Henry VIII pt. 2

Thomas Wolsey was Henry's most important minister early in his reign. Wolsey became Archbishop of York in late 1514, was created a cardinal of the Catholic Church the following November, and became Lord Chancellor of the realm in December 1515. Wolsey achieved singular stature in these offices. Since Henry was not so interested in administration as his minister, Wolsey took over many of the duties of kingship, overseeing England's finances and diplomatic relations with other European powers. Henry became extremely dependent on Wolsey, whose zeal and ability as an administrator made him indespensable. Among Henry's contemporaries on the European continent, many considered Wolsey to be the true ruler of England, since it was to him that foreign officials were often directed to address concerns meant for the English king.
After Wolsey failed Henry in the matter of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, however, his power was taken from him, and Henry soon became dependent on another minister, the politically enterprising Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell's 1531 appointment to the inner ring of Henry's council signified the start of a political revolution in England. It was Cromwell who suggested first to Henry that he break all ties with Rome in 1532, and it was he who engineered, with Henry's sanction, some of the greatest political changes in sixteenth century England. The Act of Appeals, for example, was largely Cromwell's work. In January 1535, Henry named Cromwell his Viceregent. Together Henry and Cromwell presided over the parliaments which passed the Ten Articles, the Six Articles, the establishment of new episcopal sees, and many other political reforms which were integral to the shaping of the new regime under the Church of England. Cromwell also engineered major changes in the bureaucratic structure of Henry's administration. By 1536, for example, the inner ring of the king's council had been transformed into a proper institution known as the Privy Council. By the