Thomas Wolsey (c.1471-1530), ambitious English statesman with his eye set on the papal throne, he became the most powerful subject of King Henry VIII until his fall in 1530 and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Born at Ipswich in Suffolk, Wolsey was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford and then headed the college school before becoming personal chaplain, first to Henry Dean, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and after Dean's death in 1503, to the governor of Calais. It was as the result of the latter position that Wolsey met Henry VII (1485-1509) in Calais and, in due course, became the king's personal chaplain.
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Wolsey if often claimed to have been the son of an Ipswich butcher but there seems to be no foundation for this; his father, Robert Wulcy (or Wolsey), was a man of substance owning property in Ipswich. Thomas, himself, always wrote his name as "Wulcy".
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It was after the accession of Henry VIII in 1509 that Wolsey's career flourished. He became Canon of Windsor and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1511. He soon came to control all matters of state in the king's name.
Wolsey was appointed Dean of Lincoln (1514).
In 1514, Wolsey was made Bishop of Lincoln, and later Archbishop of York. He was made a cardinal in 1515 by Pope Leo X. In 1523, he was made Prince-Bishop of Durham.
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Wolsey held great power and with it acquired enormous wealth to live in royal splendour. His long-term ambition was to become pope.
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While Wolsey had successfully managed the king's foreign policy despite making many political enemies, his downfall was his inability to secure the divorce (or, more accurately, "annulment") of Henry VIII from Catharine of Aragon to allow the monarch to marry Anne Boleyn.
Wolsey was hampered in fulfulling the wishes of his temporal master by family politics; Catherine was opposed to the annulment and her nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, threatened the pope if the annulment was allowed.
Wolsey's fall was sudden and as complete as his previous success. Although he was permitted to remain Archbishop of York, he was stripped of his government office and property, including his magnificently expanded residence of York Place, which the King chose to replace his own main London residence, the Palace of Westminster.
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I see the matter against me now it is framed; but if I had served God as diligently as I have done the king He would not have given me over in my gray hairs.
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Shortly afterwards, Wolsey was accused of treason and ordered to face the charges in London. Greatly distressed, Wolsey set out for the capital, accompanied by his personal chaplain Edmund Bonner. Falling ill en-route, he died on the way, at Leicester Abbey on November 29th, 1530.
Just as other rich and powerfull figures, Wolsey had designed a grand tomb as his own fianl resting-place. Instead, he was buried in Leicester Abbey without any monument at all - Henry VIII had considered using Wolsey's impressive black sarcophagus for himself but, in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, it became the tomb of Lord Nelson.
| 1471 | | Birth of Thomas Wolsey | | | | 1498.Mar.10 | | Ordination into the priesthood of Thomas Wolsey by the suffragan of the Bishop of Salisbury at Marlborough | | BAAAGCEV | | 1500.Oct | | Wolsey presented to the rectory of Limington in Somerset by the Marquis of Dorset (the father of three of his pupils) | | | | 1503 | | Death of Henry Dean, Archbishop of Canterbury | | BAAAGEWK | | 1506 | | Thomas Wolsey acquires the living of Redgrave in Suffolk | | | | 1507 | | Thomas Wolsey becomes one of the court chaplains | | | | 1508 | | Thomas Wolsey acquires the living of Lydd in Sussex | | | | circa 1508 | | The king begins to employ Thomas Wolsey in diplomatic service
It is probably about this time Wolsey made the well-known journey to Flanders as special envoy to the Emperor Maximilian | | BAAAGBRG BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1509 | | Thomas Wolsey acquires the living of Torrington in Devon | | | | 1509.Feb.02 | | Thomas Wolsey made Dean of Lincoln | | BAAAGBXB | | 1509.Apr.22 | | Death of Henry
VII, his son succeeds to the Crown as Henry VIII, aged 17 | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBRG BAAAGCDB BAAAGEFL BAAAGBRH BAAAGCLM | | 1510.Feb.17 | | Thomas Wolsey becomes a canon of Windsor | | | | 1511 | | Thomas Wolsey becomes canon of Windsor | | | | 1511 | | Thomas Wolsey appointed to the Privy Council | | BAAAGDDK BAAAGBXA | | 1511.Nov.13 | | England joins the Holy League
initially composed of Spain, Venice and the Papacy | | BAAAGBXA | | 1512 | | Thomas Wolsey made dean of Hereford | | | | 1512 | | Henry VIII sends an army to France under Lord Dorset on an unsuccessful campaign | | BAAAGBXA | | 1513 | | Ferdinand objects to the marriage of his grandson, Charles of Flanders, to Mary, sister of Henry VIII, abandons Henry and makes peace with France | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBKY BAAAGEIB | | 1513 | | Thomas Wolsey made dean of York | | | | 1513.Jun | | Expedition to France: English capture Terouenne and Tournay, the French defeated at Guinegate (the battle of Spurs)
Organised by Thomas Wolsey who accompanied the King. Wolsey was followed by a train of two hundred gentlemen
| | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBKY BAAAGEIB | | 1513.Aug.22 | | The Scots invade England
They are defeated and their monarch, James IV, killed at the Battle of Flodden | | BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGEKC BAAGEKC BAAAGEIB | | 1513.Sep.09 | | English forces under the Earl of Surrey defeat James IV of Scotland at the Battle of Flodden Fields
The battle results in over ten thousand dead, James IV of Scotland among them | | BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ BAAAGEKC BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1514 | | Thomas Wolsey made Bishop of Lincoln | | BAAAGBXB | | 1514.Feb.06 | | Papal bull appoints Thomas Wolsey Bishop of Lincoln
Wolsey named him Bishop of Tournay by the Pope at Henry\\\'s request for his services in the French campaign of 1513 but never took possession surrendering his claim for an annual pension - the bishopric was recompense | | BAAAGBXA | | 1514.Mar.26 | | Consecration of Wolsey as Bishop of Lincoln at Lambeth Palace | | | | 1514.Aug | | Peace signed between England and France
Louis XII agrees to increase the pension the French are paying in reparations | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1514.Sep | | Thomas cromwell succeeds Cardinal Bainbridge as Archbishop of York | | BAAAGBXA | | 1514.Oct | | Marriage of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, and Louis XII of France
(the marriage arranged by Wolsey) | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1515 | | Death of Louis XII; succeeded by Francis I as king of France | | BAAAGBKY BAAAGEFL BAAAGBXA | | 1515 | | Parliament, the House of Lords filled with clergy, refused to renew the Criminous Clerks Act (stating that hangers-on to clergy should be tried in the Kings Court instead of church courts) | | BAAAGBXJ BAAAGBXA | | 1515.Sep.10 | | Thomas Cromwell made a cardinal by Pope Leo X | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1515.Nov.18 | | Wolsey invested with a cardinal\\\'s hat in Westminster Abbey | | BAAAGEFJ | | 1515.Dec.24 | | Thomas Wolsey becomes Lord Chancellor of England
Wolsey has attained the highest dignities, both spiritual and temporal, of any subject | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGEIB | | 1518 | | Treaty of London: Wolsey secures an alliance with France and Spain and the Emperor Maximilian (nominally to check the Turks), ensuring peace in W Europe
Turnay given up in return for cash payment from Francis I | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBKY | | 1518.May | | Wolsey named legatus a latere by the Pope | | BAAAGCBT | | 1518.Jul | | Thomas Wolsey appointed Bishop of Bath and Wells | | BAAAGEII | | 1519.Jan | | Death of Maximilian I (1493-); his grandson Charles V (king of Spain from 1516) inherits Hapsburg lands and is crowned Holy Roman Emperor, aged 19
Charles rules Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and parts of Italy | | BAAAGBXA | | 1520 | | Thomas cromwell known to be advising Cardinal Wolsey on legal matters
Henceforth occurs frequently advisor to noblemen and others when in difficulties, especially on financial matters | | BAAAGCCI | | 1520.Feb | | Wolsey arranges the meeting of Henry VIII and Francis at the English castle at Guisnes in Calais | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGCCR | | 1520.Jun.07 | | Field of Cloth of Gold: meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France is spectacular, continuing for 3 weeks with each monarch trying to outdo the other in splendor - it yielded no results and Francis failed to secure an alliance with Henry VIII
one of the most expensive charades ever staged in history | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBKY | | 1521 | | Alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V | | BAAAGBXA | | 1522 | | Wolsey raises money by benevolences | | BAAAGBTY BAAAGBXA | | 1523 | | Thomas Cromwell becomes a member of the House of Commons with the help of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey | | BAAAGCCI BAAAGBXL | | 1523 | | Unsuccessful expedition to France in alliance with Charles
Wolsey demanded parliament to grant a property tax of 20% to pay for the campaign | | BAAAGBXA | | 1523 | | Parliament refuses Wolsey\'s demand of a property tax of 20% for the French Campaign
Wolsey came to the house personally, disrupting the debate. Parliament granted 10% | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBTY | | 1523 | | Thomas Wolsey made Prince-Bishop of Durham | | BAAAGBXA | | 1525 | | Dissolution of the minor religious houses by Thomas Cromwell as agent of Cardinal Wolsey
To provide the endowments for Wolseys foundations at Oxford and Ipswich | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGCCI | | 1527 | | John Dudley accompanies Cardinal Wolsey to France | | BAAAGDGQ | | 1527 | | Alliance with France
Henry VIII considering divorce from Catherine of Aragon sought to make the papacy independant of her nephew, Charles V | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBKY | | 1529 | | Peace of Cambrai; a pause in the Hapsburg-Valois struggle between Charles V and Francis
The end of
French intervention in Italy as France renounces territorial claims there. One of the causes of the fall of Wolsey | | BAAAGBKY | | 1529 | | The committees of the Star Chamber established by Wolsey to hear cases involving the poor become known as the Court of Requests | | BAAAGBXA | | 1529.Jun.18 | | Court to hear the case of the King\'s divorce from Katharine by Cardinal Campeggio and Wolseysits at Blackfriars | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGCDB | | 1529.Nov | | Fall of Cardinal Wolsey as a bill of indictment is preferred against him
Thomas Cromwell hurriedly elected burgess for Taunton so he could remain in government service | | BAAAGEBS BAAAGCCI | | 1529.Nov.19 | | Wolsey forced to surrender the great seal of England | | | | 1529.Nov.22 | | Wolsey forced to sign a deed confessing that he had incurred a praemunire and surrendering all his vast possessions to the king | | BAAAGBXA | | 1530.Feb.12 | | Wolsey receives a general pardon and the possessions of the archbishopric of York are restored to him, except York House, which he is forced to convey to the king | | | | 1530.Nov.04 | | Commissioners from the king arrest Wolsey at York on a charge of high treason | | BAAAGBXA BAAAGBZE | | 1530.Nov.30 | | Death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (c.1473�) at Leicester Abbey | | |
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Naked to Mine Enemies The Life of Cardinal Wolsey
by Charles W Ferguson , 1958
2 volumes
Recommend a Book for this Page
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