The Practice of Prelates, Part 14 – Part 17
¶The practise of oure tyme.
WHen the Kynges grace came fyrste to the ryghte of the croune and vntounto the Gouernaunce of the Royalme yōg & vnexpert,Thoms wof…e. Thomas wolf…e a man of lust & courage, and bodelie strength to do ād to suffer great thinges / and to endure in al maner of voluptuousnes, expert a…d exercysed in y• course of the worlde, as he which had hard, red & sene much policie & had done many thynges him selfe / and had bene of the secrete councell of weyghtye maters, as so…e as symon that betraaed troye, vtterly apoynted to semble and dissemble, to hauehave one thynge in the harte / and an other in the mouth, beynge therto as eloquēt as sotle & able to persuade what he lusted to thē that were vnexpert: so desyrous and gredye of honoure / that he cared not but for the nexte and most compendious waye therto, whether godlie or vngodlie: this wylye wolf I saye / ād ragynge sea and shypwracke of all England, though he shewed him selfe pleasaūt and calme at the fyrst (as hores do vntounto theyr louers) came vntounto ye kinges grace and wayted vppō him, and was no man so obsequious and seruiceable / and in all games and sportes the fyrst and next at hand and as a captayne to courage other ād a g… ye fynder out of newe pastimes to obtayne fauour with all.
And therto as the secrete communicacion wēt, which by many tokens thou mayst well coniecture and gather to be true,Bisshopes calke kings natiuities. he calked the kinges natiuiti… ād birth, whiche is a comen practise amonge prelates, in all landes, wherby he sawe wherunto the kynges grace shuld be enclined all his lyfe, ād what shuld be lyke to chaunce him at all times. And as I hard it spoken of diuerse, he made by crafte of nicromancye, grauen Imagery to beare vppon hym, wherwith he bewitched the kinges mynde, ād made the kinge to dote vponupon him more then euer he dyd on any lady or gentil woman / so that nowe the kinges grace followed him, as he before folowed the king. And then what he sayde, that was wysdome, what he praysed, that was honourable only. Moreouer in the meantime he spied out y• naturs and disposicyons of the kinges playe felowes, and of all that were greate, ād whō he spyed mere for his purposse, him he flattered, & hym he made faythfull wyth great promyses, & to hym he sware, & of hym he toke an oth agayne that the one shulde helpe ye other for wythout a secret oth, he admytted no man vntounto any parte of hys pryuities.
And euer as he grewe in promociōs & dignitie, so gathered he vntounto him of ye most subtle wytted, & of thē that were dronke in the desyre of honour most lyke vntounto hīself And after they were sworne / he promoted thē, and wyth great ꝓmyses, made them in falshed faithfull: & of them euer presented vntounto the kyngs grace, & put thē into his seruyce, saying: thys is a man mete for youre grace. And by these spyes (if oughte weare done or spokē in the court,The kinge is betrayed agaīst y• cardinall) of y• he had woorde within an houre or two. And thē came the cardinall to court with all hys magike, to persuade ye contrary. If any in the court had spokē against ye Cardinall, ād the same not great in the kinges fauour / the Cardinall bad hym walke a villayne, and thrust hym out of the courte headlong. If he were in conceyte wych the kynges grace, thē he flattered, & persuaded and corrupt sōme wt gyftes, and sente som Ambassadours, and some he made Captaines at Calais, Hāmes, Gynes, Iernsey & Gersey, or sent them to Irlande & into the north, and so occupyed them tyll the kynge … forgottē them and other were in theyr rowmes / or tyll he had spyed what they e…tended.
And in lyke maner played he with the ladyes and gentyll women.the quene … betraied Whosoeuer of them was great, with her, was he familiar and to her gaue he giftes▪ Yea: and where saynt Thomas of caūterburie was wont to com after, Thomas Cardinall wē … oft before / preuentynge hys prince and peruerted the order of the holte man. Yf any were subtyll witted and mete for his porpose, hi… made he sworn to betray ye quene likewise… …nd to tell hym what she sayde or dyd. I know one that departed the court for none other Cause then that she wolde no long… betraye her mastresse.
And after ye same example he furnishe… ye court with chapelains of his owne sworne disciples & childrē of hys owne bryngīg vp, to be alwaie present ād to dyspute of vanityes and to water what soeuer the Cardinall had planted. Yf among those cormora… ̄t…s any yet begā to be to much ī fauour wyth the Kynge, and to be somwhat busye in the Court, and to drawe any other waye then as my lord Cardinall had appoynted / that the Plowe shulde goo, a nonne he was sent to Italye or to SPAINE: or some quarel was picked against him and so was …ust out of the court, as stokesly was.
He promoted the bysshop of Lyncolne that now is,the bisshop of Lincoln his most faythful frende & old companyon / and made hym conf…ssour: to whom, of what soeuer ye kinges grace shro…e him self, think ye not that he spake so loude that the Cardinall herde it? and not vnryght: for as Gods creatures ought to obeye God and serue his honoure, so ough… the popes creatures to obeye the pope & se… ue hys magestie?
Finally Thomas wolfse became what he wolde, euen porter of heauen, so that no man coulde entre into promocion, but thorow him.
¶The cause of all that we hauehave suffred thys twentye yeares.
ABoute the beginning of the Kynges grace that now is / fraūce was mightie / so y• I suppose it was not myghtier thys fyue hundred yeares. Kynge Lewes of Fraunce had wonne Naples / and had taken Bonony from sainct Peters s….king lewes Wherfore Pope Iuly was wroth ād castPope Iuly how to bring the frenchmen doune, yet soberly lest whyle he brought hym lower / he shulde geue an occasyon to lyft vp the Emperour hyer. Our first viage into Spayne was to brīg ye frenchmen lower. For our meyney were set in the forefronte and borders of spayne towarde Gaskayne: partly to kepe those parties, and partly to feare y• Gascaynes, & to kepe them at home whyle in the meane tyme the Spanyardes wan Nauerne. When Nauerne was wonne our men came to howse as manye as dyed not there, ād brought all there money with them home agayn / saue that they spend there. How beit for all the losse of Nauerne ye frenchmen were yet able ynough to match Spayne, the Uenecians ād the Pope with all the Zwytzers that he coulde make: so yt there was yet no remedye but we must set on ye frēchmē also, if they shuld be brought out of Italy.
Then pope Iuly wrote vntounto hys deare sonne Thomas wolfse that he wold be as good / as louynge and as helpynge to holye church / as any Thomas euer was / seyng he was as able.the newe Thomas. Then the newe Thomas as glorious as the old / toke the mater in hā de and persuaded the kinges grace. And …hen the kinges grace toke a dyspensatyon for hys othe made vppon the apoyntment of peace betwene him and the French king and promysed to helpe the holy seate where in Pope Peter neuer sate. But the Emperour Maximilian myght in no wyse stand still lest the frenchmen shuld money hym, & get ayde of hym / seynge the Almaynes refuse not money whēce soeuer it be profered then quod Thomas wolfse,Maximli… Oh and lyke youre grace / what an honoure shulde it be vntounto youre grace if the emperour were youre sodyare? So greate honoure neuer chaunced any kyng christened. It shulde be spoken of while the world stode. The glory & honour shall hyde and darken the coste that it shall neuer be sene, though it shulde coste halfe youre realme. Dixit & factum est, it was euen so. And thē a parliament: and then paye: and then vponupon the Frenche dogges▪ with cleane remission of all his sinnes, that slew one of them,Remision of synnes▪ or if he be slayn (for the pardons▪ hauehave no strēgh to saue in thys life, but in the lyfe to come only) thē to heauen strayght wythout felynge of y• paynes of purgatorye.
Then cam oure kyne with all hys might, by se and by lande, and the Emperour / wyth a strong army and the Spanyardes and the pope & the Uenecyans all at once against king Lewes of fraunce. As sone as the pope had that he desyred in Italy, then peace immediatlye. And frenchmen were chrysten men / and pytie, yea and great synne also were it to sheade their bloud / and ye frenchkinge was the most chrysten kyng agayne. And thus was peace concluded and oure Inglyshmen or rather shepe came home against winter and lefte theyr fleces behynde them. Wherfore no smal number of them, whyle they sought them better raymente at home, were hanged for theyr laboure.
¶Why the kinges syster was turned vntounto fraunce.
WHen this peace was made, oure holye Cardynalles and Bysshoppes (as their olde Gyse is to calke and caste .xl▪ L. yea an hundred yeare before what is lyke to chaunce vntounto theyr kingdome) considered how the Emperour y• now is, was moost like to be chosen Emperour after hys graundfather Maximilian / for Maximilian had already obteyned of dyuerie of the ELECTOURS that is shulde so be.
They cōsidered olso howe mightye he shuld be: first, Kyng of Spayn wt all that perteyneth therto, wc was wont to be v.vi or .vij. kyngdōs: then Duke of Burgoyne Earle of Flaūders, of Hollande / Zelande / and Braband, wyth all that parteine therto: then Emperour, ād hys brother Duke of Austrych / and hys sister quene of Hungrye. Wherfor thought our prelates, if we take not hede betymes / oure kyngdome is lyke to be troubled & we to be brought vnderunder the fete. For thys mā shalbe so myghty that he shall wt power take out of ye french kynges handes, out of the hādes of the Uenetians / and frō the Pope also, what soeuer parteyneth vntounto the empyre / ād what soeuer belongeth vntounto hys other kyngdōs and dommions therto. And then he wyll come to Rome and be crouned there, and so shall he ouerlooke our holye father and see what he doth. And then shall the olde heretykes ryse vp agayne & say that the Pope is Antichryste, and styrre vp agayne, and bryng to lyght that we hauehave hyd & brogh… a slepe with muche cost, payne and bloudeshedyng more then thys hundred yere longe. Considred also that hys aunte is quene of England, and hys wyfe the king of Englāds sister, consydred ye old amitie betwene ye house of burgom, & ye old kinges of ēglōd so yt they coulde neuer do ought ī fraūce wt out theyr helpe: & last of all cōsidered yt course of marchaūdise y• īglād hath ī those parties / & also ye naturall hart yt ēglishmē bear to frēchmē. Wherfore if we shall vse oure old practyse, and set the french king agaynst hym: Then he shall lyghtelye obtayne the fauour of the king of Ingland by the meanes of hys Aunte and hys wyfe, and ayde wyth men and money. Wherfore we must take hede betimes and breake thys amytie Whych thinge we maye by thys oure olde craft / …easely bringe to passe. Let vsus take a dispensation & breake thys maryage, and turne the kinges sister vntounto ye French king Yf the frenche Kynge,Practyse. gette a male of her. then we shall lyghtly make our kyngepro, tectoure of fraunce / and so shall Inglande and Fraunce be coupled together, and as for the quene of Inglande, we shall trymme her well ynough, and occupye the kynge with straunge louelove / and kepe her that she shall beare no rule. And as the godd…s had spoken so it came to passe. Our fayre yong doughter, was sent vntounto the old pocky king of fraunce / the yeare before our mortall ēnemye and a myscreaunt / worse then a Turke / and disobedient vntounto oure holy Father, and no more obedient yet then he was cō pelled to be against his wyll.
The cause of the iourney to Calyce.
IN shorte space thereafter Thomas wolfse / now Cardinall and Legate a latere and greatlye desyrous to be Pope also / thought it exceading expedient / for his many secrete purposes to bring our Kyng and the Kyng of Fraunce that now is together: both to make a perpetual peace and amitie betwene them, and that (whyle the two kynges and their lordes dalyed together) the greate cardinalles and Bisshoppes of both parties, mighte becraye them both / and the Emperour and all Chrysten kinges therto.
Then he made a iourney of gentelmen arayed all together in sylk, so much as th…ir very showes and lynynge of theyr boutes, much more lyke their mothers then mē of warre: yea I am sure y• many of theyr mothers wolde hauehave bene ashamed of so ny… and wanton aray: how beit they went not to make war but peace for euer and a daye longer. But to speake of the Pompouse apparell of my lorde hym selfe and of hys chaplaynes, it passeth the .xij. apostles. I dare swere that if Peter and Paule had sene them sodenly ād at a blush / they wold hauehave bene harder in beleue that they or any such shuld be theyr successours / then Thomas …dimus was to beleue yt Chryst was rysen agayne from death.
When all was concluded betwene the kyng of Fraunce and ours, that Thomas wolf…e had deuised / and when the prelates of both parties had cast theyr peny worthes agaynst all chaunces and deuysed remedyes for all mischeues· Then the ryght reuerend father in God Thomas cardinall ād Lega…, wolde go se the young Emperoure newlye chosen vntounto the roume, and hauehave a certayne secrete communicacion wyth some of his prelates also. And gatte him to bridges in Flaunders,Prelates where he was receaued with great solempnitie as belongeth vntounto so mighty a pyllar of Christes church, and was saluted at the entering into the toune of a mery felow which sayd, salue rex regis tui atque regni sui.saluta…io… ▪ … Hayle both kyng of the king and also of his realme. And thogh there were neuer so great stryfe betwene the Emperoure and the French kynge / yet my lorde Cardynall iugled hym fauour of them both / and fynally brought the Emperour to Calays, vntounto the kinges grace, where was great tryumphe / and great louelove / & amytie shewed on both parties in so much that certayne men maruelynge at it, asked the olde bisshope of Deram. How it might be that we were so great with the Emperour so shortlye vppon so stronge and euer lastinge a peace made betwene vsus and the frenchmen, the Emp…rour and the kyng of Fraunce being so mortall ennemyes? My lorde answered that it might be wel inough if he wist al.A certeine secret. But there was a certayn secret sayd he, wherof all men knew not. Yea verely / they hauehave had secretes this .viij hundred yeares, which, though all the laye mē hauehave felt thē, yet fewe hauehave spyed them, saue a few Iudases whiche for lucre hauehave bene cōfederate wyth them, to betray their owne kinges and all other.
Then were we indifferent & slode still. And the Emperoure and the French kyng wrastled together. And Ferdinandus the Emperours brother wanne Mylane of y• frenchmen / and the Emperour turnay our greate conqueste whiche yet after so greate coste in Buyldynge a Castell,Milane. Turnay. we delyuered vp agayne vntounto the frenchmen in ernest ād hope of a mariage betwene the dolphine & our princesse.