We noted in the story of Thomas Becket how the English kings often used churchmen as counsellors and administrators. The reason for this was that in medieval times higher education was limited almost exclusively to men going into holy orders. Thus it was natural that the sovereign would find talented men among this class to whom he could entrust diplomacy and statesmanship. Much of Henry VII’s success, for example, was due to the wisdom and skill of Cardinal Morton, archbishop of Canterbury, who was his chief advisor for most of his reign.
And so it was with Henry VIII for his first eighteen years on the throne. He chose a bold, articulate churchman named Thomas Wolsey, who in time was so relied upon by the king that he was the practical head of the government. In gratitude, Henry appointed him lord chancellor, archbishop of York, cardinal and papal legate. But when Wolsey failed, after much effort, to get the pope’s approval for a divorce from Catherine, Henry removed him from office, took over his properties including his new palace of Hampton Court (which Wolsey voluntarily signed over to the king in the hope of appeasing him), and finally had him charged with treason. Mercifully, Wolsey died before being brought to trial.