the ground that no
hint of these doubts occurs in the extant records of the negotiations.
But unfortunately we have only one or two letters relating to this
diplomatic mission.[554] There exists, indeed, a detailed (p. 196)
narrative, drawn up some time afterwards by Claude Dodieu, the French
secretary; but the silence, on so confidential a matter, of a third
party who was not present when the doubts were presumably suggested,
proves little or nothing. Du Bellay, in 1528, reported to the French
Government Henry's public assertion that Tarbes had mentioned these
doubts;[555] the statement was not repudiated; Tarbes himself believed
in the validity of Henry's case and was frequently employed in efforts
to win from the Pope an assent to Henry's divorce. It is rather a
strong assumption to suppose in the entire absence of positive
evidence that Henry and Wolsey were deliberately lying. There is
nothing impossible in the supposition that some such doubts were
expressed; indeed, Francis I. had every reason to encourage doubts of
Henry's marriage as a means of creating a breach between him and
Charles V. In return for Mary's hand, Henry was endeavouring to obtain
various advantages from Francis in the way of pensions, tribute and
territory. Tarbes represented that the French King was so good a match
for the English princess, that there was little need for further
concession; to which Henry replied that Francis was no doubt an
excellent match for his daughter, but was he free to marry? His
precontract with Charles V.'s sister, Eleanor, was a complication
which seriously diminished the value of Francis's offer; and the papal
dispensation, which he hoped to obtain, might not be forthcoming (p. 197)
or valid.[556] As a counter to this stroke, Tarbes may well have
hinted that the Princess Mary was not such a prize as Henry made out.
Was the dispensation for Henry's own marriage beyond cavil? Was Mary's
legitimacy beyond question? Was her succession to the English throne,
a prospect Henry dangled before the Frenchman's eyes, so secure? These
questions were not very new, even at the time of Tarbes's mission. The
divorce had been talked about in 1514, and now, in 1527, the position
of importance given to the Duke of Richmond was a matter of public
comment, and inevitably suggested doubts of Mary's succession. There
is no documentary evidence that this argument was ever employed,
beyond the fact that, within three months of T