Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

insisted on two things -- first, the appointment of a
commission to try the divorce in England; and
secondly, a dispensation empowering King Henry
to marry again as soon as the divorce was
pronounced. These two demands were strongly
pressed on the perplexed and bewildered Pope.
The king offered to the Pope "assistance,
riches, armies, crown, and even life," as the reward
of compliance, while the penalty of refusal was to
be the separation of England from the tiara.[2] The
poor Pope was placed between the terrible Charles,
whose armies were still in Italy, and the powerful
Henry. After repeated attempts to dupe the agents,
both the commission and the dispensation were
given,[3] but with piteous tears and entreaties on
the part of the Pope that they would not act upon
the commission till he was rid of the Spaniards.
The French army, under Leutrec, was then in Italy,
engaged in the attempt to expel the Spaniards from
the peninsula; and the Pope, seeing in this position
of affairs a chance of escape out of his dilemma,
finally refused to permit the King of England to act
on the commission which he had just put into the
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