All this happened in the last week of March. It was perfectly obvious to those who had any real knowledge of the trend things were taking, that Gardiner had made his complaint far more with the idea of harming Cromwell, than of injuring Barnes himself, and the fact that the minister had not been able to rescue his friend a second time led many to predict his speedy downfall[694]. But Cromwell managed to stave off the ultimately inevitable catastrophe for two months more, and to maintain his ascendancy until the end of May. He certainly had no delusions as to the gravity of the situation in which he found himself, and he fully realized that his best chance of safety lay in making a humble acknowledgement of his error in favouring the Lutheran preacher. Though there is no actual record that he apologized to the Bishop of Winchester, there is every internal evidence of it. That at least a temporary reconciliation took place between him and Gardiner is proved by a letter of Sir John Wallop which informs us that on March 30 the Bishop of Winchester dined at London with the Lord Privy Seal, and that they ‘were more than iiij hour_es_ and opened theyre hart_es_ and so concluded that and therbe truthe or honesty in them not only all displeasures be forgotton, but also in thayre hert_es_ be now perfight intier frend_es_[695].’ It would have been hardly possible to bring about even a temporary truce between these two men without an apology on one side or the other, and it is not likely that Gardiner, backed as he was by the King, would have been the one to make it. In order to maintain his very precarious position, Cromwell had been forced to grovel before a man, whom two years before he could have ordered about to his heart’s content.
But it had been one of the greatest secrets of Cromwell’s success that he had never been too proud to take any step, however humiliating, which he deemed necessary for his profit or safety. Nevertheless it is doubtful if his apology to the Bishop of Winchester, unaided by any outside occurrence, would have been sufficient to prevent his immediate overthrow. The month of April, however, saw two events, one at home and the other abroad, which further raised his hopes and encouraged him to renewed efforts to regain his influence. The first of these was the assemblage of Parliament, an occasion on which Cromwell had always been able to make himself particularly useful to the King. He was not slow to realize the opportunity that was offered him, and he laboured with all his might for the passage of the measures which he knew his master desired. He made an opening speech in the House of Lords, in which he said that the King wished concord above all things and desired to suppress all dissension concerning religious doctrines: and he emphasized his words by providing for the appointment of a commission to correct all abuses and enforce respect for the Scriptures[696]. What was accomplished in this direct endeavour to extirpate heresy is less important than a move of a more practical nature, which bears every evidence of being planned by Cromwell. The ancient military and religious order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem was the sole remaining stronghold of monasticism in England that had been suffered to escape the onslaught of the King’s minister. To complete the work of destruction which he had begun their downfall was essential, and an Act to abolish them and confiscate their property finally passed both Houses after a prolonged debate[697]. A complicated Taxation Bill, which was carried through at the same time, seemed also to bear the stamp of Cromwellian genius. Such services to the Crown had not been suffered to go unrewarded, for on April 18 those who had prophesied the ruin of the King’s minister were amazed by his being created Earl of Essex and Great Chamberlain of England[698]. The French ambassador, who only seven days before had reported to Francis that Cromwell was tottering to his fall, now confessed that the new-made Earl ‘was in as much credit with the King as ever he was, from which he was near being shaken by the Bishop of Winchester and others.’