Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 62.djvu/333

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viding shipping, victuals, transports, conduct-money, and other details; so that Bishop Foxe was seriously afraid of his health breaking down under his ‘outrageous charge and labour.’

In 1512 Wolsey was made dean of Hereford, but resigned on 3 Dec. That same month Dean Harrington of York died, and first his prebend of Bugthorpe was given to Wolsey on 16 Jan. 1513, then his deanery, to which Wolsey was elected on 19 Feb., and admitted on the 21st. At this time he was also dean of St. Stephen's, Westminster, and on 8 July he was made precentor of London. On 30 June he had crossed to Calais with the king with a retinue of two hundred men—double that of Bishop Foxe and of Bishop Ruthall. He accompanied Henry through the campaign when Thérouanne and Tournay successively surrendered. He received letters in France from Bishop Ruthall of the Scots king's invasion and defeat at Flodden. He had also letters about it from Catherine of Arragon, who, left at home and anxious for news of her husband, was at this time his frequent correspondent. He no doubt came back with the king in the end of October.

He had his own share, too, in the king's conquests. The bishopric of Tournay, being vacant, was conferred upon him by the pope at the king's request. A French bishop had, however, already been elected, and it was not till peace was made that Wolsey could hope to obtain possession, which, indeed, he never actually did; but in 1518 he surrendered his claims on the bishopric for a pension of twelve thousand livres. Meanwhile he received from the king the bishopric of Lincoln, for which he obtained bulls on 6 Feb. 1514, and was consecrated at Lambeth on 26 March. In May we already find the pope had been urged to consider the expediency of making him a cardinal, which, however, was not done for more than a year later. Meanwhile the death of Cardinal Bainbridge at Rome [see Bainbridge, Christopher] vacated the archbishopric of York, which was conferred on Wolsey by bulls dated 15 Sept.

In the marked increase of his correspondence during the past two years we see that his paramount influence was now acknowledged. He was gradually leading foreign policy back to traditions of Henry VII's time, from which the new king had departed by his alliance with Ferdinand. Young Henry had occasion to resent the perfidy of his father-in-law, who not only was a faithless ally himself, but won over Maximilian to desert England likewise. But Wolsey saw the means of retribution, and when the marriage of Charles of Castile with the king's sister Mary, which was to have taken place in May 1514, was broken off by the double dealing of Maximilian, he laid secretly the foundations not only of a peace but also of an alliance with France. In August the match was arranged between Louis XII and the king's sister Mary (1496–1533) [q. v.]; and in October the young bride went over to France, and was actually married there. To crown the political alliance there was a very secret proposal for an interview between the two kings in March following, and for a joint campaign for the expulsion of Ferdinand from Navarre. But Louis XII died on 1 Jan. 1515, and young Francis I succeeded, intent on the conquest of Milan. Suffolk's embassy to the new French king was rendered futile for political purposes by his private love affair with Mary [see Brandon, Charles, first Duke of Suffolk]. Wolsey certainly saved the duke at this time from the consequences of his indiscretion. But Francis set off for Italy in the summer without having given any pledge to prevent John Stewart, duke of Albany, from going to Scotland.

On 10 Sept. Leo X created Wolsey ‘cardinal sole’—not, as usual, one in a batch of promotions. His title was ‘S. Cæcilia trans Tiberim.’ The hat was sent to England with a very valuable ring from the pope, and the prothonotary who brought it (who was supplied at Wolsey's expense with more costly apparel than he brought with him) was conducted in a stately procession through the streets to Westminster on Thursday, 15 Nov. On Sunday, the 18th, it was placed on Wolsey's head in the abbey, amid a great concourse of bishops, Colet preaching the sermon. On 24 Dec. following Wolsey was appointed lord chancellor in the room of William Warham [q. v.], who had resigned two days before. He now, as the Venetian ambassador expressed it, might be called ‘ipse Rex,’ for it seemed that the whole power of the state was lodged in him.

That same month that Wolsey was made cardinal Francis won the battle of Marignano, and at once became master of Milan. Henry VIII did not like it, and, as Ferdinand's position in Naples was threatened, the latter's ambassador on 10 Oct. concluded with Wolsey a new league for commerce and defence against invasion, which was ratified by Henry on the 27th. Wolsey also sent his secretary, Richard Pace [q. v.], with secret instructions to enlist Swiss mercenaries to serve the Emperor Maximilian against France, taking care that the money for their