No sooner had Campeggio started than the fortunes of war changed. The
French were driven out of Naples, and the Imperialists again dominated
Rome; the Church, wrote Clement to Campeggio, was completely in the
power of Charles V. The cardinal, therefore, must on no account
pronounce against Charles's aunt; if he could not persuade Henry and
Catherine to agree on a mutual separation, he must simply pass the time
and come to no conclusion. Hence it was June 1529 before the court got
to work at all, and then its proceedings were only preparatory to an
adjournment and revocation of the suit to Rome in August. Clement VII.
had, in his own words, made up his mind to live and die an imperialist;
the last remnants of the French army in Italy had been routed, and the
pope had perforce concluded the treaty of Barcelona, a sort of family
compact between himself and Charles, whereby he undertook to protect
Charles's aunt, and the emperor to support the Medici dynasty in
Florence. This peace was amplified at the treaty of Cambrai (August
1529) into a general European pacification in which England had no
voice. So far had it fallen since 1521.
In every direction Wolsey had failed, and his failure involved the
triumph of the forces which he had opposed. The fate of the papal system
in England was bound up with his personal fortunes. It was he and he
alone who had kept parliament at arm's length and the enemies of the
church at bay. He had interested the king, and to some extent the
nation, in a spirited foreign policy, had diverted their attention from
domestic questions, and had staved off that parliamentary attack on the
church which had been threatened fifteen years before. Now he was
doomed, and both Campeggio and Cardinal du Bellay were able to send
their governments accurate outlines of the future policy of Henry VIII.
The church was to be robbed of its wealth, its power and its privileges,
and the papal jurisdiction was to be abolished. In October Wolsey was
deprived of the great seal, and surrendered many of his ecclesiastical
preferments, though he was allowed to retain his archbishopric of York
which he now visited for the first time. The first lay ministry since
Edward the Confessor's time came into office; Sir Thomas More became
lord chancellor, and Anne Boleyn's father lord privy seal; the only
prominent cleric who remained in office was Stephen Gardiner, who
succeeded Wolsey as bishop of Winchester.
Attack on the church in parliament.
Henry VIII. marries Anne Boleyn.
The Act of Supremacy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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