Wolsey

THOMAS, (wil'ze,) an English cardinal and celebrated statesman, B. at Ipswich, of humble origin, in 1471. He was educated at Oxford, and entering holy orders, he gained the favor of Henry VIII.,through whom he rose by degrees to become Archbishop of York in 1534, and cardinal in the following year. He also became Chancellor of England and first minister of the Crown, and was not le distinguished by his sumptuous mode of living, than by his boundle ambition and consummate state -craft. His alliance was courted by the Emperor Charles V., and by Francis I. of France, and he unsucce fully competed for the tiara after the death of Pope Leo X. in 1522. In 1523 he was made Papal Legate for life. W. had made many enemies at court, and his influence with the king waned after the marriage of the latter with Anne Boleyn. In 1529 he was deprived of the Great Seal, and after being arrested on a charge of treason, D., before the time appointed for his trial, in 1530. Wolver hampton, (wül-vůr-hamp'tün,) an important manuf. borough of England, co. Stafford, 13 m. N.W. of Birmingham. lop. 68,279. [s. 966]