Use source T, U and V and your own knowledge. Do you accept the view in source V that Wolsey’s domestic policies were disappointing?

Thomas Wolsey was Henry VIII chief minister from his rise to power in 1514 after working himself up until his eventual fall from the king’s favour in 1529. During the time period where Wolsey contained his power he made many changes to England’s domestic policies. For this reason I do not accept the view of source V that Wolsey’s domestic policies were completely disappointing, this essay will show my debates as to why I believe that Wolsey’s domestic policies were not so unsatisfactory.
Wolsey’s domestic policies were not all so disappointing especially when you associate them with the poor, this being because he created the Star Chamber. The Star Chamber emphasized his success of domestic policies due to the fact it gave him more popularity with the laity, the Star Chamber was a court that anyone could bring their case to, meaning the poor had the opportunity for justice, this is one reason why the policies were not disappointing. Another reason why this was a success was that Wolsey dealt with hundred and twenty cases each year which is ten times as much as Henry VII the year before. This is clearly a great success and definitely not a disappointment with the poor proportion of the county. Source U supports this point due to the fact it states ‘He favours the people exceedingly…. Hearing their cases and seeking to dispatch them instantly.’ This statement clearly shows the domestic policies were not a disappointment due to the consideration he took towards improving the poor’s’ justice. Another way in which source U supports this point is that it states that ‘he has a reputation for being extremely just.’ This again shows the fair manor that Wolsey presented towards the poor in justice expect. However taking into account the provenance of the source the reliability of it may not be 100%; this being because the source was a report from the Venetian ambassador, Guistinani who was a big supporter of Wolsey due to the fact Wolsey heavily incorporated catholic ways into the country. For this reason the reliability of the source is slightly hindered, on the other hand due to the fact that it was a report it heightens the reliability also as it should be mainly factual but again due to the Christian view point slightly exaggerated.
On the other hand although Wolsey may have been satisfactory within the poor’s eyes when it came to Justice you would also argue that he was in fact disappointing to the poor when it comes to looking at the finance aspect of the domestic policies. This being because he was slipping through the favour of the laity due to the amount of taxes he has bombarded upon them; however the biggest disappointment of Wolsey’s financial policies was the amicable grant. The amicable grant was a big displeasure for the public as they felt they already had many taxes to pay, and that Wolsey had become to power hungry. Sources T supports this due to the fact it states ‘his arrogance and ambition aroused against himself the hatred of the whole country.’ This clearly shows a huge disappointment of Wolsey from not just the poor but by the whole country and the people, this source supports the idea that what Wolsey did within the country, including the Amicable Grant, with dissatisfaction. Source V supports source T’s view point on Wolsey, this is evident as it states ‘Any conclusion of Wolsey seems to have an air of disappointment.’ From my own knowledge I know that finance was not the strongest aspect of Wolsey’s Policies as it also dis-pleased the upper class also, this being because they had to lose more money than the poor to pay taxes for the kings coffers.
However when looking at the church in Wolsey’s domestic polices it could be argued to have been a failure due to Wolsey’s lack of management of the church. This could be interoperated due to the fact many people criticised his lack of interest in the Catholic way of life, they believed he was the Kings agent and not the church’s. From my own knowledge I support this view point as Wolsey was put under vigorous amounts of pressure by Henry to use his influences from Rome to clear the annulment of his marriage to Catharine of Aragon so that he could remarry. Henry wanted this due to the fact she could not produce him a son, so he believed his marriage wasn’t lawful. Source U supports the idea of Wolsey’s involvement in the church to be disappointing, and that Henry was his main focus, due to the fact it states ‘occupies all the magistrates, offices and councils of Venice, both civil and criminal.’ From this statement it’s clear to see that Wolsey takes on many duties, however the church is not within this list, showing that it was not a great success or a main priority. Conversely source U also shows some positive aspects of Wolsey’s involvement within the church this is due to the fact it was written by the Venetian ambassador, who was writing a report on Wolsey’s involvement in the church and commends him for keeping Catholic involvement within his policies; it is event source U shows some sort of praise towards Wolsey as it states ‘has a reputation for being extremely just.’ This clearly shows a fair and non-disappointing manor towards Wolsey’s policies and they felt that Wolsey was doing an excellent job in promoting the Catholic religion. On the other hand looking at the church overall it is clear that due to the fact Wolsey was cardinal, and had control of the churches within England; he used his authority’s power to increase the authority of Henry. This supports the idea that ultimately he was the Henry’s agent rather than the Churches, proving that is policies were disappointing but had some very small aspects of success.
Wolsey was very disappointing whilst looking at the nobels and the Parliament view point of this polices this being because their jealousy towards Wolsey’s rise to power, this being because Wolsey had a very close and personal relationship towards the King, meaning he had great influence towards him. Source T supports the idea that Wolsey was disappointing to the nobles as it states ‘aroused hatred of the whole country, and by his hostility towards the nobility..’ this clearly shows that Wolsey and the nobility did not see eye to eye and that Wolsey mistreated them causing resentment and disappointment towards him.However from my own knowledge I know that source T is not 100% reliable due to the fact it was written by historian Polydore Vergil, who is not at all a supporter of Wolsey due to the fact that Wolsey locked him in a tower. For this reason the reliability of this source is hindered due to the fact that it will have a very negative one sided account, causing it to be unreliable. I also know from my own knowledge that Wolsey did consult the Nobels on important policy decisions, showing that Wolsey was not so hostile towards the nobility. Source U supports this point as it states ‘he supports the people exceedingly’ this clearly shows Wolsey to be interactive and positive towards the nobility, on the other hand from my own knowledge that Wolsey did not favour the Nobilities as he reduced the amount aloud within the privy chamber to reduce the risk of factions forming to hinder his power, this clear shows a lack of favour towards the people.

To conclude I do not accept that Wolsey’s domestic policies were completely disappointing, this being because every aspect that is within his policies has some form of success. I also believe it is not always going to be a complete success due to the fact that there are so many social and political groups to please that it would be completely impossible for Wolsey to please them all. For example when looking at the laity it is clear that the overall outcome of the policies are not disappointing the only downfall is the amicable grant. Whereas Wolsey struggled to impress the Nobility due to the fact of their jealousy of his power and Wolsey’s favour towards the laity. So overall I think that Wolsey’s domestic policies were both disappointing and also successful.