Thomas Wolsey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lord High Chancellor of England | |
| In office 1515–1529 | |
| Preceded by | William Warham |
| Succeeded by | Sir Thomas More |
| Appointed | 15 September 1514 |
| Term ended | 29 November 1530 |
| Predecessor | Christopher Bainbridge |
| Successor | Edward Lee |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of S. Cecilia (1515–1530) |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 10 March 1498 by Augustine Church, Titular Bishop of Lydda |
| Consecration | 26 March 1514 by William Warham |
| Created cardinal | 10 September 1515 by Leo X |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. March 1473 |
| Died | 29 November 1530 (aged 57) Leicester, Leicestershire, England |
| Buried | Leicester Abbey |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
| Parents |
|
| Children | Thomas and Dorothy |
| Education | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
Thomas Wolsey[a] (/ˈwʊlzi/ WUUL-zee;[1] c. March 1473[2] – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner.[3] Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state. He also held important ecclesiastical appointments. These included the Archbishop of York—the second most important role in the English church—and that of papal legate. His appointment as a cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515 gave him precedence over all other English clergy.
The highest political position Wolsey attained was Lord Chancellor, the king's chief adviser (formally, as his successor and disciple Thomas Cromwell was not). In that position, he enjoyed great freedom and was often depicted as the alter rex ("other king").[4] After failing to negotiate an annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey fell out of favour and was stripped of his government titles.[5] He retreated to York to fulfil his ecclesiastical duties as archbishop, a position he nominally held but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason—charges Henry commonly used against ministers who fell out of his favour—but died from natural causes on the way.[5]
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- ^ "Wolsey". CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins.
- ^ Armstrong 2008.
- ^ Jack 2012.
- ^ "Wolsey – Alter Rex?". Tudor Times. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ a b Bucholz, Robert (2013). Early Modern England 1485–1714 : A Narrative History (2nd ed.). Newark: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. p. 85.