£11,250
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs | 605
Auction: 17 June 2020 at 11:00 BST
being an An Account of the 'Sum of all thexpences of the diete of my lord Cardinalls grace & other of the kynge our Sov[er]aigne Lordes most honorable Councell in xxxviii den[er]s at Westm[inster] in Easter time & Trinitie terme' in 1522, prepared for audit by Thomas Tamworth, signed also by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (signed 'T. Surrey'); Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of London, and another, one page folio (30.5 x 20cm.), including, on the verso, accounts for wine and other items
Note: An autograph of great rarity, alongside those of other high ranking nobles in the reign of King Henry VIII. As a record of the dining expenses of the King's Council, the document bears the autographs of some of King Henry VIII's close advisers, the inner ring, sometimes known as the privy council. Cardinal Wolsey (1475-1530) attained a position at the Court of King Henry VIII more powerful than any minister of the Crown since Becket. Retaining the King's confidence, and supporting his absolute monarchy at home, Wolsey controlled England's foreign policy, and amassed huge estates in England. His downfall came as a result of his failure to negotiate an annulment of the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Wolsey, mindful of his own aggrandisement and the power and dignity of the church, is said to have asserted that a cardinal should have more dishes at table than a lord of parliament.