On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.(1142) Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.(1143) It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.(1144) (M603) In addition to an epidemic of sickness,(1145) the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.(1146) (M604) For some years past Henry had been meditating a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his brother’s widow, but it was not until 1529 that the assent of the Pope was at last obtained to try the validity of the marriage. The legatine court sat in the city at the house of the Blackfriars, where every arrangement was made to add dignity to the proceedings. At its head sat the two cardinals, Campeggio and Wolsey, on chairs covered with cloth of gold, and on their right sat Henry himself.(1147) The sudden suspension of all proceedings after the court had sat for some weeks, and the revocation of the cause to the Court of Rome, led to Wolsey’s downfall. In October the seals were taken from him and given to Sir Thomas More, his furniture and plate were seized, and he himself ordered to remove from London. (M605)