e ancient laws of England provided Henry with
sufficient means of reply. "Let not the Pope suppose," wrote Henry to
Clement, "that either the King or his nobles will allow the fixed laws
of his kingdom to be set aside."[782] A proclamation, based on the
Statutes of Provisors, was issued on 12th September, 1530, forbidding
the purchasing from the Court of Rome or the publishing of any thing
prejudicial to the realm, or to the King's intended purposes;[783] and
Norfolk was sent to remind the papal nuncio of the penalties attaching
to the importation of bulls into England without the King's consent.
But the most notorious expedient of Henry's was the appeal to the
universities of Europe, first suggested by Cranmer.[784] Throughout
1530 English agents were busy abroad obtaining decisions from (p. 283)
the universities on the question of the Pope's power to dispense with
the law against marrying a deceased brother's wife. Their success was
considerable. Paris and Orleans, Bourges and Toulouse, Bologna and
Ferrara, Pavia and Padua, all decided against the Pope.[785] Similar
verdicts, given by Oxford and Cambridge, may be as naturally ascribed
to intimidation by Henry, as may the decisions of Spanish universities
in the Pope's favour to pressure from Charles; but the theory that all
the French and Italian universities were bribed is not very credible.
The cajolery, the threats and the bribes were not all on one side; and
in Italy at least the imperial agents would seem to have enjoyed
greater facilities than Henry's. In some individual cases there was,
no doubt, resort to improper inducements; but, if the majority in the
most famous seats of learning in Europe could be induced by filthy
lucre to vote against their conscience, it implies a greater need for
drastic reformation than the believers in the theory of corruption are
usually disposed to admit. Their decisions were, however, given on
general grounds; the question of the consummation of Catherine's
marriage with Arthur seems to have been carefully excluded. How far
that consideration would have affected the votes of the universities
can only be assumed; but it does not appear to have materially
influenced the view taken by Catherine's advocates. They allowed that
Catherine's oath would not be considered sufficient evidence in a
court of law; they admitted the necessity of proving that urgent
reasons existed for the grant of the dispensation, and the only (p. 284)