Cardinal Thomas Wolsey died. Born in 1471 in Ipswich, he rose from humble origins to be King Henry VIII’s right hand man, only to die in disgrace, abandoned by his monarch and accused of treason.
Wolsey was a boy prodigy, an Oxford bachelor of arts at the age of 15. Like many talented churchmen of his day, he was a leading civil servant. As Chancellor to the young King Henry he was the leading figure in the country, becoming a Cardinal as well as Archbishop of York and Lincoln.
This rapid rise made him many enemies. When, in the late 1520s he was unable to get a divorce for Henry from his wife Katharine of Aragon, they turned on him. Wolsey lost the king’s favour and it all turned sour.
An ailing Wolsey was arrested while in the north, and charged with treason. He died at Leicester, while en route to London.