began to be showered upon the Boleyn family. It was only, however, at the time of Wolsey's embassy to France, in 1527, that the rumour got abroad of a divorce being in contemplation, and when it first arose it was jesuitically denied. The king, it was admitted, had been led to entertain some doubts as to the legality of his marriage, doubts which, as he falsely pretended, had been insinuated by the French ambassador, and which he himself was anxious to see removed. But in truth the king had already, in May 1527, made one effort to get rid of Catherine by a collusive suit begun in secret before Wolsey; and though this process was shortly after laid aside, he never from that time desisted from the attempt to get his marriage declared invalid, as having been contracted with his deceased brother's wife. [For a more detailed account of the divorce question see Catherine of Arragon.]
The great alliance with France, of which Wolsey had been the chief promoter, was regarded by the king as an important means of obtaining his own objects in this matter by keeping the emperor in check. He moreover thought he could take advantage of the pope's imprisonment by sending a confidential messenger to Rome while Wolsey was in France, with instructions to which the cardinal was not privy. Here, however, his eagerness made him underestimate difficulties. Dr. Knight, the agent in question, just reached Rome when the pope had made his escape to Orvieto, and, pursuing him thither, flattered himself soon after that he had procured by a little pressure from his holiness a sufficient commission for Wolsey to hear the cause, and a dispensation for Henry to marry Anne Boleyn after the sentence. The documents in fact turned out to be worthless, for the drafts drawn up in England had been scanned by the practised eyes of Italian diplomatists and corrected so as to be made quite innocuous. The pope was only put upon his guard, and the king's object was further off than before. Early in 1528, accordingly, Edward Foxe, the king's almoner, and Stephen Gardiner, then Wolsey's secretary, were sent to Rome to repair the blunder. But their diplomatic ability only succeeded in obtaining another commission and dispensation, which, though effective in some respects, did not supply everything that was wanted. The commission was to Wolsey and Campeggio to hear the cause together in England.
Meanwhile, on 22 Jan. 1528 a French and an English herald presented a joint defiance to the emperor at Burgos. But war with the emperor was against all the traditions of English policy, and was exceedingly unpopular. The interruption of commerce even with Spain was serious; with the Netherlands it was intolerable. A crisis took place at home; the clothiers in Suffolk again found it necessary to discharge their workmen when they had no vent for their cloths in the Belgian markets. Nor did the Flemings on their side suffer less inconvenience. An eight months' truce with the Low Countries was presently agreed to, while the war with Spain continued.
About the same time the sweating sickness reappeared in England with greater virulence than before. Anne Boleyn caught the infection. Henry kept moving about with few attendants, made his will, and took the sacrament in fear of death, while writing the most tender letters to Anne Boleyn. He was most solicitous also for the preservation of Wolsey's health. As Campeggio was on the way to England he seems to have persuaded himself that his divorce and second marriage were now on the eve of accomplishment. Campeggio did not, owing to his ill-health, arrive in England till October. Soon after Henry gave Anne apartments in his palace at Greenwich separate from those of the queen, with whom he appeared to be still living on the ordinary terms of married life. But the trial before the legates was for a long time deferred. Campeggio in the first place vainly strove to induce Catherine to enter a nunnery. Afterwards the king himself feared to proceed too hastily, learning that there was a second brief of dispensation in Spain which he had not known about. At last the court was opened on 31 May 1529, and, after hearing much evidence as to Catherine's cohabitation with Arthur, was on 23 July suspended by Campeggio till October, in accordance with the Roman practice of keeping summer holidays. Meanwhile the pope had revoked the cause to Rome, where, as Henry knew very well, it was absolutely hopeless to look for a decision in his favour.
The inevitable consequence was the fall of Wolsey, who had seen all along that his only chance of safety lay in a desperate effort to satisfy the king's wishes. His failure had been anticipated by many enemies, who had already prepared a number of charges against him which they could now bring forward with safety. On 17 Oct. he was deprived of the great seal, and on the 25th Sir Thomas More was made chancellor in his place. The king's chief advisers now were the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk and the Boleyns; but they were soon superseded by Thomas Cromwell [q. v.]
Parliament met on 3 Nov. 1529. The immediate object the king had in view in summoning it seems to have been to get himself exonerated from repayment of the forced loan
