Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/336

 various terms, and with increased powers for the visitation of monasteries and other objects, both by Leo X and his successors.

Wolsey had supported a French alliance notwithstanding its unpopularity, knowing well the valuable concessions Francis would willingly make to secure it. But he was opposed not only by the nobility at home, but by the queen, who saw clearly that the interests of France were opposed to those of her nephew, the new emperor. So the alliance had been scarcely formed when efforts were made to loosen it. In May 1519, before the struggle for the empire, there were secret meetings of old councillors, who made bold to represent to the king that some young men of his privy chamber who had seen the fashions of the French court used too great familiarity with him; and on this remonstrance Henry dismissed them—a thing of which much was said in Paris. But their places were supplied by older men who stood well in Wolsey's favour, so that if the blow was aimed at him, it was a failure; and Francis, who was very anxious for the interview, offered, if Wolsey sought to be pope, to secure for him the votes of fourteen cardinals. But there was so much negotiation necessary that the summer of 1519 was far spent, and the great meeting had to be put off till the following spring, when, to facilitate matters, Francis made Wolsey his proctor, and the arrangements on both sides being left entirely in his hands, very little further obstacle was encountered.

Wolsey, however, by no means aimed at an exclusive alliance with France; and these negotiations had the effect, which he fully intended, of exciting the jealousy of the new-made emperor. His object was to make England arbiter of the destinies of Europe. Charles had cordially accepted an invitation sent him by Henry just after his election to visit England on his way from Spain. By paying England this honour he hoped to frustrate the interview with France. But Spanish diplomacy was slow, and arrangements had to be made beforehand with the disadvantage of a stormy sea between Spain and England, so that in the spring of 1520 Jean de la Sauch, the emperor's Flemish secretary, who had been flitting to and fro between Spain, England, and the Netherlands, was afraid the French would win. The time was getting short, and Wolsey seemed distinctly in the interest of France. La Sauch believed that it was only because he had been well bribed, and that the emperor to win him should give him substantial preferments in Spain, for nobody else in England favoured the French interview at all. At the very time this was written the emperor had already signed at Compostella a promise that within two months, and before parting company with Henry, he would apply to the pope to give Wolsey the bishopric of Badajoz, worth in itself five thousand ducats, with an annual pension of two thousand ducats besides out of the bishopric of Palencia; and to this agreement the pope gave effect by a bull on 29 July following.

At last, on 11 April 1520, a treaty for the meeting with the emperor was drawn up in London. Charles was to land at Sandwich by 15 May, and visit the king at Canterbury next day. But if, owing to unfavourable weather or other causes, he should fail to do this, he and the king were to have a meeting on 22 July between Calais and Gravelines. Undoubtedly the emperor did his best to arrive in time to anticipate the French meeting, but he did not land until 26 May at Dover. Wolsey first visited him on board his own vessel, and brought him to land; then the king and he next day (Whit Sunday) conducted him to Canterbury to attend the day's solemnities and see the queen, his aunt. On Thursday, the 31st, he embarked again for Flanders, while Henry and Catherine, with a great company, Wolsey's train alone consisting of two hundred gentlemen in crimson velvet, sailed from Dover to Calais.

The French interview took place on 7 June. On the day preceding a treaty was signed by Francis at Ardres, and by Henry VIII at Guisnes, making arrangements for the continuance of a French pension to Mary, even in the event of her succession to the crown, and also providing that Francis should do his best to settle disputes between England and Scotland; in doing which he promised to stand to the arbitration of Wolsey and his own mother, the Duchess of Angoulême. But no other business seems to have been done, though the festivities continued till the 24th, when the kings separated. The Field of the Cloth of Gold was undoubtedly a scene of matchless splendour, and the grandeur of the temporary palace and chapel built by Wolsey for the occasion was the theme of endless admiration. But the show of warm friendship with France was altogether deceptive. Henry was at heart more inclined to the interests of the emperor. It is certain that a secret compact had been signed between them at Canterbury, and, as the emperor's visit had been necessarily hurried, a further meeting had been arranged between them, to take place immediately after the French interview. It took place