XXIII. King Henry VIII's Warrant to the Abbot of Evesham to excuse his Attendance in Parliament. HENRY REX. 23 Hen. 8. Trusty and well-beloved in God, we greet you well and Ex Biblioth. albeit that you have monition among them other prelates of Harley Armig. this our realm to be present at our high court of parliament An original. next to be holden; yet nevertheless we of our special grace, 15. considering your debility and age, be content, and by these presents license you to be absent from our said parliament during the continuance, prorogation, or adjournment of the same; the said monition, or any our writs directed unto you, or a commandment by us given you, notwithstanding. Given under our signet at our palace of Green wich, the sixth of January, the twenty-third XXIV. King Henry VIII's Letter to Archbishop Cranmer, authorizing him to give a final Determination concerning the Marriage between the King and Catharine of Spain. 1533. Most Reverend Father, &c., we greet you well. Doing you Ex Biblioth. to understand, that the twelfth day of this month of April we Armig. R. Harley received letters from you, dated at Lambeth the 11th of the April, a. D. said month; in which letters ye writ, that, forasmuch as our great cause of matrimony (which has long depended in question) is divulgated, as it is thought, throughout all Christendom, and it is so commented of the mouths of no small number of our people, that many of them fear not to say and report, that thereof is likelihood hereafter to ensue great inconvenience, danger, and perils to this realm, and much uncertainty to our succession, whereby our said people is seemed to be not a little offended. Whereupon ye, whom God and we have ordained Archbishop of Canterbury, and Primate of all this our realm of England; to whose office it has been and is appertaining, by the sufferance of us and our progenitors, as ye write yourself most justly and truly, to order, judge, and determine mere spiritual causes within this our realm. Having due consideration to the said inconveniences, dangers, and perils, and incertainty, if the said cause of matrimony should be suffered still to continue in question undecided; and also reducing to your remembrance the great blame that has been arrected to the clergy of this our realm, especially to the heads and presidents of the same; because they have not hitherto studied and travelled for remedies to exclude and put out of doubt such uncertainty, inconveniences, perils, and dangers, being moved in your conscience by reason of the premises to endeavour yourself as far as you may, by reason of your said office of primacy, to set some direction and end in the said cause of matrimony, according to the pleasure of Almighty God. And thereupon ye duly recognizing, that it becomes you not, being our subject, to enterprize any part of your said office, in that so great and weighty cause pertaining to us, being your prince and sovereign, without our licence obtained so to do. And therefore, in your most humble wise ye supply unto us, in your said letters, to grant unto you our licence to proceed to the examination and final determination of the said cause, in exoneration of your conscience towards God; and for the satisfying of your bounden duty towards us, our realm, succession and posterity, in avoiding of the said inconvenience. And finally, in the end of your said letters, ye beseech us to pardon your boldness and rude writing in that said behalf, and to take the same in good sense and part as you do mean, calling God to your record, that only for the zeal you have to the premises, ye have written the said letters, and for none other intent, cause, or purpose. My Lord, where you write in the last part of your said letters, whereunto we make you first answer, that ye be moved only by the zeal you have to justice, and for the exoneration of your conscience against God, to write as you do unto us, we cannot of reason be discontented therewith, but condignly praise you therein, and for that we perceive that ye have such a good mind and fervent zeal to do justice according to your office, for the quieting of our realm, and for the excluding of such dangers and perils as be in your said letters mentioned; and also for putting our succession and posterity out of question, doubt, and uncertainty, we cannot but much commend and laud your good and virtuous intended purpose in that behalf. In consideration whereof, albeit we being your king and sovereign, do recognize no superior in earth, but only God, and not being subject to the laws of any other earthly creature; yet, because ye be under us by God's calling and ours, the most principal minister of our spiritual jurisdiction within this our realm, who we think assuredly is so in the fear of God, and love towards the observance of his laws, (to the which laws we, as Christian king, have always heretofore, and shall ever most obediently submit ourself) will not therefore refuse (our pre-eminence and authority to us and our successors in this behalf nevertheless saved) your humble request, offer, and towardness, that is to mean, to make an end according to the will and pleasure of Almighty God, in our said great cause of matrimony, which has so long depended (as our Saviour Christ knows) undetermined, to our great and grievous inquietness and burthen of our conscience. Wherefore we inclining to your humble petition, by these our letters sealed with our seal, and signed with our signmanual, do license you to proceed in the said cause, and to the examination and final determination of the same; not doubting but that you will have God and the justice of the said cause only before your eyes, and not to regard any earthly or worldly affection therein; for assuredly, the thing that we most covet in this world, is to proceed in all our acts and doings as may be most acceptable to the pleasure of Almighty God our Creator, and to the wealth and honour of us, our succession and posterity, and the surety of our realm and subjects within the same. XXV. The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham's Letter to the King: in which they report their message delivered to the Queen; and her answer upon the sentence of divorce, pronounced May 20th, 1533. Please it your Highness to understand, that this day we Paper-office. repaired to the princess dowager, and there I, the archbishop : of York, for an introduction, did declare to her the effect of our commission, and said to her 1st. That your Highness had often sent unto her divers of your counsel, and amongst them me one, to declare to her the invalidity of the marriage between your Highness and her. 2dly. That carnal knowledge, which is the great key of the matter, is sufficiently 16. proved in the law, as also some that were of her counsel do avow. 3rdly. That upon proof so sufficiently made of carnal knowledge, divorce was made between your Highness and her. 4thly. That upon divorce made by lawful sentence, she was admonished to leave the name of a queen, and not to account or call herself hereafter your Highness's wife. 5thly. How that after your Highness was discharged of the marriage made with her, you contracted new marriage with your dearest wife queen Anne. 6thly. That forasmuch as (thanked be God) fair issue is already sprung of this marriage, and more likely to follow by God's grace, that the whole body of the realm gathered together in parliament hath for the stablishment of this issue by your dearest wife queen Anne, and the succession coming of this marriage, made acts and ordinances against all them that would in word or in deed withstand them and that for these purposes we were sent unto her grace, to the intent she might understand the true purport of these acts with the pains, least by ignorance she should fall in any of them, and so I declared the act. Which things being thus declared unto her, she being upon it in great choler and agony, and always interrupting our words, to the aforesaid points made these answers following. To the 1st, that she took the matrimony between your Highness and her to be good, and so would always account herself to be your Highness's lawful wife; in which opinion, she said, she would continually till death persist. To the 2d, she utterly denied that ever carnal knowledge was had between her and prince Arthur, and that she would never confess the contrary; and with a loud voice, when mention was made of this point, she said, they lied falsely that so said. To the 3rd she answered, that she is not bound to stand to the divorce made by my lord of Canterbury, whom she called a shadow; and that although he had given sentence against her, yet the pope had given sentence with her, whom she took for Christ's vicar, and therefore would always obey him as his faithful daughter. To the 4th she answered, that she would never leave the name of a queen, and would always take herself for your Highness's wife. To the 5th she said, that this marriage, made after her appeal, which she made by your Highness's leave and consent, is of no value. To the 6th she answered, that she is not bound to the acts of parliament, forasmuch as she is your Highness's wife, and not sub ject to your Highness, and also because these acts were made by your Highness's subjects in your favour, your Highness being party in this matter, with diverse other unseeming words. Unto which her answer, I, the Bishop of Durham, replying, forasmuch as she had said in her communication, that both I and the residue of her counsel had always showed unto her that her matter was just and good, I said that all the question whereupon we were consulted at such time as the legates were here, depended only upon the validity of the bull and brief. Albeit I said, that sith that time divers other questions had risen, and had been debated by many universities, the chief of Christendom, of which one was Bononia, the pope's own town, and by them concluded, that after the decease of the brother who had carnal knowledge with his wife, the brother living might not marry the said wife by any dispensation of the pope, because it was forbidden by the law of God. And forasmuch as the pope (albeit the said conclusions have been by learned men sent from your Highness declared unto him) never made answer, to maintain lawfully his power to the contrary, but rather, in confirmation of the opinions of the said universities, said at Marsile, that if your Grace would send a proxie thither he would give the sentence for your Highness against her, because that he knew that the cause was good and just; which his saying was according also to an epistle decretal, sent hither by the legate Campegius, whereof the effect was, that if marriage and carnal knowledge was had betwixt prince Arthur and her, the legates should pronounce for the divorce, according whereunto proofs were brought in before the legates, and also since before the convocations of this realm and the bishops of Canterbury, and by them allowed and approved as sufficient and lawful; whereby it doth plainly appear that the sentence given by the pope to the contrary was not valeable, because it pronounced the dispensation, which he had no power to grant, seeing it was against the law of God, to be good, therefore I had now changed my former opinion, and exhorted her to do the semblable, and to forbear to usurp any more the name of a queen, specially for that the sentence which she sticketh so greatly unto, was given after your Grace's appeal to the council general, and intimate to the pope, so that it could not be valeable, and that if she would so do, she might thereby attain much quiet |