Cardinal Thomas Wolsey 's success throughout his religious, military and political career was heavily intertwined within the success in the reign of Henry VIII. Wolsey had become known as the second king, as lord chancellor he oversaw many royal documents and as legate was the pope 's representative in England. If an individual wanted something done they would go to York Palace or Hampton court and not the King 's residency.1 However, Wolsey retained his power as long as young King Henry remained lazy and the Cardinal retained his confidence. The Cardinal 's ambition acquired him a number of various positions, however, his ambition also proved his downfall in which he was unable to maintain the demands of the king. The purpose of this paper …show more content…
His intelligence and capability eventually acquired him a position as a chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury and Henry VII.2 Wolsey was then bestowed the position of royal almoner by Henry VIII, that is, he was responsible for the distribution of the king 's charity.3 His attributes allowed him to then move onto the more ambitious position of running Henry VIII 's military campaign in France from 1512-14.4 Wolsey then became archbishop of York in 1514 and was then given a cardinal 's hat by the pope in 1515.5 Wolsey had become a trusted advisor to the young king Henry; maintaining day-to-day domestic politics that the young king was indifferent to, acting as a political guide for the young king, maintaining the Star Chamber and successfully negotiating the Treaty of London in 1518 facilitating peace within Europe. By 1525 Wolsey was on a decline towards his downfall by failing to provide Henry with the annulment needed for Anne Boleyn to become queen. If Wolsey had become pope, granting Henry an annulment would have been a much quicker process. Cardinal Wolsey could have remained in England after becoming pope, maintain his claim within Henrician government and changing England 's dynamic within early modern
In the sixteenth century of Europe, religious reform and changes led people away from the Catholic Church. From Martin Luther’s exposition of the church’s corruption to King Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy, these two religious figures broke away from the Catholic Church in favor of alternative religions. Their lives were heavily involved in their personal and political motives to change the church’s religious practices and beliefs. In the German states, Martin Luther realized that the priests were often unqualified, immoral, and corrupted.
From the commencement of Henry VII’s reign, it was vital that Henry established his dynasty, by securing his position on the throne, and one interpretation shown in Source 2 is that Henry’s control over finance proved a great aid in not only gaining financial power, but in gaining political power. However some historians have come to refer to Henry as the ‘miserly’ king due to his expenditure, as shown in Source 1, which, when analysing this source can be viewed as an unrepresentative and unconvincing interpretation. Firstly, Source 1 creates the image of Henry’s attitude towards finance being miserly, through both the picture and the provenance, with the idea of Henry VII building a lavish chapel. This is shown through the visual representation
Although Wolsey was able to celebrate success at the beginning of this juridical reformation and served his King successfully by making the system more efficient, meaning that his subjects were subjected to less waiting time and the system had less chance of being corrupted, it was eventually corrupted and abused. This turned a success into a failure and his own goals of removing threats to him from Henry, so that they would have no further influence, brought about another failure. He not only failed to serve his King, as his duties suffered when his timetable was overcome by too many court cases, but also failed to serve himself or the country.
1.) Mali: The empire of Mali was known for its variety of imported goods. The rich Muslim merchants imported items such as copper, brass, spices, Arabian horses, manufactured goods, slaves, and gold. Slaves and gold were the two major exports of the Mali empire. The high demand for gold caused foreigners to travel to Africa in search of the elite metal.
Henry VIII and Wolsey’s foreign policy during the time period saw many adjustments of which large European power they would support, be it Charles V or Francis I. There was also a balanced approach mixing war and peaceful treaties to try and achieve long lasting peace and secure England’s place in European politics. We can see shifts in their policies depending on who they are supported by and what their main aim is to get out of the situation. On one hand, we can see Henry VIII pursued war as a means of glory by the numerous invasions he made into France, first in 1511 and later in 1513. This was one of Henry’s first moves as he King of England which would suggest that he did this to prove he was worthy of being King as Henry V had proven
Between 1524 and 1527 over thirty old and decayed monasteries were removed, including corrupted monasteries in Ipswich and Oxford. Wolsey was responsible for this undertaking and used part of the income in order to found a Grammar School in Ipswich and a College in Oxford which would later become known as Christ Church College. He pursued to gain influence over the Church of England and had a strong competition against the Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham, battling against him in order to bring forward his plans for reformation. Wolsey promised to reform the Bishoprics of England as well as encouraged monasteries to reform but did not support these changes personally and did nothing to further them. He did manage though to limit the
Once when a baron abandoned his nephew and a dispute broke out, King Louis avoided war tactics in order to prevent the poor from becoming even more overburdened and “out of love for justice and his compassion for the churches and the poor” Louis eventually settled the quarrel in court in a merciful manner (Suger 110). In Suger’s judgement, Louis’ acts of nonviolence in order to retain peace for the churches and poor are appropriate decisions, but he reveals that
“There for three days, before the castle gate, he laid aside all his royal gear; barefoot and wearing coarse wool, he stood pitifully, and did not stop begging for our apostolic help and compassion, until he had moved everyone there, or who heard tell of his, to great reverence and pity.”- Pope Gregory VII (Swainson, Bill). This was a time that a king begged for forgiveness so he could come back to the Roman Catholic Church. In the Holy Roman Empire, King Henry IV had a certain power called lay investiture. Lay investiture is a practice that nobles or prestigious people, such as kings, did; giving bishops and abbots the power over church offices (Richard Abels).
The journalist argues that even though the entire society wasn’t satisfied by his religious ruling, people should still appreciate the peace and resources that he provided to the needy people. With so much knowledge about Christianity and being devoted, Jacob provides a strong perspective about Charles’ religious life because he is very religious himself as he explains praying to the Holy Rosary has made him appreciate the kind acts that Charles has shown as the Count of Flanders. Moreover, White provides a lot of evidences by using quotes in the Holy Rosary that supports why Charles refers to Holy Scriptures while ruling Flanders. Throughout this article, I found White’s analysis of Count Charles’ religious life really useful because he provides good examples of why religion has made a big impact to governing a society and how religion can change people’s perspective into believing certain
Thomas Wolsey was infamous for his character within the Henrician period. His efforts affected many aspects within this time, which were enforced to such a high standard due to the power of his positions within the Church and State. Due to this Wolsey, other than Henry VIII, was considered the most influential mind in England, which was all due to the infinite strings he managed as a puppeteer of Henry 's relations. Wolsey managed to carefully climb the ladder to his successes, eliminating threats along the way only leaving him with a easier and more obtainable goal. How Wolsey managed to obtain so much power and influence within such a short time helped discourage those who stood against him, but over time Wolsey had managed to curate his devotion
He was extremely ardent in his religious studies. He possessed an elitist outlook about himself, and this outlook led him to believe that he was elected for salvation. His main goal was to “reform the national church from within” (165). However, when Charles I, a king who was sympathetic to Roman Catholicism, ascended to the throne, he knew that he could never openly
Author of the book, Becoming Charlemagne, by Jeff Sypeck provides a clear glimpse into the life of one of the world’s greatest kings and ruler and later emperor Charlemagne, otherwise known as Karl or Charles the Great. Sypeck creates a vivid and strong look into the time of Charlemagne, early medieval Europe and some other important world leaders, including Pope Leo III, Irene the Byzantine emperor, Alcuin the scholar and Harun al-Rashid ruler of Baghdad. These figures are crucial to the story of Karl becoming Charlemagne, and their stories included in the book help form and symbolize Charlemagne the Ruler. Understanding Charlemagne and early medieval Europe is presented vibrantly throughout the book by in-depth stories, facts and a clear
In Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII Cardinal Wolsey ’s uses the elements of figurative language, literary terms and biblical allusions with similes when he considers his downfall. The elements Wolsey uses describe how he takes it, what he thinks of the position now and how he feels.
When making decisions regarding who to choose as our next elected officials, one of the first qualities we scrutinize is their judgment, using our own judgment to do so. However, in a nonsecular society in which judgment of a religious authority is essentially the judgment of a divine power, there is significantly less room for scrutiny. The authority of any figure with political power stems from the judgment of the community over which it rules. For instance, if the community believes in the absolute authority of God, then the judgment of God is what gives the judgment of the church or any religious leader authority. A large aspect of the authority that made the Catholic Church such a prominent religious and political force during the early 16th century was called into question by Martin Luther.
The Church dominated politics throughout the Middle Ages. It is clear from reading numerous primary sources that the Church was the sole guidance of people throughout the Middle Ages. This essay will discuss the factors and events that led to the rise of the Church in the Middle Ages and the change in politics from this time. It is evident from reading various sources from the course that the Church and the State were closely linked and that this bond was formed from the early outset of the Middle Ages, at the time of the Roman Empire. The object of this essay is to research primary sources from this time to demonstrate the progression of the Church and politics in the Middle Ages.