#5 Reducing the power of the nobility

Question 1

What were the seven methods Henry VII used to reduce the power of the nobility?

Answer 1

1. Order of the Garter
2. King’s/ Great Council
3. Acts of Attainder
4. Bonds and recognisances
5. Limiting retainers
6. Feudal rights
7. Restoration of crown lands

Question 2

Why was it important Henry controlled the nobility?

Answer 2

As a usurper he was vulnerable to a powerful noble attempting to overthrow him

Problems of the 1450s-60s had been at least partly caused by the powerful nobility exploiting the weak king

Spent years in exile - needed their help and advice to govern, enforce law etc

Could provide leadership and sufficient force for a rebellion e.g. Lovell and Stafford, Simnel

Question 3

How many knights of the Garter did Henry VII create?

Answer 3

37

Question 4

Why was grating land as a reward for loyalty not a great idea?

Answer 4

Created ‘super nobles’

Took land and thus power away from King as meant giving away crown lands

Question 5

Why was creating Knights of the Garter effective?

Answer 5

1. Rewarding respect without losing land
2. Position highly coveted
3. Rewarded loyalty and thus encouraged loyalty

Question 6

How did Henry change the relationship of patronage and way was this effective

Couple of examples of who he granted it to

Answer 6

Instead of giving patronage in hopes that it would inspire loyalty, given to those who had already proven loyalty

Highly prestigious

1. Earl of Oxford for support at Bosworth
2. Lord Daubney for putting down Cornish rebels
3. Non-nobles such as Reginald Bray and Edmund Dudley

Question 7

In what two ways was a summons to the King’s/Great Council effective at controlling nobilty?

Answer 7

1. Greatest honour for the most loyal
   
   1. Five key councillors had supported him before Bosworth
2. Once a policy had been agreed, and nobles had given their support, difficult to criticise the policies

Question 8

Why were Acts of Attainder effective?

Answer 8

Reduced power of threatening nobles by bringing them into social and economic decline - stick

Encouraged loyalty so as to reverse the Attainder - carrot

Attaching conditions to reversed Attainders gave Henry even more control over the nobility

Question 9

Henry passed __ Attainders against the nobility

reversed __

but attached condition to __ of them

Answer 9

Henry passed 9 Attainders against the nobility

reversed 5

but attached condition to 4 of them

Question 10

What were bonds and recognisances?

Reasons they were effective?

Answer 10

Bonds - written agreements whereby people promised to pay a sum of money if failed to carry out a task/ committed an offense

Recognisance - acknowledged existing debt or obligation, promising to pay money if they did not meet it

1. Very effective at discouraging potentially disloyal nobles
2. Raised money and thus increased influence for the crown

Question 11

Example of a bond/recognisance?

Answer 11

£10,000 for the Marquess of Dorset (involved in unrest)

Paid between five lords

Question 12

Problems with Acts of Attainder?

Answer 12

Caused some unrest

e.g. Edmund de la Pole resented Henry for stripping him of inheriting his father’s dual title etc and became a troublesome claimant

Question 13

Problems with bonds and recognisances?

Answer 13

Grew in harshness through reign, and if Henry has lived much longer might have eventually lead to rebellion ^{_{(he didn’t though)}}

Question 14

What evidence is there to suggest that Henry was effective in limiting retainers?

Answer 14

Absence from records of any illegal retaining suggests policy was at least partially successful

Fines for illegal retaining raised funds for Henry

Question 15

What two legal things did Henry do to limit retainers?

Answer 15

1. 1485 - made Lords and Commons swear not to retain illegally
2. 1504 - issued proclamations that ensured nobles needed a licence to retain, underpinned by threat of heavy fines

Question 16

Why was it so vital that Henry controlled retainers?

Answer 16

If troops were deployed against the King were a serious threat as he did not have a standing army - perhaps the greatest threat posed by the nobility

Question 17

Example of limiting retainers

Answer 17

Lord Burgavenny in 1506

Cost him over £70,000

Question 18

How did insisting on his feudal rights strengthen Henry’s control over the nobility?

Answer 18

1. Constant reminder of King’s authority
2. Nobles lost power and wealth
3. King gained wealth and thus power

Question 19

Explain the feudal rights of the King associated with:

Marriage

Wardship

Relief

Livery

Answer 19

Marriage

King could exploit this so as to profit from arranged marraiges of heirs

Wardship

Estates of minors placed under royal control, exploited for royal gain

Relief

Payment to king when land was inherited

Livery

Payment to king to recover land form wardship

Question 20

Problems with insisting on feudal rights?

Answer 20

May have caused some resentment especially during final years as king when HEnry really cracked-down

Question 21

Most notable measure in restoration of crownlands?

Answer 21

1486 Act of Resumption

Recovered land granted away since before the Wars of the Roses

Question 22

How did Henry grant land without it eating away at his own land?

Answer 22

Wherever possible granted land from estates that had been taken by attainder from other nobles

Question 23

What has Steven Gunn estimated about the amaount of land Henry got as a result of his stinginess?

Answer 23

About five times as much as the crown had at the end of Henry VI’s reign

Probably his most successful area

Question 24

Overall judgement on Henry’s control of the nobility?

Answer 24

There was little noble unrest after the defeat of Simnel

Numbers of ‘over-mighty’ subjects definitely reduced

BUT

Because Henry was so repressive towards the end if his reign he might have started a new civil war if he had not died in 1509

PLUS he never rested easy…