married Margaret, Henry's sister,
and obtained a restitution of all his dominions of Savoy and Piedmont,
except a few towns retained by France. And thus general tranquillity
seemed to be restored to Europe.

But though peace was concluded between France and England, there soon
appeared a ground of quarrel of the most serious nature, and which
was afterwards attended with the most important consequences. The two
marriages of Henry VIII., that with Catharine of Arragon, and that with
Anne Boleyn, were incompatible with each other; and it seemed impossible
that both of them could be regarded as valid and legal: but still the
birth of Elizabeth lay under some disadvantages to which that of her
sister Mary was not exposed. Henry's first marriage had obtained the
sanction of all the powers, both civil and ecclesiastical, which were
then acknowledged in England; and it was natural for Protestants as
well as Romanists to allow, on account of the sincere intention of the
parties, that their issue ought to be regarded as legitimate, But his
divorce and second marriage had been concluded in direct opposition to
the see of Rome; and though they had been ratified by the authority
both of the English parliament and convocation, those who were strongly
attached to the Catholic communion, and who reasoned with great
strictness were led to regard them as entirely invalid, and to deny
altogether the queen's right of succession. The next heir of blood was
the queen of Scots, now married to the dauphin; and the great power of
that princess, joined to her plausible title rendered her a formidable
rival to Elizabeth. The king of France had secretly been soliciting at
Rome a bull of excommunication against the queen; and she had here been
beholden to the good offices of Philip, who, from interest more than
either friendship or generosity, had negotiated in her favor, and had
successfully opposed the pretensions of Henry. But the court of France
was not discouraged with this repulse; the duke of Guise and his
brothers, thinking that it would much augment their credit if their
niece should bring an accession of England, as she had already done of
Scotland, to the crown of France, engaged the king not to neglect the
claim; and, by their persuasion, he ordered his son and daughter-in-law
to assume openly the arms as well as title of England, and to quarter
these arms on all their equipages, furniture, and liveries. When the
English ambassador com