ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the opening two decades of the reign, encompassing the rise, role and fall of Thomas Wolsey and culminating in the King’s initial matrimonial problems and his early attempts to resolve them. The accession of Henry VIII, a handsome, energetic young man, not yet 18, effectively closed the Wars of the Roses. In 1514 he was elevated to the rich and power ful see of Lincoln. However, Wolsey held this for little more than seven months, because in September 1514 Henry nominated him as Archbishop of York. He had demanded his exceptional legatine powers on the grounds that the Church was badly in need of reform, and there was, indeed, a growing volume of complaint from laity against its shortcomings – pluralism and non-residence, and the high fees charged for probate and mortuary. Wolsey’s passion was for administration and he had little time for a talking shop like Parliament.
