Thomas Wolsey, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine of Aragon Biographies

Thomas Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a political figure in England during the late 1400's and early 1500's.  Wolsey became Henry VII's almoner. An almoner is a church officer who was in charge of distributing alms to the poor.  His power continued to grow and by 1514 he was in charge of almost all the matters of the state. He was extremely powerful within the Church.  His highest political position was as Lord Chancellor, the King's chief advisor.  In the Church he became Archbishop of York and he was made a cardinal in 1515.  

Wolsey was close with the King until he could not get the Vatican to allow Henry to divorce Katherine.  Wolsey didn't agree with Protestantism and he did not want it in England.  In a letter from Anne Boleyn to Wolsey, Anne says, "I cannot comprehend, and the king still less, how your reverent lordship, after having allured us by so many fine promises about divorce, can have repented of your purpose, and how you could have done what you have, in order to hinder the consummation of it."  From that point on Wolsey was not on good terms with the King.  In 1529, Wolsey's government position and property were taken from him.  At Cawood, he was accused of treason and ordered to go to London.  On the way there he fell ill and died on Novemeber 29, 1530. 

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wolsey
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter8.html

Image from:

http://www.nndb.com/people/585/000094303/thomas-wolsey-1-sized.jpg

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533-1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII. She was a key figure in the English Reformation. Anne started out as the maid of honor for Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Henry began to pursue Ann in 1525, and he wanted to annul his marriage to his wife Catherine so that he could marry Anne. The Vatican would not allow Henry to annul his marriage to Catherine; this began the breaking down of the power of the Catholic Church in England. Anne gave Henry documents from the early Church that said that the king had royal supremacy. This is what started the English Reformation, because Henry decided that he would split away from the Catholic Church in order to divorce Catherine and marry Anne, which is what he ended up doing.

http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/boleyn.html#Biography
http://englishhistory.net/tudor/ab-percy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Boleyn

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine of Aragon was born in 1485 in Spain. She later moved to England and married Arthur, Prince of Wales. After he died of sickness, Catherine then married his brother, Henry VIII, who would become King of England, with Catherine as his queen. From the years 1509 - 1533, she ruled the land beside Henry. Through the years, Catherine became pregnant a total of six times, but only one girl, Mary, survived past infancy. When Catherine became to old to bear any more children, Henry divorced her for Anne Boleyn, a much younger woman with whom he was smitten, in 1533 (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/cramner-hen8.html). Three years later, Catherine of Aragon died on January 7 in Kimbolton Castle, after writing a letter to the ex-husband whom she still loved (http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letter5.html).

"Catherine of Aragon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Aragon>.