Cardinal Pole frankly avowed this purpose, declaring that as Christ, being heir of the world, was sent down by his Father from the royal throne, to be at once Spouse and Son of the Virgin Mary and to be made the Comforter and Saviour of mankind; so, in like manner, the greatest of all princes upon earth, the heir of his father's kingdom, departed from his own broad and happy realms that he, too, might come hither into this land of trouble, to be the spouse and son of this virgin Mary.

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to aid in the reconciliation of this people to Christ and the church.
For Mary herself the marriage was most unhappy.

{319} She was a bride of thirty-eight, already worn and aged by grief and care; her bridegroom was only twenty-seven.