[Henry VIII. by A. F. Pollard]@TWC D-Link bookHenry VIII. CHAPTER VIII 34/63
213) Richmond; the more insuperable the obstacle, the more its removal enhanced his power.
It was all very well to dispense with canons and divine laws, but to annul papal dispensations--was that not to cheapen his own wares? Why, wrote Henry to Clement, could he not dispense with human laws, if he was able to dispense with divine at pleasure ?[592] Obviously because divine authority could take care of itself, but papal prerogatives needed a careful shepherd.
Even this principle, such as it was, was not consistently followed, for he had annulled a dispensation in Suffolk's case.
Clement's real anxiety was to avoid responsibility. More than once he urged Henry to settle the matter himself,[593] as Suffolk had done, obtain a sentence from the courts in England, and marry his second wife.
The case could then only come before him as a suit against the validity of the second marriage, and the accomplished fact was always a powerful argument.
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