Thomas Wolsey Rise to Power
Thomas Wolsey's rise to power was significant. He elevated
himself from a poor family background to a point he was known as the
alter rex’ – the ‘other king. He was a man with great abilities, he succeeded
where others failed. His diplomatic missions were often arduous yet he continued
to break new ground. So what was Henry's opinion of his statesman? And which
indiscretion did Thomas fail that brought about his downfall? Join me now
as we look at the life of Thomas Wolsey.
Thomas Wolsey was born about 1473
He was the son of Robert Wolsey of Ipswich and his wife Joan Daundy.
It's been said his father was a butcher, which would become a bone of
contention in his later years when he started to gain power and increase
his wealth. It wasn't a background looked upon as anything special by
critics of the day, and many scoffed at the idea that this man should warrant
such attention. Wolsey's education was pretty good starting out at Ipswich
school before moving to Oxford, where he would study theology at Magdalen
College. Over the following years, his prominence rose, and he was ordained
as a priest in Wiltshire. By 1502 he had entered service with Henry Deane
the Archbishop of Canterbury, but when Henry died later the following year,
he began to work for Sir Richard Nanfan, Where Wolsey was made executor of
the estate. It would be after Nanfan's death that Wolsey's pedigree would
once again rise up for now his new master was King Henry VII
Luckily for Wolsey, the King had a soft spot for, let's say people from a
more modest background. He was appointed as royal chaplain and also served
as Secretary to Richard Foxe. Wolsey was a man with great dedication
to his roles. He was industrious, and always willing to partake in the more
laborious work offered to him. But it was his overall intelligence and
brilliant work ethic that enabled his remarkable climb to power. It was
also the King that had noticed something special in Wolsey, something he'd
not previously witnessed. Henry sent Wolsey to Scotland in April 1508,
to speak with King James IV about rumours to renew the Auld
Alliance. This was created in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and
France for the purpose of controlling England numerous invasions. This
mission accomplished, Wolsey would continue to steer his career in the
right direction, a rise that would coincide with the succession of Henry VIII.
Henry though was a different kettle of fish to his father, and
Wolsey would quickly come to realise this. Although Henry was only 18, he
already exerted power and influence one in which Wolsey was well aware
of, and one which would help seal his great friendship with the new King.
Henry inherited counsellors from his father, one being Richard Foxe, the
Bishop of Winchester, and the other William Warham, the Archbishop of
Canterbury. These men were both cautious in their approaches to how Henry
should proceed. But it would be Henry who would lay down his gauntlet, and
seek men that only had an affinity with his way of thinking. Wolsey had
always been anti war, however, under Henry he soon changed his tune. The King
had a plan to invade France and it would be up to Wolsey to persuade the
Privy councillors of his intentions, but both Warham and Foxe disagreed with
the King's passion for the French war, and inevitably both fell from power.
It will be now that Wolsey who held the reins and became the King's most
loyal and trusted advisor.
Wolsey now made careful steps to either
destroy or nullify Henry's courtiers. It would be the fall of Edward
Stafford, the third Duke of Buckingham, set out his and the King's
intentions. Others also suffered under his control, one being William
Compton, one of Henry's friends, and Anne Stafford, an ex mistress of the King.
However, the biggest crisis happened with Charles Brandon. You could say
this gave Wolsey a bit of a headache. After Charles had married Henry's
sister, Mary Tudor, without consent from the King. Wolsey had to think
long and hard at how the issue may be resolved. And although this was a
treasonous act, Wolsey came to the conclusion that death for the couple would
not be the solution. Luckily, for all parties, Henry agreed and life at
court moved on. Over the coming years, Wolsey became more powerful his
status growing not only within court, but also around the country and
across Europe. By 1515, Pope Leo X had made him a cardinal.
Wolsey had always been vigilant with his work, and this was obvious to everyone
who knew him. Now his talents would once again come to the fore. The Anglo
French war gave him a further opportunity to establish his expertise with
foreign policy.
A cry for help from Pope Julius II who at the time felt threatened by
the possibility of an attack from France. But Wolsey came to the rescue
he had secured an alliance between King Ferdinand V of Spain
and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Allies would now
battle it out with King Louis XII of France. Henry was excited to get
started after his chief advisor had what he thought secured a great treaty.
However, the first attack failed. This was mainly due to Ferdinand being
unreliable, but not to worry, Henry was not beaten, and once again in 1513,
lessons learnt and still with papal support, he launched a joint attack on
France with Maximilian, on this occasion capturing two French cities and
causing the French to retreat. It was Wolsey who had gained the most from all of
this, he had managed the logistics in keeping the troops both supplied and well
equipped. Ultimately, this would provide a winning game plan and create an
Anglo French peace treaty in August 1514. That would calm things down for
at least a short period of time. It also allowed England to keep the
captured city of Tournai and secure extra funds from France, via annual
pension payments. But more turbulent times lay ahead and there was to be
another shift in the European houses of power. This all threatened to dim
Henry's light and more importantly, his influence. But after the death of
Louis XII, it would be Francis I who came to power, Wolsey
then proposed a second alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire to
quell the French nation. Hopefully this time once and for all. Yet English
power across the continent was waning. For Wolsey this was another task
well within his remit and one that would skyrocket his value. In 1518,
Wolsey was made a Papal Legate. He organised the Treaty of London, but his
other remaining task was to become a mediator for Europe. Wolsey began
to organise one of the largest gatherings of leaders from 20 nations to
meet at a peace summit. It would now show England to be a very favourable ally.
As with all things politically, it ended promptly, with all sides
showing disdain at the wording, as usual in this time chaos intervened.
In 1519, Charles V came to the throne as the Holy Roman Emperor,
Francis I was pretty disgusted after he had apparently thrown a
King's fortune in hush money at the electorate to elect him. Wolsey once
again had to become mediator. It was a world now spiralling out of control.
For Wolsey, though, it was just another day at the office.
Wolsey once again hit a home run when he organised a meeting between Henry
and Francis I. It was to be known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. His skills in
creating such a masterpiece of diplomacy between Henry and Francis, was
something to be applauded. Although the event included lavish displays and
entertainment on a scale not witnessed before, it would be a great
opportunity for the two leaders to put aside their previous quarrels and
come together in peace and harmony. So both wealth and power were brought
to the fore of the event, something that would show the rest of Europe what
they were now competing against. Both France and Spain were now vying for
England's allegiance, for Wolsey this was perfect as he could now select
the ally best suited his own policies. Under Wolsey's guidance, Europe's
chief nations now sought to outlaw war amongst Christian nations. And
although diplomacy could sometimes postpone war, it would never prevent
wars based on incompatible interests, and ambitions. The Treaty of London
is often regarded as Wolsey's finest moment, yet it was discarded within a year.
Back in 1520, Wolsey had developed links with Charles V at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1521, he signed the secret Treaty of Bruges
again, with Charles V. This confirmed that England would unite with
Spain in a war against France. That is, if France refuse to sign the peace
treaty, and ignore the Anglo French Treaty of 1518. It's all very
complicated. Although Wolsey's relationship with Rome was also hesitant at
best with his links to the papacy. Wolsey succumbed completely to his only
true ruler, that was Henry. His treaty of London was set to be a more subtle
addition to Pope Leo's ambitions for European peace. However, in Rome, it
was seen as nothing more than a way to gain significant powers by England
from the papal leadership. This was taken to the nth degree by the
treatment of Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, who represented the Pope at the
Treaty of London. He wasn't allowed to cross the channel and was kept
waiting months. This has been described as Wolsey,
keeping an arm's distance from Rome.
When Francis I was captured by Charles V with a
contribution from England, it would be Henry who now thought his
opportunity to gain the French crown was nearing. A gain that Kings of
England from the past had long seek as their right. But the final
crushing blow, well, at least to Henry was when Parliament refused to raise
taxes, it would also mark the beginning of the end for Wolsey. The Amicable
Grant which had been yet another idea of Wolsey's was met with contempt
by most parties. Charles V abandoned England as an ally. So Wolsey
turned his deck of falling cards towards France. But this didn't rest well.
Although Francis I captivity was ongoing, it would be his mother
Louise of Savoy that took control and agreed a new treaty with Wolsey.
The Treaty of More was signed, but the skies were now darkening for an under
pressure chief adviser to Henry. Further attempted alliances continued and
in 1526, an assembly called the League of Cognac was created. England were
not part of this but Wolsey had taken on another concept, in which the only
outcome would be more disorder, and outrage. It was produced with the hope
it could provide some allegiance to Rome along with the answer to growing
concerns about Charles's dominance over Europe. The final act arrived in
1529, the French had made peace with Charles and to top it, they decided to
continue their Auld Alliance with Scotland. The facts were there for everyone
to see, Henry was blazing mad. He knew now Wolsey had failed him not only
in creating his desired position in Europe, but closer to home, there was
little to no chance of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, being annulled as
he requested. For two years, Wolsey had tried to secure the annulment, but
it was also the state of affairs that dictated how he should proceed on
foreign policy. Both failed and now his master Henry was on the warpath,
not with Europe, but with Wolsey! For Henry, his head was being moved by
the new lady on the block. Not the chopping block, but that's a future
story. Now, Henry was desperate to remove Catherine as his wife and bring
in Anne Boleyn, his real motivation was to have a son an heir, and Catherine
although she'd had children, non survived. And for Henry, this was unthinkable.
Wolsey appealed to Clement for an annulment on three fronts.
Firstly, he tried to convince the Pope that the dispensation was void as
the marriage clearly disobeyed instructions in the book of Leviticus.
Secondly, Wolsey objected to the dispensation on technical grounds,
claiming it was incorrectly worded. And finally, thirdly, Wolsey wanted
Clement to let the final decision be made in England, which as Papal
Legate he would supervise. In 1528, Clement decided to allow two Papal
Legate's to decide the outcome in England, Wolsey and Campeggio. Wolsey was
confident of the decision but Campeggio took a long time to arrive. When
he finally did, he delayed proceedings so much that the case had to be
suspended in July 1529. This effectively sealed Wolsey's fate.
During his 14 years as Chancellor, Wolsey had more power than any other Crown
servants in English history. For this, he was hated, really hated! The nobility
couldn't work out how this son of a butcher had come so far in such time.
Yet the King continued to protect him. It was as though no matter what Wolsey
did, even at the time, to the uproar of the King himself, Henry still
seem to believe that his managerial skills and authority would come to the
fore as they had in the past. Wolsey was the man with power. He was the
one who controlled and calculated every discussion and act before
attempting to cement a deal for royal approval. He dominated civil affairs,
administration and law, and his foreign policies were notable. But from
Henry's standpoint Wolsey's biggest single mistake was in not getting the
divorce he most wanted. You could say it was his Cardinal sin!
Rumours persisted that Anne Boleyn and her faction had convinced Henry that
Wolsey was deliberately slowing proceedings. As a result, he was arrested
in 1529. On this news, the Pope in Rome declared that decisions would now
be made there rather than England. Of course, this didn't happen as Henry
had demanded. Wolsey by now must have been suffering, he had never been
under the stresses he was now receiving, and yet he was still allowed to
maintain a position as the Archbishop of York. But ultimately, he was now
walking on eggshells, and it was just a matter of time before the call from
Henry to attend, would be ordered. He left London and travelled to
Yorkshire for the first and only time in his career. Upon his arrival at
Cawood, he was summoned by Henry Percy VI Earl of Northumberland.
Accused of treason and told his next stop would be a return to the capital.
Wolsey was clearly distressed but the journey South began with his
companion and personal chaplain, Edmund Bonner. Upon reaching Leicester on
the 29th of November 1530. He fell ill and died at the age of 57. It's been said
as he lay dying, he spoke these words. "I see the matter against me how 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 grey hairs.
His final resting place would not be amongst the leaders of English
history. He was buried in Leicester Abbey. Now Abbey Park without a monument.
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's life can be looked upon as either a total success
or a complete failure. I'm guessing the latter is how Henry would have
summed him up at the end. Yet he was without doubt a brilliant mind of the
times. His audacious climb to heights of power, bringing many subjects in the
kingdom to their knees, is truly remarkable. He served his King and country
for 20 years, his faith seems to be a little more vague and quite possibly
cloaked his real desire of power. He ranks high on achievements but not always
successful, but he established relationships between leaders when if left to
their own devices, would quite possibly never have occurred.
His transformation on the way business was to be directed was new and exciting.
His diplomatic skills always ensured a compromise to an otherwise stale
engagement. He had shaped the King and the country, and his ability to
comprehend and focus on issues was second to none. The tax system, which
helped the poor in society was one of several changes he made. But Thomas
also established the Star Chamber, a judicial system that would lift some
of the burdens on procedures within a court of law. Over a three year
period, he used his powers as Papal Legate to dissolve 30 decaying
monasteries. The income was used to found a grammar school in Ipswich and
Cardinal College in Oxford, now known as Christ Church. But all that being
said, it wasn't all roses for Wolsey, much of his plans over time
collapsed or became chaotic. He was also becoming very sensitive to
growing suspicions amongst the young up and coming members of the Privy
Council. He attempted many times to disperse them from court, giving them
jobs that took them to the continent, far away from Henry. But Wolsey's
eventual downfall was from the one man who he served diligently for many
years. The one man who would always be the top boss, and no one not even
Wolsey could take that crown.
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