izabeth lived, England would again
apostatise.

[Footnote 132: Renard to Charles V., September 23:
Ibid.]

There was no difficulty in keeping the queen's jealousy alive against
her sister. Courtenay was another offence in the eye of the
ambassador, as the rival to Philip, who found favour with the English
council. The queen affected to treat Courtenay as a child; she
commanded him to keep to his house; she forbade him to dine abroad
without special permission; the title of Earl of Devon was given to
him, and he had a dress made for him to take his seat in, of velvet
and gold, but the queen would not allow him to wear it:[133] and yet,
to her own and the ambassador's mortification, she learnt that he
affected the state of a prince; that he spoke of his marriage with her
as certain; that certain prelates, Gardiner especially, encouraged his
expectation, and one or more of them had knelt in his presence.[134]
The danger had been felt from the first that, if she persisted in her
fancy for the Prince of Spain, Courtenay might turn his addresses to
Elizabeth; the lords would in that case fall off to his support, and
the crown would fall from her head as easily as it had settled there.

[Footnote 133: Noailles.]

[Footnote 134: Renard to Charles V., September 19:
_Rolls House MSS._]

More afflicting to Mary than these personal grievances was the
pertinacity with which the council continued, in their public
documents, to describe her as Head of the Church, the execrable title
which was the central root of the apostasy. In vain she protested; the
hateful form--indispensable till it was taken away by parliament--was
thrust under her eyes in every paper which was brought to her for
signature, and she was obliged to acknowledge the designation with her
own hand and pen.

Amidst these anxieties, September wore away. Parliament was to open on
the fifth of October, and either before or after the meeting the queen
was to be crowned. The ceremony was an occasion of considerable
agitation; Mary herself was alarmed lest the holy oil should have lost
its efficacy through the interdict; and she entreated Renard to
procure her a fresh supply from Flanders, blessed by the excellent
hands of the Bishop of Arras. But the oil was not the gravest
difficulty. As the rumour spread of the intended Spanish marriage,
libellous handbills were scattere