Chapter: Topic:
1 Wolsey and his policies
The Rise of Wolsey ● Wolsey was the son of butcher,
● Borned about 1471
● He was intelligent
● He became a priest in 1498
● In 1507 he was appointed the royal chaplain to King
HenryVii
● In 1509 he was appointed to the Royal Council
The Field of Gold 1520 ● In 1520 Wolsey arranged four royal meetings for Henry, two
with Charles V and two with Francis I.
● The Field of Cloth of Gold was the most lavish and
expensive meeting.
● It was held outside Calais;
● It lasted for over 2 weeks.
● Henry was established as the peacemaker between France
and the Holy Roman Empire.
Wolsey’s Domestic 1. Enclosures
Policies Problems ● Most villages had large fields shared by
villagers as farmland.
● They used that common land for grazing
their animals.
● However landowners enclosed the
common land with fences for their own
uses and to keep villages’ animals from
grazing on it.
● These enclosures caused
unemployment, and as a result more
unemployed labourers moved to towns
for work.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to support common people against
Actions landowners. This made him enemy among the
landowners
Results Wolsey did NOT reduce the number of
enclosures because the landowners were also
struggling for money themselves. Problem was
not fixed!
1
, 2. Finance
Problems ● King Henry needed more money!
He had two kinds of income:
1. Ordinary income — rents paid by people
who farmed land owned by the king.
2. Extraordinary income — Taxes voted by
the Parliament, usually to pay for wars.
People had to pay the same amount of
tax which was unfair and unpopular.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to increase the king’s income from
Actions rents by passing an Act of Parliament in 1515,
which took back lands given away by Henry
since 1509.
He also replaced the original unfair taxes with a
new tax called a subsidy which was based on
the real wealth of taxpayers.
Results The crown did collect more money from the
subsidy. However, the royal spending continued
to be greater than the income.
3. The Eltham Ordinances
Problems ● The cost for the Royal household was
very high.
● In addition, a group of young noblemen
in the household were trying to
persuade the King to reduce Wolsey’s
power.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to save money by cutting down
Actions the number of courtiers in the household, and
this would have stopped his political rivals
having direct access to the King
Results No changes were ever made!! Partly because
Wolsey was too busy to get the King’s marriage
annulled and to make more income for the
King.
2
1 Wolsey and his policies
The Rise of Wolsey ● Wolsey was the son of butcher,
● Borned about 1471
● He was intelligent
● He became a priest in 1498
● In 1507 he was appointed the royal chaplain to King
HenryVii
● In 1509 he was appointed to the Royal Council
The Field of Gold 1520 ● In 1520 Wolsey arranged four royal meetings for Henry, two
with Charles V and two with Francis I.
● The Field of Cloth of Gold was the most lavish and
expensive meeting.
● It was held outside Calais;
● It lasted for over 2 weeks.
● Henry was established as the peacemaker between France
and the Holy Roman Empire.
Wolsey’s Domestic 1. Enclosures
Policies Problems ● Most villages had large fields shared by
villagers as farmland.
● They used that common land for grazing
their animals.
● However landowners enclosed the
common land with fences for their own
uses and to keep villages’ animals from
grazing on it.
● These enclosures caused
unemployment, and as a result more
unemployed labourers moved to towns
for work.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to support common people against
Actions landowners. This made him enemy among the
landowners
Results Wolsey did NOT reduce the number of
enclosures because the landowners were also
struggling for money themselves. Problem was
not fixed!
1
, 2. Finance
Problems ● King Henry needed more money!
He had two kinds of income:
1. Ordinary income — rents paid by people
who farmed land owned by the king.
2. Extraordinary income — Taxes voted by
the Parliament, usually to pay for wars.
People had to pay the same amount of
tax which was unfair and unpopular.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to increase the king’s income from
Actions rents by passing an Act of Parliament in 1515,
which took back lands given away by Henry
since 1509.
He also replaced the original unfair taxes with a
new tax called a subsidy which was based on
the real wealth of taxpayers.
Results The crown did collect more money from the
subsidy. However, the royal spending continued
to be greater than the income.
3. The Eltham Ordinances
Problems ● The cost for the Royal household was
very high.
● In addition, a group of young noblemen
in the household were trying to
persuade the King to reduce Wolsey’s
power.
Wolsey’s Wolsey tried to save money by cutting down
Actions the number of courtiers in the household, and
this would have stopped his political rivals
having direct access to the King
Results No changes were ever made!! Partly because
Wolsey was too busy to get the King’s marriage
annulled and to make more income for the
King.
2
