ON the very day of Jane Seymour’s death, the King and his Council began, with almost indecent haste, their search throughout the Courts of Europe for a new queen to fill her place. Henry’s ambassadors and agents were instructed to make discreet inquiries as to suitable candidates, and before the close of the year a number of names had been submitted to him for his consideration. In spite of this unseemly expedition, however, nearly two years were to elapse before the final choice was made, for it was not until the very end of 1539 that Anne of Cleves came to England as Henry’s fourth queen. Throughout the whole of 1538 marriage negotiations, which in the end proved fruitless, were carried on simultaneously with Francis I and the Emperor Charles V. Though Henry was anxious to marry again, in order that the succession, which rested on the precarious life of one infant Prince, might be made more assured, yet his search for a bride both in France and in Imperial circles at one and the same time was undertaken quite as much for political as for matrimonial reasons. It was his main object at that time to prevent any close understanding between his two rivals. With Charles and Francis united, and Europe at peace, there was nothing to prevent a coalition against England and an enforcement of the papal excommunication of Henry by force of arms. By playing off one monarch against the other with the bait of a proffered matrimonial alliance he hoped to keep the two apart, and by such means ensure the security of his throne, and be at liberty to continue the severe methods by which he sought to maintain his supremacy as self-appointed head of the English Church. [Sidenote: SEARCH FOR A FOURTH QUEEN]