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XIII.

ardini, D' Alviano was rather a brave sol- CHAP. dier than a skilful general. He was not only frequently defeated, but it had been observed that whenever he held the chief command he had never obtained the victory. Yet it must be confessed that the man who by his activity, courage, and perseverance, could frustrate the efforts of such a powerful alliance as had been formed against the Venetian states, had no slight pretensions to the applause and gratitude of his country. In the elegant Latin oration of Navagero which yet remains(a) are briefly enumerated the principal transactions of his life; and we learn from the same authority, that his few hours of leisure were sedulously devoted to the cultivation of literature, in which he had madea much greater proficiency than could have been expected from a person devoted to the ceaseless duties of a military profession.(b) Of the solidity of his judg

VOL. III,

F

ment

(a) Printed with other works of Navagero at Venice, by Tacuini, in 1530, under the title, Andrea Naugerii Patricii Veneti Orationns duæ, carminaque nonnulla. 4o, and again in the enlarged edition of the works of Navagero, by Cominio, Padua, 1718, 4o.

(b) "Ingenio vero tam acri fuit, ut, cum literis paulu❝lum admodum vacasset, tam apte, tam acutè, tam cum

❝ omnium

A. D. 1515.

A. Et. 40.

A. Pont. III.

XIII.

CHAP. ment a sufficient proof may be found in the early patronage which he afforded to Girolamo Fracastoro, who was destined to be one A. Pont. III. of the principal literary ornaments of the

A. D. 1515.
A. Et. 40.

age, and who was chiefly indebted to this cele-
brated commander for those opportunities of
improvement which have conferred immorta-
lity on his name.

Wolsey

raised

The important changes which had taken to place in the affairs of Italy naturally led to the dignity some alteration in the conduct of the pontiff of cardinal. towards the other sovereigns of Europe, and particularly towards Henry VIII. between whom and Francis I. a degree of emulation had arisen which was already sufficiently apparent. On the death of cardinal Bambridge, Wolsey had succeeded him as archbishop of York; but this preferment, although it increased the revenues did not gratify the ambition of this aspiring ecclesiastic, who had flattered himself with the hope of obtaining

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omnium liberalium artium peritis, quod sæpius facere "consueverat, de his ipsis, quæ illorum artibus continen

tur, rebus loqueretur, ut omnia de illis scripta evolvisse, "omnia excussisse videretur." Naugerii Orat. in funere Bart. Liviani, p. 7. Ed. Tacuin. 1530.

T

XIII.

A. Et. 40.

also the hat of a cardinal lately worn by his CHAP. predecessor. In soliciting from the pope this distinguished favour Wolsey had relied on A. D. 1515. the assistance of Adrian de Corneto bishop of A Pont. III. Bath and cardinal of S. Crisogono, the pope's collector in England, under whom, as the cardinal resided at Rome, Polydoro Virgilio acted as sub-collector.(a) The cardinal was either unable or unwilling to render the service expected; and such was the resentment of Wolsey, who conceived that he had been betrayed by him, that under some trivial pre. : text he seized upon his deputy Polydoro and committed him to the tower.(b) This violent

F 2

measures

(a) Polydoro Virgilio was a native of Urbino, and distinguished himself by several well-known works, particularly his Latin collection of proverbs, published in 1498, and by his treatise de Inventoribus Rerum, published in 1499, which has since been frequently reprinted. He was sent to England in the pontificate of Alexander VI. and at the request of Henry VII. undertook, in the year 1505, his history of England, which he wrote in Latin, but which has not gained him the suffrages of posterity, either for ability or impartiality. He was afterwards appointed archdeacon of Wells, but in consequence of the reformation, he quitted this kingdom and retired to his native place, where he lived to an advanced age, and died in 1555. Bayle, Dict. art. Pol. Virgile.

(b) Lord Herbert's Life of Hen. VIII. p. 51.

XIII.

CHAP. measure had been the subject of frequent representations from the court of Rome; but although the cardinal Giulio de' Medici and the pope himself had written to the king, requesting the liberation of their agent, he still remained in confinement. (a) The apparent disrespect thus manifested by the English monarch to the holy see had induced the pontiff to listen to the representations of Francis I. who was extremely earnest to obtain the restoration of Louis Guillard ex-bishop of Tournay to that rich benefice, of which he had been deprived by the intrusion of Wolsey. Whilst the pape was yet hesitating, not perhaps as to the rights of the respective claimants, but as to which of the rival sovereigns it would be most expedient to attach to his interests, the success of the French arms effected a speedy decision, and Leo immediately granted a papal bull for restoring Guillard to his benefice, and even authorizing him to make use of the secular arm for obtaining possession. It may well be conceived that this measure gave great offence not only to Wolsey, but to Henry VIII. who had lately incurred an immense expense in fortifying the city of Tournay; and warm re

monstrances

A. D. 1515.
A. Pont. III.

A. Et. 40.

(a) These letters are given in the Appendix, No. CXXVI.

XIII.

A. Et. 40.

monstrances were made upon it to the court CHAP. of Rome, in consequence of which the business was referred to the decision of two car-` A. D. 1515. dinals, who shewed no great disposition to A. Pont. III. bring it to a speedy termination. In the mean time Francis, who was well apprized where the chief difficulty lay, conceived that if he could obtain for Wolsey an equivalent for the loss of his bishoprick, he should find no further obstacles from that quarter. He therefore gave him to understand that he should promote his interests at Rome to the utmost of his power. (a) In the weighty discussions now depending between Francis and the pontiff, the appointment of a cardinal was an object of small comparative importance. The promotion of Wolsey to that dignity was determined on, of which Francis took care to send Wolsey the first intelligence ;(b) and at a consistory held for that purpose on the tenth day of September, 1515, he was the sole person raised to that high rank, his title being that of S. Cecilia trans Tiberim. About - the same time the pope's agent in England was liberated

(a) Lord Herbert's Life of Hen. VIII. p. 51. Ed. Lond.

1740.

(b) Ibid.

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