remained impenetrably silent. Though addressed to Henry VII., the Brief was unknown in England. It formed the strongest security for the honour and the legal position of a Spanish Princess : yet it did not exist in the archives of Spain. It constituted the most extreme exertion of the Pope's prerogative known till then : yet Rome preserved no record of its existence. In April 1529, Charles was in doubt as to the value of the Brief.[1] He was willing to submit it to the Pope. His mind would not, he said, be at rest until he knew whether it had been found in the Roman Registers. His doubts were soon satisfied. The Registers were subjected to the scrutiny of Spanish and English agents. They found no trace of the Brief.[2] Errors were detected in the text. A vital flaw was detected in the date. Charles never sent it to Rome for judgment ; it was no longer necessary. The Brief had served to delay action in the Legate's Court until the Pope was reconciled with Spain.
Wolsey knew that delay was ruin. To strengthen himself at Rome he despatched four new ambassadors. He offered to surround the Pope with a guard of two thousand — or even of twelve thousand — men ; and he resorted to expedients which showed that he was desperate. He would resign his Commission and leave judgment to the Pope, with a pledge that judgment would be favourable. He inquired whether, if Henry should take monastic vows to induce the Queen to enter a nunnery, he could be dispensed from them and allowed to marry. Lastly, he desired to know whether the King might have two wives. These proposals were soon dropped, and exerted no influence on the event ; but they show the condition of Henry's mind, and the extremity to which, at the end of 1528, Wolsey was reduced. By the first he surrendered his original
- ↑ "He said also that his mind was not quiet until he knew whether the Brief was found in the Registry at Rome" (Ghinucci and Lee to Wolsey, 5th April 1529. Brewer, 5423).
- ↑ "Has done all he could to discover in the register books a copy of the Brief, but in vain. Has found instead two other briefs alluding to the aftair" (Mai to Charles, 23rd March 1529. Gayangos, 659).
