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The Cardinal Is a Dramatic Tale of One of the Most Influential Members of Henry VIII’s Court

By Lacy Baugher Milas  |  June 2, 2025 | 11:00am
Books Reviews Alison Weir
The Cardinal Is a Dramatic Tale of One of the Most Influential Members of Henry VIII’s Court
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Even the most casual reader of historical fiction is probably familiar with the name Allison Weir. A historian and author who made a name for herself with non-fiction deep dives into the world of Tudor England, she capitalized on that expertise by turning around and writing a six-book fiction series about King Henry VIII’s wives before capping it all off with a monster tome about the man himself. Now, having run out of kings and wives to write about, she turns her attention to one of the most influential men at Henry’s court: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York who served as his right hand man until he couldn’t manage to secure the divorce he longed for, and fell from favor. Wolsey is one of those figures whose name almost every Tudor enthusiast recognizes, but with The Cardinal, Weir attempts to reimagine him as a three-dimensional figure and tell his story in its own right, rather than as an extension of someone else’s, be that person Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon or Henry VIII himself. 

The story of Thomas Wolsey is, in broad strokes, a genuinely remarkable one. The son of a butcher from Ipswich, he rose to become one of the most powerful men in England. A statesman, a negotiator, a leader in ecclesiastical circles, even a potential contender for Pope, depending on whose stories you believe, his rags-to-riches story won him both admirers and plenty of enemies, and a spot as the king’s most trusted confidante. (For a time. This is Henry VIII we’re talking about here.)

 In addition to his role as Archbishop of York, he was, at various points, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of Durham, a Canon of Windsor, and Lord High Chancellor of England, roles which came with great wealth and estates in addition to public influence. So powerful was he that he had significant freedom to live a life of rather lavish opulence (particularly for a clergyman) and was even referred to (one has to assume surreptitiously) as the alter rex, or other king. But his fall, when it came, was swift and brutal: Having lost the support of Henry (and his would-be wife Anne Boleyn), Wolsey was stripped of his titles, land, and offices, and exiled north to his ecclesiastical seat at York. He was eventually recalled to London to face charges of treason—but died alone at Leicester Abbey on the journey. 

Wolsey’s story is so outlandish and dramatic that it’s a wonder more people haven’t attempted to dramatize it prior to this point. Weir’s approach is fairly restrained, and her story does its best to simply follow the beats of Thomas’s life, from the age of 11 when he attracted the attention of a rich uncle who got him a place at Oxford, to his lonely death on the Great North Road. The Cardinal vividly recreates Wolsey’s rise to prominence and power, highlighting his determined work ethic, status envy, and longing for the professional opportunities and lavish lifestyle that were never part of his upbringing. As he rises through the ranks at Oxford and later, the court of King Henry VI, Thomas hones his ability to make himself indispensable, 

Weir’s expository style can feel a bit bare bones at times, often defaulting to a simple recounting of major events during significant historical moments. Yet, given that this version of Wolsey is nothing so much as a meticulous and dedicated planner,  there’s a certain sense of rightness to the simple act of bearing witness.  Weir is on surer footing when it comes to the deft way her story intertwines the lives of Henry and Thomas, showing both their dependence on and genuine affection for one another alongside the inevitability of their very loud and public break-up. (Wolsey’s heartbreak over Henry’s abandonment is both desperate and genuine, and it’s easy to believe this man truly did view the king who both made him and ruined him by turns as a son of sorts.) The open and legendary enmity between Wolsey and Henry’s future second wife, Anne Boleyn, is delightfully rendered. As both a historian and an author, Weir has never seemed to like Anne all that much, and while the would-be queen doesn’t appear until the latter half of this novel, she is in peak petty, scheming, revenge-plotting form. 

The story also thoughtfully handles the strain of Wolsey’s double life: his successful career in the church and his long-term relationship with a woman named Joan Larke from Norfolk. Weir portrays the cardinal as desperately torn between these two poles of his life, and his longing to live openly with Joan is palpable despite his priestly vows. It might have been more interesting had the story depicted the cardinal’s mistress as anything at all other than 100% down with being a side chick for life. Given how precarious the simple act of existing was for an unmarried woman at this point in history, the idea that she is so unbothered by the many hoops she must jump through (essentially hiding in one of Wolsey’s residences, occasionally pretending to be a servant) to make this unorthodox match work is…well. It’s aspirational to say the least.

The Cardinal is a satisfying enough read for those who want to dive into the world of Henry VIII beyond the familiar figures of his doomed wives. It’s almost enough to make one wonder whether Weir has plans to write more books in this vein. Presumably, Hilary Mantel and her Wolf Hall have made Thomas Cromwell off limits to every historical fiction author forever—he barely appears here, and his relationship with Wolsey is a mere footnote to Weir’s larger story—but there are certainly no small amount of figures with lives worth diving into: Lady Margaret Douglas or Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, perhaps, or even the Duke of Norfolk, who sent not one but two nieces to both Henry’s bed and a scaffold. Here’s hoping. 

The Cardinal is available now wherever books are sold. 

Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky at @LacyMB

 
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