Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey

     On Sunday we toured Hampton Court Palace, on Monday night we dined at Christ Church, and Wednesday we will watch the next installment of Wolf Hall on BBC television. So what do they have in common? Cardinal Wolsey, of course! We have been hearing about Thomas Wolsey (1473-1530) since we arrived, and this week we got a greater appreciation of why. He designed and lived in Hampton Court Palace and founded and designed Cardinal College. Both were taken from him by Henry VIII in 1528 when Wolsey was unable to arrange/broker an annulment for Henry from his first wife, Katherine, who was also the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor at the time (awkward).  Wolf Hall is a recent, popular novel about these events and is currently the must-see TV in Britain.

     As a Cardinal, Wolsey was a powerful figure in the Roman Catholic Church. As Lord Chancellor, he was the second most powerful man in England. And since Henry often had his mind on other things, Wolsey ruled the land in many ways. He was rightly famous for bringing England to the table (and even hosting the table) for various European alliances and treaties. He was also ruthless in his dealing with the English nobility and clergy. Live by the sword and the cross, die by….except Wolsey died of natural causes—in Leicester—before he had to answer to charges of treason.

 

     Hampton Court Palace is a huge, impressive place with beautiful, elaborate gardens. It was a home for kings and queens for almost two centuries, with each royal family (Tudor, Stuart, Hanover) remodeling and adding to the palace. The original design was Wolsey’s, and he built upon a former manor house on the site. Along with his own suite of rooms, he built ones for Henry, his (then) queen Katherine, and daughter (later queen) Mary.  The Base Court is the first of multiple courtyards (seems each family had to add one), and it is surrounded by forty two-room apartments. 

     The Tudor kitchen for all these people is quite a story (well, of course it is, it’s about food), built to prepare 600 meals twice a day and many more on “feast” days. Henry was committed to conspicuous consumption for his guests, especially foreign dignitaries, and the Lord, well at least the Cardinal, provided—in great quantities.

  

Tom Tower

     Christ Church, which I wrote about a few weeks ago—as I’m sure you recall—was originally Cardinal College, then King’s College when Henry appropriated it, then Christ Church when Henry created the Church of England. The college tie has little cardinal’s mitres on it in recognition of the college origins.  Wolsey was an Oxford graduate and it seems the place was close to his heart.

 

    We had the great pleasure of being asked to supper at the Great Hall of Christ Church. The evening began with champagne in the advancement office where we met our hosts, Bob Schuettinger and Mallory Factor, who are associate members of Christ Church (each college member can bring one guest to dinner). We then proceeded to the Senior Common Room (faculty lounge), a large room with a fire going at one end, leather sofas and chair and tables placed for small group conversations, and a bar at which we were served sherry. We met some faculty and guests, all of whom were most courteous; the faculty wore academic robes. Oh how I wish I could have been so gauche as to pull out my cell phone camera. 

Great Hall

We proceeded to the high table in the Great Hall. Students were at their tables. We stood behind our chairs for grace (in Latin), then were seated. The setting is unforgettable, though it was diminished because there is scaffolding set up to repair the roof. The meal was superb. The place and the event exuded privilege. The diners were interesting and lively.

      After supper, we adjourned back to the Senior Common Room for coffee, port or brandy. Professor Graham Ward, the very distinguished and very gracious Regius Professor of Divinity invited us to see his rooms at the College. What another pleasure to see his set of rooms—seminar room, living room, study, back lawn—which may have belonged to Cardinal Wolsey himself. The study was formerly the Oratory and below in the basement may have been intended to be Wolsey’s crypt. Now, it had some cement shelves, which were installed during World War 2 to store the college’s precious holdings of champagne and port. We left the rooms and walked across the courtyard as the Tom Tower bell tolled 101 times, in honor of the original scholars of the college, and the near full moon had a ice ring around it. A magical moment and scene. We were enchanted.