Chronology

  • Between 1471 and 1476: born at Ipswich.
  • 10 March 1498: ordained priest.
  • 1509: Dean of Lincoln; made royal almoner and member of the Council.
  • 1514: Took Thomas More into his service to look after his revenue.
  • 1515: Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England.
  • 1516: Obtained from Leo X the title of cardinal-legate. He proceeded to take the possessions of thirty monasteries and put himself forward as a candidate to become Pope.
  • 1518: Bishop of Bath and Wells (while still Archbishop of York)
  • 1522: Resigned Bishopric of Bath and Wells
  • 1525: Founded Cardinal College at Oxford (afterwards Christ Church), one of the largest and richest colleges of the University of Oxford.
  • 1529: The varying attitudes of Wolsey, wishing to keep the Pope happy, had the effect of destroying his credit with the king. In the autumn, impelled by Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII brought charges against Thomas Wolsey. He was dismissed from his office of Lord Chancellor and deprived of his properties, including the palace of Whitehall, where Henry decided go and live, instead of Westminster Palace.
  • 29 November 1530: He died of exhaustion at Leicester while being transferred to the Tower of London.

References

  1. Peter Gwyn, The King's Cardinal, p. 33

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