 A variety of other disagreements existed , such as the papal income tax and the refusal of the pope to create John Morton , the archbishop of Canterbury , a cardinal ; Innocent VII had passed over Morton in his first consistory , despite creating two French cardinals . Nor had John Sherwood , the English ambassador in Rome , been created a cardinal in 1484 , despite the request of King Richard III . Piccolomini 's creation as cardinal protector was requested by Henry VII in a letter congratulating the newly elected Pope Alexander VI , and was confirmed in a response which was probably written by Giovanni Gigli . 
