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QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN.
ENGRAVED BY E. SCRIVEN, AFTER
THE ORIGINAL PICTURE BY HOLBEIN.
London, Published Jan. 1, 1825, by Harding, Triphook & Lepard.
THE
LIFE
OF
CARDINAL WOLSEY.
BY
GEORGE CAVENDISH,
HIS GENTLEMAN USHER.
FROM THE ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT.
WITH
NOTES AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS,
BY
SAMUEL WELLER SINGER, F.S.A.
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON,
FOR HARDING AND LEPARD, PALL MALL EAST.
MDCCCXXVII.
TO HIS GRACE
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE,
THIS REVIVAL OF A MOST INTERESTING
SPECIMEN OF COTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY,
BY HIS COLLATERAL ANCESTOR
GEORGE CAVENDISH,
IS WITH PERMISSION DEDICATED
BY HIS GRACE’S OBLIGED AND
OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT,
S. W. SINGER.
PREFACE.
Perhaps few periods of English historyare more remarkable than that which comprisedthe fortunes of Wolsey; a periodwhich had to boast the most illustriouspotentates who have ever filled the thronesof Europe. The age of Henry was alsothat of Leo, of Charles, and of Francis:—aperiod big with political events of singularinterest:—the captivity of the Frenchmonarch and of the Roman Pontiff,—thesacking of Rome,—the divorce of QueenKatherine,—and the train of circumstanceswhich led the way to the Reformation,—Eventsin which Wolsey’s hand may beoften traced, and in some of which he wasa principal actor. The record of his lifeand its vicissitudes,—his humble origin—histowering fortunes, and his sudden fall,—couldnot well fail of interesting even in[viii]ordinary hands:—But he has been extremelyfortunate in his biographer. Thenarrative contained in the following pages,of course, only affords a glance at theseevents; it is not the work of a professedhistoriographer, but the production of asimple-hearted and honest eyewitness ofwhat he relates. George Cavendish wasthe faithful attendant of this princely prelatein his triumphant as well as in his decliningfortunes:—One who failed him notin his adversity, but shed over his fallenmaster the tears of affection, performedfor him the last sad offices of humanity,and then in his retirement sat down withhonest indignation to vindicate him fromslander, and to transmit to future ages afaithful picture of his life, with a sacredregard to truth.
It is this circumstance which renders hiswo