Do you agree with the view that in domestic policy, Wolsey was successful as the king’s chief minister?

By looking at the sources the majority of the evidence points to Wolsey being unsuccessful as Henry’s chief minister, they do however point out some successes Wolsey had such as justice but it is clear that Wolsey was unsuccessful as the chief minister.

Firstly, source 9 clearly supports the claim that Wolsey was a successful chief minister as it says “ I never saw this kingdom in better order… Wolsey’s authority and rule, nor justice better administered”. The source suggests that the kingdom was in such good shape because of Wolsey and that he was a very helpful man. This claim can be supported by source 8 as it also comments on Wolsey’s heavy presence within justice. Source 8 tells us about Wolseys time in Star Chamber, which was one of the royal courts to be used by the King’s subjects to get justice. During Wolsey’s time in Star Chamber the number of cases dealt with was over 120 each year compared with only 12 per year in Henry VII reign. This highlights Wolsey's success in getting justice for not just the rich and wealthy but ordinary people too. The Star Chamber dealt with problems such as enclosure where Wolsey launched a national inquiry and was able to make those who took land rebuild houses and return land to arable farmers. Also with source 9 being by Cavendish who had a personal connection with Wolsey it allows us to question as to whether it is reliable but because there is evidence to show that Wolsey did have an impact in the justice system it can be seen as reliable.

However source 7 has a very different view on Wolsey’s successes as it suggests that Wolsey only ever did something if it was going to benefit him. This is shown in that Wolsey would “ignore the legal and constitutional traditions of England and substitute for them his own self-confident judgement”. The source tells us that Wolsey was very sure of himself and arrogant as he did what he wanted and never bothered to consult anyone but himself. Also the source suggests that “Wolsey was amateurish and uncreative … committed to his care”. This tells us that Wolsey not very professional at being the chief minister as he was unable to create ideas to help Henry and this leads to him being unsuccessful. The source does mention the fact that Wolsey “knew how to keep Henry satisfied” which suggests that he was successful in some aspects such as religion. Wolsey wanted to reform the church which he did by having all monastic houses in England inspected and if the abbots were found to not be living the lifestyle they had sworn too they were replaced. This was just one of Wolsey’s successes in religion however the failures outweigh the successes.

Source 8 suggests that Wolsey was unsuccessful at being able to produce funds for Henry’s planned invasion of France. It was Henry’s main ambition to claim the French throne and to do this he needed significant funds. It is shown in “the Henrician financial potential was seriously reduced by the resistance to the Amicable Grant”. The Amicable Grant was introduced in February 1525 and planned to tax the clergy and the laity based on a sliding scale, so the more wealth you had the more tax you paid. This was very unpopular with the wealthy who Wolsey had already angered when trying to end enclosure. Wolsey was becoming increasingly unpopular with the people and this was clear when people refused to pay the tax. This lead to the Grant being abandoned just three months after it was introduce, it was a major failure for Wolsey as he was unable to do what Henry needed at the time. The source also says how “the centralisation of the English Church, was unintentional”. This implies that Wolsey should take no credit for this as he never meant to achieve it. However even if Wolsey didn't mean to it did strengthen Henry’s power over the country and therefore was a success.

Overall, there is clear evidence to show that Wolsey was unsuccessful as chief minister because most of the time he thought about himself and whether something would benefit him rather that the country. Yes Wolsey has some success but in the end he was on the whole unsuccessful.