Wolsey therefore had powers enjoyed by few if any previous minister of the English crown.ĤSo on one hand we have a low born cleric who enjoyed an extraordinary rise to absolute power as Cardinal and Legate and who loved every ounce of precedence it gave him : a man whose love of display and consumption, of robes and plate, of building and of ceremonial was legendary. Henry was not only content, he was keen to delegate to the energetic and highly able Cardinal as much as possible of the tedious business of running the country. 5 Perhaps most important of all was his relationship with the king. His father was probably a butcher in Ipswich, Norfolk whereas the vast majority of contemporary cardinals came, in one way or another, from the ruling classes. (.)ģUnlike his English cardinal predecessors Wolsey came from a humble background.
McClung Hallman, Italian Cardinals, Reform, and the Church as Property, (Berkeley CA, 1985), p. This wealth, although acquired in the same manner as say, Morton’s, was amassed on a much more efficient and systematic basis, making Wolsey proportionately richer 4. It also made him very rich : his annual income was probably in excess of £ 30,000 a year. Holding an archbishopric, a bishopric and an abbacy together put Wolsey into the league of churchmen on the continent, where the practice of holding in commendam was commonplace. Another difference is that unlike his very powerful English predecessors such as John Morton who was both archbishop of Canterbury and a Cardinal, Wolsey held posts in commendam. In contrast Henry VIII was more than content for Wolsey to hold wide ranging ecclesiastical jurisdiction because Wolsey owed everything to the king and could be trusted (or so he thought) to exercise papal powers in the national interest and for royal benefit. In the previous century King Henry V had blocked the ambitious royal born Henry Beaufort from becoming a Cardinal. But in many other senses Wolsey was different for England. Lindley ed., Card (.)ĢNone of this set England or Wolsey apart from continental norms or previous English practice 3.
Wolsey’s promotion gave the king a minister who had absolute authority over both church and state 2.
CARDINAL WOLSEY SERIES
This was vitally important for Henry VIII who already he had a series of jurisdictional problems with the Church. More importantly Wolsey’s creation as Cardinal and crucially later as Legate a latere gave Henry VIII complete control over the English church including power to override even the Archbishop of Canterbury and the exempt orders. To a degree it worked for there is no doubt that Henry took Wolsey’s creation as a significant personal compliment 1. Francis I had begun his invasion of Italy the previous month and Wolsey’s elevation was a naked ploy to buy the support of Henry VIII. That he was, as was so often the case, had little to do with Wolsey’s spirituality or the needs of the English Church, rather the Pope’s need for international political support.
The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wo (.)ġThomas Wolsey was created Cardinal by Pope Leo X in September 1515. 1 The best modern biography of Wolsey is P.
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