The Tudor Welshman, Sir Edward Carne (c.1496-1561), gained a wide reputation as an outstanding diplomat and lawyer. Chosen by Cardinal Wolsey to enter the service of King Henry VIII, he was sent to Rome as excusator in the process of annulment of the king’s marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon. After the Rota had refused to annul Henry’s marriage, Carne returned to Glamorgan, and continued his career as a civil servant. He was appointed justice of the peace, master of requests and was made a member of the Council in the Marches of Wales. His next main appointment was as English envoy to the Holy See during the reign of Mary I. Carne was entrusted with the difficult task of restoring diplomatic relations between England and Rome. He remained in Rome until his death in 1561. His attachment to Wales and his staunch Catholic faith are evident in the burial memorial erected to his memory in a church in Rome by two Welsh friends.
