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"I Do Not Know Whether Bryan Be More of An Englishman or a Frenchman"
Bryan’s arrival in England foreshadowed the defeat of Henry’s suit and the collapse of Wolsey’s policy. Although eagerly received at court, Bryan’s report only reiterated the pope’s unwillingness to grant the divorce. Two days after his return, on 21 June 1529, the French army was routed at Landriano by the Imperial forces and driven out of Italy altogether. Francis I had no choice but to conclude peace on the emperor’s terms. Convinced by Charles’s victory, the pope concluded a treaty with him eight days later in Barcelona. This event had only confirmed what Clement had believed for some time that he would have to revoke Henry’s case to Rome.
It was now feared in England that the peace negotiations between Francis and Charles at Cambrai would free the emperor to take military action on behalf of his aunt. While a delegation was hastily dispatched to Cambrai, Bryan was sent to the French court on 23 July to ascertain Francis’s attitude toward England and, if favorable, to seek assurances that he would uphold their pact against the emperor and continue to support Henry’s divorce. But seven days later, to the outrage of the English participants, Campeggio announced at Blackfriars that according to the calendar of the Roman Consistory the court stood adjourned and would reconvene the following October in Rome. The Legatine Court in England never met again and Campeggio’s action spelled the failure of Wolsey’s policy to obtain his monarch’s divorce through papal consent. The pope’s decision also led to the downfall of the lord chancellor.
On arriving in France, Bryan journeyed to La Fere, a small town in the northern province of Aisne, where Francis was hunting deer. The king assured him that he would continue to fortify his borders against the emperor and support Henry’s case in Rome. However, as the peace negotiontions at Cambrai were revealing, Charles actually had no intention of continuing hostilities with England to uphold his aunt’s marriage to Henry. He was far more worried about disturbances among Lutheran princes and cities in Germany and with the advance of Turkish troops into Hungry. England joined France and the Holy Roman Empire in signing the peace
treaty on 5 August 1529. The agreement gave Henry reasonable assurance that the emperor would not treat the divorce as a cause of war. The English king could now press forward for an annulment of his marriage without feeling any undue anxiety about the attitude of Charles.
Bryan remained at the French court as Henry’s official ambassador for two more months. Even though the emperor was preoccupied with his own problems, Henry was determined to prevent any future interference by Catherine’s nephew. Therefore Bryan’s principal task was to keep alive French hostility towards the emperor in the hopes that it would deter Charles from intervening in English affairs. Henry, however, no longer attempted to exploit the rivalies of the two great powers in order to coerce the pope to consent to his divorce. Wolsey had attempted this and failed. On 16 October he was dismissed from his chancellorship and replaced by the accomplished English humanist Sir Thomas More. Without any intention of breaking with the papacy, the king now hoped to bring sufficient pressure on Clement to grant his divorce. Relying upon the anti-clerical temper of his subjects and their opposition to the papacy, Henry summoned the Reformation Parliament the following month to reduce the Church to absolute obedience to himself and curtail the power of the papacy in England in order to compel it to grant his annulment.
At court the Boleyn faction attracted many anti-clericals to its rank. While in France, Bryan himself also voiced their attitude. In October 1529 he was present in Paris when Francis received the latest reports on the progress of the Turkish invaders into Hungary. Addressing his court, he declared that "....if the emperor would acquit me of half my ransom (for the release of my sons), I would go with 50,000 men against the Turk, and spend a million of my own, otherwise I am not able". Those who heard these earnest words probably would not have foreseen that Francis, who had been granted the title "The Most Christian King", would three years later ally himself with the renowned Turkish ruler Suleiman, the Magnificent against Charles V. Francis was also clearly hinting to Henry at his own serious financial situation which eventually led to a request for money. The king then turned to Bryan and asked what Henry would do. He replied: "I could not tell, but that, if all agreed (Henry) would act like a Christian prince", adding that "if others had done like (him), the Church would not be so ruined as it is now." This statement foreshadows Henry’s attack upon the papacy and the English Church. Shortly after this interview Bryan was replaced as ambassador to the French court by his uncle, Sir Thomas Boleyn, and John Stokesley, bishop of London.
As the year of 1529 drew to a close, Bryan was recalled to court amid preparations for the release of Francis’s sons, the Dauphine Francis and his younger brother Henry. The treaty of Cambrai had stipulated that neither of the children would be released until the French king produces 1,200,000 crowns. Francis had collected three-quarters of the sum in taxes from his people, the clergy, and the nobles. The last quarter was to be secured from Henry by means of a complex transaction. The Habsburg monarchy owed England a large debt dating back to the time of Maximillian I and Henry VII. Francis I now requested that it be remitted and the emperor’s ‘Fleur-de-lis’ jewel held as security for payment of the debt, also be returned to him. The debt which Henry would thus forgive the emperor would be subtracted from the sum owed by Francis to Charles. Aware that he needed the French king’s help in obtaining his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, Henry agreed to the terms.
Bryan was charged with personally escorting the jewel until it was handed over to Charles. Before it was placed into his care, this precious object was carefully examined by a representative of the emperor to insure that it was identical in all respects to the original. On 28 February 1530, it was carefully wrapped, placed in a sealed box, and entrusted to Bryan.
On the evening of 6 March he sailed to Blaye, a small port town twenty miles north of Bordesux on the Gironds River, where he was greeted by a French commission headed by Jean du Bellay, who had temporarily returned to France from his ambassadorial post in England. Here, Bryan had to wait until summoned by Anne de Montmorency, the Grand Master of France, who was supervising the arrangements for the return of the sons of Francis I. From the city of Bayonne, 18 miles north of the Franco-Spanish border, he worked with a large team of financial experts to accumulate the desired sum for repayment of the French debt.
During his six day stay in Blaye, Bryan apparently made a good impression on Du Bellay who described him as "a man of his word" in a letter to Montmorency. Just possibly these words were an effort by Du Bellay to relieve Montmorency and himself of a slight fear that under Henry’s instructions, Bryan might replace the jewel with a forgery. But Montmorency was not so sure. A few days later Bryan received instructions to bring the jewel to Sevonne. He and a small company of Frenchmen departed on 12 March. The poor conditions of the roads forced the company to move very slowly and their delay caused Montmorency to dispatch anxious notes to Du Bellay concerning the whereabouts of Bryan’s contingent. Replying apologetically for the apparent lack of haste. Du Bellay noted that care of the jewel required a slow pace and that Bryan left here with good will, and my brother Rene, who accompanied the English envoy on this journey will endeavor not to lessen it. With the remittance of the English debt and the addition of the Fleur-de-lis jewel. Francis had difficulty raising the money necessary to recover his sons. Because of these delays, the date of 1 March, originally assigned for the release of the two boys, was repeatedly postponed. Until the jewel was actually transferred to Imperial agents, Bryan was to remain with it at all times. On 4 April, shortly after his arrival at Bayonne, he wrote to Henry of the great attention now shown to him by Montmorency, a further indication of Bryan’s good reputation at the French court. In another letter a few days later, Henry expressed his appreciation to the French king for his ambassador’s friendly treatment, pleasantly indicating Bryan’s own partiality toward France: "I do not know whether Bryan be more of an Englishman or a Frenchman". Three weeks later the ransom money was exchanged for the king’s sons at a point on the river Bidassoa halfway between the towns of Fuenterrabia and Hendaye. Official notification of this event arrived in England seven days later. Writing to Montmorency that same day, the Duke of Norfolk thanked him for the kindness shown to his nephew, Bryan, and for news respecting the return of the French king’s children, Francis and Henry.
On 7 July 1530 Charles‘s sister, Eleanor, and Francis I were married in a chapel at Roquefor-de-Marson. This effectively sealed the peace of Cambrai, but Bryan’s duties to France did not end. Grave concern arose at Henry’s court at the possible implications of this marriage, which made his closest ally the brother-in-law of his chief rival and enemy. Bryan therefore remained at the French court in Paris until the end of August. Since he knew the news of such disputes would be welcomed by Henry and his council, his reports also record the discord that arose between the women of the French court and those who belonged to the household of the emperor’s sister. He sardonically remarked that "the French ladies mock the Spanish, and the Spanish ladies spy well", adding that "the queen will not long agree with the French king’s mother", and that the court would quickly divide itself between the two ladies. Nevertheless, the marriage did foster new rumors of an impending meeting and alliance between Francis and the emperor, although Bryan could find no evidence to support them. On 30 August his brief stay in France was terminated by his recall to England.
A new appointment to the French court came two months later, soon after Wolsey’s indictment under a charge of treason. He was arrested on 4 November 1530 and escorted to London to face trial and, doubtless, execution. In the months prior to this, rumors had circulated of Wolsey’s imminent return to court. He had spent many months contacting papal officials, Francis I, and the emperor to secure their support. But Anne, who was making it clear to the French that she could do far more for their interest than Wolsey, urged Henry to arrest the cardinal, accusing him of involvement in plots with foreign monarchs. Bryan had been instructed to inform Francis of the circumstances surrounding the arrest and to gauge his response. Thus on 21 November he presented to Montmorency a list of "detestable practices" which Wolsey had allegedly perpetrated. Rumors of his arrest had already reached the court at Rome, but Montmorency admitted ignorance of the offenses with which Wolsey had been charged. When, however, Bryan offered evidence of Wolsey’s appeals to Rome, Montmorency replied that although Francis had no knowledge of these matters, he "judged (Henry) to be so just a prince that (he) would not have banished the cardinal for his heinous deserts".
Further conversation with Francis only elicited the same reply. Doubtless neither man really cared whether this talk of Wolsey’s villainy was true or not. Bryan was probably relieved that his return to office had been thwarted. On 29 November 1530, Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey as he was being escorted to the Tower.
After Henry had dispatched a series of threatening letters to Clement VII two weeks later, he instructed Bryan to ask the French king to send an embassy to Rome to urge the pope to leave the decision of the divorce case to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since Wolsey’s fall from power, Henry had been unable to build up a dependable, influential party at the Roman court. He turned in frustration to Francis for aid since two of his bishops, Gabriel de Grammont and Francois de Thournon, had recently become cardinals. Henry looked to his ally the French king and these two men to advance his case in Rome. Bryan expressed his monarch’s desire that Francis not only dispatch the two cardinals to Rome as soon as possible, but also that the publication and distribution of papal censures against Henry be suppressed in France. The king "vehemently" asserted that he would do so and assured Bryan of his utmost cooperation in prosecuting the king’s case.
But as Henry took a more defiant stand toward the papacy, he risked alienating himself completely from the French king, who had no intention of following his example. Therefore Bryan attempted to arouse in Francis resentment against the pope’s actions. Clement’s public answer to Henry’s challenge came in January 1531 when he forbade him to remarry until he himself had pronounced upon the case. A month later Henry laid himself open to further papal condemnation when he placed before the Convocation of Canterbury his claim to be acknowledged as ‘Sole Protector and Supreme Head of the Church of England’.
Shortly thereafter, Bryan was once again to obtain a declaration from Francis supporting Henry’s cause in Rome. On 15 March he was admitted into the king’s chamber, where Francis expressed his annoyance at the pope’s recent pronouncement against Henry. Bryan responded that it was no surprise that he "....should be vexed at the pope’s treatment of his faithful friend and brother (Henry)." Francis angrily replied that it should not lie in the power of the pope to do so "mischievous" an act. After instructing the Bishop of Bayonne to draw up a letter of remonstrance to Clement, Francis harangued the papal ambassador concerning the pope’s unjust usage of Henry. He declared that the divorce case should have been settled in Henry’s favor long ago. The papal ambassador then turned to Bryan and assured him that he could stir the pope to favor Henry, to which Bryan retorted that Clement had "deceived me once, and I would not trust him again".
Despite Henry’s breach with Rome, Francis still hoped that by marrying his youngest son Henry to Catherine de Medici, the pope’s cousin, he could manage papal support to recapture the city of Milan and other parts of northern Italy. In March 1531 secret plans were initiated to send a French delegation to Rome to broach the subject with Clement. Unaware of this proposed matrimonial union, Bryan was told by Montmorency that as Cardinal Grammont was going to Rome, he would be allowed to urge the pope to leave the decision of the divorce case to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bryan thanked him and said "that the mission would prove of great service". Later the same day he visited the king. Francis had just received a letter from the emperor, which he read aloud to Bryan. Charles, said the French king, was advising him to agree to a General Council of the Catholic Church. Since such a body could only be lawfully convened by the pope, it obviously could become a threat to Henry. Francis, however, added that the council probably would never meet but that he had to recommend it to other Catholic princes in order to justify his title of ‘The Most Christian King’. The significant point for Bryan was that Charles and Francis were again in friendly communication, a fact which might bode ill for England.
News that Francis would travel into northern provinces of France awakened fears at the English court that he would be joined by the emperor. Already an interview between the French queen and Charles’s sister, the queen of Hungary, had taken place the month before, and rumors persisted of a meeting between the two monarchs. Bryan was to travel with the royal suite and report on its progress. If possible, he was also to obtain from Francis a pledge that such a meeting would not take place. As the entourage departed on 25 November, Bryan was also notified by Henry that as matters of importance might arise requiring knowledge of the Latin language, "which is wanting in you", Edward Fox, the king’s almoner, was to join him. Both Bryan and Fox remained with the entourage as it wound through the towns of Joinville, Bar, Rheine, and Amiens. But they reported no meeting with Imperial agents, although Bryan did pass along to Francis messages sent to England from a number of German Lutheran princes intent upon securing the French king’s support against the emperor.
Francis’s royal progress continued for two weeks, but at no time did Bryan report the appearance of Charles or any of his agents. Once the king had left those regions adjoining the emperor’s dominions, Bryan took his leave of the French court and, according to instructions, departed for England. On 21 December he returned to London.
Although there are indications that he visited the continent on brief journeys in 1532, Bryan spent most of that year in England at the court of Henry VIII. As a close associate of the king, he was often included in Henry’s New Year’s Gift list. At the beginning of 1532 he received a gift cup, a bowl, goblets, and salts. In addition, he was given a black velvet bonnet with a chain and a broach of gold. As a frequent participant in the king’s pastimes, Bryan played with and won a good deal of money from the king at various games. The Privy Purse expenses, indeed, bear this out. At Henry’s residence of Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, on 12 and 14 August Bryan won £23 6s 8d. From the king at dice. On Henry’s journey from Dover to London, Bryan and Anne Boleyn took £9 6s8d from the king at ‘Pope Julius’s game’ on 20 November. Five days later he and Anne lost 20 crowns to the king from the same game. At Greenwich on 26 November, Bryan, Anne and another courtier won 30 crowns. During the month of December Bryan again won 50 crowns from the king at cards and dice and another £15 at bowls.
The attempt to limit the number of gentlemen of the Privy Chamber in attendance on the king did not end with Wolsey’s Eltham Ordinances in 1526. In April 1533 they were once again reorganized in an attempt to control their continual growth. The man who initiated these reforms and had now risen to Wolsey’s place as the king’s chief minister was Thomas Cromwell. Bryan was placed in one of two groups of seven who were to attend upon the king for six weeks, after which the second group would begin their duties for the same period. In order to control this arrangement, a record of their coming and going was maintained by officials of the royal household.
By the beginning of October, plans were concluded to allow Henry and Francis to meet for a second time. Preparations had begun by the late summer, and in August inquiries were made at the Clinque Ports to discover how many days notice would be required for the assembly of sufficient transports to carry the king and his train to Calais. As a member of a contingent of 140 lords and knights, and a body of 600 horsemen, Bryan set forth with Henry on 21 October to meet the French king. Traveling about ten miles southwest from Calais, the company reached the small town of Sandingfield. Upon the arrival of Francis, the two kings embraced each other and the lords on opposite sides followed their example. A much less elaborate affair than the Fields of Cloth of Gold twelve years before, this meeting took place in both Calais and Boulogne. Although ostensibly directed against the Turk, the real purpose of the meeting was to coordinate their actions in Italy against the emperor. Henry needed French support for his divorce since he was ill-equipped to communicate with the Roman Court. He had tried in vain to obtain red hats for other Englishmen sympathetic to his case, and now had only the French cardinals to rely on.
In addition, both monarchs were concerned with the emperor’s avowed intention to return shortly to Italy, since Henry dreaded that renewed pressure from Charles on the pope would doom his suit. Therefore, on 28 October, both Henry and Francis agreed not to send help to the emperor against the Turks. Furthermore, since the French king intended meeting with the pope shortly, he promised to press him for a satisfactory conclusion to the divorce. Henry left the meeting on 29 October 1532, with the foreboding thought that unless the pope resisted Charles’s grasp; Henry would be forced to choose between "surrender and schism".