A personal and political history, unpredictable and often tragic, of the series of Italian cardinals who undertook, at the invitation of the crown, to serve the king and England in the papal court. It also investigates fully the character of Anglo-papal relations in the two generations before the break with Rome. The familiar story of Henry VIII's campaign to divorce Catherine of Aragon is presented in its full context and from a Roman point of view. The account begins with the origins of the cardinal protectorship under Henry VII and concentrates on the long and intimate relationship of Henry VIII and Wolsey with Giulio de'Medici (later Pope Clement VII) and Lorenzo Campeggio, the cardinal protectors of England from 1514 until 1534 and the two Roman churchmen most involved in the divorce. The important matter of papal provisions to bishoprics in England and Ireland as well as in Scotland and elsewhere is studied against a background of European diplomacy and personal intrigue.