The Rise of Thomas Wolsey
The Rise of Thomas Wolsey Wolsey took the attention of Henry VII, who appointed his as a chaplain in 1507. During the next two years he was employed on minor missions to Scotland and the Netherlands, and his career was promoted by Bishop Foxe of Winchester, whom he quickly eclipsed. In 1509 he became Royal Almoner to the young Henry VIII, a post which automatically made him a member of the Council, and before long he had made himself indispensable to the King by his organisation of the French expeditions of 1513. Thereafter, there was no stopping him: he was Bishop of Tournai in France in 1514-18, Archbishop of York in 1514-30; Chancellor from 1515 to 1529; and Cardinal for life from 1515, following Henry VIII's pressure at Rome. In 1518 Wolsey was also appointed Legate a latere by the Pope, which meant that he now outranked his last opponent in the Church--the ancient Archbishop Warham at Canterbury--and had the authority to reform both the secular church and the monastic system, to grant
decrees and to appoint to benefices. It made Wolsey `the proudest church-man that ever breathed', second in power only to the King himself: and even that was a close-run thing. How was Wolsey able to rise to power so quickly under Henry VIII? Luck Wolsey was very much a man in the right place at the right time. The new King was young, fun-loving and, truth be told, rather lazy. His conception of Kingship was embodied in all-action heroes like King Henry V rather than frugal administrators like his own father, Henry VII. Nevertheless, he was not prepared to leave ...
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decrees and to appoint to benefices. It made Wolsey `the proudest church-man that ever breathed', second in power only to the King himself: and even that was a close-run thing. How was Wolsey able to rise to power so quickly under Henry VIII? Luck Wolsey was very much a man in the right place at the right time. The new King was young, fun-loving and, truth be told, rather lazy. His conception of Kingship was embodied in all-action heroes like King Henry V rather than frugal administrators like his own father, Henry VII. Nevertheless, he was not prepared to leave the affairs of state in the hands of his father's great servants, whom he found (typically enough for a teenager) old, boring, and behind the times. Empson and Dudley, his father's hated tax collectors, were executed; Foxe and Warham were rapidly reaching retirement age and were encouraged out of court with a series of withering insults by Wolsey. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Wolsey made the most of the opportunities given to him. He had the great ability to gauge his audience, to flatter and to be entertaining. He had a `special gift of natural fluency. Wolsey was a man who enjoyed the fine things of life. He was sociable, witty and convivial, a sponsor of musicians and artists. And while the King was admiring it intently, Wolsey would skilfully bring forward the any plan on which his mind would be fixed on. Wolsey’s charm expressed itself most effectively in, shall we say, a certain flexibility of outlook. He had initially been opposed to Henry VIII's ideas of a war with France, for example, but when it became clear that the King was not prepared to budge on the issue he quickly became the greatest enthusiast.Wolsey was much more than a mere yes-man. Put in charge of the French expedition, he immediately demonstrated truly phenomenal organisational skills which Henry VIII was swift to notice. He had shown similar sharpness whilst a student and fellow at Oxford, allegedly having taken the unilateral decision to engage in ambitious building works whilst in charge of Magdalen College's finances (and almost bankrupting the place in the process). He always prided himself on being the `boy bachelor' who had got his first degree at the age of 15 and who had recognised that a career in the Church was `the best highroad to fame and fortune for anyone born without privilege. How did Wolsey maintain his position? Getting to the top of the tree in Church and State was one thing; staying there was quite another. In this respect too Wolsey showed remarkable skill in handling his finances, his master, and his opponents. Wolsey was probably about ten times richer than his nearest rival (apart from the King)--and in terms of disposable income he was probably richer than the King himself! but as one of the greatest proponents of pluralism he was raking money in from all anglesWolsey's income may have been breathtaking, but he was no miserly collector. He dressed like a King, ate like a horse and drank like a fish. He kept a princely household of some 500 servants in their silks and velvets. He established Cardinal College, Oxford, and built the palaces of York House and Hampton Court. Nevertheless, it is usually accepted that Henry was no fool and only allowed Wolsey to do as he pleased in so far as he agreed with it. Henry was not easily manipulated: the very fact that he maintained Wolsey over 15 years, despite all the attacks on the Cardinal, serves to prove this. Despite his close relationship with the King, Wolsey was always on the lookout for possible threats to his position. He sent servants abroad if they seemed too close to the King; he imprisoned the king’s servants; he was rumoured to have had a part in the execution of the Duke of Buckingham in 1521. Because Wolsey was always dependent on the support of the King, those who sought to discredit him by direct words to Henry found the Cardinal completely merciless. Whether by throwing his opponents in jail or by beginning expensive lawsuits against them, Wolsey was obsessive in the destruction of his enemies, his wrath all the more feared since he often chose to wait until the original slight was well in the past before `punishing' the offender for some supposedly unconnected incident. In this way all were kept very much on their toes. Funsho Adebari, Mr Anderson, AS History