Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu/436



N the sensitive condition of Europe the effect of events was not limited to their natural consequences. The death of Catherine of Arragon led to the renewal of the war between France and the Empire. Paul III., in real or pretended reluctance to proceed to the last extremity, had for a time suspended the Bull of Deposition which he had drawn against the King of England. It was idle to menace while he was unable to strike; and the two great Catholic powers had declined, when his intention was first made known to them, to furnish him with the necessary support. Francis I., who trifled, as it suited his convenience, with the Court of London, the See of Rome, the Smalcaldic League, and the Divan at Constantinople, had protested against a step which would have compelled