Catherine Willoughby leaves England to become one of the Marian Exiles.

When Pole told parliament that he came to build he meant what he said, and would deliver, in part. But maybe as many as a thousand people would not wait to test his words and left for exile.

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Transcript

For Mary, Pole’s return was another proud moment, everything that she had wished for and worked for. On 22^nd November 1554 she took the unprecedented step of actually going to parliament in person to give her assent to a bill repealing the attainder passed by her father’s parliament against Pole. On 24^th November She met the Papal Legate at Whitehall alongside her husband, and to her joy not only was she able to greet the Pope’s representative back to England, but she had confirmation that she was pregnant, because as Pole stepped forward and greeted her with the words ‘Hail Mary’, which I think qualifies as a theological gag, Mary felt her child move within her. Once the formalities were completed in parliament, surely all her people would return to the true church, she would have a son and the sign of God’s favour would be the restoration of the world as her mother would have recognised it.

Pole moved on to London home of the ABC, Lambeth Palace, it’s former master Cranmer now gone, and started preparing for the all-important meeting with Parliament, which came on 28^th November, when he faced the expectant and probably slightly worried faces of both the house of Lords and the house of Commons. I doubt he had much preparation to do – since I’d like to bet he’d been writing this speech for the last two years. He had a job to do; he had to be firm – after all the lot facing him had been very, very naughty. But Pole was not the fool that the doggerel had him; he knew that he also had to offer a thread, a story that would help inspire and pull a nation with him and back to Rome. And so he built a story of how England was God’s special chosen country, that

‘this island, the first of all islands, received the light of Christ’s religion’

Which is an interesting argument, but truth is frequently the enemy of a good strong national story, so whatever. He painted a story of England fallen into error, saved by the glorious figure of Mary who restored that natural and national religion when

She, being a virgin, helpless, naked and unarmed, prevailed and had victory over tyrants

Having painted a story of the past, he then pointed to the future, and there’s this very nice phrase that he uses which must have relieved his listeners immensely, but with which I cannot help but draw a much more modern parallel

I come not to destroy but to build. I come to reconcile not to condemn. I come not to compel, but to call again.

The parallel I’m thinking of is Margaret Thatcher and her use of St Francis’s prayer ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony’. I have no intention whatsoever of breaking a golden rule of the History of England and discussing politics, so I have no intention of voicing an opinion about whether Margaret Thatcher was good, bad or otherwise, but I will venture the opinion that whatever she brought it was not harmony. ‘I come not to compel, but to call again’. That’s a nice line, and would turn out to be entirely incorrect, however much he believed it at the time.

Two days later came the sealing of the deal as it were, when the high and mighty came to Westminster to be absolved of their sins. Across the river from Lambeth again came Pole and there the king, queen, lords and commons knelt before him

We, by apostolic authority given unto us by the most holy lord Pope Julius III. His vice regent on earth, do absolve you and deliver you

Not a dry eye in the house according the Scot, John Elder. That evening the Queen threw a bit of a knees-up, and when the news reached Rome the Pope ordered processions and there was much rejoicing. Stephen Gardiner, a born again papalist preached at St Paul’s Cross

Now also it is time that we awake out of our sleep, who have slept or rather dreamed these twenty years past

After the celebrations, though, the hard work needed to be completed; all the legislation concerning the royal supremacy needed to be removed, and that was not as simple as it sounds. A Committee was established on 4^th December 1554, and they hit the thorny issue straight away. Pole had been talked round to forgetting the church lands, and agreed that everyone who had bought church lands should have a papal dispensation. But you know, that’s not quite the get out of jail free card you might think it is. Two things were wrong with it; firstly, let’s say a future pope took a different view to Julius III, then where would everyone be? Sorry, he might say, the deals off, changed my mind, hand all those church lands back over. Secondly, the material stuff about the land was just one aspect of the issue – there was also the state of sin that everyone was apparently in. Cardinal Pole’s confidente John Feckenham, the same chap as had spoken to Jane Grey in the Tower, he’d recently preached that holding lands of the church was a sin, and this sort of thing mattered; so at the moment the situation was, in short? OK, you can have the land but ooh, by the way you are going to burn in hell for eternity so you know…enjoy it while you can and all that.

It was Philip rather than Mary that took up the cudgels on this one. Because when presented with this as a problem Mary and Pole found they were of one mind. Which was, that OK parliament had been surprisingly difficult, and a sacrifice needed to be made for the greater good, but thus far and no further, here I stand I can do no other sort of thing – hate it or loathe it, whipping church lands was not just a disgrace it was a sin, and if some future pope came along and decided that it was time for that land back, then so be it and sic biscuitus distintegrat. The wages of sin and all that. Suck it up, keep looking over your shoulders sinful noble dudes because one day the vengeful Pope might well be their asking for his spondulikes back, no point ruling in hell when it’s your job to serve in heaven.  Behind them, the newly converted lover of papal supremacy Stephen Gardiner might be seen vigorously nodding his head in agreement.

It seems to be Phillip then who came up with a suggestion to at least partly resolve this. I mean the burn in hell thing was something with which he couldn’t help, but as far as this mortal coil was concerned he suggested that the papal dispensation be made into statute law and passed through parliament. Why is that a think I hear you ask, so what? This would mean that if a future pope did come down like a wolf on the proverbial fold of England, the fold that was England could, if it so desired shrug it’s shoulders and say can’t be done guv’ there’s this law.

The response, even from a Mary very keen to be a traditional and dutiful wife, was a machine gun fire of pashawing. As far as Pole was concerned, he denied any valid title to church property in statute, and refused to tie the hands of a future pope. So, nerks. In fact when detailed discussions took place, Gardiner and Pole filled the time with a bit of good honest lecturing of their noble friends about the sins they had committed. Which I guess is their job.

It was Mary who cracked and decided that the low road should be taken on this one, talked round sometime in December. And so, in January 1555 parliament passed the required law, and the English laity was fully absolved of their sins and now also able to keep their lands with comes confidence. That being done, the majority of them were perfectly content to roll back the Reformation and those that weren’t largely kept their heads down. At the same time, they re-enacted the laws of heresy, which had started way back with the Lollards at the start of the 15^th century, but set aside by Edward. It was now once more a capital offence to deny any aspect of Catholic orthodoxy, and the brief period of relative safety of Edward’s reign was over.

Philip proceeded to take as much credit for this triumph as possible, making sure pamphlets appeared in celebration, and by throwing colourful parties and jousts; Mary would put in an appearance at said jousts, but was not inclined to take an active part. From Philip’s point of view the self promotion was about trying to advance his claim to political power, and his right hand man Ruy Gomez felt they were making progress. But really it was thin gruel compared to ruling an Empire, and Philip grew increasingly impatient to shake the mud of London’s streets from his boots and get on to the places where his word was law. But Gomez persuaded him to stay.

The main reason for that was that it was now public knowledge that Mary was pregnant. Gomez had also had the news communicated across Europe, writing in November to the Emperor Charles that

There is no doubt the Queen is with Child for her stomach clearly shows it and her dresses no longer fit her.

And Mary herself wrote to her father in law too, and her relief and happiness breathes in every word

As for that child which I carry in my belly I declare it to be alive and with great humility thank God for his great goodness shown to me, praying Him so to guide the fruit of my womb that it may contribut