The court of the Star Chamber was created by Wolsey to show justice to all. It was a criminal court and it paved the way for ordinary courts. The earl of Northumberland and Sir William Balmer being some of its victims. Wolsey wanted the benefits of the Star Chamber for everyone however this of course came at a price with the court being overloaded with cases as everyone tries to get justice. However having set up the court of the star chamber Wolsey didn’t consolidate it in the 1520s as he was again distracted by other concerns such as the “great matter”, war and also the sheer amount of other work Wolsey did in his 20 hour day.
Wolseys attempt at becoming a financial reformer by using a subsidy is another example of successes and failures. Wolsey knew he had to raise money for war and to do this he used a subsidy. This proved to be a success bringing in over £300,000 by taxing the people. However when the war began with France in 1522 he needed to raise £800 000, he tried to stop resistance from the people of England by meeting many in person but his tactics failed, Wolsey now had to settle for a rate of two shillingsin the incomes of land or goods of over twenty pounds per year.
So by trying to meet Henrys V11s demands for money he made himself extremely unpopular with parliament and the general public. Parts of the country even descended into riots and chaos as Wolsey introduced an amicable grant which is basically just taking money of people. The attempt at a financial reform turned out to be a humiliation for Wolsey and showed him in a bad light to Henry V11.
Another way in which Wolsey was a reformer is the management of nobility. Wolseys relation with nobility is thought to have been poor. The case of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham is the best piece of evidence to show how Wolsey managed the nobles. The Duke was brought down by Wolsey with a rigged trial, the duk was of royal descent and resented the new men around the king. The Duke was a fool and his behaviour was unwise, the historian David Starkey wrote of the duke’s behaviour in his book “The Reign of Henry V11”
“Whatever form of politicking the duke resorted to, he was bad at it. He only provided Henry and Wolsey with plausible charges to undo him”
Wolsey profited from the Dukes fall from power but was not the cause of it. However it was due more to Henrys paranoia than malice from Wolsey that led to the outcome of the trial.
In conclusion yes Wolsey was a general reformer albeit an ambitious one. The general them of Wolsey’s attempts at reformation is that he starts well and has good intentions and also shows great leadership qualities, but in the end he is the archetype of his own downfall. The almost non stop working day he lived put a toll on him, he also had other affairs to be concerned with such as the kings divorce (great matter) and foreign affairs. This led to many reforms being abandoned and leaving very little impact.