\"Faction, not failure, caused Wolsey\'s downfall.\" How far do you agree PDF

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"Faction, not failure, caused Wolsey's downfall." How far do you agree?The key to understand what contribute to Wolsey’s downfall was arguably a careful study of the reason why he was kept in power for 15 years. The reason behind could arguably be the fact Wolsey had always been the king’s loyal ser...

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"Faction, not failure, caused Wolsey's downfall." How far do you agree? The key to understand what contribute to Wolsey’s downfall was arguably a careful study of the reason why he was kept in power for 15 years. The reason behind could arguably be the fact Wolsey had always been the king’s loyal servant and was managed to execute his royal will effectively most of the time. Once it was clear that Wolsey failed to obtain what the king asked for, he would no longer be needed and ultimately led to his downfall. Therefore, on this basis, it may be regarded that Wolsey’s failure of resolving the Great Matters for Henry rather than faction was the most significant reason that contributed to his downfall. Despite less significant, other reasons, for instance, faction and the frosty relationship with the nobility all help contributed to Wolsey’s downfall as well. Wolsey’s inability to pursue an annulment for Henry was the most important reason of his downfall, as it was the issue at the forefront of the king’s mind at that time. Nevertheless, there was a clear indication of the depth of Henry’s faith in Wolsey and the skill with which the minister explained that the breakdown in their relationship was so long delayed after a number of failed attempts in obtaining an annulment. However, when the final failure of Wolsey’s efforts to secure the annulment became apparent, Henry decided to turn on his once faithful and loyal minister. By 1529, three years since the discussion of annulment had started, Anne still refuse to have sex with Henry unless he married her which simply caused someone like Henry who had an impulsive and impatient character great frustration. Furthermore, provided that there were still descendants of Edward who were still alive, could challenge the legitimacy of his potential heir, Fitzswory, if he became the king, which would put the sustainability of the Tudor dynasty at risk. Wolsey’s constant failure of demanding an annulment from the Pope concerned Henry and becoming impaitient as he was increasingly aware that the passage of time was endangering his aspiration of passing his crown to an legitimate adult male when he died. Henry had ultimately lose his faith in Wolsey in 1529 when he again failed to obtain the divorce through the papal court in England. This was swiftly followed by Henry start taking matter on his own which he sent his secretary William Knight to appeal directly to the Holy See by way of deceptively worded draft papal bull, and Wolsey was charged against with praemunire. This reinforced the argument that Wolsey’s failure of obtaining the annulment was the catalyst to his downfall, as he could not bring what the king wanted.

Closely linked to the failure of resolving Henry’s Great Matters was the emergence of the Bolyen faction in the court which also played significant role in Wolsey’s downfall. However, Wolsey’s frosty relationship with nobility that give rise to the faction could be over-exaggerated. Both duke of Suffolk and Norffolk, despite disagreed with the Amicable grant with Wolsey in 1525, they did not exploit the resistance to the of it against the cardinal. It is thus misleading to present the politics of Wolsey's ascendancy as those of a running battle between Wolsey and his supposed enemies. Due to the prominence of the different factions in the court, the Catherian faction, and the Bolyen faction, Wolsey could no longer rule in solitary stave over and against the court, but instead he had to come off his pedestal and become one court-faction leader among the others, suggesting

the weakening of his power. Despite the two factions were divided on the matters of annulment, the two were able to go into an alliance against Wolsey. The Bolyen faction accused Wolsey of deliberately slowing down the process of the annulment which was feeding Henry anti-Wolsey propaganda in a calculated attempt to undermine Wolsey’s position. Together they worked on Henry’s disillusionment with his minister, and the pressure, coupled with Annes’s skillful management of her lover, was enough to break the trust of almost twenty years and destroy Wolsey.

Although Wolsey’s alienated relationship with the nobility was another reason of his downfall, it may be considered that it was the least important one compared to the others. Despite Wolsey was seen as merciless dealing with the nobility, but there was evident suggest that his intension was to protect the king. For instance, the execution of Duke of Buckingham in May 1521 indeed was seen as Wolsey being hostile toward the nobility, but evidence suggesting that Buckingham was raising troops and that the accusation of treason were not completely groundless. However, throughout the countless attacks on the nobility when he was in office, it was unconvincing to say that protecting the king was the only motive. Wolsey exploited the jury system which he developed the Star Chamber to interfere constantly in the affairs of the nobility, leading gentry, and citizens of London. He punished lords for maintaining too many retainers, and knights for the bad treatment of tenants. Wolsey attracted far too much business to star chamber and the court's machinery became clogged with civil actions suggested he might had been too caught up with the nobility. Furthermore, Wolsey’s action of restricting the power of the courtiers, for instance, mi ni ons ’–y oung,ar i s t oc r at i ccompani onsoft heKi ng,andt hes etupof the expulsion of the ‘ El t ham Or di nanc esi nr egul at i ngt hesi z eandmember s hi poft heCounc i l ,al lhel pedmai nt ai nhi s power f ulc onnec t i ont ot hek i ng.Ont hi sbas i s ,Wol s eywass eenasanups t ar tandabar r i ert o t henobi l i t yadv ancementt ot hei rcar eer ,andt huswhenWol seyhadf ai l edt os eekanannul ment , i tbec amet heper f ec toppor t uni t yt ounder mi nehi sposi t i on.

In conclusion, there was no doubt that faction as well as Wolsey’s unfriendly relationship with the nobility contributed to his downfall, but it is clear that his failure of obtaining an annulment was the most important reason to his fall from power. Wolsey’s failure of obtaining an annulment became the perfect timing for the alienated nobilities to exploit the opportunity in forming their factions to attack Wolsey’s incapability in ministry. However, fundamentally speaking, the reason why Wolsey was kept power for 15 years was his excellence in serving the king to obtain what he wanted. Wolsey’s continuous failure of seeking an annulment demonstrated that he could no longer do his job properly and thereby was removed from power. For these reasons…...