How Did Thomas Wolsey Influence Society

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Thomas Wolsey was infamous for his character within the Henrician period. His efforts affected many aspects within this time, which were enforced to such a high standard due to the power of his positions within the Church and State. Due to this Wolsey, other than Henry VIII, was considered the most influential mind in England, which was all due to the infinite strings he managed as a puppeteer of Henry 's relations. Wolsey managed to carefully climb the ladder to his successes, eliminating threats along the way only leaving him with a easier and more obtainable goal. How Wolsey managed to obtain so much power and influence within such a short time helped discourage those who stood against him, but over time Wolsey had managed to curate his devotion …show more content…

However in 1988 Wolsey was supplied with an education at Magdalen College, Oxford University to study Theology. This transition enabled Wolsey to associate himself with a higher class and communicate with other educated minds, which possibly introduced him to the world of Tudor politics. Although it provided Wolsey with a new status it also helped solidify the foundations of Wolsey 's infamous personality, meaning this pressure of a new peer group may have had an input to Wolsey 's characteristics which in the end aided him to the top. This may be reliant on the fact that Oxford University was and still is regarded as an academically superior source of education, and therefore from a young age Wolsey saw that in order to make himself prominent against those on his level he needed to do more than just to be smart to absolutely guarantee this. That 's not to say Wolsey wasn 't intelligent as he managed to gain his Bachelors degree at the mere age of 15, resulting in the nickname "bachelor boy". By managing to attend such a prestigious university and to then achieve a qualification at such a young age significantly helped Wolsey to illuminate his potential considering his middle-class background to those higher up. Rather than launching into politics Wolsey could 've seen the possibility to establish his status by teaching at the University, which he undertook when presented with the chance. Even then he was voted a full fellow, which contrasts Wolsey 's later personality in which he was widely disliked. This shows how Wolsey managed to mould and discipline his way of acting to help achieve his own goals as a result of the unreliability of the outcome. To maintain this new high standard set for himself, Wolsey resigned from the school due to allegations to him