History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 5 (of 8)Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
History
History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 5 (of 8)
Merle d'Aubigné, J. H. (Jean Henri)
Reformation
On the 20th of May, when the news of the queen's prosecution arrived in
Rome, both pope and cardinals were transported with joy. The frightful
calumnies of which that princess was the victim, served the cause of the
papacy too well not to be accepted as truths, and all felt persuaded
that, if Anne fell from the throne, the acts done at London against the
Italian primacy would fall with her. When Da Casale informed the pope
that the queen had been sent to prison, Paul exclaimed with delight: 'I
always thought, when I saw Henry endowed with _so many virtues_, that
heaven would not forsake him. If he is willing to unite with me,' he
added, 'I shall have authority enough to enjoin the emperor and the king
of France to make peace; and the king of England, reconciled with the
Church, will command the powers of Europe.' At the same time Paul III.
confessed that he had made a mistake in raising Fisher to the
cardinalate, and wound up this pontifical effusion in the kindest of
terms. Da Casale, much delighted on his part, asked whether he was to
repeat these matters to the king. 'Tell him,' answered the pope, 'that
his majesty may, without hesitation, expect everything from me.'[361] Da
Casale, therefore, made his report to London, and intimated that, if
Henry made the least sign of reconciliation, the pope would immediately
send him a nuncio. Thus Paul left not a stone unturned to win over the
king of England. He extolled his virtues, promised him the foremost
place in Europe, flattered his vanity as an author, and did not fear—he
the infallible one—to acknowledge that he had made a mistake. Everybody
at the court of Rome felt convinced that England was about to return to
the bosom of the Church; cardinal Campeggi even sent his brother to
London to resume possession of the bishopric of Salisbury, of which he
had been deprived in 1534.[362] Up to the end of June, the pope and the
cardinals became kinder and more respectful to the English, and
entertained the most flattering expectations regarding the return of
England.
[Sidenote: THE TWO HENRYS.]
Would these expectations be realized? Henry VIII. was not one man, but
two: his domestic passions and his public acts formed two departments
entirely distinct. Guided as an individual by passion, he was, as a
king, sometimes led by just views. He believed that neither pope nor
foreign monarch had a right to exercise the smallest jurisdiction in
England. He was therefore decided—and this saved Great Britain—to
maintain the rupture with Rome. One circumstance might have taught him
that in all respects it was the best thing he could do.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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