The Tudors: Henry VIII - The Fall of Thomas Wolsey - Episode 19

This is I'm Suck, and in this video we will be looking at the fall of Thomas Wolsey. So the first thing to ask is why had Wolsey lost Henry VIII's confidence by 1529? And in the last video we saw about the King's great matter. And after Cardinal Campeggio had adjourned the divorce hearings, which means he had postponed it was clear that Wolsey had failed to give Henry his annulment, which was also his great matter. Now along with failures in foreign policy, such as the anti-Habsburg alliance, and failures in domestic policy such as the amicable grant, which we can see in videos such as his government and his foreign policy videos, this was the final straw for Wolsey. Now it's also said that the Berlin faction put pressure on Henry to release Wolsey as they hinted that it was he who was delaying the divorce. And with exceptions to some people like Thomas Cromwell who gave Wolsey a little bit of support, Wolsey barely received any support due to his reputation and his own personal ambitions because a lot of people hated him. So in October 1529, Wolsey was accused of premonire due to his role as papal legate. And premonire is working in the Pope's interests instead of the King. Now this meant that Wolsey was stripped of all his possessions and powers, and this included his palace Hampton Court, and he was exiled to York. Now Wolsey believed his downfall was at the hands of the Berlin family, who had gained a lot of influence in the Royal Council in the past few years because of Anne Boleyn. And this was the thing that Wolsey had always been scared of, and this was not being able to have the King's ear, because the King was easily persuaded, and here he was persuaded by the Berlin family. So in the months that followed, Henry did send tokens of friendship to Wolsey, and Wolsey did stay optimistic that he might be reinstated. But on the 4th of November 1530, he was arrested. Now he was summoned to trial, and it was likely that he would have been executed, yet he died on the way at Leicester Abbey on the 29th of November. So that was the first stage of Henry VIII's reign with Thomas Wolsey in control. Next we will see a little bit about Thomas more before going on to Thomas Cromwell. So thank you for watching, and see you soon. Bye!