Cardinal Thomas Wolsey 1475 - 1530 Cardinal Wolsey was an English clergyman and statesman, born in Ipswich, Suffolk, East England, United Kingdom. He studied at Oxford, was ordained in 1498, appointed chaplain to Henry VII in 1507, and became dean of Lincoln. Under Henry VIII, he became Bishop of Lincoln, Archbishop of York (1514), and a cardinal (1515). He was made Lord Chancellor (1515 - 1529), and pursued legal and administrative reforms. During this time, he became Henry VIII's leading adviser, in charge of the day-to-day running of government. He aimed to make England a major power in Europe, and also had ambitions to become pope, but his policy of supporting first Emperor Charles V (1523), then Francis I of France (1528) in the Habsburg--Valois conflict was unsuccessful, and high taxation caused much resentment. When he failed to persuade the pope to grant Henry's divorce, he was impeached and his property forfeited. He was arrested on a charge of high treason, and died while travelling to London! .