Note 103 — THE PROLOGUE.

The name of this person was Giovanni Joacchino Passano, a Genoese; he was afterwards called Seigneur de Vaux. The emperor, it appears, was informed of his being in England, and for what purpose. The cardinal stated that Joacchino came over as a merchant, and that as soon as he discovered himself to be sent by the Lady Regent of France, he had made de Praet (the emperor’s ambassador) privy thereto, and likewise of the answer given to her proposals. The air of mystery which attached to this mission naturally created suspicion, and after a few months, De Praet, in his letters to the emperor, and to Margaret, the governess of the Netherlands, expressed his apprehension that all was not right, and the reasons for his surmises. His letters were intercepted by the cardinal, and read before the council. Charles and Margaret complained of this insult, and the cardinal explained as well as he could. At the same time protesting against the misrepresentation of De Praet, and assuring them that nothing could be further from his wish than that any disunion should arise between the king his master and the emperor; and notwithstanding the suspicious aspect of this transaction, his dispatches both immediately before and after this fracas strongly corroborate his assertions. [See additional note at the end of the Life.] Wolsey suspected that the Pope was inclined toward the cause of Francis, and reminded him, through the Bishop of Bath, of his obligations to Henry and Charles. The Pope had already taken the alarm, and had made terms with the French king, but had industriously concealed it from Wolsey, and at length urged in his excuse that he had no alternative. Joacchino was again in England upon a different mission, and was an eyewitness of the melancholy condition of the cardinal when his fortunes were reversed. He sympathised with him, and interested himself for him with Francis and the Queen Dowager, as appears by his letters published in Legrand, Histoire du Divorce de Henri VIII.