Today in 1530 Cardinal Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey. Three weeks earlier his world had come tumbling down around him when the Earl of Northumberland arrested him for treason, and he left his home to head to London to be tried. He had dysentery, which delayed his journey midway through, and on the 24th he left Sheffield and traveled to Hardwick Hall, and then went to Nottingham. When he arrived in Leicester Abbey he was so ill that he told the abbot that he had come to leave his bones among them. The morning of the 29th he made his confession and said the famous words to Master Kingston, the constable of the Tower, who had come to take him to London: “Master Kingston, I see the matter against me now it is framed; but if I had served God as diligently as I have done the King He would not have given me over in my gray hairs.”
He was buried in the abbey.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th-century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episodes 180 and 181 Cardinal Wolsey
Episode 009: A Tale of Two Thomases Part I (Wolsey & More)
Watching the Tudors Episode 10: The Death of Wolsey
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
