teristic of the spirit of the age
and of that of the King. And none could yet foresee what results they
implicitly involved.

It still appeared possible that the Pope would revoke the dispensation
given by one of his predecessors, especially as some grounds of
invalidity could be found in the bull itself. Wolsey's idea was that
the Pope, in the pressing necessity he was under of ranging England
and France against the preponderance of the Emperor, could be brought
to consent to recall the dispensation, and this would make the
marriage null and void from the beginning. Always full of arrogant
assumption of an influence to which nothing could be impossible,
Wolsey assured the King that he would carry the matter through.[92]

When tidings of this proposal first reached Rome, those immediately
around the Pope took special notice of the political advantages that
might accrue from it. For hitherto there was a doubt whether Henry
VIII was really so decidedly in favour of France as was said: a
project like this, which would make him and the Emperor enemies for
ever, left no room for doubt about it. When the Pope saw himself
secure of this support in reserve, his word, in a matter which
concerned the highest personal and civil interests, acquired new
weight even with the Emperor.[93]

It is undeniable that the Pope at first expressed himself favourably.
It appeared to make an especial impression on him, that the want of a
male heir might cause a civil war in England, and that this must be
disadvantageous to the Church as well.[94] He only asked not to be
pressed as long as he was in danger of experiencing the worst
extremities from the overwhelming power of the Emperor. In the spring
of 1528, when the French army advanced victoriously into the
Neapolitan territory and drove back the Emperor's forces to the
capital, Wolsey's request for full powers to inquire into the affair
in England was taken into earnest consideration by the Pope. It was at
Orvieto, in the Pope's working room, which was also his
sleeping-chamber: a couple of cardinals, the Dean of the Roman Rota,
and the English plenipotentiaries sat round the Pope, to talk over the
case thoroughly. One of the cardinals declared himself against the
Commission demanded by Wolsey, since such a grant contravened the
usage of the last centuries in the Roman tribunals; the Pope answered,
that in a matter concerning a King who had done such service to the
Holy See, they might we