III therine may ap so hinder cess desiring that his intention might be kept strictly secret, CHAP "For if the noble Lady Catherine should, by the bruit of this matter in the mouths of the inhabitants A.D. 1533 of the country, or by her friends or counsel hearing of this bruit, be moved, stirred, counselled, or persuaded to appear afore me in the time, or afore the time of Fears Casentence, I should be thereby greatly stayed and let in the process, and the King's Grace's counsel here pear and present shall be much uncertain what shall be then the profurther done therein." There seems to have been a thorough understanding between Henry and Cranmer as to the character of "the process" which the Archbishop was thus to smuggle through its rapid stages. And so on the earliest possible day-the first day after the 17th, which was open for the sitting of law courts the Archbishop writes to the King, "Please it your Highness to be advertised, that this 23d day of this month of May I have given sentence in your Grace's great and weighty cause, the copy whereof I have sent unto your Highness by this bearer, Richard Watkyns."4 In a private letter to Archdeacon Hawkyns, written a few weeks later, he says that he proceeded "in the said cause against her in pœnam Convicts contumaciæ as the process of the law thereunto tumacious belongeth, which continued fifteen days after our for not coming thither. And the morrow after Ascension Day I gave final sentence therein, how that it was indispensable for the Pope to license any such marriages."5 Five days afterwards Cranmer was at Lambeth, where he pronounced his decision confirming the marriage of Henry with Anne Boleyn. 3 Jenkyns' Cranmer, i. 26. State Papers, i. 396. 5 Jenkyns' Cranmer, i. 28. her as con appearing CHAP III The substance of the sentence thus pronounced by the Archbishop is, that having examined all the eviA.D. 1533 dence that had been given, the opinions of the universities, the decision of convocation, and all other documents throwing light light on the case, he had found it his duty to pronounce a final decree and sentence, to the effect that the marriage between Henry and Catherine was null and invalid, and being contracted and consummated contrary to the law of God, was of no force or obligation; that it was not lawful for Henry and Catherine to continue in such a pretended marriage, and that they were accordingly separated and divorced the one from the other." Decrees nullity of marriage and sentence of divorce Six days after Cranmer had pronounced the sentence in his court at Dunstable, Anne Boleyn was conducted in great state from Greenwich Palace to Anne Bo- the Tower, where it was customary for the Queens leyn at the Tower of England to spend a few days before their coronations. It was a bright and beautiful day in May, and all the pageant that could be devised was exhibited on the river and in the streets to do her honour. On another bright and beautiful day in May, three years afterwards, she was brought again to the same royal apartments, but a prisoner; and before the three years had passed away, she was beheaded on the very spot over which her litter was now carried in triumph. The coronation took place at Westminster on Whitsun-Day, June 1, 1533. She be comes Queen But although Henry had attained his wish so far, 6 Burnet iv. 189, Pocock's Ed. Rymer, xiv. 462. Herbert's Henry VIII. 375. 7 Cranmer, in his letter to Archdeacon Hawkyns, says distinctly that it was on "the Thursday next before the feast of Pentecost," which makes the date May 29, 1533. Mr. Froude has May 19th. III specting he was by no means clear of all the difficulties which CHAP had been raised up by this long-protracted business. His own subjects were discontented at the course A.D. 1533 which things had taken, and there had even been a movement in the House of Commons towards peti- Public tioning him that he would restore the Queen. This opinion rewas before he had openly taken the matter of the the divorce divorce into his own hands: but when Cranmer had pronounced sentence, there were fears of an interdict on the part of the Pope, and of an invasion on the part of the Emperor and the country had not yet learned its own independent strength, either in religious or military affairs. Sir Nicholas Hawkins was directed to communicate to the Emperor the final steps which Henry had taken, and to do this in language so apologetic that it may almost be called Apology humble and, among other things of the sort, he Charles V. was to say, "Suits must have an end, si possis recte, si non, quocunque modo." The Emperor replied in ambiguous language, declaring that he wished to remain on friendly terms with the King, but that Queen Catherine's rights had been violated, and that "he must see for her, and for her daughter his cousin." He seems to have intended, at first, to take up arms in her cause, but he waited and waited until a favourable opportunity should arise for doing so, until at last the poor Queen had passed beyond the reach of his championship. made to When the news of Cranmer's sentence of divorce The Pope's reached Rome, it was at once declared null and action void (by a brief dated July 12th), on the ground that the cause was pending before the Pope himself, and that therefore it was beyond the power of any other person to decide it. The King was declared III appeals to Council CHAP excommunicate if he persisted in recognising Cranmer's sentence, and the end of September was fixed A. D. 1533 as the time for the excommunication to come into The King force. Henry had appealed to a general council, a General in anticipation of such a sentence, on June 29, 1533, and Cranmer also did the same. This appeal from the Pope to a higher authority need not be noticed. further in connection with the divorce, but there are some points of interest about it which will bring it under observation in a future section of this history. When the Pope's intentions were known, Henry endeavoured to appease him through the mediation of the King of France, who sent the Bishop of Paris to Rome with fresh proposals, and communications between the two courts were partly re-opened. But there was no sincerity in these proposals. They were so far accepted by the Pope and his consistory that a messenger was despatched to England for the King's ratification of them but when, after long waiting, no reply was received, and, on the other hand, accounts reached Rome of a gross insult offered to the Pope and cardinals by the acting of a comedy in which they were ridiculed before the King, the patience of the Roman court could hold out no longer. On March 24, 1534, a The Pope's bull was published giving a final sentence in the confirming divorce, declaring the marriage of Henry and validity Catherine valid, and commanding him to restore ine's mar- her to her rights, on pain of excommunication. On the 26th of the same month a messenger reached Rome from the King, with his consent to ratify the proposals made by the Bishop of Paris, and appear before the Pope by proxy: but the Pope and consistory decided that what was done should not be sentence, of Cather riage undone, and thus the alienation of Henry from the CHAP Pope was effectually completed. III A few words respecting the personal history of A.D. 1533 Queen Catherine and Anne Boleyn, subsequent to the divorce of the former, will complete this sad and humiliating story. Catherine's Privy Some weeks after the sentence of divorce had been passed, Lord Mountjoy (who remained at Ampthill, in charge of Catherine, much in the same position as Sir Hudson Lowe was placed in charge of Napoleon at St. Helena) was directed to have an interview with her, and to introduce to her presence Queen a deputation of the Privy Council, who had been sent interview with some special instructions. She refused for with the some time to hold any communication with them, Council but was persuaded at last to admit them to an interview on July 3rd. Their instructions were to be read to her, and a verbal message delivered. At the first words, in which she was called the PrincessDowager, her feelings as a queen and a wife were outraged, and she declared that she was not Princess-Dowager, but Queen, and the King's true wife; that she had been only nominally married to his Declarabrother, and that she had borne him lawful issue. rights Queen she was, and Queen she would be while she lived. As the commissioners proceeded, Catherine commented upon the declarations contained in their paper. It was might, not right, which had put her Henry made great efforts in 1535 to persuade Paul III. to reverse the decree of his predecessor. The King promised the King of France that if he would prevail on the Pope to do this he would renounce his title to the kingdom of France and give the Princess Elizabeth to the Duke of Angou- tion of her |
