He was a man
Of unbounded stomach, ever ranking
Himself with princes; one that by suggestion
Tied all the kingdom. Simony was fair play;
His own opinion was his law. I'th'presence
He would say untruths and be ever double
Both in his words and meaning. He was never,
But where he meant to ruin, pitiful.
His promises were, as he then was, mighty,
But his performance, as he is now, nothing.
Shakespeare and Fletcher, All Is True; the History of King Henry VIII.
The Cawood Castle passed to Cardinal Wolsey, who let it fall into disrepair while he was away at Court and tending to temporal affairs. King Henry VIII sent him back to Cawood after Wolsey failed to obtain a divorce from the pope for Henry and his current wife. Once Wolsey returned, he began to repair the castle to its former grandeur. Soon, he was arrested for high treason at Cawood Castle in November, 1530 and ordered to London for trial. He left on November 6th, but took ill at Leicester and died in the Abbey there on November 29th. The downfall of Cardinal Wolsey is recounted in the famous nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" along with a few others.
Humpty Dumpty: Some see this rhyme as Cardinal Wolsey's fall from favor of the King, hence 'the great fall'.
Jack and Jill: Originally, the rhyme was about Jack and Gill, who were Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and Bishop Tarbes. Serving Henry VII, Wolsey and Tarbes had tried to settle a feud between France and the Roman Empire. They failed, and war ensued. To pay for the war, Wolsey raised taxes, raising also the ire of the people. The poem was written to mock the failed officials.
Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn:
Boy Blue is Cardinal Wolsey who was 'found asleep' by King Henry VIII and thrown from favour because he could not win the King's divorce for him.
It is also pointed out that Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich butcher, and, as a boy, undoubtedly looked after his father's livestock.
The Fall of Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey
Cardinal Wolsey
Watercolor of Wolsey's progress to Westminster Hall