Thomas Wolsey

On September 15, 1514, Thomas Wolsey was appointed English Archbishop of York. An excerpt from the article:

"In 1529 CE Wolsey was dismissed from his post in the Privy Council and as Lord Chancellor. Now Wolsey's permanent strategy of monopolising power and alienating sections of the nobility, along with his never-forgotten humble origins, all came home to roost. Without the king's favour to protect him, the cardinal had a long line of enemies all too eager to see his downfall. Pleading letters written by Wolsey to his king did not move Henry to change his mind. Eventually, he was accused of treason - the king being turned against his former friend by Anne Boleyn and other courtiers, although there were some grounds for the charge as the Cardinal had made contact with foreign powers since his fall from grace. Wolsey at least escaped an embarrassing show trial and the foregone conclusion of the death penalty when he died at Leicester Abbey on his way to London to face justice on 29 November 1530 CE. On news of the cardinal's death, Anne put on a palace entertainment titled The Going to Hell of Cardinal Wolsey.

Wolsey was succeeded in 1529 CE by Sir Thomas More (1478-1535 CE) as Lord Chancellor, a position he would hold until 1532 CE until he too fell out of favour with the king over his 'Great Matter'. Then Henry employed the services of Wolsey's former secretary Thomas Cromwell (l. c. 1485-1540 CE) as Lord Chancellor, and with the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (in office 1533-1555 CE), the trio would take the radical step of splitting the Church in England from Rome, which allowed Henry to finally annul his own marriage in 1533 CE. The enormous consequences, then, of Wolsey's failure and the lack of will to compromise on the part of Henry or the Pope, ultimately led to the English Reformation."