How successful were the domestic reforms of Wolsey in the years 1515 to 1529? (24 marks)

Another area in which Wolsey flourished but also failed was financial management. Wolsey’s most significant and lasting achievements were in tax reforms. This is because he introduced Subsidy and decided to get rid of the old ideas of fifteenths and tenths as it was inefficient and did not raise enough income. Subsidy was not a yearly tax; it was therefore only used when needed. Wolsey used this new tax a total number of four times. From 1513-1516, subsidy raised £170,000, whereas three yearly fifteenths and tenths raised a mere £90,000. This therefore shows how Wolsey managed to raise a huge amount of finance which Henry VIII needed for his consist wars and battles. However as the constant strain of needing money continued, Wolsey made a grave mistake, which could be seen as his first downfall as Lord Chancellor. Resistance to Wolsey’s demands had been growing and the “Amicable Grant” (1525) was the final straw. This new tax provoked taxpayer’s to strike and even created the threat of an open rebellion in Suffolk. Henry’s faith in Wolsey was hugely decreased after this. John Guy and David Loades “acknowledge Wolsey's abilities but are less effusive in their praise and see his own deficiencies as responsible for the failure of some of the reforms he embarked on.”

Another domestic policy Wolsey was involved in was relations with Parliament. Parliament was only called two times (1515 and 1523) under Wolsey however relations were severely poor. The major success for Wolsey in relation to parliament was that they voted Subsidy. This was a significant benefit to the crown as it raised a huge amount of money for Wolsey to fund Henry VIII’s wars. However Wolsey expected the political nation to do as they were told and addressed them in an arrogant fashion, this therefore provoked a hostile response. To make things worse for Wolsey the call of Parliament in 1515 was dominated by the concern of church matters. As Richard Hunne was charged with heresy by the Church and was then found dead in custody. Overall I believe that although Wolsey was granted subsidy, relations with Parliament was more of a failure.

Finally, Wolsey had a large impact on the area of Enclosure and Profiteering. Tudor England had suffered serious economic problems that caused a large amount of social tension, examples of this are: poverty, food shortages, high prices, unemployment, crime and depopulation. To resolve this in 1517, Wolsey launched a national enquiry into how effective previous legislation had been. He found evidence against 264 landlords and corporations. Also Wolsey was earnest in his determination to reserve some of the enclosures. This view is displayed by Peter Gwyn as he sees Wolsey as a man of "enormous ability and unstoppable determination" with a huge capacity for hard work and whose reforms were limited because of the ambitions of Henry in Europe. Wolsey failed in enclosure and profiteering however as he was often too busy to deal with some cases and no long term improvements in prices were made. Additionally he raised suspicions that he campaigned against enclosure only to provoke and weaken his wealthy opponents who were profiting from enclosure.

In conclusion Wolsey was hugely successful in Domestic reforms as he excellent control over financial management and managed to supply Henry VIII with enough money for his involvement in wars. However overall Wolsey failed in domestic reforms as his introduction of the Amicable Grant undid all of his successes in Henry’s eyes. Which therefore lead to Henry losing trust in Wolsey.