Cardinal Wolsey and King Henry VIII

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey plays a tremendously large part in British history perhaps due more to King Henry VIII's disinterest in politics rather than to any inherent genius or even ambition of his own. Cardinal Wolsey was lucky enough to find himself in the service of a king who was willing to hand over the administrative details of his government to someone other himself.

The lasting legacy of the reign of Henry VIII-other than providing fodder for a never-ending series of movies about his love life-is, of course, his desire to get a divorce and the refusal of the Pope, resulting in the split with the Catholic Church. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was quite familiar with the inner workings of the Church, of course, having been both a Bishop and Archbishop. Eventually, Thomas Wolsey's influence with Henry VIII landed him the enviable post of Cardinal and then he even managed to secure special powers from Rome.

These powers effectively gave him control of the direction of every aspect of the English church. With his power, Cardinal Wolsey oversaw all legal matters that related in any way to the Church: from marriages to church appointments. Cardinal Wolsey's direction for the church was one toward extravagant expenditures. He was as arrogant as Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney in displaying the wealth that his position had brought him and as a result made many enemies on all sides. It was this arrogance and display of wealth in the face of overwhelming poverty among so many that led to the spread of anti-church sentiment throughout much of the English countryside. (Which my lady loves, by the way.)