Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England, was on of the most powerful man in England, second only to the King. In spiritual terms, his power even surpassed that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

However, he fell out of grace for failing to secure the divorce/annulment from Catherine of Aragon. His was stripped of position and as he was returning to York, he stopped at Leicester Abbey. As he arrived, he told the abbot, "I am come to leave my bones among you”. The archbishop died that night.