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29 - Henry VIIIs Wives Their Impact on History by Martin A. S. Hume · Henry VIIIs Wives Their Impact on History

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty eight of the Wives of Henry the Eighth
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  Speaker 1: and the Parts they played in History by Martin Hume.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Fifteen forty
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  Speaker 1: two through fifteen forty seven Katherine Parr the Protestants Win
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  Speaker 1: the Last Trick, Part three. Catherine was equally amiable, though
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  Speaker 1: evidently now playing a political part. When four months later
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  Speaker 1: the aged and crippled Chappoose bade his last farewell to England,
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  Speaker 1: he was being carried in a chair to take leave
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  Speaker 1: of Henry at Whitehall one morning in May at nine o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: He was an hour earlier than the time fixed for
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  Speaker 1: his audience, and was passing through the green alleys of
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  Speaker 1: the garden towards the King's apartments when notice was brought
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  Speaker 1: to him that the Queen and Princess Mary were hastening
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  Speaker 1: after him. He stopped at once and had just time
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  Speaker 1: to hobble out of his chair before the two ladies
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  Speaker 1: reached him. It seemed, from the small suite she had
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  Speaker 1: with her and the haste with which she came, as
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  Speaker 1: if her purpose in coming was specially to speak to me.
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  Speaker 1: She was attended only by four or five ladies of
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  Speaker 1: the chamber, and opened the conversation by saying that the
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  Speaker 1: King had told her the previous evening that I was
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  Speaker 1: coming that morning to say goodbye. She was very sorry
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  Speaker 1: on the one hand for my departure, as she had
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  Speaker 1: been told that I had always performed my duties well
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  Speaker 1: and the King trusted me. But on the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: she doubted not that my health would be better on
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  Speaker 1: the other side of the sea. I could, however, she said,
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  Speaker 1: do as much on the other side as here for
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  Speaker 1: the maintenance of the friendship of which I had been
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  Speaker 1: one of the chief promoters. For this reason, she was
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  Speaker 1: glad I was going, although she had no doubt that
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  Speaker 1: so wise and good a sovereign as your Majesty, that is,
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor, would see the need and importance of upholding
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  Speaker 1: the friendship of which the King on his side had
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  Speaker 1: given so many proofs in the past. Yet it seemed
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  Speaker 1: to her that your Majesty had not been so thoroughly
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  Speaker 1: informed hitherto, either by my letters or otherwise, of the
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  Speaker 1: King's sincere affection and good will as I should be
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  Speaker 1: able to report verbally. She therefore begged me earnestly, after
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  Speaker 1: I had presented to your Majesty her humble service to
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  Speaker 1: express explicit to you all that I had learned here
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  Speaker 1: of the good wishes of the King. There was much
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  Speaker 1: more high flown compliment, both from Catherine and her stepdaughter
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  Speaker 1: before the gouty ambassador went on his way. But it
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  Speaker 1: is evident that Catherine, like her husband, was at this
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  Speaker 1: time May fifteen forty five, apprehensive as to the intentions
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  Speaker 1: of Charles and his French allies towards England, and was
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  Speaker 1: still desirous to obtain some aid in the war under
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  Speaker 1: the treaty, in order, if possible, to weaken the new
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  Speaker 1: friendship with France and the Catholic Alliance. In the meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: the failure of Gardener's policy and the irritation felt that
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor's abandonment of England placed the Minister somewhat under
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  Speaker 1: a cloud. He had failed to to persuade the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: personally to fulfill the treaty as well as in his
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  Speaker 1: negotiations for peace with the French, and as his son
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  Speaker 1: gradually sank before the King's annoyance, that of Secretary Paget,
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  Speaker 1: of Hertford, of Dudley and of Ryathlusley, now Lord Chancellor
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  Speaker 1: a mere time serving courtier rose, The Protestant element around
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  Speaker 1: Catherine two became bolder, and her own participation in politics
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  Speaker 1: was now frankly on the anti Catholic side. The alliance,
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  Speaker 1: insincere and temporary though it was between the Emperor and France,
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  Speaker 1: once more produced its inevitable effect of drawing together England
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  Speaker 1: and the German Lutherans. It is true that Charles's great
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  Speaker 1: plan for crushing Descent by the aid of the Pope
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  Speaker 1: was not yet publicly known, But the Council of Trent
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  Speaker 1: was slowly gathering, and it was clear to the German
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  Speaker 1: princes of the small Caldic League that great events touching
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  Speaker 1: religion and their independence were in the air. For Cardinal
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  Speaker 1: Farnesi and the papal agents were running backward and forward
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  Speaker 1: to the Emperor on secret missions, and all the Catholic
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  Speaker 1: world rang with denunciation of heresy. In June, the new
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  Speaker 1: imperial ambassador, Vanderdelft sounded the first note of alarm from England.
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  Speaker 1: Catherine Parr's secretary Buckler, he said, had been in Germany
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  Speaker 1: for weeks trying to arrange a league between the Protestant
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  Speaker 1: princes and England. This was a matter of the highest importance,
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  Speaker 1: and Charles, when he heard of it, was doubly desirous
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  Speaker 1: of keeping his English brother from quite breaking away. Whilst
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  Speaker 1: in September there arrived in England from France a regular
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  Speaker 1: embassy from the Duke of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse,
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  Speaker 1: the Duke of Wurtemburg, and the King of Denmark, ostensibly
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  Speaker 1: to promote peace between England and France, but really bent
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  Speaker 1: upon effecting a Protestant alliance. Henry indeed was seriously alarmed.
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  Speaker 1: He was exhausted by his long war in France, harassed
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  Speaker 1: in the victualing of Bologna and even of Calais, and
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  Speaker 1: fully alive to the fact that he was practically defenseless
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  Speaker 1: against an armed coalition of the Emperor in France. In
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  Speaker 1: the circumstances, it was natural that the influence over him
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  Speaker 1: of his wife and of his brother in law, Hertford,
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  Speaker 1: both inclined to a reconciliation with France and an understanding
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  Speaker 1: with the German Protestant should increase. Catherine, now undisguisedly in
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  Speaker 1: favor of such a policy, was full of tact. During
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  Speaker 1: the King's frequent attacks of illness. She was tender and
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  Speaker 1: useful to him, and the attachment to her of the
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  Speaker 1: young Prince Edward, testified by many charming little letters of
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  Speaker 1: the boy too well known to need quotation here, seemed
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  Speaker 1: to promise a growth of her state importance. The tendency
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  Speaker 1: was one to be strenuously opposed by Gardner and his
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  Speaker 1: friends in the Council, and once more attempts were made
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  Speaker 1: to strike at the Queen through Cranmer, almost simultaneously with
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  Speaker 1: a movement flattering to Henry and hopeful for the Catholic
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  Speaker 1: party to negotiate a meeting at Calais or in Flanders
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  Speaker 1: between him and the Emperor to settle all questions and
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  Speaker 1: make France distrustful. For any such approach to be productive
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  Speaker 1: of the full effects desired by Gardiner, it was necessary
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  Speaker 1: to couple with it severe measures against the Protestants. Henry
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  Speaker 1: was reminded that the coming attack upon the German Lutherans
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  Speaker 1: by the Emperor, with the acquiescence of France, would certainly
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  Speaker 1: portend an attack upon himself later, and he was told
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  Speaker 1: by the Catholic majority of his council that any tenderness
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  Speaker 1: on his part towards Heresy now would be specially perilous.
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  Speaker 1: The first blow was struck at Cranmer and was struck
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  Speaker 1: in vain. The story in full is told by Stripe
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  Speaker 1: from Morris and Fox, and has been repeated by every
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  Speaker 1: historian of the reign. Gardiner and his colleagues represented to
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  Speaker 1: Henry that although the archbishop was spreading heresy, no one
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  Speaker 1: dared to give evidence against a privy councilor whilst he
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  Speaker 1: was free. The King promised that they might send Cranmer
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  Speaker 1: to the tower if on examination of him they found
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  Speaker 1: reason to do so. Late that night, Henry sent across
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  Speaker 1: the river to Lambeth to summon the archbishop from his
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  Speaker 1: bed to see him, told him of the accusation and
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  Speaker 1: his consent that the accused should be judged and, if advisable,
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  Speaker 1: committed to the tower by his own colleagues on the council.
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  Speaker 1: Cranmer humbly thanked the King, sure as he said that
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  Speaker 1: no injustice would be permitted. Henry, however, knew better, and
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  Speaker 1: indignantly said so, giving to his favorite prelate his ring
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  Speaker 1: for a token that summoned the council to the royal presence.
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  Speaker 1: The next morning, early Cranmer was summoned to the council
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  Speaker 1: and was kept long waiting in an ante room amongst
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  Speaker 1: suitors and serving men. Doctor Butts, Henry's privileged physician, saw
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  Speaker 1: this and told the King that the Archbishop of Canterbury
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  Speaker 1: had turned lackey, for he had stood humbly waiting outside
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  Speaker 1: the council door for an hour. Henry, in a towering rage, growled,
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  Speaker 1: I shall talk to them by and by. When Cranmer
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  Speaker 1: was charged with encouraging heresy, he demanded of his colleagues
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  Speaker 1: that he should be confronted with his accusers. They refused
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  Speaker 1: him rudely and told him he should be sent to
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  Speaker 1: the tower. Then Cranmer's turn came, and he produced the
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  Speaker 1: King's ring, to the dismay of the Council, who, when
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  Speaker 1: they tremblingly faced their irate sovereign, were taken to task
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  Speaker 1: with a violence that promised them ill if ever they
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  Speaker 1: dared to touch again the King's friend. But though Cranmer
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  Speaker 1: was unassailable, the preachers who followed his creed were not.
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  Speaker 1: In the spring of fifteen forty six, the persecutions under
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  Speaker 1: the Six Articles commenced afresh, and for a short time
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  Speaker 1: the Catholic party in the Council had much their own way,
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  Speaker 1: having frightened Henry into abandoning the Lutheran connection in order
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  Speaker 1: that the vengeance of the Catholic League might not fall
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  Speaker 1: upon him. When the Emperor had crushed the Smalcaltic princes,
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  Speaker 1: Henry's health was visibly failing, and the two factions in
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  Speaker 1: his court knew that time was short in which to
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  Speaker 1: establish the predominance of either. At the critical moment, on
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  Speaker 1: the Protestant side were Hertford, Dudley, Cranmer and the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: and on the other Gardener, Paget, Poullet and Ryethlusley and
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  Speaker 1: as Catherine's influence and screw with her husband's increasing infirmity,
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  Speaker 1: it became necessary for the opposite party, if possible, to
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  Speaker 1: get rid of her before the king died. In February
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  Speaker 1: fifteen forty six, the Imperial ambassador reported quote, I am
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  Speaker 1: confused and apprehensive to have to inform your Majesty that
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  Speaker 1: there are rumors here of a new queen, although I
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  Speaker 1: do not know why or how true they may be.
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  Speaker 1: Some people attribute them to the sterility of the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: whilst others say that there will be no change while
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  Speaker 1: the present war lasts. The Duchess of Suffolks much talked about,
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  Speaker 1: and is in great favor. But the King shows no
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  Speaker 1: alteration in his behavior towards the Queen, though she is,
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  Speaker 1: I am informed, annoyed at the rumors end quote. Hints
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  Speaker 1: of this sort continued for some time, and evidently took
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  Speaker 1: their ride from a deliberate attack upon Catherine by the
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  Speaker 1: Catholic counselors. She herself for once failed in her tact
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  Speaker 1: and laid herself open to the designs of her enemies.
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  Speaker 1: She was betrayed into a religious discussion with Henry during
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  Speaker 1: one of his attacks of illness in the presence of Gardiner,
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  Speaker 1: much to the King's annoyance. When she had retired, the
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  Speaker 1: bishop flattered Henry by saying that he wondered how anyone
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  Speaker 1: could have the temerity to differ from him on theology,
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  Speaker 1: and carried his suggestions further by saying that such a
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  Speaker 1: person might well oppose him in other things than opinions.
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  Speaker 1: Moved by the hints at his danger, always a safe
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  Speaker 1: card to play with him, the King allowed an indictment
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  Speaker 1: to be drawn up against Catherine and certain ladies of
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  Speaker 1: her family under the six Articles. Everything was a ranged
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  Speaker 1: for the queen's arrest and examination. When Ryathlously, the Lord Chancellor,
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  Speaker 1: a servile creature who always clung to the strongest side,
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  Speaker 1: seemed to have taken fright and divulged the plot to
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  Speaker 1: one of her friends. Catherine was at once informed and
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  Speaker 1: fell ill with fright, which for a short time deferred
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  Speaker 1: the arrest. Being partially recovered, she sought the King, and
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  Speaker 1: when he began to talk about religion, she by her
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  Speaker 1: submission and refusal to contradict his views as those of
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  Speaker 1: one far too learned for her to controvert, easily flattered
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  Speaker 1: him back into a good humor with her. The next
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  Speaker 1: day was fixed for carrying her to the tower, and
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  Speaker 1: again Henry determined to play a trick upon his ministers.
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  Speaker 1: Sending for his wife in the garden, he kept her
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  Speaker 1: in conversation until the eye power appointed for her arrest.
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  Speaker 1: When Ryathlusly and the guard approached, the King turned upon
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  Speaker 1: him in a fury, calling him knave, full beast, and
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  Speaker 1: other opprobrious names, to the Lord Chancellor's utter surprise and confusion.
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  Speaker 1: The failure of the attack upon Catherine in the summer
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  Speaker 1: of fifteen forty six marks the decline of the Catholic
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  Speaker 1: Party and the Council peace was made with France in
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  Speaker 1: the autumn, and Catherine did her part in the splendid
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  Speaker 1: reception of the Admiral of France and the great rejoicings
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  Speaker 1: over the new peace treaty. September fifteen forty six, almost
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: simultaneously came the news of fresh dissensions between the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: and Francis, for the terms of the Peace of Cresby
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  Speaker 1: were flagrantly evaded, and it began to be seen now
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  Speaker 1: that the treaty had for its sole object the keeping
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  Speaker 1: of France quiet and England at war. Whilst the German
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  Speaker 1: Protestants were crushed not in France alone, but in England too.
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  Speaker 1: The revulsion of feeling against the Emperor's aims was great.
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  Speaker 1: The treacherous attack upon his own vassals in order to
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  Speaker 1: force Orthodoxy upon them at the sword's point had been successful,
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  Speaker 1: and it was seen to constitute a menace to all
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  Speaker 1: the world. Again, Protestant envoys came to England and obtained
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  Speaker 1: alone from Henry. Again, the Duke Philip of Bavaria, who
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  Speaker 1: said that he had never heard Mass in his life
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  Speaker 1: until he arrived in England, came to claim the hand
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  Speaker 1: of the Princess Mary and the Catholics in the King's
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Council forced to stand upon the defensive became not the conspirators,
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  Speaker 1: but those conspired against. Hertford and Dudley, now Lord Admiral,
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  Speaker 1: were the King's principal companions, both in his pastimes and
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  Speaker 1: his business, and the Imperial Ambassador expressed his fears for
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  Speaker 1: the future to a caucus of the Council consisting of Gardiner,
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  Speaker 1: Briathlously and Paulette Deploring as he said that quote, not
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  Speaker 1: only had the Protestants their openly declared champions, but I
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  Speaker 1: had even heard that some of them had gained great
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  Speaker 1: favor with the King, though I wished they were as
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  Speaker 1: far away from court as they were last year. I
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  Speaker 1: did not mention names, but the persons I referred to
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  Speaker 1: were the Earl of Hertford and the Lord Admiral. The
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  Speaker 1: councilors made no reply, but they clearly showed that they
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  Speaker 1: understood me, and continued in their great devotion to your
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  Speaker 1: majesty end quote. Late in September, the King fell seriously ill,
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  Speaker 1: and his life for a time was despaired of Doctor
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  Speaker 1: Butts had died some months before, and the Queen was
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  Speaker 1: indefatigable in her attendants, and the Seymours, as uncles of
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  Speaker 1: the heir, rose in importance as the danger to the
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  Speaker 1: king increased. The only strong men on the council on
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  Speaker 1: the Catholic side were Gardener, who was extremely unpopular and
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  Speaker 1: already beaten, and Norfolk Paulette was as obedient to the
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: prevailing wind as a weathercock. Briathlously was an obsequious, greedy, sincophant,
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  Speaker 1: Paget a humble official with little influence, and the rest
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  Speaker 1: were nonentities. The enmity of the Seymours against the Howards
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  Speaker 1: was of long standing and was as much personal as political,
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  Speaker 1: especially between the younger brother Sir Thomas Seymour and the
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  Speaker 1: Earl of Surrey, the Heir of Norfolk, whose quarrels and
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  Speaker 1: a phrase had several times caused scandal at court. There
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  Speaker 1: was much ill will also between Surrey and his sister,
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  Speaker 1: the widowed Duchess of Richmond, who, after the death of
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  Speaker 1: her young husband, had been almost betrothed to Sir Thomas Seymour.
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  Speaker 1: With these elements of enmity, a story was trumped up
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  Speaker 1: which frightened the sick king into the absurd idea that
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Surrey aimed at succeeding to the crown to the exclusion
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  Speaker 1: of Henry's children. It was sufficient to send him to
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  Speaker 1: the tower and afterwards to the block. As one of
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Henry's most popular victims. His father, the aged Duke of Norfolk,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: was got rid of by charges of complicity, with him
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  Speaker 1: stripped of his garter. The first of English nobles was
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  Speaker 1: carried to the tower by water, whilst his brilliant poet's
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  Speaker 1: son was led through the streets of London like a
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  Speaker 1: pick purse, cheered to the echo by the crowd that
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  Speaker 1: loved him. The story hatched to explain the arrests to
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the public, besides the silly gossip about Surrey's coat of
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: arms and claims to the crown, was that whilst the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: King was thought to be dying in November at Windsor,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the Duke and his son had plotted to obtain possession
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  Speaker 1: of the Prince for their own ends on the death
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  Speaker 1: of his father. Having regard for the plots and counterplots
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: that we know divided the Council at the time, this
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  Speaker 1: is very probable and was exactly what Hertford and Dudley
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  Speaker 1: were doing. The prince indeed being then at his uncle's
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: keeping at Hertford Castle. At the end of the day December,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: the King suffered from a fresh attack which promised to
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  Speaker 1: be fatal. He was at Whitehall at the time, whilst
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Catherine was at Greenwich, an unusual thing which attracted much comment.
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  Speaker 1: But whether she was purposely excluded by Hertford from access
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  Speaker 1: to him or not, it is certain that the Protestant party,
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  Speaker 1: of which she, the Duchess of Suffolk and the Countess
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  Speaker 1: of Hertford were the principal lady members, and the Earl
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: of Hertford and Lord Admiral Dudley, the active leaders, alone,
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  Speaker 1: had control of affairs. Gardiner had been threatened with the
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: tower months before and had then only been saved by
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Norfolk's bold protest Now Norfolk was safe under bolts and bars,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: whilst Riathusley and Paulette were openly insulted by Hertford and Dudley,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: and like their chief, Gardiner lay low in fear of
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: what was to come when the king died. They were
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  Speaker 1: soon to learn. The King had been growing worse daily
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: during January. His legs, covered with running ulcers, were useless
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  Speaker 1: to him, and in terrible torture his bulk was so
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  Speaker 1: unwieldy that mechanical means had to be employed to lift him.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Surrey had been done to death in the tower for
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: high treason whilst yet the king's stiffened hand could sign
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the death warrant. But when the time came for killing Norfolk,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Henry was too far gone to place his signature on
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: the fatal paper. Riathlously, always ready to oblige the strong,
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  Speaker 1: produced a commission stated to be authorized by the King,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: empowering him as Chancellor to sign for him, which he
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: did upon the warrant ordering the death of Norfolk, whose
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: head was to fall on the following morning, But it
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: was to for on the morrow, before the hour fixed
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  Speaker 1: for the execution. The soul of King Henry had gone
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  Speaker 1: to its account, and none dared carry out the vicarious
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: command to sacrifice the proudest noble in the realm for
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: the convenience of the political party. For the moment predominant
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: on the afternoon of twenty sixth January fifteen forty seven,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: the end of the king was seen to be approaching.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: The events of Henry's deathbed have been told with so
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: much religious passion on both sides that it is somewhat
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: difficult to arrive at the truth between the soul and
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: despair and mortal anguish as described by Ribadeneira and the
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: devout Protestant deathbed portrayed by some of the ardent religious reformers.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: There is a world of difference the accepted English versions that,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: fearing the dying man's anger, none of the courtiers dared
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  Speaker 1: to tell him of his coming dissolution, until his old friend,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Sir Anthony Denny, leaning over him, gently broke the news.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Henry was calm and resigned, and when asked if he
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: wished to see a priest, he answered only Cranmer and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: him not Yet it was to be never, for Henry
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: was speechless and sightless when the Primate came, and the
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: King could answer only by a pressure of his numbed fingers,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: the question if he died in the faith of Christ.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: Another contemporary whom I have several times quoted, though always
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: with some reservation, says that Henry, some days before he died,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: took a tender farewell of the Princess Mary, to whose
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: motherly care he commended her young brother, and that he
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: then sent for the Queen and said to her, it
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: is God's will that we should part, and I order
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: all these gentlemen to honor entreat you as if I
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: were living still, and if it should be your pleasure
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: to marry again, I order that you shall have seven
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: thousand pounds for your service as long as you live,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: and all your jewels and ornaments. The good Queen could
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: not answer for weeping, and he ordered her to leave him.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: The next day he confessed, took the sacrament, and commended
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: his soul to God. End of Section twenty eight.