CHAPTER XXIV.

INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORMATION INTO ENGLAND,

IN 1534, Luther had the gratification of witnessing the rupture of Henry VIII. with the Pope, and the extension of the Reformation to England by that monarch. These were events little expected some ten years before, when the King and the great Reformer fought out their controversial battle à l'outrance, and the Holy Father then reigning conferred on the former the highly prized title of Defender of the Faith. It was on the 22nd of April, 1509, that Henry, then in his eighteenth year, succeeded his father on the throne. On the 9th of June following, he was married, with great pomp, to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Catherine, who was in her twenty-sixth year, was the widow of his elder brother Arthur, with whom her brief union had produced no issue.1 The married life of Henry and Catherine continued apparently unclouded until 1527, Catherine having borne the King three sons and two daughters, all of whom had died in childhood, except the Princess Mary, afterwards Queen of England.

When eighteen years of their union had passed, and Catherine's charms began to wane, Henry became deeply enamoured of one of her ladies of honour, Anne Boleyn, whom he wished to substitute for her, as Queen. He now, for the first time, spoke of scruples which he

1 A dispensation from Pope Julius II. had removed all difficulty about this first marriage, which, according to Catherine's solemn declaration, had never been consummated.

entertained about the validity of his marriage with his brother's widow; and, after much consultation with his ministers and the bishops of his kingdom, he applied, in the year 1527, to Pope Clement VII. to pronounce the marriage invalid. Clement bestowed the most careful consideration on the cause, and referred it to a commission in England, composed of his legate, Cardinal Campeggio, and Henry's powerful minister, Cardinal Wolsey. But Catherine entered a protest against this commission; first, because it was composed of the King's subjects; and secondly, because, being held in England, it was directly under the King's control.

Meanwhile, on the suggestion of Cranmer, the Universities of Europe were consulted. In Oxford and Cambridge, the royal influence prevailed; and those learned bodies pronounced against the marriage. But the Universities of Germany, France, and Italy, were entirely in favour of its validity. Indeed, in France and Italy, the decision was, that, in the case, a divorce was impossible, as the first marriage, that of Arthur and Catherine, had never been consummated.

The matter was now referred by the Pope to a congregation of cardinals, and the proceedings were necessarily very protracted; certainly not too much so, as will appear, when the importance of the interests involved are taken into account. Besides, Clement hoped that the delay would lead Henry into a better frame of mind. This, however, was not the case; for, while the cause was yet pending, Henry repudiated Catherine, and on the 25th of January, 1533, he privately married Anne Boleyn, who was crowned, with all circumstances of magnificent display, at Westminster, on the 1st of June following.

In May that year, Cranmer, whom Henry had recently appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, held a

1 Cardinal Campeggio had recently been presented by Henry to the episcopal see of Salisbury.

court at Dunstable, in which, on the 23rd, he pronounced the King's marriage with Catherine invalid and null; and on the 28th, in a court which he held at Lambeth, he declared the royal marriage with Anne Boleyn valid and lawful.

In March, 1534, Clement, acting on the all but unanimous opinion of the cardinals,1 made his final decision, refused to grant the King's suit, declared his marriage with Catherine valid, and required him to take her back, as his wife.

Henry now resolved to break altogether with the Pope, and to prohibit all communication between his own subjects and the Holy See. Accordingly, his Parliament passed statutes, to order, "utterly renouncing, refusing, relinquishing, and forsaking the Bishop of Rome, and his authority, power and jurisdiction," declaring the King to be Supreme Head, on earth, of the Church in England and Ireland, and framing, and making obligatory on all the subjects of the realm, an oath affirming the Royal Supremacy.2 Henry, however, although he thus severed himself and his kingdom from the Church, was neither Lutheran nor Calvinist, but adhered to the Catholic doctrines-transubstantiation, auricular confession, communion under one kind, and other tenets, which he had formerly defended against Luther. For denying any of these, he burned or beheaded his Protestant subjects; while, for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, the Catholics likewise suffered. Among these latter victims were some of the first men of the kingdom-notably Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher.

He

Sir Thomas More was born in London in 1480. was the son of a judge, and stood high in the favour of

1 Dr. Lingard states that, out of two and twenty cardinals, nineteen decided for the validity of the marriage, and three only proposed a further delay. ("History of England," vi. 202.)

2 Statute 25 Henry VIII., caps. 19, 20, and 21, for England; and 28 Henry VIII., caps. 13 and 19, for Ireland.

Cardinal Wolsey, on whose suggestion he was made privy councillor, in 1516. At this time he had been for some years a member of Parliament, and had gained a high reputation by his eloquence and independence. King Henry VIII. formed a very favourable opinion of him, cultivated his society, constantly consulted him on affairs of State, and employed him on embassies. In 1521, he was knighted and promoted to the office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. In 1523, he was elected Speaker of the Parliament convoked that year. On the 25th of October, 1529, he was appointed Lord Chancellor, in succession to Wolsey; but, strongly disapproving of Henry's repudiation of Queen Catherine. and his intended marriage with Anne Boleyn, to which his official assent would necessarily be looked for, he resigned his exalted post in 1532, and retired into private life. However, his retirement from public affairs, his past services, as valuable as they were disinterested, his noble character, and the esteem in which he was held in every European country, did not save him from Henry's unrelenting tyranny. He was impeached and condemned for his conscientious refusal. to take the Oath of Supremacy, and was beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 6th of July, 1535. Writers of all creeds concur in pronouncing Sir Thomas More to have been one of the greatest men produced by England, in any age.1

Well worthy to stand beside his friend, the exchancellor, was the venerable Doctor Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. John Fisher, born at Beverley, in 1459, was preceptor to Henry VIII., in his youth; and had ever been a devoted friend and servant of that monarch and his royal father. He was distinguished alike for piety and learning, and was one of the first controver

1 Sir Thomas More was an accomplished scholar and writer. His principal work, "Utopia," was written in Latin, and was published at Basle in 1518; and was almost immediately translated into English, French, Italian, and other European languages.

sialists of his day. He, no less strongly than Sir Thomas More, disapproved of Henry's treatment of his lawful wife, and his unhallowed second marriage. For this offence, and for his refusal to take the Oath of Supremacy, he suffered a long and painful imprisonment in the Tower, and was beheaded on the 22nd of June, 1535, in his seventy-seventh year. When Henry heard that the Pope was about to send the aged bishop a cardinal's hat, he said: "Well, let the Pope send him a hat when he will, Mother of God, he shall wear it on his shoulders then, for I will leave him never a head to set it on."1

After three years, Henry preferred against Anne Boleyn a charge of infidelity as his wife, which would be equivalent to the crime of high treason. Anne appears to have been guilty of some levity; but, on her trial, no adequate evidence was adduced of more serious crime. She was unaided by counsel, and was attended only by her ladies-in-waiting-a cruel act of injustice, even though she were guilty! She was convicted, and sentenced to be beheaded. On hearing her sentence, she exclaimed, "O Father and Creator! O Thou who art the way, the truth, and the life! Thou knowest that I do not deserve this death." Then, turning to her judges, she said, "My lords, I do not arraign your judgment. You may have sufficient reasons for your suspicions; but I have always been a true and faithful wife to the King." She was executed at the Tower, on the 19th of May, 1536; and in her last moments displayed admirable firmness, resignation, and fervour. Her last words were, "O Lord God, have mercy on my soul," which were scarcely uttered when, at one stroke, her head was severed from her body.

Some writers allege that the real cause of the accusation against Anne Boleyn was that Henry wished to

1 "Life of Dr. John Fisher," by the Rev. John Lewis, A.M. ii. 178. Doctor Fisher's works were published at Wurtzburg, in one volume folio, in 1597.