Luther had been three months and a half at Wittemberg when a rumour, increased by the thousand tongues of fame, brought intelligence that one of the greatest kings of Christendom had risen against him. Henry VIII., head of the house of Tudor, a prince descended from the families of York and Lancaster, and in whose person, after so much bloodshed, the red and white roses were at length united, the mighty king of England, who claimed to re-establish on the continent, and especially in France, the former influence of his crown,--had just written a book against the poor monk of Wittemberg. "There is much boasting about a little book by the King of England," wrote Luther to Lange on the 26th of June 1522.[172] [172] Jactant libellum regis Angliæ; sed _leum_ illum suspicor sub pelle tectum:--an allusion to Lee, the king's chaplain, and a pun on the word _leo_, a lion. L. Epp. ii. 213. Henry was then thirty-one years old; "he was tall, strong-built and proportioned, and had an air of authority and empire."[173] His countenance expressed the vivacity of his mind; vehement, presuming to make everything give way to the violence of his passions, and thirsting for glory, he at first concealed his faults under a certain impetuosity that is peculiar to youth, and flatterers were not wanting to encourage them. He would often visit, in company with his courtiers, the house of his chaplain, Thomas Wolsey, the son of an Ipswich butcher. Endowed with great skill, of overweening ambition, and of unbounded audacity, this man, protected by the Bishop of Winchester, chancellor of the kingdom, had rapidly advanced in his master's favour, and allured him to his residence by the attractions of pleasures and disorders, in which the young prince would not have ventured to indulge in his own palace. This is recorded by Polydore Virgil, at that time papal sub-collector in England.[174] In these dissolute meetings, the chaplain surpassed the licentiousness of the young courtiers who attended Henry VIII. Forgetful of the decorum befitting a minister of the Church, he would sing, dance, laugh, play the fool, fence, and indulge in obscene conversation.[175] By these means he succeeded in obtaining the first place in the king's councils, and, as sole minister, all the princes of Christendom were forced to purchase his favour. [173] Collier, Eccl. Hist. of Great Britain, fol. ii. 1. [174] Domi suæ voluptatum omnium sacrarium fecit, quo regem frequenter ducebat. Polyd. Virgilius, Angl. Hist., Basle, 1570, fol. p. 633. Polydore appears to have suffered from Wolsey's pride, and rather inclined to exaggerate the minister's faults. [175] Cum illis adolescentibus una psallebat, saltabat, sermones leporis plenos habebat, ridebat, jocabatur, &c. Polyd. Virgilius, Angl. Hist. Basle, 1570, fol. p. 633. [Sidenote: HENRY'S COURT--QUEEN CATHERINE.]