A Parliament. - Peace with France and Scotland. - Boulogne surrendered. Persecution of Gardiner.- Warwick created Duke of Northumberland. His Ambition. -Trial of Somerset. — His Lady Jane Gray proclaimed Queen. - Deserted by the People. — The Queen proclaimed and acknowledged. Northumberland exe- cuted. Catholic Religion restored. — A Parliament. — Delibera- tions with regard to the Queen's Marriage. Queen's Marriage with Philip. Wyat's Insurrection-Suppressed.-Execution of Reasons for and against Toleration. Persecutions. A Parlia- ment. The Queen's Extortions. The Emperor resigns his Crown. Execution of Cranmer. - War with France. - Battle of St. Quintin.-Calais taken by the French.- Affairs of Scotland. - Marriage of the Dauphin and the Queen of Scots. - A Parliament. Reëstablishment of the Protestant Religion. - Peace with France. Disgust between the Queen and Mary, Queen of Scots. Affairs of Scotland. - Reformation in Scotland. Civil Wars in Scotland. Interposal of the Queen in the Affairs of Scotland. - Settlement of Scotland. - French Affairs. — Arrival of Mary in Scotland. - Bigotry of the Scotch Confederacy against the Protestants. - Murder of Rizzio. — A Par- liament. Murder of Darnley.-Queen of Scots marries Both- well. Insurrections in Scotland. - Duke of Norfolk's Conspiracy. - Insur- - Assassination of the Earl of Murray. Parliament. - Civil Wars of France. THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CHAPTER XXVIII. WOLSEY'S ADMINISTRATION. -SCOTCH AFFAIRS.-PROGRESS OF FRANCIS I. XXVIII. adminis THE numerous enemies whom Wolsey's sudden eleva- CHAP tion, his aspiring character, and his haughty deportment. had raised him, served only to rivet him faster in Henry's 1515. confidence; who valued himself on supporting the choice Wolsey's which he had made, and who was incapable of yielding tration. either to the murmurs of the people, or to the discontents of the great. That artful prelate, likewise, well acquainted with the king's imperious temper, concealed from him the absolute ascendant which he had acquired; and while he secretly directed all public councils, he ever pretended a blind submission to the will and authority of his master. By entering into the king's pleasures, he preserved his affection; by conducting his business, he gratified his indolence; and by his unlimited complaisance in both capacities, he prevented all that jealousy to which his exorbitant acquisitions, and his splendid ostentatious train of life, should naturally have given birth. The archbishopric of York falling vacant by the death of Bambridge, Wolsey was promoted to that see, and resigned the bishopric of Lincoln. Besides enjoying the 1 VOL. III. 1515. CHAP. administration of Tournay, he got possession, on easy XXVIII. leases, of the revenues of Bath, Worcester, and Hereford, bishoprics filled by Italians, who were allowed to reside abroad, and who were glad to compound for this indulgence, by yielding a considerable share of their income. He held in commendam the abbey of St. Albans, and many other church preferments. He was even allowed to unite with the see of York, first that of Durham, next that of Winchester; and there seemed to be no end of his acquisitions. His farther advancement in ecclesiastical dignity served him as a pretence for engrossing still more revenues. The pope, observing his great influence over the king, was desirous of engag ing him in his interests, and creating him a cardinal. No churchman, under colour of exacting respect to religion, ever carried to a greater height the state and dignity of that character. His train consisted of eight hundred servants, of whom many were knights and gentlemen : some even of the nobility put their children into his family as a place of education; and in order to gain them favour with their patron, allowed them to bear offices as his servants. Whoever was distinguished by any art or science paid court to the cardinal; and none paid court in vain. Literature, which was then in its infancy, found in him a generous patron; and both by his public institutions and private bounty, he gave encouragement to every branch of erudition". Not content with his munificence, which gained him the approbation of the wise, he strove to dazzle the eyes of the populace by the splendour of his equipage and furniture, the costly embroidery of his liveries, the lustre of his apparel. He was the first clergyman in England that wore silk and gold, not only on his habit, but also on his saddles and the trappings of his horses'. He caused his cardinal's hat to be borne aloft by a person of rank; and when he came to the king's chapel, would permit it to be laid on no place but the altar. A priest, the tallest and most comely he could find, carried before him a pillar of silver, on whose top was placed a cross: but not satisfied with this parade, to which he thought himself entitled as car a Erasm. Epist. lib. 2. Epist. i. lib. 16. Epist. 3. b Polydore Vergil, lib. 27. Stowe, p. 501. Hollingshed, p. 847. XXVIII. 1515. dinal, he provided another priest of equal stature and CHAP. beauty, who marched along, bearing the cross of York, even in the diocese of Canterbury; contrary to the ancient rule and the agreement between the prelates of these rival sees. The people made merry with the cardinal's ostentation; and said they were now sensible, that one crucifix alone was not sufficient for the expiation of his sins and offences. Warham, Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, a man of moderate temper, averse to all disputes, chose rather to retire from public employment, than maintain an unequal contest with the haughty cardinal. He resigned his office of chancellor; and the great seal was immediately delivered to Wolsey. If this new accumulation of dignity increased his enemies, it also served to exalt his personal character, and prove the extent of his capacity. A strict administration of justice took place during his enjoyment of this high office; and no chancellor ever discovered greater impartiality in his deci sions, deeper penetration of judgment, or more enlarged knowledge of law and equity.d The Duke of Norfolk, finding the king's money almost entirely exhausted by projects and pleasures, while his inclination for expense still continued, was glad to resign his office of treasurer, and retire from court. His rival, Fox, Bishop of Winchester, reaped no advantage from his absence; but partly overcome by years and infirmities, partly disgusted at the ascendant acquired by Wolsey, withdrew himself wholly to the care of his diocese. The Duke of Suffolk had also taken offence that the king, by the cardinal's persuasion, had refused to pay a debt which he had contracted during his residence in France; and he thenceforth affected to live in privacy. These incidents left Wolsey to enjoy, without a rival, the whole power and favour of the king; and they put into his hands every kind of authority. In vain did Fox, before his retirement, warn the king "not to suffer the servant to be greater than his master." Henry replied, "that he well knew how to retain all his subjects in obedience;" but he continued still an unlimited defe Polydore Vergil, lib. 27. d Sir Thomas More. Stowe, p. 504. |