ve
to show that the Pope's pretension to authority was a usurpation, and very
serious consequences would then follow.

The King, the Nuncio said, spoke with much show of regret and with tears
in his eyes. He added that the present Parliament had been called at the
request of the nation for the restraint of the clergy. They were so hated
throughout the realm, both by nobles and people, that, but for his
protection, they would be utterly destroyed. He should wait to take action
till February, to see whether the Pope would meanwhile change his conduct
towards him.[129]

Norfolk, to whom the Nuncio went next, gave him no comfort; he said that,
"though Queen Catherine was a good woman, her coming to England had been
the curse of the country;" God had shown his displeasure at the marriage
by denying the King a male heir; if the King should die without a son, old
feuds would be reopened and the realm would be plunged into misery. It was
not tolerable that the vital interests of England should be sacrificed to
the Emperor. He advised the Nuncio to use his influence with the Pope.
"The King's severity might then perhaps be modified."

One more direct appeal was made by Henry himself to Clement. "Finding his
just demands neglected, the requests of the King of France unattended to,
and the address of his nobles despised and derided," he perceived, he
said, that the Pope was wholly devoted to the Emperor's will, and
ordained, prorogued and altered to serve the times. He required the Pope,
therefore, to set down in writing his grounds for rejecting his suit. He
demanded once more that the cause should be heard in England before
indifferent judges. "The laws of the realm would not suffer the contrary;
he abhorred contention, but would not brook denial."[130]

Queen Catherine was in despair. The hearing of the cause had again been
postponed at Rome. A party in her favour had been formed in the House of
Commons, but were at a loss what course to follow. If the Pope would give
a decision they would know what to do, but the delay of sentence seemed to
imply that he was himself uncertain where the right really lay. They
questioned Chapuys whether any directions had arrived from Rome on which
to rest their opposition, hoping perhaps that an inhibitory brief had been
issued. Opposition, they feared, would be useless without further action
at the Papal Court.

"The Pope," Chapuys said, "had been so dilatory and so dissembling that he
wa