When Henry VIII heard the news that the Holy Roman emperor Charles V had defeated the French, he dreamed of building a new cross-Channel English empire on the ruins of France. The only problem was money. Cardinal Wolsey had the novel idea of imposing a forced levy – that is, a non-parliamentary tax – and as spin doctor-in-chief, he came up with the name of the 'Amicable Grant'.
The friendly name made no difference. All taxes are unpopular, and this one caused riots. The worst one took place in Lavenham in Suffolk, which was then a prosperous wool town. On 4 May 1525, 4,000-10,000 protesters poured through the streets, the church bells rang the alarm and the rioters swore that they would die for their quarrel. Smaller protests took place throughout the south-east. In Lavenham, the rioters against the Amicable Grant pleaded poverty, but in London, sophisticated constitutional objections were raised against a tax that hadn't been voted in by Parliament.
In the face of such protest, the government abandoned the Amicable Grant and, with it, Henry's projected invasion of France. Both Wolsey and Henry put a brave face on the climb-down, but it was a terrible humiliation. And for Henry, his attempts to bypass Parliament had further ruined his relations with that key body, and his confidence in Wolsey had been shaken.
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 Henry VIII's Early Foreign Policy, 1509-29
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Discussion of the foreign policy of Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey, including the Amicable Grant.
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