The Life of Cardinal Wolsey

The text in this book is taken from The Life of Cardinal Woolsey by George Cavendish, edited by Samuel Weller Singer. George Cavendish was an English writer of the 16th century and is best known for this biography of Cardinal Thomas Woolsey, which is to this day the most important single contemporary source of Woolsey's life. Since large passes were necessary due to lack of space, it seemed best to omit long passages pertaining to Wolsey's foreign affairs and diplomatic work. It may seem unfortunate to omit the side of Woolsey's work to which he devoted most of his attention, however, since Cavendish's testimony is generally more valuable in personal matters than in political matters. Since his description of England's foreign relations presupposes from the reader a good general knowledge of the complex history of Europe at that time, it seemed more reasonable to touch only lightly on this side of his work, rather than sacrificing part of the cardinal's personal history or the story of the dramatic divorce that marked the turning point in his fate and the crisis in the history of England's relationship with the Papacy. Chronological tables provide a short list of major events in our foreign policy during the time Wolsey was in power.