the death of Peirce Gaveston the Nobility recommended Hugh Spencer the younger to the King to succeed in his place because he had been formerly of their Party and they did not doubt but he would be a very faithful Counsellor But as the Proverb says Honours change Manners for though the King before hated him yet he soon insinuated himself so far into his weak Mind that he became as intimate a Favourite and succeeded in all the Graces Familiarity and Power of his Predecessor as well as in the Hatred and Envy of the Nobility and People occasioned by his Insolence Ambition and Lewdness wherein he seemed to equal if not exceed the Wicked Gaveston and thereby rendred himself so acceptable to the vitiated Soul of King Edward Hugh Spencer his Father an antient Knight was yet living and accounted a Person of great vertue a wise Counsellor and a Man of Valour but seeming very forward in promoting his Son's Interest and Grandeur he was likewise introduced into Court and in great favour with the King so that he was made partaker of the guilt and calamity of his Son rather out of Natural and Paternal Love and Tenderness than from the wilfulness or depravity of his Mind But young Spencer was nâ—… of a more lovely shape and comely Personage than he was of a profligate and flagitious temper The Spirit of Pride Rapine Oppression and all the most intolerable vices seeming to have wholly possest him So that in comparison of him the People were ready almost to wish for Gaveston again By his leud advice the K. pursued his former course of Debauchery spending his Time and Treasure among lascivious Harlots and Concubines and utterly renouncing the sweet Conversation of his excellent Consort which made him a scorn to Foreign Princes and hateful in the sight of all Civil Men. He was the cause of the ruin of divers Widows and Fatherless of the destruction of many Noblemen and Gentlemen and at length of the utter overthrow and confusion of Himself his Father and the King also This evil management of Affairs caused new dscords between the King and his Nobility whereby many mischiefs happened in the Kingdom and their Enemies had a fair opportunity to put in practice their designs against them Among others the Scots having joyfully Crowned the valiant Robert Bruce for their King resolved to use their utmost efforts for recovering their Country and Liberties which had been Ravished from them by the valiant King Edward I. who had made an entire Conquest of their Kingdom and appointed John Cummin Earl of Buquan a Scot to be Governour thereof for the English Him King Robert had vanquisht in Battel and was now grown so powerful while King Edward was buried in soft and unmanly luxury and delight that he sent his Brother Edward to Besiege the Castle of Sterling which bold attempt began to awaken the King of England out of his destructive Slumbers So that with all speed raising a very potent Army he with all diligence marched toward the relief thereof Hector Boetius the Scots Historian gives a very surprizing account of the number of Soldiers that King Edward carried with him to this Siege which he reckons to be one hundred and fifty thousand Horsâ—â—en and as many Foot and because this may seem incredible he adds That besides the English he had likewise the assistance of the Hollanders Zealanders Flemings Picards Boulonis Gascoigns Normans and many more from other Provinces in France and other Countries Besides which three hundred thousand Men of War he relates that there were a vast multitude of Women Children Servants yea whole Families with their House-hold-stuff which followed the Camp wherein this Author may be thought to have designed the magnifying the Valour of his Countrey-men who with far more inconsiderable Forces defeated this mighty Host His Darling Spencer accompanied the King in this Expedition but the Earls of Lancaster Warren Warwick and Arundel the greatest Peers of that Age positively refused to attend him since He and his Evil Ministers continued their Invasions and Depredations upon the Liberties and Estates of the People notwithstanding the provisions they had so often made and he had so often consented to for securing the same And as this must needs diminish his strength so it likewise deprived him of their Counsel and Conduct which was so absolutely necessary in Military Affairs However his number of Men was sufficient if Multitude without Discipline Piety or Courage could always obtain Victory But K. Edward and his Army seemed rather to be going to a Wedding or a Triumph than to engage a rough and hardy Enemy for their Targets Bucklers and other Habiliments of War were so glorious with Gold and Silver and their bright Armour gave such a dazling lustre against the Sun-beams as raised wonder in the admiring Spectators and seemed very much to correspond with the wanton Humour of the Prince And herein it is very apparent what great Advantages true and sober Courage usually obtains against vain Gallantry and ungrounded Confidence King Robert with his Forces which were much inferiour to the English being incampt near King Edward's he published a strict Order the Evening before That his Souldiers should prepare themselves for Battel the next day and that they should make humble Confession of their sins and offences in order to the receiving of the Blessed Sacrament and then no doubt the Lord of Hosts would give them Victory since they designed only to free themselves from the many woful Calamities which they had suffered from the English and to recover the Liberty and Freedom of their Countrey Far otherwise was it in the Camp of K. Edward for the Scots having the day before surprized and cut off several English Horse-men he was so far from being discouraged at such a slight presage of ill Fortune that he resolved the very next day to take a terrible Revenge upon them of which he had such a confident assurance that he triumpht before the Victory his Souldiers drinking carousing and threatning their Enemies with the utmost Cruelties that could be executed upon them But the Scots to obviate their strengâ—h by Policy had digged before the Front of their Battalions several Trenches three foot in depth and as many broad wherein they placed sharp Stakes with their points upwards and covered them over so exactly with Hurdles that Foot men might pass lightly over but Horse would certainly sink in and this Strategem nâ—xt to the Anger of Heaven against the English for their Vain-glory and Effeminacy was the principal cause of the Defeat of King Edward for he reposing much Confidence in his Cavalry the fury of their first Charge was intercepted and stopt by these Pit-falls into which the Horses plunging in great numbers the Riders were miserably destroyed with much ease by the Scots whom King Robert marching on foot in the head of led on with the utmost Courage and Gallantry The King of England had marshall'd his Army
to the Seaside near Portsmouth where happily meeting with a Ship bound for France he passed over thither and lived in the French Court several years His Uncle Roger was detained in a loathsome Prison five years after and at length died and was Buried at Bristol King Edward was so inraged at his escape that he turned Sir Stephen Seagrave out of his place of Constable of the Tower and several Citizens were seized and accused of being accessary to his getting away and of corresponding with and maintaining him beyond Sea but there note being sufficient proof against them they were all acquitted Mortimer continued in France till Queen Isabel and the Prince arrived there to avoid the insults of the two insolent Spencers He after attended the Queen into Germany and came over with her and the rest of the English Lords accompanied with the Earl of Heynault and several German and English Forces And upon King Edward's Flight and afterward his Seizing and Imprisonment Mortimer presumed to manage all affairs according to his own pleasure and therefore the death of the Spencers Reading and some others not satisfying his revenge being high in the Queens favour who could not deny him the Heads of a few of his Enemies he procured that the Earl of Arundel and two Gentlemen more named John Daniel and Thomas Mochelden against whom he had a particular aversion should be Beheaded at Hereford After this the Queen her Son and the beloved Mortimer went to Wallingford Castle where they kept their Christmass with all manner of jollity From thence they proceeded to London where the Queen and Prince were received with much Joy and many rich Presents and a Parliament being called it was concluded that King Edward should be Deposed and his Son advanced to the Throne In the management whereof Mortimer discovered very much zeal activity and diligence as hoping thereby to become Chief Minister of State as well as principal Favourite of the Queen King Edward was Deposed accordingly and confined to Kennelworth Castle the Queen Roger Mortimer and Torlton Bishop of Hereford having concluded to allow him an hundred Marks a month for his necessary Expences And now it was hoped that the Kingdom having suffered so many Concussions and Miseries for several years would have been settled and restored to its former peace and tranquility But it soon appeared that though the Nation had changed its Master yet other evil Instruments succeeded to trouble and disquiet the already harassed People So that one Historian writes thus The beginning of the Reign of King Edward III. was very troublesome for he by reason of his tender Age being but fifteen years old when he came to the Crown was drawn aside by evil Counsel and committed many foul errors of State and Government The chief occasion of which were the Queen her Darling Roger Mortimer and some others For first they procured so great a part of the Revenue of the Nation to be settled for maintaining the Queen and her Family that the young King had scarce a third part of it for himself and his necessary Attendants and Officers So that she and her Favourite Mortimer lived in the greatest State and Grandeur imaginable and the People began to exclaim against him and say publickly That the great zeal and hatred he had shewed against the Rapines of the Spencers was not because they had been oppressive to the Subject but that he was desirous no Body should abuse them but himself Secondly The Queen and he having intelligence that several Great Persons and the whole Order of Friers Preachers taking pity of the late King's Captivity seemed to Consult for his deliverance and knowing that his Restoration would be their confusion they wickedly plotted and contrived to add Murther to their former Impieties and therefore Roger Mortimer was sent with that ambiguous Order to his Keepers devised by Torlton Bishop of Hereford Edwardum occidere nolite tinere bonum est To shed King Edward's Blood Refuse to fear I count it good Where by leaving out the stops they sufficiently incouraged the Murtherers and yet afterward produced the Writing under Queen Isabels Seal for their own Justification when the horrid Fact was committed Though this was very far from clearing them from the guilt of it in the opinion of the Vulgar whose Tongues spare none and who had before heard that though the Queen in her outward deportment pretended much grief and sorrow for the Imprisonment of the King her Husband yet instead of visiting him in his distress which he often desired as still retaining a very great love for her She only sent him fine Clothes and kind Letters but contrary to the Laws of God and Man refrained from rendring him any Nuptial Duties which they plainly reported she bestowed freely enough upon her bloody Adulterer Mortimer Pretending in the mean time that Reasons of State would not allow her to converse with him And soon after this desolate Prince was by an express order from the Young King wholly procured by them removed from Kennelworth to Corf Castle and there miserably deprived of his life Thirdly In the second year of the young King's Reign Robert Bruce King of Scotland denounced War against him and his Kingdom which occasioned the raising of a strong Army consisting of above fifty thousand men with which the King accompanied by the Queen Mother Roger Mortimer the Lord of Heynault John Lord Beumont and many others of the Nobility and Gentry marched toward the Scots who had Invaded England And had so happily incompast them in the Wood of Wiridale and Stanhope Park that the English seemed fully assured of Victory Yet by the Treachery of Roger Mortimer they were not only suffered to make a total escape without any loss but Sir James Dowglass in the dead of the Night with 200 Light-Horse assaulted the King 's own Pavilion and had certainly killed him had not one of his Chaplains a Valiant Man sacrificed his own life in defence of his Soveraign's Dowglass after this bold attempt escaped back without damage but not without honour for his daring Courage this misfortune was afterward charged upon Mortlmer as designing by the death of the King to Usurp the Crown The Scots left their Camp entire behind them wherein the English found 500 Oxen and Cows ready killed a Thousand Spits full of Roast-Meat 500 Caldrons made of Cow-hides new with the Hair on full of Flesh Boyling over Fires And Ten thousand pair of Shoes made of raw Hides with the Hair outward All which became a welcome booty to the hungry English Souldiers Fourthly After this dishonourable retreat of the King who was extreamly grieved to return so ingloriously notwithstanding the expence of a vast Treasure and the imminent danger of his own Person and just before the death of King Robert who died of the Leprosie being accounted one of the most Valiant Warriors of that Age as having redeemed his Country from Slavery and by whose loss it appeared of
consent to the Murther of them However he fell by the same hand that advanced him to be his chief Favourite and Privado And though King Richard now Triumph'd over his Enemies yet in a very short time he lost both his Crown and Life in one day the foundation of his Ruin having been first laid by this unprosperous Conspiracy against him For a while after he was Slain in a Battle at Bosworth in Leicester shire by Henry Earl of Richmond who succeeded him by the name of King Henry the Seventh Remarks upon the Life Actions and Fall of Thomas Woolsey Cardinal of York Favourite to King Henry VIII THE Magnanimity of Spirit which appeared in the Life and Actions of this Great Cardinal doth clearly evince that Persons of Mean Birth may be indued with as generous and lofty Sentiments and be possessors of as much Grandure of Soul as those of Noble Descent which occasioned some to alledge that he must needs be the By-blow of some Prince and not the Issue of such mean Parents as his were generally reckoned For all Historians relate that he was the Son of an honest poor Butcher at Ipswich in Suffolk who in his Childhood being very apt to learn his Father with the assistance of Friends sent him to a Grammar School from whence he in a short time went to the University of Oxford where he was so great a Proficient that at Fifteen Years Old he was made Batchellour of Arts and therefore called the Boy Batchellour He was after made Fellow of Magdalen College and Master of Magdalen School and had the Education of the Marquess of Dorset's Sons committed to him by whose care they so well 〈…〉 in Learning that the Marquess bestowed 〈…〉 in his gift upon this Ingenious School-Maste◠〈…〉 left his Fellowship and came to reside in his Living Where he had not been long when one Sir James Pawlet upon some displeasure set him in the Stocks which affront was not forgotten nor forgiven by Woolsey Who when by the mighty favour of Fortune he came to be Lord Chancellour of England he sent for Sir James and after having sharply reproved him enjoined him not to stir out of the Middle-Temple without Special License from himself which he could not obtain in Six Year time After the Death of the Marquess of Dorset from whom he expected higher preferment his towring thoughts aimed at some greater imployment and since he found he must now make his own Fortune he resolved to take all opportunities to advance himself To this end he became acquainted with one Sir John Naphant an Ancient Noble Knight formerly Treasurer of Callice under King Henry VII to whom he was Chaplain and by his Wisdom and Discretion gained such favour with his Master that he committed all the care and charge of his Office to his Chaplain At length being discharged of his Imployment for his great Age he returned into England but retained so much kindness for Woolsey that by his Interest at Court he procured him to be made one of the Chaplains to King Henry VIII Having thus cast Anchor in the Port of Preferment he rose amain for he had opportunity hereby to be dayly in the King's Eye by reason of his daily attendance and saying Mass before him in his Closet Neither did he squander away his leisure time but would commonly attend those Great Men who were in most favour and power with the King and among others Doctor Fox Lord Thomas Lovell Master of the Wards and Constable of the Tower who perceiving him to be a Man of a very acute wit thought 〈◊〉 a fit Instrument to be imployed in matters of 〈…〉 And King Henry having occasion to send an Ambassadour to Maximilian Emperour of Germany These two Grave Councellours recommended His Chaplain Woolsey to him as proper for so Honourable an Office The King instantly sent for him and discoursing with him about Matters of State he found him endued with so much Eloquence Learning Judgment and Modesty that he caused his Commission and Instructions to be drawn up with all speed Which having received he took his leave of the King at Richmond at Four a Clock in the Afternoon and in Three Hours arrived at Gravesend from thence he Rid Post to Dover and going a board the Passage-boat he arrived next Day before Noon at Callice and the same Night he made such haste that he came to the Emperour's Court at Brussels in Flanders Who having notice of this arrival of the King of England's Ambassadour out of great Affection to his Master gave him Audience the same Evening The Ambassadour having delivered his Message and Credentials and humbly desiring his speedy dismission the Emperour readily granted all his Master's Requests and fully dispatched him the next Day Hereupon he Rides back that Night Post to Callice being attended by several Noblemen by the Emperour's Order and came thither in the Morning before the Gates were opened and the Pacquet Boat being ready to go off he arrived at Dover by Eleven at Noon and the same Night came Post to Richmond and the next Morning presented himself to the King at his coming out of his Bed Chamber to Mass who checked him for not being upon his Journey May it please your Highness said he I have been with the Emperour already and I hope have dispatched my Embassy to your Graces Satisfaction The King admired at his Expedition Asking him whether he met with the Messenger sent after him before he thought him gone from London with further Instructions of weighty Consequence Yes said Woolsey I met with him Yesterday by the way and though I did know his Message yet presuming upon your Highness goodness and judging those Matters very necessary to be done I made bold to exceed my Commission and dispatch them for which I humbly beg your Majesties Pardon The King much pleased herewith replied We not only pardon you but give you also our Royal Thanks both for your discreet management and great Expedition Soon after the King bestowed on him the Deanery of Lincoln being one of the greatest Promotions under the degree of a Bishop and in a short time made him his Lord Almoner wherein he behaved himself with so much discretion that he was advanced to be one of the Lords of the Privy Council and King Henry bestowed on him Bridewell in Fleetstreet one of his Royal Houses for his Residence and Family and he was observed by the People to be a Rising Favourite For the King was Young and much given to pleasure and his Ancient Councellours advising to be sometimes present in Council to consult about the weighty Affairs of the Government his Lord Almoner on the contrary dissuaded him from imbarasing himself in the Troubles and Intreagues of State assuring him that if he would allow him sufficient Authority he would ease him of those Fatigues and manage all Affairs to his content This Advice was quickly received by the Youthful Prince who gave him what Power he
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
it not a marvellous thing to think into what great Debt this great Cardinal hath brought you to all your Subjects How so quoth the King Why says she there is not a man in your whole Kingdom worth an hundred pounds but he hath made you a Debtor to him Meaning the Loan which the Cardinal had borrowed for the King some years before and which he procured the House of Commons who were most the King's Servants to discharge without repaying a farthing to the great loss of the People Nay added she how many violencies and oppressions is he guilty of to your great dishonour and disgrace in divers parts of the Realm so that if my Lord of Norfolk my Lord of Suffolk my own Father or any other Nobleman had done but half so much wrong as he they well deserved to lose their Heads Then I perceive said the King that you are no friend of my Lord Cardinal 's Why Sir quoth she I have no cause no more have any others that love the King Neither has your Grace any reason to be kind to him considering his indirect and unlawful actions The King said no more but went away The Council and the Nobility perceiving that the King's Heart was estranged from Woolsey they resolved if possible utterly to depress him for he was generally hated for his excessive Pride insulting Tyranny grievous oppressions monstrous injustice unsatiable covetousness abominable debauchery malicious and cruel revenge and likewise for his secret Intreagues with the Pope and Church of Rome whereby the King's Authority and Prerogative Royal in all things touching the Church and Clergy were made void Hereupon they concluded him guilty of a Praemunire and that consequently he had forfeited all his Promotions Spiritual and Temporal with all the rest of his Estate and likewise his Liberty to the King These crimes the Nobility drew into Articles which were ingrossed and signed with their hands and then delivered to the King Which were as followeth I. That by subtil and indirect means he had procured himself without the King's consent to be made a Legate whereby he deprived the Bishops and Clergy of England of all jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical Affairs II. That in all his Letters to Foreign Princes he used the insolent stile of Ego Rex meus I and my King as if the King were his Inferior or Servant III. That he unchristianly and abominably slandered the Church of England to the Pope affirming That they were Reprobates and without Faith and that there was an absolute necessity for him to be made a Legate to reduce them to the true belief IV. That without the King's consent he carried the Great Seal of England to Flanders only for vain Glory and to the great damage of the Subjects of England V. That he being filthily powdered with the French Pox by reason of his excessive Letchery and Debauched Life did oft presume to discourse with and cast his unwholesome Breath into the King's Face VI. That he caused the Cardinals Hat to be put on the King's Coin VII That to obtain his Dignities he had conveyed out of the Realm 240000 l. at one time and incredible sums at other times And to inrich the K. again had of his own accord sent out Commissions for exacting infinite sums contrary to Law which raised hatred and insurrections among the People against the King These with many other Articles being charged against VVoolsey he with his own Hand freely Subscribed to them confessing all of them to be true throwing himself upon the King's mercy hoping he would have forgiven him but afterward finding that he disposed of his Offices and part of his Estate he secretly procured a Bull from the Pope to Curse and Excommunicate the King unless he would restore to him all his Dignities and Lands who likewise declared that the King himself nor no other authority on Earth but the Pope alone had power to punish any Clergyman for any crime or offence whatsoever This Bull with the Letters sent him by several Cardinals to incourage him not to faint or be discouraged assuring him of his Restoration and that the King should be certainly crost in the business of his Marriage so animated the Cardinal that he did not doubt of his re-advancement if not with yet without the King's consent so that he made great preparations for his in stalment into his Archbishoprick of York which he designed to solemnize with extraordinary Pomp and Magnificence to which purpose he had erected a stately seat of an extraordinary height in that Cathedral resembling the Throne of the King and writ Letters to the Nobility and Gentry of the North wherein he kindly invited them to be present at his Instalment for which he had made extraordinary provision of all manner of Dainties These mighty preparations being made without acquainting the King therewith and seeming to be in contempt of him who had been so kind to allow him the Bishopricks of York and VVinchester though justly forfeited to the Crown caused the King to put a stop to his aspiring purposes so that he sent order to the Earl of Northumberland to Arrest him and deliver him to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lord High Steward of the Houshold The Earl accordingly went to his Mannor of Caywood about seven Miles from York and coming into his Chamber told him he arrested him for High Treason in the King's name The Cardinal was so astonisht that for some time he stood speechless at length recovering himself he said You have no power to Arrest me who am both a Cardinal and a Legate and also a Peer of the See Apostolick of Rome and ought not to be Arrested by any Temporal Power for I am Subject to none and none I will obey Well said the Earl here is the King's Commission and therefore I charge you to submit I remember when I was sworn Warden of the Marches you your self told me that with my staff only I might Arrest any man under the degree of a King and now I am stronger for I also have a Commission for what I have done The Cardinal at length recollecting himself Well my Lord said he I am contented to submit but though by negligence I fell into the danger of a Praemunire whereby I forfeited all my Lands and Goods to the Law yet my Person was under the King's Protection and I was pardoned that offence therefore I much wonder I should be now Arrested especially considering I am a Member of the Sacred College at Rome on whom no Temporal Man ought to lay hands Well I find the King wants good Counsellors about him He was then kept close in one of his Chambers and Dr. Austin his Physician was at the same time Arrested for High Treason and sent to the Tower The Cardinal's Goods were all seized and his Servants discharged And he himself was so dejected that he continually lamented his hard fortune with such a mean and unbecoming forrow as such haughty Spirits are
Words against the Cardinal who having notice of it sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen again saying he would examine them upon Oath what they were worth which they also denied to have done and one of their Counsellours pleaded that the demanding or paying of any Benevolence was contrary to the Statute made in the I. Year of King Richard III. What says the Cardinal do you quote a Law made by an Usurper and Murtherer the Counsellour replied the Act was made by the Lords and Commons of England and not by him alone Well my Lord Mayor and Aldermen said the Cardinal pray tell me what you will give My Lord pray excuse me said the Lord Mayor for if I should offer any thing I do not know but it may cost me my Life ' What for your kindness to your King that 's very strange said the Cardinal why then I am afraid you will constrain the King to force you to your Duty well my Lord pray go home and tell your Neighbours the King will be very kind to them if they do but shew their good will to him in some competent summ next day the Lord Mayor called a Common Council where it was unanimously Voted that the Meeting of the Aldermen in their respective Wards in order to the demanding a Benevolence of the Subject was contrary to Law and therefore not to be regarded two or three of the Common Council moved that every Man should go to the Cardinal and give him privately what they thought fit but this so inraged the rest that they required that these Men should be for ever banisht and excluded from sitting in the Common Council and so the Court broke up in disorder and every Man went to his own home Neither had this Project better success in other places of this Realm the People in Kent Essex Suffolk Norfolk c. assembling three or four thousand in a Company and openly declaring against the Benevolence and the Duke of Norfolk coming to them and demanding what was the cause of their Insurrection and who was their Captain was answered that Poverty was both their Cause and Captain the great Taxes they had already paid having so ruined their Trades that they had not Bread for their Families nor Work to imploy them in desiring the Duke to mediate with the King on their behalf The King having daily Intelligence of these disorders thought it dangerous to proceed further in this matter and therefore summoned a great Council to York Place now Whitehall where he again made a solemn Protestation That he never designed to demand any thing of his People which might tend to the breach of the Laws and therefore desired to know by whose Order those Commissions were issued out to demand the Sixth Part of every Man's Estate the Cardinal answered That it was done by the consent of the whole Council and by the Advice of the Judges for the supply of the King's wants who said it might lawfully be demanded and that he took God to witness he never designed to oppress the Subject but like a true and just Counsellour contrived how to inrich the King and some Clergy men had told him that it might be done by the Law of God because Joseph caused Pharaoh King of Egypt to take the Fifth Part of every Man's Goods in that Land ' But however said he since I find every Man is willing to free himself of this burden I am content to take upon me the scandal of it and bear the ill Will of the Multitude for my good Will toward the King and to clear you my Lords and Counsellours but the Eternal God knoweth all Well said the King I have been informed that my Realm was never so rich as now and that no trouble would have risen upon this demand since every Man would freely pay it at the first request but now I find all contrary at which all held their Peace Come said the King I 'll have no more of these disturbances pray send Letters to every County in England to recal the Benevolence I will freely pardon what is past but pray let me hear no more of it The Lords on their Knees returned the King thanks and Letters were sent accordingly wherein somewhat to excuse the Cardinal it was inserted That the Lords Judges and others of the Privy Council first contrived that demand and that the Cardinal only concurred with them in it but however the Common People had a mortal Aversion to him for this and many other illegal Practices and his Interest with the King seemed likewise daily to lessen and to disoblige the Court he insinuated into the King that his Family was much out of Order and thereupon undertook to reform the same by removing several Officers and Servants from their Places and putting ill Men in their Rooms He likewise presented his Mannor and Palace of Hampton-Court to the King a little to sweeten him in recompence of which the King gave him leave to keep his Court in his Palace at Richmond wherein King Henry VIIth did so extreamly delight which yet made him the more abhorr'd both by the Courtiers and Common People who reproachfully said Who would ever have thought to have seen a Butcher's Dog lye in the Palace of Richmond After this the Marriage of the King with Queen Katherine his Brother Arthur's Widow began to be questioned and some Authors say the scruple about it was first put into the King's Head by Cardinal Woolsey who being naturally revengeful and never forgiving any Injury moved it partly to be avenged on the Emperour whose Sister Queen Katherine was for not making him Pope and partly because the Queen had often secretly and modestly reproved him for his Tyranny Covetousness Oppression Pride and Lasciviousness King Henry seemed very much disturbed at this Motion and desired that the Legality of his Marriage might be debated among the Learned pretending that he had no design in it but only to satisfie his Conscience and to establish the Succession of the Crown in a rightful Heir which could not be done if Queen Katherine were not his lawful Wise upon this account a religious Sorrow seemed to seize upon him 〈◊〉 he refrained from the Queen's Bed till by a Ju 〈…〉 Sentence this grand Affair might be settled the Cardinal to advance his Reputation higher with the King procured a Commission from the Pope to himself and Cardinal Campeius that before them as Supream Judges this Question might be debated by legal Processes and Proceedings and determined according to the Laws of God and Man the King declared that he intended nothing but Justice in the Case and therefore allowed the Queen to chuse what Counsellours she pleased to defend her Cause who accordingly nominated Warham Archbishop of Canterbury West Bishop of Ely Fisher Bishop of Rochester the Bishop of St. Asaph and some others Cardinal Campeius being again arrived in England the two Legates caused a stately Court to be erected in Black Fryers
and their Commission being read the Cryer called Henry King of England who answered Here Then he cried Katherine Queen of England come into the Court the Queen made no answer but rising out of her Chair came to the King and kneeling at his Feet she in broken English spake thus to him ' Sir I beseech you do me Justice and right and take some Pity upon me I am a Poor Woman and a stranger Born out of your Dominions having here no indifferent Council and less Assurance of Friendship Alas Sir how have I offended you that you thus intend to shorten my Days I take God to witness I have been to you a True and Loyal Wife ever conformable to your Will and never contradicting your desires but have always complied and submitted to your Pleasure in all things without the least grudging or discontent For your sake I have loved all Men whom you loved whether they were my Friends or Enemies I have been your Wife these twenty Years by whom you have had many Children and when I first came to your Bed God and your own Conscience knows that I was a Virgin If you can prove any dishonesty by me whereby you may lawfully put me from you I am willing to leave you with shame and rebuke but if I am guilty of none I beseech you set me have Justice at your hands The King your Father was a man of excellent VVisdom in his time and accounted a second Solomon and the King of Spain Ferdinand my Father was reckoned one of the wisest Princes that has reigned there for many years And doubtless they had both as wise Counsellors as any are at this day And who could never have imagined when you and I were Married that such new devises should have been invented as to compel me to submit to the decrees of this Court from whom I may expect to receive wrong and may be condemned for not answering but not to have Right administred to me since I can have no indifferent Council assigned me to plead my Cause but must make choice of your own Subjects who know your Mind and dare not contradict your VVill. Therefore I most humbly beseech you spare till I know how my Friends in Spain will advise me But if you will not you may do your pleasure Then making a low Curtesie to the King she departed out of the Court Upon which the King bid the Crier call her back which he did but she refused to return saying It is no indifferent Court to me I will not go back VVhen she was gone the King declared to the Court that she had been a loyal loving and obedient Wife to him and was endued with all the good qualities and virtues of a Woman either of her Dignity or of any meaner Estate After which Cardinal Woolsey said ' I humbly beseech your Highness to declare to this audience whether I have been the first and chief Mover of this matter to your Highness or not for I am much suspected of all men The King declared he was not but rather advised the contrary but that the special cause that moved him in this matter was a certain scruple of Conscience upon some words spoken by the Bishop of Bayon the French Ambassador upon a debate about a Marriage between the Lady Mary his only Daughter and the Duke of Orleans second Son to the French King and the Bishop desiring time to consult his Master whether the Lady Mary were Legitimate as being born of his Brother Arthur's Wife This discourse so affected him considering he had no Heirs Male they all dying as soon as born that he judged God Almighty was displeased at this match Hereupon considering the state of the Realm and dispairing to have any more Children by his Queen whereby the Kingdom might be endangered for want of a Prince to succeed him and to quiet his own mind which was tossed with the Waves of troublesome doubts he desired to have the opinion of the Learned Prelates and Pastors of the Realm whether by the Laws of God and the Land he might take another Wife if his first Marriage were not Legal by which he might have more Issue Affirming in the presence of God that he had no dislike to the Person nor Age of the Queen with whom he could be content to live if it were the Will of God Nor out of carnal Concupiscence or desire of change but only for the setling of his Conscience After this the Court sate daily where many subtile and learned Arguments and Disputations touching the lawfulness or insufficiency of the Marriage were handled but the Queen Appealing to the Court of Rome for deciding this Question from which she could not be dissuaded The King expected a final â—efinitive Sentence on his behalf the two Legates declined to give it which so iâ—raged the King who now perceived their dissimulation and that they purposely contrived delays that from this time he had a mortal hatred against his false Favourite Woolsey whom from a contemptible Birth and Estate he had prefer'd to be Abbot of St. Albans his Almoner a Counsellor of State Bishop of Winchester Durham Lincoln Bath Worcester Hereford Tournay Archbishop of York an Ambassador to Kings and Princes his Chancellor and a Cardinal who by contriving this business thereby to render himself Gracious with the King and to be revenged of his Enemies brought ruin and destruction at length upon himself For notwithstanding the King excused him from being the Author of this scruple of Conscience yet Woolsey seemed at first very forward in promoting it and to incline to have it determined according to the King's Mind but afterward perceiving the fatal consequences which might ensue thereupon so as at length to shake the Infallibility of the Papal Chair if the Case were decided according to the Scriptures he declined proceeding therein For if the Marriage was unlawful then the former dispensation of Pope Julius was null and void and if it was lawful then the Judgment of so many learned Universities as had given their Opinion to the contrary was false In this difficulty his Collegue Campeius went out of the Kingdom before the day of the final determination of the matter leaving Woolsey to bear all the weight of the King's Indignation Another cause of the Cardinal 's opposing the Divorce was that the King during the Ventilation of this Knotty Case had fallen in love with Mrs. Ann Bullen who he after Married one of the Maids of Honour to Queen Katherine and Daughter to Sir Tho. Bullen afterward Earl of Wiltshire a Lady no way favourable to his Pontifical Grandeur nor to the Superstitions of the Church of Rome So that when the King discovered his great affection for her the Cardinal upon his Knees used many arguments to dissuade him from it Which the Lady had notice of and therefore when the King once entertained him at a great Feast She being present among other discourses said ' Sir is