Thomas Wolsey Biography

Ordained as a Priest

Appointedhaplain to Archbishop Henry Deane

Appointed Vicar of Redgrave in Suffolk

Appointedoyal Chaplain to Henry VII

Appointed Vicar of Lydd on Romney Marsh

Visits James VI who refuses a Treaty of friendship until Arran & Hamilton are released

Appointed Almoner to Henry VIII

Appointed Canon of Hereford Cathedral

Appointed Dean of Lincoln

Appointed Member of Council

Appointed Registrar of the Order of the Garter

Appointed Vicar of Torrington

Instrumental in England joining the Holy League against France

Appointed Canon of Windsor

Instrumental in England joining the Holy League against France

Wolsey is put in charge of preparations for war with France

Appointed Privy Councillor

Appointed Dean of Hereford Cathedral

Appointed Canon of York

Wolseys Swiss army captures Dijon

Helps Henry VIII capture of Therouanne & Tournai

Helps Henry VIII capture of Therouanne & Tournai

Co-ordinates Henry VIIIs campaign of Northern France

Wolsey hires a Swiss mercenary army & invades Burgundy

Wolseys Swiss army lays siege to Besancon during the invasion of Burgundy

Appointed Archbishop of Oxford University

Appointed Bishop of Lincoln

Begins lobbying Pope Leo to appoint him as a Cardinal. Appointed Bishop of Tournai

Acquires Hampton Court

Begins lobbying Pope Leo to appoint him as a Cardinal

Appointed Archbishop of York

Wolsey negotiates for the agreed marriage between Louis & Henrys sister Mary. Henry VIII & Louis XII agree peace until a year after the death of either

Wolsey negotiates for Henry VIII who gains a pension & Tournai

Wolsey negotiates & gains Tournai under the Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye

Wolsey builds Hamton Court it as an ideal Renaissance Cardinals palace in the style of Italian architects. Rebuilds the manor house over the next 7 years to form the nucleus of the present day palace. Hamton Court is based upon Paolo Corteses de Cardinalatu, an instruction book for a Cardinals ideal residence

Appointed Cardinal

Elected Cardinal, "Saint Cecilia beyond Tiber of the Holy Church of Rome"

Sworn in as Lord Chancellor before Henry VIII at the chapel at Eltham

Lives in splendor at the palaces of Whitehall & Hampton court. Appointed Lord Chancellor

Delivers his policy for law enforcement before the Council

Appointed Bishop of Bath & Wells

Participates in the ceremony of Henrys daughter Mary to the Dauphin of France

Appointed Papal Legate in England, a post renewed annually & made permanent in 1524

Conducts negotiations with French representatives that combine a general peace project with a closer Anglo-French settlement.

Encourages other European rulers to accede to the Anglo-French agreement and transform it into a wider peace league.

Adapts the papal call for a European truce into a broader diplomatic plan for lasting peace among Christian powers.

Promotes provisions requiring signatories to assist any member attacked by another contracting power.

Secures provisions requiring the other signatories to oppose a state that attacks another member of the peace league.

Receives authority from Henry VIII to negotiate and conclude the Anglo-French peace settlement in London.

Includes deadlines intended to bring princes and other participating powers formally into the wider peace agreement.

Designs the Treaty of Universal Peace and places England at the centre of a proposed European collective-security system.

Designs the Treaty of Universal Peace as a defensive European league intended to discourage aggression between Christian powers.

Celebrates high mass as Henry VIII and the French ambassadors publicly swear to uphold the newly concluded peace.

Wolsey purges the Privy Council of his rivals

The powers of jurisdiction of the Council & tribunals are given to the Star Chamber. Delivers his policy for law enforcement before the Council

Wolsey organizes "the field of cloth of gold", a fortnight of festivities in France. Wolsey organizes a new alliance between Henry VIII & Francis I

Offrred the Bishopric of Bajadoz by Charles of Spain but refuses the offer

Francis I appoints Wolsey as his procter to arrange his meeting with Henry VIII

Arrives in Ardes near Calais to inform Francis I of Henry VIIIs arrival

Holds mass with the French Cardinal de Bourbon prior to the Field of the Cloth of Gold

Appointed Abbot of St Albans

Concludes an alliance with Emperor Charles V against France

Orders the preparation of 6,000 archers for war

Wolsey has Buckingham arrested for "compassing" the death of Henry VIII

Execution of Edward Stafford for high treason

Execution of Edward Stafford for high treason

Wolsey negotiates with Habsburg representatives at Bruges.

Discusses an alliance with Emperor Charles V, under instructions from Henry VIII

1st session to negotiate peace with the French

Reaches Bruges to discuss an alliance with the Emperor Charles V

Proposes a plan to attack French ports but this is vetoed by Henry VIII

Negotiates the marriage of Princess Mary, later Mary I, to Charles V

Appointed Bishop of Durham

Appointed Papal Legate, for life

Wolsey presses the Amicable Grant as the fiscal basis for the planned French campaign.

Wolsey prepares diplomatic and financial measures for Henry VIII's proposed invasion of France.

Resistance to Wolsey's forced loan spreads in Essex as taxpayers reject the levy for the French campaign.

Wolsey negotiates peace with the French government after the collapse of the war-finance scheme.

Performs a diplomatic reversal and signs a treaty of alliance with France.

England, the Pope, France, Venice, Milan & Florence form an anti-Habsburg League

Stripped of office & wealth, which is taken into the King's hands, & imprisoned

Wolsey hosts a French delegation with great magnificence & expense

Concludes a Treaty with Francis I

Wolsey loses favour with Henry VIII who then acquires Hampton Court

Convicted of praemunire & exercising the powers of a papal legate

Dies en route to the Tower at Leicester Abbey

Dismissed for failing to secure Henrys divorce from Catherine

A tribunal opens to deliberate over the divorce of King Henry from Catherine of Aragon

Fails to persuade Pope Clement VII to grant Henry a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Charged with treason & dismissed, he dies before his trial

Charged with treason & dismissed, he dies before his trial

Attacked in the House of Lords by John Palsgrave for arrogance & misrule