George Cavendish (1494–c.1562), was an English writer, best known as the biographer of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. His Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinall, his Lyffe and Deathe is described by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as the "most important single contemporary source for Wolsey's life" which also offers a "detailed picture of early sixteenth-century court life and of political events in the 1520s, particularly the divorce proceedings against Katherine of Aragon." This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ... Thomas Wolsey, (circa March 1471-1475 – November 28 or November 29, 1530), born Thomas Wulcy in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, was a powerful English statesman and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

He was the elder son of Thomas Cavendish (died 1524), who was a senior financial official, the "clerk of the pipe", in the Court of Exchequer, and his wife, Alice Smith of Padbrook Hall. He was the great-grandson of Sir John Cavendish from whom the Dukes of Devonshire and the Dukes of Newcastle inherited the family name of Cavendish. George was an English courtier and author and the brother of William Cavendish, the third husband of Bess of Hardwick. He was probably born at his father's manor of Cavendish, in Suffolk. Later the family resided in London, in the parish of St Albans, Wood Street, where Thomas Cavendish died in 1524. Around this time George married Margery Kemp, of Spains Hall, an heiress, and the niece of Sir Thomas More. The Exchequer of Pleas or Exchequer was one of the three common-law courts of Medieval and Early Modern England. ... Sir John Cavendish of Cavendish ( 1346 - 15 June 1381) came from Cavendish, Suffolk, England. ... The Dukes of Devonshire are members of the aristocratic Cavendish family in the United Kingdom. ... Duke of Newcastle is a title which has been created several times in the peerages of England and Great Britain. ... Cavendish is the surname of a British noble family, also known as the House of Cavendish, descended from Sir John Cavendish of Cavendish in the country of Suffolk (c. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury by Rowland Lockley, 1592. ... Cavendish is the name of a picturesque village in the Stour Valley in Suffolk, England. ... Suffolk (pronounced SUF-fk) is a large traditional and administrative county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... St Albans (thus spelt, no apostrophe or dot) is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35. ... Events March 1, 1524/5 - Giovanni da Verrazano lands near Cape Fear (approx. ... Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 — 6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and statesman. ...

Before 1522 he entered the service of Cardinal Wolsey as gentleman-usher, and stayed in his service until Wolsey's death in 1529. During this time he was often divided from his wife, children and estates, as he was in the closest personal attendance on the great man. Cavendish was wholly devoted to Wolsey's interests, and also he saw in this appointment an opportunity to gratify his master-passion, a craving "to see and be acquainted with strangers, in especial with men in honour and authority." He was faithful to his master in disgrace, and showed the courage of the "loyal servitor." It is plain that he enjoyed Wolsey's closest confidence to the end, for after the cardinal's death George Cavendish was called before the privy council and closely examined as to Wolsey's latest acts and words. He gave his evidence so clearly and with so much natural dignity, that he won the applause of the hostile council, and the praise of being "a just and diligent servant." He was not allowed to suffer in pocket by his fidelity to his master, but retired, as it would seem, a wealthy man to his estate of Glemsford, in West Suffolk, in 1530. He was only thirty years of age, but his appetite for being acquainted with strange acts and persons was apparently sated, for we do not hear of his engaging in any more adventures. Glemsford is a village in the Babergh district in Suffolk near the town of Sudbury, England. ... Events June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ...

It is not to be doubted that Cavendish had taken down notes of Wolsey's conversation and movements, for many years passed before his biography was composed. Between 1554 and 1558, he wrote it out in its final form. It was not, however, possible to publish it in the author's lifetime, but it was widely circulated in MS. Evidently one of these manuscripts fell into William Shakespeare's hands, for that poet made use of it in his Henry VIII, and Samuel Weller Singer even said that Shakespeare "merely put Cavendish's language into verse." Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Catherine of Aragon The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth was one of the last plays written by the English playwright William Shakespeare, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. ...

Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinall, his Lyffe and Deathe was first printed in 1641, in a garbled text, and under the title of The Negotiations of Thomas Wolsey. The genuine text, from contemporary MSS, was given to the world in 1810. Singer published the first complete edition in 1825: The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, and Metrical Visions; from the original autograph manuscript. The "metrical visions" were his tragic poems: laments in the voice of ill-fated contemporary figures like Lady Jane Grey. Until the 19th century it was believed that the book was the composition of George Cavendish's younger brother William, the founder of Chatsworth House, who also was attached to Wolsey. Joseph Hunter proved this to be impossible, and definitely asserted the claim of George. The latter is believed to have died at Glemsford before July 1562. Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Lady Jane Grey (ca. ... A view of Chatsworth from the south-west circa 1880. ...

The intrinsic value of Cavendish's Life of Cardinal Wolsey has long been perceived, for it is the sole authentic record of a multitude of events highly important in a particularly interesting section of the history of England. Its importance as a product of biographical literature was first emphasized by Mandell Creighton, who insisted on the claim of Cavendish to be recognized as the earliest of the great English biographers, and an individual writer of charm and originality. He writes with simplicity and vividness, rarely yielding to the rhetoric which governed the ordinary prose of his age. Mandell Creighton (July 5, 1843 - January 14, 1901) was an English historian and Bishop of London. ...

He also knew Anne Boleyn when she was first a debutante at King Henry's court in 1522. He was adamant that she remained a virgin until her marriage, despite Catholic rumours to the contrary. However, although he attested to her sexual morals, he never forgave her for her hatred of Cardinal Wolsey or her animosity towards the Pope. A portrait of Anne Boleyn painted some years after her death. ... Events January 9 - Adrian Dedens becomes Pope Adrian VI. February 26 - Execution by hanging of Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan under orders of conquistador Hernán Cortés. ... In Roman times, Vestal Virgins were strictly celibate or they were punished by death. ...

Sources

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography