would have originated the plan of murdering his wife, until the crisis in foreign affairs had become far more acute. Though he fully comprehended the many advantages of a closer alliance with Charles, he must have been reasonably certain that he had little cause to fear a direct attack in the immediate future, especially as the death of the Duke of Milan in the end of October had opened glorious possibilities for a renewal of the quarrel between Francis and Charles. Of course it is mere folly to suppose that Cromwell would have attempted to murder the Queen without the King’s full consent. It is more than probable however that--if poison it was--it was he who put the idea into Henry’s mind, and took the responsibility for its execution upon himself. In any event the death of Katherine, whether due to natural causes or ‘advancé sinistrement’ as Chapuys expressed it, was the means by which Henry was at last enabled to attain the position in foreign affairs that he had aimed at since the fall of Wolsey, and to put in practice a policy which, combined with a fortunate turn of events abroad, was destined, for two years, to lead to the most glorious results. It removed the chief cause of jealousy between England and the Emperor[584], and enabled Henry to point out to Francis, who as we have seen had of late been taking a very haughty tone with him, that the situation of the two countries had again been reversed, and that France was no longer in a position to dictate. This task Cromwell performed for him three days after the Queen’s death, with his usual directness and efficiency. The King’s minister wrote to Gardiner and Wallop on January 8, indicating that the death of Katherine had removed ‘the onelie matier of the vnkyndenes’ between his master and the Emperor, and instructing the ambassadors in their ‘conferenc_es_ and procedyng_es_ w_i_t_h_ the frensh kyng and his counsaile’ to keep themselves ‘the more aloof and be the more Froyt and colde in relentyng to any their ou_er_tur_es_ or request_es_[585].’ A comparison of this letter with one which Cromwell had written to the Bishop of Winchester two months earlier[586] reveals a very striking change of tone, which nothing else than the death of Katherine could have rendered possible.