‘The King's Cardinal'? Thomas Wolsey Reconsidered.

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (c.1473–1530) has long been remembered as the brilliant but ultimately doomed minister of Henry VIII, rising from modest origins in Ipswich to become Archbishop of York, papal legate, and Lord Chancellor of England. For two decades he was the most powerful figure in the kingdom after the king himself, shaping foreign policy, reforming administration, and orchestrating spectacles such as the Field of Cloth of Gold. Yet his dramatic fall from grace in 1529 has often been seen as proof of Henry’s rejection of his once‑trusted servant, a casualty of the king’s determination to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. In this lecture, Professor Glenn Richardson—author of Wolsey (Routledge, 2020)—reconsiders that narrative, asking whether Wolsey’s dismissal really marked a decisive break or whether Henry’s dependence on his cardinal was greater than historians have traditionally allowed. By re‑examining Wolsey’s career in the light of recent scholarship, Professor Richardson will explore his role as both churchman and statesman, his vision for England’s place in European politics, the dynamics of his relationship with Henry VIII, and the paradox of his fall. This talk promises to shed fresh light on one of the most compelling figures of Tudor England, challenging us to rethink the nature of power, loyalty, and service in the early sixteenth century.

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Host or Publisher Plymouth Historical Association