On 29 November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died in disgrace at Leicester Abbey. From humble beginnings, through his fierce intellect, shrewd political instinct and diligence, Wolsey rose up through Tudor society from nowhere to become the most powerful and influential man in England as Henry VIII’s first minister.
Taking the administrative strain from the young king, Henry was freed to enjoy the finer pleasures of kingship. Wolsey's capability in serving Henry VIII brought him both wealth and status, while his power and closeness to the monarch garnered enemies from jealous contemporaries of noble birth.
Wolsey remained beyond their reach until a certain young woman captured the king’s heart. Unable to bring about an annulment of Henry’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon in order to clear the way for Anne Boleyn to marry the king, Wolsey’s position was fatally undermined. Exiled firstly to York and the archepiscopal residence at Cawood, Cardinal Wolsey would eventually be arrested for treason, dying en route at Leicester Abbey on 29 November 1530.
Intellectual and capable…pompous and vain: whatever you think of him, Wolsey was an extraordinary statesman and was a leading patron of the arts in his day. In this virtual summit, we will unwrap Wolsey’s story and follow it from cradle to grave. Along the way, we will hear from Professor Glenn Richardson, Professor Catherine Fletcher, Jonathan Foyle and The Tudor Travel Guide as we will explore his early beginnings, his rise to power, his catastrophic involvement in the King’s Great Matter, his patronage of art and architecture, and finally his dramatic fall from grace. All this is exclusively available to Connaisseur members of the Time Travellers' Club
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