Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/176

 138 Readings in Eu?'ofica7i History Queen Catherine Cardinal VVolsey. Henry VIII proposes to divorce Catherine. on foot : one crossed the Channel with him, another was in the field against Scotland, and the third remained with the queen in reserve. . . . The queen is the sister of the mother of the king of Spain, now styled King of the Romans. She is thirty-five years old and not handsome, though she has a very beau- tiful complexion. She is religious, and as virtuous as words can express. I have seen her but seldom. The cardinal of York is of low origin, and has two brothers, one of whom holds an untitled benefice, and the other is pushing his fortune. He rules both the king and the entire kingdom. On my first arrival in England he used to say to me, " His Majesty will do so and so." Subse- quently, by degrees, he forgot himself, and commenced say- ing, "We shall do so and so." At this present he has reached such a pitch that he says, " I shall do so and so." He is about forty-six years old, very handsome, learned, extremely eloquent, of vast ability, and indefatigable. He alone transacts as much business as that which occupies all the magistracies, offices, and councils of Venice, both civil and criminal; and all state affairs likewise are managed by him, let their nature be what it may. Early in 1527 King Henry VIII determined to obtain a divorce from Catherine, and soon announced to her that they must separate. Wolsey then reluctantly induced Pope Clement VII to send a legate, Cardinal Campeg- gio, to England, who, with Wolsey, was to hold a court to determine whether the dispensation granted to Henry to marry his brother's widow was sufficient and valid under the circumstances. The trial was begun in May, 1529. When Queen Catherine was called upon in court she rose from her chair and came to the king, and, kneel- ing down at his feet, said : " Sir, in what have I offended you ? or what occasion of displeasure have I given you, intending thus to put me from