The Pope added
to the resentment which Henry bore to his old tutor by making him a
Cardinal; and the Red Hat sealed his doom. "The Pope may send him a hat,"
said the ferocious monarch; "but, Mother of God, he shall wear it on his
shoulders, for I will leave him never a head to set it on." He was charged
with having "falsely, maliciously, and traitorously wished, willed, and
desired, and by craft imagined, invented, practised, and attempted, to
deprive the King of the dignity, title, and name of his royal estate, that
is, of his title and name of supreme head of the Church of England, in the
Tower, on the seventh day of May last, when, contrary to his allegiance,
he said and pronounced in the presence of different true subjects,
falsely, maliciously, and traitorously, these words: the King oure
soveraign lord is not supreme hedd yn erthe of the Cherche of Englande."
These words, drawn from him by Rich, were found sufficient to effect the
King's pleasure.
The aged prelate was pronounced guilty, and beheaded on July 22nd, 1535.
On his way to the scaffold he exclaimed, "Feet, do your duty; you have
only a short journey," and then, singing the _Te Deum laudamus_, he placed
his head upon the block, and the executioner's axe fell. Although Bishop
Fisher was condemned for denying the King's supremacy, he incurred the
wrath of Henry by his book against the divorce, and that practically
sealed his fate.
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