How important was the failure to achieve annulment of Henry VIIIs marriage to Catherine of Aragon in causing Wolseys fall from power?

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Faye Dixon

How important was the failure to achieve annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon in causing Wolsey’s fall from power? (24 marks)

Sometime between 1521 and 1525, Henry VIII made the decision that he would have to obtain the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, it was becoming clear to the king that his wife was not going to produce a male heir, the biological clock was ticking and furthermore Catherine was becoming physically less attractive. Although the Queen had some influence over the King previously, which Wolsey resented, this was slowly deteriorating, and although Henry was a very strong catholic, he became convinced that marrying Catherine had been a big mistake, and against the law of God. Wolsey’s job therefore, to help achieve this annulment seemed crucially important to his position, as if he failed, he would fail the King, whos favour he needed.

          On one hand, Wolsey’s failure to achieve annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage was very important in causing his fall from power. Once Henry had decided to proceed with the annulment known as the ‘Great Matter’ he presumed that swift success was guaranteed, Wolsey advised the King that all he needed was the Pope to declare the papal dispensation invalid, therefore indicating that Henry and Catherine had never been legally man and wife, and the supposed marriage would be annulled, however, it became increasingly obvious that the annulment campaign was failing between July and August 1529, councillors began to line up against Wolsey, those who sided with Anne Boleyn sympathised with her cause for annulment, and those who sided with Catherine sympathised with her cause to block the annulment. Wolsey was not achieving the King’s wishes, which previously he had done so successfully, this therefore had a knock on effect on the influence and faction he had on Henry VIII, he was not keeping the kings favour, or fulfilling his demands, therefore seriously threatening the relationship he had built with Henry, and breaking the trust between Cardinal and King

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           The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk also lined up against Wolsey, it seems that the Cardinal’s failure to achieve an annulment further provoked powerful enemies, who threatened Wolsey’s ability to maintain favour with the king. Throughout his time as chief Minister Wolsey had angered many important figures and noblemen, they resented his lavish lifestyle and thought his attitude to his own importance was insulting towards the king, Henry VIII had a very good relationship with the nobles, his closest friends were nobles and he enjoyed playing sports with them, suggesting that when Wolsey’s relationship with ...

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