In 1515 Henry procured from Rome his elevation to the office of cardinal and raised him to the post of chancellor.

So quick a rise stirred envy in the men about him; and his rivals noted bitterly the songs, the dances, and carousals which had won, as they believed, the favour of the king.

But sensuous and worldly as was Wolsey's temper, his powers lifted him high above the level of a court favourite.

His noble bearing, his varied ability, his enormous capacity for toil, the natural breadth and grandeur of his mind, marked him naturally out as the minister of a king who showed throughout his reign a keen eye for greatness in the men about him.
[Sidenote: Wolsey's policy] Wolsey's mind was European rather than English; it dwelt little on home affairs but turned almost exclusively to the general politics of the European powers and of England as one of them.

Whatever might be Henry's disappointment in the issue of his French campaigns the young king might dwell with justifiable pride on the general result of his foreign policy.
If his direct gains from the Holy League had been little, he had at any rate won security on the side of France.