the Pope other causes were at work. In
the conclave Charles V certainly did not act with as much energy for
Wolsey as the latter expected: Wolsey never forgave him. But he too
has been accused of having basely abused the confidence of the two
sovereigns: he had kept up friendly connexions all along with Francis
I and his mother, and they likewise had given him pensions and
presents: he had purposely supported the Earl of Suffolk so ill that
he was forced to retreat.[85] Of all the complaints raised against
him, not so much before the world as among those who were behind the
scenes, this was exactly the most hateful and perhaps the most
effectual.

In 1524 the English took no active part in the war. Not till February
1525, when the German and Spanish troops had won the great victory of
Pavia and King Francis had fallen captive into the Emperor's hands,
did their ambitious projects and thoughts of war reawaken.

Henry VIII reminded the Emperor of his previous promises, and invited
him to make a joint attack on France itself from both sides: they
would join hands in Paris; Henry VIII should then be crowned King of
France, but resign to the Emperor not merely Burgundy but also
Provence and Languedoc, and cede to the Duke of Bourbon his old
possessions and Dauphine. The motive he alleges is very extraordinary:
the Emperor would marry his daughter and heiress, and would at some
future time inherit England and France also and then be monarch of the
world.[86] Henry declares himself ready to press on with the utmost
zeal, provided he can do it with some security, and himself undertake
the conduct of the war in the Netherlands and the support of Bourbon.
The letter is from Wolsey, full of copious and pressing conclusions;
but should not the far-reaching nature of its contents have been a
proof even to him that it could never be taken in earnest?

Charles V could not possibly enter into the plan. He had lent it a
hearing as long as it lay far away, but when it came actually close to
view, it was very startling for him. The union of the crowns of France
and England on the head of Henry VIII would in itself have deranged
all European relations, above all it would have raised that
untrustworthy man, who was still all powerful in his Council, to a
most inconvenient height of power. The Spanish kingdoms too were
pressing for the settlement of their succession. He was in the full
maturity of manly youth: he could not wait for Mary