[The following is in regards to the downfall and death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who had lost favor with Henry VIII of England. This formidable figure, defeated by his enemies at court, died a broken man. He was a complicated and polarizing, though impressive, figure from history.]
The aisle of Leicester Abbey, where the body of Thomas Wolsey was laid near the body of Richard III, popular hatred christened “the tyrants’ grave”; and the pious canons of Norwich noted that the great storm which swept over England the night the Cardinal died was such as occurred only when the Prince of Darkness came in person to carry off one of his own.
The Boleyns chivalrously commanded a farce “Of the Cardinal’s Going to Hell,” for the special entertainment of the King; the Lady [Anne Boleyn], herself, was “now as brave as a lion,” and her whole party rejoiced, as if the sick, weary old man, stripped of power, broken in spirit, vainly intriguing to regain his lost favor, gave them, merely by dying, a rare triumph.
Few that knew him could think of Wolsey as anything but formidable, even in defeat. Even in exile his shadow was heavier than the substance of the little men who tried vainly to fill his place. Only his death seemed to lift the weight which had held back the kingdom from its new course.
Source:
Mattingly, Garrett. “Part III: The Divorce of Henry VIII (1527-1536); Chapter Three, Section ii” Catherine of Aragon. New York: Quality Paperback , 1990. 312. Print.
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