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Cardinal Wolsey

His Eminence The Right Honourable
Thomas Wolsey
Cardinal Wolsey Christ Church.jpg
Sampson Strong's portrait of Cardinal Wolsey at Christ Church (1610)
Lord Chancellor
In office
1515–1529
Preceded by William Warham
Succeeded by Sir Thomas More
Cardinal, Archbishop of York
Primate of England
Appointed 15 September 1514
Term ended 29 November 1530
Predecessor Christopher Bainbridge
Successor Edward Lee
Other posts Cardinal-Priest of S. Cecilia (1515–1530)
Orders
Ordination 10 March 1498
by John Blythe
Consecration 26 March 1514
by William Warham
Created Cardinal 10 September 1515
Personal details
Born March 1473
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Died 29 November 1530(1530-11-29) (aged 57)
Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Nationality English
Denomination Roman Catholicism
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Bishop of Lincoln, England (1514)
Administrator of Bath and Wells, England (1518–1523)
Administrator of Durham, England (1523–1530)


Administrator of Winchester, England (1529–1530)
Alma mater Magdalen College, Oxford

Bishop of Lincoln, England (1514)
Administrator of Bath and Wells, England (1518–1523)
Administrator of Durham, England (1523–1530)

Thomas Wolsey (c. March 1473 – 29 November 1530; sometimes spelled Woolsey) was an English churchman, statesman and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the King's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered, and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state and extremely powerful within the Church, as Archbishop of York, the second most important cleric in England. The 1515 appointment of Wolsey as a cardinal by Pope Leo X gave him precedence even over the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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 an alter rex (other king). 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. He retreated to York to fulfill his ecclesiastical duties as Archbishop of York, a position he nominally held, but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason — a common charge used by Henry against ministers who fell out of favour — but died en route of natural causes.

Thomas Wolsey was born about 1473, the son of Robert Wolsey of Ipswich and his wife Joan Daundy. Widespread traditions identify his father as a butcher and a cattle dealer.


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