How Far Do Sources 1, 2 and 3 Suggest That, in His Role as Lord Chancellor, Wolsey Generally Tried to Achieve Justice for All?

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The three sources do suggest that Wolsey did genuinely try to achieve justice in his time as Lord Chancellor. However, they do not conclusively say it was ‘for all’. The first source suggests that high on Wolsey’s list of priorities was serving ‘just and equality’. However he would not be negative regarding the matter but it is also important to note that in such an important piece of text Wolsey would not be able to make strong claims which he could not back up. Source 2 could be interpreted two ways. On one hand the fact that bakers are asking for Wolsey’s support implying that they believed him to be fair and grant them their ‘remedy’ for the wrongdoing they have fallen victim of. Another way of looking at it is that Wolsey favoured the poor and that is why they asked for his help. Confirming the fact that he favoured the poor is source 3. He apparently ‘punished the rich’. This does come from an upper class perspective however and Wolsey giving the poor any kind of privilege would be frowned upon by the rich. One factor that all three sources agree on is that Wolsey would go against law and tradition if it meant being more just. The second source shows this by showing that when the law is acting unjustly, ‘the mayor sent them to Newgate gaol for 11 days’, Wolsey is the man that people would expect to help them. This contrasts with the traditional approach because men such as the Mayor and Alderman should have their way without interference if it meant exploiting the poor. Source one supports this idea because Wolsey claims that ‘although it is the law, it may not be justice’. This shows how Wolsey didn’t let anything get in the way of his achieving justice, even if it made him powerful enemies at the time. Source three disagrees in relation to the question saying how he ‘brought many an honest man to trouble’. However it still supports the idea that in terms
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