History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. IIIFroude, James Anthony
History
History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. III
Froude, James Anthony
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603
Charles made no difficulty in granting an audience, which he seemed
rather to court. He was extremely angry. The man had been in his
service, he said, for years; and it was ill done to arrest a member of
his household without paying him even the courtesy of a first
application on the subject. The English government could scarcely be
serious in expecting that he would sacrifice an old attendant in any
such manner. Wyatt answered sturdily that Brancetor was his master's
subject. There was clear proof, he could vouch for it on his own
knowledge, that the man committed treason in Spain; and he again
insisted on the treaties. The Emperor cared nothing for treaties. Treaty
or no treaty, a servant of his own should pass free; "and if he was in
the Tower of London," he said, "he would never consent so to charge his
honour and conscience." Brancetor had come to Paris under his
protection; and the French government would never do him the dishonour
of permitting the seizure of one of his personal train.
[Sidenote: Wyatt complains of the treatment of English subjects by the
Inquisition.]
He was so displeased, and there was so much truth in what he said, that
Wyatt durst not press him further; but opened ground again with a
complaint which he had been instructed also to make, of the ill usage of
Englishmen in Spain by the Inquisition. Charles again flashed up with
imperious vehemence. "In a loud voice," he replied, "that the authority
of the Inquisition depended not upon him. It had been established in his
realm and countries for good consideration, and such as he would not
break--no, not for his grandame."
It was unreasonable, Wyatt replied, to punish men merely for their want
of allegiance to Rome. They were no heretics, sacramentaries,
Anabaptists. They held the Catholic faith as truly as any man.
[Sidenote: Charles refuses t o interfere.]
"The king is of one opinion," Charles replied, "and I am of another. If
your merchants come with novelties, I can not let the Inquisition. This
is a thing that toucheth our faith."
"What," Wyatt said, "the primacy of the Bishop of Rome!"
"Yea, marry," the Emperor answered, "shall we now come to dispute of
_tibi dabo claves_. I would not alter my Inquisition. No; if I thought
they would be negligent in their office, I would put them out, and put
others in their rooms."
All this was uttered with extraordinary passion and violence. Charles
had wholly lost his self-command. Wyatt went on to say that the Spanish
preached slanders against England, and against the king especially, in
their pulpits.
"As to that," said the Emperor, "preachers will speak against myself
whenever there is cause. That cannot be let. Kings be not kings of
tongues; and if men give cause to be spoken of, they will be spoken of."
[Sidenote: The French court betrays confidence.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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