Page:The Queens of England.djvu/309

 KATHARINE OF ARRAGON. 269 pontiff was, the advice that Henry should break his marriage in virtue of the commission granted to the legate, but with as little noise as possible, and then to wed immediately the woman he preferred ; adding that it would be much easier to accord Henry a bull of confirmation for what he had done, than to grant him one to permit him to do it. This advice excited the suspicion of Henry. To break his marriage without publicity he knew would be impossible, as the queen must be heard in her defense, otherwise the judgment would be deemed null. After much deliberation Henry sent Gardiner and Fox to Rome, once more to solicit new bulls. A commission to Wolsey was prayed for, to enable him to judge the cause and have power to break the marriage; but, nevertheless, that the Princess Mary, the sole offspring of it, should be declared legitimate — a proof that Henry had not then become wholly indifferent to his daughter, or that he wished to conciliate the emperor by not having her legitimacy impeached. These emissaries were charged to assure the pope that Wolsey had never advised the king to the divorce, and also to inform Clement of the extraor- dinary merit of the lady whom Henry meant to wed. But Clement was by no means disposed to accord what was de- manded until the war. in Italy should be decided. He prevari- cated, postponed, and gained time, by every possible pretext, until Henry losing all patience, the pope at length, on the 13th of April, 1528, signed a bull appointing Wolsey judge in the affair, and naming the Archbishop of Canterbury, or any other bishop in England he preferred to act with him, and to be in- vested with all the powers that Henrv would desire. This bull was, however, far from satisfying Henry, for it contained no clause to prevent its revocation whenever Clement might think fit ; and the next objection was, that Wolsey being prime min- ister, and known to be wholly devoted to the king, would be considered a partial judge. Therefore, Henry demanded to have another legate appointed to act with Wolsey, and a positive engagement signed by the pope, that the commission would not be revoked. The success of Lautrec in Italy alone secured the pope's assent to this request, but he nevertheless arranged that his compliance with Henry's prayer should not have the effect of expediting the affair in question. He named in the bull ac- corded the 6th of June, 1528, at Orvieto, Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio, bishop of Salisbury, his legates, giving them the same power previously granted to Wolsey, appointing them his