Wolsey's Rise and Successes

Question 1

What was Wolsey’s background?

Answer 1

He was born in 1472 or 1473 as the son of a butcher in Ipswich. He won a scholarship to Oxford where he began his studies towards priesthood - he was very able, and received his first degree at 15, earning him the nickname of ‘the boy batchelor’

Question 2

Why could Wolsey rise up under Henry VIII’s court?

Answer 2

There was a new atmosphere at court, with Henry encouraging ambitions of men like Wolsey to get noticed. He won the support of Richard Fox, one of Henry’s advisors, and was promoted to the office of Royal Almoner, where he was given the responsibility of distributing leftover food from the palace to the poor and needy. Progress was allowed as he demonstrated organisational abilities and an ability to guess what the king wanted to hear, as Henry was frustrated by the cautious advice of his father’s ministers, especially regarding foreign policy

Question 3

How did the Second French campaign help Wolsey’s advancement?

Answer 3

In 1512 Henry entrusted Wolsey with the Second Campaign after the First was a disaster, which meant organising transport, supplies and equipment for the 25,000 strong army, led by Henry VIII, and Wolsey showed tireless energy and commitment to achieve

Question 4

Why did Henry think that the campaign led by Wolsey was a success?

Answer 4

Tournai and Therouanne were captured and Wolsey was drawn into peace agreements which followed. Henry was deeply impressed and engineered his rapid promotion to high office

Question 5

What was Wolsey granted in 1513?

Answer 5

He became Dean of York and Bishop of Tournai

Question 6

What was Wolsey granted in 1514?

Answer 6

He became the Bishop of Lincoln an the Archbishop of York, which was the second highest position in the English Church

Question 7

What was Wolsey granted in 1515?

Answer 7

He was made Cardinal by Pope Leo X, which was a high ranking position in the Catholic Church, above any English Churchman, and he became Lord Chancellor in Henry’s government

Question 8

What was Wolsey granted in 1518?

Answer 8

He was appointed Papal Legate by the Pope, allowing him to be deputy for the pope and exercise Papal powers

Question 9

What was Henry granted in 1523?

Answer 9

Legate a latere, which was given for life

Question 10

What was Wolsey’s personality like?

Answer 10

He gained many enemies as he could move aside Henry’s noble advisors on the council and arguably become alter rex (other king). People saw him as arrogant and vindictive, and he would flatter and manipulate Henry, offering him lavish gifts and tokens whilst working him round to his ideas

Question 11

Who did Wolsey use his legal power against?

Answer 11

He used his legal power as Lord Chancellor and a powerful network of informants to intimidate anyone he saw as a rival such as the Duke of Buckingham (Edward Stafford), who was the only man to hold the title of Duke by the end of Henry VII’s reign

Question 12

What happened to the Duke of Buckingham?

Answer 12

In 1520 he was investigated by Wolsey after rumours that he’d said in private conversation that Henry might not be king for much longer, and in 1521 he was ordered to London, arrested and imprisoned in the tower. He refused to plead for his life, and was tried for treason and beheaded. Contemporaries believe that Wolsey played on Henry’s insecurity and used Buckingham as an example to anyone who posed a threat to the Cardinal’s power

Question 13

What happened to Sir Amyas Paulet?

Answer 13

Paulet humiliated Wolsey when he was a young priest, and on becoming chancellor he summoned him to London on a trumped up charge and kept him there, demanding his daily attendance at court for five years. The case was never heard by Paulet was virtually ruined by it

Question 14

How did Wolsey live?

Answer 14

He accumulated large personal wealth and displayed it. He had a household of 500 servants, and built palaces like Hampton court to make himself look and feel like a king, which continued to annoy nobles but Henry loved the fact that a son of a butcher could put the nobility in their place

Question 15

Why did Wolsey rise to power?

Answer 15

Background, opportunity of Henry’s ascension to the throne for ambitious men, intelligence and organisation, and success of Tournai and Therouanne, as Henry was obsessed by foreign policy and lands on the continent

Question 16

What was Wolsey’s domestic policy?

Answer 16

Wolsey had clear goals as chief advisor and Lord Chancellor - stay in office as long as possible, and serve the king - in order to do that he needed to limit the power of the nobles and raise money to go to war

Question 17

How much did Wolsey raise for war between 1509 and 1520?

Answer 17

He raised about £1 million, which wasn’t quite enough as Henry spent £1.7 million

Question 18

How else did Wolsey raise money to finance war?

Answer 18

He issued subsidiaries (flexible tax on parliamentary grants) and collected four between 1513 and 1515 and in 1523 to pay for war, and issued an investigation into national finances, finding that there was sufficient wealth to demand new loans

Question 19

What were the Eltham Ordinances?

Answer 19

It was issued in 1526 aimed at regulating the chaotic finance system of the privy chammy and controlling the nobility and access to the king

Question 20

How did the Act of Resumption help finances?

Answer 20

It increased revenue from crown lands, returning land to the crown, but sufficient funds still weren’t raised at key times

Question 21

What was the Amicable grant?

Answer 21

It was in 1525 to pay for war after the Battle of Pavia. The tax was on the church and ordinary tax payers, and people were given just 10 weeks to find the money

Question 22

What were the consequences of the amicable grant?

Answer 22

Resistance was immediate and widespread, leading to exceptions and then suspension, humiliating Henry and Wolsey, but the rebellion also suggested flexibility and realism in the face of united opposition

Question 23

Was Wolsey’s management of finance ultimately a success?

Answer 23

Wolsey was largely successful apart from the Amicable Grant and he could not quite finance war

Question 24

What did Wolsey oversee as Lord Chancellor?

Answer 24

The Star Chamber and the Chancellery, and Wolsey’s main goal was to tackle slow and often unfair delivery of justice and to keep the nobles in check

Question 25

Why did Wolsey want to strengthen the Star Chamber?

Answer 25

He wanted to use it more frequently to attack nobles who abused their power, and it saw an increase from 12 cases to 120 cases per year, but this led to hatred from nobles, land owners, and factions grew and influenced the king until the removal of Wolsey in 1529

Question 26

What did Wolsey argue about enclosures?

Answer 26

He argued that enclosures destroyed village life and jobs, and a survey on enclosures, and drew up legal cases against landlords who had enclosed their land illegally, creating opposition from landowners in in parliament and investigations were suspended for three years - illegal enclosures remained a problem

Question 27

What was Wolsey’s role within the church?

Answer 27

He’d pursued a career in the church and was ultimately the Pope’s representative in England, and was given ability to reject those who wanted to the Church in England. He made some attempts to encourage reform but these were not significant enough to quiet the demands of Protestants

Question 28

What did Wolsey do as Papal legate?

Answer 28

He told Bishops to carry out duties more scrupulously and ordered inspections of the quality of religious life in monasteries and other religious institutions. As a result over 24 religious houses were dissolved, and some were closed down and had their assets confiscated

Question 29

What were Wolsey’s other priorities in regards to the church?

Answer 29

He was interested in promoting religious learning to improve the quality of the clergy, and he planned to fund a school in his hometown of Ipswich and to establish Cardinal College Oxford but had fallen before it could be introduced

Question 30

What did Wolsey encourage Henry to do as a proud Catholic?

Answer 30

He was strongly opposed to the spread of protestant heresy in England and encouraged Henry to take a stand against the ideas of Martin Luther, which led to public burning of Lutheran texts and executions of people suspected of protestant sympathies. Wolsey’s position in the church did not always bring him praise, and to some he embodied everything that was wrong with the church

Question 31

What were the origins of the reformation?

Answer 31

Poorly educated priests, clerical abuses, simony (Wolsey did this - buying and selling offices), pluralism (holding more than one office), absenteeism (non-residence in your parish or diocese, e.g. Wolsey, Archbishop of York, not visiting York until falling from power in 1529), misconduct (Wolsey gave a vow of celibacy but had a daughter who was sent to a nunnery and a son who was given lucrative church livings. Monks and nuns came under fire for living wealthy and morally lax lives

Question 32

What was the Hunne case?

Answer 32

In 1514 London merchant Richard Hunne was found dead in a church cell on suspicion of being a lollard (someone who wanted the Bible in English, a reduction in church power and an end to monasteries), and a member of church was accused of murder but not brought to trial, demonstrating the benefit of the clergy from immunity from prosecution