27th Annual Student Research Conference
The Fall of Cardinal Wolsey
Ann M. Frydrych
Dr. Thomas Zoumaras and Dr. Kathryn Brammall, Faculty Mentors
Factions have long played a role in the politics of the English royal courts. Cardinal Wolsey was one of the principle advisors in the court of Henry VIII. Not only was Wolsey a powerful voice for the Catholic Church in England in the years preceding the Reformation, he was a leading figure in the political realm as Chief Minister and Lord Chancellor. Nevertheless, by 1530 he had fallen from favor. In part his decline was because he was unable to obtain the divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon that Henry VIII demanded. But that is not the whole story. Certainly Wolseys failure earned the ire of the king and his paramour Anne Boleyn, but many of his long-standing enemies supported the Boleyn faction only because of their willingness to stop at nothing to remove from power this upstart who had so long dominated access to and influence over the king.
Keywords: History, Tudors, Wolsey, Factions, History Senior Seminar
Topic(s):History Senior Seminar
History
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 201-4
Location: MG 2001
Time: 10:15