Did you really like Thomas Wolsey Yes I did like Thomas, we worked together for many years and had the same tastes in fine things. He was also Bishop of York for me, Cardinal in the Church of Rome. He was rich from my coffers and from the church, this caused much resentment from the people who regarded him as a fat old taxman. They, the people, hated Thomas as did the hereditary peers in my privy council who saw him as an upstart at first then a threat when his powers grew greater than theirs. Thomas was the best organiser I had ever had, he managed the books and my pageants with great skill. The greatest pageant of them all “The field of cloth of gold”,1520, in France was a masterful enterprise of organisation. Press this button to see just what he had to do: Thomas started to build the great palace of Hampton Court, such a magnificent enterprise, trouble was it outshone my residences. Thomas agreed to exchange it for a more modest London building, I then finished the build. The pressure from the nation and court to oust Thomas, added to his inability to get my divorce from Katherine approved by the Pope forced me to bring Thomas to trial. He was in the North resting through illness, my soldiers went up there to get him but he died of the sickness on the way back. The people were so cruel about his death, they sang slanderous songs about it: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall………….Humpty Dumpty was a common “nickname” for people of large proportions in the 1400’s. This rhyme originally refers to King Richard III of England. The people resented Wolsey for his wealth and power, his fall from grace became a jovial interpretation.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses, And all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again. Thanks to Enchanted Learning Print off this page and colour it in