ase
to reside. She had fixed her abode for some time at Amphill, near
Dunstable; and it was in this latter town that Cranmer, now created
archbishop of Canterbury, on the death of Warham,[**] [8] was appointed
to open his court for examining the validity of her marriage. The near
neighborhood of the place was chosen, in order to deprive her of all
plea of ignorance; and as she made no answer to the citation, either
by herself or proxy, she was declared "contumacious;" and the primate
proceeded to the examination of the cause.

* 24 Henry VIII. c. 12.

** Collier, vol. ii. p. 31, and Records, No. 8.

*** See note H, at the end of the volume.

The evidences of Arthur's consummation of his marriage were anew
produced; the opinions of the universities were read, together with
the judgment pronounced two years before by the convocations both
of Canterbury and York, and after these preliminary steps, Cranmer
proceeded to a sentence, and annulled the king's marriage with Catharine
as unlawful and invalid. By a subsequent sentence, he ratified the
marriage with Anne Boleyn, who soon after was publicly crowned queen,
with all the pomp and dignity suited to that ceremony.[*] To complete
the king's satisfaction on the conclusion of this intricate and
vexatious affair, she was safely delivered of a daughter, who received
the name of Elizabeth, and who afterwards swayed the sceptre with such
renown and felicity. Henry was so much delighted with the birth of this
child, that soon after he conferred on her the title of princess of
Wales,[**] a step somewhat irregular, as she could only be presumptive,
not apparent heir of the crown. But he had, during his former marriage,
thought proper to honor his daughter Mary with that title; and he was
determined to bestow on the offspring of his present marriage the same
mark of distinction, as well as to exclude the elder princess from all
hopes of the succession. His regard for the new queen seemed rather to
increase than diminish by his marriage; and all men expected to see the
entire ascendant of one who had mounted a throne from which her birth
had set her at so great a distance, and who, by a proper mixture of
severity and indulgence, had long managed so intractable a spirit as
that of Henry. In order to efface as much as possible all marks of his
first marriage, Lord Mountjoy was sent to the unfortunate and divorced
queen, to inform her, that she was thenceforth to be t