L6 - wolsey’s fall from power

what were the key 5 reasons to wolsey’s fall from power?

1. failure to attain the annulment for marriage to catherine of aragon

2. the influence of the boleyn faction at court

3. mistake in foreign policy decisions

4. failures of wolsey’s domestic policy

5. wolsey’s personality and relationships with the nobility

what positions did wolsey hold in church and state?

• 1513 - lord chancellor/ first minister

• 1514 - archbishop of york

• 1515 - cardinal (by pope leo X)

• bishop of bath, wells, durham and winchester

• 1513 - bishop of tournai (for 5 years)

• 1518 - papal legate

what was the role of papal legate?

the pope’s representative in england, essentially the head of the church within england

what name could be given to wolsey as a consequence of the amount of power and authority he maintained?

alter rex (alternative king)

what was wolsey accused of during his downfall?

praemunire → in his failure to secure the annulment, henry accused wolsey of placing the authority of the pope above his own power as king

what were the three approaches wolsey attempted to securing an annulment?

1. scripture/bible arguments

2. foreign policy pressure through diplomacy and economics

3. court proceedings in england with wolsey as papal legate

what scriptural argument did wolsey make?

• leviticus 20:16

• validity of the marriage rested on catherine’s claim that the marriage to arthur was not consummated.

• argued that if henry had been misled then the marriage was invalid and that the previous pope sholdn’t have given special dispensation in the first place

why did wolsey’s scriptural argument for the annulment fail?

• many theologians disagreed with his interpretation of the bible → believed it only forbade marrying your sister in law while your brother was still alive

• pope didn’t want to contradict his predecessor who gave papal dispensation for them to marry in 1509

• the pope remained under the control of charles v (catherine’s nephew) who saw the idea of the annulment as an embarrassment to her and shameful for their family

why did foreign policy pressure for the annulment fail?

• english traders protested at suspension of trade → embargo on antwerp was lifted

• charles v won the battle of landriano

• charles and francis made peace at cambrai 1529

• the pope remained under charles’ control

how did henry use foreign policy in an attempt to free the pope?

• occurred after 1527 sack of rome, Pope now under control of charles v

• allied with french and jointly declared war (treaty of amiens)

  • hoped to secure pope’s diplomatic independence

• 1527-28 trade embargo on burgundy

  • to either defeat the HRE outright or to create sufficient distraction to distance charles’ influence on the pope

why did wolsey’s attempt to pass the annulment through court proceedings in England fail?

• pope remained under the control of charles and acted to delay decision

  • sent cardinal campeggio to delay case and ensure a decision was never reached

• underestimated catherine’s ability to manipulate situation to advantage

  • appealed to the pope for hearing to be held in rome

  • highly popular and had public opinion on her side

what was the main reason in the fall of wolsey?

his consistent abject failure to obtain the annulment to catherine of aragon

how did the boleyn faction influence wolsey’s downfall?

• criticised wolsey’s abilities to obtain annulment

• may have ‘poisoned’ henry’s mind against wolsey, incited doubt

• took advantage of boleyn faction gaining influence and wolsey losing influence

• tried to convince henry that wolsey wasn’t truly trying to obtain divorce

• anne had access and influence over henry which was key in reducing king’s trust of wolsey

what failures in foreign policy contributed to the fall of wolsey?

• 1523 failure of 2nd invasion of france

• 1525 rejection of the treaty of bruges (1521) from charles following amicable grant failure

  • lost alliance and his engagement to princess mary

• failure of 1525 treaty of the more and 1527 treaty of amiens

  • hoped to ally against hre and repair power balance of europe, later wanted free pope and ease path to annulment

  • 1527 sack of Rome and 1529 HRE victory at battle of landriano leading to 1529 treaty of cambrai

• in later years england became marginalised and isolated in foreign affairs (partially due to wolsey’s loss of influence)

what were wolsey’s greatest failures in domestic policy?

• 1517 enclosure commission

• 1525 amicable grant

• 1526 eltham ordinances

• gradual debasement of coinage

• failure to address corruptions in church that he was guilty of himself

how did wolsey’s failures in domestic policy contribute to his fall from power?

• 1525 amicable grant failure → created widespread resistance and rebellion, encouraged growth of pre-existing long term resentment

  • responsible for failure of military alliance with charles v to which woley’’s reputation never recovered from

• encouraged opposition within court and parliament, became increasingly unpopular

how did wolsey’s personality contribute to his downfall?

• ascended great chain of being from son of a butcher to the highest positions in church and state

• acted with ambition and utter disregard for others → made few trusted friends and his lacked support from beginning within court and council

• long standing hostilities with nobility remained constant, fuelled by efforts to weaken them within domestic policy

• had no allies to support him through his loss of power

• made long term foe from the duke of norfolk

• regarded with jealousy and disdain by nobility → wolsey was too proud, arrogant and perpetrator of too many corruptions to be respected and liked

does the fall of wolsey show strength or weakness in government?

• could be used to support that henry remained in control over his first minister and was aware of wolsey’s failings

• evidence of henry’s impulsive nature → showed signs of regretting loss of lord chancellor

• reveals danger of factions within court

• possibility of manipulation of henry by boleyn faction → acting in own self interest and caused loss of one of england’s finest administrators

• shows continuity of ‘new men’

• shows unstable nature of henry viii’s government and weakness of a monarch from delegating so much reponsibility to a single individual rather than having a balanced conciliar government

what arguments could be made to support the fact that wolsey was the alter rex?

• unique combination of secular and ecclesiastical powers that gave immense power

• had real power in government

• henry viii played passive role in government at times and allowed wolsey to fill power vacuum

• wolsey’s wealth and behaviour

what evidence can be