Thomas Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey
Portrait at Trinity College, Cambridge, c. 1585–1596
Lord High Chancellor of England
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 post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of S. Cecilia (1515–1530)
Orders
Ordination	10 March 1498 by Augustine Church, Titular Bishop of Lydda
Consecration	26 March 1514 by William Warham
Created cardinal	10 September 1515 by Leo X
Personal details
Born	c. March 1473 Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Died	(1530-11-29)29 November 1530 (aged 57) Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Buried	Leicester Abbey
Denomination	Roman Catholicism
Parents	Robert Wolsey (father) and Joan Daundy (mother)
Children	Thomas and Dorothy
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Lincoln (1514) Administrator of Bath and Wells (1518–1523) Administrator of Durham (1523–1530) Administrator of Winchester (1529–1530)
Education	Magdalen College, Oxford
Signature
Coat of arms

Thomas Wolsey^[a] (c. March 1473^[1] – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner.^[2] Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state. He also held important ecclesiastical appointments. These included the Archbishop of York—the second most important role in the English church—and that of papal legate. His appointment as a cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515 gave him precedence over all other English clergy.

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 the alter rex ("other king").^[3] 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.^[4] He retreated to York to fulfil his ecclesiastical duties as archbishop, a position he nominally held but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason—charges Henry commonly used against ministers who fell out of his favour—but died from natural causes on the way.^[4]

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