Pole was the King’s cousin, through the Plantagent side, and enjoyed wide influence with him when they were younger, until Henry split with the church. Henry personally paid for Pole’s education and was highly insulted when Pole chose his loyalty to Rome over that of the King. It enraged him even further when Pole publicly denounced both the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Succession from 1534. He railed against both of these religious policies, inflaming Catholics across the land. He stood as a rare beacon of hope for the Catholic faithful; they looked to Pole as an Activist to restore England to its true faith. Given his rare connection to the King, his message was not only inspirational but drew an audience that irritated Henry. When the King had been told of Pole’s insolence, he immediately sent for his arrest, but Pole also had valuable court connections and was given advanced warning to leave England immediately or risk losing his head.
Pole left in the middle of the night using friends to escape to various parts of Europe. When Henry found out that Pole had escaped and, worse, that the royal guards were unable to locate him, the King put a bounty on Pole’s head; upon an eventual capture, Pole would be put to death under the Treasons Act of 1535. For a period of time Sir Francis Bryan, another of the King’s cousins who was known for his mercenary tactics, traced Pole all over Europe in an attempt to capture him and bring him back home. He was never caught. While on the run Pole found sanctuary through an extensive network of Catholic sympathizers throughout Europe.
Paul III declared him a true Prince of the church, making him a Cardinal, understanding the potential benefits Pole could bring to the church. The Pope saw Pole as a possible mediator between the church and the people of England, possibly even as a mediator to Henry, once the King’s anger had subsided. The Pope disregarded Pole’s fugitive status and instead encouraged him to continue his cause. Cromwell’s agents were informed of Pole’s involvement with the Vatican, yet English agents were not able to successfully apprehend him. Cromwell refrained as much as possible from detailing Pole’s activity to the King, knowing it would well anger him.
Official findings of the papal commission were concluded in mid-1537 and presented to Paul III in the summer of that year. The results of the finding were not surprising. The church had squandered vast sums of money on building projects, namely restoration. The tithings of Europe and indulgence fees brought in most of the millions sitting on the books. The rest of the money came from wealthy benefactors of the church, with every coin desperately needed to avoid deficit and subsequent reductions of staff. Only a small amount of revenue came from vestments, licenses, and charges for blessings.
The church had been through financial hardships before, but the sudden loss of English revenue hit the Vatican hard. The church quickly found itself in deficit by the equivalent of over 450,000 pounds in current prices. For obvious reasons, the church needed to conceal the findings of this project, should it be released it would only fuel anti-Catholic resentment and validate the heretics’ complaints. At the same time, the Pope needed an accurate representation of where his finances stood if he was going to make any genuine improvements. There were those in the curia who were against reforms of any kind and criticized Paul, saying that he was giving into the reformer’s rhetoric by checking their books. Paul disregarded his own Cardinals’ judgment and continued with the inquiry. Based on the findings, the Pope would order drastic changes to how income was spent including, if necessary, reducing palace renovations and the purchase of the massively expensive works of art and sculpture that the Vatican had became known for.
Although the work was ordered secret, a servant in the house of the clerk of Cardinal Cortese, one of the original commission members, leaked the document. It was rumored that Cortese himself had intentionally released the document, but an investigation would ultimately deem that rumor false. Cortese had strong inner convictions against the financial misbehavior of his Church, viewing it as the singular reason for the punishment of the reformation. His staunch views led to what amounted to administrative discipline for such carelessness with church property, but he retained his Cardinalship at the insistence of Paul III. Once the findings were made public later that year, Martin Luther publicly admonished them and used the results as vindication to his followers. Other reformers were conflicted about the findings and some even alleged conspiracy theories that this was nothing short of a stunt to entice followers that the church had changed. None of that proved to be accurate.
Unlike his predecessor, this Pope well understood that Henry would not be returning to the Catholic faith. Instead of extending the proverbial olive branch to Henry, the Pope would be confrontational with England. He was outraged at the harsh tactics the English monarchy had used in closing the monasteries, along with the executions of several high profile members of the Catholic faithful. Upon hearing of the dissolution of Bourne Abbey the previous year, and how the Priests there were mysteriously killed during the closing, Paul decided to Act. As a Cardinal he had visited Bourne Abbey and had retained a close bond with its staff. The reckless murder of a close associate struck him hard. On the heels of the financial report disclosure, Paul formed an advisory board, in the summer of 1537, to hear the case of presenting Henry with a Papal Bull of Excommunication.
One of Paul’s predecessors early in the 1520s had threatened to do the exAct same; however that threat was never carried out. This Pope did not intend to be so lenient about carrying out a stated threat. Typically, this was a power that the Pope needed no support to exercise; however, given the prominence of the subject being so threatened, he wanted the personal satisfaction of the curia’s full backing. Further, he organized with church leaders all across Europe, canvassing their support and ideas. Naturally, he excluded the Archbishop of Canterbury from the meeting, he only wanted the English representative to know in due time, once the final decision had been made. He intentionally also sent Archbishop Cranmer notice of the meeting, certain this would make it back to the King.
When Pole arrived at the Vatican he hit it off with his pontiff immediately. For months he had proved a valuable resource, helping Paul map the strategy of getting the English Catholics back. He possessed unique and intimate knowledge of the details of English facilities and the King’s own state of mind, which put him in a rare position of favor with Paul III. By having an in-depth knowledge of the King he was able to clarify existing religious policy, speculate on the direction the King intended to go, and predict how much worse it might possibly become.
The situation had become precarious. The previous winter Henry VIII had maliciously executed hundreds for the rebellion, the Queen had birthed a bastard and the Lady Mary had been killed. The Pope also recognized the precarious financial position his Church was now in and needed to win back the support—financial and otherwise—of the English Catholics. Politically, England’s withdrawal from the Church set a dangerous precedent for other nations to follow.
Meanwhile, Pole’s favor by the Pope brought this exiled English cleric many opportunities to attend closed door sessions as a special guest of the curia, and also to be formally recognized by the Vatican as a Cardinal and also to have him blessed, the first step towards being a professed a Saint. This final step would never happen, but Paul III wanted to repay Pole’s knowledge and dedication to the cause by whatever means possible; even if the other Cardinals could not agree. Instead of placating Henry, in September, Paul finished drafting the Papal Bull of Excommunication, with Cardinal Pole’s assistance. They worked late into the evening, until the sun finally rose one day upon a completed document; they wanted to ensure that everything was proper in this most momentous of edicts.
6.1 The Delivery
At the Vatican, the Pope convened a series of council meetings in October 1537 with the Kings of France, Spain, rulers of Italian territories and Portugal convened for a conference to last the autumn in reviewing the state of Catholic affairs in Europe. The Pope acknowledged the officia
l release of the Project Report findings earlier that year and vowed that the church leaders would make every effort to bring followers back to Christ, both spiritually and financially. The speech was intended to thoroughly convince European leaders of the church’s dedication to positive reforms while, maintaining original Catholic doctrine, including the supremacy of the Vicar of the throne of St. Peter.
Practical matters were also discussed such as fees, papal application of canon law, exploration of scripture, and disbursement of what today would be called humanitarian aid, nationally organized aid to the poor. Paul set a quota system where each country was responsible for sending 1,000 pounds of donated clothing and non-perishable food items, such as cooking spices, salt, and elixirs for medication. Each country would be responsible for donating their share at least once a year to the Vatican, in exchange for lowered vestment fees, increased royal authority in spiritual matters, and personal audiences with the Pontiff.
The conference was judged a success and won massive approval by the people of Europe; treaties agreeing to the arrangements were drafted by the New Year and signed without complaint. After the final meeting, a lavish feast was held in the Pope’s honor, where compliments on each of the European Kings flowed around the table, while all were cautious not to bring up politically sensitive topics such as the continuing French occupation of Milan, Italy. For at least one day, all countries invited were at peace; plotting and efforts at political sabotage would wait until the evening.
Later that night, the Pope reached out to Charles V‘s delegation and requested a private audience. The Pontiff and Holy Roman Emperor would be the sole attendees in the Pope’s private bed chamber, a space few would ever be invited to, a real honor for Charles. He humbly accepted the Pope’s invitation, but was just as curious as his delegation as to the reason for the unusual invitation. When they met, Paul thanked Charles for all his good deeds and for remaining a true and loyal subject of the Catholic faith. He praised him for being more than deserving of the title Holy Roman Emperor, and said that all of the Kings of Europe should reflect upon his deeds and emulate them in their own lands.
They discussed exploration, how the Emperor was continuing to fight heresy in his own kingdom, the War with the Ottoman Empire, and finally, the Spaniard’s relationship with England. Charles explained that diplomacy with England had been strained for many years, mainly due to the current “Lady,” clearly meaning Queen Anne. Charles insinuated that Henry had been one of the most difficult leaders to engage with because his policies on government “often came from desire in his loins.” Charles blamed the radical religious policies on Archbishop Cranmer and Queen Anne, a regret that the Pope acknowledged.
Regardless, Paul corrected Charles, saying that the real power lay still with Henry and that if he should so choose to let his wife and a renegade cleric run his territory, then he was no more a King than a commoner; Charles could not help but agree. To the Pope, Henry’s appointment as King was not divinely ordered, it could not be. No real earthly King could be so heretical and unforgiving of heresy in his own kingdom as Henry VIII had been in his. At every turn, whenever the Pope’s predecessor’s had attempted peaceful reconciliation, Henry’s delegation had refused. They agreed that the only way to deal with what they both perceived as a common bully was to fight fire with fire (indeed, thought the Pope, knowing of his recently drafted Bull of Excommunication, with hellfire.)
Charles shared with Paul that his primary English Ambassador, Chapuys, had been encouraging him to invade England for quite some time, sending reports back of the high rate of fear, murder and disturbance in the realm. Chapuys had also made an exclusive friendship with the King’s principal minister, Cromwell, and that this potential confidante was privy to state secrets that would be of great value, although he could not write them in his dispatches for fear of interception. These reports both troubled his conscience and alarmed him; the Emperor begged His Holiness for guidance on what to do. Despite the Emperor’s great power and growing wealth from the New World, he had not the resources to invade England, at least not with his own troops spread so thin fighting the Ottoman Empire and in Italy and Africa.
Charles confessed privately that he barely had enough troops to defend Spain and should a large, more prepared, less distracted country (namely, France) invade, his own realm might be found without sufficient reinforcements and doomed. The Pope reassured the monarch, noting that resources for Henry’s own armies, currently yet preoccupied by suppressing possible rebellions, were also being strained, and with good reason, as an iron shortage of several years in England had hit Henry’s own forces hard. Henry’s best defense had been to deploy the sword, but it was only at great cost that Henry could get his hands on the metal the King needed to equip his men. The Pope assured his most powerful, albeit overstretched, ally Charles, that their great adversary was deeply concerned about the future of his own realm, and that Henry doubtless had little time to think of foreign threats.
They then discussed Ambassador Chapuys’ reports on the senseless killing of the Lady Mary, Charles’s own cousin. The King confessed to the Pope that this single Act of murder, alone, led him to debate invasion, and brought forth in him a deep, profound hatred of his brother King. Paul urged to him to have faith and use caution. While stoking the fires of anger in Charles, the Pope maintained his aura of seeking only peace by continuing to advise that these were delicate times, and neither of the Catholic leaders should Act in haste, lest it be to their detriment, and that of their Holy Church. The Pope then asked Charles to join him in a prayer for the Lady Mary’s soul, bringing the Emperor to tears with both gratitude toward the Pontiff, and fury toward Henry and Anne.
The Pope then asked Charles, if his conscience so required of him and if it were possible, would he have his troops and supplies on hand to begin making initial preparations towards an invasion of England, merely to inform himself of the possibility of such an undertaking? Charles shocked at the Pope’s request, readily admitted that his troop supplies were low, at best, after his war with the Ottoman’s and that he had maybe 40,000 men on hand to defend Spain. Most of those potential soldiers were the backbone of his labor force and he feared that if they too left their homes to fight England, the country would be left in famine, not to mention vulnerable to other invaders (again, especially France). He admitted that many of even these troops had died in the field from the flux (dysentery) due to poor sanitation and a lack of skilled surgeons.
The people of Spain had made daily pleas to their King, begging for sustenance, and he knew not what to tell them. Due to low rains that season food was scarce. He barely had enough to feed his own troops and, admittedly, he was hoarding for them what few supplies he did have, to expand his empire for Christendom. It was only a generation since his predecessors Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled the Muslim invaders and unified the country and he had spread his only just growing resources too thin in too rapid an expansion. His people were hurting and all he could do was to beg God’s forgiveness for their sins and possibly increase taxes, never a popular option. His weapons depots had recently run into a shortage of iron of their own and he had no other means to procure of any of the simple, but increasingly vital, metal.
Charles thought hard and told his Pope that any plans to invade England would be a mistake. While England was an island nation, with resource problems of its own, Henry had done a thorough job of starting to build up a substantial navy defense and would see Spanish forces coming miles away, putting Charles at an immediate disadvantage. Further, he did not want to deal with the chaos that England was going through. Charles was interested in conquering the vast amounts of territories that the Ottoman Empire could offer him, along with their spices, medicinal trades, and fabrics. He was also exploring new territories and treasures that lay in Mexico and the Americas and wished to see those endeavors through, he fully expressed how much was on his plate. England had nothing but ancient practi
ces and a harsh people with a rough tongue; he was already frustrated to the point of exhaustion with ruling the Germanic peoples in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire.
Paul listened closely to his ally’s troubles before offering a resolution. His intelligence had already told him in advance of Charles’ military troubles, but he had wanted to hear this assessment directly from the Spaniard, to judge both the King’s honesty and the truth of the information he had obtained. He then decided to complete his play by removing Charles’ constraints and reinforcing the wary King’s resolve.
The Pope extended his hand for Charles to kiss, and comforted the Emperor for the pain his conscience must have been afflicting him with for being so eager to do right by God, but being so plagued with doubts as to his capacity to avenge his cousin and free their fellow Catholics from the heretics who would lead their brethren away from the true Church. Upon seeing Charles’ shame and remorse, and further tears at the pronouncement, he then went the extra, required step.
The Pope’s armies had done well in surrounding themselves with some of the strongest allies in all of Italy, making marital alliances with top Italian Houses that carried with them the military prowess, numbers, and resources needed to help Charles in his Ottoman and English wars. The Pope offered Charles food, clothing, stores of weapons, ships, the Pope’s own military advisors, and any other materials Charles would need to set free the peoples of England—as a gift to a true servant of God.
Had the Queen Lived: Page 21