Roses, and the families who remained were not nearly so strong or so rich as before. Henry would not let any noble keep great bands of armed gentlemen and servants in his service, and heavily fined or imprisoned whoever attempted to do so. He had two judges, named Dudley and Empson, who were much hated for carrying out all the hard unjust things he chose to have done. Thus the Crown grew more powerful, and the tradespeople and the peasants began to prosper, while the power of the nobles decayed.

10. The abbeys and monasteries had been much damaged also by the war. Soldiers had been quartered on them, sometimes robbing them, and often teaching the monks their lawless ungodly ways. Learning was not so much the fashion in abbeys as it had been; the abbots were often like great farmers, and in the lesser houses there was much disorder. The chief places for study were the schools and colleges, especially at Oxford and Cambridge, where many fresh colleges were founded. Scholars there were studying the New Testament in Greek, and looking deeply into the Bible, and, as printing was becoming more common, it was much easier to spread knowledge abroad.

11. Henry VII. was a grasping covetous man, but he added to Westminster Abbey a most beautiful chapel which bears his name. He was there buried, when he died of an ague in 1509, leaving three children, namely Henry, Margaret, married to James IV. of Scotland, and Mary.

Persons: Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.—Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy-The Earl of Warwick-Katharine of Aragon.

Dates: Accession of Henry VII., 1485—Perkin Warbeck's Rebellion, 1491- Death of Henry VII., 1509.

II. YOUTH OF HENRY VIII.

1. HENRY VIII. was a fine young man of eighteen years old when he came to the throne in 1509. He was tall, well made, skilful in all manly exercises, and well trained in scholarship; for whilst his elder brother was alive, there had been some idea of bringing him up to a clerical life and making him Archbishop of Canterbury. All England admired him and was proud of him, and he had such a frank, hearty, good-natured manner that he kept that love of the people all his life, in spite of many deeds that ought to have forfeited it.

2. As a boy, he had been at first unwilling to marry his brother Arthur's espoused wife, Katharine of Aragon, as she was older than himself; but she was a noble and gracious lady, and as he grew up, he began to love her, so that he married her soon after his father's death. They had one daughter, who was named Mary, but all their other infants died as soon as they were born.

3. Everything else went well with Henry. The kingdom was richer and more powerful than it had been since the time of Henry V., and the people of all ranks were more prosperous. Learning was flourishing at the universities, and there were two

THOMAS WOLSEY.

13

at least of the young men who were trained at Oxford, who were making a good use of their studies.

4. John Colet, who was Dean of St. Paul's, was a great preacher and explainer of the Scriptures, and founded the school of St. Paul's. He caused a new and easier Latin grammar to be drawn up for his scholars, and tried to make the masters understand that their pupils would learn better if they were gently treated, instead of being always beaten and ill used, according to the usual fashion of the time in dealing with schoolboys.

5. Another of these Oxford scholars was Thomas More. It was no longer the custom that all lawyers should be clergy, and More was the son of a judge, and was bred to the law. He had a house and beautiful garden at Chelsea, where he caused his son and daughters to be educated in all the learning of the time. It was the resort of all the best and ablest people of the time, and Sir Thomas More himself was full of wit and drollery. King Henry himself would often come to see him, and walk about the garden paths with an arm round his neck.

6. The King's chief adviser was Thomas Wolsey, who is said to have been the son of a butcher, but who had such talents as a statesman that he rose in the world so as to hold all sorts of dignities. He was Archbishop of York and Bishop of Winchester, and the Pope made him a Cardinal, and likewise Legate, that is, the Pope's special representative in the kingdom. He had wished for this

last appointment, partly that he might have authority to reform many of the evils that had arisen in the English Church; but he was too worldly and ambitious to do much good in that way. Nobody had so many retainers,' or fed and clothed them so magnificently as the Cardinal, and the splendour in which he lived was the wonder of everyone.

7. Wolsey much wished to become Pope, and he thought he should gain influence by making his master interfere in the affairs of Italy, where the Kings of France and Spain had long been at war. A league was formed against King Louis XII. of France by the reigning Pope, Julius II., who was to raise the Italians against him, while Henry VIII. and his father-in-law, Ferdinand of Spain, attacked France in two places, Henry being led to hope that he should regain Bordeaux and all that had been lost in the time of Henry VI.

8. In 1513 Henry himself, with a splendid army, landed at Calais, and laid siege to the city. of Terouenne. The French army met him at Guingate; and he gained a victory, which the English called the Battle of the Spurs, because their enemies galloped away so fast. Terouenne soon surrendered, and he then besieged Tournay.

9. The French King and Queen thought that the best way to free themselves from Henry would be to stir up the Scots to give him trouble at home. So the Queen sent James IV. a turquoise ring and a glove, with a charge that he should break a

1 Retainers, attendants, servants.

THE BATTLE OF FLODDEN.

15

lance' in England for her sake. James called up all his bravest men, much against the advice of his wise old lords, and marched in great force across the Border. Queen Katharine called on all the brave nobles who had been left at home to defend the country. She did not lead them herself, but put them under the command of the Earl of Surrey, and at Flodden Field there was a terrible battle, in which the Scots were utterly routed, and their King slain, though it was long before they would believe that they should never see him again.

10. Henry soon found that the Spanish King was playing him false, and using the English for his own ends, not to win back Bordeaux. Henry was displeased with all his feigned allies, who had broken their word to him several times, and he therefore listened when Louis of France begged for peace. Louis had lately lost his wife, and he now asked in marriage Henry's beautiful young sister Mary. The wedding took place, but the bridegroom was in bad health and the festivities were too much for him; he died in 1514, in the sixth week of his marriage; and before the young widow could be fetched home she secretly married an English gentleman, named Charles Brandon. She told her brother that she had married once to please him, now she would please herself. Henry forgave her, and made Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. King Ferdinand died soon after, and his grandson Charles succeeded him.

1 Break a lance, make war.