DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67417#0041
CARDINAL WOLSEY IQ
‘ Why come ye not to Court ?
To which Court ?
To the Kinges Court,
Or to Hampton Court?—
Nay, to the Kinges Court :
The Kinges Court
Should have the excellence ;
But Hampton Court
Hath the pre-eminence.”1
Before long Henry himself began to look with
covetous eyes on Hampton Court, and to listen to
the malicious tongues who remarked that it sur-
passed his own homes in splendour. One day he
asked the Cardinal why he had built himself so
magnificent a palace. Wolsey took the hint, and
is said to have replied promptly : “To show how
noble a house a subject may offer to his lord.” As
early as June 1525, the Flemish envoy in London
wrote to the Regent of the Netherlands, saying
that the Cardinal had presented his house at
“ Hanten Court ” with all its contents to the King,
adding the remark: “ It seems to me that this is
as good as if he said, I give you a little pig of your
own breeding at your own great cost.” 2
Even before this, Wolsey always dated his letters
to the King, “ From your Grace’s Manor of Hampton
Court,” while to others he wrote, “ My Manor of
Hampton Court.” Two years later the surrender
of the palace was an accomplished fact. The
French envoys who came to London in March 1527,
to arrange a marriage between Francis I. and
1 Skelton’s Poetical Works, i. 317 and ii. 39.
2 “ Calendar of Spanish State Papers,”- iii. pt. i. 209.
‘ Why come ye not to Court ?
To which Court ?
To the Kinges Court,
Or to Hampton Court?—
Nay, to the Kinges Court :
The Kinges Court
Should have the excellence ;
But Hampton Court
Hath the pre-eminence.”1
Before long Henry himself began to look with
covetous eyes on Hampton Court, and to listen to
the malicious tongues who remarked that it sur-
passed his own homes in splendour. One day he
asked the Cardinal why he had built himself so
magnificent a palace. Wolsey took the hint, and
is said to have replied promptly : “To show how
noble a house a subject may offer to his lord.” As
early as June 1525, the Flemish envoy in London
wrote to the Regent of the Netherlands, saying
that the Cardinal had presented his house at
“ Hanten Court ” with all its contents to the King,
adding the remark: “ It seems to me that this is
as good as if he said, I give you a little pig of your
own breeding at your own great cost.” 2
Even before this, Wolsey always dated his letters
to the King, “ From your Grace’s Manor of Hampton
Court,” while to others he wrote, “ My Manor of
Hampton Court.” Two years later the surrender
of the palace was an accomplished fact. The
French envoys who came to London in March 1527,
to arrange a marriage between Francis I. and
1 Skelton’s Poetical Works, i. 317 and ii. 39.
2 “ Calendar of Spanish State Papers,”- iii. pt. i. 209.