Discussion: Wolsey-sympathy?

"Yes I did feel alot of sympathy for him, I thought Sam Neil did a fabulous job with the charactor and I found it heartrending when he was discarded and abandoned by all and sundry including those he thought were his friends.
'You often boast to me that you have the King's ear and often have fun with him, freely and according to your whims.This is like having fun with tamed lions-often it is harmless,but just as often there is fear of harm.Often he roars in rage for no reason,and suddenly the fun becomes fatal.' Thomas More"

"John Foxe who was born c. 1517 & wrote the Book of Martyrs said of Henry :

"While good counsel was about him, and could be heard, the king did much good. So again, when sinister and wicked counsel, under subtle and crafty pretences, had gotten once the foot in, thrusting truth and verity out of the prince's ears,how much religion and all good things went prosperously forward before,so much, on the contrary side, all revolted backward again."

So he is saying that Henry was influenced by the people around him and saying he was not totally to blame for the horrors perpetrated in his name. These were times when religion, politics & other dynasty issues were all merged into one government. In our modern times all these issues are kept separate whereas in Henry's court it was a boiling pot of many influences. I am not excusing Henry but just like Mary 1 - there are more factors involved than just personality."

"well Wolsey was in favour of the divorce per se but not with Anne Boleyn....he had other plans which included an alliance with France and a french princess. Poor Wolsey never thought Anne would amount to anything except a mistress. Massive miscalculation.

There is a line in one of the season 3 promo videos where Henry says "Everyone has their own agenda, it doesn't matter what I want". To some extent that was true that he really couldn't trust anyone and hence the reason he became so paranoid in his later years. Even today with our celebrity mad society, those who make it to the top of the heap and have the power that comes with money and status.....still feel the same thing as Henry (eg.Elvis Presley etc).....you never know who you can trust and "the users" come out of the woodwork. I think Henry lost perspective completely because of his position in life. Ultimately he was not a happy man. To have everything and at the same time....no one you can totally trust would mess with anyone's mind."