Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
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His Eminence The Right Honourable Thomas Wolsey |
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Sampson Strong's portrait of Cardinal Wolsey at Christ Church (1610)
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| Lord Chancellor | |
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In office 1515–1529 |
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| Preceded by | William Warham |
| Succeeded by | Sir Thomas More |
| Cardinal, Archbishop of York Primate of England |
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| 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 (aged 57) Leicester, Leicestershire, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
| Previous post |
Bishop of Lincoln, England (1514) 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 or Wulcy) 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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