Eltham Ordinance

Wolsey jealously watched the rising influence of Henry's courtiers. By around 1518, he himself amassed enough influence to control the access of lay courtiers to the king, but the Privy Chamber and the King's council remained a formidable obstacle. In 1526, Wolsey settled for a radical reform of the court. According to the Eltham Ordinance, the court council should have been reduced in size to a compact, working council that could accompany the King during his travels. especially on the move. Royal Progresses of the Tudors, accompanied by countless courtiers, attendants, and their servants, devastated the country. The royal train had to move regularly to new areas simply to obtain new sources of food. Financial strain caused by England's wars with France was another consideration. However, the actual financial standing of the government and the degree of the need to control expenses remain uncertain. ==Content==

The Ordinance was presented as a serious attempt to reform the court, continuing the household reform of 1525, and formulated as a detailed set of rules regulating the life of the court. Pincombe and Shrank wrote that the degree of regulation, down to "the management of spent candles", was "utopian in scale and ambition". These items, now considered ordinary, formed the "spatial decorum" of the court. Wolsey managed to steer the new council to judicial issues and away from foreign relations, thus completing the formation of the Star Chamber. Bishop John Clerk, Dean Richard Sampson, Secretary William Knight, and Chancellor Thomas More formed the inner permanent Council attendant to Henry, of which no less than two persons accompanied the King at all times. Wolsey's opponents. Sir William Compton, the Groom of the Stool, Sir Francis Bryan, Sir Nicholas Carew, and Thomas and George Boleyn, on the contrary, had to leave the court. ==Denouement==

Wolsey's plan as a whole, however, "did not leave the drawing board". ==See also==