view of these fine beauties and to offer our service to them The Cardinal replied they were welcome whereupon having saluted all the Ladies a great Cup of Gold filled with Crown Pieces was opened and they thrown on the Table to play withal After they had play'd some time the Gentlemen came and threw down their winnings before the Cardinal being about two hundred Crowns Have at all quoth he and throwing a Die he won it whereat the company seemed much pleased Then said the Cardinal My Lord Chamberlain Pray go and tell these Gentlemen that I am of opinoin there is a Nobleman among them who better deserves to sit in this place than I and to whom I would gladly surrender it according to my duty if I knew him The Lord Chamberlain spoke to them in French and they replied That they must confess there was such a Noble Personage among them whom if his Grace could distinguish from the rest he would then discover himself and accept of his Place The Cardinal taking a strict review of them said I believe the Gentleman with the black Beard is he and thereupon he role up and offered him his Chair with the Cup in his hand But it was Sir Edward Nevil who was very like King Henry and the King seeing the Cardinal's mistake could not forbear laughing and pulling off his Vizor and Sir Edward's likewise discovered himself to all his Guests and then withdrawing clothed himself in his Royal Robes In which short space the former Banquet was clear taken away and the Tables new covered again with perfumed Linnen and the King and his Masquers returning again in their rich Cloths a Royal Banquet of two hundred Dishes was brought in where they continued Feasting and Dancing till the next Morning As these Entertainments discover the extream Magnificence wherein the Cardinal lived so they also shew the familiar temper of King Henry whom one Historian says was so free from Pride that he was rather too humble at least he conversed with his Subjects in a more familiar manner than is usual with Princes VVhich is confirmed by a Passage in the eleventh year of his Reign when the Privy Council complaining that certain young Gentlemen in his Court â—…ith whom he was over-familiar were so Frenchified that forgetting the respect due to his Royalty they used many unfeemly actions and discourses with him they were thereupon with his consent banished the Court and several other antient grave Knights and Gentlemen placed in their Rooms about the King's Person Neither did the Cardinals grandeur consist only in the aforementioned instances but likewise in erecting costly and magnificent Houses and Palaces as York Place at Westminster so named by him from his Archbishoprick now Whitehall Hampton Court his stately buildings at Christ Church and Windsor He likewise designed to have built two new Colleges in Oxford and Ipswich the Town of his Birth and obtained a License of Pope Clement to suppress forty Monasteries and seize the Revenues thereof to perform the same And for the farther support of his Dignity he enjoyed at one time no less than seven rich Bishopricks that is York Winchester Lincoln Tournay Bath VVorcester and Hereford so that he seemed a Monster with seven Heads each of them honoured with a Miter He being thus imperiously Great more like a Prince than a Priest was continually inventing new ways for getting of Money For he required an account of the Captains Treasurers and other Officers that had been imployed in paying the Souldiers in the VVars some of whom he obliged to refund great sums of their ill gotten Estates who made themselves poor to inrich him Others compounded with him for half they were worth But those that had deceived the King and then prodigally spent what they had wrongfully gained were exposed to publick shame and punishment So that none suffered though deeply Criminal but only for the Mortal Sin of Poverty He likewise erected several Courts of Equity as he called them but the People named them Courts of Iniquity in which upon pretence of relieving the poor from the rigour of the Law he brought such a multitude of Causes into them that the other Courts of Justice were abandoned and he thereby gained vast Treasures to himself Till at length the People perceiving that he only grew Rich and themselves poor and that the Verdicts in these Courts would not stand in Common Law they utterly left them and returned to the former course of Proceeding He likewise erected another new Court which he called the Legantine Court whereby he visited all Bishopricks and Monasteries punishing such Clergymen as were unable to bribe him but inriching himself by those who were full of Money and full of Faults By the same Authority he supprest several Abbies and Priories seizing all their Goods and Lands leaving only a small Pension to the Abbots and Priors whereby he purchased great riches and and great hatred from the Clergy who in many places opposed his Visitor Dr. Allen who rid in a Velvet Gown with a great Train following him and for which they were openly cursed by Dr. Forrest at Paul's Cross so that the Cardinal prevailed against them all and caused the generality to murmur and complain that by his Visitations Probate of Wills granting of Faculties Licenses and other Tricks he made his constant revenue equal to the King 's besides great sums which he yearly conveyed out of the Realm to the Court of Rome In 1517. The Citizens of London were so highly provoked by the multitude of French and Walloons who setling here undersold their goods and thereby impoverisht them that they resolved to endeavour to rid themselves of this annoyance all at once Whereupon John Lincoln a Broker persuaded one Dr. Bell to represent this great grievance to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in a Sermon at the Spittle on Easter Tuesday The Doctor undertook the business and took these words for his Text The Heaven is the Lord's but the Earth he hath given to the Sons of men From hence he infer'd that this Land was given to Englishmen who were obliged to defend the same as Birds do their Nests and to fight for their Country by the Law of God against all Strangers and Foreigners who to the great trouble vexation and ruin of the People had now over-run the Land and for which there was no redress to be had but by the Commons uniting themselves together and extirpating them out of the City and Kingdom and thereby avenge themselves of the many affronts and abuses which they had lately publickly offered them This Sermon inflamed the Minds of the Citizens who were sufficiently inraged before so that they took all occasions to qâ—arrel with the Foreigners and a rumor was spread that the next May day would be very remarkable The Cardinal and Council hearing of it ordered the Lord Mayor to keep strong Watches throughout the City However on May Eve several hundreds of young Fellows got together and
being as destitute of Friends and Means to defend himself as he was of Courage and Counsel However he requested Aid of the Citizens of London whose Answer was That they would honour with all duty the King Queen and Prince their Son who was lawful Heir to the Kingdom but that they would shut their Gates against all Foreigners and Traytors to the Realm and with all their Powers withstand them but that they were not obliged to go out of their Ctiy to fight no farther than that according to their Liberties they might return home again before Sun-set This uncertain Answer so discouraged the King that he resolved to withdraw from the City to the Marches of Wales for the present levying of an Army attended with his inseparable Favourites the two Spencers and Robert Baldock Bishop of Norwich their intimate Friend Before he went he ordered the Tower of London to be fortified which he committed to the Custody of Sir John Weston who was well provided with Men and Victuals leaving also to his care his younger Son called Lord John of Eltham with the countess of Glocester the King's Niece Wife to the younger Spencer and gave the Government of the City to Walter Stapilton Bishop of Exeter a Creature of the Spencers his chief Treasure and caused a Proclamation to be published enjoyning all his Subjects to oppose kill and destroy all the partakers with the Queen her self her Son and the Earl of Kent his half Brother only excepted On the other side the Queen made Proclamation That no Person whatsoever should receive any hurt or damage from her Army but only those two notorious Miscreants the Spencers Bishop Baldock Lord Chancellor and their Associates and that she came over for no other end but to bring to condign punishment those notorious Traytors and Misleaders of the King promising a thousand pound to any who should bring her the Head of the younger Spencer The King had no sooner took his last leave of the City and thereby of his Crown and Dignity but the Londoners scorning to submit to their proud and insolent Governour apprehended Stapilton and two of his Servants and without any Tryal or Judicial proceeding beheaded them at the Standard in Cheapside with one John Marshal a Citizen and Friend of the Spencers They likewise surprized the Tower killing all that opposed them and declared Lord John the King's Son Keeper of the City securing that and the City for the use of the Queen and the young Prince All Prisoners throughout the Kingdom were likewise set at liberty and all Fugitives and banished Men recalled which much augmented the Queen's Power The King hearing of this Revolt altered his purpose of raising Forces But whither could this poor Prince flie What course could he take for his own safety who to gratifie a few profligate Miscreants had made his Wife his Son his Nobility and his People his avowed Enemies At length he concladed to flie to Bristol which he fortified as strongly as he was able giving the Government of the Town to the Earl of Arundel and Hugh Spencer the Elder himself with the younger Spencer retiring into the Castle which they resolved to defend to the utmost The Queen marched from Oxford to Glocester in her way to Bristol which she designed to besiege her Forces increasing all the way The Earls of Leicester and Marshal the Lords Peircy Wake and other Noblemen both from Wales and the North with the Bishops of Hereford Ely and Lincoln and a great number more of Barons Knights and Gentlemen coming in to her Assistance With this great Army she arrived at Bristol and besieged it The City was taken in a few days with the Elder Spencer the Governour whom the Queen at the earnest importunity of the common People commanded to be hanged without examination in his Armour on the common Gallows without the City and then cut down alive his Bowels taken out and burnt before his Eyes his Head cut off and then his Body hanged up again by the Feet and after having four days hung a miserable spectacle to all Beholders his Body was cut all to pieces and given to the Dogs to eat and his Head set upon Winchester Castle The King the younger Spencer and Bishop Baldock much distrusting their ability to defend the Castle retired from thence secretly in the night and getting into a small Fisher-boat determined to flie into the Isle of Lundy in the mouth of the River Severn about two Miles in length and as many broad stored with Rabbits Pigeons and other Fowls incompassed with the Sea and having only one passage into it so narrow that two Men can scarce go abreast But Divine Providence seemed to withstand their purpose as designing them to be brought to Justice so that every day for a week or more when they attempted to Row their Boat thither the Wind and Waves drove it back again toward the Castle which being at length perceived by the Lord Beumont he chased the Fisher boat with a small Vessel and boarding it found therein the King young Spencer and Baldock whom they so much desired and brought them to the Queen who caused them to be carried and set in sight of the Besieged in the Castle which was still defended by Hugolin Grandchild to the Elder Spencer with much courage and now finding no hope of relief surrendred it upon condition to have his own and his Companions Lives saved Some Authors write That the King going into a Vessel out of Bristol Castle designed to flie into Ireland and that after he had wander'd a week upon the Sea Sir Thomas Blount one of his Friends forsaking him and going to the Queen he came ashoar in Glamorganshire where with his few Friends he intrusted himself with the Welsh who had still a kindness for him The King not appearing Proclamation was made That the Barons and People desired his return to the Exercise of the Government provided he would remedy what was amiss Whereupon Henry Earl of Lancaster Brother to the late Earl Sir William Zouch and Rice ap Howel who had all Lands in Wales were sent with Money and Forces to discover him which so prevailed upon the Welsh-men that they delivered him up together with the younger Spencer Baldock and one Simon Reading and received a Reward of 2000 pound They were brought to the Queen who was then at Hereford with Adam Tarlton the active Bishop The King was conveyed by the Earl of Lancaster to Kennelworth Castle After which the Queen and Prince attended by the Barons and a strong Army marched toward London carrying with them young Spencer in Chains like a Slave before whom certain pitiful Fidlers and other Varlets scornfully played upon Pipes made of Reeds skiping dancing and singing through every Town as they passed along Spencer and Simon Reading another evil instrument were sentenced to Death by the Judge Sir William Trussel as Traytors Spencer in his Armour was with all manner of scorn and insults
Thou canst not forget that the last time I met thee here it was with a heavy Heart Yes my Lord said the Purfivant I remember it very well but thanks be to God your Enemies gained nothing nor had your Lordship any damage thereby and now the danger is over Thou wouldest say so indeed said the Lord if thou knewest as much as I do for the World is well changed now and my Enemies are in greater danger as thou mayst happen to hear in a few days the Enemies he meant were the Lord Rivers and others of the Queens Kindre◠who were that very day secretly ordered to be Beheaded at Pomfret-Castle of which he had knowledge and I was never merrier nor in more safety since I was Born By this we may learn that there is no greater sign of ill fortune than to be too secure and that Men are blind as to their own Fate and though the Ax hangs over their Heads yet are not sensible of it but are oft most in danger when they think themselves safe and most safe when they judg themselves in danger For this Lord notwithstanding his great confidence lost his Head two hours after he spoke these words The same Morning as the Lord Hastings was going to the Council in tht Tower a Knight who pretended kindness to him but was thought to be privy to the Protector 's designs and sent to meet and hasten him thither offered to accompany him The Lord Hastings staid by the way in Tower-street to discourse with a Priest whom he met the Knight jokingly interrupted their talk saying Pray my Lord make haste for you have no need of a Priest yet seeming to be in jest but it was thought meant in earnest that he would in a short time have occasion for one The news of the Death of the Lord Hastings soon flew into the City and much surprized the People but the Protector to prevent any Commotion sent for several of the Principal Citizens to come to him with all speed At their appearance himself with the Duke of Buckingham received them in Old Rusty Armour to make a shew as if the present danger had obliged them to take what they could first come by and then the Protector declared to them That the Lord Hastings and other Conspirators had contrived to have slain him and the Duke of Buckingham in Council and then to have taken upon them to Govern the King and Kingdom at their pleasure Of which Treason they had made discovery but few hours before it should have been acted so that their sudden fear had caused them to put on such Armour as they first met with but that God had so far prevented their Traiterous purposes as some had already received their deserts This he required them to report to the People The Citizens seemed as if they had believed what he said though they all knew nothing was more false Presently after a Proclamation was published throughout the City reciting the aforenamed particulars and adding several reflections upon the Lord Hastings as that he was an Evil Councellour to King Edward IV. Advising him to do many things to his great Dishonour and the damage of the Kingdom by his ill Example and Conversation particularly in the lewdness of his Life which he still continued with Shore's Wife who was one of the principal Conspirators with whom he had converst the very last night and that it was no wonder if such a wicked course of Life had brought him to such an untimely Death which he was condemned to suffer by the special command of the King and his Honourable Privy Council before whom he was clearly Convicted to have contrived this horrid Treason and whose sudden Execution according to his demerits they hoped would prevent the other Conspirators from proceeding in their Traiterous purposes and secure the Peace of the Nation Now this Proclamation was published within two hours after the Lord Hastings was Beheaded and was so exactly perceived and fairly Written in Parchment and withal so long that all the World perceived it had been prepared long before which occasioned the School Master of St. Pauls at the Proclaiming it to say Here is a gay goodly cast foul cast away for haste To whom a Merchant Answered That it was written by Prophesie or Revelation After this the Protector like an Innocent continent Prince sent the Sheriffs of London to Jane Shore's House who lived from her Husband with an order to seize all her Goods which they did to the value of two or 3000 Marks and committed her to Prison He charging her with bewitching him and with conspiring with the Lord Hastings to destroy him but having no proof of any thing be then gravely accused her of what all the Kingdom knew before and she her self could not deny that she was Unchaste of her Body which made Men smile that it should be now told as new Hereupon he caused the Bishop of London to put her to open Pennance for Incontinency and the next Sunday she was brought out of Ludgate going before a Cross in Procession with a Wax Taper in her hand and though she was then in mean Apparel having only her Girdle on yet she appeared so fair and lovely the crowd of Spectators raising a comely blush in her Cheeks and withal so modest and sober that she was much commended by them who had more love for her Body than for her Soul yea those that hated her vitious life and were glad to see Sin punished yet pitied her misery and hard usage from him who inflicted it for wicked and politick ends and not out of love to Virtue or Chastity This Woman was a notable instance of the mutability of Fortune she was born in London of a good Family and very well Married to one Shore a sober worthy Citizen and Goldsmith but it was thought a little too Young so that she never shewed much affection to her Husband whom she was 〈◊〉 a capable of loving which might incline her the 〈…〉 imbrace King Edward's Kindness Which being attended with Honour Riches Fine Cloaths Ease Pleasure and all other humane delights was hardly to be resisted by such a tender heart as she had When the King had taken her for his Mistriss her Husband wholly abandoned her Bed After his Death the Lord Hastings who had an extream passion for her during the King's Life but either out of respect or faithfulness forbore Courting her now took her home to his House and maintained her in great splendor She was very fair and proper and nothing amiss in her whole Body but that some thought her not tall enough as some report who knew her in her Youth saith Sir Thomas More but now she is Old saith he who saw her she is lean withered and her Skin so extreamly shrivelled that it is scarce to be imagined so much beauty and comeliness ever resided in that wretched Carcass Yet she was not more admired for her handsomeness then for
Privy Council That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King and that in denying to supply him they had given him the advantage to supply himself by such ways as he should think fit and that he was not to suffer himself to be mastred by the frowardness of the People That he was very rigorous in levying the illegal Imposition of Shipmoney and Imprisoned divers Persons for not levying the same And a Great Loan of an hundred thousand pound being demanded of the City and some refusing to lend the Lord Mayoâ— and Aldermen were required to return their names which they with humility refusing to do the Earl said That they deserved to be put to fine and ransom and to be made examples and laid by the heels and that it would never be well till some of the Aldermen were hanged up That by wicked Counsel he had brought on the King excessive charges and then advised him to approve of two dangerous Projects To seize the Money in the Mint and to imbase his own Coin with a mixture of Brass That he had declared that Ireland was a conquered Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased and speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England he said They were nothing worth and that he would neither have Law nor Lawyers question or dispute any of his Orders and that he would make all Ireland know that so long as he had the Government there any Act of State there made should be as binding to the Subject as an Act of Parliament That he did not only Tyrannize over the Bodies but over the Consciences of Men by forming and imposing a new and unusual Oath which because some Scots refused to take he fined and banished great numbers and called all that Nation Rebels and Traytors and said if ever he returned home from England he would root them out both stock and branch These and a multitude of other crimes he was charged to have committed both in Ireland and England Many of which he confest to be true but not with their aggravations Some he denied and others he extenuated and pleaded that though the whole were proved against him yet it did not amount to Treason Some of the Lords and Commons were of the same opinion Others urged That though he were not guilty of any of the Offences declared to be Treason by the 25 of Edward III. yet so great were his crimes that according to that Statute which impowers the Parliament to declare what is Treason they ought to be declared Treason At length it was concluded to proceed against him by way of Attainder which was much opposed likewise it being alleaged That no man could be convict of Treason but by the Letter of the Statute and the Lord Digby a Member of the House of Commons and an earnest Prosecutor of the Earl spake thus of it ' Mr. Speaker I am still of the same opinion and affections to the Earl Strafford I confidently believe him the most dangerous Minister and the most insupportable to free Subjects that can be found I believe his pâ—actices as high and as Tyrannical as any Subject ever ventured on and the malignity of them highly aggravated by those rare abilities of his whereof God hath given him the use but the Devil the application I believe him still the grand Apostate to the Common Wealth who must not expect to be pardoned in this World till he be dispatcht to the other I do not say but his Crimes may represent him a man as worthy to dye and perhaps worthier than many a Traytor and may justly direct us to enact that they shall be Treason for the future but God keep me from giving Judgment of Death on any man and to ruin his Posterity upon a Law made after the Crime is committed And by any Law yet made I do not believe he is guilty of Treason However the Bill of Attainder passed in the House of Commons and Mr. Sir John's endeavoured to satisfie the Lords in the reasonableness thereof to induce them to Pass it For said he though the proofs at the Trial were insufficient and nothing but Legal Evidence can prevail in Judicature yet by this way both Lords and Commons might proceed by the light of their own Consciences although no evidence were given at all And after many Aggravations of the Earl's Offences in subverting our Laws as he affirmed he concluded thus ' He that would not have had others have any Law should have none himself It is true we give Law to Hares and d ee because they be Beasts of Chase It was never accounted cruelty or foul play to knock Foxes or Wolves on the Head as they can be found because these be Beast of Prey The Warrenner sets Traps for Powl-cats and other Vermine for preservation of the Warren The Lords after this Speech shewing a greater propensity toward the Earl's condemnation than before the King having an account of it came next day to the House of Peers and sending for the House of Commons told them ' That Judgment being ready to pass on the Earl of Strafford he thought it necessary to declare his Conscience therein they being sensible that he had been present at the hearing this great Cause from one end to the other and yet that in his Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason assuring them That he never intended to bring an Irish Army into England nor was ever advised by any body so to do That there was never any debate before him of the disloyalty of his English Subjects nor had he ever any suspicion of them That he was never Counselled by any to after all or any of the Laws of England since if any durst have been so impudent he should have made them examples to Posterity That he would be rightly understood for though in Conscience he could not condemn him of High Treason yet he could not clear him of such Misdemeanors as he did not think him fit to serve him or the Commonwealth hereafter in any Place or Trust no not so much as a Constable and therefore he hoped they would find out a way to satisfie Justice and their own fears and not oppress his Conscience since neither fear nor any other respect whatsoever should ever make him act against it This Speech relisht so ill with the two Houses that few of them attended next day being Sunday May 2. on the solemnity of the King 's Eldest Daughter Mary being Married to the Prince of Orange On Monday five or six thousand Apprentices and other tumultuous Citizens came down to Westminster to demand justice against the Earl of Strafford and Petitions subscribed with thousands of hands were presented to both Houses about redressing Grievances Soon after the Lords passed the Bill of Artainder but the King seemed very averse to Pass it and consulted both with Lawyers and Divines of the Lawfulness thereof The Bishop of Lincoln urged That the opinion
in the Morning they fell to rifling the Houses of several Foreigners but four or five hundred of them being seized by the Lord Mayor were committed to Prison and two hundred seventy eight were afterward indicted for High Treason but John Lincoln only was executed the King by the intercession of three Queens Katherine Queen of England and the French Queen and Queen of Scots his Sisters and by the persuasion of Cardinal VVoolsey without whose advice he would do nothing pardoning all the rest who being in number four hundred men and eleven women were brought by the Lord Mayor with Ropes about their Necks into VVestminster Hall where the Cardinal severely reprimanded the Lord Mayor and Aldermen for their negligence in not securing the peace of the City and then aggravated the high crime of the Prisoners who had justly deserved death Upon which they all cried to the King for mercy who thereupon told them That he would pardon them all which he had no sooner pronounced but the Prisoners gave a loud shout all at once throwing up their Halters toward the top of the Hall and so were dismissed and the Gibbets that had been set up in several parts of the City for their Execution were taken down and afterwards this was named The evil May Day About this time Maximilian the Emperor died and Charles V. his Son succeeded him in the Empire of Germany the Kingdom of Spain and the Low Countrys Upon which Cardinal VVoolsey was sent over to Bruges in Flanders to condole with and Congratulate the young Emperor who was then Resident there being furnisht for his Journey in all respects like a Great Prince his Attendants being clothed some in Crimson Velvet and Chains of Gold about their Necks Others in fine Scarlet edged with black Velvet and was received by the Emperor with as much honour as if he had been the King himself having the Great Seal of England with him which was always carried before him being served upon the knee by several English Noblemen and Gentlemen to the admiration of the Germans for his strange Pride and Insolence After which he returned into England in great Triumph being more in favâ—… with the King than before The French King Lewes being weary of the VVar with England and having a great Kindness for the Lady Mary King Henry's Sister sent Ambassadors to Treat of Peace and of a Marriage with her Both which were soon concluded and the Lady was sent to France and Crowned Queen at Paris the French declaring That they thought themselves the happiest People in the VVorld who had so good a King and fair a Queen to reign over them But King Lewes after twelve weeks converse with his most beautiful Lady died and his Brother Francis I. succeeded him who renewed the former amity between the two Kingdoms and for further confirmation of the same desired an enterview between them which the Cardinal persuaded the King to gratifie him in VVhereupon King Henry and his Queen attended by VVoolsey and a great number of Noblemen and Gentlemen sailed over to Callice and in a plain near Guisness a large Palace of Timber was framed where both the Kings met and imbraced each other with much seeming affection and where nothing was wanting as to Justs Turnaments and the other Princely Military Exercises of that age which were proper for such a Royal Assembly Soon after Charles the Emperor coming out of Spain to Sail into the Low Countrys landed at Dover where he was received and entertained by the Cardinal and King Henry went to Canterbury to meet with him and having sumptuously treated him for a few days the Emperor pursued his Voyage to Flanders in forty four men of VVar. A while after some differences happened between the French King and the Emperor to compose which Cardinal VVoolsey with some other Noblemen were sent but they not prevailing King Henry fell from the French King alledging that he had stirred up the Scots to make VVar with him but King Francis laid all the blame on the Cardinal's dissimulation and base treacherous practices However the VVar proceeded becteixt the two Kingdoms between the French King and the Duke of Bourbon insomuch that the Duke fled out of France to the Emperor to save his life the Cardinal having notice of it he contrived that he should be King Henry's General against the French King VVho thereupon raised a great Army against Burbon and drove him into the Town of Pavia in Italy where he was so closely besieged that he could get no Provisions the Cardinal being secretly corrupted by the French King to withhold his pay so that his Souldiers were ready to mutiny against their new General Hereupon finding his case desperate he resolved to attempt an escape and in the dead of the Night he sent part of his Forces to attack that part of the French Camp which was weakest himself marching out on the other side the City The Guards being weak and the Souldiers asleep it caused a very great disturbance among the French who turned their Cannon toward the Assaulters when Burbon falling unexpectedly upon the backs of them drove them from their Cannon which they turned upon themselves slew their Souldiers cut down their Tents and took Francis the French King Prisoner This great success so much incouraged these brave Germans that with their Imperial Ensigns displayed they marched to Florence and thence to Rome and gave three Assaults to the Walls thereof in one day in the last of which the Duke of Burbon was slain however his Army being commanded by the Prince of Orange and some other brave Generals the Popes Palace and the Castle of St. Angelo were taken and the Pope was made Prisoner with twenty four Cardinals that fled thither for security The City of Rome also was plundred where the Souldiers gained a very rich booty so that they were overloaden with valuable Jewels Plate and Money During the Siege the Souldiers would often Cloath a Man like the Pope and set him on Horseback with a Whore behind him who sometimes blest and sometimes curst as he rid along and whom the Souldiers called Antichrist The Cardinal hearing of the misfortune of his Father the Pope endeavoured by all means to induce K. Henry to declare War against the Emperour and to shew himself the Defender of the Church but the King replied ' My Lord I am more disturbed at this unhappy chance than my Tongue can express but whereas you say that I as Defender of the Faith ought to be concerned therein I do assure you my opinion is That this War between the Pope and the Emperor is not a War of Religion or for the Faith but for Temporal Possessions and Dominions and now Pope Clement is in the hands of Souldiers What can I do I can neither assist him with my Person nor my People cannot rescue him but if my Treasure will help him take what you think convenient Whereupon Woolsey took two hundred and