Welcome back to World of Monarchs blogs, where twice a week you will get a new article, and this week we will be talking about Cardinal Wolsey so let’s get into it!
Who was Cardinal Wolsey?
Cardinal Wolsey, or Thomas Wolsey as he was named, was an English statesman and a catholic cardinal. Cardinal Wolsey became the king’s almoner when Henery VIII had become king of England in 1509.
Thomas Wolsey was born in 1473 and was the son of a butcher named Robert Wolsey. Though his family was of modest origins it became full of criticism later in Wolsey’s life because of his wealth and power. The critics believed he would be from high nobility due to the wealth and from the power he held in the king’s courts. Cardinal Wolsey attended Ipswich school then went to Magdalen college before studying Theology at Magdalen College, in Oxford.
Cardinal Wolsey was appointed as a priest on March 10th 1498 and remained at Oxford as the master of Magdalen College school, then he became the dean of divinity. And from 1500 to 1509, Cardinal Wolsey was living as a rector of St Mary’s church in Limington in Somerset. In 1514 Cardinal Wolsey had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state! And his appointment as cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515 gave him precedence over all other English clergy.
Fun Fact: Cardinal Wolsey was responsible for Virgil’s arrest and imprisonment in the Tower of London!
Since king Henry VII favored those from humble backgrounds, this was how Cardinal Wolsey was introduced into nobility and Henry VII appointed him into the royal chaplain. While in this position Cardinal Wolsey served as secretary to Richard Foxe, who recognized Cardinal Wolsey’s ability, dedication, and willingness to take on more tedious tasks.
How did Cardinal Wolsey rise to power?
With the king favoring Cardinal Wolsey, it helped to bring him into a huge rise of power given his intelligence, administrative ability, industriousness, and ambition.
In 1509 after the ascension of Henry VIII, he appointed Cardinal Wolsey to the post of almoner which gave Cardinal Wolsey a seat on the Privy Council, giving him more prominence and establishing a personal rapport with king Henry VIII.
In 1511 Cardinal Wolsey rose to a position of great power which paralleled his increasing status within the church, in 1514 he was made Bishop of Lincoln and then was made Archbishop in the same year.
In 1523 Cardinal Wolsey’s career advanced further and he became Bishop of Durham, which was a post with great political power, and in 1529 Cardinal Wolsey went on from that to become the Bishop of Winchester.
Cardinal Wolsey was hated by many in the courts, it’s claimed that they thought that the power should be for themselves. Though Cardinal Wolsey worked hard for fourteen years as chancellor, this all led to the king protecting Cardinal Wolsey from being attacked.
Cardinal Wolsey's downfall
In domestic matters, Cardinal Wolsey held great freedom as long as he stayed in the kings favor, unfortunately this did not happen and it eventually led to Cardinal Wolsey’s downfall.
Cardinal Wolsey dominated civic affairs, administration, laws, the church and foreign policies. And he built a great fortune by being an benefactor of the arts, humanities, and education.
Cardinal Wolsey. However, made a great mistake towards the king. At this time king Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce from Catherine of Aragon as he wanted to have a son, and Cardinal Wolsey denied him the divorce, the king abandoned Cardinal Wolsey and charged him with treason. Cardinal Wolsey died from natural causes before he could be beheaded.
Now that I told you a bit about Cardinal Wolsey, perhaps you can answer a question for me: Cardinal Wolsey became unpopular for doing what?
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