"Dendrochronological analysis found the three was felled in around1520. At that time, Wolsey was at the peak of his power and his rapid downfall still a decade away. Born in a family of merchants, Thomas Wolsey was royal chaplain to King Henry VII in 1507, and by 1515 was a Cardinal and Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. His arms were granted to him in 1525."
"This version only had 10 tassels per side, perhaps in reference to his archbishoprics, just as the cross topping the escutcheon is an archiepiscopal cross. The heraldry on the shield is a silver cross with a red lion center and four blue leopards' faces. The top field of the shield features a red Tudor rose flanked by two Cornish choughs, black birds also known as beckets, that symbolize Wolsey's namesake St. Thomas Becket."
The panel is composed of two panels from the same Baltic oak tree mounted in an oak frame. Dendrochronological analysis dated the wood to around 1520, when Wolsey was at the height of his power. Wolsey rose from a merchant family to royal chaplain in 1507 and became Cardinal and Lord Chancellor by 1515; his arms were granted in 1525. The carving shows cardinalial insignia with a reduced ten-tassel arrangement and an archiepiscopal cross, while the shield displays a silver cross, a central red lion, four blue leopards' faces, and a top field with a Tudor rose flanked by Cornish choughs. The panel is expertly carved in relief by a skilled sculptor, intended for opulent surroundings, and functions as a singular moveable artwork, which likely aided its survival.
Read at www.thehistoryblog.com
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