Wolsey's Marriage Analysis

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How far do the sources suggest that Wolsey’s efforts to secure an annulment of the King’s marriage were half-hearted? Firstly, Source 1 is a letter written by Wolsey to Henry VIII and there is a possibility of this source being biased and it may be unreliable as Wolsey would have said anything to the King to ensure that he carries on trusting him. Also, source 1 shows that Wolsey had contact with the supreme courts in Rome and therefore could have contacted the Pope himself but he only saw Giovanni Stafileo, who just wrote a book and this didn’t change anything for Henry. Source 2 also agrees that Wolsey didn’t use his powers enough to attempt to get the annulment. Source 2 is a letter from the Duke of Suffolk to Henry and in it, it says…show more content…
Source 1 is a letter personally written by Wolsey to Henry and it indicates that his efforts were noticed by Stafileo and this shows that he did attempt to speak to the Catholic Church in some way. It also shows that he did not want to let Henry down and he gave Henry hope that he was trying his best to get the annulment by explaining that Stafileo was on their side by writing a book which supported this case. This is also shown in Source 3, when Catherine of Aragon says ‘you have kindled the fire in Henry’. This quote shows that Wolsey was acting on Henry’s behalf even if it does mean that he had a role in ending the marriage. Since Source 1 is a letter to Henry from Wolsey, there is no chance that Wolsey would lie to his master and it also shows Wolsey’s confidence as he managed to convince Stalifeo to agree with the annulment and to write a scholarly book. This does suggest that he was whole-hearted about this annulment as he was fairly confident that he could get it for Henry. Source 2 was written in 1529, 2 years after Wolsey had sent the letter to Henry and this could mean that Wolsey had tried his hardest to have the annulment granted during those two years but the Duke of Suffolk did not notice his hard work because he didn’t like Wolsey. Also, Francis I, the King of France, may not have been aware of Wolsey’s efforts as Francis was not allied with Rome and therefore does not get details of what is happening at the
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