The Ordinance, which targeted Wolsey's influential opponents from the Privy chamber, would have given the Cardinal immense political power, but the plan did not materialize.
[3] The Ordinance began with a statement that during Henry's absence from the Court in London the latter "hath been greatly hindered and in manner subverted, which by little and little is now come more and more unto an indirect course far from good constitutions of old times..."[4] "rascals and vagabonds now spread and remaining and being in all the court..."[5] Pincombe and Shrank wrote that the excuse of Henry's absence "was nothing more than a convenient fiction".
[4] The lists of household items regulated by the Ordinance (like candle wax) provide the historians an insight into what was deemed expensive or rare.
[5] To maintain the moral standard, the Ordinance prescribed creation of a perfectly transparent environment, devoid of private places, where every person would be always watched and evaluated.
[5] Pincombe and Shrank noted that the duality of imaginary order and real-life disorder evident in the Ordinance is also present in contemporary literature like the Welles Anthology and the plays of John Heywood.
[8] 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.