Henry VIII: May 1533, 21-25 | British History Online

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6, 1533. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1882.

'Henry VIII: May 1533, 21-25', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6, 1533, (London, 1882) pp. 228-234. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol6/pp228-234 [accessed 20 April 2024]

May 1533, 21-25



[21 May.] R. O.	516. Christopher Hales to Cromwell. Mr. Crips of Thanet, whose son is the bearer, is warned to take up knighthood. He is aged, and of little health. Because he is my friend, and has no acquaintance with you, I have written, praying you to let him know his penance and be despatched. Gray's Inn, Ascension Eve. Hol., p. 1. Add. : Councillor. Endd.
21 May. Add. MS. 28,585, f. 254. B. M.	517. Card. of Jaen to Covos. P.S. to a letter from Rome, 21 May 1533. If the Emperor presses the Pope not to meet the French king, he will not go. In the English affair the Pope thinks proceeding by arms will be a serious matter, but if he lets loose (alargea) his censures, the Emperor must answer, as he is bound to do. Sp., pp. 2. Modern copy.
22 May. Galba, B. X. 40. B. M. Ellis, 2 Ser. II. 43.	518. John [Coke], (fn. 1) Secretary to the Merchants Ad[venturers,] to Cromwell. A naughty person of Antwerp came to Barowe this Pasche Marte, with im[ages] and pictures in cloth for sale, amongst them the picture of the King. When he set it upon the burse to sell, he pinned on it a wench made of cloth, holding a pair of balances in her hands ; in one balance was figured two hands together, and in the other a feather, with a scripture over her head saying that love was lighter than a feather. This pleased the Spaniards and others of the Dutch nation, who jested and spoke opprobrious words against the King and Queen. When I told the scowte, borowmaisters, and skepyns of it, they sent for the person and examined him. He said he meant no harm, but a Spaniard unknown to him asked him to let it stand and he should be borne out. They commanded him not to do the like again on pain of forfeiture of his merchandise and further punishment. Bar[owe], 22 May 1533. Hol., p. 1, mutilated. Add.
22 May. R. O.	519. Christopher Lord Conyers to Cromwell. I have received the King's letters by Dr. Leghton to pay for the fruits of Rudby 300l. received by me, or else appear and make my excuse. I am willing to pay all money that is come to my hands from the same, on a sure discharge, although I am at this time greatly visited by my old disease, and not well furnished with money. Though I have told Dr. Leghton I am ready to come up and pay my duty, nevertheless, as I have received two letters from the King to wait upon my lord of Northumberland with such power as I can make upon any invasion of the king of Scots into the Borders, I beg to be excused. I will not fail to send up my counsel at the beginning of next term sufficiently authorised and instructed. Horneby, 22 May. Signed. P. 1. Add. : Of the Council.
22 May. R. O.	520. John Lord Scrope to Cromwell. Is bound to Cromwell next his prince for his manifold kindness. Sent lately a servant with a writing touching such of the King's lands as he should have for years. Delivered the letter which Cromwell wrote in his favor to the abbot of St. Mary's, York, that he might be steward of their lands in Yorkshire. The Abbot will neither utterly grant nor deny it, for he says the lord Conyers has a grant of it for life. Begs Cromwell will write again to give him the reversion of it under their convent seal. His uncle Sir Thos. Clyfforth, and his servant the bearer, will wait upon Cromwell for these matters. York, 22 May. Signed. P. 1. Add. : To the right worshipful master, Thomas Crumwell, councillor to our sovereign lord the King's Highness.
[22 May.] R. O.	521. Sir W. Courteney to Cromwell. Received the King's letter, desiring his attendance at the Queen's coronation. Hunting yesterday with Humphrey Prydeux and Roger Gyfford, had a fall from his horse, and hurt his leg, which he hurt lately in London. Cannot ride without great pain. Is at the furthest part of the shire, and knows not when he shall be able to get home. Begs to be excused to the King. Asks his favor for John Copleston of Copleston, who is ordered to take up his knighthood. He has not been able to ride these seven years. Yollston, Ascension Day. Signed : By your brother, W. Courtenay. Hol., p. 1. Add. : Right worshipful.
22 May. Add. MS. 28,585, f. 257. B. M.	522. Cardinal of Jaen to Charles V. Has been kept at home by illness until today, Ascension Day. After mass went to dine with the Pope, and talked about the interview with the French king and the affairs of England. Knowing that he was waiting to hear the Emperor's opinion, said that the King's conduct was the most scandalous thing that had been seen in our times, and none of the present heresies were to be compared with it. The Pope spoke of the King's divorce, but there were really two, as he had repudiated both the Church and his wife. It rested with him alone to apply the necessary remedy, and the delay which he desired was prejudicial to the conscience and honor both of his Holiness and the Sacred College. Silence or dissimulation would cause many, both in England and elsewhere, to think that there might be some justice in what the King had done. He asked me what I should do in his place. Replied that he ought to hold God before his eyes, and, taking counsel of lawyers, make a declaratoria annulling what had been done, and ordering them (Henry and Anne) to separate from bed and board ; and then to cause the principal case to be proceeded with in the Rota without more delay. He said he would speak to the Cardinals to see what could and should be done. I have advised the count of Cifuentes to apply to the Cardinals. Not knowing your Majesty's wishes about the interview I have not said anything in your name. Rome, 22 May 1533.
23 May. Lanz, II. 66.	523. Charles V. to Ferdinand of Hungary. I wrote on the 12th what I had learned about the marriage (l'esposement) of the king of England to Anne Boleyn. I have since received letters from my ambassador, by which you will see that the said marriage is accomplished, and that the King holds her as his wife and queen of England. Although the injury done to the Queen and Princess is extreme, and there is little hope of bringing Henry to reason, considering the delays and subterfuges used by him and the Pope, yet after careful consideration it has been thought best to persist in the demand for justice, as you will see by the copy of our despatches to Rome and England ; and that you also should send some one to Rome to urge the matter. I write also to the king of Portugal to do the like. * Barcelona, 23 May 1533. Fr.
23 May. Camusat, 128.	524. The Bailly of Troyes to Francis I. The king of England desires him to suggest to Francis that he ought to inform the Germans about the interview with the Pope, lest they should suspect something would be arranged to their prejudice. He has heard from his ambassador in France that Francis thinks that the late statute forbidding appeals to Rome in matrimonial cases may hinder the interview, and render it more difficult. He says he was forced to it by the unjust censures issued against him by the Pope, who has acted not like a judge or a party, but an enemy, as Norfolk will explain more fully. Sends a copy of grievances, which the King gave him. The archbishop of Canterbury is at work on the King's great affair, to decide whether the other queen is his wife or no. Expects the sentence in three days. Asked that it might be delayed till the Pope's arrival at Nice, which was refused ; and then that it might be kept secret until he had met the French king ; which the King said was impossible, for it must be published before the Queen's coronation, which will take place on Whitsunday. He does not wish the Pope to give a sentence, or do anything to cause discussion about the inheritance of the child of which the Queen is pregnant. He intends the child, if a son, to be the sole heir of the kingdom. The sentence of the archbishop of Canterbury must therefore precede any other that may be given by the Pope. He said also that it would be more honorable for the Pope to consent to the Archbishop's sentence than to give it himself, considering how he has acted. Norfolk "ne s'y trouve moins empesch que moy," as he can show the French king when he sees him. Fr. Headed : Copie d'une lettre escripte au Roy par M. le Bailly de Troyes, du 23 May 1533.
23 May. R. O.	525. John Tregonwell to Cromwell. My lord of Canterbury gave sentence this day at 11 o'clock in the great cause of matrimony ; has declared it to be against the law of God, and has divorced the King from the noble lady Katharine. He has used himself in this matter very honorably, and all who have been sent hither on the King's behalf have acted diligently and towardly. Sentence shall be given for the King's second contract of matrimony before the Feast of Pentecost. The process is partly devised. 23 May. Hol., p. 1. Add. : Of the Council. Endd.
23 May. R. O.	526. Thomas Bedyll to Cromwell. Sentence of divorce was given this day, 23 May, at 10 a.m., in open court, without contradiction. I have written this that you may signify it to the King if you be at court, that the King may have knowledge of it to his satisfaction. This day was appointed for the sentence at the last court. The King's commands, written to the Archbishop by Thirleby, were declared to my company here and to me, and we have done as much as the shortness of the time will allow. My servant comes post, having new horses at St. Alban's and Barnet. Dunstable, 23 May, after 10 o'clock a.m. Hol., p. 1. Add. : Of the Council.
23 May. Otho, C. X. 166 b. B. M. Pocock's Records, II. 476.	527. Thos. Bedyll to [Cromwell]. Sends the acts of 17 May. Cromwell has now all except this day's acts. Sends copy of the articles and of the sentence, collated with the original ; also answer of the King's proctor, to be shown to the King. I think the sentence will please the King's Grace very well, for it is much better now than when it was first devised, and ye know who amended it. Dunstable, 23 May. Hol., p. 1.
23 May. R. O. St. P. I. 396. Cranmer's Letters, 243.	528. Cranmer to Henry VIII. Today, 23 May, I have given sentence in your great and weighty cause. I send a copy thereof by the bearer, Ric. Watkyns. As I was advertised by the letters of Mr. Thurlesbye, your chaplain, that it was your pleasure that I should cause your counsel to conceive a procuracy concerning the second marriage, I have sent the letters to them, and required them to act accordingly. I desire to know your pleasure concerning the second matrimony as soon as you and your counsel are perfectly resolved therein, for the time of the coronation is so near at hand that the matter requires good expedition. Dunstaple, 23 May. Signed. P. 1. Add. Endd.
Harl. MS. 6,148, f. 4 b. B. M.	2. Copy of the same from Cranmer's letter book.
Lansd. MS. 1,045, f. 57. B. M.	3. Copy of the same by Strype.
R. O. Rym. XIV. 462.	529. The Divorce. Notification of the sentence (fn. 2) of divorce between Hen. VIII. and Katharine of Arragon pronounced by archbishop Cranmer. Dated in the monastery of Dunstable, 23 May 1533. Present, Gervase prior of the said monastery, Simon Haynes, S.T.P., John Newman, M.A., and others. Two copies ; one badly and the other slightly mutilated.
Pocock, II. 481.	2. Part of the articles exhibited before Cranmer at Dunstable in favor of the divorce. Lat.
Arundel MS. 151, f. 342. B. M.	3. Proceedings of the court held before Cranmer at Dunstable, 10, 12, 16, 17, and 23 May. Copy, pp. 20.
R. O.	4. Opinion touching Katharine's jointure. The matrimony between the King and the lady Katharine being dissolved by sufficient authority, all pactions made for the same marriage are also dissolved and of none effect. That is, the jointure shall return again to the King's use, and the money paid to him by her friends shall be repaid to her. The matrimony being dissolved, the lady Katharine shall return to the commodity and profits of the first matrimony, and the pactions of the same, made with prince Arthur, and shall enjoy the jointure assigned to her thereby, notwithstanding any quittance or renunciation made in the second pact. For as these renunciations were agreed unto for a sure trust and hope to enjoy the commodities and pactions of the second marriage, which now she cannot enjoy, unless without fault she should be deprived of both, equity and right restore her to the first. This, we think, by our poor learning, to be according both to canon and civil law, unless there are any other treaties and pactions which we have not seen. For the more clear declaration hereof, we think that when a matrimony is dissolved, if there is no paction of a further bond, then by law the money paid by the woman or her friends shall be restored to her, and the jointure return to the man and his heirs. In this case there is an especial pact that she shall enjoy her jointure durante vita, so that the said jointure is due to her by the pact, and the money paid by her and her friends by the law. In Sampson's hand, pp. 2. Endd. : A dissolution to be made of the matrimony of the lady Katharine, dowager, with the jointure thereto belonging, and restitution to the jointure had by prince Arthur.
R. O.	5. An argument to prove that the Pope cannot lawfully excommunicate the king of England on account of the divorce. Lat., pp. 14. In the same hand as the preceding. Begins : "Apostolus mutuam." Ends : "excommunicari non posse, exploratum est."
Vesp. B. V. B. M. Pocock, I. 336.	530. Book on the Divorce. Supposed to be by archbishop Cranmer. On the flyleaf is written "Thomas Cantuarien'," but not in Cranmer's hand. The words "Elenchus contentorum in hoc volumine" are in a Jacobean hand. The volume itself is neither in Cranmer's hand, nor in that of his usual secretary, but in an Italian hand. (fn. 3) Many passages are marked with a line in the margin. Lat., pp. 180.
R. MS. 10 B.I. B. M.	2. Another copy in the same handwriting, handsomely bound in gilt edges and velvet cover, being the original binding in which it was presented to the King. Lat., pp. 178.
R. O.	3. Twelve articles, nearly corresponding to the 12 headings of the above treatise, in the same hand. Lat., pp. 2. Endd.
Calig. B. III. 296. B. M.	531. Instructions to the English Ambassador at Rome. ... "hostility with us, who, being in pretense so near, should neither in our life be pleasant unto us, ne after our death, being a Scot, acceptable unto our subjects and realm ;" so, to disappoint his hopes, other heirs of our body were requisite. Considering how long he has trodden the maze and labyrinth of the laws of the world, the Pope will not be surprised that for weariness and faintness he has stepped to the end at once,that he has trusted to the Pope's clemency for forgiveness rather than venture his soul and realm. The ambassador is to declare to the Pope that what is done cannot be undone, and it remains for the Pope to show whether he will be grateful for what Henry has done in past times, that if otherwise it is better he should have, as the law says, leaden feet, and deliberate till their mutual friends can meet : that in the late session of Parliament an Act against appeals was passed, which he is to explain to the Pope as not intended against his authority, unless for the nones he so take it, but to prevent frivolous delays. Sends herewith certain information and authorities in support of the said matter. Is to use the cardinals of F ... or any other he thinks good. Draft in Wriothesley's hand, pp. 4. Imperfect.
24 May. R. O.	532. Sir Brian Tuke to [Cromwell]. William Symonds brought me, as from my lord of Norfolk, a letter of the King's, directed to my lady marquess Dorset, which I have sent to her ; and she, supposing I was privy to the contents, sent me a letter begging to be excused. As you probably know the matter I send her letter to you. I send also the warrant for the diets of my lord of Norfolk and the rest of his company. London, 24 May 1533. Hol., p. 1. Endd.
24 May. R. O.	533. John Hornyold, Receiver, and John Combes, Understeward, to Anthony Bonvix. Nich. Poyntz, high steward to the Bishop in Gloucestershire, without the consent of his Lordship's officers, and to his Lordship's prejudice, holds courts, and lets the lands, and takes fines at his pleasure. The tenants are much annoyed, and will pay no rent. And whereas at this progress 60l. were to be received from six lordships in Gloucestershire : not a penny has been paid, as Mr. Walter Knyght, surveyor, can inform you. It will be expedient that you move Mr. Cromwell for redress in the premises. One of these lordships is more profitable to the Bishop than any other. Worcester, 24 May. Signed. P. 1. Add.
24 May. Granvelle Papers, II. 30.	534. Charles V. to his Ambassador in France. Since his last, touching the marriage of Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, has received letters from his ambassadors, stating that it has certainly taken place, and that the Queen has been forbidden to call herself Queen, and the Princess to write to her, &c. The people of England are scandalised at the King's barbarity. Is to show these things to Francis, and urge him as a Christian prince, and as related to Katharine by his wife, to denounce this marriage, or at least not to countenance it in any way or interfere with justice. He is also to deliver the Emperor's letters to the Queen, and urge her to use her best efforts in the matter. De Leyva writes that Montferrat is reduced all but Alba. Barcelona, 24 May 1533. Fr.
25 May. R. O.	535. Henry VIII. to the Customers, &c. of London. Orders them to demand neither customs nor subsidies for three gold rings set with great table diamonds, and five pieces of arras of gold, containing 56 Flemish ells, which the King has bought of John Lengrant, his jeweller, and of which he has given him the custom and subsidy. Greenwich 25 May 25 Hen. VIII. Not signed. P. 1. Add.
25 May. R. O.	536. Thomas Lord Lawarr to Cromwell. Have me in remembrance touching certain lands which I ought to have, but unless the King aids me I shall not obtain. I am willing to surrender my rights to the King, if he will lend me on security 500l. or 600l. for five or six years, and bring me out of the danger I am in. There is never a poor lord in England has been more sorely charged than I have been, with the little land I have. I will content you for your pains. From my poor house, 25 May. Signed. P. 1. Add. : To my very good friend, Mr. Cromwell.
25 May. R. O.	537. Thos. Pallmer to Lord Darcy. He will perceive on Tuesday next that they are at length at a good point in the matter of Rothwell. Hopes to be with him on that day, and to bring "our great book" under the Great Seal of England, and also a privy seal for Robt. Burton and his fellows, and an attachment for four of the principal offenders to appear in the next term in the Duche Chamber at Westminster. Hears nothing about "them of Leeds," but will follow his Lordship's instructions in the matter sent by Parker. All his Lordship's money is gone, and Pallmer must have 20s. for writing the great book in the Chancery and the seal, 20s. for the attachment and privy seal, and 14s. for the examination of those 14 persons in the Fleet (my father saith, if it were not for your Lordship he would have 2s. for every person examined), and 15d. for the copy of Mr. Leigh's examination. Asks that 3l. may be sent tomorrow. Cannot do with less. 25 May. Hol., p. 1. Add. : To the right honorable, &c. Lord Darcy, &c. Mortlake. Endd. : Mem. The 3l. sent to Palmer by Parker, 25 May a^o 25.