highnes inco_m_mended to you at your departure Yet
thinke ye not that your industrie labour travayle and diligence Vsed
aswell in the setting fourth of his grac_es_ busynes, Whereof ye were
sufficiently instructed at your saide departure as also in your diligent
wrytyng often and Frequent aduertisement_es_ is put in any oblyuyon or
forgotten But for the same his maiestee hathe co_m_maunded me to gyve
vnto you his grac_es_ right hertie thank_es_. And in this packet ye
shall receyue two L_ette_res addressed from the king_es_ maiestee vnto
the Dukes of Bauarie and the Landegraue van Hesse, which his highnes
willeth you to delyuer accordingly. the copies of whiche l_ette_res (to
th’intent ye shalbe the more rype to answer if any thing shalbe obiected
to you by the saide prynce) I haue sent you hereinclosed. Not doubting
in your dexterytee good polycie and wisedom to propone and set fourth
the effect_es_ of the same, as shall apperteyne. And forasmoche as here
hathe ben the Secretarye of the duke of Bauarie who is named Mr.
Hubertus Thomas by whom the king_es_ highnes hathe knowen and perceyued
moche of the mynde and intent of the same Duke, ye shall not moche nede
to travayle or enbusie yourself to procure answer other then of their
owne mocyons they shall declare vnto you, But contynuallie indeauo_ur_
yo_ur_ self w_i_t_h_ all diligent Circumspection to explore enserche and
knowe the state of the hole countrey of Germany and of their myndes
intent_es_ and inclynacions toward_es_ the king_es_ highnes and this
realme. And that also ye do by all the good meanes and polycies that ye
can explore and enserche to knowe the myndes and intent_es_ of the
prync_es_ of Germany and of the Germaynes how they be inclyned aswell
toward_es_ thempero_ur_ as the king of Romaynes. Being contynuallie
vigilant and diligent in wryting to the kyng_es_ maiestee of all thinges
and occurraunt_es_ then according to his grac_i_ous trust and
expectacion And because I wolde not haue you to lacke money ye shall
receyue herew_i_t_h_ a bill of exch_a_unge for the some of xxx li.
_Endd._ A copy of a l_ette_re to Cristofer Mount.
65. ‹CROMWELL› TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. vi. 1369. ‹1533.›
Sends news about the Nun, and proposes to apprehend two
friars who have come into the realm with mischievous intent.
Sends a receipt for 24,000 cr., the residue of the Emperor’s
debt, for the King to sign.
Pleasythit yo_ur_ Royall magestye to be adu_er_tysyd how that reparyng
homward_es_ oon_e_ of my lorde chauncelers s_er_u_au_nttes met w_i_t_h_
me and delyu_er_id me yo_ur_ warrauntt_es_ Signyd w_i_t_h_ the hande of
the prynces dowager which warrauntt I do send to yo_ur_ grace herin
Inclosyd what yo_ur_ plesure shalbe to haue done therin being ons known
I shall right gladlye acco_m_plyshe I haue also Sythyn my repayre to
london spokyn w_i_t_h_ Freer Lawraunce who hathe Sethens his Repayre to
london herde dyuers thing_es_ touching the holye mayde which he wyll
declare to yo_ur_ hygnes and to non other and he Shewyth me also that
that[803] therbe ij^{o} strange Freers of the order of obs_er_uantt_es_
latelye repayryd into this Realme which ij^{o} Freers haue exploryd here
For all suche bok_es_ centencys and determynacyons as hathe passyd
touching yo_ur_ hygnes Matrymonye, which they Intend w_i_t_h_ other
pryvey practysys to Convey w_i_t_h_ them, to Freer Petow who as I am
Credyblye Informyd Sent them into this yo_ur_ Realme[804] the sayd
ij^{o} Freers as I am acertaynyd haue browght w_i_t_h_ them pryuy
l_ette_res to dyuers and now bene gone to the sayd[805] dowager. in my
poore oppynyon it shalbe right well done that thaye might be sent For by
Som_e_ trustye p_e_rson howbeit yt were best that theye Fyrste sholde be
sufferyd to speke w_i_t_h_ her and suche other of hers as woolde
p_er_aduenture delyu_er_ to them anything wherby theyr Ferther practysys
myght be p_er_sayuyd and so thayr Cankeryd Intentt_es_ myght be therbye
dyscyfferyd. I am also Infformyd that there ys A m_er_chant of london
whiche dothe practyse w_i_t_h_ them in thes p_re_myss_es_ I shall goo
veray nere to haue knowlage therein yf it be trew he ys worthye to
Suffer to make other beware in tyme he ys of good Substaunce. I wooll
thys daye goo abowt to know the trowthe, thes thing_es_ woold be met
w_i_t_h_ all in tyme and the sonner the better. I trust yo_ur_ highnes
wyll by this berer adu_er_tyse me in wrytyng what shalbe yo_ur_ plesure
touching as well the sayd Falls Freers as also towching of the sayd
dowager’s warrant_es_. I haue also Sent to yo_ur_ grace on_e_ acquytance
to be assigned for the xxiiij^{ti} thousande Crowns dew to yo_ur_
highnes for the resedew of the emperowrs dett and also A warrant to
yo_ur_ chanceler For the Sealyng of the same which warrantt and
acquyt_au_nce it may please yo_ur_ magestye to assigne and to send the
same by this berer to the Intent Robert Fowler may be depechyd. The rest
of the acquyt_au_nces for yo_ur_ ordynarye pencyon and Sale ben allredye
Signed and Sealyd. and this the Hollye trynyte to whom I shall
contenewallye praye to p_re_serue yo_ur_ highnes in long lyff and most
p_ro_sperous helthe and send the same the vyctorye w_i_t_h_ hono_ur_
over all yo_ur_ Enemyes.
_Endd._ ij mynut_es_ of my M_aste_rs letters w_i_t_h_ my lord
chancelo_ur_s.
66. CROMWELL TO ‹CRANMER›.
B.M. Harl. MSS. 6,148, f. 81; Cal. vii. 19. Jan. 5 ‹1534›.
The King desires Cranmer to send to him Mr. Heath, whom his
highness wishes to employ as ambassador to the German
princes.
By master Crumwell
After my moste humble co_m_mendac_i_ons yt may please your g_ra_ce to be
aduertised that the kyng_es_ highnes hath comanded me to write vnto your
g_ra_ce Requiryng the same w_i_t_h_ all co_n_veniente celeritie to send
vp hither Mr. heth, whome for his Lerning, good gravitie and
circu_m_spect[i]on the kyng_es_ highnes entendeth to send into the
p_ar_ties of Garmany in Ambassade to treate ther with the princ_es_ of
Germany, as well in the kyng_es_ great cause of Matrymony As in other
causes p_er_teynyng to the Welth of this Realme And forasmoche as your
g_ra_ce knoweth the grounde, veray iustnes, and equitie of the kyng_es_
said cause, his Highnes requereth you to instructe the said M_r_ Hethe
in the same as he may be Ryppe and perfite in the knowlege of _th_e
holle circumstaunc_es_ of the same And that for lake of inst[r]uct_i_on
when tyme shall com to propone the matier it Appere not hym to be
vnp_er_faite and remysse to do suche s_er_uice v_n_to the kyng_es_
Maiestie in that behalf as shalbe to his gracious truste and
expectac_i_on which his highnes nothyng at all doubtith. Howbeit yo_ur_
g_ra_c_es_ adu_er_tisement and good instruct_i_on arrected vnto the said
Maist_er_ Heth shall vndoubtedly make hym more rype and p_er_fite in the
p_re_misses to do that thing that may be moche to your honour, his
prayse and merite As knoweth o_ur_ Lorde, who send your grace Long Lyf
and good helth at London the v. daye of January.
The kyng_es_ highnes also intendeth to practise certeyn thyng_es_ in the
said p_ar_ties of Germany, concernyng the Auctoryte of the Bisshop of
Rome.
Yo_ur_ gracys Bedisman
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
67. ‹CROMWELL› TO HENRY VIII.
R.O. Cal. vii. 73. January ‹1534›.
Reports the passage in the Commons of the Act forbidding any
man to keep more than 2000 sheep, and requiring every farmer
to put one-eighth of his land in tillage. If the Bill passes
the Lords also it will be the most beneficial thing done
‘sythyn Brewtyse tyme.’
Pleasythyt yo_ur_ most Royall Mageste to be adu_er_tysyd how that
according to yo_ur_ most highe pleasure and co_m_maundeme_n_t I haue
made serche for suche patentt_e_s and grauntys as yo_ur_ highnes and
also the most Famous kyng yo_ur_ father whos Sowle o_ur_ lorde p_ar_don
haue grauntyd vnto s_ir_ Rychard Weston knyght yo_ur_ vndertesawrer of
your exchequer and the same haue sent to yo_ur_ highnes herin closyd yt
may also please yo_ur_ most Royall Mageste to knowe how that yesterdaye
ther passyd yo_ur_ Co_m_mons a byll that no p_er_son w_i_t_h_in this
yo_ur_ Realme shall herafter kepe and Noryshe aboue the Nombre of twoo
thousand shepe and also that the eight parte of eu_er_ye mans lande
being a Fermour shall for eu_er_ herafter be put in tyllage yerlye which
byll yf by the gret wysdom vertuew goodnes and zerale[806] that yo_ur_
highnes beryth toward_es_ this yo_ur_ Realme might haue good Successe
and take good effect Amongyst yo_ur_ lord_es_ aboue I doo Coniecture and
Suppose in my pore Symple and vnworthye Judgement that yo_ur_ highnes
shall do the most noble proffyttable and most benefycyall thing that
eu_er_ was done to the Co_m_mone welthe of this yo_ur_ Realme and shall
therby Increase suche welthe in the same amongyst the gret Nombre &
multytude for yo_ur_ most louyng and obedye[nt] Subiectys as neu_er_ was
Seane in this Realme Sythen Brewtyse tyme most humblye prostrate at the
Fete of yo_ur_ Magnifycence beseche yo_ur_ highnes to p_ar_don my
boldnes ‹in› this wrytyng to yo_ur_ grace which onlye p_ro_cedythe for
the trowthe dewtye allegaunce and loue I doo bere to yo_ur_ mageste and
the Co_m_mon welth of this yo_ur_ Realme as o_ur_ lorde knowyth vnto
whom I shall as I am most bounden Incessantlye praye for the contenewans
& p_ro_sperous cons_er_uacyon of yo_ur_ most excellent most Royall and
Imperyall estate long to Indure
68. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹FISHER›.
B.M. Cleop. E. iv, f. 101; Cal. vii. 238. ‹Feb. 1534.›
Reproves him at length for his communications with the Nun
of Kent, and replies to seven reasons given by Fisher for
not reporting her revelations to the King. Advises him to
lay aside excuses, and beg the King’s mercy.
My lorde in my right hertie wise I co_m_mende me to yo_ur_ lordship
doing you to vnderstand that I haue receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res dated at
Rochester the xviij^{th} of this moneth. In whiche ye declar_e_ what
craft and cu_n_nyng ye haue to p_er_suade and to set a good
countenau_n_ce vpon an yl mat_er_. Drawing som scriptur_es_ to yo_ur_
purpose whiche wel weyed acording to the plac_es_ whereof they be taken.
make not so muche for yo_ur_ purpose as ye allege thaim for. And wher_e_
in the first lefe of yo_ur_ lett_er_s ye write that ye doubt nothing
neither before god, nor befor the worlde if nede shal that requir_e_: so
to declar_e_ yo_ur_self. whatsoeuer hath been said of you. that ye haue
not deserued suche hevy word_es_ or terrible thret_es_ as hath been sent
from me vnto you by yo_ur_ brother[807].
How ye can declare yo_ur_ self affor_e_ god and the world when nede shal
requir_e_ I can not tell, but I think verely that yo_ur_ declaration
made by thes l_ette_res is far insufficie_n_t to p_ro_ve that ye haue
deserued no hevy word_es_ in this behalf and to sey playnly I sent you
no hevy word_es_ but word_es_ of great co_m_fort wylling yo_ur_ brother
to shewe you how benigne and m_er_ciful the prince was. And that I
thoug[ht] it expedient for you to write vnto his highnes and to
recognise yo_ur_ offence and desir_e_ his p_ar_don, whiche his grace
wold not denye you now in yo_ur_ aige and sikkenes. Whiche my counsel I
wold ye had folowed, rather than to haue writen thes l_ette_res to me
excusing yo_ur_ self as thoughe there wer_e_ no maner of defaute in you.
But my lord if it wer_e_ in an other mannys caas than yo_ur_ owne and
out of the mater whiche ye fauor I doubt not but that ye wold think him
that shuld haue doen as ye have doen non only worthy hevy word_es_ but
also hevy dedys. For wher_e_ ye labor to excuse yo_ur_ self of yo_ur_
hering believing and co_n_celing of the nu_n_nys fals and faynid
reuelations, and of yo_ur_ manyfold sending of yo_ur_ chapley[n] vnto
her, by a certey_n_ intent whiche ye pretende yo_ur_self to haue had, to
knowe by co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her or by sendi_n_g yo_ur_ chapellaine to
her, whether her reuelations wer_e_ of god or no. alleging diu_er_se
scriptures. that ye wer_e_ bound to p_ro_ve thaim, and not to reiecte
thaim affor_e_ they wer_e_ p_ro_ued My Lord whether ye haue vsed a due
meane to trie her and her reuelations, or no. It appereth by the
p_ro_cesse of yo_ur_ owne l_ette_res. For wher_e_ ye write that ye had
co_n_ceyuid a greate opinion of the holines of the woman for many
considerations rehersed in yo_ur_ l_ette_res c_om_p_ri_sed in vi
articles, whereof the first is grownde vpo_n_ the brute and fame of her,
the secunde vpon her entreng into religion after her trauns_es_ and
disfiguration, the third vpon rehersall that her gostly father being
lerned and religious shuld testifie that she was a maide of greate
holines. The fourth vpon the report that diuerse other vertuose
prest_es_ me_n_ of good lernyng and reputation, shuld so testifie of
her, w_i_t_h_ whiche gostly father and preest_es_ ye never spake as ye
confesse in yo_ur_ lett_er_s. The fyveth vpon the prayse of my late lord
of Cant_erbury_, which shewed you (as ye write) that she had many greate
visions the sixt vpon this saing of the p_ro_phete Amos, No_n_ faciet
d_om_in_u_s deus v_er_bu_m_, nisi reuelau_er_it secretu_m_ suu_m_ ad
seruos suos p_ro_phetas by whiche co_n_siderations ye wer_e_ induced to
the desir_e_ to know the very certente of this mater, whether the
reuelations whiche wer_e_ p_re_tended to be shewed to her from god
wer_e_ true reuelations or nott? yo_ur_ lordship in al the se_n_gle[808]
of yo_ur_ l_ette_res shewe not that ye made no ferther trial vpo[n] the
trueth of her and her reuelation, but only in co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her
and sending yo_ur_ chapellaine to her, w_i_t_h_ Idle questions as of the
thre mary magdalens. by whiche yo_ur_ co_m_mony[ng] and sending, ye
tried out nothing of her falshed, nouther (as it is credibly supposed)
entended to do, as ye myght haue doen many weyes mor_e_ easely than
w_i_t_h_ co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ her or sending to her; for litel credens
was to be gyven to her affirmyng her owne fayned reuelations to be from
god.
For if credence shuld be gyven to eu_er_y suche lewd p_er_son as wold
affirme himself to haue reuelations from god what redyer wey wer_e_
ther_e_ to subuert al co_m_mon we[l]thes and good orders in the worlde.
Verily my lord if ye had entended to trie out the trueth of her and of
her reuelations ye wold haue taken an other wey w_i_t_h_ you, first ye
wold not haue been co_n_tented w_i_t_h_ the vayne voyc_es_ of the peple
making brut_es_ of her traunses & disfiguratio_n_ But like a wise
discrete and circumspect p_re_late ye shuld haue examined (as other
haue) suche sad and credible p_er_sons as wer_e_ p_re_sent att her
traunses & disfiguration_es_, not one or two, but a good nu_m_ber by
whoes testimony ye shuld haue p_ro_ued whether the brut_es_ of her
traunc_es_ and disfigurations wer_e_ true or not And likewise ye shuld
haue tried by what craft and p_er_suasion she was made a religious
woman. And if ye had been so desirous as ye p_re_tende to enquir_e_ out
the trueth or falshed of this woman and of her reuelations, it is to be
supposed ye wold haue spoken w_i_t_h_ her good religious and wel lerned
gostly father (as ye cal him) or this tyme: and also w_i_t_h_ the
vertuose, and wel lerned preest_es_ (as they wer_e_ estemed) of whoes
reaport_es_ ye were informed by thaim whiche herd thaim speke[809] ye
wold also haue been mynded to se the booke of her revelations whiche was
offerd you. of whiche ye myght haue had mor_e_ trial of her and of her
reuelations, than a hundred co_m_munications w_i_t_h_ her, or of as many
sendings of yo_ur_ chapellen vnto her. As for the late lord of
Cauntreburys seying vnto you that she had many greate visions, it ought
to move you never a deale to gyve credence vnto her or her reuelations,
For the said lord knew no mor_e_ certente of her or of her reuelations
than ye dyd by her owne reaport. And as towching the saing of Amos the
prophete, I thinke veryly the same moved you but a litell to herkyn vnto
her, for sythe the co_n_su_m_mation and thende of thold testame_n_t and
sythens the passion of Christ god hathe doen many greate and notable
thing_es_ in the worl[d]e, whereof he shewed no thing to his
p_ro_phet_es_ that hath co_m_men to the knowlege of men. My lord all
thes thinges moved you not to gyve credence vnto her, but only the very
mater whereupon she made her fals p_ro_ficyes to whiche mater ye were so
affected (as ye be noted to be on al mat_er_s whiche ye enter ons into)
that nothing could com amysse that made for that purpose
And her_e_ I appelle yo_ur_ conscience and instantly desire you to
aunswer. Whether if she had shewed you as many reuelationsf or the
co_n_firmation of the king_es_ grac_es_ marriage whiche he now enjoyeth
as she did to the co_n_trary, ye wold haue gyven as muche credence to
her as ye haue doen, and wold haue let the trial of her and of her
reuelations to ou_er_passe thes many yer_es_, wher_e_ ye dwelt not from
her but xx mylys, in the same shir_e_, wher_e_ her traunses and
disfiguring_es_ and p_ro_phecyes in her traunses wer_e_ surmised and
countrefeyd. And if p_er_caas ye wol sey (as it ‹is› not vnlike but ye
wol sey mynded as ye wer_e_ wont to be) that the mat_e_rs be not like,
for the Law of god in yo_ur_ opinion standeth w_i_t_h_ the one and not
w_i_t_h_ thother. Suerly my lord I suppose this had been no greate cause
mor_e_ to reiect the one than thother for ye know by histories of the
bible that god may by his reuelation dispense w_i_t_h_ his owne Law, as
w_i_t_h_ the[810] Israelit_es_ spoyling the egiptians and w_i_t_h_ Jacob
to haue iiij wifes, and suche other[811].
Think you my lord that any indifferent man co_n_sidering the qualite of
the mater and yo_ur_ affeccion, and also the negligent passing over of
suche lawful triall_es_ as ye myght haue had of the said nu_n_ne and
her reuelations, is so dull, that can not p_er_ceyue and discerne that
yo_ur_ co_m_monyng and often sending to the said nu_n_ was rather to
here and know mor_e_ of her reuelations, than to trie out the trueth or
falshed of thes same And in this behalf I suppose it wol be hard for you
to purge yo_ur_self bifor_e_ god or the worle, but that ye haue been in
greate defaut hering beleuyng and co_n_celing suche thing_es_ as tended
to the destruction of the prince And that her reuelations wer_e_ bent
and purposed to that ende . it hathe been duely p_ro_ued, affore as
greate assembly and cou_n_sel of the lord_es_ of this realme as hath
been seen many yer_es_ heretofor_e_ out of a p_a_rliame_n_t. And what
the said lord_es_ demed thaim worthy to suffer, whiche had beleued and
co_n_celed thees fals reuelations be mor_e_ terrible than any thret_es_
spoken by me to yo_ur_ brother
And wher_e_ ye go abought to defende that ye be not to be blamed for
co_n_celing her reuelations co_n_cernyng the king_es_ grace, bicause ye
thought it not necessary to reherse thaim to his highnes. for vij causes
folowing in yo_ur_ l_ette_res affor_e_ I shewe you my mynde co_n_cernyng
thees causes, I suppose that albeit ye p_er_caas thought it not
necessary to be shewed to the prince by you. yet that your thinking shal
not be your triall, but the Law must diffine whether ye owghted to vtter
it or not.
And as to the first of said vii causes. Albeit[812] she told youe that
she had shewed her reuelations co_n_cernyng the king_es_ grace to the
king herself, yet her seyng or others discharged not you but that ye
were bound by yo_ur_ fidelite to shewe to the king_es_ grace . that
thing whiche semed to co_n_cerne his grace and his reigne so nyghly .
for how knew you that she[813] shewed thes reuelations to the king_es_
grace but by her owne seyng, to whiche ye shuld haue gyven no suche
credence as to for_e_ber_e_ the utt_e_rance of so greate maters
co_n_cernyng a king_es_ welth And why shuld you so sinisterly iudge the
prince that if ye had shewed thees same vnto him, he wold haue thought
that ye had brought that tale vnto him mor_e_ for the strenghing and
co_n_firmatio_n_ of yo_ur_ opinion then for any other thing els. Veryly
my lord what so eu_er_ yo_ur_ iudgeme_n_t bee . I se dayly suche
benignite and excellent humanite in his grace that I doubt not but his
highnes . wold haue accepted it in good part if ye had shewed the same
reuelations vnto him as ye wer_e_ bounden to do by yo_ur_ fidelite.
To the secunde cause. Albeit she shewed you not that any prince or other
t_em_poral lord shuld put the king_es_ grace in daing_er_ of his crowne
yet there were weyes Inoughe, by whiche her said reuelations myght haue
put the king_es_ grace in dainger, as the for_e_said counsel of lord_es_
. haue substancially and duely co_n_sidered And therefor Albeit she
shewed you not the meanes whereby the dayng_er_ shuld ensue to the
king_es_ [grace] yet . ye wer_e_ neverthelesse bounden to shewe him of
the dainger.
To the third. Think you my lord, that if any p_er_son wold com vnto you
and shewe youe that the king_es_ destruction wer_e_ co_n_spired against
a certen tyme, and wold ferther shewe you, that he wer_e_ sent from his
maist_er_ to shewe the same to the king and wol sey ferther vnto [you]
that he wold go streyct to the king, wer_e_ it not yet your duety to
certifie the king_es_ grace of the relation, but also to inquire whether
the said p_e_rson had doen his for_e_said messaige or no, yes verely.
And so wer_e_ ye bound, thoughe the nu_n_ne shewed youe, it was her
messaige from god to be declared by her to the king_es_ grace.
To the iiii^{th} her_e_ ye translate the temporal duety that ye owe to
yo_ur_ prince, to the spiritual duety of suche as be bounde to declar_e_
the worde of god to the peple, and to shewe vnto them the p_er_ill and
punissheme_n_t of sy_n_ in an other worlde, the co_n_celeme_n_t whereof
p_er_teyneth to the iudgeme_n_t of god, but the co_n_celeme_n_t of this
mater p_er_teyneth to other iudg_es_ of this realme.
To the v^{th} ther could no blame be arrested to you if ye had shewed
the nu_n_nys reuelations to the king_es_ grace, albeit they wer_e_
aft_er_ward found fals for no man owght to be blamed doing his duety And
if a man wold shewe you secretly that there wer_e_ a greate mischief
entended . against the prince, wer_e_ ye to be blamed if ye shewed him
of it, albeit it wer_e_ a fayned tale, and the said mischief wer_e_
never Imagined.
To the sixt . co_n_cernyng an Imagination of mast_er_ Pacy. It was
knowen that he was beside himself, and therefor_e_ they wer_e_ not
blamed that made no report thereof, but it was not lik in this caas For
ye toke not this nu_n_ne for a mad woman, for if ye had ye wold not haue
gyven vnto her so greate credence as ye dyd.
To the final and vii^{th} cause wher_e_ ye lay[814] vnto the charge of
o_ur_ sou_er_aine, that he hath vnkyndly entreacted you . w_i_t_h_
grevous word_es_ and terrible letters for shewing his grace trowthe in
his greate mater, whereby ye wer_e_ disco_m_forted to shewe vnto him the
nu_n_nys reuelations. I beleue that I know the king_es_ goodnes and
natural gentilnes so well, that his grace wold not so vnkyndly handle
you, as you vnkyndly write of him, onles ye gave him other causes than
be expressed in yo_ur_ lett_er_s. And what so eu_er_ the king_es_ grace
hath sayed or writen vnto you heretofore, yet that notw_i_t_h_stonden,
ye wer_e_ neverthelesse bounden to vtt_er_ to him thees p_er_nicious
reuelations.
Finally Wher_e_ ye desir_e_ for the passion of christ that ye be no
mor_e_ quykkened in this mater for if ye be put to that straite ye wyl
not lose yo_ur_ soule, but ye wyl speke as yo_ur_ co_n_science ledeth
you w_i_t_h_ many moo word_es_ of greate curraige. My lord if ye had
taken my counsel sent vnto you by yo_ur_ brother and folowed the same,
submitting yo_ur_self by yo_ur_ letters to the king_es_ grace for yo_ur_
offenses in this behalf, I wold haue trusted that ye shuld never be
quykkened in this mat_er_ mor_e_. But now wher_e_ ye take vpon you to
defe_n_de the hole mater as ye wer_e_ in no default. I cannot so far
p_ro_mise you[815]. And suerly my lord if the mat_er_ co_m_ to triall:
yo_ur_ owne co_n_fession in thes l_ette_res besid_es_ the wittnes whiche
be against you wolbe sufficient to co_n_demne you Wher_e_for my lord I
wol eftsones aduise you that laying apart al suche excuses as ye haue
alleged in yo_ur_ letters whiche in my_n_ opinion be of smal effect as I
haue declared ye beseche the king_es_ grace by yo_ur_ lett_er_s to be
yo_ur_ graciou[s] lord, and to remitte vnto you yo_ur_ negligence
ouersight and offence co_m_mitted against his his[816] highnes in this
behalf And I dar_e_ vndertake that his highenes shal benignely accepte
you into his gracious fauor, al mat_er_s of displeasir_e_ past affor_e_
this tyme forgoten and forgyven.
[817]As towching the speking of yo_ur_ conscience, it is thought
that ye haue writen and haue spoken as muche as ye can . and .
many thing_es_ (as som right probably beleaue) against yo_ur_ owne
co_n_science. And men report that at the Last conuocation ye spake
many thing_es_ whiche ye could not wel defende. And therefor it is not
greatly ferede what ye can sey or write in that mat_er_. howsoeu_er_ ye
be quykkened or strayted And if ye had taken _etc._
69. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE SHERIFF OF YORKSHIRE›.
R.O. Cal. vii. 383. Mar. 28 ‹1534›.
In order to prevent any infringement of the King’s rights in
the lands of Sir John Dunham, lately deceased, the council
considers it expedient that those persons who dwell near the
lands should be impanelled to inquire for the King.
Maister Sheryff I co_m_mend me vnto yow and being Infformyd of the dethe
of syr Jhon Dunham Knyghte whyche in his lyffe helde of the king_es_
grace certayne land_es_ and tenement_es_ in the County of Yorke In
Capite. And by cause that the kyng_es_ righte shall not be hydde ne
cloked It is therfor considered by the kyng_es_ most honorable counsell
that suche persons who hath the most knowlege sufficient of freeholde
and dwellys next vnto the Land_es_ of the saied syr John Donham be
impanelled to inquyre for the kyng_es_ grace the namys of whom herein
enclosyd I do send yow who are extemyd and reputed to be men of good
worship and conscience as I am credably enformed Aduertysyng yow that
vpon a precept to yow dyrected by the kyng_es_ excheto_ur_ ye do
retourne a suffycient Inquest of the same persons to inquyre for the
kyng_es_ grace of the tenure of the saied land_es_. And in yo_ur_ so
doyng ye shall do the king_es_ grace a righte acceptable seruyce to his
contentatyon And so fare ye well from London the xxviii^{ti} daye of
march.
_Endd._ mynute of a l_ette_re.
70. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 348; Cal. vii. 535. Apr. 24 ‹1534›.
Requests for a friend the advowson of the parsonage of St.
John’s of Sherborne, in Hampshire, the yearly value of which
is 10 or 11 pounds.
My Lord in my right hertie wise I co_m_mende me to you. And as I haue
been, and wolbe glad and redy, to do you suche pleasir_e_ as I myght or
may. so I desire you to graunt vnto me to the behoue of a dere frende of
myne. the aduocation of the p_ar_sonaige of S. Jhons of [Shire]borne in
hampshir_e_ being of yo_ur_ gift. whiche is of the yerely value of x or
xj^{li} and not aboue (as I am informed) by the gyft whereof ye shal
shewe vnto me a right acceptable pleasir_e_ . whiche I wol not forgete
when I may in reco_m_pense thereof . do the thing that may be to your
co_n_tentation. And of yo_ur_ beniuolent mynd in this behalf, I desir_e_
you not only to certifie me by yo_ur_ next w_ri_ting but also to direct
yo_ur_ letters to yo_ur_ vicar gen_er_all and to the prio_u_r and
co_n_uent of yo_ur_ churche . for thexpedition thereof to be made in due
forme, and to be deliu_ere_d vnto me w_i_t_h_ suche spede as shall
pleace you to co_m_maunde thaim . the xxiiij^{th} day of Aprile.
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd freei_n_d
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my verey loving Lord my lord of wynchester.
_Edd._ the xxiiij of Ap_ri_l Mr. Secretary
71. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹CRANMER›.
R.O. Cal. vii. 500. ‹Apr. 1534.›
The King considers it expedient that More and Fisher be
compelled to swear to the preamble of the Act of Succession
as well as to the Act itself: otherwise it might be taken as
a confirmation of the authority of the Bishop of Rome.
My Lorde after myne humble co_m_menda_ci_ons it may please yo_ur_ grace
to be adu_er_tesed that I haue receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res and shewed the
same to the king_es_ highnes who p_er_ceyuing yo_ur_ mynde and opynyon
is that it were good that the bisshop of Rochester and Mr. More should
be sworn to the acte of the king_es_ succession and not to the preamble
of the same, thinketh that if their othe should be so taken it were an
occasion to all men to refuse the hole or at the lest the lyke. For in
case they be sworn to the succession and not to the p_re_amble it is to
be thought that it might be taken not onelie as a confirmacion of the
Bisshop of Rome his auctoryte but also as a reprobacion of the king_es_
second mariage wherefore to thintent that no such thing_es_ should be
brought into the hedd_es_ of the people by the ensample of the saide
Bisshop of Rochester and Mr. More the king_es_ highnes in no wise
willeth but that they shalbe sworn aswell to the preamble as to the acte
of Succession[818] in no man_er_ of wyse Wherfore his grace specyallye
trustyth that ye wyll in no wyse Suppose attempt or move hym to the
Contrarye For as hys grace Suppossyth that that man_er_ of Sweryng yf yt
sholde be sufferyd myght be an vtter destruccyon to his hole Cause and
Also to the effecte of the law made For the same
_Endd._ _m_ynute.
72. CROMWELL TO THE PRIOR AND CONVENT OF WENLOCK.
R.O. Cal. vii. 593. May 1 ‹1534›.
Desires them to grant to Thomas Lowley the lease of Okinbold
farm, in Shropshire, at the rent which his father paid.
In myn harty maner I co_m_mende me unto youe And wheras ye haue nowe in
yo_ur_ handes and disposic_i_on again, the ferme of Oxinbold belonging
to that Mon_astery_. These shalbe to desire and hartely pray youe, for
my sake to graunte a sufficient lease therof to my Freende Thomas
Lowleye ser_ua_unt to Mr. Norreys vnder yo_ur_ convent seale for the
terme of xl yeres yelding and payeng vnto yow suche rent for the same,
as his father whiche was fermo_ur_ therof hertofore paid vnto your
mon_astery_ at that tyme that he had it in ferme. Desiring you in noo
wise to alienate it to any man but only to this tyl ye shal knowe
further, in case ye shal not condescende to this my request, and to
adu_er_tise me by yo_ur_ L_ette_res w_i_t_h_ spede of yo_ur_ proceding
in this Behaulf And thus Fare you hartely well From Stepnaye the first
daye of Maye
Yo_ur_ Freend THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my loving freendes the prior and Convent of the Mon_astery_ of
Wenlok.
73. CROMWELL TO DR. SAMPSON.
R.O. Cal. vii. 655. May 13 ‹1534›.
Requires him to appoint a bishop to ‘execute’ at the Court,
as the Bishop of Chester is unable to be present.
Mr. Deane, after my right hertie co_m_mendations Forasmoche as my lorde
of Chester is not onelie destitute of Myter Crosier and other thing_es_
necessarie but also shall to morowe be enbusied and occupied about_es_
other the king_es_ affaires I shall therefore hertelie requyre you to
appoynte som other Bisshop to execute to morowe before the king_es_
highnes at the Courte, till my saide Lorde of Chester shall be better
Furnysshed as app_er_tyneth Wherein ye shall do him moche pleasure. And
so Fare ye well. At Stepney the xiii day of Maye.
Your assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right wo_r_shipfull Mr. Docto_ur_ Sampson dean of the
king_es_ chappell be this youen.
74. CROMWELL TO THE SENATE AND CONSULS OF LÜBECK[819].
B.M. Vit. B. xxi, f. 107; Cal. vii. 707. May 24, 1534.
On behalf of William Gilbank, whose ship was captured near
Sandwich and taken to Lübeck, with goods worth 53 pounds
sterling.
{Henricus Dei gr_ati_a Rex Angliae, et Franciae, fidei defensor, ac
D_omi_n_us_ Hiber[niae] ... Consulibus, et} Senator{ibus}es Ciuitatis
Lubicen_sis_ _etc._ Amici{s} n_ost_ri{s} Car_issi_mi{s} {sal_utem_}
plur_i_ma_m_ Sal_utem_ et Co_m_me_n_ ...
Nuper apud {nos} ... humilite_r_ conq[uestus est] ...s, ac fidelis
{noster potentissimi n_ostr_i Regis} eius subditus Willelmus gylbanke
q_uod_ quum superioribus mensibus nauis quaedam cui Hugo ship ...
[prae]erat, ex harmywe Zelandiae vico hoc {n_ostr_um} inclytum Regnum
uersus nauigatura soluerat, ac varij generis merces ad u[alorem] ...
quinquaginta triu_m_ librar_um_ sterlingorum in ea onerasset, commercij
gr_atia_ huc aduecturus, accidit, ut dicta nauis iam ... [n]auigationis
cursu {et n_os_tr_u_m} in eiusdem ser_enissi_mi D_omini_ n_ostr_[i]
Regis portu_m_ Sandwic_ensem_ ferme ingressa, a v_est_ra Classe quae
belli praetextu, quod aduersus hollandos ... bat, per hoc {nostrum} mare
excurrebat capta, et una cum dicti {n_ost_ri subditi} Will_el_mi bonis,
ac mercibus in ciuitate_m_ istam v_estr_am ... abducta fuit; erit longe
quidem praeter vetere_m_ mutuamq_ue_ {n_ost_ram} amicitiam cum
Ser_enissi_ma hac Regia M_aiesta_te, et ingenti {eiusdem subditi
n_ost_ri Will_el_mi eius subdi[ti]} prefati sui subditi detrimento, id
q[u]od quum inscijs vobis a v_est_rae classis praefectis {commissum
fuerit, voluimus} eadem Regia M_aies_tas co_m_missu_m_ fuisse plane
credat, iussit ut suo no_m_i_n_e n_ostr_is his l_itte_ris hanc causam
vobis imp_rese_ntia commendaremus: Vos igitur quos p_ro_ intimis
amici[s] habet impense rogat, ut pro vest[ro] erga iustas quasq_ue_
causas studio, pro mutuaq_ue_ {n_ostr_a} secum coniunctione, v_estr_a
authoritate efficere velitis q_uod_ praedicta bona sic ablat[a] eidem
{n_ostr_o subdito} Will_e_lmo uel eius procuratori in integrum
restitua_n_tur, id quod {ut nobis} ut [e]idem Regie M_aiesta_ti maxime
gratum, et iustitiae consentane[um] erit, ita {nos} ipsam ad parem
beneuolentiam erga subditos v_es_tros, data occasione, exhibendam
propensior ardentiorque {efficiem[ur]} reddetur. Et bene valete. Ex
Regia n_ostr_a Richemondiae Die xxiiij Maij MDXXXIIII.
De nobis v_er_o possunt v_estr_ates o_m_nes in iustis suis hic
occurrentib_us_ negocijs ap_u_d ha_n_[c] Regia_m_ Ma_iesta_tem omne
humanitatis officiu_m_ sibi polliceri quod suo loco et te_m_pore
cumulate p_rae_stabim[u]s
Vester bonus amicus
THOMAS CRUMWELL
_Add._ Mag_nifi_cis D_omi_nis Consulibus, et Senatoribus Ciuitatis
Lubicen_sis_ _etc._ Amicis n_ostr_is C_arissi_mis.
75. CROMWELL TO MR. SAPCOTTES.
R.O. Cal. vii. 790. June 4 ‹1534›.
Desires him to repair to London as soon as possible, as he
is executor of Edw. Watson, deceased, who was in danger to
the King.
Mr. Sapcott_es_ I co_m_mende me vnto you. And For as moche as ye were
executour and admynistrato_ur_ of the good_es_ of Edwarde Watson
decessed who was in daungier to the king_es_ highnes, I shall therefore
aduertise and require you that vppon the sight of these my l_ette_res
for that matier w_i_t_h_ other thing_es_ that I haue to sey vnto you ye
do put yo_ur_ self in a redynes to repayre vnto me w_i_t_h_ all
conuenie_n_t celeryte. And at your co_m_myng ye shall knowe Ferther of
the king_es_ pleasure. So Fare ye well From my house at Canbery the
iiii^{th} day of June
Yo_ur_ Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To his louing frend Mr. Henry Sapcott_es_ be this youen at
Lyncoln.
76. CROMWELL TO THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY.
Ellis Letters, 2nd Ser. ii. 135; Cal. vii. 973. July 13 ‹1534›.
Thanks him for his zeal in apprehending a hermit, who has
been examined, and is to be tried by the justices of assize,
and punished according to the law.
After my right herty commendacions to your Lordship, I have by this
bearer your servaunt, bailly of Chesterfeld, receyved your Lettres and
the byll therin enclosed concernyng th’ Ermyte, the whiche being by me
examyned, answered that he could not tell whither he spake ever the same
trayterouse words or not. I have caused an Inditement to be drawen
therupon whiche your Lordeship shal receyve herwith; and also I have
thought convenient to retorn the said Hermite unto you agayn, there
befor the Justices of Assise to be tryed and to th’exemple of all other
to be punyshed according to right and the King’s lawes. I thank evermor
your Lordeship for your good zele, diligence, and dexterate in
repressing and apprehending suche perniciouse and detestable felons: and
therof shal I not faile to make true raport to his Highnes who I am
assure shal tak the sam in most thankfull part. Thus I beseche our holy
Creator to sende you prosperite and long liffe. From Cheleshith this
xiij^{th} of July.
Your lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my very good Lord Therle of Shrewesbury Lorde Stuarde to the
Kings Ma^{tie}.
77. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. vii. 990. July 20 ‹1534›.
Orders him to arrest four murderers from Yorkshire, who
first fled into Scotland, but have now returned to Durham,
where they ride about at their pleasure.
In my Right harty man_er_ I co_m_mend me vnto you and where as I am
enfourmed that one p_er_cyvall worme, wyll_ia_m Corneforthe John bygott
and wyll_ia_m dobson lately co_m_mytted a detestable mourdo_ur_ in the
Countye of Yorke and beyng Indyttyd _th_erof thei ther vpon flede into
Scottlond where as _th_ei _th_er Remayned as yt ys thought tyll now of
late, that thei lyttyll dreadyng god nor the lawes of this Realme arne
comme into the byschopryche of Durh_a_m wher as thei doo Ryde in all
plac_es_ therof at ther pleasures to the greate boldnes and p_er_yllous
example of all other suche [ev]yll dysposed p_er_sonnes. And therfor my
mynd ys that ye w_i_t_h_ dylygence do attach or cause the said p_er_sons
to be Attachyd, And them to deteyne in pryson vntyll such tyme as thei
schalbe by the order of _the_ lawes acquyted or otherwyse dyscharged as
ye wyll aunswere to the kyng_es_ highnes at yo_ur_ p_er_yll. Wretyn at
my house in london _th_e xx^{th} day of July.
78. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ABBOT OF ‹ST. AUSTIN’S IN CANTERBURY›.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1007. July 25 ‹1533[820]›.
Requests him to settle his differences with the bearer,
whose father could have had many offices of the abbot and
his predecessor. As the bearer has his brothers and sisters
to support, the abbot ought to do as much for him as he
would have done for his father.
My Lorde Abbot I reco_m_mende me vnto you etc. and where as George
Goldwyn the bryng_er_ hereof hathe byn A continuall suto_ur_ vnto me A
great tyme to haue A Warde made betwene you and hym[821] I shall
hertelye desire & praye you vppon the sight hereof to take some
reasonable waye with hym so that I be no longer molestyd by hym and his
co_n_tynuall Sute and whereas his Father myght haue had[822] of yo_ur_
lordshyp & yo_ur_ predecesso_ur_ dyuers offers who alwayes refused them
yet neu_er_theles me thinkyth yo_ur_ lordshyp now can no lesse doo then
to graunte hym so moche in consciens[823] as ye woolde have yovyn his
Father For he ys moche[824] chargyd w_i_t_h_ the dett_e_s of his Father
as he affirmyth and also w_i_t_h_ the Fyndyng of his Brethern and
sisterne[825]. Whereffor in myn oppynyon it shalbe well doon that ye
take an ende w_i_t_h_ hym Yow know his Father dyed in pryson at yo_ur_
Sute and thus co_m_myttyng this matyer to god & yo_ur_ Conscyens &
thanking yow For my hawke & bydde yow hertelye Fare well at london the
xxv^{ti} daye of July
_Endd._ mynute of a l_ette_re.
79. CROMWELL TO LORD COBHAM.
B.M. Harl. MSS. 283, f. 203; Cal. vii. App. 33. July 30 ‹1534›.
Directions about the administration of ‘the farm of the
parsonage.’ Promises to attend to the monks of which Cobham
speaks, if he will send them up.
I commend me vnto yo_ur_ good lordship yn my right harty maner,
Adu_er_tisyng you that I have receyvyd your l_ette_res and the Inventory
accordyng to your wrytyng. And touchyng the ferme of the parsonage I
desire your lordship to cause the corne and other dutyes to be getherd
together, and as for the rent I will order your lordship therin at our
metyng. And your Monk_e_s of whome ye write if ye send theym hither I
wil be contentyd to co_m_mon w_i_t_h_ theym and to do therin as the case
shall requyre. I pray yo_ur_ lordshyp to have me co_m_mendyd vnto my
good lady in my right harty maner and so to geve hir thank_e_s for the
foule that she hathe sent vnto me. And thus our lord have you yn his
kepyng. At Stepenhey the xxx^{th} day of Julye.
Your lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL
_Add._ To my very good lord my lord Cobham this be delyu_er_yd.
80. CROMWELL TO THE MAYORS AND OFFICERS OF
SOUTHAMPTON, PORTSMOUTH, AND POOLE.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1132. Sept. 4 ‹1534›.
Asks assistance for two men who are going into those parts
on the King’s business.
I co_m_mend me vnto you. ‹and› Adv_er_tise you that the king_es_ highnes
at this tyme dothe send George Whelpeley and John Brawne about certayne
besynes geven vnto theym in charge to be done in those p_ar_ties,
w_i_t_h_ soche spede and diligence as they convenyently may requyryng
you and eu_er_y of you to p_er_mytt and suffer the same George and John
to execute and do in eu_er_y thyng, as the kyng_es_ grace hath
co_m_maundyd theym w_i_t_h_out any yo_ur_ ympedyment_es_ let or
interupcion in and about the same. And in case any ill disposed
p_er_sone or p_er_sones will disobey or gaynsay the same, I farther
requyre you yn the kyng_es_ behalf to assiste ayde and counsaill theym
in and about thexecucion of their purpose. As ye will advoyde the
king_es_ high displeasure. And thus fare ye well. At london the
iiii^{th} day of September.
Your Freend THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the Mayres Sheriff_es_ and Bayliffes Custumers Comptrollers
and Sercho_ur_s w_i_t_h_in the townes and port_es_ of Suthampton
Portesmouthe and Pole and eu_er_y of theym and the Crek_es_ belongyng to
theym and eu_er_y of theym this be youen.
_Endd._ My m^{re}. l_ette_re for George Whelpeley
81. CROMWELL TO SIR ROGER REYNOLDS, ROBERT
WOLF, AND JOHN KYTCH.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1134. Sept. 6 ‹1534›.
The King desires them to repair to Cromwell to answer to the
charges made against them.
I comend me vnto you And these shalbe to adu_er_tise you that the
king_es_ pleasure is that ye y_m_mediately vppon the sight of these my
l_ette_res shall repayre hither to answer vnto suche thing_es_ as then
shalbe leyed and obiected to you on the king our saide sou_er_eigne
lord_es_ behalf. Fayle ye not thus to do as ye will avoyde ferther
perill and inconuenyence. So Fare ye well From my house at Canbery the
vi^{th} day of Septembre.
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To Sir Roger Reynold_es_ priest M_aster_ of the Hospitall of
Saynt Johns in Huntingdon Robert Wolf Baylif there and John Kytche and
to eu_er_y of them be this youen.
82. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE AND LORD EDMUND HOWARD.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1179. Sept. 21, 1534.
The King, hearing that the searchers of Calais are remiss,
and permit things to be conveyed out of the realm contrary
to law, has appointed Nicholas Caldwell and John Gough to
aid them.
In my right herty man_er_ I co_m_mende me vnto yo_ur_ good
Lordshipp_es_. So it is that the King_es_ Highenes is certaynly informyd
that dyuers and many thing_es_ arne dayly conveyd ouit of this realme
into the partyes of beyond the sees contrary to the statut_es_ and
provisions in suche casse ordeinyd and provided. and for as muche as the
s_er_chours in the towne and M_ar_chys of Calais arne remysse and
negligent in thexamynacion of their offic_es_ his highenes therfor well
considering the same, and also p_er_ceyving that his trusty
s_er_vaunt_es_ Nicholas Caldwall and John Gowghe byn men of good
circumspiccion meate to make s_er_che and fynde owt the same, hathe
ordenyd and constitutyd them Joyntly and severallie to be attendant and
vigilant abouit the serching of the same w_i_t_h_in the saide toune and
m_ar_chys and the havon Longing to the same for this tyme. Wherfor
adu_er_tesing yo_ur_ Lordshippes of the king_es_ ples_ur_ therin I
requyre you in the king_es_ behalff to assist and ayde the same Nicholas
& John and eyther of them in execucyon of this the king_es_ ples_ur_ and
co_m_maundement as often and as the casse shall requyre as the king_es_
trust is in you. and thus the blyssed trinitie pres_er_ue yo_ur_ good
Lordshipp_es_ at Candbery the xxi of Septembre
thus subscribyd
Yo_ur_ Lordshipp_es_ assuryd Frynd
THOMAS CROMWELL.
The sup_er_scripcio_n_. To the right hono_ur_able and my Veray good
Lord_es_ my Lord Lyssle depute of Calas and my Lorde Edmonde Howard
Comptroller ther and to eyther of them be this yeven
_Endd._ Copia of Mr. Cromwell_es_ L_ette_re for the s_er_che to John
Gowghe and N. caldewall 22 Septembre. 1534.
83. CROMWELL TO ‹THE LORDS OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL›.
R.O. (Museum) Cal. vii. 1271. Oct. 17 ‹1534›.
Asks them to give audience to the bearer, who can tell them
much about the evil-disposed person apprehended on Sunday
last. Advises that the said person be not put to death till
he has made full confession.
My lord_es_ after my most affectuouse reco_m_mendac_i_on, This present
berer my lord of York_es_ seruaunt is arryved nowe to me w_i_t_h_
l_ette_res bothe to me and to the king_es_ highnes. I haue remitted hym
furthw_i_t_h_ to deliver his maiestes l_ette_res. And because he can
fully Instructe yo_ur_ lordships and enfo_ur_me you of many thing_es_ I
pray you to heare hym fauourably and to geve hym full audience for ye
shal here of hym sundry notable thing_es_ and sp_ec_ially ayenst hym
that was apprehended on Sondaye last whom I tak to be an veray evill
disposed p_er_sone and the which if he be examyned according to the said
berers relation ye shal knowe thing_es_ gretely to be marked & noted
Therfor I beseche you to have this mater recommended And that the said
p_er_son so apprehended be not put to deth tyll we may knowe the hoole
and profound bothom of his cancred hert. I pray you to sende to me
adu_er_tisseme_n_t howe ye shal fynde hym and knowlege of the veray
mater And also of any suche thing_es_ As I can do here, any expe_dis_hon
for the furthera_un_ce of any the king_es_ maters For I shal spaer no
diligence. Thus o_ur_ blessed creato_ur_ have you in his tuition &
keping From the Rooles this xvii^{th} of Octobr_e_.
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
84. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1328. Oct. 29, 1534.
Requests him to examine and reform the ‘anoysaunces’ made by
Sir Robert Wingfield in the Marches of Calais.
In my right harty maner I co_m_mend me vnto yo_ur_ good lordship. And
wher as of late the kinges highnes hathe directed his Co_m_myssion vnto
yo_ur_ lordship and other for pullyng downe and reformacion of certayne
anoysaunces made and done by Sir Robart Wyngfeld w_i_t_h_in the Marches
of Calays, the kinges pleasure is that ye and thother Co_m_myssion_er_s
shall circumspectly viewe and ou_er_see the same. And that that of
necessite ought to be refourmyd for the welthe strengthe and
co_m_modite of the sayd Towne and marches accordyng as it was thought at
my last beyng ther to be amendyng, and the resydue that ‹neither›
damagithe ne hurtithe the same Towne to stand still as ye see reasonable
cause after yo_ur_ discresion. and as ye shall seme good. And thus the
blessed Trenyte p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordship At london the xxix day of
October.
Your lordshyppis assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the hono_ur_able and my veray good Lorde my lord Vicount Lisle
the kyng_es_ Depute of Calais be this youen.
_Endd._ Maister Cromwell the xxix^{th} of Octobre 1534.
85. CROMWELL TO AUDELEY.
B.M. Vesp. F. xiii, 105 b; Cal. vii. 1415. Nov. 11 ‹1534›.
Desires him to send back by the bearer a true copy of the
proclamation, which is to be printed by Bartlett the printer
to-night.
Aftre my right harty co_m_mendac_i_ons to yo_ur_ lordship Forasmoche as
it shalbe very necessary to haue some copies of the proclamac_i_on also
printed this night to thintent the same maye be sent into sundry
p_ar_ties w_i_t_h_ the bokes, of answer, These shalbe to desire and pray
yo_ur_ Lordship to sende me by this berer a true copie of the same, and
I shal sende for bartelet the printer, and first swere him, and thenne
cause him to entende this night to the printing of the copies therof
accordingly. And thus most hartely Fare you wel. From the Rull_es_ the
xi^{th} of Nouembr_e_
I require yo_ur_ lordship to cause the proclamac_i_ons to be writen and
sealed w_i_t_h_ suche expedic_i_on as you may take the payne to be here
w_i_t_h_ them tomorowe by tenne of the clock where my lord of Norff_olk_
and I w_i_t_h_ others wil tary dyner tyl yo_ur_ cu_m_myng.
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
ADD. To my very good Lord my Lord Chauncello_ur_ delyu_er_ this w_i_t_h_
spede.
_Endd._ m^{r}. Lord my m^{r}. to my lord Chauncello_ur_, _etc._
86. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1438. Nov. 17 ‹1534›.
A letter of gentle reproof for failing to discharge his
office, as his duty to the King demands. Points out that his
‘excess of living’ has brought him into contempt.
My very good lorde aftre my right harty co_m_mendac_i_ons I am now
enforced to write my mynde plainly vnto youe as to him the
p_re_seruation of whose hono_ur_ I desire Bothe for the discharge of my
dueuty to the king_es_ highnes, and for the declaration of myn hartye
good will whiche I bere vnto you, and therfor I require you my lorde to
take it in good p_ar_te. First I trust you consider what a charge you
haue there vnder the king_es_ M_aies_tie and I woold youe should
remember Both what besemeth a man to doo being in that place, and that
the same conteineth in it no state of inheritaunce, ne terme for lief
But vppon the good Behauio_ur_ of the p_er_sonne having it. Nowe if you
shuld waye the thing and the nature of it indifferently, Wold you thinke
it mete that a man shuld haue that charge, which wold Bring himself to
suche necessitie that he shuld be constrayned to put all thing_es_ to
sale, that be co_m_mytted vppon sp_ec_iall trust to his discreation,
neglecting of thone p_ar_te the king_es_ highnes hono_ur_ to be
p_re_serued in the satisfaction of his grauntt_es_, of thother p_ar_te
as it were contempnyng all frieendeship in giving place to a litle
Lucre. Surely my lorde suche a gouerno_ur_ as you Be shuld not Bynde
himself at any manes request to p_er_forme that shall not p_er_case lye
in him, ne by any his excesse in living make himself soo nedye, that
whenne the present thing shuld happen, he shuld be forced to haue more
estimac_i_on of money thenne regarde to the tayle it Bringeth w_i_t_h_
it. If I were not determyned to contynue yo_ur_ lordships assured
Freende I wold not worke this plainly w_i_t_h_ you, neither thinke that
I doo it vppon any affection, for I wold ‹do› that I maywil honestly.
oon man I haue often tymes reco_m_mended that is the Surveyo_ur_ whom
the King_es_ Ma_ies_te woold haue s_er_ued of foure men according to his
graunte and Late co_m_maundement made for the same. But yet I write not
this so moche for him alone as for others and chiefly for yourself, and
after for the poore man that is berer herof who hathe yo_ur_ Bonde.
Whiche yo_ur_ hono_ur_ shalbe to p_er_forme and accomplishe, and Bothe
myn aduise and desire shal concurre w_i_t_h_ the same, lest it might be
taken yvel where p_er_case you did it vppon an honest grounde. Finally
my lorde I remayn_e_ yo_ur_ harty Freende, and desire you to expresse
yo_ur_ Freendeship again toward_es_ me in yo_ur_ hono_ur_able
proceeding_es_, and the helping of such as the king_es_ Ma_ies_te wold
shuld be there preferred, among_es_ the Whiche the Surveyr is not the
last, and yet I wold he shuld haue nothing onles his s_er_uice des_er_ue
it. Thus most hartely Fare you wel From the Nete the xvii^{th} of
Nouembr
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my very good Lorde the Viscounte Lisle Deputie ‹of› the
king_es_ towne and the Marches of Calays.
_Endd. by Lisle._ Tochyng the gyft of romys
87. CROMWELL TO LADY LISLE.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1448. Nov. 20 ‹1534›.
Denies the report that he is displeased with her. If she
continues to act as she has, she will always find him a firm
friend.
In my right harty maner I co_m_mend me vnto yo_ur_ good ladiship. And
wheras I am infourmyd that reaport hathe been made vnto you that I shuld
be displeasid w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ ladiship . Where of trouthe I knowe no
cause wherfore I shuld so be, Wherfore I pray you geve no soche credence
ne beleffe to any p_er_sone, for yo_ur_ good ladiship vsyng yo_ur_ selfe
in all causes none otherwise then I here that ye do, and as I doubte not
that ye will here after contynewe, shall fynd me as redy to do you any
pleasure, that may lye in me to do as any frynd that ye have. And thus
the blessed Trenyte pres_er_ue your good ladiship. At london the xx^{th}
day of November.
Your louyng Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and my very good lady my lady lisle be
this youen.
88. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹HENRY VIII›.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1613. ‹1534.›
Reports that Mr. Southwell is content to sell the manor
beside East Yafford, in Yorkshire, and will show it to the
King’s surveyor.
Pleasythit yo_ur_ highnes to be adu_er_tysyd how that Sythyn my repayre
to london I haue[826] spokyn w_i_t_h_ Mr. Sowthwell to whom I haue
declaryd yo_ur_ most gracyous pleasure touching the purchasing of his
Manno_ur_ besyd_es_ est yafford who most humblye Submyttyth hym vnto the
plesure of yo_ur_ magestye and ys right well content that yo_ur_ grace
appoyntyng[827] Suche p_er_sons to vew the sayd manno_ur_ as shall
‹stand› w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ highe pleasure he wyll gyue his attendaunce to
shew vnto them the same to thentent yo_ur_ highnes may be trewlye
certeffyed vppon the vew of the Comodytes belongyng to the same. and
that ons known, w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ most gracyous plesure, Further
conclusyon to be takyn & Such as to yo_ur_ highnes shall Seme most mete.
Wherfor and it might please yo_ur_ grace that I myght know yo_ur_
plesure who yo_ur_ highnes woolde appoynt to Survey the sayd Mano_ur_ I
woolde then accordyngly[828] cause Instruccyons to be in Redynes For the
same[829].
89. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1614. ‹1534.›
Desires him to give Mr. Alen a lease of the farm of Canewood
and Canefield, in Essex, without delay, and trusts he has
made no promise which will prevent him from doing this.
My Lorde after my right hertie reco_m_mendac_i_ons where as I haue
wrytten to you in the fauo_ur_s of my veraye Frend Mr. Alen for his
p_re_ferrement to the Ferme of Canewod and Canefeld_es_ And hauing
receyued yo_ur_ answer thereunto whereby I do p_er_ceyve yo_ur_ desire
is to haue respite of yo_ur_ consent and gr_a_unnt_es_ in that behalf
till yo_ur_ co_m_myng to London alledging that in the meantyme ye will
do yo_ur_ possible to call agayn a form_er_ p_ro_mise by you thereof
made to a nother p_er_son, My lorde I trust ye haue made no such
p_ro_mise which in case ye haue, yet I doubt not ye will so compase it
that my p_ur_pose be not Disapoynted by that meane. And therefore my
lorde Forasmoche as I do so ernestly meane and intende the
satisfacc_i_on of my saide Frend in that p_ar_te, I shall eftesones most
hertelie requyre you indelayedlie to confourme yo_ur_ self to
thaccomplisshme_n_t thereof, and all excuses set a p_ar_te, to make him
out a lease of the said Ferme according to my form_er_ request, Which be
ye assured in Few word_es_ I shall intend so to requyte as ye shall haue
no cause to thinke the same bestowid vppon an ingrate p_er_son
90. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1615. ‹1534.›
On behalf of Thomas Miller, an English subject, whose goods
have been wrongly detained by James Sinclair, governor of
the north of Scotland, and who cannot get redress.
After my right hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons it may lyke you to undrestonde
that where A Shyp called the Andrewe ap_er_teynyng to one Thomas Miller
beyng a Subiect to my most dreade sou_er_aigne Lorde Kyng and maister by
chaunce of tempest or other mysfortune was ronne Aground in the north
p_ar_ties of the Realme of Scotland. And yet neu_er_thelesse the most
p_ar_te of alle the goodes and m_er_chandises in the said Shypp
amountyng to the value of cclx li. sterling as I am enformed were there
and then ‹saved› by the diligens and labours of the s_er_u_a_unt_e_s of
the said Thomas they beyng taken owt and by them savely kepte to their
saide maisters vse by the space of viii or ix dayes. Vnto suche tyme as
one James Seyntcler governer and ruler in the said North p_ar_ties of
Scotland vndre the Kynges grace yo_ur_ maister w_i_t_h_out any
reasonable cause toke awaye the said goodes and m_er_chandises from the
Servants of the said Thomas and so the same eu_er_ sens hathe kept and
deteyned agaynst good equitie and consciens. And for as moche as at
yo_ur_ last beyng in Englond ye gentilly p_ro_mised me that if I wrote
vnto you for relief or necessitie of any the Subiect_e_s of Englande in
cases or Justice, ye wolde the rather at my pore contemplacion put youre
good endevor to accomplysshe my request. At whiche tyme also of yo_ur_
said beyng in England thys case was then by me and other the kyng my
Maisters Counsayle mocioned, and declared vnto you, Whereapon ye
p_ro_mised vs that yf the p_ar_tie damaged repayred to yo_ur_ p_ar_ties
for Justice after yo_ur_ comyng home that then he shold be restored as
to reason, right, and conscience shold app_er_teyne. And thys
notw_i_t_h_stondyng albeit the said Thomas Miller by the late maister of
the said Shipp hath made humble sut_e_s for Justice and Restitucion of
hys said gooddes and m_er_chandises to hys greate cost_e_s and charges
yet neu_er_thelesse he hath hitherto had nor can get any redresse.
Wherefore at the desyre of the said Thomas I at thys tyme am bold to
wryght vnto you, right hartely desiryng you that at the repaire of the
said Thomas or eny of hys s_er_vants to you w_i_t_h_ these my l_ette_res
that he may by yo_ur_ good favors and meanes so reasonably be ordered in
thys case as he shall haue no cause reasonable to compleyn for lak of
Justice, by whiche doyng_es_ I shall accompt my self bounden to reaquite
yo_ur_ gentilnes w_i_t_h_ semblable pleasures for Any Frend or Neyghbour
of yo_ur_s.
_Endd._ A Copie of a l_ette_re writen into Scotland in the favo_ur_ of
one Thomas miller of london
91. CROMWELL TO ----.
R.O. Cal. vii. 1616. ‹1534.›
Desires him to restore the lands which he has wrongfully
taken from Reginald Williams in the West Country.
After my right hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons Forasmoche as I haue bene sued
vnto and requyred by my Freendes to adresse thiese my l_ette_res vnto
you in the fauo_ur_ of one Reignolde Williams from whom as I am
crediblie info_ur_med ye do deteyne and w_i_t_h_olde certeyne londes in
the weste cuntrey contrary to all right and good equitie albeit the
saide Reignalde Williams as manifestly appereth by his euydenc_e_s is
nexte heire vnto the same lond_es_ I shall therfore hertely desyre you
the rather at this my requeste and contemplacion that w_i_t_h_out any
further molestation or truble in the lawe ye will calle togither yo_ur_
Freendes and after co_m_m_u_nication had in the mattier to conclude a
Finall ende therin accordinge to equitie and co_n_sciens so that the
saide Reignolde receyue no iniurye nor wronge at yo_ur_ hande[830], but
also bynde me to shewe you lyke pleasures accordinglie. thus Fare ye
well. At my howse of Stepneth
92. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
R.O. Cal. vii. 618. ‹1534.›
The King is displeased at hearing of the ill-treatment of
the inhabitants of the town by the authorities of the
University, and desires that amends be made.
I comend me vnto yow Aduertysing the same _tha_t wher the king_es_
hyghnes is crediblie infourmed of you_r_ abusions vsurpacyons &
vngentill demeano_ur_ vsed toward_es_ the king_es_ highnes his
subiect_es_ & inhabit_a_unt_es_ of _tha_t his towne of Oxforthe &
subberb_es_ of the same I can not but mervaile _tha_t ye being men of
Lerning & in whom shoulde remayne both wisedom & discressyon wille in
suche wise demeane your self[831] not onelie in making of lawes &
ordyn_a_unc_es_ Amongst your self to their hindrance hurt and preiudice
but also c_on_trary to the king_es_ lawes whiche aperethe in you to haue
proceded of nothing but mere malice Wherfor intending to co_n_duce &
Allecte yow to som good conformyte & quyetnes the king_es_ hyghnes
therfore hathe co_m_mandyd me to advise yow not onlie to restore all
such persons as you haue discomoned p_er_mitting them to do & occupie as
they did before, w_i_t_h_out mayntening or suffering any scoler or
ser_ua_unt_es_ to occupie w_i_t_h_ in the toune or suburbe of _th_e same
as a burgesse there dothe except he or they do agree there fore w_i_t_h_
the sayd burgesses But also that in no wise ye do vexe trouble or
inquyete any of the saide inhabitaunt_es_ by suspension
exco_m_munycaci_on_ discomonning banysshement or otherwise, vsing suche
discression _tha_t all varyaunc_es_ may ceasse & be stayed amongst yow
so as all malice and evill will being co_n_tempned & expulsed from yow,
good amyte peax & quyetnes may take place accordynglie. And duobt ye not
or it be long the King_es_ Counsaile by his grac_i_ous co_m_maundement
will & haue determyned to set suche an ende & redresse amongst yow as
god willing shall be an establisshing of a p_er_petuall peax good vnyte
& accorde amongst yow for eu_er_ fayell ye not this to do as yow wyll
answre vnto the kyng_es_ highnes & advoyde the daung_ier_ of his
indingnacion & high displessur And so Fare ye well
_Add._ To the Ch_a_uncelour and comissarie w_i_t_h_ other the heddes &
membres of the vnyversite of Oxforde be this youen
_Endd._ A copye of a l_ette_re to Oxforth
93. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. viii. 187. Feb. 8 ‹1535›.
The King has written to Lisle to give Ralph Hare the next
vacant position at 8_d._ a day. Advises Lisle to follow the
King’s orders.
In my most harty wise I co_m_mend me vnto your good lordship. And
p_er_sayvyng that the king_es_ highnes hathe not only geven vnto Raufe
Hare by sufficient writyng vnder the privey seale, the roume of eight
pence sterling by the day whiche shall first and next fall voyde
w_i_t_h_in that the towne of Calays, but hathe also writen vnto you his
l_ette_res vnder hys signet confermyng thesame and mencionyng therby his
pleasure and expresse co_m_maundment in that behalfe, these shalbe
therfore as yo_ur_ lordshippes assured frynde to my power to advise you
to folowe the kyng_es_ co_m_maundement therin for the satisfaction of
his pleasure in that behalfe. Wherby ye shall not only des_er_ue the
Kyng_es_ right harty and condigne thank_es_ but also admynyster and do
vnto me and other of his frynd_es_ whiche dothe write vnto you also in
his favour, great pleasure and gratuyte, the whiche god willyng shalbe
on my part in semblable wise recompensed. And thus the blessed Trenyte
p_re_serue yo_ur_ good lordship. At the Rolles the viii^{th} day of
February.
Yo_ur_ lordshippis Freend assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and my synguler good lord the vicount
lisle the kyng_es_ depute at Calays.
_Endd._ Mr. Secretoryes l_ette_re
Mr. Sekretarye the viii^{th} of Febrewary cons_er_ning raff Hare.
94. CROMWELL TO THE PRIOR OF DUDLEY.
R.O. Cal. viii. 191. Feb. 10 ‹1535›.
The King desires the Prior personally to repair to Cromwell
at once.
I Co_m_mende me vnto youe. Lating youe wit that for certain causes the
p_ar_ticularities wherof ye shal knowe herafter The king_es_ pleasure
and co_m_maundement is ye shal Imediatly vppon the sight herof all
delayes and excuses setaparte p_er_sonally repaire vnto me wheresoeuer
it shall chaunce me to be w_i_t_h_out faylling as ye wil answer to his
grace at yo_ur_ extreme p_er_ill. From the Rulles the x^{th} of
Februarye.
Yo_ur_ Freend THOMAS CRUMWELL
_Add._ To my Freende the prior of Dudleye yeve this w_i_t_h_ spede.
95. CROMWELL TO THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF LONDON.
R.O. Cal. viii. 221. Feb. 15 ‹1535›.
Desires for Robert Baxter, a clerk of the Common Bench, the
next vacancy in the clerkships of their court.
In my ryght harty wise I commend me vnto you & to eu_er_y of you And
albeit I am many wise importune & bold apon you for my selff & my
frend_es_ When cause & occasion hath so requyred. This shalbe to
aduertise you that Robert Backster one of the Clarkes writers w_i_t_h_
John Joyner the kyng_es_ Preignetory of his grac_es_ comen bench at
West_minster_ is very desyrous to be one of the Clarkes of your Courte &
hath made instant peticion to me that by myne intercession to be made
vnto youe in his fauo_ur_ he myght the rather & more effectuelly opteyne
the same. And were as I am acerteynyd that the Rowmes of your foure
Clarkes are now furnyshyd & non of theym voide. Wherefore I hertely
desyre & p_ra_y you at the contemplacion of these my letters and for my
sake wylbe content to graunt vnto the said Robert the next vacac_i_on of
one of the iiii Clark_es_ of that your courte And I dare will undertake
for hym that he shall at all tymes (yf he lyue to optayne the same) vse
and behaue hymself like an honest officer. And for your goodnes herein
to be shewed vnto hym (for my sake) ye shalbe well assured to fynd me as
redy semably to requyte you of suche gratuite & pleasure as shall lye in
me to shew vnto you. And thus fare ye well from the Rollys the xv day of
february.
_Add._ To my veray good Lorde the Mayo_ur_ of the Citie of London and to
his worshypfull Brethern thaldermen of the same & to euery of theym.
_Endd._ From Mr. Crumwelle.
96. CROMWELL TO HENRY BURTON.
R.O. Cal. viii. 239. Feb. 19 ‹1535›.
The King is informed that Burton has disturbed Lady Carew in
her possession of a free chapel and ground, granted her by
the King. Desires him to cease troubling her.
In my hartie maner I co_m_mende me vnto you, Aduertising the same that
Whereas complaint hath nowe lately been made vnto the King_es_
Ma_ies_tie on the behalf of my Ladye Carewe howe that you haue made a
wrongfull and riotouse entree into a certayn f_r_ee chapell and a litle
close grounde abowt the same whiche chapell and grounde his hieghnes
hath geven and graunted vnto her by his grac_es_ l_ette_res patent_es_
during her lief, the remayndre thereof to Fraunceys Carewe her sonne,
and to the heyres masles of his bodye begoten, So that it seameth his
maiestie hath the Reversion of the fee simple in him, his heyres and
successo_ur_s. His Hieghnes willed me to signifie vnto you by these my
l_ette_res his grac_es_ pleaso_ur_ and co_m_maundeme_n_t is that you do
not onely permitte, and suffre the saied Ladye Carewe to enioye peaxably
the possession of the premisses, and to restore suche thinges as you
haue wrongfully taken owt of the chapell and grounde aforsaied, but also
to cease yo_ur_ suete co_m_menced againste her at the co_m_men lawe vnto
such tyme as both yo_ur_ titles maye be further examined and tryed by
lerned and indifferent Counsaill, Not failing hereof as you tendere His
Hieghnes pleaso_ur_, Thus fare you hertely well. From London the
xix^{th} daie of Februarye.
Your louyng Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my Loving freende Henry Burton.
_Endd._ In the bahalf of the Ladye Carewe & her sonne Fraunceys.
97. CROMWELL TO THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY.
Heralds’ Coll. of Arms, Shrewsb. MSS. A, f. 57;
Cal. viii. 247. Feb. 20 ‹1535›.
Sends him a letter from the King. As for the farm of which
the Earl wrote, Cromwell has discovered that his servant is
not anxious to leave it, and he is unwilling to urge him.
After my right harty co_m_mendac_i_ons to yo_ur_ good lordshippe
w_i_t_h_ semblable thank_es_ for yo_ur_ L_ette_res Lately addressed Vnto
me The same shall herew_i_t_h_ receyue the King_es_ highnes L_ett_res of
answer to suche credence as yow co_m_mytted to my Freende Maister
Butt_es_ to be declared Vnto him. And albeit his Maiestie hathe not
resolutely answered to the p_ar_ticular point_es_ of yo_ur_ credence
aforsaid yet yo_ur_ lordshippe maye be assured at yo_ur_ cu_m_myng vppe
to receyve suche answer in eu_er_y of the same as shalbe to yo_ur_
contentac_i_on. And vndoubtedly his grace woolbe as gladde to see yo_ur_
lordshippe as any man I suppose in his realme. Suche is his entier love
and fauo_ur_ toward_es_ yowe. Whiche I am as gladde to p_er_ceyve and
see as yo_ur_ self could desire the same. Touching the ferme wherof
yo_ur_ lordshippe wrote vnto me I haue been in hande w_i_t_h_ my
s_er_u_au_nt and like as I wold be lothe to constrayne him if I might
otherwise chuse to forgoo it Soo I perceyve he woll not leave it onles
it shalbe for advoyding of my displeasure, and again the man dothe me
soo good s_er_uice that w_i_t_h_ equitie I canne presse him no further
therin thenne I haue doon. Neuertheles if yo_ur_ lordshippe woll haue me
eftsones to travail in it I shall doo asmoche more therin as yo_ur_ self
shall at yo_ur_ cu_m_myng thinke mete for me. And thus moost hartely
Fare yow well. From the Rull_e_s the xx^{th} of February
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good Lorde Therle of Shrewisbury lord Steward of the
King_es_ Houshold.
98. CROMWELL TO ADMIRAL CHABOT, SIEUR DE BRION[832].
Bibl. Nat. de Paris, Fonds Moreau, 737, page 83;
Cal. viii. 337. ‹Mar.› 4, 1535.
The report of the Treasurer of Brittany will assure him how
desirous the King is to remain in friendship with the King
of France. Urges de Brion to do all he can to strengthen and
increase the amity.
MONSEIGNEUR,
J’ay receu les lettres qu’il vous a pleu m’escrire ensemble entendu
vostre response, et charge de M^{r}. le Trésorier Palamédes, laquelle,
selon sa très bonne manière de faire, et au très grand contentement du
Roy, mon maistre, il a sceu trèsbien dire et déclarer, et pourtant que
par la response qu’il emporte, vous pourrez clairement cognoistre la
bonne constance et continuation d’amitié et vnion, en quoy le Roy mon
dit maistre entend persister à tout iamais tant luy que sa postérité,
sans aucunement varier, ains faire tout ce que avec son honneur et
condescentement luy sera possible, au desir du Roy, son bon frère:
pourtant aussy, que le dict Trésorier vous sçaura faire ample rapport de
toutes choses;
Monseigneur, après vous avoir très affectueusement prié que veuilliés
persuader, et si mestier est, inculquer à la ma^{té} du Roy V^e Maistre,
la grandeur de leur amitié, et bonne intention de la dicte response et
qu’il ne veuille presser ne desyrer le Roy de chose pourquoy l’on pense
avoir suspicion ou coniecture qu’en l’amitié d’entr’eux y entre aucun
respect de lucre ou proffit particulier: car ce n’est pas assez, comme
vous sçavez trop mieux, que leur amitié soit cogneue et prinse pour
ferme et establie par entr’eux et leurs amys, qui est à leur grand
confort et encouragement: Mais aussy est très expédient de l’entretenir
et conduire en sorte que leurs Ennemis et malveillans n’ayant cause d’y
pouvoir penser, ne suspecter aucune interruption, qui sera à leur très
grand esbahissement Confusion et desconfort: et ce faisant, comme bien
gist en vous, le bien et plaisir, qui à tout le monde en adviendra, ne
se sçavoir assez estimer, sans vous rescrire pour le présent plus au
long, m’estre de très bon c[oe]ur recommandé à V^{e} Seigneurie et
offert tout ce en quoi vous sçauray faire honneur et plaisir Je supplie
nostre benoist Créateur, que, à vous Monseigneur, il veuille donner sa
saincte et digne garde.
Signé, Vostre à commandement
THOMAS CRAMWELL.
Escript à Londres,
le iv iour de May[833].
1534.
_Add._ A Monseigneur
Monseigneur l’Admiral de France.
99. CROMWELL TO LORD LISLE.
R.O. Cal. viii. 419. Mar. 21 ‹1535›.
The King marvels at his delay in granting Thomas Appowell a
position as soldier at Calais. Desires Lisle to give him the
next vacant place.
After my right harty co_m_mendacions vnto yo_ur_ good lordship, thiese
shalbe for asmoche as the king_es_ highnes before this tyme in
consideracion of the good and acceptable s_er_uice done vnto his sayd
highnes by his faythefull subgec[t] Thomas Appowell. Hathe geven and
graunted vnto hym the roume of a Souldiour of the retynewe at Calays
whiche first or next shuld fall and be voyde w_i_t_h_ the wag_es_ of
viii d. a da[y] as by the king_es_ graunt therof made vnder his signet
beryng date the second day of May in the xxiii^{th} yere of his reigne
and other his sp_ec_iall l_ette_res sithens directed vnto you for that
purpose it dothe more playnly appere. And that notw_i_t_h_standing,
hitherto he hathe not been preferred to any suche roume, as he saythe
wherat considering the kinges sayd graunt and l_ette_res seu_er_ally
made for that purpose his highnes dothe not a litle marvaill. Wherfore I
requyre and pray you for asmoche as thesayd Thomas hathe done good
s_er_uice, and is right mete for that roume. And the rather for my sake
and at the contemplacion of these my l_ette_res, to graunt vnto hym the
next roume that shalbe voyde w_i_t_h_ thesayd wages, shewing vnto hym
yo_ur_ lordshippes favo_ur_ in that behalf. Wherby besides that ye
shall do a very good dede, ye shall admynyster and do vnto me right
thankfull pleasu[re] the whiche god willyng I will in semblable wise
requite. thus the blessed Trenyte preserue you. At the rolles the xxi
day of Marche.
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lord the vicount lisle the King_es_ depute at
Calays.
100. CROMWELL TO SIR GREGORY DA CASALE.
R.O. Cal. viii. 523. April 10, 1535.
The King is glad to hear that the Bishop of Rome begins to
appreciate the justice of his cause. Urges that every effort
be made to prevail upon the Pope to give formal sentence in
favour of the divorce.
Mag_nifi_ce D_omi_ne Gregori salutem et commen_dacionem_ Complures post
vestru_m_ hinc discessum, et uariis temporibus datas a vobis l_itte_ras
accepi, quarum recensiores sub die xx februarii Romae scriptae sunt,
quicquid uero de occure_n_tiis istis publicis, ac priuatis Regiae
Ma_iesta_tis rebus in dictis l_itte_ris unquam significabatur
sigillatim, ac diligenter id ipsi semper exposui, gratumq_ue_ et
acceptum habet sedulu_m_ istud v_est_rum scribendi officium, nec ego
antea v_est_ris l_itte_ris respondi, q_uod_ putaui, praeter istor_um_
successuu_m_ cognitione_m_ (quae sui nouitate grata semper est) non esse
admodum multa, quibus particularius foret respondendum: Nunc autem Regia
Ma_ies_tas quum v_estr_as tum ad se, tum ad me l_itter_as pressius,
accuratiusq_ue_ perlegisset, illud inter coetera, mente adnotauit,
Pontificem vobiscu_m_ loqui uoluisse, summa_m_q_ue_ praesetulisse Regiae
Ma_iesta_ti gratificandi propensionem, et ob eam causam, duos accersisse
ex hetruria iureconsultos cum primis eruditos, quorum doctrinae
sanoq_ue_ iudicio potissimum fidat, eorumq_ue_ sententias, et opiniones
pro Regiae Ma_iesta_tis causa stare, et eiusmodi esse v_est_ris vos
l_itte_ris affirmatis ut pontifex ex officio debeat praesens
matrimonium, etiam si de ualiditate dispensationis a Iulio factae
constaret, approbare, Coeterum causa_m_ hanc, ut ueritatis fundamento
totam innitentem, et si Regia Ma_ies_tas cum Deo satis firmatam habeat,
et omni ex parte stabilitam, in hunc tamen sensum l_itte_ras v_estr_as
interpretatur, Pontificem scilicet de eius rectitudine et aequitate cum
sua Regia M_aiesta_te q_uam_ optime sentire, Proinde si amicum ac
syncerum istud pectus erga Ser_enissi_mum Do_min_um meum Regem (quod vos
scribitis) re uera habet, quin potius, ut bonum quenq_ue_ virum ab omni
prorsus odio, et affectu liberum, et immunem in primis decet, si
ueritati ex anima fauet, eius certe sunt partes, ut suam hanc erga
Inuictissimum D_omi_num meum Regem in causa omnium iustissima bene
affectam uoluntatem, suo etiam publico testimonio, et approbatione
vniuersi orbi reddat perq_uam_ manifestam, suaq_ue_ sponte, innataq_ue_
animi probitate et solius ueritatis propagandae studio, nulla Regiae
Ma_iesta_tis intercessione expectata, ad id adducatur, ut nullius metu,
seu respectu a uero rectoq_ue_ deflectens de prioris matrimonii
inualiditate, praesentisq_ue_ firmitate, et robore ingenue pronunciet,
quem ad modum doctissimis illis viris, quos huius rei causa ab eo
accersitos, istic adesse scribitis, maxime probari significatis,
efficiet certe Pontifex rem suo munere, et officio dignam, Ser_enissi_mo
D_omi_no meo Regi, qui suae causae iustitiam tot uigiliis, sumptibus ac
laboribus diu quaesitam, et iam pridem cum Deo compertam habet,
ueheme_n_ter gratam, sibiq_ue_ in primis, et pontificatui suo longe
utiliorem, q_uam_ nunc demonstratione sit opus, Vos autem si hac in re
nullo Regiae Ma_iesta_tis expectato mandato, nulloq_ue_ suo iussu (non
enim firmiora suae causae q_uam_ nunc habet adiumenta aliunde sperat)
quicq_uid_ profeceritis, ac Pontificem v_est_ra dexteritate ex vobis ad
id quod scribitis adduxeritis, eiusdem Regiae Ma_iesta_tis expectationi
quae no_n_ vana, aut victa officia, nec infructuosos rerum euentus de
v_estr_is actionibus sibi pollicetur, procul dubio respondebitis, et
haec a Pontifice beneuolentia et gratia ex officio proueniens eo
no_m_i_n_e gratior, et acceptior erit, q_uod_ ueritatis ratio, deiq_ue_
respectus, sanaq_ue_ conscientia ad hoc eum mortaliu_m_ nemine
procura_n_te, nunc commouerit. Et bene valete. Londini Die x Aprilis
M.D. xxxv.
Vester bonus amicus
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ Mag_nifi_co Equiti, D_omi_no Gregorio Casalio etc. Amico
car_issi_mo.
101. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹SIR GREGORY DA CASALE›.
R.O. Cal. vii. 268[834]. ‹April 10, 1535.›
Draft in English of the preceding.
After my right ‹hearty› co_m_mendacions, Sithen yo_ur_ dep_ar_ture I
haue receyued sundry of yo_ur_ l_ette_res whereof the last bere date at
Rome the xx day of Februarie. And whatsoeu_er_ ye haue signefied vnto me
by yo_ur_ saide l_ette_res aswell of the publique occurrant_es_ there as
of the King_es_ highnes pryuate affairees I haue aliwayes intymated and
declared the same to the king_es_ maiestie who right thankefully and
acceptablie taketh and estemeth yo_ur_ diligence in wryting And now
having p_er_vsed and redde both yo_ur_ l_ette_res addressed to his
maieste and also to me his highnes hathe speciallie noted in the same
amongst other that the bisshop of Rome speking w_i_t_h_ you shewed
himself veray propice and desirous to gratefie his saide highnes And
that he had sent for out of Ethrurie twoo Lawyers being singulerly well
lerned in whose doctrine and good iudgement he hathe grete trust and
confidence Whose sentenc_es_ and opynyons do stonde hollie w_i_t_h_ the
king_es_ highnes cause Affirmyng (as ye wryte) that the saide Bisshop of
Rome of his duetie and office ought to approbate and confyrme this
p_re_sent matrymonie albeit it depended vppon the validite of the
dispensacion made by Julius. So as Notw_i_t_h_stonding that the king_es_
maiestie having his saide cause sufficientlie diffyned and being himself
in that behalf resolutely determyned and grounded as vppon the
foundacion of veryte and trowth hathe discharged his conscience therein
(like a good vertuous and catholique prynce) afore god and the worlde
Yet his maieste dothe in suche sence interpretate yo_ur_ l_ette_res that
(as appereth by the same) the saide bisshop of Rome begynneth now
somwhat to sauo_ur_ and fele the iustnes and equyte of the saide cause
and p_ar_telie to stande w_i_t_h_ the King_es_ maiestie in the same.
Wherefore if the saide bisshop of Rome do in dede bere so frendelie and
syncere good mynde and will toward_es_ the king_es_ highnes (as ye do
wryte) or rather if he love the trewth as it beco_m_meth eu_er_y good
man to do setting ap_ar_te all hatred and affection it is his parte to
shew the same now to the vnyu_er_sall worlde in this most iust and
rightcious cause by his owne publique testymonye and approbacion. And of
his owne free will and w_i_t_h_out any sute or intercession of the
king_es_ maiestie onelie adhering to the trewth and negle_c_ting all
other respect_es_ to p_ro_nounce the invalidite of the first mat_ri_mony
and the validite of the seconde according to the sentenc_es_
iudgement_es_ and diffynytions of the saide ii^{o} lerned men which as
ye wryte the saide bisshop of Rome called and sent for vnto him for that
purpose which if the saide Bisshop of Rome will, surely he shall do ‹a›
thing wo_ur_thie his office and merite of god and the worlde and to the
king_es_ highnes veray thankefull and acceptable pleasure, and also to
him self and his see moche more p_ro_fite and good then now nedeth to
expresse. And you for yo_ur_ p_ar_te if in this matier as of yo_ur_ self
ye can any thing p_ro_fite or p_re_vaile by yo_ur_ good policie and
dexteryte toward_es_ the conducyng of the saide Bisshop of Rome to that
conformyte (as ye wryte in yo_ur_ saide l_ette_res) ye shall then
vndoubtedlie answer to the king_es_ highnes expectac_i_on And the same
p_ro_ceding of the beneuolence of the saide Bisshop of Rome and the zele
that he hathe to the due execucion of his office and duetie shalbe the
more grate and acceptable a grete dell to the King_es_ highnes and the
hole wo_ur_lde, seeing that the mere veryte and the respecte that he
hath to god and his owne conscience shall move him thereunto w_i_t_h_out
any mortall mannes procurement
_Endd._ A Mynute of certeyn l_ette_res responsyve to on at Rome
A mynute of a L_ette_re to intymate to the Pope the King_es_ desyre to
haue him condiscend to the dyvorce & to allowe the second maryage.
102. ‹CROMWELL› TO MR. RICHE.
R.O. Cal. viii. 563. Apr. 20 ‹1535›.
Requests him to use his influence to induce Mr. Sinclair to
cease suing Edward Campion, clerk of the peace in Essex.
After my m[ost] hertie maner I co_m_mende me vnto you, and evyn so I
pray you at this my request and contemplac_i_on to be good Maister and
frende vnto Edwarde Campion clerke of the peax w_i_t_h_in the shere of
Essex of and in all suche his busynes towching the same his office and
to be ameane for hym in the same unto Mr Sayntclere hym to desire to
putt the said campion to no further vexacions and sut_es_ for the said
office as he hath heretofore done. In doyng whereof you shall admynister
vnto me right singul_e_r pleasure, which god willing . I shall not for
get semblable to requyte as shall lye in my litill power. And this
hertelye fare ye well. At london this xx^{th} day of Aprill
_Add._ To my lovyng frende Master Riche.
_Endd._ Mynute of l_ette_re.
103. CROMWELL TO THE PRIOR OF TREWARDRETH.
B.M. Add. MSS. 6,416, f. 8; Cal. viii. 743. May 21 ‹1535›.
The King is informed that the town of Fowey is in a bad
state, because the Prior, who has the liberties of the town
in his hands, administers it so badly. Desires him to amend
his ways.
M^{r} prio_ur_ as vnaccquanted I haue me co_m_mended vnto you, and
whereas it is comen vnto the king_es_ highnes knowledge that the Towne
of Fowey is sore decayed and thoccasion therof p_ar_tlie is that in the
saide Towne is no order of Justice bicause the liberties concerninge the
same graunted by the king_es_ highnes and his noble progenitours to your
predecessours and by theime vnto the inhabitaunt_es_ of the saide Towne
remayne in yo_ur_ handes and kepinge So that betwene you no maner good
order equitie nor iustice is executed and vsed w_i_t_h_in the saide
Towne. Wherfore I require you to condiscende and agree w_i_t_h_ the
inhabitaunt_es_ of the saide Towne so that you hauynge yo_ur_ reasonable
approued duties, they may haue theire liberties to be vsed and extended
amongeste theime w_i_t_h_in the saide Towne to thincrease of good order
w_i_t_h_in the same. And as ye shall agre therin to certifie me in
writinge by Thomas Treffry berer herof. For his highnes thinketh that
the saide porte of Fowey oweth to be his and to be holden of hime so
that his grace entendeth from hensforth to haue it as well prouided for
w_i_t_h_ good gouern_au_nce and of defence for vtter enemyes as other
his townes and port_es_ be w_i_t_h_in those parties. Wherunto ye for
yo_ur_ partie before this tyme haue had litle or no regarde neyther to
the good order rule and defence therof ne yet to the good rule and
gouernaunce of yourself yo_ur_ monasterie and religion as ye be bounde
wherfore his highnes thinketh that ye be veray vnworthey to haue rule of
any towne that cannot well rule yo_ur_self. And that I may haue aunswer
as is afforesaide by this berer what ye intend to do I require you to
thintente I maye certifie his highnes therof And thus fare ye well. At
london the xxi^{th} daie of Maie
Your Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the priour of trewardreth in Cornewall be this youen.
104. ‹CROMWELL› TO DR. LONDON AND MR. CLAYMOND.
R.O. Cal. viii. 790. May ‹1535›.
Desires them to request the fellows of Magdalen to admit
Thomas Marshall as president of the college, on the
resignation of the present president, who has already
signified his willingness to give up his position.
In my right harty man_er_ I co_m_mende me vnto you. And where the
Presedent of Mawdelyn College, as well by his seu_er_all l_ette_res as
by mouthe (of his mere motion) at sundry tymes, myche co_m_mending the
qualities of my Lord and frende master Thomas Marshal[l] g_ra_unted vnto
me, that he wulde be contented to resigne that his Rowme to the same
master Marshall, alledging that he was a man very apte & mete for the
same, promysing further and nothing doubting, but in that behalf he
bothe coulde & wolde fynde the meanes to obteyne the goode willes &
myndes of the felowes of the said College. Neuertheles nowe of Late (to
me no litle m_er_vaile) the saide presedent when I desired hym to
accomplishe his saide promesse, alledged for his excuse that the goode
willes of the saide felowes coulde not in that behalf be opteyned.
Wherfore I hartely desire and pray you effectually in my name to
solicite & entreate the saide felowes as by yo_ur_ wysdomes ye shall
thinke most conuenient that they for my sake & at this my desire wilbe
contented to conforme theym selves vpon the resignation of the said
p_re_sedent to the admission of the saide master Marshall, or elles that
contrary Wyse att the Leaste I may knowe by yo_ur_ writing in whome the
mater sticketh. In doing wherof ye shall not only des_er_ue bothe Laude
& prayse in the furderaunce of the saide master Marshall, whose
ad_ua_uncement I hartely desire, but also I wille not faile to remembre
yo_ur_ kyndnes in that I may doo you pleasure. And thus hartely fare ye
well, from London the ---- daye of May.
_Endd._ The Copie of al_ette_re Sent to Mr. doctor London & Mr.
Claymond.
105. CROMWELL TO THE EARL OF CUMBERLAND.
B.M. Add. MSS. 12,097, f. 1; Cal. viii. 893. June 18 ‹1535›.
Requests him to discover and apprehend certain evil-disposed
and riotous persons, who have unlawfully assembled in the
county where the Earl lives.
After my right harty reco_m_mendacion vnto yo_ur_ good lordship, thiese
shalbe tadu_er_tise the same that the king_es_ highnes hathe been
adu_er_tised that diu_er_se riotous and ill-disposid p_er_sones of the
p_ar_ties wher ye inhabite, or w_i_t_h_in you_r_ offices and roumes (as
it is sayd) hathe lately vnlawfully assembled theymselfes together to no
litle nombre in riotous maner to so_m_me lewde and vnthriftie intent and
purpose. Wherfor his highnes myndyng the quietenes of his subiect_es_,
and good rule and order to be maynteynyd and kepte w_i_t_h_in this
realme Willithe and co_m_maundithe you and other of the Justices of his
peax, furthew_i_t_h_ after the receyt herof to make inquisicion and
serche, who and what nombre of the sayd p_er_sones hathe so assembled
theymselfe, and for what cause intent and purpose they hathe so done And
that ye also enquire who hathe beene the Capitall and cheffe doers in
that partye. and further that ye cause theym to be apprehended and taken
and sent hither w_i_t_h_ all convenyent spede together w_i_t_h_ all that
ye shall fynd and knowe concernyng the premysses, and suche other
offenders as ye shall not think good to be sent vp that yo_ur_ lordship
cause theym to be put vnder sufficient suretyes for their good aberyng
accordyng to his lawes, prayeng yo_ur_ lordship to adu_er_tise me of
that ye shall do in the premysses by the berer herof w_i_t_h_ all
convenyent spede. And thus the blessid Trenyte pres_er_ue you At the
rolles the xviii^{th} day of June.
Your lordshyppis Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and my veray good lord the Erle of
Cumberland be this youen.
106. CROMWELL AND AUDLEY TO THE MAYOR AND
COMMONALTY OF CAMBRIDGE.
Cooper’s Annals of Cambridge, i. 371; Cal. viii. 1036.
July 14 ‹1535›.
Desires them to take measures to avoid any trouble with the
members of the University at the approaching Stourbridge
Fair.
After our hertye commendacions, wher variaunce debate and strif hath
long depended betweene the Vycechauncellor of the Universite of
Cambridge and the scolers of the same of the one partie, and you and the
cominaltye of the towne of Cambridge on the ‹other› party, concernyng
both your iurisdiccions and liberties. And albeit we, wyth others of the
king’s counsaile by his graces commaundment, entended to have pacyfyed
the sayd variaunce or this tyme; yet neverthelesse, for that we have had
no convenient leasure for the same, the said variaunce as yet remaynith
undetermyned. And forasmuche as Sturbridge fair is nowe nere at hand at
whiche tyme it is thought verey like that variaunce and breche of the
kings peax may happen betwixt you, bi reason of suche iurisdiccions as
ether of you pretende to exercise in the same faire, if remedye were not
provided for the same, we therfore, calling to rememberaunce that for
the conservacion of the Kings peax an order was takyn the last yere at
Lambeheth, before the most Reverend father in god the archebysshop of
Canterbury and other the Kings Counsaile, what ether of you shuld
exercise in the said faire without interrupcion of other, till the
variaunce betweene you were fully determyned, Do nowe therfore advertise
you that the Kings pleasure is that as well ye for your parts, as the
said Vicechancellour and scolers for their parts, shall firmely for this
faire tyme to cume this yere, observe and kepe the same order in every
poynt without violacion therof: Signifying unto you that we have written
our letteres to the said Vycechauncellour and scolers for the same
cause, Putting you out of doubt that by the due keping of the said
order, ye shall take no preiudice of eny your lawfull liberties that of
right ye ought to have, uppon examynacyon and fynall determynacyon of
ether your titles, To the proceeding in the finall order wherof, we will
with all diligence (god willing) put our effectuall endevor this next
terme, as the kings pleasure is we shuld do, requiring you to take
pacyens in the meane season. And thus almyghtye Jhu have you in keping.
Wrytten at London the xiiij^{th} daye of July.
Your frends,
THOMAS AUDELEY Knt. Chauncell.
THOM^{S}. CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the Maier and comynaltie of the Towne of Cambridg be this
yeven.
107. ‹CROMWELL› TO THE ‹DUKE OF NORFOLK›.
B.M. Titus B. i, 318; Cal. viii. 1042. July 15 ‹1535›.
Sends a royal proclamation against conveying coin out of the
realm, and a copy of the statute of 5 Richard II. to the
same effect. The council gave its opinion that the King’s
proclamation in this case should have the same force as a
statute.
May hit please yo_ur_ grace to be Adu_er_tysyd that I haue resayuyd
yo_ur_ l_ette_res[835] p_er_sayuyng by the Contentt_es_ therof that the
Kyng_es_ highnes dothe moche m_er_veyle that I haue not adu_er_tysyde
yo_ur_ grace what order my lord chauncelor and others of his Counceyll
hath[836] takyn Concernyng the conveyaunce of Coyne owt of the realme.
Syr according to your gracyous co_m_maundement vppon tewysdaye last Mr.
Attorney and I bothe dyd Intymate & declare the King_es_ pleasure vnto
my lorde Chauncelor who Immedyatlye Sent For My lorde cheffe Justyce of
the kyng_es_ benche the cheffe Justyce of the Co_m_mon place the cheffe
Barron and Mr. Fytzeherberd Mr. Attorney Mr. Solysytor and I being
p_re_sent and the Case by my sayd lord Chauncelor openyd dyuers
oppynyons ther were, but Fynally it was Concludyd that all the
statuttes sholde be Inserchyd to See whether ther were anye Statute or
lawe able to serue for the purpose and yf ther were it was thought good,
that yf it sholde happen any accydent to be wherby ther myght Be any
occasyon that the money sholde be conveyed owt of the realme that then
proclamacyon sholde be made growndyd vppon the sayd Statute adding
therunto poletyklye certayn thing_es_ For the putting the Kyng_es_
Subiect_es_ and other in more terroure ande Feare vppon which deuyse
serche was made and a goode estatute Founde which was made in the Fyfte
yere of Kyng Rychard the seconde the Copye wheroff translatyd[837] into
Inglyshe I do sende vnto yo_ur_ grace drawne in mann_er_ of A
proclamacyon by the aduyse of the Kyng_es_ lernyd Counsayle. But
Amongyst all other thing_es_ I mouyd vnto my sayd lorde chauncelor my
lorde cheffe Justyce and other that yf in Case ther were no law nor
statute made alredye for any suche purpose what myght the Kyng_es_
hignes by the aduyse of his Counsaylle doo to w_i_t_h_stande so greate a
daunger lyke as yo_ur_ grace alledgyd at my beyng w_i_t_h_ you to the
which yt was answeryd by my lorde cheffe Justyce that the Kyng_es_
hyghnes by the aduyse of his Cownsayll myght make p_ro_clamacyons and
vse all other polecyes at his pleasure as well in this Case as in Anye
other lyke For the avoyding of any suche daungers and that the sayd
proclamacyons and polyces so deuysyd by the King & his cownsayll for any
such purpose sholde be of as good effect as Any law made by parlyament
or otherwyse which oppy_nyo_n I assure yo_ur_ grace I was veray gladde
to here[838] wheruppon[839] the sayd statute[840] was drawen in to a
‹copy› in forme as ‹a› p_ro_clamacyon I do now sende the same to yo_ur_
grace[840] and thus the holye trynyte p_re_serue yo_ur_ grace in long
lyff good ‹health› w_i_t_h_ the Increase of moche honor at london the
xv^{th} day of July.
108. CROMWELL TO SIR JOHN RUSSELL, ROGER WYNTER,
JOHN PAKYNGTON AND JOHN VAMPAGE.
Library of William Berington, Esq., of Little Malvern
Court. Not in Cal. July 18 ‹1535›.
Desires them to examine the complaint of Robert Symonds, of
Pershore, in Worcestershire, and see that justice is done if
possible.
I co_m_mende me vnto you in my right hertie maner And by the tenure [of
these letters] whiche I sende vnto you herin closid ye may p_er_ceue
the complaynt of Robert Symond_es_ of p_er_shor in the countie of
worcester wherfor I hartely desire and pray you groundly to consider and
pounder the content_es_ of the same and callyng the p_ar_t_ies_ before
you ye be soche waies and meanes as ye can best devise examyne the hole
circumstaunce therof and sett a fynall ende therin if ye can And if
through the obstinacie of either of the said p_ar_t_ies_ ye cannot
convenyently so do then my further desire is that ye wryte vnto me the
truthe and playnes of the mater w_i_t_h_ the circumstaunces therof to
thintent I may therin cause some meanes to be founde as the [case]
rightfully shall require wherby ye shall do a very good and meritorious
dede. And thus fare ye hartely well at London the xviij^{th} day of July
Your Frende
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my louyng frendes Sir John Russell Knyght Roger Wynter John
Pakyngton and John Vampage Esquyres or to thre or two of them.
109. CROMWELL ‹AND AUDELEY› TO SIR JOHN RUSSELL,
JOHN PACKINGTON, AND JOHN RUSSELL, ESQUIRE.
Library of William Berington, Esq., of Little Malvern Court.
Not in Cal. July 20 ‹1535›.
Desires them to survey the possessions of the clergy in the
Shire of Worcester according to the King’s commission, and
to send an account of their value to London.
After our right hartye co_m_mendacyons where the Kyng_es_ Co_m_myssion
was dyrectyd vnto you & other for the surveyng and taxacion of the clere
yerely values of all the possessions of the clergie in the Shire of
Worceter accordyng to a boke of Instruccyons assigned w_i_t_h_ the hand
of the Kyng_es_ highnes annexed vnto the said Co_m_missyon we signyfie
vnto you that the Kyng_es_ pleasure ys that ye callyng your fellowes
Joyned w_i_t_h_ you in Co_m_myssion shall w_i_t_h_ all possible dylygens
accomplysshe theffect_es_ therof And to sende to vs to london all the
bokes taken by you of the vieu & value of the said possessions by one or
two suche of your fellowes whiche were Audytours of the same before the
xij^{th} day of Septembre next co_m_myng. Not faylyng this to do at your
perill. And as ye entende to advaunce the Kynges pleasure in this
behalf. And thus fare you well. At london the xx^{th} day of Julye
THOMAS AUDELEY K. Chauncello_ur_
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To their loving freend_es_ S_ir_ John Russell the yonger Knight
John pakington Esqu_ie_r and John Russell Esquier and to eu_er_y of
theym be this yoven.
_Endd._ Wigorn.
110. CROMWELL TO BONNER.
Library of Lord Calthorpe. Not in Cal. July 23 ‹1535›.
Begs him to make speed in his journey. Bonner’s commission
is ready, and Mr. Gostwick will deliver to him the Duke of
Holstein’s letter.
Mr. Boner I co_m_mende me vnto you. Signefieng vnto the same that the
Kyng_es_ pleasure is ye w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ college shall w_i_t_h_ all spede
and possible haste set yo_ur_ selff_es_ forward toward_es_
thaccomplisshement of yo_ur_ io_ur_ney, and cause yo_ur_ Ship also to be
rigged and made redy so as ye haue no cause of Delaye. Yo_ur_
co_m_mission I vnderstonde ye haue alredy made and sealed, and touching
the Duke of Holst_es_ l_ette_re if ye haue not yet receyued it Mr.
gostwike shall delyu_er_ it you or to Cauendish accordinglie. Prayeng
you ones agayne to make all thacceleracion and hast forward_es_ that ye
can possiblie as ye intende to please the King_es_ highnes. And so Fare
ye well. At Wynchcombe the xxiii day of Julie
Yo_ur_ Freend THOMAS
CRUMWELL.
Maister Boner the King_es_ highnes nothing dowtyth in yo_ur_ wysedom
polyce and discrecyo_n_ But that ye wooll Vse yo_ur_ Self according to
his trust and expectacy_on_.
_Add._ To his louing frende Docto_ur_ Boner be this youen w_i_t_h_
spede.
111. CROMWELL TO MR. RICHE.
R.O. Cal. viii. 1130. July 29 ‹1535›.
Desires him to express to the Duke of Suffolk the King’s
displeasure at the ‘decay’ of certain places, which the Duke
affirms he has repaired. Urges him to request the Duke to
part with certain reversions which are desired by the King.
After my right hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons these shalbe to adu_er_tise you
that the king_es_ highnes hauyng receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res hathe youen
me in co_m_maundement to make you answer as here insueth. First
touching suche leases as it is supposed shoulde be made by the Duke of
Suffolke, the king_es_ highnes seyeth that he knoweth not that the saide
Duke or his officers haue made any lease syns the co_m_munycac_i_on had
betwixt them of this bargayn, but his highnes is certenly info_ur_med
that the saide Duke or his officers haue offered to make fourth certen
leases syns the tyme of the saide co_m_munycac_i_on had. Whereof his
maieste can not but mervaile and for the same conceyueth som ingratitude
and vnkyndenes in the said Duke if it can so be proved. Secondely
touching the Decay of Ewelme and Donyngton the king_es_ highnes answered
that what soeuer the saide Duke hathe spent vppon them, it may well
appere in what decay they stonde, and who soeu_er_ shall view them shall
facilly p_er_ceyue that grete somes of money will not sufficientlie
repaire them as his highnes himself w_i_t_h_ his eye hath vewed the
saide Ewelme at his grac_es_ late being there. And for Donyngton the
house is not onelie in decay but also the keper of the same Mr.
Fetyplace hath both consumed and distroyed the Dere and game there and
also wasted the wood_es_ in such wise as it is thought he hathe not
onelie forfaited his patent but also right ill deserued to haue eyther
fee or thanke for any good service he hathe don there. And semblablie
the king_es_ highnes hauing ben at Hokenorton whiche his grace lyketh
veray well can not perceyue ne also his Surueyo_ur_s sent thither can
not see how that xv^{e} li should be employed there as it is affirmed by
the saide Duke, so as it is not vnlike but that the saide Duke hathe ben
deceyued by his officers. And whatsoeu_er_ hath ben spent there, yet
will it requyre no small so_m_mes of money to repare and buylde it after
the king_es_ mynde and pleasure whiche wilbe chargeable to his highnes.
And touching the game of the red Dere at Hokenorton aforsaide, his
maiestie Doubtith not but that the saide Duke will iustefie his
couuen_au_nte and agrement w_i_t_h_ the keper for the keping of lxxx red
dere there accordinglie. Thirdely concerning the reuersions of the lady
Gordon and John Verney the king_es_ highnes p_er_ceyuing the conformyte
of the saide Duke in that behalf and also yo_ur_ travaile and diligence
in the same gyueth vnto him and you both therefore his grac_es_ hertie
and condigne thank_es_. Trusting that like as his highnes hathe
heretofore mynystered grete benefit_es_ and co_m_modytees vnto the saide
Duke, who hathe atteyned this degree hono_ur_ and astate that he now is
in by the meanes and onely ad_ua_uncement of the king_es_ saide highnes.
So the saide Duke wilbe contented to departe w_i_t_h_ the saide
reu_er_sions frankely and frely to his highnes of his mere lyberalite
to extende toward_es_ him, and to permytte his maiestee to haue the
saide reu_er_sions w_i_t_h_in his bargayn alredy made as his grace
thought he had had, onely trusting to his grac_es_ bountie and goodnes
for the recompence of the same. Wherein the king_es_ pleasure is ye
shalbe playne w_i_t_h_ the saide Duke, vttering and declaring vnto him
the good opynyon which the king_es_ highnes hathe conceyved in his
conformyte toward_es_ all his gra_ci_ous request_es_ and affairees, and
how he of all men is thereunto bounde if he do well consider the
manyfold benefit_es_ that he hath receyued at the king_es_ hande.
Wherefore ye may counsaile him not to gyue any cause or occasion in this
behalf to the kyng_es_ highnes to conceyve any Jalousie or mistrust in
him but that rather he will shew herein his frankenes and liberall herte
toward_es_ his maiestie w_i_t_h_out stycking w_i_t_h_ his grace in so
small a matier. And so doing let him be assured that like as the
king_es_ highnes heretofore for lesse cause youen on the saide Duk_es_
p_ar_te, hathe ad_ua_unced him to this hono_ur_ and astate that he now
is at, So shall his maiestee the rather now be Dryven to consider the
frankenes and gentill liberalite of the saide Duke in this behalf if he
frankely do com forward_es_ w_i_t_h_ the same. And Fynally I pray you on
my behalf to say somwhat to the saide Duke in this matier alledging vnto
him that as I am, alwayes haue be_e_n, and eu_er_ wilbe his grac_es_
poure frende so I requere him not to stycke w_i_t_h_ the king_es_
highnes in this matier, and pray his grace not to doubte but that the
king_es_ highnes wilbe as good lorde to him in recompence of the saide
reu_er_sions as if his highnes Did now parte and couue_na_unte w_i_t_h_
him for the same aforehand. Wherein eftesones I pray you shew him on my
behalf that my poure and frendelie aduise is that his g_ra_ce shall
liberally wryte to the king_es_ highnes in this matier so as his highnes
may thereby p_er_ceyue the saide Duk_es_ gentill herte and naturall zele
toward_es_ his maieste aswell in this as in all other thing_es_. Which
be ye assured in myn opynyon shalbe more beneficyall vnto the saide Duke
then x tymes so moche lande as the saide reuersions Do amount vnto.
Requering you so to shew his grace fro me as from him that wold be as
glad of his grac_es_ welth and p_ro_speryte as any one of his poure
frend_es_. So knoweth o_ur_ lorde who send you well to fare. From the
Monastery of Tewkesbury the xxix^{ti} Day of Julie.
Yo_ur_ Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To his louyng Frende Mr. Ryche Solycyto_ur_ to the king_es_
highnes be this youen.
112. CROMWELL TO THE EARL OF RUTLAND.
Belvoir Castle MSS. Not in Cal. Aug. 9 ‹1535›.
Desires him to examine a certain warden and his friars, and
report the result of his investigation to the King. Requests
him to apprehend Friar John Colsell, and detain him till
further notice.
My lorde after my right hertie co_m_mendac_i_ons these shalbe to
adu_er_tise yo_ur_ lordship that having receyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res and
declared the effect_es_ of the same to the king_es_ highnes, who for
yo_ur_ dyligent adu_er_tisement of suche thing_es_ as do touche his
maiestie and for yo_ur_ good will shewed toward_es_ the correction of
suche transgressones gyueth vnto you his grac_es_ hertie and condigne
thank_es_, Forasmoche as the king_es_ highnes is adu_er_tesed that the
warden of those Freres which haue spoken those sedicious wordes, is a
right honest p_er_son and that it may be that he is accused by such
light p_er_sons as p_er_case can not iustefie the same, the king_es_
highnes therefore requyreth yo_ur_ lordeship to call before you the
saide warden and all other his Freers and to take som payne thoroughlie
and exactely to here Debate and examyn_e_ the matier w_i_t_h_ them and
their accusers, so as the trewth and the hole circumstaunc_es_ of the
matier may trewlie and substauncyallie appere in suche wise as eu_er_y
man may haue his merit_es_ and desert_es_ according to good iustice. And
of yo_ur_ lordeshippes proceding_es_ in that behalf and what matier ye
shall Fynde vppon the saide examynac_i_on it may please yo_ur_ lordeship
to signefie the same w_i_t_h_ the circumstaunc_es_ to the king_es_
high_n_es or his counsaile, vppon the which adu_er_tisement yo_ur_
lordship shall knowe ferther of the king_es_ pleasure. Touching the
other Frere named Frere John Colsell vsing the decitful arte of magike
and astronomye, the king_es_ pleasure is that ye shall cause him to be
taken and apprehended and deteyn him in warde vntill ye shall haue other
knowlege and adu_er_tisement of the king_es_ pleasure in that behalf,
and thus the holie trynytie p_re_serue yo_ur_ lordeship in long lif and
helth w_i_t_h_ thincrease of hono_ur_ At Barklay hoornes the ix^{th} day
of August.
Your lordeshyppes assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able my lorde the Erle of Rutlande be this
yeuen.
113. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹WALLOP›.
R.O.[841] Cal. ix. 157. August 23 ‹1535›.
Instructs him to justify to Francis the King’s doings,
especially the executions of More and Fisher, and to request
Francis to support Henry in all his actions against the
Pope. The King is desirous that Melancthon should come to
England.
Sir after my most hertie reco_m_mendacions these shalbe to adu_er_tise
you that the xvii^{th} Day of this Moneth I receyued from you a packet
of l_ette_res which indelayedlie I delyuered vnto the king_es_ highnes
and conferred w_i_t_h_ his grace theffect_es_ both of your l_ette_res
and all others w_i_t_h_in the saide packet being directed aswell to his
highnes as to me. And after his highnes had w_i_t_h_ me p_er_vsed the
hole content_es_ thoroughlie of yo_ur_ saide l_ette_res, p_er_ceyuing
not onelie the lykelyhod of the not repairee into Fraunce of Philip
Melanchton, but also yo_ur_ co_mmun_ica_ci_ons had w_i_t_h_ the frensh
king vppon yo_ur_ Demaunde made of the king_es_ highnes pencions
w_i_t_h_ also yo_ur_ Discrete answers and replicacions made in that
behalf, for the which his maiestee gyueth vnto you his hertie and
condigne thank_es_, Ye shall vnderstonde that his highnes co_m_maundid
me to make you answer in this wise folowing First as touching the
kyng_es_ money his highnes dowtith not but seeing bothe the Frensh king
and also the grete Maister haue p_ro_mised you it shalbe depechid ye
will as the case shall requyre not cease to call vppon them till it be
Depeched And ferther considering that the saide frensh king vppon yo_ur_
saide Demaunde of the saide pensions so sodaynelye fell into
co_m_munycacion w_i_t_h_ you aswell of his frendeship and humanyte
shewed to the kyng_es_ highnes, alledging that he at all tymes hathe
answered for the kyng_es_ highnes specyally being last at Marcell_es_
w_i_t_h_ Pope Clement w_i_t_h_ other thing_es_ as in your saide
l_ette_res appereth, as also concernyng the execucions lately don_e_
here w_i_t_h_in this realme, The king_es_ highnes not a litle
m_er_vaileth thereat, and thinketh it good that as of yo_ur_self ye take
som occasion at conuenyent tyme and oportunyte to renovate the saide
co_m_munycacyon both w_i_t_h_ the Frensh kyng or at the least w_i_t_h_
the grete Maister, sayeng vnto them, that where the saide Frensh kyng
alledgeth that he hath at all tymes answered for the kyng_es_ highnes in
his cause and specyally to the saide Pope Clement at Marcell_es_
affirmyng his p_ro_cedyng_es_ to be iust and vpright concernyng the
Matrymony as ye do wryte, in that albeit the kyng_es_ highnes
p_ro_ceding_es_ in all his affairees w_i_t_h_in this realme being of
such equyte and iustnes of themself as they be, nedeth not any defence
or assistence ayenst Pope Clement or any other foreyn power, having
goddes worde and lawes onelie sufficient to defende him Yet in that
that[842] the said frensh kyng hathe as he sayeth answered at all tymes
on the king_es_ p_ar_te, he hathe don_e_ nothing but the p_ar_te of a
brother in iustefieng and verefyeng the trewth, and so contynuyng shall
Do as ap_er_teyneth to a prynce of hono_ur_ which the king_es_ highnes
doubtith not he hath and will do onely in respecte to the veryte and
trewth besid_es_ the amyte betwixt them both iustlye requyring the same.
And concerning thexecuc_i_ons Don_e_ w_i_t_h_in this realme ye shall sey
to the saide Frensh Kyng that the same were not so mervelous extreme as
he alledgeth, for touching Mr. More and the Bisshop of Rochester
w_i_t_h_ suche others as were executed here, their treasons conspiracies
and practises secretely practised aswell w_i_t_h_in the realme
w_i_t_h_out to move and styrre discension and to sowe sedycyon
w_i_t_h_in the realme, intending thereby not onelye the distruction of
the kyng but also the hole subuersion of his highnes realme being
explaned and declared and so manyfestly proved afore them that they
could not avoyde nor Denye it and they thereof openly detected and
lawfully convicted adiudged and condempned of high treason by the Due
order of the lawes of this realme, it shall and may well appere to all
the worlde that they having such malice roted in their hert_es_ ayenst
their prynce and Sou_er_eigne and the totall Distruction of the co_m_men
weale of this realme, were well wo_r_thie if they had had a thousande
lyves to haue suffered x tymes a more terrible Deth and execucion then
any of them Did suffer. And touching suche word_es_ as the saide frensh
kyng spake vnto you concernyng how Mr. More dyed and what he saied to
his doughter going to his iudgement and also what exhortacions he
shoulde gyue vnto the kyng_es_ subiect_es_ to be trew and obedient to
his grace (assuring you that there was no such thing) whereof the gret
M_aster_ promysed you a Double at length. In that the king_es_ pleasure
is that ye shall not onelie procure the saide double and sende it hither
but also sey vnto the saide frensh king that the kyng_es_ highnes can
not otherwise take it but veraye vnkyndely that the saide frensh king or
any of his counsaile at whose hand_es_ he hathe so moche meryted and to
whom he hathe mynystered so many grete benefit_es_ pleasures and
co_m_modytees shoulde so lightly gyue eare faith and credence to any
such vayne brut_es_ and fleeng tales Not hauyng first knowlege or
adu_er_tisement from the king_es_ highnes here and his counsaile of the
veryte and trewth, Affirming it to be the office of a frende hering any
suche tales of so noble a prynce rather to haue compressed the bruters
thereof to sylence or at the leest not p_er_mytted them to haue dyvulged
the same vntill such tyme as the king_es_ maiestee being so dere a
frende had ben adu_er_tesed thereof and the trewth knowen before he
shoulde so lightly beleve or allege any suche reporte which ingrate and
vnkynde Demeanure of the saide frensh king vsed in this behalf argueth
playneleye not to remayn in his brest such integryte of herte and
syncere amyte toward_es_ the king_es_ highnes and his p_ro_ceding_es_ as
his highnes alwayes heretofore hathe expected and loked for. Which thing
Ye may propone and alledge vnto the saide frensh king and the grete
Maister or to one of them w_i_t_h_ suche modestie and sobrenes as ye
thinke they maye p_er_ceyue that the king_es_ highnes hathe good and
iust cause in this p_ar_te somwhat to take their light credence
vnkyndelye. And where as the saide frensh king sayeth that touching such
lawes as the king_es_ highnes hathe made he will not medle w_i_t_h_all
alledging it not to be mete that one prynce should desire a nother to
chaunge his lawes sayeng that his be to olde to be ch_a_unged, to that
ye shall sey that such lawes as the king_es_ highnes hathe made here be
not made w_i_t_h_out substauncyall ground_es_ by grete and mature aduise
counsaile and deliberacion of the hole polycie of this realme and are
indede no new lawes but of grete antiquyte and many yeres passed were
made and executed w_i_t_h_in this realme as now they be renovate and
renewed onlye in respecte to the comen weale of the same. And it is not
a litle to his highnes m_er_vaile that the saide frensh kyng eu_er_
wolde counsaile or aduyse him if in case hereafter any suche like
offenders should happen to be in this realme that he should rather
banyssh them then in suche wise execute them And specyallie considering
that the saide frensh king himself in co_m_monyng w_i_t_h_ you at that
tyme not onely confessed thextreme execucyons and grete Bruyllie of late
don in his realme But also that he now intendeth to w_i_t_h_draw the
same and to revoke and to call home agayn such as be out of his realme
the king_es_ highnes therefore the more straungely taketh his saide
aduise and counsaile Supposing it to be neyther thoffice of a frende nor
of a brother that he wold Determyn himself to call home into his realme
agayn his subiect_es_ being out of the same for speking ayenst the
Bisshop of Romes vsurped auctoryte, and counsaile the kynges highnes to
banysshe his traytours into straunge p_ar_tes where they myght haue good
occasion tyme place and oportunyte to w_or_ke their feat_es_ of treason
and conspiracie the better agaynst the king_es_ highnes and this his
realme. In which p_ar_te ye shall somwhat engreve the matier after such
sorte as it may well appere to the saide frensh king that not onelie the
king_es_ highnes might take those his counsailes and co_m_munycac_i_ons
both straungely and vnkyndely thinking the same not to procede of mere
amyte and frendship, but also vsing such polycie and austeryte in
proponyng the same w_i_t_h_ the saide frensh king and the grete Maister
taking such tyme and oportunyte as may best serue for the same, as they
may well p_er_ceyue the king_es_ highnes preceding_es_ here w_i_t_h_in
this realme both concerning the saide execucyons and all other thing_es_
to be onely groundid vppon iustice and the equyte of his lawes which be
no new lawes but auncyent lawes made and establisshed of many yeres
passed w_i_t_h_in this realme and now renovate and renewed as is
aforesaide for the better order weale and suretie of the same. And ye
may ferther say that if the frensh king and his counsaile well consyder
as they ought to do that it were moch better to adu_au_nce the
punysshment of traito_u_rs and rebell_es_ for their offenc_es_ then to
ponysshe such as do speke ayenst the vsurped auctoryte of the bisshop of
Rome who Daylie goth about to suppresse and subdue kyng_es_ and
prync_es_ and their auctorytee gyuen to them by goddes worde. All which
matiers the kyng_es_ pleasure is that ye shall take tyme and occasion as
ye talkyng agayn w_i_t_h_ the frensh king or the grete Maister may
declare yo_ur_ mynde as before is p_re_scribed vnto you. Adding
thereunto such matier w_i_t_h_ such reasons after yo_ur_ accustomed
dexteryte & discression as ye shall thinke most expedyent and to serve
best for the king_es_ purpose, Defence of his proceding_es_ and the
profe of the frensh king_es_ ingratitude shewed in this behalf. Not
Doubting in yo_ur_ wisedom good industrie and discrete circumspection
for thordering and well handeling of the same accordinglye.
And touching Melanchton[843] considering there is no lykelihod of his
repayree into Fraunce as I haue well p_er_ceyued by yo_ur_ l_ette_res,
the kyng_es_ highnes therfore hath appoyntid Cristofer Mount
indelaiedlie to take his io_ur_ney where Melanchton is and if he com_e_
to prevente Mouns_ieur_ de Langie in suche wise as the saide Melancton
his repayre into Fraunce may be stayed and dyu_er_tid into Englond Not
doubting but the same shall take effect accordynglie. And as to Mr.
Heynes the kyng_es_ pleasure is that he shall go to Parys there to[844]
lerne and dissiphre the opynyons of the lernid men and their
inclynacions and affections aswell toward_es_ the kyng_es_ highnes
p_ro_ceding_es_ as to the bisshop of Rome his vsurped power and
auctoryte, after such sorte as the king_es_ saide highnes hathe now
wrytten to him by his grac_i_ous l_ette_res addressed both to him and
the saide Cristofer Mount[845]. Dyrecting them what they shall do in all
thing_es_ comytted to their charge at this tyme As I doubt not they will
put thereunto their devoires for the accomplisshment of the king_es_
pleasure as ap_er_teyneth. And thus makyng an ende prayeng you to vse
yo_ur_ discression in the p_ro_poning of the p_re_misses to the Frensh
king and the grete M_aster_ or the one or both of them vsing the same as
a Medecyn and after suche sorte that as nere as ye can it be not moch
displeas_a_untly taken Adu_er_tesing the king_es_ highnes from tyme to
tyme of the successes thereof and of all other occur_a_unt_es_ as the
case shall requyre, I shall for this tyme bid you most hertelie Fare
well &c. Thornebery the xxiij day of August.
_Endd._ Fraunce
114. ‹CROMWELL› TO NICHOLAS OLDISWORTHY.
R.O. Cal. ix. 241 (i). Sept. 1 ‹1535›.
Desires him to give up all the possessions of the bishopric
of Hereford to such persons as the Bishop-elect shall
appoint.
In my harty wise I co_m_mend me vnto you. Aduertising thesame that for
certayne causes the king_es_ highnes sp_ec_ially movyng, his graces
pleasure is that ye shall surcease any farther to yntermedle w_i_t_h_
the possessions and land_es_ belongyng to the Busshopriche of Hereford
but that ye suffer suche as the Busshop elect shall appoynt to haue the
doyng of the same. And that ye farther suffer the officers appoynted by
thesayd Busshop to resceyve aswell the next rent due at the Fest of
thannu_n_ciacion of o_ur_ lady last past as all other rentes due sithe
that tyme. And that ye fayll not thus to do as the king_es_ trust is in
you . thus fare ye well. At Bromham the first day of September.
for Nicholas Oldisworthye.
115. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE ABBESS OF WILTON›.
R.O. Cal. ix. 271. Sept. 4 ‹1535›.
Desires her to act kindly towards his friend William Nevill
in the matter of the lands belonging to her monastery.
Nevill does not wish to sue her though he has good cause so
to do.
Madame, after my right harty reco_m_mendations vnto you, thiese shalbe
like as here tofore I have writen vnto you, to desire you to be good
lady and frynd to my lovyng frynd will_ia_m Nevell about the Ferme of
Chalke and do such reparacions as belongithe vnto the same according to
yo_ur_ graunt therof made and that ye will suffer hym to have and enioy
such copy holdes as he of right shuld have and holde of your Mano_ur_ of
Seml_e_y belongyng to that yo_ur_ Monastery, as by sufficient writyng
and copies therof it dothe more at large appere, in suche wise as he may
have no cause farther to complayne ou_er_ you therfore. I cannot
p_er_sayve any reason iust cause or meanes wherby[846] ye may or shuld
deny hym thesame. he hathe been, and yet is all wayes redy to paye his
rent and do that which ought or shuld[847] apperteyne vnto hym to do in
that behalf according to his wrytyng therefore. Which ye refuse and will
not suffer hym to do[848]. I p_er_sayve the honestie of the man to be
suche, that he is veray lothe to vexe or sewe you by the order of the
co_m_mon lawe or otherwise[849], although he hathe good cause even so to
do, whiche if he wold he may do right well to yo_ur_ inquietacion for
thadvoydyng [wher]of I desire you the rather at the contemplacion of
thiese my l_ette_res and for[850] yo_ur_ owne quietenes and ease to
g_ra_unt hym his right yn the premysses[851]. Wherby besid_es_ that ye
shall shewe and declare yo_ur_ self to be one that will do no p_er_sone
wronge, and kepe yo_ur_selfe in quyetenes and rest, ye shall admynester
and do vnto me therby right thankfull pleasure. The whiche I will not
forgete semblably to requyte. And thus fare ye hartely well. At Wolfall
the fourthe day of September.
116. CROMWELL TO THE MAYOR AND COMMONALTY OF CAMBRIDGE.
Cooper’s Annals, i. 372; Cal. ix. 278. Sept. 5 ‹1535›.
As Chancellor of the University desires that all differences
between the town and the scholars may cease. Requests the
Mayor to permit the University to continue in the enjoyment
of its privileges.
After my moost harty commendacions, Understanding that the body of that
the Universitie of Cambridge hath elected and chosen me to be their hed
and Chauncelor, and that there is question at this tyme betwene you
touching the exposition and qualifieng of the Decre made the last yeer
by the kings counsail, for an order to be had without contencion
betwene youe and the Universitee in Sturberige fayr, whiche decre ye
have already commaundement for this yere to observe and kepe, contending
on your part nothing to be comprehended under the name of Vitaill, but
that whiche shuld be presently spent in the said faiier, and calling
Salmon in barrel, musterde sede, fishe, and suche other, with an
exempcon from the terme of vitaill by the name of merchandise, denyeing
in like maner the said Universitie to appoint two of their body to ioyne
with two of youe in the serche of merchandises there, sayeing ther shal
non other serche this yere for their parte, but those that being of
their congregacion the last yere were thenne appointed for that purpose,
whiche be nowe departed from them and ioyned to youe in the libertie and
freedom of the towne. Bicause ye knowe that I have been ever desirous to
establish a quiet order betwene youe, and that with as moche favour
towards your parte as I might with indifferency and justice, And that I
doubt not but that ye will at my contemplacon remembre the preservacion
of the Kings peax, and use suche a temperaunce in yo_ur_ procedings, as
with the saufgards thereof I may have cause to rest in your love and
kindness towards me, Being again for myn owne parte, moche desirous nowe
at the entree to the said Chauncelorship (which office with the kings
contentacion and pleasure I accepted not so moch upon any respecte as to
be the rather a meane to set a quietnes betwene youe) to have al
contencions and controversies ceasse on eyther side, tyl direction and
final order may be taken therein, In the whiche I assure youe I shal
with such celeritee and indifferency travyll, as ye shall not perceyve
me a partie, but a personage holly bent without al respects to the
advancement of the common weal; I have thought good to addresse my
letteres unto youe and by the same to desire and praye youe, al vayne
and frivolous qualificacons set aparte, to permyt and suffer the said
Universitie for this yere, according to the mynde and entent of the said
decre, to use and exersise their privileages in the things specified,
and also to use at their libertie the comen prison of the Tolbothe as
they have doon and as by their charters they clayme to doo, soo as their
procede on yo_ur_ part no cause of breache of the peax, wherin ye shal
serve the king as appertayneth, and administer unto me suche thankfull
pleasure as I shall be gladde to deserve and requite towards youe, in
like maner most hartely desiring and eftsones prayeing youe, touching
their Civile courte to be kept in the fayr or any other thing that may
com in to question, so to use yourself as I may perceyve you remembre
yo_ur_ dueties towards the king in the keping of his peax, and shewe
yo_ur_selves gladde to doo unto me gratitude and pleasure. And thus fare
youe hartely wel. From Whofall the fifte day of September.
Your lovying freend,
THOM^S CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my loving Frends the Mayre and his Brethern of the towne of
Cambridge, and to every of them.
117. CROMWELL TO CHAPUYS[852].
Vienna Archives; Cal. ix. 326. Sept. 10 ‹1535›.
Reports the joy of the King at hearing of the success of the
Emperor in storming Tunis. Hopes on his return to give
Chapuys satisfaction in his request to visit the Princess
Mary. Cf. Letter 121.
Magnifice atque observande Domine orator plurimam salutem et
commendationem. Quem admodum D. vestra, felices et christiano cuique
principi speratos cesaree ma^{tis} successus non grauatur crebris suis
litteris Serenissimo domino meo regi significare ita sepe antea ab eius
regia ma^{te} conceptam toto pectore letitiam, suis nunc recentioribus
litteris eadem vestra D. ingeminauit et quam pulcherrime adauxit. Ex
lectione namque tum cesaree ma^{tis} tum domini de granuell litterarum,
que toti christiano orbi saluberrimam diuinitusque concessam Tunisii
expugnationem describebant tam solido gaudio inuictissimus dominus meus
rex affectus est, ut si sue ipsi ma^{ti} gloriosa hec obuenisset
victoria, maiori neutiquam affici potuisset nec alium vllum quam qui a
deo nunc concessus est, tam sancte a cesare suscepte expeditionis euentu
sibi vnquam pollicebatur. Hanc igitur victoriam omni quidem dignam
laude, cesaree ma^{ti} iterum atque iterum gratulatur salutaremque rei
publice christiane precatur, cui sic ex corde fauet, vt si vlla vnquam
occasione, vllane sua opera, quicquam addi poterit, experietur cesarea
ma^{tas} me nihil de Serenissimi domini mea regis in se affectu,
amicoque animo meis antea litteris vestre D. frustra, aut parum sincere
totiens affirmasse. Ad id vero quod in suarum litterarum calce vestra D.
addidit, vt scilicet, quantum intelligo, bona regia Ma^{tis} venia, sibi
liceat illic Dominam mariam inuisere iuxta regia pollicita impense rogo
D. vestram, vt istud suum desiderium velit in meum reditum defferre,
tuncque futurum spero quod tum hac in re, tum aliis omnibus presenti meo
sermone vestre do^{is} expectationi plurimum satisfiet siue feliciter
valeat. Ex aula regia apud Wolfal die x. septembris.
v. D.
Ex animo amicissimus
THOMAS CRUMUELL.
_Add._ Magnifico atque observando domino Eustachio Chapuysio Cesare
ma^{tis} oratori.
118. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. ix. 470. Sept. 29 ‹1535›.
The King desires him to pay half the last year’s rent of the
bishopric of Worcester to the Bishop, and the remainder to
M. Gostwick for the King.
[853]I co_m_mend me vnto you. Adu_er_tisyng thesame, that the
kyng_es_ pleasure and co_m_maundement is, that ye w_i_t_h_
convenyent spede after the receyt herof, shall content and pay
vnto my lorde the Busshop of Wissetour the halfe yeres rent of the
hole Busshopriche due this last yere, and the rest to retayne yn
yo_ur_ owne hand_es_ to the kyng_es_ vse Wherfore I require you
furthew_i_t_h_ so to do w_i_t_h_out any delay, as the kyng_es_
trust and expectacion is yn you. Thus fare ye hartely well. At
Wynchester the xxix day of September.
_Postscript._
I Co_m_mend me vnto yow aduertysing the same that the kyng_es_ highnes
pleasure is that of the holle yeres Rent dew to his highnes and levyable
at this Fest of Saynt Mychell of the yssews reuenews and p_ro_ffectt_es_
of the Busshoprych of Worcest_er_ ye shall Content and paye or Cause to
be Contentyd ‹and› payde vnto my lorde the Busshop of Woorcest_er_ the
hole half yeres proffytt_es_ evynlye to be deuydyd and the residew For
the Fyrst hallffe yere to be payd to the hand_es_ of Maister gostwyke to
the kyng_es_ vse and this ys expresslye the kyng_es_ plesure and so Fare
ye well at Wynchest_er_
119. CROMWELL TO THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD.
R.O. Cal. ix. 485 (i). Sept. 30 ‹1535›.
Desires her to restore Mr. Tirrell to the possessions from
which she has wrongfully expelled him. The King wishes to
have justice done in that cause.
In my most harty maner I co_m_mend me vnto yo_ur_ good ladishippe. And
wher as ther hathe of long tyme depended betwene you and this berer
Maister Tirrell certayne contrau_er_sies, aswell concernyng his clayme
to the parke and Bailliswike of Camps, as a certayne copie Holde Whiche
he bought in the same Towne, from all the whiche ye haue expulsed hym, I
shall most hartely desire and pray you at the especiall contemplacion
herof, to restore hym agayne to thesame. Whiche request I make not only
vnto you bycause I thinke ye haue vpon displeasures conceyved agaynst
hym, parcase in some part by the mysvsyng of hymselfe toward_es_ you,
done vnto hym, in his expulsion from the same park Bailliwike and copie
hold and yo_ur_ detynewe therof all togither wronge and Iniurye, but
because it should be dishonourable to you, to haue the same in open
Court of Audience tried agaynst you, and likewise displeasaunt to be,
that way disapoynted of yo_ur_ will and pleasure, whiche as I nowe
frendly and frankly write vnto you, bicause that I wold be glad, ye
shuld w_i_t_h_out constraynt do as shall apperteyne to your hono_ur_,
and iustice. So I am enforced to adu_er_tise you, as yo_ur_ poore
frende, that the king_es_ highnes like a prynce of hono_ur_ is mynded to
haue iustice p_ro_cede w_i_t_h_out respect in that cause, Eftesones
therfore requyryng your good ladiship the rather for my sake w_i_t_h_out
any extremyte to be good lady vnto hym, who I dare affirme wilbe glad to
do vnto you during his liffe that s_er_uice and pleasure that shall lye
in his litle power. As know_eth_ god who send yo_ur_ good ladiship long
liffe and well to fare. From Wynchester the last day of September.
Your ladyshyppis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To the right hono_ur_able and my good lady my Lady Anne Countes
of Oxford by this youen.
_Endd._ A l_ette_re directed from my m_aste_r to the Lady Anne Countes
of Oxford.
120. CROMWELL TO ‹DAVYE MORGAN KEMYS›.
R.O. Cal. ix. 486. Sept. 30 ‹1535›.
Requests him to allow John Crede to retain possession of
certain lands in Cromwell’s manor of Rumney in Monmouth to
which he has a deed, until reasonable cause can be shown for
his ejection.
Dat_um_ p_er_ Copia_m_
I Commend me to yow. And for Asmoche As I haue seene the Deed made ‹to›
John Crede for certeyn Land_es_ in my manno_ur_ of Rompney called the
Splott_es_ And other Lond_es_ there. W_hich_ I take to be a goode
Deade. And that Notw_i_t_h_standing the said Crede Saithe that ye entend
to putt hym From the Same. Wherefore I Requyre you to p_er_mytt And
Suffre hym to holde And kepe the possession thereof According to the
tenno_ur_ of his Deade Vntill Suche tyme as Apon yo_ur_e Adu_er_tisement
thereof I maie knowe A Reasonable Cause . Whie he shuld be putt from the
same. Att Wynchester the Laste daie of September.
Yo_ur_ Loving maister
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
121. CROMWELL TO CHAPUYS[854].
Vienna Archives; Cal. ix. 484. Sept. 30, 1535.
Reports the King’s joy at the news of the Emperor’s success
at Tunis. Desires Chapuys to postpone a little longer his
visit to the Princess Mary. Cf. Letter 117.
Magnifice et observande domine orator plurimam salutem et
commendationem. Litteras quas vestra D. antea ad me dedit grato
hilarique semper animo accepi, non mediocremque animi letitiam ob id
presertim semper attulerunt, quod cesaree ma^{tis} successus vt
sperandum et christiano reipublice salutiferos, vberrime nunciabant;
recentiores vero iste eo nomine gratiores acceptioresque extitere quod
succinte atque distincte totius expeditionis rerum, temporum atque
locorum seriem et euentum ab ipso initio in hunc vsque diem sic
describunt et ob ipsos oculos ponunt vt eas legendo rebus gestis prope
modum mihi videar interfuisse, tantaque Serenissimus dominus meus rex
animi attentione de hiis me referentem audiebat vt fraternum eius erga
cesaream ma^{tem} affectum et propensum quoddam erga publicam quietem
Studium quam facile fuerit agnovisse. Ad id porro quod per ministrum
suum vestra dominatio mecum agit et de quo statuendo iniectis
comperendinationibus se protrahi suspicatur, non possum pro mutue nostre
coniunctionis sinceriorisque amicitie vinculo, eam non summopere rogare,
et pro innata sua prudentia et animi equitate, boni consulere velit,
quicquid in hoc Dominationis vestre desiderio deffertur quum nihil
interim omittatur quod ex Serenissimi domini mei regis honore et
dignitate, simulque illustrissime domine marie securiori salubriorique
educatione esse posse videatur, quum maiori cure nemini sit quam ipsi
Serenissimo patri, qui regie sue humanitatis nimis esset oblitus nisi
carissimam filiam paterno complecteretur affectu et aliorum vigilantia
sibi in mentem redigi expectaret, quod salubritati, atque solatio filie
esse posset. Itaque quam possum ex animo dominationem vestram obsecro,
vt suum istud illustrissimam dominam mariam inuisendi desiderium ab
amico pectore potius quam vlla necessitate profectum in aliud commodius
tempus defferre non grauetur, et enim vt fieri facile potest de huius
illustrissime domine neglecta valetudine falso aliquid ad vos deferri,
ita a dominatione vestra peto, vt affirmanti mihi velit certam habere
fidem nihil scilicet cure studii, atque diligentie omitti quod ad
illustrissime domine Marie conseruationem expedire posse videatur.
Pestis deinde sic londini, locisque vicinioribus seuit, vt inofficiosus
videri posset, quicunque illinc veniens dominam mariam in aere alique
temperie agentem, quam saluberrima, officii gratia nunc temporis vellet
inuisere. Non grauetur itaque dominatio vestra hoc meum responsum
benigne amiceque, vt solet interpretari nilque a me prospiciet
pretermissum, quod ex huius regie ma^{tis} dignitate, Cesaris honore et
domine marie conseruatione esse potuerit. Sed de hiis in proximum
congressum colloquemur vberius, et felix valeat vestra dominatio cui ex
animi sententia, optima queque euenire precor. wintonie die vltimo
septembris 1535.
E. v. D.
Ex corde amicus
THOMAS CRUMUELL.
_Add._ Magnifico Domino Eustachio Chapuysio Cesaree ma^{tis} oratori
plurimum observando.
122. CROMWELL TO SIR GREGORY DA CASALE.
R.O. Cal. ix. 240. Sept. 1535.
Explains, for the Pope’s benefit, the reasons for the
executions of More and Fisher, and describes them as men
proved guilty of high treason. Wonders at the Pope’s
indignation at their just sentence.
Mag_nifi_ce D_omi_ne Gregori plurimam salutem et commen_dacionem_. Quae
tum ex ferraria tum ex bononia v_est_ris l_ette_ris nuper ad me
scripsistis, sigillatim omnia (ut mei est officii) Serenissimae Regiae
Ma_iesta_ti significaui, in quibus, ut multa erant, publicarum rerum
cognitionis gratia lectu non iniucunda, et v_es_tri cum D_omin_o
Parisiensi habiti sermones ipsi probantur, ita non satis demirari
potuit, Epi_scop_i Roffen_sis_ et Thomae Mori mortem, pontificis,
illiusq_ue_ curiae animu_m_ adeo grauiter offendisse, ut ex hac re
conceptam indignationem haud facile possint concoquere, licetq_ue_
Inuictissimae Regiae Ma_iesta_ti mortalium nemini, praeterq_ue_ Deo (cum
quo actiones, consiliaq_ue_ sua habet q_uam_ maxime coniuncta) ulla sit
factorum suorum reddenda ratio, ne tamen maleuolor_um_ calumniis, ac
ueritatis obscuratione, Regium suum nomen istic traducatur, quid ea in
re actu_m_ fuerit succincte ad vos perscribam: Postq_uam_ igitur Regia
Ma_ies_tas bene fauente, ac promouente Deo, causam suam publicam
eruditissimor_um_, probatissimoru_m_q_ue_ totius christianitatis
viror_um_, qui nullis passionibus, seu affectibus essent obnoxii,
consensu, et authoritate tandem terminasset, et ad ipsam ueritatem omni
ex parte firmasset, coeperunt isti boni viri, quibus res praeter
expectatione_m_ ceciderat, et spes moliendi noua (ut iam animo
agitarant) praecisa fuerat, in alias cogitationes, syncere parum, animum
intendere, quumq_ue_ optimus Rex ex uigilantissimi principis officio
(quod a Deo acceptum sustinet in terris) sui Regni quieti, et commodo
prospicere, hominumq_ue_ mores multa iam parte collapsos in melius
corrigere conaretur, istud etiam publicum bonum, quoad fieri per eos
potuit, simulatae integritatis praetextu adnissi[855] sunt, sed nullo
cum fructu impedire, atq_ue_ praeuertere, huius eorum sceleris indicia
Rex habebat perq_uam_ manifesta, sed ut vana semper floccifecit, et
nihili habuit, sperans aliquando futurum q_uod_ hac sua indulgentia, hos
viros (quos ut non penitus cognitos nonnunq_uam_ antea in precio
habuisset) ad aliquam frugem, ac mentis sanitatem reuocaret, At ipsi,
quibus genuina ambitio, sui ipsius amor et sapientia quaedam singularis
diuersum persuaserat, optimi principis benignitate, ac mansuetudine
pertinaciter sunt abusi, et ubi publicum Regni concilium (quod
parliamentu_m_ uocant) pro Regni quiete stabilienda, ut ad certa tempora
haberetur, indictum foret, ceperunt undecunq_ue_ sollicita cum
sedulitate clanculu_m_ exquirere, qua de re tractari, quidq_ue_ in hoc
parliam_en_to, ut expediens rei p_ubli_cae agi oporteret, quicquid uero
alior_um_ delatu ex re praeterita rerum usu, uel coniectura usq_ue_
collegissent id statim communibus consiliis trutinabant, omnia secus
interpreta_n_tes, q_ue_ Regni quies ac utilitas exposcebat, eo quidem
argumentor_um_ et rationum apparatu, ut rudi plebeculae non multo cum
labore potuisset imponi, quumq_ue_ ex conscientia parum sana, Regis
animum sibi offensum suspicarentur, ueriti ne parum commode,
audacterq_ue_, quod tacite animo moliebantur, tractare possent, ex hiis
nonnullos delegerunt, quos audaculos aut linguae uelocitate promptiores,
aut sui studiosos existimarunt cum his antiquioris amicitiae occasione
ageba_n_t familiaribusq_ue_ colloquiis excipiebant, ac si quos morbo
animi laborantes suae opinionis reperissent, in horum sinum iam antea
conceptu_m_ pectore uenenum euomebant, suae erga claementissimum Regem
fidei, et obseruantiae, atq_ue_ in ipsam patriam charitatis prorsus
obliti, Haec dum in uulgus haberentur passimque sparsa promiscue essent,
haud somnulenter solertissimus princeps perscrutari coepit, quibus
fundame_n_tis tam impia coniuratio niteretur, quibusq_ue_ enutriretur
authoribus, luce clarius perspexit, ab hiis integerrimis iuris tantam
iniquitatem deriuari, quam redarguebant non obscuri testes, ultro,
citroq_ue_ missa chyrographa, ipsorumq_ue_ oris confessio, haec et alia
que multa iustissimu_m_ principem adegeru_n_t, ut hos rebelles, ac
degeneres subditos, in patriam ingratos, communi bono aduersos, publicae
pacis turbatores, tumultuosos, impios, seditiososq_ue_ viros in uincula
carceresq_ue_ coniecerit, nec id praetermittere poterat, nisi patefacta
iniquitate, sui officii consulto immemor permittere uoluisset, huius
sceleris contagionem publica cum pernicie in q_uam_ multos transferri.
Carceribus autem mancipati tractabantur humanius, atq_ue_ mitius q_uam_
par fuisset, pro eorum demeritis, per Regem illis licebat proximor_um_
colloquio, et consuetudine frui, ij fuerant illis appositi,
praescriptiq_ue_ ministri, quos a uinclis immunes antea fidos
charosq_ue_ habeba_n_t, id cibi genus eaq_ue_ condim_en_ta, et uestitus
ei concedebantur, quae eorum habitudini, ac tuendae sanitati, ipsi
consanguinei, nepotes atq_ue_ affines, et amici iudicabant esse magis
accommoda, Coeteru_m_ tanta Regis mansuetudine, fides, obserua_n_tia,
ueritas, amorq_ue_ recti apud rebelles istos, proditoresq_ue_ homines
usq_ue_ adeo exoleuit, ut constanter iniqui esse maluerint, q_uam_ sui
sceleris poenitentia Regis bonitatem atq_ue_ claementiam experiri, et
enim postq_uam_ certae leges, statuta, atq_ue_ decreta, re prius multa
deliberatione in omne_m_ partem discussa, publica parliame_n_ti
authoritate, assensu atq_ue_ consensu condita praescriptaq_ue_ fuere, et
ab omnibus nullo discrimine, repugna_n_te nullo, ut sancta necessaria
toti Regno utilia, et cum uera christi religione potissimu_m_
consentientia admissa, atq_ue_ recepta sunt, soli isti repugnabant, suae
impietatis praesidium semper aliquod fortuitum sibi ex tempore
pollicentes, nonnunq_uam_ omissa rerum humanar_um_ cogitatione se totos
diuinar_um_ contemplationi egregie simulabant addictos, interim studia,
uigilias, cogitatusq_ue_, suos omnes utcunq_ue_ carceribus obnoxii eo
intendebant, ut quibuscunq_ue_ possent fallaciis, praestigiosisq_ue_
argumentis tam sanctas Regni leges, tantaq_ue_ authoritate firmitas ac
rectissime stabilitas, soli ipsi perniciosissimae seditionis principes
in commune malum eluderent, refellerent, atq_ue_ turbare_n_t, huius
autem tam impiae, perfidae ac iniquae affectae uoluntatis extant
manifestissima indicia extant chyrographa ipsa eorum manu carbonibus, et
creta (si quando deerat atrame_n_tum) depicta, ultro, citroq_ue_ clam
ab ipsis destinata, neq_ue_ ipsi ibant inficias complures mutuo acceptas
missasq_ue_ l_itter_as, fuisse in ignem coniectas ut tacitum, tutumq_ue_
suae iniquitatis seruatorem, aliud nihil hiis l_itte_ris conscriptum
erat, q_uam_ quod ad publicam seditionem potissimu_m_ spectaret,
sustinere diutius non potuit mitissimus Rex istorum culpam tam atrocem,
legumq_ue_ examini publico foro et aperto iudicio illos commisit, Laesae
Ma_iesta_tis, ac rebellionis rei reperti sunt, atq_ue_ damnati,
supplicium de eis sumptum est longe quidem mitius q_uam_ leges, ac
iudicia praescribebant aut eorum culpa exegisset, ex quor_um_ exemplo ad
sanitatem, ad fidem q_uam_ multi rediere: Quicunq_ue_ sano defecatoq_ue_
est iudicio non obscure huic perspicere potest q_uod_ praecipitanter
pontifex, et curia Romana ullam ex hac re animi offensionem conceperit,
per Regiam M_aiesta_tem non stat, quominus pontifex in suos Car_dina_les
Ep_iscop_os eosq_u_e omnes, in quos ius ullum sibi uendicat, iure suo
utatur, non eorum causam suam aestimat, nec offenditur, si pontifex, aut
quiuis alius chr_isti_anus princeps ullum de male mentis subditis aut
rebellibus supplicium exigat: Iterum igitur, atq_ue_ iterum miratur,
pontificem ex hac re tantum indignationis animo concepisse, sed hanc
indignationem, quam tantopere exacerbare uidetur curia, tunc depositam
iri putat, quum desierint maleuoli suggerere quae falsa su_n_t,
quumq_ue_ mentiendi uia fuerit illis praeclusa, quibus quum nil aeque
graue, atq_ue_ molestu_m_ sit, q_uam_ quod suor_um_ consilior_um_ tam
strenua fundamenta deiecta fuerint, id operae precium non exiguum esse
ducu_n_t, ut hoc uelamine suas technas callide contega_n_t priuatamq_ue_
offensionem, si quae sit, pontificis causam faciant. Non grauetur
itaq_ue_ pontifex, si Regia M_aies_tas suo Regniq_ue_ sui iure, si
quando expedit, uicissim utatur: Haec itaque omnia tum pontifici, tum
coeteris omnibus, qui ex hor_um_ rebelliu_m_ suscepto supplicio
quicq_uid_ offensionis concoeperint sedulo enarrabitis, ut quam ex falsa
auditione animi molestiam imbiberu_n_t, hanc uera audiendo, multa mentis
tranquillitate quandoq_ue_ deponant, nihilq_ue_ omittetis, in eorum qua
superius commemoraui enarratione, etenim Regiae M_aiesta_ti
gratissimu_m_ erit, ne ipsa ueritas, ut se habet, maleuolor_um_
calumniis obscuretur, q_uia_ si tantum increbuerit mendax paucorum
delatio, ut nullus hac in re amplius apud illos sit locus ueritati
relictus, falsas eoru_m_ calumnias quantu_m_ cum Deo poterit Regia
M_aies_tas sustinebit, quae sic Regni sui statum, resq_ue_ omnes
undequaq_ue_ firmitas, stabilitasq_ue_ habet, sic suorum fidem, pectora,
et obseruantiam compertam tenet, ut iniuriam omnem, si qua alicunde
inferatur, queat non multo cum labore deo bene iuuante, refellere et
propulsare. Et bene valete. Ex Aula Regia apud Brumham Die Septembr_is_
MDXXXV.
Vester bonus amicus
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ Mag_nific_o Equiti, D_omi_no Gregorio Casalio etc.
123. ‹CROMWELL› TO ----.
R.O. Cal. ix. 241 (ii). ‹Sept. 1535.›
The King thanks the recipient for his letter, and for the
articles of the charge he has given to the inquests, and
desires him to act further according to his discretion.
After right harty co_m_mendacion, ye shall vnderstand that I have
resceyved yo_ur_ l_ette_re of the xxvi^{th} day of August w_i_t_h_ the
articles of the charge that ye haue geven to thenquestes ther the whiche
l_ette_re and articles I have at large shewed and declared vnto the
king_es_ highnes who[856] consideryng yo_ur_ payne and travaill takyn
therin right well allowithe and acceptithe yo_ur_ good procedyng_es_ and
doyng_es_ in that behalfe, yevyng vnto you therfore right harty
thank_es_, requyryng[857] the same farther like as ye have alredy
begonne So to p_ro_cede therin withe suche acceleracion and spede as ye
convenyently may do, accordyng to thexpectacion and trust that his
highnes hathe in you. And touchyng the enquestes that ye have charged
for that purpose all though they be the king_es_ s_er_u_a_unt_es_ and
sworne for that purpose, yet for asmoche as many of theym in some
poynt_es_ p_er_chaunce may be offendo_ur_s will therfore conceyll and
not fynd the truthe in eu_er_y poynt. Wherfore the king_es_ pleasure is
that ye well consideryng the same may order and devise eu_er_y thyng
after yo_ur_ discresion, and as ye shall se cause besid_es_ theffect of
the verdictes of thesame enquestes.
124. CROMWELL TO THE MAYOR, BAILIFFS, AND BURGESSES
OF CAMBRIDGE.
Cooper’s Annals, i. 373; Cal. ix. 615. Oct. 15 ‹1535›.
As the King has approved his election as Chancellor of the
University, he desires them to appear at the two yearly
leets held by the University, and not to deny to the
University the use of the King’s prison called the Tolbooth.
In my right harty maner I commende me unto youe. And whereas it hath
pleased the kings highnes, uppon an election passed by the universitie
of Cambridge wherin they chose me to be their hedde and Chaunceler, to
condescende that I shuld accepte and take the same, to the intent that
all matiers depending betweene you and them, in contencon and
variaunce, might be rather by my meane and mediacon be finished, and soo
determyned, as eyther parte myght enjoye such privileages as shuld be
thought conveniente for them, with the advauncement of justice, the
quiet and tranquillitie of the common weale, Wherin I purpose with suche
dexteritie to travayl, as y_ou_ shall have good cause to think that all
respects and affecttions laide aparte, I only mynd that which
appertayneth to the office of a faithfull counsailor. Ye shall
understande, that forasmoche as I am credibly advertised, that
notwithstanding the said universitie hath hertefor had not only the
serche of vitail and the correccon of waightes and measures there, and
may by the kings Charters (as they doo and of long tyme have doon) kepe
two letes in the yere, to be furnyshed with the townesmen, for the
punishment and amerciament of suche as shuld be founde offenders in that
behaulf, but also the use of the kings prisonne there called the
Tolbothe, for the punyshment of all such other offences, as they may by
their said Charters correct and punish, the rather of perverse mynd than
otherwise, doo from tyme to tyme, when the said letes be summoned, as
wel make slender appearance in the same, ne being theer charged, present
and amerce the offenders, as by virtue of yo_ur_ othe you be bounde,
wherby the good order to be observed therin is utterly confounded, to
the great detryment of the publique weale of the hole towne, with the
inquietacon of the kings subgiectts abiding within the same, As utterly
deny them the use of the said prisonne; I have thought good, by these my
lettres, to desire and praye youe, and nevertheles on the kings behaulf
for the better preservacion of his graces peax, to commaunde youe, not
only to mak yo_ur_ due appearance in the said letes, and their to
enquire, present, and amerce the offenders, as hath been accustomed, but
also bothe to permytt and suffer them to have the correction of waightes
and measures, and the use of the said prisonne at their liberties, as
they have had, without yo_ur_ denyal or interrupcon to the contrary,
untyl suche tyme as the kings highnes shal take finall order and
direction in all things depending in variaunce or question betweene
youe, whiche his Majestie wil not fayle to do with al speede and
celeritie. And thus fare youe hartely well. From Stepnay, the 15th daye
of Octobre.
Your lovyng freend,
THOM_AS_ CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my hartely beloved Freendes the Mayre, Bailieffs, and
Burgesses, of the towne of Cambridge, and to every of them.
125. ‹CROMWELL› TO JOHN GOSTWICK.
B.M. Titus B. iv, ff. 114-115; Cal. ix. 647. Oct. 20, 1535.
Finds that Gostwick is charged with the sum of £16,032
16_s._ 8_d._ due to the King from divers persons, for
conveying corn out of the realm. Desires him to collect as
much of it as he can.
Mr Gostwyck. Where ye stande Charged in the Book_es_ of Specialties
Betwene you & me made at your furst entrie into your Office subscribed
w_i_t_h_ our hand_es_ for the Receipt of Sixtene Thousande thirty & two
pound_es_ sixtene shilling_es_ and eight pence, due vnto the King_es_
Maiestie by diu_er_se & sundry p_er_sonnes, for the Conveyaunce of Corne
& other thing_es_ out of this Realme contrary to the King_es_ Lawes, as
appereth by the condic_i_ons of their obligac_i_ons, remaynyng in yo_ur_
Custodye, And forasmuche as I do vnderstande and perfitely knowe that a
grete p_ar_te of the said su_m_me of xvi^{ml} xxxii li xvi s viii d ys
vnlevyable, desperat & cannot be had nor recou_er_ed by reason that
certain of the saide p_er_sonnes haue certificaths, so_m_me other fallen
in vtter decay, by occasion of the grete losses & hynderaunc_es_ that
they haue susteyned as well by See, as Lande, And so_m_me of theim
dedde, & not knowing of whome to be aunswered Whereby I haue Considered
the same to be mattier of Conscience, not intending nor mynding to
charge you further than shall stande with the same, nor w_i_t_h_ nomore
sume or su_m_mes than hath or herafter shall co_m_me vnto your hand_es_
Have therfore thought it good, aswell for your Discharge, and myne, As
also for the spedy Recoueryng and Receipt of the Rest of the Money due
by the saide sp_ec_ialties, this to devise & wryte, By the same in the
King_es_ Maiesties name Auctorizing you, to call all the said p_ar_ties
before you, w_i_t_h_ all seleritie & spede, And by yo_ur_ discresc_i_on,
so to vse them, That the king_es_ highnes may be aunswered of the money,
that by your saide discrescion shalbe thought of verey right &
Conscience sufficient. Further in the king_es_ name Auctorizing you by
vertue herof, to take newe composic_i_ons of suche as hath not their
money in arredynesse. And also by the same to deliu_er_ all suche
sp_ec_ialties vnto the parties or ther deputies, as shalbe p_ro_ved of
right either to haue Certificate or other sufficient Discharge. And this
Subscribed with my hande shalbe vnto you your heires executo_urs_ &
deputies sufficient Discharge at all tymes hereafter, for your so doing.
Wrytten the xx^{ti} day of Octobre the xxvii^{ti} yere of the Reigne of
our Sou_er_aigne Lorde king Henry the eight.
_Endd._ A minute of a lettre to M^r Gostwyke, towching a newe ordre and
composic_i_on to be taken w_i_t_h_ certayn p_er_sons standing chardged
in grete so_m_mes of monaye vnto the king_es_ Ma_ies_tie whiche be
vnleviable and desperate by reason the p_ar_ties by casualtes be brought
to greate pou_er_tie
126. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 110; Cal. ix. 848. Nov. 19 ‹1535›.
Urges him to work diligently in France for the delivery of
the ships at Bordeaux. Sends a dozen of Gardiner’s orations
and a dozen of those of the Dean of the Chapel Royal also,
for him to distribute according to his discretion.
My veray good lorde aftre my moost harty co_m_mendac_i_ons by maister
brian whom the king_es_ highnes at this tyme sendeth vnto his good
brother the frenche king sufficiently instructed to certain purposes, as
by his instructions wherunto ye shalbe p_ar_ticipant and make him again
the semblable to yours, ye shal p_er_ceyve, ye shal receyve his highnes
l_ette_res, touching matiers of importaunce, whiche as his grace
doubteth not but ye wil setfurth w_i_t_h_ suche dexteritie as shal best
conduce his desire to effecte Soo his pleasure is ye shal w_i_t_h_ suche
stomak and courage travail w_i_t_h_ the frenche king and his counsail in
that pointe touching the delyueraye of the shippes as ye maye not onely
obteyne the same but also declare and shewe therw_i_t_h_ howe ingrately
his highnes is handeled therin spe_ci_ally being at this tyme soo
secrete and freendly treatie betwene him and his good brother as there
is for matiers of soo high consequence, among_es_ whiche thing_es_ also
his grace desireth youe to remembre the declarac_i_on of the french king
of tharticles sent by Melancton, luthers epistle in the same, w_i_t_h_
thother circu_m_stances conteyned in the copies lately sent vnto you. Ye
shall also receyve herw_i_t_h_ a dosen of yo_ur_ orations and another
dosen of the deanes, whiche the king_es_ pleasure is ye shall by
thaduise of Mr. brian and Maister Wallop destribute to suche p_er_sounes
there as among_es_ youe ye shal think convenient. In whiche treatie to
be had concernyng the shippes ye may not forget to inculce what Joye the
subgiett_es_ here conceyved for his recou_er_ye in the procession, and
howe they bee again sithens stayed vppon this staye of the shippes
whiche hath indede soo contrary a counten_au_nce to o_ur_ doing_es_ as
it is no m_er_vayl thoughe they be abasshed at it. And this matier the
king_es_ highnes woll haue you chiefly prosecute, leving to Sir John
Wallop only the sute for the moneye, bicause the p_ro_myse therof was
made vnto him. And thus I pray god sende your lordshipp well to fare.
From the Rulles the xix^{th} daye of Nouembre
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lorde my lorde of Winchestre the king_es_
highnes Ambassad_or_ at this tyme w_i_t_h_ the french king.
_Endd._ From the Roulles the xix^{th} of Novembre. Mr. Secretary
127. CROMWELL TO GARDINER AND WALLOP.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 232; Cal. ix. App. 8. Dec. 7 ‹1535›.
Desires them to discover the real inclination of the French
King, and to ascertain whether they have any secret plans on
foot. Gives a list of the sums of money due to the King.
Aftre my moost harty co_m_mendacions w_i_t_h_ like thank_es_ for yo_ur_
gentle l_ette_res and aduertisement_es_ of the Occurrant_es_ there, ye
shal at this tyme receyve the king_es_ highnes l_ette_res answering to
yo_ur_s of the xxviii^{th} of Nouembre The content_es_ wherof as his
highnes doubteth not but ye wil duely consider and accomplishe
temp_er_ing neu_er_theles the same in suche sorte, as yo_ur_ wisedomes
shall think maye best s_er_ue to thentertaynement of thamytie betwene
his grace and the frenche king, and the conducing of his graces desire
to effecte. Soo his highnes spe_ci_ally desireth youe to endeuo_ur_
yo_ur_self_es_ by all the meanes ye canne possibly deuise and excogitate
to explore serche and knowe the veray inclynac_i_on of the frenche king
and whither the frenchemen haue any pryvie practises in hande, and of
the lightlywod of the successes of the same w_i_t_h_ suche other
occurrant_es_ as shall chaunce to co_m_me to yo_ur_ knowleage to
aduertise his highnes, as I shal for my p_ar_te desire youe to doo to me
the semblable as the tyme and hast of yo_ur_ dispeches wil give you
leave. The treatie belli offensiui ratified at Amyans I sende vnto youe
herw_i_t_h_, And as co_n_cernyng thaccompt of the money due to the
king_es_ highnes First there is due to his grace 1M^{l}[858] crownes
lent to the duke of Bavier for the whiche the frenche king standeth
bounde by obligac_i_on. Item 1M^{l}[858] crownes lent at his request for
the assistence of the duke of Wittenberge, for the whiche they haue non
acquietance, but were bounde by promyse to repaye it in cace there
ensued no good successe of themployment of the same whiche condition
and conven_au_nt is w_i_t_h_out question determyned.
Item there is due vnto his grace the hole penc_i_on and salt moneye for
the last yere ended at Nouembre.
And wheras the king_e_s highnes in these his l_ette_res nowe sent vnto
youe hathe co_m_maunded youe Mr. wallop to presse themp_er_o_ur_s,
Ambassado_ur_ for your declaration to the denyal of thouertures, like as
I writing by his graces co_m_maundement vsed the same terme, for
declarac_i_on of yo_ur_self, to thintent ye shal not thinke that
anything is further ment therby thenne to haue youe vse that worde to
him to extorte what ye canne in that matier, his highnes co_m_ma_u_nded
me in this sorte to expounde the same vnto youe. And thus moost hartely
fare youe well. From Richemont the vii^{th} of decembre.
The king_es_ highnes spe_ci_ally desireth youe to reme_m_bre his
co_m_mandement touching the delyu_er_ance of the shippes
Yo_ur_ assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To myn assured frend_es_ My lorde of Winchestre and s_ir_ John
Wallop knight the king_es_ Ambassado_ur_s in fraunce.
_Endd._ From Richemonde the vii^{th} of decembre. Mr. Secretary.
128. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 234; Cal. ix. App. 9. Dec. 7 ‹1535›.
Has been unable to obtain a copy of the treaty which he
promised to send, and thought it better to postpone sending
it than to delay the bearer. The King desires him to labour
for the delivery of the ships.
Aftre my moost harty co_m_mendac_i_ons to yo_ur_ lordshippe Thise shalbe
to aduertise youe that Albeit in myn other l_ette_res writen ioyntly to
youe and Maister Wallop I haue signified that ye shuld by this berer
receyve the treaty belli offensiui whiche ye wrote for, yet having here
suche busines that I could ‹not› dep_ar_te to london to cause the same
to be copied, I thought it more expedient to differre the sending of it
vntil we shal dispeche another curro_ur_ vnto youe, thenne to demore
yo_ur_ s_er_u_au_nt here tyl I might haue goon to london for that
p_ur_pose. And wheras yo_ur_ said s_er_u_au_nt hath declared vnto me
yo_ur_ credence concernyng yo_ur_ necessitie of money, I shall not fayle
by the next messanger to take suche direction w_i_t_h_ youe for the
satisfaction of yo_ur_ desire in that p_ar_te as ye shall haue cause to
be contented. The king_e_s highnes desireth youe to labo_ur_ effectually
‹for› the delyu_er_ance of the shippes at Burdeulx according to suche
instructions as ye haue in that behaulf. And thus moost hartely Fare
youe well. From Richemonte the vii^{th} daye of Decembre in hast
Your lordshippis assuryd Freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lorde my lorde of Wynchestre the king_es_
Ambassado_ur_ in fraunce.
_Endd._ From Richemonde the vii^{th} of decembre. Mr. Secretary.
129. CROMWELL TO THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND
BAILIFFS OF CAMBRIDGE.
Cooper’s Annals, i. 377; Cal. ix. 977. Dec. 15 ‹1535›.
Marvels that they have not complied with his requests that
the University be permitted to use the Tolbooth, and desires
them to delay no longer. Will see that justice is done in
all respects.
In my right harty maner I comende me unto youe. Lating you wit that I
cannot a little marvayle to understand that notwithstanding my sundrey
lettres hertofor addressed unto youe, tuching the permission of the use
of the Tolboth, the furniture of the Universitie leates, the advoyding
of newe practises, usages, or imposicions, wherby might insewg debate
and contencion betweene you and the said universitie, to yo_ur_ owne
disquiet, with the offence of the kings peax, ye have both refused to
doo and accomplish those things persuaded and enioined therin unto youe,
and for the contynuance and nutryment of discorde and trouble amonge the
kings subiectts, devised newe things and meanes to augment and engrece
the same. The prysonne first is the kings, and seing his grace by his
charters and grauntes hath ioyned the universitie with youe in the use
therof, I cannot conceyve what ye meane to denye that whiche his grace
hath graunted, and by vertue thereof, they have so long enjoyed, which
expressly yo_ur_ baylie Ousburn did bothe to the procurators, and also
to the vicechancelors deputie. A sergeant of yours also lately tok a
peace of cloth from the stall of a commone minister of the Universities
for non apparance in yo_ur_ Leate contrary to the comandment given at
the tyme of Sturberige fayr, that ye shuld reyse no newe custome, or
gather any newe exaction or imposiccon, uppon any scoler, his servaunt
or their comone ministers; ye have also refused alonly this yere, to
make a certain othe before the congregacion at Saint Maryes church, for
the conservacion of the peax, and the presentement to the
vicechauncelor of vagabundes and others, breakers and interrupters of
the said peax. Nowe shal I, being only a Counsailor, and otherwise then
honestie and justice wil no partie, whiche have not only proffessed to
travayl for the quiet of both parties, but will devise and labor also to
performe the same, desire youe to permytt them, first to have the free
use of the tolboth as they have had: to see the cloth restored, taken
violently awaye by your sergeant; To see their leats furnished, and to
tak such othe, and use all suche things and custumes as ye have doon,
untyl fynal direction may be taken betweene both parties. And yet I must
ever saye, whiche ye shall also fynde true, that in cace ye shall doo
any wrong, or not fulfill that ye be bound unto, wherby tumult and
busines shuld rise amonge the kings people, though I do indede favor
yo_ur_ cause, as appertayneth, and will also be gladde to doo therein
what I canne for yo_ur_ comoditie, Yet in cace prayer and gentle
entreatie cannot pull and allure youe awaye from the doing of wrong and
iniury, both to the king and his subjectts, I will not fayle to
advaunce, to the uttermost of my power Justice and to see punished with
extremytie the interrupters thereof, to the example of other. And
therfor eftsones, I most hartily praye youe to conforme yourselfs to
quietnes in these pointes, and therein to performe that without
contencon whiche the princes grauntes, ever to be reverently obeyed, doo
require of youe, Ye shal by this waye and meane, doo your dueties, first
toward his grace, to me administer most thankfull pleasure, and with
your honesties provyde yourselfs quiet and rest, with a good end in all
suche controversies as depende between youe and the said universitie.
And thus fare youe hartely well. From Stepnaye, the xv^{th} daye of
Decembre.
Your freend,
THOM_AS_ CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my loving freendes, the Mayre, Aldermen and bailieffs of the
towne of Cambridge.
130. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 112; Cal. ix. 1010. Dec. 24 ‹1535›.
Thanks him for his letters, and promises to attend to
Gardiner’s wants. The postscript of Cromwell’s other letter
will inform Gardiner of Thwaites’ arrival here, and of the
answers made to the letters he brought.
Aftre my moost harty co_m_mendacons to your lordshippe w_i_t_h_ like
thank_es_ for yo_ur_ gentle l_ette_res by the post scripta in myn other
l_ette_res nowe writen vnto youe by the king_es_ highnes co_m_maundement
ye shal p_er_ceyve tharryval here of yo_ur_ s_er_u_au_nt Thwaytes,
w_i_t_h_ the determynac_i_on for answer to be made to suche l_ette_res
as he brought w_i_t_h_ him. I shall in the meane tyme so satisfie peter
lark yo_ur_ s_er_u_au_nt touching yo_ur_ request for money that ye shall
by the next post p_er_ceyve ye be not forgotten, but sufficiently and
soo furnished as ye shall haue cause to be contented. Yo_ur_ doing_es_
be no lesse thankfully accepted, thenne yo_ur_ wisedom travail and
diligence therin do require and for my p_ar_te if there be anything
ell_es_ here that I may doo yo_ur_ pleasure in, vppon yo_ur_
aduertisement I shalbe glad w_i_t_h_ al my harte to satisfie youe in the
same. And thus most hartely fare youe wel, from the Rulles the
xxiiij^{th} of Decembre
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lord my lord of Winchestre.
_Endd._ From the roulles the xxiiij of decemb_er_ Mr. Secretary.
131. CROMWELL TO GARDINER.
B.M. Add. MSS. 25,114, f. 114; Cal. ix. 1039. Dec. 30 ‹1535›.
The King approves of his service, and assures him that he
will be glad to welcome him on his return. Reports the
illness of Katherine. Has arranged for his money with Peter
Lark.
My veray good lord aftre my moost harty co_m_mendac_i_ons Thise shalbe
taduertise youe that vndoubtedly the king_es_ highnes doth in soo
thankfull sorte accepte your s_er_uice there doon vnto his maiestie, and
in euery condic_i_on soo allowe approve and co_m_mende yo_ur_ wise
substanciall and discreate proceding, as like as ye haue moche cause to
reioyse therin, soo shall the same be certain meane and occasion, that
ye shall assuredlye what ende soeuer yo_ur_ busines there shall take,
returne to his highnes as hartely welcom and in as greate reputac_i_on
as youe could yo_ur_self desire, wherof for my p_ar_te I am euen for
many respect_es_ as gladde as ye canne be yo_ur_self. Touchyng his
graces affayres I write nothing bicause the same be sufficiently touched
in his highnes l_ette_res nowe addressed vnto youe, only for newes ye
shal vndrestand that the douagier is in greate daunger whiche his
Maiestie also willed me to signifie vnto youe, as by the copye of a
l_ette_re sent from themp_er_o_ur_s Ambassador here touching her syknes
ye shal p_er_ceyve. And as concernyng yo_ur_ money I haue taken ordre
w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ serv_au_nt peter lark, soo as ye shall I doubt ‹not› be
shortly therin satisfied. And thus beseching god to sende youe a good
newe yere, I bid youe as well to fare as I wold myself. From the Rulles
the penultime of Decembre
Yo_ur_ lordshippis assuryd freend
THOMAS CRUMWELL.
_Add._ To my veray good lord, My Lord of Winchestre the King_es_ highnes
Ambassado_ur_ in Fraunce.
_Endd._ From the Roulles the xxx^{th} of Decembre Mr. Secretary
132. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹THE PRIOR OF MONTACUTE›.
R.O. Cal. ix. 1127. ‹1535.›
Has received his letters saying that a young person has made
suit to obtain the lease after its expiration. The King is
assured that he will not recommend any one to him who will
not act honourably and for the King’s profit.
In my right hertie man_er_ I co_m_mende me vnto you Adu_er_tesing the
same that I haue receyued your l_ette_res right well p_er_ceyuing the
content_es_ of the same And where as ye write vnto me that a nother
p_er_son of younger yeres should make sute for thopteyning of the lease
after the yeres all redie g_ra_unted in the same being expired and
determyned the truth is that there is labour made aswell vnto Mr. Norres
as other which is not so vehement ne hastie But that it may be right
well stayed. Neu_er_theles the king_es_ highnes hauing ferme trust in
yo_ur_ dexteritie and wisedom must ned_es_ haue regarde and
expectac_i_on in yo_ur_ l_ette_res. Doubting not but ye will not
p_re_ferre any other vnto his highnes but suche as shalbe right mete to
do that thing which shalbe most for their own honestie and will haue
good regarde and aspect to the King_es_ most proffite.
133. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹POLE›[859].
B.M. Cleop. E. vi, 371; Cal. viii. 220. ‹1535.›
Desires the recipient to answer the things contained in
Starkey’s letter to him, which was written by the King’s
express commandment.
Syr after my most harty reco_m_me_n_datyanys thys shalbe in few & short
wordys to requyre you accordyng to the callyng that our lord Jh_es_u
Chryst hath callyd & redemyd you that ys to say as wel wyth the gyft of
gud l_ette_res and vnderstondyng, as wyth the most excelle_n_t gyft of
jugeme_n_t in the same, ye wyl indeuur yourselfe to make answere vnto
such thyngys as be co_n_tynyd in master starkeys l_ette_res to you
wrytyn at thys tyme, by the kyng our masturys & soueraynys expresse
cu_m_ma_n_deme_n_t & that the same answer may be such & of such gravyte,
as the lyght & truthe therof may be to the honowre of god, & the
satysfactyon of hys hyghnes. Wherof I assure you I wold be as glad as
any pare_n_t or frend ye haue lyuy_n_g not dowtyng in your approuyd
wysedome & jugeme_n_t but that ye wyl exte_n_d the gyftys gyue_n_ vnto
you in such wyse as leuyng al your respectys or affectyon wole so
inserch your co_n_scyence & jugeme_n_t for the truth as ye wole both
dyscharge yourselfe agaynst god & your pry_n_ce, in dowyng wherof you
shal assurydly dow the thyng much to thencrese of your meryte & fame,
wherin as he that ys your assuryd frend to hys lytyl power I requyre you
to haue indyffere_n_t co_n_syderatyon & so to ordur yourselfe therin as
the expectatyon of your frendys wythe the jugeme_n_t of al me_n_ that
knowyth you may be satysfyd in that behalfe & thus our lord send you no
worse to fare than I wold ye dyd at london
_Add._ To my synguler frend Mayster Edmu_n_de Herwel marchant at Venyce
134. ‹CROMWELL› TO ‹AN ABBOT›.
R.O. Cal. viii. 1122. ‹1535.›
In consideration of his willing mind, has obtained the
King’s licence for him to resort to his manors near his
monastery, provided that by so doing he causes no
disturbance.
Ye shall vnderstand that I haue resceyved yo_ur_ l_ette_res[860], and
touching that ye desire among_es_ other thing_es_ licence for yo_ur_
selfe and certayn of yo_ur_ bretherne to walke to yo_ur_ mano_ur_s and
other places about yo_ur_ monastery. Ye shall understand that in
considerac_i_on of the good and toward mynd that I have found yn you
toward_es_ me and my s_er_uaunt_es_ diu_er_se ways I[861] have opteynyd
licence of the king_es_ highnes for yo_ur_ selfe that ye may resorte
vnto yo_ur_ maners and other convenyent walkes nygh vnto yo_ur_
monastery, so that no co_m_mon brute may be reysed therby, not doubtyng
but ye will vse yo_ur_ selfe so (as for the good will and mynd I bere
toward you) it may be to the good zele of religion and as I may therby
resceyve no disworship therby. so that always yo_ur_ bretherne must
ned_es_ use and order theymself_es_ accordyng to the Iniunccions in that
case geven unto theym in that behalf.
END OF VOL. I.
Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, by HORACE HART, M.A.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Antiquarian Magazine, Aug. 1882, vol. ii. p. 57.
[2] Manning and Bray, History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey,
vol. iii. p. 268.
[3] Court Rolls of Wimbledon Manor, 15 Edw. IV. These rolls are now in
the possession of Earl Spencer, lord of the manor. They were made
accessible to me through the courtesy of his steward, Mr. Joseph
Plaskitt.
[4] The original entry reads: ‘Joh_ann_es Cromwell filius et heres
W_ilelmi_ Cromwell nup_er_ de Northwell in com_itatu_ Nottingham remisit
totum jus &c. in quodam mess_uagio_ vocat_o_ Parkersplace et in quodam
tofto et v acris terr_a_e et in uno tofto cum crofto et vii acris terrae
dudum nup_er_ voc_atis_ Kendalisland et in viii acris terrae et
dimid_io_ jacent_ibus_ in villa et campis de Northwell mag_istro_
Joh_anni_ Porter prebendario prebende de Northwell voc_ato_ prebende de
Palishall in eccl_e_sia colleg_ii_ b_eata_e Mari_a_e Suthwell et
succ_essoribus_ suis’ (Dods. MSS. in Bibl. Bodl., vol. xxxvi. p. 97, 1
Edw. IV.)
[5] Antiquarian Magazine for August, 1882, vol. ii. p. 59.
[6] Dods. MSS., vol. xi. pp. 193a, 248a; vol. xxxvi. p. 103. Thorold
Rogers, in his History of Agriculture and Prices, vol. iv. p. 3, refers
to Ralph Lord Cromwell as ‘one of the richest men of the fifteenth
century.’
[7] Cf. Appendix I. at the end of this chapter.
[8] The following are some of the more common entries concerning Walter
Cromwell:--
‘P_resenta_nt q_uo_d Gualterus Cromwell est co_mmuni_s br_acia_tor de
here et fregit ass_is_am’ and ‘q_uo_d Gualterus Cromwell et ... sunt
co_mmun_es tipell_ari_i s_er_uisie et freg_eru_nt ass_is_am ideo ip_s_i
in mi_sericordi_a vi d.’ (Court Rolls, 17 Nov., 10 Hen. VII.; 17 Oct.,
15 Hen. VII.; 28 Oct., 17 Hen. VII.)
‘It_em_ p_resenta_nt q_uo_d Gualterus Smyth alias Crumwell nimis
excess_iv_e supo_n_unt co_mmuna_m pas_tur_am d_omi_ni ... cum av_ii_s
suis ad co_mmun_e nocument_um_ ideo ip_s_e in mi_sericordi_a vi d.
‘Item presentant q_uo_d { Gualterus
{ Johannes
Smyth de Puttenhith succid_un_t spinas in co_mmun_a p_astu_ra d_omi_ni
apud Puttenhith. Ideo ip_s_i in mis_ericordi_a iiii d.’ (Court Rolls, 28
Oct., 17 Hen. VII.)
[9] Court Rolls, 20 Edw. IV. and 16 Hen. VII.
[10] According to the record of 20 May, 11 Hen. VII.: ‘Eleg_erun_t in
offic_io_ constabul_arii_ de Puttenhith Gualterum Smyth qui jur_atus_
_est_ in eod_em_ offic_io_.’
[11] As by an entry of 20 May, 19 Hen. VII.: ‘Gualterus Smyth et ...
ibid_em_ jur_ati_ p_re_sent_ant_ _om_nia bene.’
[12] The entry in full reads: ‘It_e_m p_re_s_entant_ q_uo_d W ...
Crumwell al_ia_s Smyth false _e_t fraudulent_er_ rasuravit evidenc_es_
_e_t terrur_es_ d_omi_ni in div_ersi_s p_ar_cell_is_ ad
p_er_turbac_i_o_n_em _e_t exheredac_i_o_n_em d_omi_ni _e_t tenenciu_m_
ejus ut plenius apparet in eisd_e_m. I_de_o co_n_solend_um_ _est_ cum
do_mi_no et medio te_mpor_e pr_efatum_ est bidell_o_ seisir_e_ in manus
d_omi_ni om_n_ia t_e_r_ras_ _e_t ten_ementa_ sua tent_a_ de d_omi_no
p_er_ copiam, _e_t de exit_u_ eor_um_ d_omi_ni respon_dere_’ (Court
Rolls, 10 Oct., 6 Hen. VIII.; also Extracts, p. 74).
[13] Cal. vi. 696.
[14] Antiquarian Magazine, vol. ii. p. 178.
[15] Cal. iv. 5772. Cf. also Noble, Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 4-5, 238-241.
The statements in Noble about the Williamses and Cromwells are most
confusing and contradictory. Except for the information afforded
concerning Morgan Williams, they are without value, and for the most
part have been superseded by documentary evidence, discovered at a later
date.
[16] Court Rolls, 10 Oct., 5 Hen. VII., and Cal. iv. 5772.
[17] Cal. iv. 5757.
[18] Antiquary for October, 1880, vol. ii. p. 164. Antiquarian Magazine
for August and October, 1882, vol. ii. pp. 56 and 178.
[19] The original entries read as follows:--
1. ‘Ad hanc cur_iam_ venit Ric_ard_us Williams et surs_um_ red_idit_ in
man_us_ d_omi_ni duas i_n_tegras virgatas terrae in Hamptone ... quarum
una vocata Purycroft ... et alia virgata vocata Williams ad op_us_
Thomae Smyth hered_um_ et assign_atorum_’ (Court Rolls, 26 Feb., 19 Hen.
VII.)
2. ‘Ric_ard_us Williams fecit in_s_ul_tum_ Thomae [Smyth] et eundem
Thomam verberavit c_ont_ra pac_em_ d_omi_ni Regis’ ... ‘Ad hanc cur_iam_
venit Thomas Smyth et surs_um_ redidit in man_us_ d_omi_ni duas
i_n_tegras virgatas terrae in Rokhamptone ... quar_um_ una virgata
vocata Purycroft et alia virgata vocata Williams ad op_us_ Davidii Doby
hered_um_ et assign_atorum_’ (Court Rolls, 20 May, 19 Hen. VII.)
[20] Antiquarian Magazine for October, 1882, vol. ii. p. 183.
[21] It is possible that the Thomas Smyth, whose name occurs so
frequently in the Court Rolls, was identical with a certain ‘tryumphant
trollynge Thomas Smyth,’ who, in 1541, wrote several ballads ‘declaring
the despyte of a secrete sedycyous person,’ by name William Graye, who
had composed certain verses very derogatory to the memory of Thomas
Cromwell. This Thomas Smyth describes himself as ‘servaunt to the Kynges
royall Majestye, and clerke of the Quenes Graces Counsell, though most
unworthy’; he had perhaps obtained his position through the influence of
the King’s minister. He was supported in his tirade against Graye by
‘the ryght redolent and rotunde rethorician R. Smyth ... in an
Artificiall apologie articulerlye answerynge to the obstreperous
obgannynges of one W. G. evometyd to the vituperacyon of the tryumphant
trollynge Thomas Smyth ... to thende that the imprudent lector shulde
not tytubate or hallucinate in the labyrinthes of this lucubratiuncle.’
‘R. Smyth’ was probably another member of the Smyth-Cromwell tribe. The
name ‘Ric_ard_us Smyth’ occurs frequently in the Court Rolls (Cal. xvi.
423).
[22] See Appendices I. and III. at the end of this chapter.
[23] See Appendices II. and IV. at the end of this chapter. The
suggestion of Mr. Galton (The Character and Times of Thomas Cromwell, p.
22) that ‘Garigliano’ may be a mistake for ‘Marignano’ is scarcely
plausible. The great victory of Francis I occurred in 1515, when there
is every reason to suppose that Cromwell was in England.
[24] Cal. v. 1197; vii. 923.
[25] The fact that this tale concerns itself with Foxe’s native town of
Boston increases the probability of its authenticity. It was probably
this same Geoffrey Chambers who in later years was so active as
Cromwell’s agent, and as Surveyor-General of the King’s purchased lands.
Cf. Cal. xii. (ii), 490, 783, 835, 852, 857, and Ellis, 3rd Series, vol.
iii. p. 168.
[26] Cal. x. 1218.
[27] Cal. i. 3556.
[28] Appendix I. to this chapter; Antiquary for Oct. 1880, vol. ii. p.
164.
[29] Appendix to chapter iii. p. 59.
[30] Cal. iii. 3502.
[31] ‘Mr. Pryor’ and ‘Mistress Pryor’ both had rooms in Cromwell’s
house, at Austin Friars Gate, where he lived after the year 1524. Before
that date he resided near Fenchurch (Cal. iii. 2624; iv. 3197).
[32] Mr. Gairdner kindly informs me that he was misled by a record
concerning Robert Cromwell (Cal. ii. (i) 1369).
[33] Singer’s Cavendish, vol. i. p. 193 _n._
[34] Ellis, Thomas Cromwell, p. 12.
[35] Life of Wolsey, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. lxii. p.
325.
[36] Cal. i. 5355.
[37] In the original document (Cal. iii. 1026) the name of the Cardinal
is not expressly mentioned. The copy of the citation, however, was sent
by his chaplain, Clerk, and can scarcely have been intended for any one
but Wolsey, since the case had already reached the Papal Court.
[38] Cal. iii. 3681.
[39] Cal. iii. 1026, 1940, 1963, 2441, 3657.
[40] Cal. iii. 2624.
[41] Cal. iii. 2437.
[42] The original is in the Vienna Archives. This copy was made from the
official Record Office transcript. Cf. Cal. ix. 862, and Thomas, The
Pilgrim, p. 107.
[43] John Cromwell of Lambeth.
[44] _sic_, read ‘ou.’
[45] Sir William Compton. See Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xi.
p. 453.
[46] Letters, 1.
[47] On this paragraph, cf. Creighton’s Wolsey, pp. 128-130.
[48] Roper, Life of More, pp. 34-35.
[49] Ibid., pp. 35-38.
[50] On the 29th of April Wolsey entered the House and proposed a
subsidy ‘which he thought should not fall short of £800,000, to be
raised by a tax of four shillings in the pound on all men’s goods and
lands.’ The principal provisions of the Act to which the Commons were
finally induced to give their consent were as follows: for two years ‘a
rate of 5 per cent. was imposed on all lands and goods of the value of
£20 and upwards; 2-1/2 per cent. on goods between £20 and £2; 1-2/3 per
cent. on goods of 40s., or on yearly wages averaging 20s. In the third
year 5 per cent. on all lands of £50 and upwards; and in the fourth and
last year, 5 per cent. on personal property of £50 and upwards. These
rates were doubled in cases of aliens. The Act was not to extend to
Ireland, Wales, Calais, to the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland,
or Westmoreland, to Chester, to the bishopric of Durham, or to Brighton
in Sussex.’ (Cf. Introduction to vol. iii of the Calendar, pp. 243, 253,
270.) Brewer informs us that ‘it had been computed that the subsidy
granted by the Commons would produce £800,000,’ though he confesses that
we are ignorant of the data on which this estimate was based. Lingard
does not discuss the amount of the subsidy, but lays stress on the fact
that the Commons asserted their right to debate on the measure alone.
(Hist. of England, vol. vi. pp. 91-92.)
[51] Cal. iii. 2958. There can be no reasonable doubt concerning the
authorship of this speech. Neither Brewer nor Gairdner question it, and
Pauli, in an article on Wolsey and the Parliament of 1523 (Historische
Zeitschrift for 1889, p. 52), says, ‘Die Rede selbst kann
schlechterdings keinen anderen Urheber haben, und ist späterhin bei der
Confiscation der Papiere Cromwell’s in das Staatsarchiv gekommen.’
[52] _sic_, for ‘of.’
[53] _sic_, for ‘wrongous’ or ‘wrong.’
[54] _sic_, for ‘world.’
[55] _sic_, for ‘they.’
[56] _sic_, for ‘affliction.’
[57] _sic_, for ‘of’?
[58] _sic_, for ‘be conveyed.’
[59] _sic_, for ‘as.’
[60] _sic_, for ‘be,’ possibly meaning ‘very.’
[61] William de Croy, Lord Chievres.
[62] Cal. iv. 969; Doyle’s Baronage, vol. i. p. 689.
[63] Cal. iv. 294, 388, 979, 1385-1386, 1620, 2347-2348, 2379.
[64] Cal. iv. 989, 990.
[65] Cf. Preface to volume iv of the Calendar, pp. 368-369.
[66] Cal. iv. 1833-1834, 2365, 5117, 5145.
[67] Cal. iv. 3461, 4778, 5330; Letters, 6, 8.
[68] Cal. iv. 3360.
[69] Cal. iv. 3334, and Appendix II. at the end of chapter i, p. 19.
[70] Cal. iv. 3079, 3119, 4201, 5169, 5365, 5456.
[71] Cal. iv. 3198, 3475, 3535, 3676, 4117, 4275, 4570, 4573, 5399,
5411.
[72] Letters, 1.
[73] Cal. iv. 2538, 3053, 4107.
[74] Cal. iv. 1768.
[75] Cal. iv. 2387.
[76] Cal. iv. 5080, 5141.
[77] Cal. iv. 3388.
[78] Cf. Appendix at the end of this chapter, p. 58.
[79] Cal. iv. 4560, 4837, 4916.
[80] Cal. iv. 4561.
[81] Cal. iv. 4433, 5757, 6219.
[82] Cal. iv. 3197.
[83] Appendix at the end of this chapter. The will is also printed in
Froude, Appendix to chapter vi. The statement in a footnote that the
names Williams and Williamson are used interchangeably is scarcely
credible.
[84] Cf. footnote 87 in the Appendix, p. 56. The will was originally
misdated, owing to an obviously careless error by the clerk, which was
corrected by him at the time. The other corrections, by Cromwell, are
written in a different-coloured ink; and the handwriting according to
the Calendar (cf. footnote to vol. iv. no. 5772) indicates that they
were made at a later date.
[85] Cal. xi. 1016; xii. (ii) 646.
[86] Cf. the genealogy in the Antiquary, vol. ii. pp. 164 ff.
[87] Altered at the time from:--‘MCCCCC xx viij^{ti}’ by the clerk. All
the other changes are in Cromwell’s hand, and were probably made at a
later date. Cf. footnote in the Calendar, vol. iv. pt. iii. p. 2573.
[88] Altered from:--‘Foure hundreth pownd_es_.’
[89] Altered from:--‘cccc^{li}.’
[90] Altered from:--‘xx^{li}.’
[91] Altered from:--‘one.’
[92] Altered from:--‘twoo.’
[93] These last six words are altered from:--‘a Bolster the best.’
[94] Altered from:--‘two.’
[95] Altered from:--‘ij^o.’
[96] Altered from:--‘One Dozen.’
[97] Altered from:--‘A.’
[98] Altered from:--‘iij.’
[99] Altered from:--‘vj of.’
[100] These last two words are altered from:--‘and.’
[101] Altered from:--‘xxiiij^{ti}.’
[102] Crossed out:--‘It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my Doughter Anne one
hundreth Mark_es_ of lawfull money of Englond when she shall cu_m_ to
her lawfull age or happen to be maryed And xl^{li} toward_es_ her
Fynding vntill the tyme that she shalbe of lawfull age or be maryed.
Which xl^{li} I will shalbe Delyuered to my Frend John Croke on of the
Six clerk_es_ of the king his Ch_a_uncerie to thintent he may order the
same and cause the same to be imployed in the best wise he can deuyse
about the vertewous educacyon and bringing vp of my saide Doughter till
she shall cu_m_ to her lawfull age or maryage. And if it happen my saide
Doughter to Dye before she cu_m_ to her saide lawfull age or be maryed
Then I will that the said c Mark_es_ and so moche of the said xl^{li} as
then shalbe vnspent and vnimployed at the Day of the deth of my said
Doughter Anne, I will it shall remayne to Gregory my Soon if he then be
on lyue, And if he be Dede the same c Mark_es_ and also so moche of the
saide xl^{li} as then shalbe vnspent to be departed amongst my Sustres
children in man_er_ and fourme forsaid And if it happen my saide Sustres
children then to be all Dede, Then I will the saide c Mark_es_ and so
moche of the saide xl^{li} as then shalbe vnspent shalbe deuyded amongst
my kynsfolk_es_ such as then shalbe on lyue.’
[103] Altered from:--‘xx^{li} I Saye Twentye pound_es_ st_er_ling’: and
this is altered from:--‘xxx^{li} which she oweth me.’
[104] Crossed out:--‘and.’
[105] Crossed out:--‘s_er_u_au_nt w_i_t_h_ my lorde Marques Dorssett.’
[106] Altered from:--‘xl^{li}.’
[107] Altered from:--‘Fourth.’
[108] Altered from:--‘xx^{li}.’
[109] Altered from:--‘x^{li}.’
[110] Altered from:--‘shall remayne to Anne and Grace my doughters.’
[111] Altered from:--‘xl^{li}’: and this is altered from:--‘xx^{li}.’
[112] Altered from:--‘vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d.’
[113] Altered from:--‘iij^{li} vj^s viij^d.’
[114] Altered from:--‘Cosyn.’
[115] Altered from:--‘c.’
[116] Altered from:--‘Best.’
[117] Altered from:--‘x^{li}.’
[118] Crossed out:--‘It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to Elizabeth Gregory
sumtyme my Seru_au_nt xx^{li} vj payre of Shet_es_ A Fetherbed A payre
of blankett_es_ A Couerlet ij^o table clothes, One Dozen Naptkynnes ij^o
brasse pott_es_, ij^o pannes, ij^o Spytt_es_.’
[119] Crossed out:--‘It_e_m I gyue _and_ bequethe to John Croke one of
the vj clerk_es_ of the Ch_a_uncerye x^{li} my Second gowne Doblet and
Jaquet. It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to Roger More Seruaunt of the king
his bakehouse vj^{li} xiij^s iiij^d iij yard_es_ Saten and to Maudelyn
his wyf iij^{li} vj^s viij^d.’
[120] Crossed out:--‘It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my litill Doughter
Grace c Mark_es_ of lawfull ynglissh money when she shall cu_m_ to her
lawfull age or maryage and also xl^{li} toward_es_ her exhibucyon and
Fynding vntill suche tyme ‹as› she shalbe of lawfull age or be maryed
Which xl^{li} I will shalbe delyuered to my brother in law John
Willyamson to thintent he may order and cause the same to be imployed in
and about_es_ the vertewous educacyon and brynging vp of my saide
Doughter till she shall cu_m_ to her lawfull age or Maryage. And if it
happen my saide Doughter to Dye before she cum to her lawfull age or
maryage then I will that the saide c m_ar_k_es_ and so moche of the
saide xl^{li} as then shalbe vnspent and vnimployed about_es_ the
fynding of my saide Doughter at the Day of the Deth of my saide Doughter
shall remayne and be Delyuered to Gregory my Soon if he then shall
happen to be on lyue. And if he be Dede then the saide c Mark_es_ and
the saide residue of the saide xl^{li} to be euenlye Departed amongst my
poure kynnesfolk_es_, that is to say my Susters children forsaide.’
[121] The last seventeen words are altered from:--‘Sutton at Hone and
Temple Dartford in the Countie of Kent And shall take the p_ro_ffyte of
my Ferme of the p_ar_sonage of Sutton.’
[122] Crossed out:--‘cu_m_myng.’
[123] Crossed out:--‘in Dead_es_ of charytee ou_er_ and aboue the
charges and reparac_i_ons gyue and Distrybute for my Soule quarterly
xl^s amongst poure people vntill my Soon Gregorye shall cu_m_ to the age
of xxv yeres if he so long do Lyue And then my saide Soon to haue my
said Fermes During the yeres conteyned w_ith_in my leases.’
[124] Altered from:--‘xxv.’
[125] Crossed out:--‘and.’
[126] Crossed out:--‘my saide executours shall sell my said Fermes to
the most proffyte and adu_au_ntage And the money thereof growing to
bestowe in Dead_es_ of charytee vppon my poure kynnesfolk_es_ and other
charytable Dead_es_ to pray.’
[127] Altered from:--‘iij.’
[128] The last eighteen words are altered from:--‘iij yeres xx^{li}.’
[129] Added and crossed out:--‘by the discression of myn executors.’
[130] Altered from:--‘xiij^s iiij^d.’
[131] Altered from:--‘xx^{li}.’
[132] Altered from:--‘vj^s viij^d.’
[133] Altered from:--‘x^{li}.’
[134] Altered from:--‘v^{li}.’
[135] Crossed out:--‘It_e_m I gyue and bequethe to my p_ar_oche churche
for my tithes forgotten xx^s.’
[136] The last eleven bequests are added in Cromwell’s hand.
[137] Altered from:--‘John Croke one of the vj clerk_es_ of the king his
Ch_a_uncerye.’
[138] The last four words are altered from:--‘my S_er_u_au_nt Iohn Smyth
and John.’
[139] Crossed out:--‘and to my litill Doughters Anne and Grace.’
[140] Added and crossed out:--‘ou_er_ and aboue thayr legacyes
beforsayd.’
[141] Every page, except the last two, is also signed by Cromwell.
[142] Cal. iv. 6017.
[143] Cavendish, pp. 160-166.
[144] Cal. iv. 6036.
[145] Cal. iv. 6110.
[146] Cavendish, pp. 175 ff.; Shakespeare, Henry VIII., iii. 2; Froude,
vol. ii. pp. 112 ff.
[147] Cavendish, pp. 169, 170.
[148] Cavendish, p. 179.
[149] Parliamentary Papers, vol. lxii. pt. i. p. 370.
[150] Cal. iv. App. 238.
[151] Cavendish, pp. 179 ff.
[152] Cal. iv. 6098, 6203, 6249. Cf. also Dixon, vol. i. pp. 48-49 _n._
Stubbs’ Lectures, p. 315, and the Life of Cromwell in the Dictionary of
National Biography, vol. xiii. p. 197.
[153] Cal. iv. 6017.
[154] Busch, pp. 288, 289.
[155] Cal. iii. 3694, and iv. 6216, 6792.
[156] Cf. Introduction to vol. iv of the Calendar, pp. 549, 550.
[157] State Papers, vol. i. p. 351.
[158] Cal. iv. 6115.
[159] Cal. iv. 6181.
[160] Cal. iv. 6098, 6181, 6204, 6249.
[161] Letters, 13.
[162] Cal. iv. 6203.
[163] Cal. iv. 6196.
[164] Introduction to vol. iv of the Calendar, pp. 584, 585.
[165] Cavendish, p. 198.
[166] Letters, 18.
[167] Letters, 9-20.
[168] Foxe, vol. ii. pp. 419 ff.
[169] See Appendix I at the end of chapter i, p. 17.
[170] Cf. Ashley, Economic History, vol. ii. pp. 259-304.
[171] On this and the succeeding pages, cf. Creighton’s Papacy, vol. vi.
pp. 296-362, and Mignet, vol. ii. pp. 340-358.
[172] Cal. iv. 6521, 6691.
[173] For the date of the birth of Anne Boleyn see Friedmann, chap. i,
and Note A in the Appendix; Round, The Early Life of Anne Boleyn; and
Gairdner in the English Historical Review, vol. viii. p. 58, and vol. x.
p. 104.
[174] Cal. iv. 1431 (8), 6083, 6163.
[175] Cal. iv. 4477, 4383, 4410, 3325, 3326, 3218-3221.
[176] Cf. the Life of Norfolk in the Dictionary of National Biography,
vol. xxviii. p. 65.
[177] Cal. iv. 5422.
[178] Cf. the Life of Gardiner in the Dictionary of National Biography,
vol. xx. p. 419.
[179] Cf. Pauli, Thomas Cromwell, p. 301.
[180] Cal. iv. 4613, 4884, 5034, 6429, 6744.
[181] Il Principe, chap. xviii, p. 304.
[182] Ibid., chap. xvii, p. 291.
[183] Cal. iv. 6346.
[184] Letters, 1.
[185] Pole, Apologia ad Carolum Quintum, chap. xxix.
[186] This account was drawn up by Pole in 1538. Canon Dixon (History of
the Church of England, vol. i. p. 41) questions the truth of the story
on the ground that The Prince was not published until 1532, several
years after the reported conversation took place. The book, however, was
written in 1513, as Canon Dixon admits, and there is every probability,
especially in view of his early experiences in Italy, that Cromwell
possessed a manuscript copy. Pole, moreover, expressly states that
Cromwell offered to lend him the work, provided he would promise to read
it.
[187] Cal. xiv. (ii) 399.
[188] The chronicler, John Stow, in his Survey of London, p. 180, gives
the following anecdote, which proves that Cromwell was no less arbitrary
as a man than as a minister:--
‘On the south side and at the west end of this church (the Austin
Friars) many fayre houses are builded, namely in Throgmorton streete,
one very large and spacious, builded in the place of olde and small
Tenementes by Thomas Cromwell.... This house being finished, and hauing
some reasonable plot of ground left for a Garden, he caused the pales of
the Gardens adioyning to the north parte thereof on a sodaine to be
taken downe, 22 foot to bee measured forth right into the north of euery
man’s ground, a line there to bee drawen, a trench to bee cast, a
foundation laid, and a highe bricke wall to bee builded. My father had a
Garden there, and an house standing close to his south pale, this house
they lowsed from the ground & bare vpon Rowlers into my Father’s Garden
22 foot, ere my Father heard thereof: no warning was given him, nor any
other answere when hee spake to the surueyers of that worke but that
their Mayster Sir Thomas commaunded them so to doe, no man durst go to
argue the matter, but each man lost his land, and my Father payde his
whole rent, which was vi^{s}. viii^{d}. the yeare, for that halfe which
was left. Thus much of mine owne knowledge haue I thought good to note,
that the suddaine rising of some men, causeth them to forget
themselves.’
[189] Pole, Apologia ad Carolum Quintum, chap. xxix, and Lingard, vol.
vi. p. 233. There is every reason to believe in the veracity of this
report. Pole was in London at the time, and knew Cromwell intimately. He
reiterates the truth of his tale in the following words:--‘Hoc possum
affirmare nihil in illa oratione positum alicujus momenti quod non vel
ab eodem nuncio (Cromwell himself) eo narrante intellexi, vel ab illis
qui ejus consilii fuerunt participes.’ This interview was doubtless the
one which Chapuys describes as due to the quarrel with Sir John Wallop.
According to both accounts it ended by Cromwell’s becoming a Privy
Councillor.
[190] As Cal. iv. 6183.
[191] Cal. iv. 6111, 6154-6155.
[192] Holinshed’s Chronicle, p. 766.
[193] There were to be in all five concessions, the first of which was
the really important and crucial one--‘Ecclesiae et cleri Anglicani,
cujus protector et supremum caput is solus est.’ Wilkins, vol. iii. p.
725.
[194] Cal. v. 62, 70.
[195] Cal. v. 105.
[196] Cal. v. 7, 9; vi. 416.
[197] Wilkins, vol. iii. p. 725.
[198] Friedmann, vol. i. p. 142.
[199] Cal. v. 105.
[200] Cal. v. 171.
[201] Hall, p. 784.
[202] See Appendix at the end of this chapter, p. 104.
[203] Wilkins, vol. iii. pp. 748, 750.
[204] Hall, p. 788; Cal. v. 989.
[205] Cal. v. 1018.
[206] Cf. Dixon, vol. i. pp. 74-111.
[207] Cal. v. 1023.
[208] Cal. v. 1202.
[209] Cal. v. 941.
[210] Demaus, p. 257.
[211] Demaus, p. 274.
[212] Cal. v. 65. Doubtless Vaughan referred to the steps taken by
Bishop Stokesley and others to punish those who favoured the new
religion. It was at this time that Tyndale’s brother John had been
arrested in London for selling New Testaments received from abroad.
[213] Cal. v. 153.
[214] Cal. v. 201.
[215] British Museum, Titus B. vol. i. p. 67.
[216] Letters, 21.
[217] Cal. v. 246, 303.
[218] Cal. v. 533, 574, 618.
[219] Demaus, p. 307.
[220] Cal. v. 701, 1548, 1600, 1728; Letters, 36, 39.
[221] British Museum, Titus B. vol. i. p. 422.
[222] Cal. vi. 180, 461.
[223] Cal. vi. 461, 469, 496, 525, 526, 527.
[224] 24 Hen. VIII., c. 12.
[225] 25 Hen. VIII., c. 19.
[226] 25 Hen. VIII., c. 22. Mendez Silva, pp. 14 and 15, asserts that
Cromwell was responsible for the passage of this statute. The King’s
minister appeared in Convocation and Parliament, and made a speech in
which he said that his master desired that Mary be excluded from the
succession and Elizabeth received in her place, and that he was sure
that they all loved His Majesty so much that they would not refuse to do
his will. Clergy, Lords, and Commons, ‘al peligro de la conciencia ...
se reduxeron facilmente.’
[227] 26 Hen. VIII., c. 1.
[228] 25 Hen. VIII., c. 20.
[229] Cal. viii. 121.
[230] Cal. ix. 517.
[231] British Museum, Cleop. E. vi 254; and Strype, Ecclesiastical
Memorials, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 216.
[232] Cal. viii. 565, 895.
[233] Cal. viii. 609, 661.
[234] Cal. ix. 74.
[235] Cal. xi. 300 (2).
[236] Cal. viii. 196.
[237] Letters, 107.
[238] Cal. vi. 835.
[239] Letters, 52; Cal. vi. 967, 1445.
[240] British Museum, Harl. MSS. 6,148 f, 40 a.
[241] Cal. vii. 54 (31), 522.
[242] Letters, 68.
[243] Cf. Lewis, chap. xxxii.
[244] Cal. vii. 287.
[245] Cal. vii. 296.
[246] Cal. vii. 499, and Letters, 71.
[247] Strype, Cranmer, vol. i. p. 39; vol. ii. p. 693.
[248] Cal. viii. 666.
[249] Cal. viii. 742, 876. Cf. also Lewis, chaps. xxxiv, xxxv, and
xxxvi.
[250] Cal. vii. 575.
[251] Lewis, chap. xxxvii; Roper, 55.
[252] ‘Obraua Cromuel, estas, y otras atrocidades libremente, dando á
entender ser conueniencia del Principe, para la estabilidad de su
Corona, sujecion, y terror en los vassallos.’ Mendez Silva, p. 13.
[253] Letters, 197.
[254] Henry de Bracton’s De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae.
[255] Cal. xiii. (i) 120.
[256] Letters, 107.
[257] The following passage from a letter which Gardiner wrote to the
Protector Somerset in the reign of Edward VI. gives a slightly different
account of the origin of the Act about Proclamations:--
‘Whether the King may command against the Common Law or an Act of
Parliament there is never a Judge, or other man in the realm, ought to
know more by experience of that the Lawyers have said, than I ... being
of the Council, when many Proclamations were devised against the
Carriers out of Corn; when it came to punishing the Offenders the Judges
would answer, it might not be by the Laws, because the Act of Parliament
gave liberty, Wheat being under a price: wherupon at the last followed
the Act of Proclamations, in the passing whereof were many large words.’
It will be noticed that this account of the origin of the Act is in many
ways similar to that contained in Cromwell’s letter: the chief
difference being that according to the latter the measure was adopted to
prevent the export of _coin_, while Gardiner informs us that the statute
was devised to prevent the export of _corn_. It is possible that the
Bishop of Winchester, writing so many years later, had forgotten the
exact circumstances, and was really referring to the same incident as
that described by Cromwell. Burnet has printed Gardiner’s letter in full
(Collection of Records and Original Papers, &c., part ii, book i, no.
14), but he does not seem to have made use of the information it
contains; for in another part of his work (part i, book iii, p. 423) he
asserts that the Act about Proclamations was the result of the great
exceptions made to the legality of the King’s proceedings in the
articles about religion and other injunctions published by his
authority, which were complained of as contrary to law. Hallam (vol. i.
p. 35 _n._) apparently agrees with Burnet in this last statement, and
ignores the evidence supplied by the letter of the Bishop of Winchester.
It is probable that both writers have gone astray in this matter. The
opposition aroused by the King’s ecclesiastical proclamations may have
hastened the passage of the Act, but they can scarcely be regarded as
its origin in the face of the testimony of Cromwell and Gardiner. Burnet
and Hallam were perhaps led to ascribe the source of the statute to
religious matters, by the fact that the Act was passed almost
simultaneously with the Six Articles, and by the special provision which
it contained concerning heretics.
[258] Canon Dixon (History of the Church of England, vol. ii. p. 129)
sees in the Act about Proclamations ‘a timid attempt to draw the
prerogative within the limits of regular legislation,’ and seeks to show
that its true intent was to curtail, while legalizing, a power which the
Crown had exercised hitherto illegally and without any restraint. It is
doubtless true that the King had issued proclamations before, and had
enforced obedience to them, without the sanction of law; and it is
equally certain that the intent of this Act (like that of so many others
which Cromwell devised) was to legalize a privilege of which the Crown
had already made use. But it is more difficult to agree with the
reasoning by which Canon Dixon attempts to show that the true purpose of
this process of legalization was to restrict and not to confirm the
power of the King. It is pretty certain that the practical value of
these limitations was in reality far less than at first appeared; for,
as Hallam and Burnet justly remark, the immediate effect of them was to
confer great power on the judges, upon whom the duty of interpreting the
statute devolved; and the judges--mere puppets in the hands of Henry and
Cromwell--were sure to render every verdict in favour of the Crown. The
exceptions in the Act about Proclamations may well be compared to the
_Quantum per Christi legem licet_, which had been tacked on to the
recognition of the King’s Supremacy. Both were concessions granted
merely as a sop to the popular feeling: both were so guarded that they
could easily be rendered nugatory. Finally, the fact that Cromwell
himself was so active in assisting the passage of this statute should be
a conclusive proof that its real aim was not to legalize and limit, but
to legalize and confirm the power of the Crown. The straightforward
verdicts of Hume and Hallam on the true significance of the Act are
certainly correct: ‘The prerogative could not soar to the heights it
aimed at, till thus imped by the perfidious hand of Parliament.’ The
fact that the statute was repealed in the first year of Edward VI.
simply proves that it was so unpopular that it was impossible to renew
it, when the strong hand of Henry VIII. had been removed. Cf. Hume, vol.
iii. pp. 255, 256; Hallam, vol. i. p. 35; and Blackstone, vol. i. p.
269. There is a curious passage in Beowulf (ll. 67-73), in which the
King rules as he wills, saving his subjects’ lives and heritages, that
is in striking congruence with this Act.
[259] Stubbs, Const. Hist., vol. i. p. 439.
[260] ‘William Copingar, Thomas Johnson, Sherifes. These Sherifes being
on the morrow after Michaelmas day by the Maior and Aldermen presented
before the Barons of the Exchequer, only William Copingar was admitted
and sworne, but Thomas Johnson they woulde not admitte till they knew
farther of the Kings pleasure. The x of October a commandment was
brought from the King to the Lord Maior that he should cause an election
to bee made for a new Sheriffe, at which day, came into the Guild Hall
Mayster Edmond Dudley the Kings President, and there shewed the King’s
letters, that his commons shoulde name for the Kings pleasure, William
Fitz William, to bee Sheriffe for the peace ensuing, which with much
difficulty at length was granted, which William Fitz William kept his
feast the Sixteenth day of October.’ Stow’s Chronicle, p. 879.
[261] Cal. x. 852.
[262] The letter of Cromwell to the Mayor and Burgesses of Canterbury
(Letters, 148) is now in the British Museum; it was put into my hands by
the kindness of Mr. Brodie of the Public Record Office. It was
overlooked at the time of the compilation of the tenth volume of the
Calendar, and escaped the search of Froude and Friedmann, both of whom
discuss the details of this election at some length. Its discovery
throws much fresh light on the history of one of the most famous cases
of arbitrary interference in the choice of members to Parliament that
has come down to us from Tudor times. The reply of the Mayor (Cal. x.
929) is comparatively well known. Froude has printed it in full (vol.
iii. p. 347), but has misread the name of one of the burgesses, which is
‘Darkenall’ or ‘Derknall,’ not ‘Sacknell.’
[263] Cal. vi. 1510.
[264] Cal. x. 351, 601, 1069, and footnote to page 232. Cf. also Froude,
The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, pp. 413-415.
[265] Wilkins, vol. iii. p. 817.
[266] Letters, 159, 266, 273.
[267] Cal. vii. 1555.
[268] ‘High Dutch’ not ‘Low Dutch.’
[269] Cal. x. 352, 698; xiv. (i) 186 (v).
[270] Cal. xii. (ii), Appendix 35, and xii. (ii) 593.
[271] Letters, 273.
[272] Cal. xiii. (ii) 1085.
[273] Cal. xiii. (ii) 1163; xiv. (i) 37, 371. Dixon, vol. ii. p. 77, and
Eadie, vol. i. p. 360.
[274] Rymer, vol. xiv. p. 659.
[275] Wilkins, vol. iii. p. 760. It is not clear whether this petition
was put forth in the name of Convocation or of Parliament. But the
question is of minor importance: it is safe to say that neither body
originated the Supplication, but that it was forced upon the Commons or
the clergy by the King or his minister.
[276] Cal. vi. 299 (ix, x), 1381. In one place occurs the significant
item ‘To Remembre to make a byll for the p_ar_lyament touching the
augmentacyon of the Annatt_es_.’ British Museum, Titus B. i. 421.
[277] 23 Hen. VIII., c. 20.
[278] Cal. v. 879.
[279] Cal. vi. 793.
[280] 25 Hen. VIII., c. 20.
[281] 26 Hen. VIII., c. 3.
[282] 25 Hen. VIII., c. 21.
[283] Cal. ix. 725 (1).
[284] Cal. vii. 1554.
[285] Cal. vii. 1304; ix. 144, 183; x. 1170; xii. (ii), 1151.
[286] Schanz, vol. i. pp. 535-537.
[287] Schanz, vol. i. p. 518.
[288] 27 Hen. VIII., c. 10. Cf. also on this and the following pages
Digby, pp. 267-280, and Reeves, vol. iii. pp. 275-289.
[289] 1 Rich. III., c. 1; 4 Hen. VII., c. 17.
[290] Cal. viii. 892.
[291] Cal. viii. 892; ix. 725.
[292] 32 Hen. VIII., c. 1.
[293] Schanz, vol. i. pp. 159, 160.
[294] Cf. Schanz, vol. i. pp. 224-227.
[295] Busch, vol. i. p. 149.
[296] Schanz, vol. i. pp. 76-86, 107-108.
[297] Schanz, vol. i. pp. 372-374.
[298] Cal. xiv. (i) 399, 655.
[299] Letters, 74, 190, 213.
[300] 32 Hen. VIII., c. 14.
[301] This proclamation, issued Feb. 26, 1539, decreed that for seven
years ‘straungers shall paye like custome and subsidy as the kinges
subiects.’ British Museum, Titus B. i. 572.
[302] Cal. xiii. (ii) 57, 84, 91.
[303] Letters, 273.
[304] Dixon, vol. ii. p. 83.
[305] Dixon, vol. ii. p. 83.
[306] Letters, 159.
[307] Letters, 106, 116, 124, 129, 186, 206.
[308] Cooper, vol. i. pp. 374, 375. In the Calendar, ix. 615, these
injunctions are apparently attributed to Cromwell. But Cooper expressly
states that the King promulgated them, while Strype (Ecclesiastical
Memorials, vol. i. (i) p. 322, and vol. i. (ii) pp. 218, 219) seems to
think that they were drawn up by Legh and Ap Rice, though he admits that
they were issued in the King’s name. It seems very improbable then that
Cromwell wrote them, and I have not placed them among the letters.
[309] Letters, 104, and Wilson, Magdalen College, p. 80.
[310] Letters, 325, 326. The name of the Master was George Cotes or
Cootes, formerly of Magdalen. He was Proctor in 1529. Davis, Balliol
College, pp. 82-86; Wood, Fasti Oxonienses, pt. i. p. 86.
[311] Cal. ix. 350.
[312] On the Commissions to Cromwell as Vicar-general and Vicegerent cf.
Burnet, vol. i. pp. 292-293 _n._, 342-343 _n._; Collier, vol. ii. p.
104; Gutch, vol. ii. p. 192; Herbert, p. 202; Dixon, vol. i. pp.
244-247; Child, Church and State, pp. 78, 79. It is probable that the
last writer has confounded the two commissions: certainly there is
little reason to think that the title of Vicar-general was granted
_later_ than that of Vicegerent.
[313] See vol. ii. p. 283.
[314] Cal. xi. 41.
[315] An event which took place in July, 1536, may possibly have been
the source of this rumour. It appears that Cromwell had a gold ring
made, with the figures of the Queen, King, and Princess carved on it,
and the following Latin inscription:--
‘Obedientia unitatem parit,
Unitas animi quietem et constantiam;
Constans vero animi quies thesaurus inestimabilis.
Respexit humilitatem
Qui in Filio nobis reliquit
Perfectum humilitatis exemplar.
Factus est obediens Patri.
Et ipsa etiam natura parentibus
Et patrie obediendum docuit.’
This ring he intended to bestow on the Princess Mary, but apparently the
King got wind of the plan and put a stop to it, taking the ring away
from his minister, on the plea that he desired to have the honour of
presenting it to his daughter himself. The episode should have been
sufficient to show that even if Cromwell had any idea of marrying the
Princess, the King’s opposition to the plan would prove insurmountable.
The inscription on the ring, moreover, surely indicates that the gift
was intended rather as a reminder to the Princess of her duty towards
her father, than as a preliminary to a matrimonial proposal. Cal. xi.
148.
[316] Letters, 150.
[317] Cal. xi. 147.
[318] Cal. vi. 913, 981, 1011, 1014.
[319] Cal. xii. (ii) 423.
[320] As Cal. viii. 571.
[321] Cal. ix. 478, 862; xiv. (i) 5.
[322] Cal. viii. 108.
[323] Bagwell, vol. i. pp. 124-152.
[324] Cal. vii. 1141.
[325] Bagwell, vol. i. pp. 152-155.
[326] State Papers, vol. ii. p. 167.
[327] State Papers, vol. ii. p. 180.
[328] Cal. vi. 1586.
[329] Cal. vii. 957, 1141.
[330] Cal. vii. 1057.
[331] Cal. vii. 1095.
[332] Cal. vii. 1141.
[333] Cal. vii. 1193, 1257, 1366, 1389.
[334] Cal. vii. 1418.
[335] Bagwell, vol. i. p. 172.
[336] Cal. vii. 1297; viii. 140.
[337] Cal. vii. 1573, and Bagwell, vol. i. p. 173.
[338] Cal. viii. 448.
[339] Bagwell, vol. i. p. 180.
[340] Cal. x. 15 _n._
[341] Cal. x. 822.
[342] Cal. x. 897, 937.
[343] Letters, 179.
[344] Bagwell, vol. i. pp. 196, 197.
[345] Cal. xii. (i) 503.
[346] Cal. xii. (ii) 382.
[347] Letters, 198-205, 207, 208, 211, 212, 214, 215, 232.
[348] State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 551, 552.
[349] Cal. xiii. (ii) 999.
[350] Letters, 297, 298.
[351] Cal. xiv. (ii) 137.
[352] Cal. xv. 441.
[353] State Papers, vol. v. p. 178.
[354] Bagwell, vol. i. p. 249.
[355] Cal. v. 991.
[356] Ruding, vol. i. p. 308; Cal. vii. 1225.
[357] Cal. vi. 946; vii. 1026 (28).
[358] 26 Hen. VIII., c. 4, c. 6, c. 11, c. 12.
[359] Cal. vii. 1554.
[360] Cal. viii. 839.
[361] Cal. viii. 133, 195, 240, 509, 915, 1058.
[362] 27 Hen. VIII., c. 26.
[363] Cal. vi. 1196. Cf. also Hume Brown, vol. i. p. 381.
[364] Cal. vii. 296.
[365] Cal. ix. 178, 730; x. 75, 227, 482, 863, 944, and Pinkerton, vol.
ii. pp. 327-328.
[366] Cal. xii. (i) 398, 399.
[367] Cal. xii. (i) 1286.
[368] Cal. xii. (ii) 829.
[369] Cal. xii. (ii) 1201.
[370] Letters, 330.
[371] Cf. Pinkerton, vol. ii. pp. 352-353.
[372] Cal. xv. 136.
[373] Cal. xv. 248. Cf. also Hume Brown, vol. i. pp. 388-389.
[374] Cal. vi. 300 (21), 619, and Rymer, vol. xiv. p. 452.
[375] Cf. Letters, 86, 260.
[376] Cal. x. 541.
[377] Cal. xi. 183.
[378] Cal. xiii. (i) 813, 934.
[379] Letters, 260.
[380] Letters, 263.
[381] Cal. xiii. (i) 1219.
[382] Cal. xiii. (i) 1446, 1464.
[383] Cal. xiii. (ii) 97.
[384] Letters, 312.
[385] Letters, 314.
[386] See Life of Arthur Lord Lisle in the Dictionary of National
Biography, vol. xlv. p. 400.
[387] Cal. viii. 75, 76.
[388] Cal. ix. 139.
[389] Cal. viii. 822, 1127. The King and Cromwell were both absent on a
tour in the west and south of England from the end of July until the
beginning of October, 1535. Chapuys states that the object of this trip
was to win the affection of the people on the Borders of Wales, and to
enjoy the excellent hunting which that region afforded. It is probable
that Henry and Cromwell were also desirous personally to inform
themselves concerning the religious houses in the south and west
counties, before permitting their agents to complete the visitation.
Cal. ix. 58.
[390] Cal. ix. 138.
[391] Cal. ix. 621, 622.
[392] Herbert, p. 186.
[393] See ante, chap. vii, p. 115.
[394] Wright, p. 133. A tag of verse.
[395] Cal. ix. 321, 322.
[396] Wright, p. 73.
[397] Letters, 163, 180. Cf. also Gasquet, English Monasteries, vol. i.
pp. 413, 421. Cromwell also took good care that some of the suppressed
houses also should fall to his portion. He ‘appropriated to his own
share the rich Priory of Lewes in Sussex (including its cell of
Melton-Mowbray in Leicestershire), the Priory of Michelham in the same
county, that of Modenham in Kent, of St. Osythe in Essex, Alceter in
Warwickshire, Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Laund in Leicestershire. Sir
Richard Cromwell, his nephew, and great-grandfather of Oliver, received
Ramsey Abbey, Hinchinbrooke Nunnery, Sawtry Abbey, St. Neot’s Priory,
and a house of Austin canons in Huntingdonshire, with Neath Abbey in
Glamorganshire, and St. Helen’s Nunnery in London.’ Blunt, vol. i. p.
377. See also note 4 at the bottom of the same page.
[398] Cal. ix. 509, 632.
[399] Cal. ix. 829.
[400] Wright, p. 156.
[401] 27 Hen. VIII., c. 28.
[402] 27 Hen. VIII., c. 61.
[403] Cal. x. 1191.
[404] Wright, pp. 180-181.
[405] Wright, pp. 267-269.
[406] Cal. xi. 42.
[407] Ellis, 3rd Series, vol. iii. pp. 33, 34.
[408] Cal. xii. (i) 632, 668.
[409] State Papers, vol. i. p. 540.
[410] Wright, p. 153.
[411] This was perhaps the man whom Cromwell years before had helped to
obtain from the Pope the indulgence for the Boston Gild.
[412] Ellis, 3rd Series, vol. iii. p. 168.
[413] Introduction to vol. xiii. of the Calendar, pp. 8-14; Wordsworth’s
Cromwell, pp. 346-347 _nn._
[414] Wriothesley’s Chronicle, vol. i. pp. 76, 90. Cal. xiii. (i) 347;
xiii. (ii) 186, 709-710.
[415] 31 Hen. VIII., c. 13.
[416] Cal. xiv. (ii) 399.
[417] Cal. xiv. (ii) 206.
[418] Cal. xiv. (ii) 530, 531. Cf. also Gasquet, The Last Abbot of
Glastonbury, chaps. vi and vii.
[419] Cal. vii. 587 (18).
[420] Cal. xiii. (i) 225.
[421] Cal. xiii. (ii) 1021. Cf. also the Introduction to vol. xiii. of
the Calendar, p. 23.
[422] Wright, pp. 195, 197.
[423] Cal. xiii. (i) 1335.
[424] Cal. xiii. (ii) 758, 911.
[425] Wright, p. 230.
[426] Cal. xiii. (ii) 767.
[427] Hallam, vol. i. p. 76.
[428] Cal. xiii. (ii) 457 (3).
[429] Burnet, vol. i. p. 431.
[430] 31 Hen. VIII., c. 9.
[431] Cal. xi. 786 (3).
[432] Cromwell.
[433] Cranmer.
[434] Richard Riche.
[435] The Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Legh, and Dr. Layton.
[436] The Bishop of Lichfield.
[437] Cal. xi. 786 (3).
[438] Cal. ix. 314, 321, 322.
[439] Cal. ix. 694.
[440] Cal. x. 364.
[441] Cal. xi. 705, 780 (2); xii. (i) 70; xiii. (ii) 307.
[442] Letters, 105.
[443] Cal. xii. (i) 138, 786, 900. Cf. also A. L. Smith in Social
England, vol. iii. pp. 21 ff.
[444] Cal. xii. (i) 70 (13).
[445] Cal. xii. (i) 163.
[446] Cal. xi. 585.
[447] Cal. xi. 504, 544.
[448] Cal. xi. 533-534, 536-539, 552-553, 567-568.
[449] Cal. xi. 547.
[450] Cal. xi. 569.
[451] Cal. xi. 567.
[452] Cal. xi. 579-580.
[453] The son of Morgan Williams and Katherine Cromwell. Cf. chap. iii,
pp. 54-55.
[454] Cal. xi. 576.
[455] Cal. xi. 601-602.
[456] Letters, 165, 167, 169.
[457] Cal. xi. 714.
[458] Cal. xi. 674, 694, 706, 715, 717.
[459] State Papers, vol. i. p. 463.
[460] Cal. xi. 611.
[461] Cal. xi. 563, 622.
[462] Cal. xii. (i) 163, 259, 1080.
[463] Cal. xi. 611.
[464] Cal. xi. 627.
[465] Cal. xii. (i) 900, 944.
[466] Cal. xii. (i) 853, 1087.
[467] Cal. xi. 826.
[468] Cal. xi. 626, 671, 758.
[469] Cal. xi. 793, 800.
[470] Cal. xi. 864.
[471] Cal. xi. 887, 902.
[472] Cal. xi. 901.
[473] Cal. xi. 909.
[474] Cal. xi. 995.
[475] Cal. xi. 1061.
[476] Cal. xi. 957, 995, 1115, 1206.
[477] Cal. xi. 1224, 1225.
[478] Cal. xi. 1236.
[479] Cal. xi. 1276.
[480] Letters, 174.
[481] Cal. xii. (i) 44.
[482] Cal. xii. (i) 67.
[483] Thomas, The Pilgrim, p. 53.
[484] Cal. xii. (i) 201, 370.
[485] Cal. xii. (i) 104.
[486] Cal. xii. (i) 369.
[487] Cal. xii. (i) 234, 369 (p. 166).
[488] Cal. xii. (i) 86, 98.
[489] Cal. xii. (i) 498.
[490] Cal. xii. (i) 976.
[491] On this and the succeeding pages, cf. G. T. Lapsley, ‘The Problem
of the North,’ in the American Historical Review for April, 1900, pp.
440-466.
[492] Cal. xii. (i) 595.
[493] Cal. xii. (ii) 914.
[494] Cal. xii. (i) 318, 319, 321, 594, 651.
[495] Cal. xii. (i) 594, 636.
[496] Cal. xii. (i) 319.
[497] Cal. xii. (i) 651, 667, 916, 919.
[498] Cal. xii. (i) 1118.
[499] Cal. xii. (ii) 254, 914.
[500] Cf. Gneist, pp. 513-514.
[501] Phillips, Pole, p. 3. _Cf._ also the genealogy at the beginning of
the book.
[502] Cal. i. 4190.
[503] Cal. iii. 1544.
[504] Cal. iv. 6252.
[505] Poli Epistolae, i. 251-262.
[506] Cal. v. 737.
[507] Cal. viii. 217-219.
[508] Cal. x. 974-975.
[509] Cal. xi. 156.
[510] Cal. xi. 229.
[511] Cal. xi. 93.
[512] Cal. xi. 1353; xii. (i) 779.
[513] Cal. xiv. (i) 186.
[514] Cal. xii. (i) 779.
[515] Cal. xii. (i) 625, 939.
[516] Cal. xii. (i) 1219; Letters, 187.
[517] Life of Pole, Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xlvi. p. 38.
[518] Cal. xii. (i) 34, 249.
[519] There is reason to think that Throgmorton had promised to be a spy
on Pole’s movements for the King. Cf. Letters, 218.
[520] Cal. xii. (i) 249, 296, 313.
[521] Cal. xii. (i) 429; xii. (ii) 552.
[522] Letters, 216-217.
[523] Letters, 218.
[524] Cal. xiii. (ii) 232 (p. 91).
[525] Cal. xiii. (ii) 695, 770, 771.
[526] Cal. xiii. (ii) 804, 805, 954-960.
[527] Cal. xiii. (ii) 802, 979 (7). It is said that Cromwell, in the
course of these prosecutions, contrived to deprive the victims of all
chance of escape by inquiring of the judges whether, if a man were
condemned to death for treason in Parliament without a hearing, the
attainder could ever be disputed. He finally succeeded in obtaining the
reluctant but correct reply that ‘an attainder in Parliament, whether or
not the party had been heard in his own defence, could never be reversed
in a court of law.’ Cf. Hallam, vol. i. pp. 29-30. Coke, Fourth
Institute, p. 38, adds, ‘The party against whom this was intended was
never called in question, but the first man after the said resolution,
that was so attainted, and never called to answer, was the said Earl of
Essex (Thomas Cromwell): whereupon that erroneous and vulgar opinion
amongst our historians grew, that he died by the same law which he
himself had made.’
[528] Cal. xiii. (ii) 753.
[529] Cal. xiii. (ii) 986, 1163.
[530] Wriothesley’s Chronicle, vol. i. p. 92.
[531] Cal. xiv. (i) 867, c. 15.
[532] Cal. xvi. 868.
[533] Cal. xiv. (i) 279-280.
[534] Letters, 301.
[535] Cal. xiv. (i) 603.
[536] Cal. xiv. (ii) 212.
[537] Cal. xiv. (i) 560.
[538] Cf. Robertson, vol. ii. p. 135.
[539] Ranke, Popes, vol. i. p. 77.
[540] Cal. vi. 64, 92.
[541] Cal. v. 1545.
[542] Cal. vi. 110.
[543] Cal. vi. 465.
[544] Cal. vi. 508. Cromwell often begged to be excused from a promised
interview on the plea of illness. Cf. Cal. vii. 959. Though it is
certain that he suffered at times from violent attacks of ague, it is
doubtful if it was always his ill-health which prevented him from
fulfilling his engagements to the Imperial ambassador.
[545] Cal. vi. 918; viii. 263, 327, 355, 948; ix. 594.
[546] Cal. vi. 614, 641.
[547] Ranke, Popes, vol. i. p. 77.
[548] Cal. vi. 1426, 1427.
[549] Mr. Friedmann (Anne Boleyn, vol. i. pp. 225, 250 ff.) believes
that this break with France was due to the influence of Cromwell, who
had urged the King to strike out an independent policy as regards the
Pope. M. Bapst (Deux Gentilshommes, pp. 97, 113), on the other hand,
thinks that the King’s minister originally favoured the French alliance,
and adhered to it until 1535. Neither writer produces any very
conclusive evidence in support of his theory: but Mr. Friedmann’s view
is certainly, on the face of it, the more plausible. It may be too much
to say that it was by Cromwell’s advice that Francis was insulted at
Marseilles, but it is certain that the King’s minister evinced a decided
preference for an Imperial alliance long before the year 1535. Cf.
Froude, The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon, p. 308.
[550] Cal. vi. 918.
[551] Cal. vi. 934.
[552] Cal. vi. 1039-1040.
[553] Letters, 64.
[554] Cal. vii. 21.
[555] Cal. vi. 1510.
[556] B.M. Nero B. iii, 105.
[557] Schäfer, p. 512.
[558] Rymer, vol. xiv. p. 539.
[559] Waitz, vol. i. p. 83.
[560] One of the provisions of the proposed agreement was: ‘Ducere
uxorem fratris mortui sine liberis est jure divino et naturali
prohibitum. Contra prohibitiones divinas invalida ac prorsus nulla est
Romani pontificis vel cujuscumque alterius dispensatio.’ Entwurf eines
Vertrags zwischen König Heinrich und Lübeck; Sommer, 1534. Transcribed
from the original in the Archives at Weimar; Waitz, vol. ii. pp.
319-325.
[561] Ranke, vol. iii. pp. 406-425.
[562] Cal. vii. 970.
[563] Cal. viii. 72, 327.
[564] Cal. viii. 556, 1178.
[565] Cal. vii. 1095.
[566] Cal. vii. 1257.
[567] Cal. vii. 1060, and Baumgarten, vol. iii. pp. 145-146.
[568] Cal. vii. 1437.
[569] Cal. vii. 1483, 1554.
[570] Cal. vii. 1554.
[571] Cal. vii. 1483.
[572] Cal. vii. 1507.
[573] Cal. viii. 174, 557.
[574] Cal. ix. 148, 205, 594, 595.
[575] Cal. ix. 443.
[576] Letters, 126, 128, 135.
[577] Letters, 113.
[578] Cal. ix. 390, 1016.
[579] Cal. x. 771. Cf. also Corpus Reformatorum, vol. ii. pp. 1028 ff.;
iii. pp. 46-50.
[580] Cal. x. 59.
[581] Cal. ix. 776, and Friedmann, vol. ii. pp. 169-173.
[582] Cal. x. 141. Cf. also Friedmann, vol. ii. p. 176.
[583] Cf. Dr. Norman Moore, on the Death of Katherine of Aragon, in the
Athenaeum for Jan. 31 and Feb. 28, 1885.
[584] Robertson, vol. ii. pp. 40-41.
[585] Letters, 136.
[586] Letters, 126.
[587] Cal. x. 141.
[588] Cal. x. 351.
[589] Cal. viii. 948, 1018.
[590] Cal. x. 699. Mr. Friedmann points out that this quarrel of Henry
and Cromwell about the Spanish alliance was intimately connected with
the fate of Anne Boleyn. The Emperor, too cautious to express any
indignation at the news of his aunt’s death, was still planning for the
safety and, if possible, the succession of his cousin the Princess Mary.
On hearing from Chapuys of the possibility of a renewal of cordial
relations with England, he wrote back on March 28, 1536, a most
diplomatic reply, in which he pointed out that it would be certainly for
the interest of the Princess that Anne Boleyn should continue to be
Henry’s wife; for should the King marry again, he might have male issue,
which would succeed to the prejudice of Mary: there was, on the other
hand, little probability that Anne would bear Henry another child, and
the Emperor knew well that in the eyes of the nation his cousin’s right
was far superior to that of Elizabeth. So, by a very extraordinary turn
of affairs, the interests of Charles and of Anne had at least
temporarily become identical. Cromwell probably had not perceived that
this was the true state of affairs when he had his conversation with
Chapuys; but the failure of his attempts to bring about a Spanish
alliance must have opened his eyes to the fact that he had been working
in the interests of one whose ruin had been certainly resolved on by
this time. ‘He took to his bed out of pure sorrow’ for a few days as we
are told; and when he returned to the Court, it was to labour with all
his might for the ruin of Anne, which he saw was necessary to save his
own credit with the King. Friedmann, Anne Boleyn, chapter xvi; Cal. x.
575, 700; also W. H. Dixon, History of Two Queens, vol. iv. pp. 262,
263.
[591] Letters, 170.
[592] Cal. xii. (i) 1310.
[593] Cal. xii. (ii) 1201.
[594] Cal. xii. (ii) 1053, 1285.
[595] Letters, 243. Cf. also Preface to vol. xiii. pt. i. of the
Calendar, pp. 37-38.
[596] Cal. xiii. (i) 1355, 1405, 1451, 1496; xiii. (ii) 77, 232, 277.
[597] Cal. xiii. (i) 995, 1147, 1355.
[598] Letters, 244.
[599] Cal. xiii. (i) 1486.
[600] Cal. xiii. (i) 367.
[601] Baumgarten, vol. iii. pp. 343 ff.
[602] Burnet, vol. i. pp. 316, 409, 435.
[603] Cal. xiii. (ii) 165, 298, 497.
[604] Cal. xiv. (i) 92, 147.
[605] Cal. xiv. (i) 62.
[606] Letters, 286.
[607] John Lambert, moreover, had been tried and burnt, for denying the
Real Presence, in November, 1538. The doctrines of the Lutherans in this
matter were probably almost identical with those of the King at this
time, but the Germans certainly disapproved of the violence of Henry’s
measures for enforcing them.
[608] Cal. xiv. (i) 103.
[609] Letters, 287.
[610] Throughout the negotiations for the Cleves marriages Cromwell made
desperate efforts to assert the dignity of the King, which he could not
help feeling was a little lowered by approaching vassals of the Emperor
with matrimonial offers. Mont was especially directed to confer with
Burckhard about the sister of the Duke of Cleves, ‘not as demaunding
her, but as geving them a prick to stirr them to offre her, as the
noblest and highest hono_ur_ that could come into that noble house of
Cleves, if they could bring it to passe.’ Of course nothing could induce
the mighty King of England to demean himself by asking any favours of
the petty princes of Germany; it was their place, not his, to be the
suitor.
[611] Cf. Ulmann, vol. i. pp. 579, 580; Ranke, vol. i. pp. 226-229.
[612] Life of Duke John of Cleves in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,
vol. xiv. p. 214.
[613] Ranke, vol. iv. p. 128; Heidrich, 1, 2.
[614] Heidrich, 21.
[615] Heidrich, 4.
[616] Ranke, vol. iv. p. 129.
[617] Heidrich, 34, 35. Driven by political necessity, William in 1543
finally took the decisive step, and declared himself ready to introduce
the new religion into his dominions, in the hope of gaining aid from his
brother-in-law against the Emperor. But the offer came too late. The
political situation had changed once more, and the overcautious Elector
now definitely and unconditionally refused the aid which he had before
made dependent on William’s acceptance of Lutheranism. The lands of the
Duke were invaded by the Imperial forces, and William was forced, at the
treaty of Venlo, Sept. 7, 1543, to renounce all claims to Gelderland and
Zutphen, to return to the Church of Rome, and to permit no religious
innovations in Juliers and Berg. Subsequently, however, encouraged by
the milder attitude of the Emperor Ferdinand towards the Reformers, he
devoted himself with partial success to an attempt to effect a sort of
compromise between the two faiths in his own possessions, and to
establish there a purified and enlightened Catholic Church, ‘Erasmian’
in its tendencies, and in many respects approaching very closely to the
tenets of the Augsburg Confession. Cf. Heidrich, 91-94, and the Life of
William of Cleves in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. xliii. pp.
107-113.
[618] Letters, 287.
[619] Letters, 295.
[620] Cal. xiv. (i) 489.
[621] Heidrich, 32.
[622] Cal. xiv. (i) 433, 440.
[623] Letters, 291, 301.
[624] Letters, 297; and Cal. xiv. (i) 584.
[625] Cal. xiv. (i) 570.
[626] Letters, 288.
[627] Cal. xiv. (i) 398-400, 529, 564, 615, 652-655.
[628] Cal. xiv. (i) 669-670.
[629] Cal. xiv. (i) 908.
[630] Cal. xiv. (i) 804.
[631] Cal. xiv. (i) 520, 573.
[632] Cal. xiv. (i) 655.
[633] Burnet, vol. iv. p. 499.
[634] 31 Hen. VIII., c. 14.
[635] Cal. xiv. (i) 1137. The martyrologist Foxe tells an amusing and
characteristic story of Cromwell’s saving Cranmer from punishment for a
book which he had written against the Six Articles. There appears to
have been a bear-baiting on the Thames before the King, which Mr. Ralph
Morice, Cranmer’s secretary, was watching from a small boat: and the
secretary, it seems, had the Archbishop’s book in his girdle for
safekeeping. The bear broke loose from the dogs and upset the wherry in
which Morice was; in the tumult which ensued he lost the precious book.
It was subsequently picked up by the ‘bearward,’ who perceiving what it
was, and being himself a violent papist, gave it to a priest of his
religion, who told the bearward that whosoever wrote it would be hanged
if the King should see it. The bearward endeavoured to give it to some
influential Catholic at the Court, utterly refusing to listen to
Morice’s entreaties that he should return it to Cranmer. At this
juncture Cromwell appeared upon the scene, and so ‘shaked up the
bearward for his over-much malapertness’ that the latter was glad to
return the book to the secretary, and so escape without further
punishment. Foxe, vol. ii. p. 428.
[636] Appendix I. at the end of this chapter.
[637] Cal. xiv. (i) 208, 440.
[638] Bezold, p. 686.
[639] Cf. Appendix I. at the end of this chapter.
[640] Cal. xiv. (i) 441, 442, 955-958.
[641] Cal. xiv. (i) 1273.
[642] Cal. xiv. (i) 1278.
[643] Cal. xiv. (ii) 59.
[644] Cal. xiv. (i) 920; Heidrich, pp. 17, 18.
[645] Cal. xiv. (i) 603.
[646] Cal. xiv. (ii) 218, 300, 545.
[647] Bezold, p. 686.
[648] Cal. xiv. (ii) 63, 127, 128.
[649] Cal. xiv. (ii) 33. Minute inquiries and sometimes indelicately
full replies concerning the appearance and bearing of intended brides
seem to have been authorized by all Tudor traditions. The report of
Wotton is but meagre in details when compared to that of the ambassadors
of Henry VII. concerning Joanna of Naples, whom the English King had
once thought of marrying in 1505. Anne of Cleves was certainly
considered beautiful in Germany. Sleidan, vol. ii. p. 150, refers to her
as ‘eleganti forma virginem.’
[650] Now in the Louvre.
[651] Cal. xiv. (ii) 664. Cf. also the Chronicle of Calais, pp. 167-179.
In the latter, Gregory Cromwell’s name is erroneously written ‘George
Crombwell.’
[652] Cal. xiv. (ii) 634, 677.
[653] Cal. xv. 14.
[654] Cal. xiv. (ii) 753.
[655] Cal. xv. 14.
[656] Hall, pp. 832 ff.
[657] Letters, 349-350.
[658] Hall, p. 837. It appears that the fashion changed in England at
the time of the arrival of Anne. In telling of her wedding, the
Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London (p. 43) informs us that ‘thene
beganne alle the gentyl women of Yngland to were Frenche whooddes with
bellementtes of golde.’
[659] Cf. Appendix II. at the end of this chapter.
[660] Lenz, vol. i. pp. 409-410, 420-421.
[661] Cf. Appendix II. at the end of this chapter.
[662] The truth of Baumbach’s statements is confirmed by Seckendorff,
who obtained his information from the report of Burckhard on this same
interview. Speaking of Cromwell Seckendorff says:--
‘Lutheranum fuisse Burnetus pro certo habet, nec dissentiunt Saxonicorum
Legatorum de eo relationes. Ex iisdem tamen et historiarum documentis
constat, hominem fuisse non saltem solida doctrina minime imbutum sed
eius ingenii ut Regis favorem omnibus rebus anteponeret. Ultima sane
Burcardi ex Anglia relatione de 11 Jan. scripta ... diserte dicitur,
ilium de religione ita disseruisse ut se cum Evangelicis in Germania
consentire non negaret, necessarium tamen sibi esse diceret ut Regis
voluntati sese conformaret, etiam cum vitae suae periculo, id quod
eventus paulo post comprobavit. Non est itaque, ut hunc pro martyre
Evangelicae religionis habeamus, et ipse in loco supplicii mori se
professus est in religione Catholica. Hoc, etsi ex D. Burneti sententia
de Romana minime intellexerit, indicat tamen animum infirmum et
aequivocationes sectantem.’ Seckendorff, s. lxxviii, p. 261; liber iii,
sect. 21.
[663] Von Freyberg, vol. iv. p. 264. Cf. also Life of Philip of Bavaria
in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. xxvi. pp. 16 ff.
[664] Cal. xiv. (ii) 657.
[665] Life of Philip of Bavaria in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie,
vol. xxvi. p. 18.
[666] Cal. xiv. (ii) 719; xv. 76.
[667] Cal. xv. 177.
[668] Cal. xiv. (ii) 733, 737.
[669] The words, as given in the life by Ottheinrich, are: ‘Herzog
Philipp soll dem khönig wider menigklich, ausgenommen wider das Römisch
Reich, 1000 wohl geriste Pferdt Und 4000 wohl geriste fuesknecht
zufiehren.’ Von Freyberg, vol. iv. p. 266.
[670] Transcribed from the original document in the Archives at Marburg.
[671] _sic_, for ‘freundlichen.’
[672] _sic_, for ‘dasz.’
[673] _sic_, for ‘er.’
[674] Transcribed from the original document in the Archives at Marburg.
[675] _sic_, for ‘wyr.’
[676] _sic._
[677] Cal. xiv. (ii) 717.
[678] Martin, vol. viii. p. 260. Cf. also Guiffrey, pp. 276-318.
[679] Cal. xiv. (ii) 524.
[680] Cal. xv. 38.
[681] Cal. xv. 186. Bonner and Wyatt moreover were on very bad terms at
this time, owing to mutual jealousy. It would have been impossible for
Henry to carry his intrigues very far, as long as the two rivals
remained together at the French Court. Cf. Nott’s Wyatt, vol. ii. pp.
44-52.
[682] Cal. xv. 161.
[683] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 241.
[684] Cal. xv. 145, 202.
[685] Cal. xv. 222.
[686] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 257.
[687] Cf. Gaillard, vol. iii. pp. 77, 78.
[688] Letters, 338, 340.
[689] Bradford, pp. 515 ff.
[690] Cal. xiv. (ii) 400.
[691] Cal. xiv. (ii) 688.
[692] Cal. xv. 306.
[693] Cal. xiv. (ii) 750 (p. 279).
[694] Cal. xv. 486.
[695] Cal. xv. 429.
[696] Lords’ Journal, vol. i. p. 129.
[697] 32 Hen. VIII., c. 24.
[698] Cal. xv. 540, 541.
[699] Cal. xv. 543.
[700] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 323.
[701] Heidrich, p. 43.
[702] Soames, vol. ii. p. 408, informs us that ‘in order to fan the
rising flame Gardiner invited the King to an entertainment at Winchester
House. Katherine Howard was among the company assembled on this
occasion, and she then achieved the conquest of her amorous sovereign’s
heart.’
[703] Cal. xv. 658.
[704] Letters, 345.
[705] Cal. xv. 735.
[706] Cal. xv. 736, 737.
[707] Lords’ Journal, vol. i. p. 143.
[708] Cal. xv. 766, 767.
[709] Cal. xv. 804, and Kaulek, pp. 193, 194.
[710] Cal. xv. 766, and Kaulek, p. 189.
[711] This letter stated that Cromwell being put in great trust by the
King in matters of religion had ‘not only of his sensual appetite,
wrought clene contrary to this His Graces most godly entent, secretly
and indirectly advauncing thone of thextremes and leaving the meane
indifferent true and vertuous waye, which His Majestie sought and soo
entierly desired; but also hathe shewed himself soo fervently bent to
the mayntenaunce of that his oultrage, that he hath not spared most
prively, most traitorously, to divise howe to contynue the same and
plainly in termes to saye, as it hathe been justified to his face by
good wittenes, that, if the King and all his Realme wold turne and vary
from his opinions, he wold fight in the feld in his oune personne, with
his sworde in his hande against Him and all other; adding that if he
lyved a yere or two, he trusted to bring thinges to that frame, that it
shuld not lye in the Kinges power to resist or let it, if He wold;
bynding his wordes with such othes, and making suche gesture and
demonstration with his armes, that it might wel appere that he had no
lesse fyxed in his harte, thenne was uttered with his mouth.’ State
Papers, vol. viii. pp. 349, 350.
[712] Henry, however, used every means in his power to support the main
accusation, with other charges of a different nature, which if possible
were even more unjustifiable. The King was not ashamed to write to
Wallop in France to try and get confirmation of the old rumour
(circulated on the Continent by a certain Portuguese ambassador two
years before, and probably as a result of the letters of Chapuys) that
Cromwell had intended to marry the Princess Mary and to make himself
King. Cal. xv. 792, 801, 842.
[713] Cal. xv. 770.
[714] Lords’ Journal, vol. i. p. 145.
[715] Cal. xv. 804.
[716] Cal. xv. 847.
[717] Cal. xv. 926.
[718] Letters, 348.
[719] Cal. xv. 822.
[720] Cal. xv. 825.
[721] Letters, 349, 350.
[722] Foxe, vol. ii. p. 433. If this story be true, the interest which
the King evinced in Cromwell’s letter is to be explained rather by his
anxiety concerning his divorce, than by his sympathy for his fallen
minister. Certainly there is no reason to think the closing scene of the
‘Life and Death of Thomas Lord Cromwell,’ in which a reprieve is brought
from the King by Ralph Sadler after Cromwell’s head had fallen, has any
foundation in fact.
[723] Cal. xv. 898.
[724] It is somewhat significant to note that in this case Henry had
practically acknowledged facts considered by the canonists as
‘sufficient proof’ of consummation in the case of Arthur and Katherine,
and that the King had been glad to accept as such at the time of the
trial of his first divorce. This is merely one of those suspiciously
convenient changes of opinion one encounters so often in dealing with
the personal history of Henry VIII. Cf. Burnet, vol. i. pp. 163-164.
[725] Cal. xv. 825.
[726] Lords’ Journal, pp. 154, 155.
[727] Cal. xv. 899, 901, 953. Part of Anne’s income was derived from the
manor of Canbery, previously owned by Cromwell, and at his attainder
confiscated to the use of the Crown. Rymer, vol. xiv. p. 713.
[728] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 421.
[729] Cal. xv. 765, 792, 794, 841.
[730] Letters, 351.
[731] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 392.
[732] Cal. xv. 794, 811.
[733] State Papers, vol. viii. p. 412.
[734] Cal. xv. 498, p. 217.
[735] Cal. xv. 926.
[736] Holinshed, p. 817; Hall, p. 839; Foxe, p. 433.
[737] Cal. xvi. 40.
[738] Cf. Appendix at the end of this chapter.
[739] Cf. Collier, vol. ii. p. 181. ‘I readily grant Cromwell was no
Papist at his Death. But then, it is pretty plain he was no Protestant
neither.’
[740] Cal. xv. 940.
[741] Cal. xvi. 379 (34). Gregory Cromwell died in 1557, and was
succeeded by his eldest son Henry. The latter’s grandson Thomas, fourth
Baron Cromwell, was created Earl Ardglass in the Irish peerage, April
15, 1645. The earldom of Ardglass expired in 1687, and the barony of
Cromwell became dormant in 1709. Life of Thomas Cromwell, in the
Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xiii. p. 202.
[742] Hall, p. 839.
[743] Cf. Appendix at the end of this chapter.
[744] Foxe, vol. ii. p. 434. Cf. Mendes Silva, pp. 34, 35: ‘Acabadas de
pronunciar estas palabras, se dispuso a morir, pidiendo al verdugo,
llamado Gurrea, para no sentir dilatada pena, le cortasse la cabeça de
vn golpe. Tendiose, pues sobre el madero, y recibiòle terrible, muriendo
aquel que nunca deuiera nacer, por quien Inglaterra desde entonces se
abrasa en infernal incendio de heregias.’
[745] Cf. for this and the following pages, Green, vol. ii. pp. 197-202.
[746] _c.o._ trustyng entyerlye In yow that ye will witsaffe as I may
eu_er_ herafter ow vnto yow my Symple s_er_uyce or any pleasure that
shalbe w_i_t_h_in my lytyll power
[747] _c.o._ before yo_ur_ Retorn to London
[748] _c.o._ I am ascertaynyd that yo_ur_ ladyship shall resayue
[749] _c.o._ case
[750] _c.o._ vnto the kyng_es_ highnes of hys benche
[751] _c.o._ yff yt soo had ben
[752] _c.o._ as was bytwene the sayd s_ir_ John and the sayd s_ir_
Roberte payd
[753] _c.o._ aduaunsement
[754] _c.o._ one to the sayd s_ir_ Roberte Clere in full
co_n_tentac_io_n & payment of cccc Mark_es_ whiche cc^{li} ys yet vnpayd
[755] _c.o._ was and shulde haue ben accomplyshyd in eu_er_y poynte yff
the sayd s_ir_ John Paston had accordyng to hys couen_au_nt_es_ payd the
so_m_mes of money whiche he was bonde to paye by hys Indenture for the
adu_au_ncement of hys sayd doughter. Neu_er_theles yt may please yo_ur_
lordeshypp to knowe the sayd s_ir_ Rob_er_te Clere
[756] _c.o._ but that the sayd foure hundreth poundes shalbe Reco_ue_red
of hys landes
[757] _c.o._ to Inyoine
[758] _c.o._ in the courte of Chauncery
[759] _sic._
[760] _sic_, for ‘these.’
[761] This last sentence was added by the seventeenth-century scholar by
whom the foregoing passages were transcribed, and who calls himself
‘Thomas Masters, Coll. Nov.’
[762] _c.o._ For our lordys loue what
[763] _sic_, for ‘applied.’
[764] _c.o._ that perceyuing by
[765] _c.o._ in the hole cuntrey
[766] _c.o._ yo_ur_ grete good
[767] _c.o._ after such sorte by yo_ur_ approuued high wisedom as ye
lose not the wele & benefite of the same for
[768] _c.o._ there I assure yo_ur_ grace you haue
[769] _c.o._ which do & will not let to interprete all yo_ur_ doings not
in the best parte Alledging that yo_ur_ onelie desire
[770] _c.o._ shalbe grete good vnto yo_u_rself
[771] _c.o._ Fynallie beseching almightie god to p_re_serue yo_ur_ grace
in long lif & good helth w_i_t_h_ the full accomplisshment of yo_ur_
hert_es_ desire From london the xviii day of August
[772] _c.o._ and enter into blynde to satysfye
[773] _c.o._ a you[th]
[774] _sic_, for ‘thus.’
[775] The number of erasures and corrections in this letter is such that
the use of an additional bracket is necessary, in order to render it
precisely. Words enclosed thus {...} are inserted above the line in the
original. Words printed in italics are crossed out.
[776] These words doubtless ought to have been crossed out in the MS.
[777] Here occur the following words _underlined_, not crossed out:
‘that [he] should retourne into the same there to manyfest his errours
and sedycyous opynyons, which (being out of the Realme by his most
vncharytable venemous and pestilent bok_es_ craftie and false
persuasions) he hathe partelie don all redie’
[778] (...) underlined, not crossed out.
[779] (...) this passage is put in the margin.
[780] _c.o._ on the behalf of
[781] _c.o._ highnes
[782] _sic._
[783] _c.o._ most
[784] _sic_, for ‘applied.’
[785] _c.o._ which he helde For terme of yeres of his highnes and hauyng
good and Suffycyent graunt In the same
[786] _c.o._ my ladye
[787] _c.o._ and hauing no Just Cause so to do
[788] _c.o._ and as concernyng the bargayn betwene me and John Ardren of
and for the mano_ur_ of Belthrop w_i_t_h_ the apporten_au_nces which, as
I am Informyd ye wer in mynde to haue bought S_i_r I woold I hadde bene
made preuey to your mynd at whych tyme
[789] _sic._
[790] _c.o._ Thomas
[791] _c.o._ Mr. Edmonde Knightley
[792] _c.o._ w_i_t_h_ other of yo_ur_ grac_es_ counsaill
[793] _c.o._ as hathe ben had & made of the saide good_es_ and also such
offenc_es_ as haue ben co_m_mytted in that behalf haue ben onelie don_e_
and executed by the saide Edmonde Knightley his Syster and suche other
of that p_ar_te and none otherwise
[794] _sic._
[795] i.e. 700.
[796] _sic._
[797] _sic._
[798] i.e. 10,000.
[799] _sic_, see Notes.
[800] _c.o._ be the bolder, must ned_es_ be co_m_pellyd
[801] _c.o._ the more boldlye
[802] _c.o._ praying
[803] _sic._
[804] _c.o._ I trust to get owt the Roote of his practyse
[805] _c.o._ prynces
[806] _sic._
[807] _c.o. a marginal comment as follows_: I began to marke the notable
poinct_es_ of his l_ette_res
[808] _sic._
[809] _c.o._ w_i_t_h_ whom ye never spake as in yo_ur_ lettres [ye say]
[810] _c.o._ Egiptians
[811] _c.o._ And suerly my lord what soeu_er_ ye sey or write for
yo_ur_self, the begynning of yo_ur_ letters for your ... g
[812] _c.o._ it was told or els
[813] _c.o._ or any other
[814] _c.o._ muche
[815] _c.o._ albeit I wol speke for
[816] _sic._
[817] The last paragraph is written along the margin.
[818] _c.o._ For the conducing whereof to effecte the king_es_ highnes
hath specyall trust and expectacion in yo_ur_ grac_es_ approved wisedom
and dexteryte and thus the holie trynyte....
[819] This letter was evidently first written by the King, and later
altered by Cromwell. The passages in brackets {...} are scored through
in the original.
[820] _sic_, see Notes.
[821] _c.o._ which hath byn a great charge to the p_ar_ties wherfore
[822] _c.o._ and good
[823] _c.o._ to consider the said offers vnto his sone
[824] _c.o._ he is greatly charged w_i_t_h_ his Fathers Dett_e_s & also
w_i_t_h_ his
[825] _c.o._ wh_ich_ ys a great charge vnto hym wherfore my Lorde in
dischargyng of yo_ur_ consciens I p_ra_y you at my Desire to yeve vnto
hym a c^{li}. whiche youe toke of his Father And ferder to yeve vnto hym
some other Rewarde hereafter as you shall thynke in consciens mete for
hym
[826] _c.o._ Surveyed and I Fynd I haue
[827] _c.o._ Indifferent
[828] _c.o._ to p_ro_cede
[829] _c.o._ yt may also ple
[830] _c.o._ And in thus doynge ye shall not oonlie do a thinge
proffitable and right meritorious for yo_ur_ sowle
[831] _c.o._ to their hindrance hurte & p_re_iudice
[832] From the official Record Office transcript.
[833] The date ‘May’ is obviously a mistake; it should be ‘March.’ The
dates of the embassy of Gontier and the itinerary of the King make it
quite certain that the letter was written March 4, 1535, which, of
course, was 1534 O. S. Cf. Cal. viii. p. 133 _n._
[834] This letter is obviously misplaced in the Calendar.
[835] _c.o._ this nyght at xii of the Cloke
[836] _c.o._ done and what order ys
[837] _c.o._ drawne
[838] _c.o._ Serche was made and
[839] _c.o._ the Copye of this
[840] _c.o._ to thentent the Kyng_es_ gracyous pleasure may be known
drawen according to the sayd estatute made in the sayd Fyfte yere of
Kyng Richarde the second as ys afforsayd and that was all that was done
in that matyere by
[841] A copy of this letter is also to be found in Longleat House.
[842] _sic._
[843] _c.o._ &c. the kyng_es_ high
[844] _c.o._ reside and demoure
[845] _c.o._ whereby
[846] _c.o._ ye can haue to
[847] _c.o._ shall
[848] _c.o._ wherfore and for asmoche as
[849] _c.o._ whiche if he wold he may right well do and
[850] _c.o._ my sake
[851] _c.o._ in suche wise as he may haue no cause eftesones to
complayne one you for this matier
[852] From the official Record Office transcript.
[853] _c.o._ In my right harty wise
[854] From the official Record Office transcript.
[855] _sic._
[856] _c.o._ for yo_ur_
[857] _c.o._ you even
[858] i.e. 50,000.
[859] This letter, though written in Starkey’s hand and addressed to
Harvell, is believed by Mr. Gairdner to be a copy of a letter written by
Cromwell to Pole, transcribed by Starkey on the inside of the cover of a
letter to Harvell.
[860] _c.o._ w_i_t_h_ the ... and towching the content_es_ of the same
ye shall vnderstand that I haue resceyued yo_ur_ l_ette_res
[861] _c.o._ am contented
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