ce against Charles after the battle of Pavia, left the Pope at
the Emperor's mercy. While the English envoy was mooting the question of
divorce in 1526 the surprise of Rome by an imperial force brought home
to Clement his utter helplessness.

It is hard to discover what part Wolsey had as yet taken in the matter,
or whether as in other cases Henry had till now been acting alone,
though the Cardinal himself tells us that on Catharine's first discovery
of the intrigue she attributed the proposal of divorce to "my
procurement and setting forth." But from this point his intervention is
clear. As legate he took cognizance of all matrimonial causes, and in
May, 1527, a collusive action was brought in his court against Henry for
cohabiting with his brother's wife. The King appeared by proctor; but
the suit was suddenly dropped. Secret as were the proceedings, they had
now reached Catharine's ear; and as she refused to admit the facts on
which Henry rested his case her appeal would have carried the matter to
the tribunal of the Pope, and Clement's decision could hardly be a
favorable one.

The Pope was now in fact a prisoner in the Emperor's hands. At the very
moment of the suit Rome was stormed and sacked by the army of the Duke
of Bourbon. "If the Pope's holiness fortune either to be slain or
taken," Wolsey wrote to the King when the news of this event reached
England, "it shall not a little hinder your grace's affairs." But it was
needful for the Cardinal to find some expedient to carry out the King's
will, for the group around Anne were using her skilfully for their
purposes. A great party had now gathered to her support. Her uncle, the
Duke of Norfolk, an able and ambitious man, counted on her rise to set
him at the head of the council board; the brilliant group of young
courtiers to which her brother belonged saw in her success their own
elevation; and the Duke of Suffolk with the bulk of the nobles hoped
through her means to bring about the ruin of the statesman before whom
they trembled.

What most served their plans was the growth of Henry's passion. "If it
please you," the King wrote at this time to Anne Boleyn, "to do the
office of a true, loyal mistress, and give yourself body and heart to
me, who have been and mean to be your loyal servant, I promise you not
only the name but that I shall make you my sole mistress, remove all
others from my affection, and serve you only." What stirred Henry's
wrath most was Cath