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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
VOLUME 2 |
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diocese for the education of the clergy, that bishops should hold
frequent visitations, that a set of homilies should be compiled for
the guidance of preachers, and that an English version of the
Scriptures should be published without delay.[6] This new code of
constitutions issued under the title /Reformatio Angliae ex decretis
Reginaldi Pole/ is in itself a testimony to the ability, moderation,
and prudence of the papal legate. Some months later he was
consecrated bishop and took possession of the See of Canterbury to
which he had been appointed on the deposition of Cranmer. In pursuance
of her plans for the complete re-establishment of the Catholic
religion the queen took steps to ensure that the monastic
institutions, which had been suppressed during the previous reigns,
should begin to make their appearance once more in England. The
Carthusians returned to London, the Grey Friars occupied a house at
Greenwich, the Dominicans took possession of St. Bartholomew's, and
the Benedictines were installed in Westminster (1556).
The queen, who two years before had been full of courage and hope,
began to lose confidence in the success of her work. The Spanish
marriage was the beginning of her misfortunes, and the apparent
dependence of Catholicism on Spanish help proved to be the undoing of
the Catholic religion in England. Disappointed in the birth of an
heir, deserted by her husband who found enough to engage his attention
in Spain and the Netherlands, confronted with conspiracies promoted by
heretics and encouraged for its own selfish purpose by France,
doubtful of the real sentiments of Elizabeth, and with hardly any
friends upon whose advice she could rely with confidence, it is not to
be wondered at that Mary felt inclined to despair. She was determined,
however, to continue the work she had begun, and to see that at least
during her life heresy should be put down with a heavy hand.
Unfortunately for the success of her projects she was involved in
difficulties with Rome. Paul IV. (1555-59) was a man of stern,
unbending character, firmly resolved to maintain the rights and
liberties of the Holy See. Annoyed at the domineering policy of
Charles V., and of his son Philip II., he was anxious to put an end to
Spanish rule in Naples. The relations became so embittered that a
Spanish force under the command of the Duke of Alva crossed the
frontiers of the Papal States, and Paul IV. recalled his agents from
Philip's territories (1557). France decided to support the Pope, and
soon active hostilities began. Philip, for whose return to England
Mary had so often appealed in vain, came back early in 1557, but only
to request that England should join with him in a war with France.
Mary's position was a particularly cruel one. She could not well
resist the demands of her husband, particularly as France had lent its
patronage and assistance to the conspiracies plotted for her
overthrow. The position of Cardinal Pole was even more cruel. He had
done all that man could do to prevent the outbreak of war, and when
all his efforts proved unavailing, he retired from court lest he, a
legate of the Holy See, should be obliged to meet Philip who was at
war with the Pope. By the papal order (1557) recalling all his agents
from the Spanish territories the Cardinal found himself deprived of
the office of legate, to the astonishment of his friends and the grief
of the queen. Agents were dispatched to Rome to induce Paul IV. to
cancel the legate's recall. The Pope, however, having taken some time
for consideration refused to accede to the request, but agreed to send
a new legate in the person of the Observant, Friar William Peto (14
June 1557), who had preached so manfully against Henry's divorce, and
who was now created cardinal to prepare him for his new position. The
messenger dispatched to announce these tidings was refused admission
into England, although Pole who had learned of what had taken place in
Rome refused to act any longer as legate, and addressed a strong but
respectful letter of remonstrance to the Pope. Both from the point of
view of religion and of politics the French war, in which Mary's
husband had succeeded in involving England, proved disastrous. It led
to the loss of Calais and Guisnes (1558) the last of the English
possessions in France, to increased taxation, and to a strong feeling
against Mary and all her counsellors. Distrust of the Spanish alliance
led to distrust of the religion of which Philip had constituted
himself the champion, and helped to forward the schemes of those who
sought to identify patriotism with Protestantism. Though the great
body of the people had accepted the Catholic religion, and though to
