1) Henry VII: The government, Yorkist rebellions, Taxation rebellions Flashcards
Henry’s claim to the throne; Yorkist opposition, Lovel, Stafford and Suffolk, the Pretenders, Simnel and Warbeck; relations with the nobility, rewards and punishments; royal finances and their administration, opposition to taxation in Yorkshire and Cornwall; administration, the personnel, Councils, local government and parliament
How do you become a medieval King?
- Inheritance
- Right to conquest- fight and defeat the reigning monarch
- Conset of political elite
How did Henry VII come to the throne?
(Originally had a weak claim oly through his mother, Margaret Beaufort who was a descendent of Edward III by marriage to his third son John of Gaunt)
Defeated Yorkist Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth 22nd August 1485 to end the wars of the roses
- enabled by Sir William Stanley’s betrayal of Richard III
What challenges did Henry VII face coming to the throne?
- Henry had spent 14 years in exile after Lnacastrians were defeated at Tewksbury in 1471- largely an unknown figure
- Country suffering from lawlessness and economic decline (e.g. long-term problems in key wool industry)
- Outdated, inefficient system of royal finance
- Precedent of monarchs being toppled by “overmighty subjects” (Henry VI and Edward IV by Warwick the Kingmaker; Edward V by his uncle, Gloucester (Richard III); Henry himself a usurper, although not “overmighty”?)
- Limited Lancastrian support from the nobility: only Oxford and Pembroke (Jasper Tudor) fought for Henry at Bosworth
- England’s neighbours, especially Scotland and France
Threat from surviving Yorkists:
- 10-year-old Earl of Warwick (true heir to Edward IV),
- Earl of Lincoln (Richard’s nominated successor), - Northumberland (northern power broker),
- Earl of Surrey (heir of Duke of Norfolk),
- Viscount Lovel (Richard III’s best friend)
What oppurtunities did Henry VII upon his succession?
- The Yorkist cause was split by Richard’s usurpation- Probably less than 1/5th of nobles had responded to his call to arms in 1485, including Norfolk, Surrey, Lincoln, Stanley, Northumberland, Lovel
- Richard III and many potential “overmighty subjects” now dead (e.g. Buckingham, Norfolk); impoverished; or attainted (Surrey, Lovel)
- Most of political elite tired of war and prepared to acquiesce in strong royal government
What were Henry VII’s main aims upon his succession?
- Legacy of wars and manner of Henry’s accession explains his overriding preoccupation with personal, dynastic and territorial security
Needed to:
* Control nobility, by forming coalition with pragmatic Yorkists (e.g. Lincoln, Northumberland, Stanleys, Surrey) against diehard Ricardians (e.g. Lovel).
* Maintain law and order across the country
* Secure the Crown’s finances
* Find European allies
What steps did Henry take to reinforce his legitimacy?
- Crowned himself before calling Parliament- to avoid being seen as its appointee
- Used Parliament to backdate reign to 21 Aug 1485 (before the BoB), turning Bosworth Ricardians into traitors
- Married Elizabeth of York (his cousin) using papal dispensation,- symbolically uniting Yorkist and Lancastrian factions (underlined by use of Tudor Rose)
- Birth of son Arthur embodied new regime Sept 1486
- Delayed crowning Elizabeth until Nov 1487 (after Simnel rebellion), emphasising not reliant on wife’s status
- As practical rather than legal step, immediately imprisoned legitimate heir, 10-year old Earl of Warwick (nephew of Edward IV)
What steps did Henry VII take to control the nobility?
Punishment for Bosworth:
* Attainted 28 Yorkists (including late Richard III and Norfolk; also Surrey, Lovel)
* Imprisoned Northumberland (briefly); and Surrey (until 1489)
Reward with key Yorkists
* Lord Stanley > Earl of Derby
* Sir William Stanley > Lord Chamberlain
* Earl of Lincoln > King’s Council
* Earl of Northumberland not attainted; released from prison in 1486
Rewards for Lancastrians:
* 38 Lancastrians have Yorkist attainders reversed
* Jasper Tudor > Earl of Bedford
* However, very few new titles and lands distributed (exceptions included Earl of Devon and Lord Daubeney)
What steps did Henry take to restore royal finaces upon his succession?
- Act of Resumption, 1485 – theoretically reclaimed all royal lands lost since 1455
- Retained much of attainted land (especially from Richard III, Warwick)
What were the different Yorkist rebellions?
- Lovel and Stafford, 1486
- Lambert Simnel, 1487
- Perkin Warbeck, 1490-97
- Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, 1501-1506
Give an overview of the Lovel and Staffords rebellion
Apr 1486:
- During royal progress to North, Ricardians Viscount Lovel and the Stafford brothers (Sir Humphrey and Thomas) broke sanctuary at Colchester
- Henry warned by his spy network
- Lovel headed towards York
- Staffords entered Worcester
May:
- Having failed to raise rebellion, Lovel fled to Margaret of Burgundy in Flanders
- Staffords captured in Oxfordshire (removed from sanctuary near Abingdon)
- Sir Humphrey hanged
- Thomas pardoned
- Abbot of Abingdon and one Yorkshire knight forced to give bonds (financial guarantees of future good behaviour)
What was the ledership of the lovel and Staffords rebellion?
Serious:
* Lovel was nobility (Viscount), best friends with Richard III (good connections)
Not serious:
* Had a very weak small army and lacked support.
* Staffords were only Knights, lacked nobility and societal power
* No noble families tried to support Lovel
* Poor planning (almost no planning)
Why was the domestic support of the lovel and Staffords rebellion serious/not?
Serious:
- Staffords allowed into Worcester, showing support from the village
Not Serious:
* Both Lovel and the Staffords had very little support
* Only dozens of supports, possibly hundreds
Why was the foreign support of the lovel and Staffords rebellion serious/not?
Serious:
* Margaret of Burgundy who is a noble and provided sanctuary for Lovel
Not serious:
* Margaret of Burgundy did not supply troops or try to help Lovel, only a place to live
Why was the timing/duration of the lovel and Staffords rebellion serious/not?
Serious:
* Henry VII away from London so more vulnerable
* Henry had only been on the throne a couple of months, had little time to establish his following
Not serious:
* Very short only lasted a couple weeks (1st May-11th May)
Was the lovel and Staffords rebelion a serious threat to Henry overall?
- Not an incredibly serious rebellion but showed a disagreement with Henry’s rule, especially in the North and York
- Displays henry’s tactics: had a good spy network and allowed information to be passed quickly and secretively, utilised bonds
Give an overview of the Lambert Simnel rebellion 1487
Simnel pretends to be Earl of Warwick who had claim to the throne. And is corwned king by Ireland, supported by Margaret of Burgundy and** Earl of lincoln**. He takes his army across England undisturbed but eventually Henry intercepts him, the battle of Stoke is fought and won by Henry, but not by a landslide. Henry then parades the alive real Earl of Warwick around to prove simnel as a fraud
What were the events of Lambert Simnel
1486:
* Autumn: Symonds (Oxford priest) claimed 10-year-old Simnel (son of tradesman) was Earl of Warwick (escaped from the Tower); Henry not aware until New Year 1487
1487:
* Feb: Henry put mother-in-law Elizabeth Woodville and Marquis of Dorset under house arrest, and confiscated their land; paraded real Warwick through streets of London
* Mar: Lincoln fled to join conspiracy in Flanders
* May: Simnel crowned king Edward VI by Earl of Kildare (Lord Lieutenant) in Dublin
* 4 Jun: Simnel’s Irish and German troops landed in Lancashire
* 16 Jun: Battle of Stoke Field – half of 8,000 rebels, including Lincoln, FitzGerald, Schwartz, Lovel (probably) killed
Why was the leadership of the Lambert Simnel rebellion serious/not?
Serious:
* Simnel enough of a leader to lead many foreign soldiers in one army as one team of rebels
* Rebels lead by Martin Schwarz who was a great military leader
Not serious:
* Simnel had great trouble increasing the size of the rebel army once it had been formed, showing bad leadership as he could not effectively recruit new soldiers
Why was the domestic support of the Lambert Simnel rebellion serious/not?
Serious:
* John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln suspected to be behind scheme
* Oxfordshire priest Richard Simons
* 1497 Symonds, and some of Lincoln’s retainers landed in Dublin. Ireland Yorkists sympathised with them, which led many Irish magnates to accept Simnel as the Earl of Warwick
* Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, who held office of Lord deputy and had many strong generational ties. Most powerful man in Ireland, also gave some Irish troops
* Sir Thomas Broughton one of Richard III’s affinity, wanted to see Henry VII overthrown
* Army were allowed to march 100s of miles and no one stopped them or opposed them
* Multiple nobles
Not serious:
* Rebels marched through Cumbria and north Yorkshire and were disappointed by lack of support Barely any new rebels joined.
* Rebels only had 8000 to Henry’s 12,000
* Henry’s army led by Earl of Oxford, Lord Stanley’s son
