arose  whether  he  had  been  living  with  his  brother's
widow,  now  for  more  than  twenty  years,  contrary  to
God's  law,  and  whether  he  could  regard  his  daughter,
the  Princess  Mary,  as  his  lawful  successor  to  the
crown.  The  King,  under  this  perplexity,  took  counsel
with  his  ministers,  and  the  most  learned  divines  and
canonists  were  consulted,  who,  for  the  most  part,
agreed  in  opinion  that  the  marriage  was  unlawful.
The  King  also  found  that  this  general  concurrence  of
opinion  was  supported  by  that  of  Thomas  Aquinas.
Henry  was  desirous  of  the  assent  of  the  Pope  and  of
the  Emperor  before  he  took  any  further  steps.  He
despatched  Dr.  Gardiner  to  Rome,  to  represent  to
the  Pope  the  danger  which  would  arise  if  the  King
died  without  an  heir  to  the  crown  whose  legitimacy
could  not  be  questioned,  and  urged  a  speedy  decision
of  the  matter.  The  Pope  deputed  Cardinal  Campeius.
with  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  York,  to  hear  the


39^  Papal  Supremacy

Cardinals      casc,  aiid  dccidc  on  the  question  at  issue.     Cardinal

Campeiiis

andwoisey.  Campeius  Icft  Romc  in  the  summer  of  1528,  and
arrived  in  England  about  the  end  of  August.  When
the  nature  of  his  instructions  was  made  known,
Henry  was  dissatisfied,  as  both  the  King  himself
and  his  ministers  appear  to  have  arrived  at  a  per-
fect understanding  of  the  question  in  all  its  bearings.
