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Of the Cardinal of York's Ambition, and of the Advice He Gave the King

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Of the Cardinal of York's Ambition, and of the Advice He Gave the King Book 1, chapter 4 Of the Cardinal of York’s Ambition, and of the Advice He Gave the King Concerning His Marriage1 One of the king’s confidants who came to know all this was Thomas Wolsey, a man bold and ambitious above all other men, whose life was much more like the Henry’s than the queen’s. Accordingly, he sought any opportunity to please the king, to harm the queen, and to advance his own interests. Wolsey was a man of low, menial birth, the son of a butcher (so some have written).2 Having entered the king’s household through deceit and cunning, he was ini- tially his chaplain, and then his almoner.3 Then he made himself rich with the rents of the bishopric of Tournai (which King Henry had taken from the king of France), and until at last he was made bishop—first of Lincoln, then of Dur- ham, then of Winchester and, at the same time, archbishop of York, the two richest sees.4 In the end, the king also made him chancellor of the realm, anal- ogous to what we call the president of the royal council of Castile, as well as arranging for the pope to make him a cardinal and legate a latere in England.5 Not content with this, he held numerous pensions and rich grants from the emperor and the king of France, as well as wealthy abbacies and church ben- efices, for King Henry favored him to the point of placing himself and his realm in his hands, neither deciding nor commanding anything without the word or hand of Wolsey. Consequently, both Emperor Don Charles and Francis, king of France—each hoping to keep King Henry on their side, as of great importance 1 Sander, De origine ac progressu, 13–16. 2 In the margin: “Polydore Vergil, [Anglica historia,] Book 27.” His father’s involvement in the meat trade notwithstanding, “both Thomas’ parents is- sued from among east Suffolk’s more prominent families.” Fletcher, Cardinal Wolsey, 6. 3 Wolsey became Henry’s chaplain in 1507, and his almoner in 1509. Ibid., 18. 4 Henry attempted to make Wolsey bishop of Tournai in 1514, but encountered difficulties in the presence of an alternative French candidate; Wolsey eventually relinquished his claim to the see in exchange for a handsome pension. An available bishopric (that of Lincoln) was finally found in 1514, but swiftly exchanged for the archbishopric of York, vacated in July by Christopher Bainbridge (c.1463–1514). In 1518, the archbishop also became administrator of the see of Bath and Wells, in 1523, that of Durham, and in 1529, that of Winchester. Ibid., 24, 60. “Biographical Dictionary—Consistory of September 10, 1515,” in chrc. 5 Wolsey became cardinal in September 1515, lord chancellor the following December, and pa- pal legate three years later. Ibid. Fletcher, Cardinal Wolsey, 38. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/97890043�3964_0�0 <UN> 144 Book 1, chapter 4 in the wars waged between the two—strove to satisfy and win over the cardi- nal of York, upon whose will they knew the will of the king his lord depended.6 All the eminence and favor he possessed seemed but little to the cardinal, insufficient to satisfy his greed and ambition; these rather waxed greater each day as his dignities and influence increased (as they are wont to do). He even lusted and connived to mount to the heights of the supreme pontificate and seat himself upon the throne of Saint Peter.7 He reckoned what he had to be little, since he could have more; his pleasure at his gains was nothing com- pared to his anguish at lacking what he craved. Emperor Don Charles caught scent of the cardinal’s ambition, and, in order to make it serve his turn and to lure him further upon this path (as is the habit of kings, when it is called for), began to honor him, often writing him elaborate letters in his own hand, full of extravagant courtesies, signing them “Your son, and kinsman, Charles.”8 And to beguile and win him, he implied that if King Henry should, through Wolsey’s efforts, ally with him in perpetuity and declare war upon France, he would ensure that when Pope Leo x died the cardinal should succeed to the pontificate.9 Since men easily credit what they desire, the cardinal instantly believed this: to do himself a good turn, and so as not to lose so excellent an opportunity, he persuaded King Henry to do all the emperor wished. Shortly thereafter, Leo x died,10 but although it was bruited about all of Italy that the 6 Wolsey received a French pension in compensation for relinquishing his claim to the bishopric of Tournai. When Charles v visited England in May 1520, he offered Wolsey the bishopric of Badajoz. The offer was refused (so as not to offend the French), but another pension was supplied. Fletcher, Cardinal Wolsey, 67. 7 Wolsey was a prominent candidate in papal elections of both 1521–22 and 1523, but Fletch- er argues that he understood how little chance he actually stood of being elected (though diplomatic chatter abounded about Henry and Wolsey’s energetic machinations). In 1529, by contrast, when Clement vii briefly fell ill, he exerted every effort to win election, as the only real hope of resolving Henry’s matrimonial difficulties. Fletcher also suggests that the 1527 proposal to convene the cardinals in Avignon during Clement’s captivity stemmed from “quasi-papal ambition.” Ibid., 53, 126, 150–51. Cf. cspv, 3:384; lp, 3:3372. 8 A sixteenth-century Latin life of Wolsey noted “For a long time, Emperor Charles sent him letters in no hand but his own, which he signed, ‘your son.’” Nicholas Pocock, ed., Records of the Reformation: The Divorce 1527–1533, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1870), 2:89. 9 In a letter to Wolsey on December 17, 1521, Charles wrote, “I suppose you have heard of the death of the Pope. You remember the conversation we formerly had, and I shall gladly do what I can for you, if you will let me know how I can serve you.” lp, 3:1877. 10 December 1, 1521. <UN>.
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