YEAR 12
PART 4
Fall of Wolsey
PART 4
Explain why Wolsey’s influence endured
for so long.
What was the key factor behind Wolsey’s
fall in 1529?
a.) Reasons for Wolsey’s enduring influence
over Henry (linked to key issue I)
1. Wolsey’s ability and capacity for
complex administration
2. Henry’s dislike of policy detail
3. Henry’s trust of Wolsey
4. Henry’s use of Wolsey as a buffer
between himself and aristocrats
W’s enduring influence cont…
W’s ability to manipulate others…(not Henry?)
W capable and H allowed him power
W aware dependent on good will of H
W= v. capable, uniquely so. H recognised this
and allowed him to build up power e.g.
organising campaign to France 1513 resulting in
the capture of Therouanne and Tournai
W as buffer between aristocrats: “..there can be
no doubt that he enjoyed watching his leading
subjects squirm as they were forced to yield
pride of place to the son of a butcher..”-Randell
cont……………
W= so capable and efficient that H could devote
time to leisure pursuits at a unique time in his life
when he was more than willing to do so.
W able to survive all obstacles and attacks on
him for some 15 years in effect. “It happened
both because of the minister’s outstanding
abilities and because the king was unusually
shrewd in assessing the reliability of the
information he was given”.-Randell
cont……………………
W = incredibly loyal to H and determined to
serve his master at all costs.
Managed to avoid the charge that he lay open to
after 1518: praemunire. This was any action
taken to exercise papal powers in England to the
disadvantage of the King or any of his subjects.
H decided only to accuse him of this in 1529.
When made Lord Chancellor on 24.12. 1515
he was in control of the country’s legal system
and therefore it would always be difficult for
anyone to remove him
Cont……….
Presiding at Star Chamber and Court of Chancery
allowed W to demonstrate power as H’s Chief Minister
as well as the leading churchman in England (esp. after
1518)
In frequent contact with H through letters and visits
..attracted many nobles to his own Court but didn’t forget
H’s also (despite Skelton’s poem )Also W’s Sunday
audience with H when he visited him
W doesn’t underestimate opponents potential or
otherwise e.g. expulsion of ‘minions’ in 1519 and
Eltham Ordinances 1526. Their use in France went
some way to securing W’s enduring influence over the
King.
“By means of his still unrivalled
influence over Henry, Wolsey had
maintained his power, but the
onset of the problems surrounding
the King’s divorce from 1527 were
to undermine the Cardinal’s
influence at Court.”- Murphy
Wolsey able to maintain power for so long as he
controlled nobility also.
Nobles needed in times of war: 1511-1514 and
1522..
Often think of poor relations between W and
nobles.. Some resentment of his rise to power
and wealth “On a personal level, the evidence
would suggest that the Cardinal and most of
the nobility could tolerate one another and
generally worked well together..”-Murphy
cont…….
Not all roses..e.g. Duke of Northumberland and
Duke of Suffolk, here relations were strained.
Buckingham..royal blood.. H thinks he may be
up to something so 1521..summoned to Court
and tried and executed. “The Buckingham
case was untypical of Wolsey’s relations with
the nobility. The Duke’s downfall probably
owed more to Henry VIII’s paranoia than to
any malice from Wolsey himself” - Murphy
cont…..
Wolsey always interfered in the affairs of the
nobility, often demanding their attendance at
Court
Rarely did H and W disagree and this
undoubtedly contributed to his long tenure of
power. “ So king and Minister routinely
worked in harmonious concert” – Guy
Treaties and diplomacy orchestrated by W: e.g.
Marriage of Mary to Louis XII proved his
capability and earned him H’s respect
Starkey V Gwyn
Starkey sees the Privy Chamber versus
the Council, and that the struggle for
control between the two was often bitter.
W= very aware of this and the influence
that the Privy Chamber has. Hence the
expulsion of ‘the minions’ in 1519. No
doubt that W’s awareness of this power
base and fact that he doesn’t
underestimate them goes some way to
explaining his enduring power
“For Starkey the battle between the
Council, which was dominated by
Wolsey, and the Court, which was
dominated by Henry’s favourites,
explains the politics of this period and
the ‘struggle for control between the
two was continuous and often bitter’Lotherington.
Gwyn says that too much emphasis on
faction, stresses that H=always in charge
and the expulsion of the minions as a
genuine need to lead the army in France
at this time and not some conspiracy by
Wolsey to get them out of the way. Also
sees the Eltham Ordinances as an
economy measure only! (one should be
more likely to see Starkey’s point of view!!)
So, these are the reasons for
Wolsey’s enduring influence over
Henry
AS Q .
Explain why Wolsey was able to maintain a
dominant position in English government
between 1515 and 1529.