When Henry VIII became king in 1509?, Wolsey's affairs prospered. He became Canon of Windsor? in 1511?, the same year in which became a member of the Privy Council in 1511. His political star was in the ascendant and he soon became a major controlling figure in all matters of state. In 1514?, he was made Bishop of Lincoln, and then Archbishop of York. [Pope Leo X]? made him a cardinal in 1515?. Wolsey loved display and wealth. He lived in royal splendour and revelled in his power; his long-term ambition was to become pope.
Cardinal Wolsey spent his great abilities as a statesman and administrator mainly in managing England's foreign affairs for Henry VIII. Despite the many enemies his greed and ambition earned him, he held Henry VIII's confidence until Henry decided to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry [Anne Boleyn]?. Wolsey disapproved of this, and was slow in arranging the divorce. The delay angered the king, and made Wolsey an enemy of Anne Boleyn and her friends.
His fall was sudden and complete. Stripped of office and property, he was permitted to remain Archbishop of York. But shortly afterward, he was accused of treason and ordered to London. In great distress, he set out for the capital. He fell ill and died on the way. "If I had served God," the cardinal said remorsefully, "as diligently as I have done the king, He would not have given me over in my grey hairs."
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