George Cavendish

George Cavendish's biography was written in manuscript form; probably between 1554-8. It was widely circulated at the time and could have been source material for William Shakespeare and John Fletcher's play: Henry VIII.
A garbled version was printed in 1641, but I read the version edited by Samuel Singer in 1825 which claims to be from the original autographed manuscript.

From my own experience of reading Elizabethan prose this is a biography that can be easily admired by the modern reader. Perhaps the earliest example of a biography that goes far and away beyond the usual hagiography that was usual at the time. George Cavendish was Wolsey's gentleman usher and there is little doubt that he admired and loved his employer, but he has not written a panegyric. His admiration and love does not stop him from giving examples of his employers less admirable qualities. At times Cavendish is writing from actual remembered conversations that he had with his employer or that he heard his employer speaking with someone else. This gives the work a feeling of immediacy, the reader can imagine being right there with the Cardinal especially in the last year of his life when his health was failing and he was at odds with the court of Henry VIII.

The biography does follow the accepted fashion of the rise and fall of a great man. There is a mid point in the story where Wolsey makes his first big mistake and that is to cross Ann Boleyn. In Cavendish's account it is Wolsey that intervenes in the affair between Ann Boleyn and the young Lord Percy. He summons Percy to his office and threatens him with public disclosure if he does not annul his pre-marriage contract with Anne. Of course he is acting under instructions from King Henry, but his overbearing character already hinted at from Cavendish's account does not make him the most diplomatic person to manage this affair and Ann will soon get her revenge. It is from this point on that Henry's court influenced by the Boleyn family turn against Wolsey, we know this from history and we, as readers of this biography can appreciate how it all panned out for the Cardinal. His negotiations with the French King and then his unsuccessful attempts to influence the Popes legate to allow Henry to Divorce Catherine of Aragon saw his rapid fall from grace. There is an excellent account of Katherine's evidence at the inquisition into her marriage with Henry.

The second half of the biography provides the reader with a more intimate portrait of Wolsey. His household has been drastically reduced, the king has sequestered his palace at Hampton Court, he is under threat of standing trial as a traitor, but he clings to the thought that his previous close relationship with King Henry will save him in the end. While the first part of the biography deals with Wolseys rapid rise to power and his intellectual achievements it is written in a more anecdotal form; a little removed, because the author was probably not present at that time. It is the second part that provides the more intimate details of a closer relationship and the tragedy of Wolsey's final fall from grace.

Apart from the insight into the character of Wolsey and King Henry the biography goes into some detail of the pageantry that surrounds Wolseys life as Chancellor to the king. His fabulous palace at Hampton Court, his easy relationships with the most powerful men and women in Europe. It provides much fascinating context of a life led at the highest reaches of Tudor England.

I read this biography as background material for a reading of Thomas Storers's long poem 'The life and death of Thomas Wolsey Cardinal divided into three parts, which appeared in 1599. I have not yet read the poem, but I am grateful it led me to read Cavendish's biography 5 stars.… (mehr)