Tag: Cardinal Wolsey

One of the movers and shakers of the Tudor Era, Cardinal Wolsey had such an impact on British history, first as Henry VIII’s almoner and then by the end of his career Lord Chancellor, the highest political position someone could hold besides King.

He began his downhill slide toward banishment by Henry VIII when he failed to negotiate an annulment of the King’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Once he had fallen out of favor, Wolsey was stripped of his government titles. In angst and humiliation, he retreated to York to return to his ecclesiastical duties as Archbishop of York, a position he had neglected during his years in government.

Henry VIII called him back to London to answer to charges of treason, a common condemnation used by the King to punish ministers who disappointed him. Lucky for the cardinal, he died on the way to the capital from natural causes.