Page:English Historical Review Volume 37.djvu/131

 1922 REVIEWS OF BOOKS 123 us details which the other editors for various reasons omitted, and has even on occasion corrected the version already in print ; x still we cannot but feel that this expenditure of time and money is hardly to be justified. Also, if we may venture to say so, Mr. Brodie has shown rather too meticulous a respect for the judgement of his predecessor. For example, why retain a document which Brewer misdated and which really belongs to the reign of Henry VII ? 2 Why not put no. 1364 in what is obviously its proper place even though Le Glay places it elsewhere ? An editor must have the courage of his opinions. Then again, Brewer included a con- siderable number of the letters of James IV of Scotland, even when they had practically nothing to do with English history ; Mr. Brodie has greatly added to this series from manuscripts preserved in the Advocates' Library, but in many cases, however valuable these additions may be for Scottish history, they bear little relation to that of England. Much the same might be said about some of the letters of Louis XII, the interest of which seems to be wholly French or Italian, 3 or the lengthy account of the capture of Brescia. 4 In short, one cannot but feel that the editor ought to have performed his duty of selection with greater firmness ; the Letters and Papers are materials for the history of England and not for that of Europe during the reign of Henry VIII. The amount of really new information that Mr. Brodie has brought to light about the great men and the great movements of this period does not seem to be very extensive : rather does the new material confirm what was already known or guessed, fill in gaps in our sources, and so give an air of completeness to our knowledge. The diplomacy of the period centred round the efforts to build up the Holy League, and the insertion in its proper chronological order of the material hitherto scattered through the pages of the Spanish and Venetian Calendars, Sanuto, and Le Glay enables one to grasp far more readily the real sequence of these tortuous negotiations, to realize the zeal with which the pope and, above all, Venice strove to secure the favour of Henry VIII, while the new letters of James IV show the real desire that possessed him to preserve the peace in Europe, even though his romantic spirit permitted him to believe that such peace would result in a new crusade against the infidel. With the formation of the Holy League Wolsey became the rising personality in England. He appears to have been made a member of the council in 1509, probably at the time when he was appointed almoner to the king. Brewer, followed by Gairdner in the Dictionary of National Biography, held that the mandate of 20 November 1509, signed by Wolsey and other councillors, was misdated and that he did not become a member of the council till November 1511 ; but the earlier date has been confirmed by what is undoubtedly a letter from the council dated 12 August 1510 and signed by Wolsey. 5 The only other correction of date which the new material supplies is in connexion with Wolsey's appointment as registrar of the Order of the Garter, which seems to have taken place on 27 April 1510 6 and not in 1511 as both Brewer and Gairdner state. 1 See nos. 867, 914 : 1489. 2 See nos. 258, 311. 3 See nos. 113, 522, 536. * no. 1071. 8 no. 555. 8 no. 442.