butcher, who also possessed some land, and was sufficiently well off to
send his son to the University of Oxford. In those days the chief and
easiest avenue to distinction, office, and wealth was through the
Church, and Thomas appears to have been an apt scholar, for at fourteen
years of age he was Bachelor of Arts, and thence was called the Boy
Bachelor. He soon after became Master of Arts, and had charge of the
school adjoining Magdalen College, where he educated the three sons of
Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, who presented him in 1500 to the rectory
of Lymington. This was indeed a rapid rise for the son of a butcher.
But he had not long resided on his benefice when Sir Amias Paulet, a
justice of the peace, set him in the stocks for being drunk and making a
disturbance at a fair in the neighbourhood. Wolsey was mean enough to
take a cruel revenge for this punishment, which, no doubt, he richly
deserved, and which must at the time have been approved by the
community, for it was no trifling thing in those days to set a rector in
the stocks. When Wolsey was Lord Chancellor he sent for Sir Amias, and
after a severe jobation confined him for six years in that part of the
Temple which long passed for Henry VIII. and Wolsey's palace, and
afterwards was Nando's, a famous coffee-house. Wolsey compelled Paulet
to almost entirely rebuild the house. When Wolsey's patron, the Marquis
of Dorset, died, the former looked out for new means to push his
fortunes, for his avarice was boundless. He accordingly got himself
admitted into the family of Henry Dean, Archbishop of Canterbury; but
that prelate dying in 1502, he found means of ingratiating himself with
Sir John Nanfan, treasurer of Calais, who being weakened by age and
other infirmities, committed the direction of his post to Wolsey, who by
his recommendation was made one of the King's chaplains, and in 1506 was
instituted to the rectory of Redgrave, in the diocese of Norwich. But
it was on the accession of Henry VIII. that he had the opportunity of
developing his ambitious and covetous schemes by the vilest means. He
recommended himself to the King's favour by adapting himself to his
capricious temper and vicious inclinations, acting as his pimp, and
participating in all his debaucheries. And so well did he play his
cards with the King that shortly after the attainder of Sir Richard
Empson--executed with his coadjutor Dudley in 1510, nominally for
extortion, but really because that extortion was not practised on the
King's behalf, but on their own--shortly after this attainder the King
conferred on Wolsey a grant of several lands and tenements in the parish
of St. Bride's, Fleet Street, which by the knight's forfeiture devolved
to the Crown. In the grant Wolsey is styled counsellor and almoner to
the King. In the same year he was presented by his royal master to the
rectory of Torrington, in the diocese of Exeter. Early in the following
year he was made a Canon of Windsor and Registrar of the Order of the
Garter. In 1512 he was advanced by Archbishop Bambridge to the prebend
of Bugthorp, in the church of York, of which afterwards he also was made
a Dean. In 1513 he attended the King in his expedition to France, who
committed to him the direction of the supplies and provisions to be made
for the army--a profitable concession, which Wolsey knew how to turn to
his own good account. On the taking of Tournay Henry VIII. made Wolsey
Bishop of that city, and not long after Bishop of Lincoln. In 1814, on
the death of Cardinal Bambridge, he was translated to the Archbishopric
of York. The utter recklessness with which the King bestowed on one man
so many high offices, the duties of which from their very multiplicity
must be totally neglected by this one man, this recklessness in the
bestowal of ecclesiastical dignities and emoluments on an upstart whose
moral character was of the vilest in every respect, and openly known to
be such, was only equalled by the greed and vanity of the recipient.
But Fortune had greater favours yet in store for him. In September,
1515, he was, by the interest of the two Kings of England and France,
made Cardinal of St. Cecilia, and in December of the same year Lord
Chancellor of England, which dignity had been resigned by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, who resented the arrogance of, and the powers conferred
on, Wolsey. The Archbishop's resignation led to the retirement of all
the other great officers of the Crown, and thus Wolsey became absolute
master of the situation, and whilst he was really carrying out his own
schemes, he had the address to persuade the King, jealous of his own
power, that he was only blindly executing his royal master's behests and
wishes. The position of England between the Emperor and the King of
France rendered Henry VIII. to some extent the arbitrator of Europe.
Wolsey cleverly exploited the situation; he first secured the goodwill
of Francis I. of France by restoring to him, in 1516, Tournay, receiving
in return an annuity of 12,000 livres. But the Pope was the most
anxious to secure the Minister's friendship, and therefore, after the
recall of Cardinal Campeggio, made Wolsey his Legate a Latere, or
Extraordinary Envoy, which virtually raised him to the rank of Pope of
England. Though Wolsey's income was already tremendous from the various
bishoprics and other high offices he held, and the presents and pensions
he received from foreign princes, the Pope granted him an annuity of
7,500 ducats on the bishoprics of Toledo and Placentia. With Wolsey's
increase of power rose his arrogance, his covetousness, and his love of
ostentation; the beggar was put on horseback. His revenues almost
exceeded those of the Crown; the splendour displayed in his mode of
living was greater than that of many Kings. When, after the election of
Charles V. as Emperor of Germany, the latter quarrelled with Francis I.,
each endeavoured to draw the Cardinal to his side. In 1520 he arranged
an interview between the three Sovereigns, but at last sided with the
Emperor, who granted him an annuity of 7,000 ducats, and held out to him
the prospect of the Papal crown. After having, in 1521, attempted at
Calais a reconciliation between Henry VIII. and Francis I., he entered
into a secret treaty with the Emperor, according to which the English
King was to declare war against France. The death of Leo X. and the
subsequent election of Hadrian VI. to the Papal dignity almost led to a
breach between him and the Emperor; but the latter's promise that after
old Hadrian's death he would certainly procure him the Papal crown
satisfied Wolsey, especially as the Emperor added 2,500 ducats to the
former annuity, and gave him besides another of 9,000 dollars in gold
for his loss of the French pension. In 1522 Henry VIII. commenced the
war against his former ally by entering and devastating France. Wolsey
having to find money for this war, he had recourse to financial
oppression, which roused the indignation of the English people. But at
the new Papal election in 1523 Wolsey saw himself again passed over,
which induced him to lead the King to take the part of Francis I., who
was then a prisoner. Henry VIII. had to retire from the war, to enter in
1525 into an alliance with the French Regency, for which service Wolsey
received a present of 100,000 crowns, and in 1528 to declare war against
the Emperor. Thus the proud and blustering Henry VIII. became the mere
tool of an ambitious and disappointed priest, who used him and the
resources of England to avenge the slight the Emperor had put upon him
at the last Papal election. After the peace of Cambray in 1529, Wolsey
was on the summit of his power, but also terribly near to his fall. At
first he had, from hatred of her nephew, Charles V., not opposed the
King's desire to obtain a divorce from Catherine of Aragon; but when he
found that the King wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, he disapproved of the
divorce, as he feared that Anne's relatives might endanger his position
at Court. In obedience to the King's orders, he indeed for some time
urged on the suit, but grew less zealous when he found that the Pope
himself, out of consideration for the Emperor, was against the divorce.
Henry VIII. looked upon the delay as due to the intrigues of Wolsey, in
which opinion he was strengthened by Anne Boleyn, who had a special
reason to hate him, for it was through him that her marriage with young
Lord Percy, a member of Wolsey's establishment, one of the many scions
of the nobility who were placed under the guidance of the Cardinal, had
been broken off. When Anne, who had been dismissed the Court, after her
recall found it necessary to augment her rising influence over the King
to dissemble, and therefore treated Wolsey with the greatest outward
respect, she secretly took every opportunity to foster the dislike Henry
had taken to him, and it was her underhand influence which hastened his
downfall, and not reasons of statecraft, as 'philosophical' historians
would have us believe. Long before the catastrophe Wolsey, who had not
failed to notice that the brutal tyrant's favourable sentiments towards
his minion were on the wane, had tried to conciliate the King by
presenting Hampton Court to him in 1526; but the gift had not been one
of love, but of fear and despair, and the chief cause of the surrender,
according to tradition, was the following:
The King's fool was paying a visit to the Cardinal's fool--for both the
King and the Cardinal were such fools themselves as to find pleasure in
the gabbling of professional fools--and the couple went down into the
wine vaults. For fun one of them stuck a dagger into the top of a cask,
and, to his surprise, touched something that gave a metallic sound. The
fools thereupon set to work, got the head of the cask out, and found it
to be full of gold pieces. Other casks, by the sound, indicated that
they held wine. The King's fool stored up the fact in his memory, and
one day when the King was boasting about his wine, the fool said, 'You
have not such wine as my Lord Cardinal, for he has casks in his cellar
worth a thousand broad pieces each;' and then he told what he had
discovered. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that Wolsey was
awake to the fact that he was losing his power over the King, and so he
threw him the magnificent sop of his palace, which, however, did not
save him; the King was determined to be rid of him. In October, 1529,
the Great Seal was demanded of him, his palace at Whitehall and all his
goods were seized for the King's use, and he was ordered to retire to
his palace at Esher. The King, indeed, promised Wolsey his protection,
and that he should continue to hold the bishoprics of York and
Winchester.
As Wolsey was travelling towards Esher, he was overtaken by a messenger
from the King, who brought him that comfortable assurance, whereupon the
Cardinal dismounted from his mule, knelt down, and blessed the ground on
which he had received so gracious a message; and to show his gratitude
to his King, he made him a present of--what do you think?--his fool.
Had Wolsey in his disgrace shown any manliness or dignity of character,
we might think that this present to the King was 'kinder sarcastic,'
intimating that a fool was about the only individual fit to be Henry's
companion, and whom he could appreciate. But from Wolsey's conduct
during the closing years of his life, we cannot give him credit for so
much wit and moral courage as the attempt to give the King such a hint
would have implied, and we must therefore assume that the gift was a
_bona fide_ one; and as in those days it was considered the proper thing
for great people to associate with fools, and take delight in their
forced and artificial jokes, too poor for a halfpenny comic paper of the
present day, there was nothing extraordinary in the gift, and no doubt
the King thought it highly complimentary to himself. But however
favourably the King might at certain moments feel disposed towards
Wolsey, and though, from his influence in the country as head of the
Church, it was necessary to go to work cautiously, his ruin was
determined on. Parliament, which, after an interval of seven years, was
allowed to reassemble in 1529, impeached him by a charge of forty-four
articles, relating chiefly to the exercise of his legatine power
contrary to law, and the scandalous irregularities of his life. The
impeachment passed the House of Lords; but when it came to the House of
Commons it was effectually defeated by the energy and address of Thomas
Cromwell, who had been his servant, so that no treason could be fixed
upon him. He remained in his retirement at Esher until about Easter,
1530, when he was ordered to repair to his diocese of York, where, in
November of the same year, he was arrested by the Earl of Northumberland
for high treason, and committed to the custody of the Lieutenant of the
Tower, who had orders to bring him to London. This so affected his mind
that he fell sick at Sheffield, in the Earl of Shrewsbury's house,
whence, by short stages, he went as far as Leicester, where he is said
to have taken poison, which no one knowing his really pusillanimous
character will believe; however, he died on November 29, 1530, and was
buried in the Abbey of Leicester. The words attributed to him as his
last utterances, that if he had served God as he had served his King, he
would not be thus forsaken, were false in substance and contemptible in
form. He never served the King but when it served his own purposes, and
a mean-spirited coward only would have attributed his fall to such a
cause. He fell most ignominiously, without even an attempt of
resistance against the King's arbitrary decrees, without a struggle to
reassert his former ascendancy over his royal master. But probably the
ascendancy was irrecoverable; he had himself resigned it when he
surrendered his palace of Hampton Court to Henry in an access of
cowardly panic; and no ascendancy which is not moral or intellectual
ever has any vitality in it, and that of Wolsey over the King had never
been any other than that of the practised debauchee over the unpractised
one. Wolsey was Henry's senior by twenty years. When the pupil had
become as depraved as his teacher, he required his assistance no longer,
and in moments of reflection, which come to the most frivolous, he must
have felt how debased such teaching had been, and the greater its
iniquity the greater the pupil's abhorrence of the instructor, whose
constant presence must act as a perpetual reproach; when the orange is
sucked dry, the shapeless husk becomes an offensive object to look at.
Cardinal Wolsey is credited with a love of learning and schemes to
promote it, as his foundation of a college at Oxford, now Christ Church,
which, however, he only partly accomplished, and his school at Ipswich.
But these were not so much establishments to advance learning as to
support and glorify the Church, of which he was the chief pillar and
personal representative, and which therefore it was his pride and
interest to strengthen and exalt, even at some personal sacrifice.
Such was the man who built the palace of Hampton Court, to the
description and history of which we must now proceed.
We stated above that immediately on having entered into possession of
the estate, Wolsey pulled down the ancient manor-house; early in 1515 he
began the new buildings. All researches have failed to bring to light
the architect employed by the Cardinal. The name of James Bettes occurs
as master of the works, as also that of Nicholas Townley as chief
comptroller, and that of Laurence Stubbes, paymaster of the works, and
that of Henry Williams, surveyor; but probably the design of Hampton
Court must be attributed to Wolsey himself, who had the examples of
other mediaeval prelatic builders to guide him. In fact, we are
inclined to think that the entrance to the first court was somewhat of
an imitation of the centre of Esher Place, on the river Mole, a building
erected by William of Waynfleet, Bishop of Winchester, in 1447. Of this
building nothing now remains but the two octagonal towers of the centre,
just as the gateway of Wolsey's college at Ipswich only remains, which
also bears a striking resemblance to that of Esher Place.
One of the distinguishing features of Wolsey's palace at Hampton Court
was that it did not present to the beholder a moat,[#] a drawbridge, or
loopholes, or frowning battlements or watch-towers, without which up to
that time no nobleman had thought of erecting a mansion. Wolsey, being
a Churchman, naturally selected the monastic style, and the first and
second courts, all that remains of Wolsey's original building, display
it in all its picturesque features. At present the palace consists of
three courts, the two just referred to, and the third, built by William
III., comprising the buildings surrounding the Fountain Court. On the
north side of the palace there are a number of minor courts and
passages, around which are grouped domestic offices, stables, and other
dependencies of a large mansion.
[#] In Law's 'History of Hampton Court Palace' we are told that a moat
surrounded the whole of the palace, but Hollar's view of it (_temp._
Henry VIII.) shows no indication of one.
And here by way of interscript, though the reader may have seen that we
hold Cardinal Wolsey's character as a Churchman in but slight
estimation, we must give him credit for proofs of aesthetic culture,
which was unusual in his age, when even the most affluent nobles of the
land lived in a state of rude habits and surroundings. At the
conclusion of the reign of Henry VII. the annual expenses of the
powerful family of Percy scarcely exceeded the sum of L1,100. The
furniture of even princely households was coarse and comfortless; homely
plenty and stately reserve in their entertainments was the rule. The
love of pomp and refined pleasure must have been acquired by Wolsey
through his visits and residences abroad, and though he indulged in both
from personal inclination and political purpose, yet, whatever his
motive, his practice led to the amelioration of national taste and
manners favourable to the growth of art and the development and advance
of home industries. His palace became an example of an interior
arrangement suited to liberal, polished, and dignified entertainment.
It afforded hints for the improvement of domestic architecture. Till
then the attainment of security had been the chief object of the
builder; the times having become less turbulent, the external and
internal embellishment and comfort of the mansion, no longer a mere
castle, became the ruling principle, and Wolsey led the way in these
improvements in the palace he built at Hampton.
Originally, as Camden and Hentzner assert, there were five courts.
Camden calls them 'large' courts, and the palace is traditionally said
to have extended further towards the east, but this is very doubtful;
probably the ground-plan of the palace now embraces as much space as it
did at any time. As stated above, it now consists of three courts; but
there are several minor courts appertaining to parts of the original
structure, and it is possible that Camden, when he called the courts
large, had the really large ones in his mind, and that Hentzner, the
German traveller, who visited England in 1598, and greatly admired all
he saw amongst us, included them in his enumeration, so as to justify
the eulogy he bestows on the palace. 'The rooms,' he said, 'being very
numerous [there are altogether about 1,000 rooms in the palace], are
adorned with tapestry of gold, silver, and velvet, in some of which were
woven history pieces; in others, Turkish and Armenian dresses, all
extremely natural. In one chamber are several excessively rich
tapestries, which are hung up when the Queen [Elizabeth] gives audience
to foreign ambassadors. All the walls of the palace shine with gold and
silver. Here is likewise a certain cabinet, called 'Paradise,' where,
besides that everything glitters so with silver, gold, and jewels as to
dazzle one's eyes, there is a musical instrument made all of glass
except the strings.... The chapel of this palace is most splendid, in
which the Queen's closet is quite transparent, having its windows of
crystal.... In her bedchamber the bed was covered with very costly
coverlids of silk. At no great distance from this room we were shown a
bed, the tester of which was worked by Anne Boleyn, and presented by her
to her husband, Henry VIII.... In the hall are these curiosities: a
very clear looking-glass, ornamented with columns and little images of
alabaster; a portrait of Edward VI., brother to Queen Elizabeth; the
true portrait of Lucretia; a picture of the battle of Pavia; the history
of Christ's passion, carved in mother-of-pearl; the portrait of Mary
Queen of Scots; the picture of Ferdinand, Prince of Spain, and of
Philip, his son; that of Henry VIII., under which was placed the Bible,
curiously written upon parchment; an artificial sphere; several musical
instruments. In the tapestry are represented negroes riding upon
elephants; the bed in which Edward VI. is said to have been born, and
where his mother, Jane Seymour, died in childbed.' Grotius (b. 1583, d.
1645) also described it as the most splendid palace in Europe. Says he:
'If e'er a Briton what is wealth don't know, let him repair to Hampton
Court, and then view all the palaces of the earth, when he will say:
"Those are the residences of Kings, but this of the gods."'
The above descriptions, of course, apply to a period posterior to the
occupation of the palace by Wolsey, but we shall presently see how great
was its splendour in the days of the Cardinal, before the alterations
made by Henry VIII., who wished as much as possible to extinguish
Wolsey's memory; but the old dark-red brick walls, with still darker
lines of bricks in diamond shapes running along them, the mixture of
Gothic archways and square mullioned windows, the turrets and cupolas,
and tall twisted and cross-banded chimneys of the first and second
courts, all belong to the period of Wolsey.
Let us enter these courts.
The usual approach to the palace is from the west. Here on the right and
left are seen ranges of subordinate chambers and domestic offices,
which, it would seem, appear formerly to have taken a wider circuit than
at present, as on Hampton Court Green are many coeval buildings,
including a handsome gateway. The kitchens with their dependent offices
were on the north side of the palace, where they still remain, and are
provided with avenues and suitable passages, communicating with the
great hall and principal rooms. The entrance to this office range is by
a plain but handsome gateway in the western front, to the left of the
chief gateway, which gives admittance to the first court. This gateway,
built of brick, with stone embellishments, has over the portal a
bay-window, adorned with the royal arms, and divided by mullioned
compartments into two series of lights. This central division of the
west front is flanked by octagon towers. The gateway was originally
provided with fine oak gates; these were for many years put aside as
lumber, but have lately been rehung, after undergoing careful repair.
They are of massive dimensions, are ornamented with the usual linen-fold
pattern, and are evidently of Wolsey's time. Their outer face is
pierced with shot and bullet holes, which may have been occasioned
during the skirmishes in the civil wars, when fighting was going on
outside the palace between the Cavaliers and Roundheads, or, as has been
suggested, the holes may have been made through the gates having been
set up as targets for the villagers of Hampton. Before then bows and
arrows were the arms used in war, but it appears that during the great
rebellion the practice of archery fell into disrepute. However, at the
restoration of Charles II. the noble sport was again revived; in 1682
the Finsbury archers marched to Hampton Court, and there, in front of
the palace, shot for prizes. Charles II. patronized their exercise by
his presence, but the day being rainy, after staying for about two hours
he was obliged to quit the field. There is nothing new under the sun; a
modern military commander stopped a review on account of the rain! He
should have taken an example by the British workman, who scorns to carry
an umbrella, whilst the foreign mason or carpenter never goes to his
work without one should the day look threatening.
Through the portal just mentioned you enter the first or entrance court,
which is 167 feet 2 inches from north to south, and 162 feet 7 inches
from east to west. On the west side of this court is a bay-window,
corresponding in character with that over the west front of the arched
entrance, and, like that, enriched with the royal arms; on the turrets
are placed the initials E.R. Over the portal in the centre is a
bay-window of considerable beauty, with octangular towers on each side,
and on the face of the towers are introduced busts of Roman emperors in
terra cotta, which had been sent to Cardinal Wolsey by Leo X. On the
left is seen the western end of the Great Hall, which here has a broad
and richly designed window. In this court also are rooms appropriated
to families who have obtained small Government pensions.
Through a groined archway, finely ornamented, we pass to the second or
middle, or Clock Tower court. This court is somewhat smaller than the
former, measuring 133 feet from north to south, and about 100 feet from
east to west. The exterior of the buildings surrounding this court
appears to have experienced little alteration since the days of the
founder. The general effect of this court is superb. The eastern side
comprises a third portal, flanked with octangular turrets, and is of
greater richness than the preceding fronts. On the face of each turret
are again introduced busts of the Caesars. Some repairs were effected
in this division by George II. in 1732, as is signified by an
inscription on the exterior. On the north side is the Great Hall.
Wolsey had projected it; it formed so important a feature in the design
of the mansion, that the exterior walls may safely be ascribed to the
Cardinal, but he did not live to finish the work; the interior was not
completed till 1536, by Henry VIII. It is 106 feet long, 40 wide, and
60 high. The roof is elaborately carved. There are seven large windows
on one side and six on the other, with a large window at each end. A
bay-window on the dais, extending from the upper part of the wall nearly
to the floor, contributes greatly to the cheerful aspect of the hall.
The window at the eastern end is an oriel window, divided into
compartments by mullions of stone. There was formerly a lantern in the
roof, but, for some reason unexplained, it was removed; the compartment,
however, whence it took its springing remains. Near the east end of the
hall is the withdrawing room, of noble dimensions, and displaying
externally, as well as internally, more of the character of the ancient
structure than any other room of equal extent throughout the palace.
A highly interesting object in this court is the astronomical clock in
the tower and gateway giving access to the third court. The original
clock was, according to a notice engraved on the wrought-iron framework,
put up in 1540 by N.O. Who is meant by these initials is quite unknown.
It was, till its removal, the oldest clock in England that kept pretty
correct time. From an entry mentioned in Wood's 'Curiosities of Clocks
and Watches,' we learn that a payment was made in 1575 to one George
Gaver, 'serjeant painter,' 'for painting the great dial at Hampton Court
Palace, containing hours of the day and night, the course of the sun and
moon.' No doubt since Gaver decorated the dial-plate many clockmakers
must have repaired and altered the works. In 1649 a striking part had
been added to the works. In 1711 it was found that in consequence of
the removal of certain wheels and pinions, probably by ignorant or
careless workmen, the clock could not for a long time past have
performed its functions correctly. It seems indeed to have been left
neglected for many years. Somewhere in the thirties of this century G.
P. R. James, the novelist, addressed a poem of eleven stanzas to the
'Old Clock without Hands at Hampton Court.' The first and last stanzas
we reproduce, not for their merit, but because apposite to our subject:
'Memento of the bygone hours,
Dost thou recall alone the past?
Why stand'st thou silent midst these towers,
Where time still flies so fast?
* * * * *
'The future? Yes! at least to me
Thus plainly thus thy moral stands!
Good deeds mark hours! Let not life be
A dial without hands!'