Thomas Wolsey and Wolsey’s Policies Essay

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How successful were the domestic reforms of Wolsey in the years 1515-1529? (24marks)

Thomas Wolsey made many attempts to fulfill his aims of serving the King, boosting his own power and applying humanist ideals. However in the process he arose many issues among the public, parliament and the nobles, which meant that he could not promote his domestic reforms. With that in mind however Wolsey did make some advances such as in finance and justice.

In terms of his aim in serving the King, the success of Wolsey’s policies varies. Henry VIII’s problem was with finance and so Wolsey carried out significant and lasting achievements in tax reforms. Wolsey replaced the inefficient tax reform with a system where local officials assessed taxpayers individually and under oath. Although this arose many problems such as resentment, it did allow for Parliament to grant a subsidy to every adult who’s income exceeded a limit. It was tax based no income rather than poverty. He failed to fund Henry VIII’s war with Frank when parliament refused to grant Wolsey with three times the usual amount of taxation. Therefore Wolsey resorted to the Amicable Grant. Taxpayers however didn’t receive the demand amicably but rebelled at the imposition of a forced loan. Wolsey backtracked and simply requested benevolence, a ‘voluntary’ contribution from selected taxpayers to the crown. Discontent grew resulting to opposition across the English counties that raised form refusal to pay to full-scale revolt. The most serious resistance was at Lavenham in Suffolk where 10,000 men took part in a very serious uprising to spread to the nearby counties of Essex and Cambridgeshire. The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk suppressed the revolt for the King. The King had caused the discontent by planning an expensive war but Wolsey was to take the blame for the Kings disastrous financial management. He had to publicly pardon the Lavenham rebels and even pay the leading rebels prison expenses. No further taxation was attempted from this point. In 1526 Wolsey drew up the Eltham Ordinances to reform the Counsel and the Administration. However Wolsey saw to it that the reformed Council never operated effectively so that it could not challenge his power. In consequence it could be said that Wolsey’s true interest did not lie in serving the King but in serving his own best interests.

With the use of legal reforms, Wolsey increased the role of Chancery, which in doing so enhanced his role as Lord Chancellor. Wolsey had little effect in the Court of Chancery and a greater impact on the work of the Court of Star Chamber. When Wolsey prosecuted Henry Standish, Bishop of St. A.Saph for praemunire in the Star Chamber he appeared to be getting revenge for a previous legal argument. By 1529 the system couldn’t cope with the increase in cases and virtually collapsed under the workload. In conclusion, Wolsey successfully used the Star Chamber to attack nobles and local officials who abused their power and to encourage commoners to bring their complaints before the Court. In effect, the number of cases heard each year had increased from 12 to about 120.

Wolsey in applying humanist ideas seemed to be successful when his legal reforms sought to provide justice for all. He used the Star Chamber to convict the powerful subjects. However Wolsey also used this position as Chancellor to carry out personal vendetta and get revenge on his enemies. In addition, Wolsey attacked enclosures as immoral and irresponsible on the part of the landowners. This policy was hugely unpopular with the landowners. Wolsey had abandoned this policy when he needed their support to fund the war in 1525. Wolsey’s final attempt in achieving this aim was with his policy to tackle the profiteering which failed to enforce measures because it turned out that he was too busy to deal with the problem.
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