Examine the Degree to which Wolsey was responsible for his own downfall

Thomas Wolsey can be easily viewed as being responsible for his own downfall. John Guy believes that Wolsey was “brilliant but flawed.” His rise was based on luck, charm, intelligence and opportunism. Wolsey had such high ambitions and gave Henry the idea he was capable of getting him anything, so when Wolsey failed to get Henry a divorce, it was seen as the final nail on the coffin to his downfall. His policies are also a cause to his downfall; Wolsey’s foreign policy was a success but also caused problems. On Wolsey’s rise he created enemies, which lead to the lack of support and opposition in his years as Chancellor. But it can also be viewed, on the other hand, that Wolsey wasn’t entirely responsible for his downfall. His downfall can be laid upon Henry VIII; his court known as the ‘lions court’. David Starkey believes the ‘Boleyn Faction’ was a cause to Henry’s downfall; Anne disliked Wolsey and wanted him removed. Wolsey having bad press from the start, nobility were jealous of his power and wealth. One can see that Wolsey was a successful and just administrator who succeed in his aims making England a leading power. His rise was due to luck, charm and his intelligence, but his fall was due to some of his fatal characteristics and bad luck. But we can clearly see Wolsey alone wasn’t entirely responsible for his downfall; there were many other factors, which Wolsey couldn’t have helped that increased his downfall.

Wolsey had some responsibility to his own downfall. His rise to power was due to luck, charm, intelligence and opportunism. The reasons for Wolsey’s fall can be split into two sections: short-term trigger factors and long term causes. Some of the causes to his downfall were his own fault and others it was inevitable to stop happening.

WASN’T

But on Wolsey’s rise he made many enemies and had poor relations with nobility. His powerful office and close friendship with Henry earned him many enemies, particularly aristocrats who resented his usurpation of their traditional influence. They also resented his great wealth. Over the years, Wolsey amassed a vast fortune, though he spent lavishly, but he was also charitable and personally financed many diplomatic missionaries. Most of the gentlemen who entered the government service was for financial reward; Wolsey was not different. As the Kings chief minister, he was expected to entertain foreign dignitaries and maintain suitable impressive lifestyle. His increasingly ostentatious displays of wealth did, however, damage both his personal reputation and the church. Wolsey’s rise was a cause was a cause to his own fall; he gave Henry very high ambitions and expectations, which Wolsey couldn’t always fulfil. His show of his wealth led to his fall; he cause resentment between the upper nobility. As Randell explains Wolsey was the son of a butcher and “from these lowly origins he defied all the rules of social mobility by becoming the richest and most powerful man in England besides the King.” His rise from being a butcher’s son and becoming the King’s personal advisor, which made the nobility resentful, was not entirely his fault. Part of his fall was the lack of support and the lies that spread about him to Henry was due to the nobility.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Henry VIII is also a cause to Wolsey’s downfall; Henry’s unexpected character and demands made Wolsey’s fall a likely matter. The real architect to Wolsey’s fall, according to Gywnn, is Henry himself: “outraged at his Cardinal’s failure to secure an annulment of the Aragon marriage, he brought his servant down in a fit of pique. Henry refused to follow Wolsey’s wise advise regarding how to construct his brother’s widow following a special dispensation from Pope Julius II. The dispensation removed not only the “Impediment of Public Honesty” created by the kingship of Henry and Catherine, but also the “impediment of affinity” created by the supposed consummation of the marriage between Arthur and Katherine (which the Queen always denied took place). Henry’s whole case was based on the argument that the Pope had acted outside of his authority in waiving the ‘impediment of affinity’. Wolsey felt it would have been more sense to argue that Arthur’s marriage never had been consummated; therefore the dispensation had been founded on a mistake and was void, as was the marriage which followed from it. This would have turned Catherine’s protestations to advantage and this would have allowed the Pope to grant an annulment without any loss of face. But Wolsey was away in Europe when Henry got the wheels turning, and when he returned it was too late for the volte-face. But the biggest problem was that the international situation made Wolsey’s position impossible. Following the sack of Rome by Imperial forces in 1527, the Pope could not afford to anger Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, the emperor Charles V. For all his brinkmanship, there was no way on earth that Wolsey could compete with this, but Henry was arguable too shortsighted to acknowledge the fact. Wolsey himself realised the likely consequences: “if the Pope is not compliant, my own life will be shortened”. Henry was an impatient man; when Wolsey failed to secure an acceptable solution to the divorce, Henry became annoyed. He was now all too willing to listen to his outraged nobles; having suffered with Wolsey for so long, they used their King’s impatience to secure his destruction. Wolsey was deprived from everything, but this wasn’t enough for Wolsey’s enemies; they wanted him completely destroyed and evidence, probably fabricated, was produced which showed he was corresponding with the French King. This was argued with high treason. So we can see it wasn’t Wolsey’s fault that he couldn’t get the divorce, but it can be seen that he was partly responsible by making out he was capable of obtaining a divorce.

David Starkey argues that there was a continuous battle between the Council (under Wolsey) and the Court (under the ‘minors’) for favour and influence of the King; “the struggle for control between the two was continuous and bitter”. Wolsey was worried about other people influencing Henry, the “minors” or ‘young favourites’ were a threat to Wolsey’s power on Henry. So in 1518 Wolsey struck; the minors were expelled from court for bad influence on the King and they were given jobs away from the centre of power. This made his opposition on an increase and the lack of support when he needed the most on his fall. The Gentlemen of the Chamber (the King’s private quarters) were close friends of Henry and given official status in 1518. They were made ambassadors against France. For much of Wolsey’s time in power he managed to outsmart his opponents, however, with the rise of Anne Boleyn there was a rival for the King’s affections which Wolsey could do little to overcome. Anne and her family had sympathy with the religious views of the reforms. The ambitions and pretensions of Wolsey, the arch-pluralist, would have little appeal for them. It appears Anne had a little personal dislike for the chief minister and hoped he could have obtained the divorce. But as events unfolded between 1527 and 1529, she and her supporters were quick to blame Wolsey for every setback. So by 1527, Anne clearly had Henry under her influence and she knew how to exploit this. She gained support form the nobility who wanted to dismiss Wolsey from power so used Henry’s frustration against Wolsey to make his fall.

It can be seen that Wolsey wasn’t all entirely to blame for his downfall; and there were inevitable causes which Wolsey couldn’t have helped from happening caused his downfall. The poor relations with nobility, Henry’s character and demands, Anne Boleyn are all factors will helped caused Wolsey’s downfall. But it can be said that Wolsey did have some cause to his own downfall. His policies were a main cause to his downfall. The Divorce, Amicable Grant, his foreign policy and weakness in finance and abuse towards the Church were all causes Wolsey created and turned to his downfall.

WAS

One can argue that Wolsey’s rise to power was a cause to his downfall; he made many enemies on his rise to power and therefore didn’t have any support when needed. His harshness on his rise was a cause to his fall; the nobility resented his showing of wealth and wanted him destroyed. Wolsey shouldn’t have showed off all his wealth in building and himself, because he did the nobility had more hate for him.

As chancellor, Wolsey dominated the state; in the church he ruled as cardinal and legate. Wolsey’s ambitions always reached for the highest goal. The consequence of Wolsey’s energetic but misguided policy were seen at Wolsey’s fall. The cardinal, prince of the Church though he was and equipped with the most far-reaching powers fro reform, did only two things for the Church. In 1519 when Wolsey announced that he intended to reform the clergy, it was but one aspect of the ambitions plans to overhaul both Church and State which he dangled in front of Henry VIII when he was dealing with his political enemies at Court in that year. In practise, the plans came too little; he lessened its allegiance to Rome and weakened it past hope of recovery.

Wolsey ruthlessly swept away feudal jurisdictions. He initiated the policy of destroying the monasteries, which was to be carried through to completion by Henry VIII. Wolsey’s greed, arrogance, and insatiable lust for power outweighed his many great qualities, and the sumptuous edifice to his grandeur was built on sand. His regal state was stained not by the revenues of his many offices alone but also by enormous pensions from foreign sovereigns, bribes from English applications for justice, and the misappropriated revenues of the suppressed religious foundations.

His policies and haughtiness alienated both clergy and laymen. England’s influence in Europe declined instead of increased. Charles V found it prudent to see that Wolsey should not become Pope. His power had more stable base than the favour of Henry. The King decided to assume the powers of his cardinal, whose splendour eclipsed his own. Wolsey made himself responsible for the success of Henry’s appeal to Rome of an annulment of the Kings marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When the Pope refused, the king’s wrath knew no bounds. Wolsey clearly foresaw his own fall, the consequent attack on the church and the triumph of the secular party. Parliament, which he had kept at arms length, was hostile; he was hated by the nobility, and his general unpopularity is reflected in Skelton’s satires. Even churchmen had been alienated by his suppression of monasteries and by his monopoly of ecclesiastical power; and his only support was the King, who had determination to rule himself.

Wolsey’s foreign policy was another factor to his downfall, his foreign policy was a vigorous one involving a constant shifting pattern of alliance. Wolsey’s behaviour between Charles V and Francis I has been much discussed. Scarisbrick has argued that Wolsey always wanted peace and that there was an underlying conflict with Henry. Wolsey’s consolation was to delay the commitment to war until May 1522. Peter Gwyn though argues that Wolsey was not looking for peace, but was a tough and uncompromising negotiator, who hoodwinked e French while conducting serious negotiations with Charles. Henry VIII failed to achieve his primary goal, which was to recover the French empire which had been conquered by Henry V. the aim was unrealistic: Henry’s high hopes were naïve, given that his recourses were tiny compared to France. Foreign policy was often incoherent, allowing more wily operators, such as King Ferdinand of Aragon and the Emperor Maximilian, to manipulate him. Foreign policy under Henry and Wolsey was unaccomplished, anachronistic, naïve and aimless.

Wolsey was early advocate of preserving European peace by instituting an internal court that could arbitrate disputes, but the court never materialized. He managed successfully to persuade all major European powers to agree to the Treaty of London, where the states agreed to preserve peace.

Wolsey negotiated with both great rival powers, France – Francis I and Charles V – Holy Roman Empire, hoping if he could not preserve peace at least to ensure that England did well from war. Egged on by Charles V, Henry attacked France 1522 – 23. He tried to take advantage of the Rebellion of Charles de Bourbon against France, but the rebellions collapse forced the English army to withdraw. In 1527 Hapsburg troops sacked Rome and gained control over Pope Clement VII. Alarmed by Charles V’s power they supported France and Wolsey tried to restore peace. Wolsey was unsuccessful in obtaining any gains for England. This failure in his foreign policy contributed to his fall. Henry wanted Wolsey to obtain a divorce from the Pope, but the Pope was in the control of his captor Charles V, who was Catherine of Aragon’s nephew.

Wolsey’s success all depended on the French alliance and the ultimate defeat of the Emperor; it depended on the impossibility of an agreement between France and Spain. Cambria shattered the dream, and-since the parties to the peace completely ignored the cardinal and his high opinion of his place in their counsels. Two months later after the complete failure of his foreign policy Wolsey had fallen from power.

The conflicts of 1523 were followed by one of the most complex and controversial disputes of this period. The ‘Amicable Grant’ was to be a non-refundable contribution by the English people to finance the war in France after Henry’s ambitions were rekindled by the destruction of the French army. The demand followed the forced loans and high parliamentary taxation of the previous years. Popular reaction was swift and hostile. The Amicable Grant can be seen as a humiliation for Henry and Wolsey, but suggests flexibility and realism in the face of united opposition.

CONCLUSION

Overall, looking at the evidence it can be seen that Wolsey did have some degree into his fall, but there are the other important trigger factors, which set off his fall, and he couldn’t help from happening. Wolsey wasn’t entirely and not hugely responsible for his own downfall; he was falling from the moment he was rising in power. When Wolsey rose to power he was born a son of a butcher and the nobility didn’t like a lowly origin influencing the King. His lack of support and enemies made Wolsey’s fall easier to occur, as the nobility used Henry’s anger to dismiss Wolsey. But Wolsey did have some degree to his fall; his polices and gave Henry high ambitions for England which England was too narrow a field for his vast ambition. He aspired to be the arbiter of Europe. He threw England’s influence on the side of the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V, in the latter’s rivalry with Francis I of France. He expected thereby to enlist the emperor’s aid for his own aspirations to become pope.

Wolsey maintained the kings favour until he failed to secure an annulment of Henry’s first marriage. From1527-1529, as Anne Boleyn’s influence rose, Wolsey waned. She disliked the cardinal because of his interference in her earlier engagement to Henry Percy. And both she and King were increasingly impatient with the pope’s endless prevarication. Torn between his secular and spiritual masters, Wolsey chose Henry’s side-but it was too late. He was indicated for praemunire; and later confessed guilt.