The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part C.: From Henry VII. to Mary — David Hume — John Shaqi
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part C.: From Henry VII. to Mary
David Hume · en
When intelligence of this great event was conveyed to the emperor,
that young prince, habituated to hypocrisy, expressed the most profound
sorrow for the success of his arms: he put himself and all his court in
mourning: he stopped the rejoicings for the birth of his son Philip: and
knowing that every artifice, however gross, is able, when seconded by
authority, to impose upon the people, he ordered prayers during several
months to be put up in the churches for the pope’s liberty; which all
men knew a letter under his hand could in a moment have procured.
The concern expressed by Henry and Francis for the calamity of their
ally was more sincere. These two monarchs, a few days before the sack
of Rome, had concluded a treaty[*] at Westminster, in which, besides
renewing former alliances, they agreed to send ambassadors to Charles,
requiring him to accept of two millions of crowns as the ransom of the
French princes, and to repay the money borrowed from Henry; and in
case of refusal, the ambassadors, attended by heralds, were ordered to
denounce war against him.
* 30th April.
This war it was agreed to prosecute in the Low Countries, with an army
of thirty thousand infantry and fifteen hundred men at arms, two thirds
to be supplied by Francis, the rest by Henry. And in order to strengthen
the alliance between the princes, it was stipulated, that either
Francis, or his son, the duke of Orleans, as should afterwards be agreed
on, should espouse the princess Mary, Henry’s daughter. No sooner did
the monarchs receive intelligence of Bourbon’s enterprise than they
changed, by a new treaty, the scene of the projected war from the
Netherlands to Italy; and hearing of the pope’s captivity, they were
further stimulated to undertake the war with vigor for restoring him to
liberty. Wolsey himself crossed the sea, in order to have an interview
with Francis and to concert measures for that purpose; and he
displayed all that grandeur and magnificence with which he was so
much intoxicated. He was attended by a train of a thousand horse. The
cardinal of Lorraine, and the chancellor Alençon, met him at Boulogne;
Francis himself, besides granting to that haughty prelate the power of
giving, in every place where he came, liberty to all prisoners, made a
journey as far as Amiens to meet him, and even advanced some miles from
the town, the more to honor his reception. It was here stipulated, that
the duke of Orleans should espouse the princess Mary; and as the emperor
seemed to be taking some steps towards assembling a general council, the
two monarchs agreed not to acknowledge it, but, during the interval
of the pope’s captivity, to govern the churches in their respective
dominions by their own authority. Wolsey made some attempts to get his
legatine power extended over France, and even over Germany; but finding
his efforts fruitless, he was obliged, though with great reluctance, to
desist from these ambitious enterprises.[*]