Part 11 (1/2)
[Footnote 341: _Ibid._, iv., 5412; for the freedom with which Cranmer in later days debated with Henry see the present writer's _Cranmer_, p. 169.]
[Footnote 342: _Ibid._, iii., 1659, 1772.]
[Footnote 343: _Ibid._, ii., 3673.]
[Footnote 344: _L. and P._, ii., 4257.]
[Footnote 345: _Ibid._, iii., 1220.]
[Footnote 346: _Ibid._, 1233.]
His book was finished before 21st May, 1521, when the King wrote to Leo, saying that ”ever since he knew Luther's heresy in Germany, he had made it his study how to extirpate it. He had called the learned of his kingdom to consider these errors and denounce them, and (p. 125) exhort others to do the same. He had urged the Emperor and Electors, since this pestilent fellow would not return to G.o.d, to extirpate him and his heretical books. He thought it right still further to testify his zeal for the faith by his writings, that all might see he was ready to defend the Church, not only with his arms, but with the resources of his mind. He dedicated therefore, to the Pope, the first offerings of his intellect and his little erudition.”[347] The letter had been preceded, on 12th May, by a holocaust of Luther's books in St. Paul's Churchyard. Wolsey sat in state on a scaffold at St. Paul's Cross, with the papal nuncio and the Archbishop of Canterbury at his feet on the right, and the imperial amba.s.sador and Tunstall, Bishop of London, at his feet on the left; and while the books were being devoured by the flames, Fisher preached a sermon denouncing the errors contained therein.[348] But it was July before the fair copy of Henry's book was ready for presentation to Leo; possibly the interval was employed by learned men in polis.h.i.+ng Henry's style, but the substance of the work was undoubtedly of Henry's authors.h.i.+p. Such is the direct testimony of Erasmus, and there is no evidence to indicate the collaboration of others.[349] Pace was then the most intimate of Henry's counsellors, and Pace, by his own confession, was not in the secret. Nor is the book so remarkable as to preclude the possibility of Henry's authors.h.i.+p. Its arguments are respectable and give evidence of an intelligent and fairly extensive acquaintance with the writings of the fathers and schoolmen; but they reveal no profound depth of theological learning nor genius for abstract speculation. It does (p. 126) not rank so high in the realm of theology, as do some of Henry's compositions in that of music. In August it was sent to Leo, with verses composed by Wolsey and copied out in the royal hand.[350] In September the English amba.s.sador at Rome presented Leo his copy, bound in cloth of gold. The Pope read five leaves without interruption, and remarked that ”he would not have thought such a book should have come from the King's grace, who hath been occupied, necessarily, in other feats, seeing that other men which hath occupied themselves in study all their lives cannot bring forth the like”.[351] On 2nd October it was formally presented in a consistory of cardinals; and, on the 11th, Leo promulgated his bull conferring on Henry his coveted t.i.tle, ”Fidei Defensor”.
[Footnote 347: _L. and P._, iii., 1297.]
[Footnote 348: _Ibid._, iii., 1273.]
[Footnote 349: F.M. Nichols, _Epistles of Erasmus_, p. 424; _L. and P._, iv., 5412.]
[Footnote 350: _L. and P._, iii., 1450.]
[Footnote 351: _Ibid._, iii., 1574, 1654, 1655, 1659.]
Proud as he was of his scholastic achievement and its reward at the hands of the Pope, Henry was doing more for the future of England by his attention to naval affairs than by his pursuit of high-sounding t.i.tles. His intuitive perception of England's coming needs in this respect is, perhaps, the most striking ill.u.s.tration of his political foresight. He has been described as the father of the British navy; and, had he not laid the foundations of England's naval power, his daughter's victory over Spain and entrance on the path that led to empire would have been impossible. Under Henry, the navy was first organised as a permanent force; he founded the royal dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford, and the corporation of Trinity House;[352] he encouraged the planting of timber for s.h.i.+pbuilding, enacted laws (p. 127) facilitating inland navigation, dotted the coast with fortifications, and settled the const.i.tution of the naval service upon a plan from which it has ever since steadily developed. He owed his inspiration to none of his councillors, least of all to Wolsey, who had not the faintest glimmering of the importance of securing England's naval supremacy, and who, during the war of 1522-23, preferred futile invasions on land to Henry's ”secret designs” for destroying the navy of France.[353] The King's interest in s.h.i.+ps and s.h.i.+pbuilding was strong, even amid the alluring diversions of the first years of his reign. He watched his fleet sail for Guienne in 1512, and for France in 1513; he knew the speed, the tonnage and the armament of every s.h.i.+p in his navy; he supervised the minutest details of their construction.
In 1520 his amba.s.sador at Paris tells him that Francis is building a s.h.i.+p, ”and reasoneth in this mystery of s.h.i.+pman's craft as one which had understanding in the same. But, sir, he approacheth not your highness in that science.”[354] A French envoy records how, in 1515, the whole English Court went down to see the launch of the _Princess Mary_. Henry himself ”acted as pilot and wore a sailor's coat and trousers, made of cloth of gold, and a gold chain with the inscription, 'Dieu _est_ mon droit,' to which was suspended a whistle, which he blew nearly as loud as a trumpet”.[355] The launch of a s.h.i.+p was then almost a religious ceremony, and the place of the modern bottle of champagne was taken by a ma.s.s, which was said by the Bishop of Durham.
In 1518 Giustinian tells how Henry went to Southampton to see the Venetian galleys, and caused some new guns to be ”fired again and (p. 128) again, marking their range, as he is very curious about matters of this kind”.[356]
[Footnote 352: _Ibid._, i., 3807. In 1513 an English consul was appointed at Scio (_ibid._, i., 3854).]
[Footnote 353: _L. and P._, iii., 1440; _cf.
ibid._, 2421.]
[Footnote 354: _Ibid._, iii., 748.]
[Footnote 355: _Ibid._, ii., 1113.]
[Footnote 356: _L. and P._, ii., 4232.]
It was not long before Henry developed an active partic.i.p.ation in serious matters other than theological disputes and naval affairs. It is not possible to trace its growth with any clearness because no record remains of the verbal communications which were sufficient to indicate his will during the constant attendance of Wolsey upon him.
But, as soon as monarch and minister were for some cause or another apart, evidence of Henry's activity in political matters becomes more available. Thus, in 1515, we find Wolsey sending the King, at his own request, the Act of Apparel, just pa.s.sed by Parliament, for Henry's ”examination and correction”.[357] He also desires Henry's determination about the visit of the Queen of Scotland, that he may make the necessary arrangements. In 1518 Henry made a prolonged stay at Abingdon, partly from fear of the plague, and partly, as he told Pace, because at Abingdon people were not continually coming to tell him of deaths, as they did daily in London. During this absence from London, Henry insisted upon the attendance of sufficient councillors to enable him to transact business; he established a relay of posts every seven hours between himself and Wolsey; and we hear of his reading ”every word of all the letters” sent by his minister.[358] Every week Wolsey despatched an account of such State business as he had transacted; and on one occasion, ”considering the importance of Wolsey's letters,”
Henry paid a secret and flying visit to London.[359] In 1519 there was a sort of revolution at Court, obscure enough now, but then a (p. 129) subject of some comment at home and abroad. Half a dozen of Henry's courtiers were removed from his person and sent into honourable exile, receiving posts at Calais, at Guisnes, and elsewhere.[360] Giustinian thought that Henry had been gambling too much and wished to turn over a new leaf. There were also rumours that these courtiers governed Henry after their own appet.i.te, to the King's dishonour; and Henry, annoyed at the report and jealous as ever of royal prestige, promptly cas.h.i.+ered them, and filled their places with grave and reverend seniors.
[Footnote 357: _Ibid._, ii., 1223.]
[Footnote 358: _Ibid._, ii., 4060, 4061, 4089.]
[Footnote 359: _L. and P._, ii., 4276.]
[Footnote 360: _Ven. Cal._, ii., 1220, 1230; _L.
and P._, iii., 246, 247, 249, 250. Francis I.