Assess the reasons behind Wolsey's fall

From the beginning of Henry VIII reign to 1529, Cardinal Wolsey was a influential figure and Henry's key advisor. However by 1529 Wolsey had been charged with praemunire and was due to be executed in November 1530. The most important reason for this was because of Wolsey's failure to obtain a divorce between Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII.

The main reason behind Wolsey's fall was his failure to obtain a divorce between Catherine of Argon and Henry VIII. Henry's desire to end his marriage began in 1527 in which Wolsey promised would be a quick and easy problem to resolve due to his influence with the pope. However after two years of waiting Henry became desperate for a divorce. Wolsey made three attempts to obtain divorce: the first was to try and get the current pope to admit that the previous pope was in the wrong, the second attempt was on technical grounds that there was an error in dispensation, and the third was to get the case heard in England in which Wolsey would play a big role in the verdict. However by the failure of the third attempt Henry accused Wolsey of upholding papal law without the Kings permission and charged him with praemunire on the 9th October 1529. By the 29th November Wolsey was due to be executed, but died on the journey to London. This was the most important reasons for Wolsey's fall as in the space of one year Wolsey had lost all influence and power and also Henry's trust. Resulting in him being sentenced to death.

Another reason for Wolsey fall was because of how he antagonised the nobles. One reason for the tension between the Nobility and Wolsey was because he came from a humble background. This made the nobles resent Wolsey's power as he wasn't considered a natural advisor. Wolsey used his power as Lord Chancellor to make legal reforms which some argue he used to attack those who he disliked. For example Wolsey used the court of Star Chamber to enforce the laws and punish nobles. For instance Wolsey said that '[nobles] should not consider themselves above the law'. This was enforced by sending the Earl of Northumberland to Fleet Prison. Furthermore Wolsey also took action on 264 landowners for the enclosure of land. This didn't help Wolsey during his fall as he had no support from the Nobles. This lack of support sped up the process of Wolsey's fall however this was not as important as Wolsey being unable to obtain a divorce, as until then he still had Henry's support. From the beginning of Wolsey's rise there was tensions between him and the nobility but this did not effect his power until he lost henry's support.

A further reason for Wolsey's fall was because of the Amicable Grant. The Amicable Grant was a non parliamentary tax sent out in 1525 in attempt to raise money for Henry to finance a campaign in France. This was a disaster for Wolsey. Due to the subsidy that was still being collected Wolsey was forced to back down. However this did not prevent a rebellion of 10,000 men in Levenham in opposition to the Amicable grant. Henry was forced to intervene claiming he knew nothing of it and Wolsey was made the scapegoat and forced to apologise to the landowners. This played a key role in the fall of Wolsey as it made him unpopular. However this was not the main reason as even though the Amicable Grant was a disaster for Wolsey, he was still second in command, Lord Chancellor and still had Henry's support. This shows that Wolsey's failure to obtain a divorce was the most important reason because this was when he lost all of his power and support from Henry.

Overall, the main reason for the fall of Wolsey was because of his failure to obtain a divorce. This resulted in a loss of power, and support from the king. Whereas the Amicable Grant and tensions with the nobles facilitated Wolsey's fall, they did not cause him to lose all of his power or the kings trust.