particular case; they had been for centuries the law of
the land; and there was no denying the fact that the clergy had broken
the law by recognising Wolsey as legate. Henry, of course, had (p. 285)
licensed Wolsey to act as legate, and to punish the clergy for an
offence, at which he had connived, was scarcely consistent with
justice; but no King ever showed so clearly how the soundest
constitutional maxims could be used to defeat the pleas of equity; it
was frequently laid down during his reign that no licence from the
King could be pleaded against penalties imposed by statute, and not a
few parliamentary privileges were first asserted by Henry VIII.[789]
So the clergy were cunningly caught in the meshes of the law. Chapuys
declares that no one could understand the mysteries of _praemunire_;
"its interpretation lies solely in the King's head, who amplifies it
and declares it at his pleasure, making it apply to any case he
pleases". He at least saw how _praemunire_ could be made to serve his
purposes.[790]

[Footnote 788: _Ibid._, iv., 6513.]

[Footnote 789: _Cf. L. and P._, iv., 6199. Chapuys
writes on 6th February, 1530, "I am told the King
did not wish the Cardinal's case to be tried by
Parliament, as, if it had been decided against him,
the King could not have pardoned him".]

[Footnote 790: _Ibid._, iv., 6488, 6699.]

These, at the moment, were two. He wanted to extract from the clergy a
recognition of his supremacy over the Church, and he wanted money. He
was always in need of supplies, but especially now, in case war should
arise from the Pope's refusal to grant his divorce; and Henry made it
a matter of principle that the Church should pay for wars due to the
Pope.[791] The penalty for _praemunire_ was forfeiture of goods and
imprisonment, and the King probably thought he was unduly lenient in
granting a pardon for a hundred thousand pounds, when he might (p. 286)
have taken the whole of the clergy's goods and put them in gaol as
well. The clergy objected strongly; in the old days of the Church's
influence they would all have preferred to go to prison, and a
unanimous refusal of the King's demands would even now have baulked
his purpose. But the spirit was gone out of them. Chapuys instigated
the papal nuncio to go down to Convocation and stiffen the backs of
the clerg