The rise of Wolsey

Background
1. He was born in 1473 and was the son of a butcher. He was therefore of low social status. He was educated at Magdalen college Oxford.
2. He was ordained as a priest in 1498 and was Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury 1502-1503 and was then Chaplain to Sir Richard Nanfan the Governor of Calais from 1503-1507
3. He entered the service of Henry VII in 1507 as Chaplain and up until 1507 his career had no real direction as Henry VII used 'safe men' and Wolsey was self indulgent
Rise to power
1. There was an opportunity for Wolsey with Henry VIII accession and was first singled out by Richard Fox the Bishop of Winchester
2. Wolsey had abilities that were attractive to a young king (17) that was easily distracted by pleasure seeking
3. In 1513 the war gave Wolsey the chance to impress the king and gain a real influence as he had to raise, equip and dispatch an army of about 30,000 men to France
4. By 1515 Wolsey has emerged as Henry VIII chief minister
5. He had power with a duel nature, both secular and religious
Wealth
1. He became the richest person in the country with the highest income purely for his own use
2. Sources of income
  1. Gifts and favours
  2. Highest paid offices in the country
  3. Fees from ecclesiastical courts
  4. Income from monastic positions
3. Expenditure
  1. His four palaces
  2. Extensive rebuilding of York place
  3. Hampton court was transformed with lead pipes, sewers and fine buildings
  4. He had large households with at least 500 servants
  5. He had lavish furnishings and tapastries
  6. Gifts to favoured contacts
His court
1. It compared to that of Henry and the pope
2. It was admired for its magnificence and was a magnet for ambitious young men
3. Wolsey was known as the 'Alter rex'
His image and character
1. He was careful to create an impression on the public and displayed symbols of his offices for example the Great Seal of England and his Cardinals Hat
2. He had processions and ceremonies to signify his importance
3. He was invested as Cardinal at Westminster Abbey in a coronation style ceremony
4. He was able, arrogant, ambitious, ruthless, hardworking, paid attention to detail and showed much loyalty
Relationship with Henry VIII
1. Some suggest that he had greater powers than the king
2. He had a combination of secular and ecclesiastical powers which meant he was able to set up an independent power base in the Church
3. The council was seen as the centre of power however Wolsey was able to focus the power on himself
4. The king was easily distracted from the day to day affairs of state and was ignorant on the details of policy
5. Any appeals to the king that happened behind Wolseys back would be relayed to him and resulted in severe punishments
6. Wolsey was often left to make decisions on his own as they were often apart
7. The power lay with the monarch and he ultimately determined policy whilst delegating detail
8. Wolsey had to consider Henrys reaction to every aspect of policy as Henry was never out of his depth or incompetent
9. A F Pollard: claimed he achieved a 'prime ministerial role'
10. David Starkey claims that it was a father son relationship
Reasons for Wolseys rise to power
1. Secular power
  1. In 1515 he was appointed lord chancellor as Warham retired to Canterbury
  2. In 1516 he was appointed Lord Privy seal as Fox retired to Winchester
  3. In 1510 he was appointed to the council
2. Response of other councillors to his rise
  1. The Duke of Suffolk was a potential threat but Wolsey managed to gain Suffolks political gratitude and loyalty
  2. The Duke of Buckingham despised Wolsey and despised the king for trusting Wolsey. Wolsey therefore managed to persuade the king that he was guilty of treason and he was executed
3. Wolseys own abilities and personal attributes
  1. He was intelligent and had a brilliant mind
  2. He had eloquence which proved useful as the power to persuade was a key skill in the 16th Century
  3. He had an immense capacity for hard work and he had great administrative and organisational talents that helped manage the war against France
  4. He had the ability to network, he had contacts with the Marquis of Dorset
  5. He was from a humble background so had much to prove
4. The Church
  1. In 1513 he was the Dean of York
  2. In 1514 he was the Bishop of Lincoln
  3. In 1515 he was appointed as cardinal (which was the prince of the church and he was entitled to wear scarlet robes
  4. He was the chaplain for Henry VII
  5. He had links within the church
  6. Henry appointed people he trusted

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The rise of Wolsey

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	Created by rich.houghton over 10 years ago