d, he could have no want of allies in
this struggle. It was under these circumstances that he entered into
relations with the powerful demagogues who were then from their
central position at Lubeck labouring to transform the North, and to
sever it from all Netherlandish-Burgundian influence. But it was of
still more importance to him to form an alliance with the Protestant
princes and estates of Germany proper, who had gradually become a
power in opposition to Pope and Emperor. In the autumn of 1535 we find
English ambassadors in Germany, who attended the meeting of the League
at Schmalkald, and the most serious negociations were entered on. Both
sides were agreed not to recognise the Council which was then
announced by the Pope, for the very reason that the Pope announced it,
who had no right to do so. The German princes demanded an engagement
that if one of the two parties was attacked, the other should lend no
support to its enemy; for the King this was not enough; he wished, in
case he was attacked, to be able to reckon on support from Germany in
cavalry, infantry, and ships, in return for which he was ready to give
a very considerable contribution to the chest of the League. It was
even proposed that he should undertake the protection of the
League.[124]

All this however was based on a presupposition, which could not but
lead the English to further ecclesiastical changes. It was not a
schism affecting the constitution and administration of justice, but a
complete system of dissentient Church doctrines, with which Henry VIII
came in contact. The German Protestants made it a condition of their
alliance with England, that there should be full agreement between
them as to doctrine.

We may ask whether this was altogether possible.

If we compare the Church movements and events that had taken place
during the last years in Germany and in England, their great
difference is visible at a glance. In Germany the movement was
theological and popular, corresponding to the wants and needs of the
territorial state; in England it was juridico-canonical, not connected
with appeals to the people or with free preaching, but based on the
unity of the nation. Though the German Diet had for a moment inclined
to the Reform and had once even given it a legal sanction, it
afterwards by a majority set itself against it: to carry it through
became now the part of the minority, the Protesting party. In England
on the contrary all procee