Thomas Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey

• son of a butcher - seen as an upstart
• gained royal favour by doing administration, paperwork, etc. to enable the king to enjoy himself
  • he was a "meet instrument" to "advance the king's only will and pleasure"
  • essentially, he gave Henry what he wanted

Chronology

• 1511 -- appointed councillor
• 1513 -- Wolsey introduced the subsidy, a method of taxation based on earnings, similar to what we have today
• 1515 -- appointed Lord Chancellor
• 1516 -- unveiled new Law Enforcement Plan (see below)
• 1517 -- inquiry into enclosure (see below)
• 1519 -- Purge of the Privy Chamber: Wolsey, jealous of the influence that the king's young friends had over him, organised a purge of the Privy Chamber to remove many of them. Though successful at first, many men returned within the year.
• 1522 -- The General Proscription: a national survey to determine the wealth of the country
• 1522 -- Forced loans began
• 1523 -- Parliament granted four subsidies (raising of taxes)
• 1525 -- The Amicable Grant, leading to a revolt in Suffolk
• 1525 -- The Eltham Ordinances, another attempt by Wolsey to decrease the size of the Privy Chamber

Wolsey's work before his downfall can be divided into the categories that he dealt with. This helps us to deal with each project individually, in order to assess his overall success.

1) Law Enforcement

• appointed Lord Chancellor in 1515
• presiding judge in the Court of Chancery
• heard 7% more cases p.a. than it had…