1.2 Henry VII's government

Question 1

Council & Court: What did Parliament look like before 1485?

Answer 1

-Made up of Lords Spiritual & Lords Temporal in Lords, as well as MPs in Commons (who were local gentry, merchants, and lawyers).
-It was split up into the house of Commons & the House of Lords, with Lords being stronger.
-Was used to pass laws, and allow the king additional taxes
-Only summoned when there was a particular need for it.

Question 2

Council & Court: How different was Parliament under Henry?

Answer 2

-Parliament’s judicial function was replaced by subcommittees, like the Council Learned in the Law.
-Legislation was mainly used for acts of Attainder & policies against riots; 10% of all statutes dealt with JPs responsibilities, & social discipline.
-Like others, he used Parliament infrequently, only calling on them 7 times in his 24 year reign.

Question 3

Council & Court: What did the Privy Council look like before 1485? Were there any subcommittees?

Answer 3

-Made up of Nobles and Gentry advisors, who all aided the king.
-Gentry had been used in Richard III’s council, as Sir William Catesby & Sir Richard Ratcliffe were both lawyers.
-It was used to advise the king over matters of the state, administer law etc.
-Richard III had established one to deal with legal cases for those who could not afford, called

Question 4

Council & Court: How did the Privy Council & Subcommittees change under Henry?

Answer 4

-People on Henry’s council had to ‘earn’ their place, like the Earl of Oxford became Great Chamberlain due to his loyalty. However, 29 of Richard’s councillors retained their positions.
-Henry used the gentry more than previous monarchs, like Reginald Bray, Dudley, and Poynings- this was not completely novel, though.
-Used subcommittees a lot more than previous kings, establishing the Council Learned in 1495, to collect feudal dues, and bonds & recognisances as well as exercising his prerogative rights.

Question 5

Council & Court: What was the court like before 1485?

Answer 5

-Made up of Royal Courtiers, who acted as companions & advisors.
-They were the centre of government, and were intended to entertain both him & foreign guests (they were supposed to be ‘good advertising’)

Question 6

Council & Court: How did the Court & Household change under Henry?

Answer 6

-Henry took influence from foreign courts, as he had grown up in the Breton Court.
-Established the Privy Chamber in 1495 (as a reaction to William Stanley’s betrayal) to sway nobles’ loyalty.
-They continued to serve the same function.

Question 7

Council & Court: What was the Council of the North like before 1485?

Answer 7

-It had originated in Yorkist times to help maintain control over the North, which was very far away from London to keep peace.
-Was led by representative selected by local nobles.

Question 8

Council & Court: How did the Council of the North change under Henry?

Answer 8

-Henry required London to keep close watch on the activities of the CotN
-Ensured key members of his council were appointed there by him, not Lord Lieutenants.
-Bishop of Carlisle, William Sever, was appointed to Surrey’s council to enforce prerogative rights & keep in contact with Reginal Bray
-Function stayed the same.

Question 9

Council & Court: What were JPs & Sheriffs like before 1485?

Answer 9

-Local landowners who took on the voluntary roles
-Sheriffs helped organise & supervise elections, as keeping the king’s peace
-JPs were intended to help defend public order, implement legal statutes, and dispense justice.

Question 10

Council & Court: How did JPs & Sheriffs change under Henry?

Answer 10

-Henry increased the Judicial power of JPs, in 1485 they had the power to arrest poachers/hunters & 2 years later the could grant bail to those awaiting trial
-Acts in 1495 allowed them to deal with corrupt & intimidated juries.
-They worked directly with the king now.

Question 11

Council & Court: What were Magnates like before 1485?

Answer 11

-These were local, powerful nobles who had been delegated power, and an area to look after.
-They were appointed by the monarch & controlled land on behalf of him.

Question 12

Council & Court: How did Magnates change under Henry?

Answer 12

-Henry was focused on ensuring the nobles were not over-mighty, so punished those that went against him & rewarded loyalty.
-Yorkist nobles were allowed to return to roles like Lord Lieutenant, but had their powers restricted, and, like Earl of Northumberland, their roles were overtaken by loyal nobles when they died, so Thomas Howard became the Earl of Northumberland.
-Henry moved nobles away from areas where they had large support, so the Earl of Oxford was given land in East Anglia & the Midlands, where he lacked any proper support.

Question 13

Finances: how and why did henry’s approach to finance change?

Answer 13

• starts with the exchequer and then changes to the chamber in 1487
• this is because the chamber is faster and closer to the king
• Richard III was making £25000 a year but in Henry’s first year he was making around £12000
• in 1487 he has a feast for st George and cant afford to pay for it
• wants more money for security, image, control of the nobles and for his heir

Question 14

Finances: how he collected revenue was new

Answer 14

• the privy chamber increased in importance as it took over the administration of the royal household
• the chief officer of the privy council, the groom of the stool, became second in importance to the treasurer of the chamber
• the chamber system gave him much more control since Henry worked along side both men, checking the accounts himself

Question 15

Finances: how he collected revenue was not new

Answer 15

• Richard III had laid the basis for the reform of the financial administration and henry was able to continue this
• Edward IV used the chamber first in 1461
• the head of the financial system had long been merely a figurehead

Question 16

Finances: What were some sources of royal income?

Answer 16

-Crown lands
-Profit from feudal dues
-Customs revenue
-Pensions from other powers
-Profits of justice
-Extraordinary revenue

Question 17

Finances: What is ordinary income? What is extraordinary income?

Answer 17

-Ordinary income was regular, and it was an expectation the he would get this.
-Extraordinary income was money raised by the king from additional sources as one-off payments when he faced an emergency or an unforeseeable expense. Made up of parliamentary grants, loans, clerical taxes

Question 18

finances: give some examples of henry’s usage of ordinary income

Answer 18

• the Crown got £70,000 per annum in custom duties under Edward IV, and only £40,000 at the end of his reign
• the crown lands were estimated to be 5 times larger at the end of henrys reign than in 1450
• by 1507 henrys income from wardship and marriage rose to £6,000 from £350 in 1487

Question 19

Finances: In what ways was Henry’s use of Ordinary Income new?

Answer 19

-In 1485-6 the Act of Resumption was instated, which returned all land given out since 1455 to crown land.
-Kept land without an heir for himself, known as escheats
-Used fines to punish criminals far more than previous monarch, even for treason
-Duchy of Lancaster goes from £650 pa to £6,500 pa in 1509
-Master of the King’s Wards, where marriage approval had to be obtained, had increased to £6,000 by 1507

Question 20

Finances: In what ways was Henry’s use of Ordinary Income old?

Answer 20

-Custom duties still accounted for 1/3 of ordinary revenue.
-The Act of Resumption is not always enforced, the Marquis of Dorset, for example, is allowed to keep his land.
-Duchy of Lancaster had been established in 1399
-Crown lands remain the main source of income

Question 21

finances: give some examples of henry’s usage of Extraordinary income

Answer 21

• In 1491, £48,000 was raised for war in Brittany, of which £9,000 was contributed by the City of London. (loans used)
• £203,000 is the estimated total of money raised through loans throughout Henry VII’s reign
• He received £30,000 from Parliament in 1504 for the knighthood of Prince Arthur (who had died in 1502).

Question 22

Finances: In what ways was Henry’s use of Extraordinary Income new?

Answer 22

-Recognisances became the normal way of ensuring payments of legal debts owed to the crown- the Viscount Beaumont is immediately given £10,000 fine.
-Tried not to misuse Parliamentary grants as previous monarchs had.
-Tried to implement new forms of income tax, but they largely failed.

Question 23

Finances: In what ways was Henry’s use of Extraordinary Income old?

Answer 23

-Continued to use the fifteenth and tenth taxes
-Left Bishoprics vacant for many months, so he could collect their revenue
-His French Pension (Treaty of Etaples) had been quite similar to Edward’s Treaty of Picquigny in 1475.

Question 24

Nobility: How did Henry try to control the nobles?

Answer 24

-Acts of Attainder
-Acts of Retaining
-Limiting the size of the nobility
-Order of the Garter
-Controlling marriage
-Patronage
-Bonds & recognisances

Question 25

Nobility: How did the size of the nobility change?

Answer 25

-There had always been a high extinction rate for nobles, om average 1/4 died out every 25 years.
-However, Henry was reluctant to create new titles, making only 3 new Earls, compared to Edward’s 9.
-Overall, the peerage shrank from 62 in 1485 to 42 in 1509. during edwards reign it increased from 49 to 58
-He allowed titles to elapse after nobles dying, in the case of Sir Walter Herbert (whose father, Earl of Pembrooke had partly raised Henry) his older brother’s Earldom of Huntington was ignored by Henry so it became crown land.
-He never gave out the title of duke of Gloucester, clarence and Warwick after the death of the dukes
-willoughby de broke was a key leader of Buckingham’s revolt against Richard III in 1483 and then fled to Brittany to be with Henry, he joined Henry at bsowroth in 1485 and in the same year gained a seat on the council, became jP for Devon, Cornwall, Dorset. he accompanied the king in his tour around England in 1486 and then became part of the household. however when he died in 1502 his son was forced to pay £400 for livery of his lands, £600 to acquire some of his local offices, forced to give a bond of £500 in 1504, and then in 1508was forced to take a loan of £2000 from crown= trust must be earned

Question 26

Nobility: How were Acts of Attainder used?

Answer 26

-Used quite frequently by Henry, in 1486, Thomas Howard was attained & imprisoned, due to Bosworth. He was slowly allowed his land back, but his father’s title of Duke of Norfolk was never returned to him.
-He passed 138 acts of attainder, and reversed 46. Nine of these were nobles, five of which were reversed. Four of these reversals, though, had special features attached.
- Thomas Tyrell had to pay £1738 for the reversal of his and his father’s attainders
- between 1504-09 51 acts of attainder were passed

Question 27

Nobility: How was the Order of the Garter used?

Answer 27

-It was used in place of peerage, so the number of major peers went from 16 to 10.
-37 people, including William Stanley, were bestowed the honour

Question 28

Nobility: How did Henry control Marriage?

Answer 28

-In order to prevent powerful families joining together to form over-mighty unions, Henry determined that it was his duty to approve marriages, and punish those who didn’t get it.
-When Katherine Woodville married Sir Richard Wingfield, they were given a fine of £7000, despite being Elizabeth’s Aunt.
- the extent of henrys increased control can be seen in the increase in proceeds from wardship and marriage from £350 in 1487 to £6,000 in 1507

Question 29

Nobility: How did Henry use Acts of Retaining?

Answer 29

-Passed 2 laws, in 1487 & 1504
-He forced MPs & Peers to swear they would not illegally retain, and worked to remove ambiguity in laws about retaining.
-The Earl of Oxford was fined £10,000 for illegally retaining, despite being one of Henry’s closest advisors.
-Fined Bishop Stanley, his step-brother, £245,680 for illegally retaining.
- the 1504 act of £5 per month per illegal retainer

Question 30

Nobility: How did Henry use Bonds & Recognisances?

Answer 30

-Written agreements in which someone who had offended the King would pay a sum.
-Marquess of Dorset was the worst, as after possibly being involved in the Simnel Plot, his friends had to sign bonds of £10,000 as a promise of his good behaviour. When the king went to war with France in 1492, he took his son hostage to ensure no further bad behaviour.
-Spiritual Lords were not exempt, the Bishop of Worcester had to pay £2000 and promise not to leave the country.

Question 31

Nobility: How did Henry use patronage?

Answer 31

-Rarely used patronage, opting instead for the Order of the Garter.
-Gave few, like Lord Stanley becomes Earl of Derby.
-Focused more on giving his favour to loyal subjects who served a purpose, like Dudley & Jasper Tudor.
- patronage had to be earned with Henry e.g Edmund Dudley who rose to become one of Henry’s most trusted advisors was not made a peer
- sire Reginald bray was helped to accumulate land throughout the 18 counties, w north well over £1000 per annum by the time he died

Question 32

Nobility: how was the kings council used?

Answer 32

• two chancellors retained their positions for long periods: John Morton (1486-1500) and William warm (1504-09)
• Richard fox became keeper of the privy seal in 1487, a position he was to retain until 1516