Wolsey was accused of committing treason because he committed treason. There are some historians who believe that Anne pushed Henry into arresting Wolsey for treason on 4 November — that she threatened to leave the king if he did not move against his pernicious former Chancellor [2].
Moreover, there was no need for Anne to make that demand. Wolsey had clearly dug his own grave with his back-handed rebellion against his monarch. These clumsy attempts by Wolsey to solve the 'Great Matter' damage his standing with the King, although Henry retains him as his chief minister and advisor.
Despite delivering the King's threats to break with the Church of Rome which gain nothing since the Pope unwisely thinks Henry is bluffing Wolsey privately abhors Henry's plan to secede the Church of England from the Papacy, as the split would shackle him forever to the King rather than allow him to one day become Pope; he also fears that it would both cause anarchy in the kingdom and unite Catholic France and Spain against England, destroying the balance of power in Europe.
Sensing he is vulnerable, the Boleyn family encourages Anne to make Henry think Wolsey is deliberately delaying the annulment. Wolsey gains himself temporary respite during the plague outbreak in 1. As Wolsey repeatedly fails to gain the King's divorce from the Papacy and privately obstructs the possibility of the Reformation , the matter comes to a head with the ecclesiastical court held in London in episode 1. Despite Wolsey's intimidation of Compeggio before the trial, Catherine's impassioned testimony supported by Bishop Fisher wins over the clergy, and Wolsey not only fails to satisfy Henry yet again but loses control of the trial after Catherine leaves without permission, to the cheers of those present.
In her absence, he attempts to provide false testimony to convince the clergy and Compeggio that Catherine's first marriage was consummated. However, Wolsey is not able to spin false testimony the way Thomas Cromwell later proves able to do, and his arguments and evidence are highly unconvincing. Desperate, Wolsey attempts to intimidate Catherine herself; however, Catherine, having proven herself before God, is resigned to the fact that she will lose the fight against Henry and finds satisfaction from knowing she will bring Wolsey down with her.
To Wolsey's horror and fury, in episode 1. Wolsey then attempts to seek help through the diplomatic actions of Thomas More at a peace summit in Calais, in which war should be instigated in order to force the King into more pressing issues for England, but Thomas has his own private motivations behind the diplomacy preventing war and protecting Catherine of Aragon and inadvertently thwarts him despite their former friendship.
Having seen Henry yelling furiously at Wolsey a few days earlier, Boleyn, Norfolk and Suffolk sieze this moment to discredit him as much as possible.
They succeed when Wolsey attempts to communicate with the king through the man who is secretly the most capable of destroying him: Cromwell, whom Wolsey appointed as the King's new secretary in episode 1. Although Wolsey is Cromwell's longtime mentor and patron at the Royal Court and empathizes with him, as they are both common-born Cromwell is secretly a supporter of Protestantism, and reluctantly decides to help discredit Wolsey as it will push Henry away from the Catholic Church.
Lord Boleyn and Norfolk deal the final blow by revealing that Wolsey has been ordering corrupt monasteries shut down as he is authorized to do. However, Wolsey has then been using the seized money to invest in his own private enterprises including Oxford College rather than depositing it in Henry's exchequer. Despite Wolsey's pathetic loyalty, Henry expells him from most of his offices and removes him from court, allowing him to keep only the title of Bishop of York- a role which leaves him in obscurity.
Sir Thomas More is reluctantly appointed as the replacement chancellor, and the Boleyn coalition Thomas and George Boleyn , Norfolk and Brandon takes control of Henry's council. However, following Wolsey's disgrace, the King quickly becomes unsatisfied with how his kingdom is being run by the new coalition; he threatens to reinstate the Cardinal, reasoning that at least he got things done efficiently and without complaint.
Knowing Wolsey will take terrible revenge on them in every way possible if he is ever restored to power, Norfolk urges Brandon to look for a way to end him for good. Read more on our privacy policy here. Cookie Settings Accept All. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
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More tells the commissioners that although he will deny nothing contained in the oath, he would not swear to it. Asked a second time to take the oath after being threatened with imprisonment, More again refuses to do so--and also refuses to explain why he refuses to take the oath. More is turned over to the Abbot of Westminster, who keeps him for four days. April 17, Thomas More is imprisoned in the Tower of London. He also writes letters to his daughter, Margaret Roper, explaining his decision to not take the oath.
Also, Parliament considers, and eventually enacts, the Treason Act which makes it a capital offense to "maliciously wish, will, or desire, by words or writing" to deny to members of the royal family their "dignity, title, or name of their royal estates. May 2, More meets with Cromwell and four others in a room at the Tower. More said that he refused to "meddle" in such affairs. Although told that the king would be merciful if he consented to the Act, More says that his whole concern now is for his living the best possible Christian life.
Late May Henry is angered to learn that the Pope has made Bishop Fisher, an outspoken opponent of his marriage to Anne Boleyn, a cardinal. June 3, More appears for a third interrogation before Cromwell and other councilors of the king. He is asked to give an oath to the supremacy of Henry as head of the Church of England, but he remains silent. June Solicitor-General Richard Rich visits More's cell and takes away his books and writing materials.
Rich later will testify that during the course of his visit, More, in responding to a hypothetical question, suggested that Parliament had no more power to enact the Act of Supremacy than it did to pass a law declaring God not to be God. More's statement, if actually made, would violate the Treason Act because it denied the king's title as the supreme head of the Church.
More later denies ever making any such statement to Rich. Two days later, More is questioned by official investigators--a sort of preliminary hearing for his trial.
June 26, A special commission is established to hear the case of Thomas More June 28, A word indictment accusing More of treason is presented to the special commission. July 1, Thomas More is tried for treason in Westminster Hall. More pleads "not guilty," and argues that he has never shown malice to the king or violated the terms of the Treason Act. The king's attorney contends that More's silence is evidence of "a corrupt and perverse nature" and itself a violation of the Act. More replies that under the law, silence should be taken as consent, not disagreement.
He also denies violating the Treason Act in letters to Fisher or in his conversation with Richard Rich, who he calls a liar. Rich testifies, however, that More in a conversation did deny that Henry was the supreme head of the Church of England. Two other witnesses present in the cell testify that they heard nothing of the conversation in question.
After one hour of deliberation, the jury of twelve men finds More guilty. He is sentenced to be hanged until "half dead," disemboweled, and burned. July 5, More's wife, Alice, visits her husband in the Tower. He gives her a letter composed in charcoal for his daughter Margaret. By this time, he also knows that his sentence had been commuted by Henry from disembowelment to beheading. July 6, A bit before a. A large crowd is waiting at the execution site.
More asks the crowd to pray for him in this world, and he would pray for them in the next. He says he was "the King's good servant, but God's first. He knelt down again, his face was covered with a cloth and his neck on the block, and was killed with a single stroke of the axe. His head was boiled and impaled on a pole by London Bridge.
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