9. Henry VIII, government and Parliament

Question 1

explain the government under Henry?

Answer 1

-he had inherited a strong and efficient central government, but there were changes after 1514
1. 1509-14conciliar government had broken down by 1514, due to disagreements between Henry and councillors
2.from 1514-29 Henry relied on Wolsey to manage the government effectively
3.1529-32 w=Wolsey’s downfall saw a return of the conciliar government
4.1532-40 Thomas Crowmwell rose to power as chief minister ‘32 and dominated royal government
a new privy council emerges with fixed membership and recorded proceedings
(clear that parliament grew in importance), as they dealt with his divorce and to finance his wars

Question 2

explain domestic policy under Wolsey?

Answer 2

-domestic policies were centred around strengthening royal authority and raising finance to support him in Scotland and France

Question 3

explain Wolsey’s background?

Answer 3

-born 1472 to a butcher in Ipswich and won the a scholarship to Oxford, studied in a priesthood

Question 4

explain Wolsey’s rise to Henry’s favour?

Answer 4

• in last years of Henry VII’s reign he gained patronage at court under Bishop fox
• he gained promotion to Royal Almoner
• guessed what the king wanted to hear, as Henry had been frustrated by the cautious advice of his fathers ministers especially within foreign policy
• 1513 King entrusted Wolsey with the organisation of expedition to France for a 30,000 strong army
• this went well and he was drawn into the peace negotiations that followed

Question 5

how did Wolsey rise to power in church??

Answer 5

1513: dean of York and + conquered French campaign that year
1515: Cardinal by pope Leo X + Lord Chancellor in Henry’s government when William Warham resigned
1518: Papal Legate by Pope Leo X (he could exercise papal powers)

Question 6

explain Wolsey’s personality?

Answer 6

• unusually proud and flamboyant
• known as the ‘alter rex’ (other king)
• he had many enemies inc. duke of Norfolk, who thought he was arrogant
• used legal powers to intimidate anyone he saw as a rival ev. Duke of Buckingham it is believed Wolsey mad up rumours about him saying the king may not be king for much longer just to behead him to send a message to others to not question his power

Question 7

explain economic reforms under Wolsey?

Answer 7

1517: national enquiry to find out how much land was enclosed and the effects it had, legal cases drawn to prosecute landowners who enclosed land without proper permission
- with main source being trade but the trade embargo against Burgundy affected cloth trade badly coinciding with one of the worst harvests 1527= unemployment and inflation W= debasement of coinage

Question 8

explain financial reforms under Wolsey

Answer 8

1522: organised national survey to investigate who could pay tax and how much= gained £200,000, but wasn’t enough during this period of inflation
1525: when the amount of extraordinary revenue was raised it wasn’t enough to fund Henry’s war in France= the Amicable Grant, a voluntary gift to the King from his subjects but in reality it was a tax, =resistance and had to be abandoned= turned into benevolence= a grant without parliament sanction
between 1512-1514 spent 1,000,000 on war
**Hoyle: represented the heaviest taxation England had experienced in the 14th cent
=shows Henry’s wars brought about periods of heavy taxation

Question 9

explain legal reforms under Wolsey?

Answer 9

• he wanted to tackle the problem of slow and unfair delivery of justice
• 1516 planning reforms in to the system to improve matters and promote civil law based on evidence rather than common law
• freq used the star chamber to attack nobles+ law officials who abused power hearing about 120 cases a yr = reputation of being a friend to the poor, allowing him to use his influence anywhere, but made enemies
• shown to attempt to rule without parliament as only 2 were called

Question 10

explain Wolsey and the Church?

Answer 10

1518: Papal Legate by Pope Leo X (he could exercise papal powers)
- instructed to inspect religious life within monasteries = 24 religious houses dissolved
- he was opposed to the spread of protestant heresy and encouraged Henry to take a stand against the German reformer Martin Luther
- he embodied everything that needed changing in the church as he had immense wealth, many religious title he was not able to full fill= criticism for abstenteenism and perjury

Question 11

explain the establishment of the royal supremacy and the kings great matter?

Answer 11

• 1525 concerned the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which could only be granted by the pope (who he believed would grant it because he rallied with pope against ML)
• this was due to by 1520’s Henry had no male heir, Catherine had passed child bearing age, in love with Anne Boleyn, feared he would die without a male heir and fail to secure the tudor dynasty (trying to appoint bastard henry fitzgerald as heir)
• 1527 made clear she would not be henry’s mistress so he decided he wanted a divorce
• hard because the pope Cement VII was under the control of Emperor Charles V, who was Catherine’s nephew = neither wanted to support his divorce

Question 12

explain Henry’s scriptual arguments for divorce?

Answer 12

• this marriage relied of Catherine’s assurance that she hd never consummated her marriage with Arthur, if this was untrue that means the marriage wouldn’t be valid ‘if a man shall take his brothers wife, it is an impurity’
• He believed lack of male heir was god’s punishment

Question 13

explain Henry’s diplomatic manoevres to get a divorce?

Answer 13

• to attack Emperor Charles as he was unlikely to support the divorce
• Charles had control in Italy and Wolsey tried to free the pope from Charles’ influence by using an alliance with France = failed

Question 14

explain Henry’s legal efforts to get a divorce?

Answer 14

• tried to hold divorce hearings in England where he as Papal Legate could make judgement
• Pope still didn’t want to offend Charles so he sent Cardinal Campeggio to England with instructions to delay to hearing
• when court finally met in June 1529, Catherine immediately refused to recognise it and appealed to the pope to move the hearing to rome
• wolsey’s use had come to an end

Question 15

what happened to Wolsey after his failed legal efforts?

Answer 15

• 1529: accused d him of praemunire (working in the interests of the pope rather than the king) in position as papal legate= exiled to the diocese of York
• Nov 1530: arrested but died before he could be tried and executed and replaced him with the scholar Thomas Cromwell

Question 16

explain the relationship between Henry and Wolsey

Answer 16

• historians generally agree that henry was in charge, Wolsey only had independent decision making when Henry sanctioned it
• relationship was a master servant one, with the servant bearing more power and influence than normal
• Wolsey was aware that his power depended on the goodwill of Henry, proven in 1529 and he was easily deemed redundant and replaceable.

Question 17

why had henry lost confidence in Wolsey by 1529?

Answer 17

• failure to secure Henry’s divorce
• failure to achieve Henry’s aims for foreign policy, England was marginalised and isolated
• Boleyn faction hinting that Wolsey was delaying the divorce
• reputation and personal ambitions

Question 18

explain the role of Cromwell?

Answer 18

• won the kings favour by rescuing from the dilemma caused by his annulment with Catherine and repudiated papal authority. did this by manipulating both the Aragonese and Boleyn Factions, and fabricated evidence that Anne was unfaithful= treason and; her + lovers executed
• given several offices meaning he had control over the administration of the government eg. Lord Privy seal (1536)
• dissolution of monasteries+ 1538 english translation of the bible to every church
• *Guy: many of the changes under Henry were due to the ‘administrative genius’ of Cromwell

Question 19

explain the fall of Cromwell?

Answer 19

• due to politics
• different interpretations of his fall
  
  1. blamed for the failed marriage to Anne B
  2. cromwell delayed the annulment from Anne of Cleves to prevent the Duke of Norfolks neice being installed as it didn’t suit his foreign policy
  3. support for radical reformers and his pro-lutheran diplomacy
  4. religion, brought about by Stephen Gardiner who was an opponent of Cromwell
• cromwell’s enemies in court were keen to exploit these flaws
• executed July 1540, and married Catherine Howard the same day

Question 20

explain the privy council after Wolsey and Cromwell?

Answer 20

• after Wolsey’s fall, H was faced with the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) which threatened the stability of the kingdom
• he needed support from the nobility to regain control of the northern third of the country =privvy council (small advisory group created by cromwell)
• countered pilgrims claims that he was being swayed by external forces
• cromwells fall (1540) had secured the centrality of the PC

Question 21

explain ordinary revenue?

Answer 21

• Henry exploited the church revenue
• revived the ‘first fruits’, which was tax normally paid to the pope, now paid to the king
• also implemented ‘tenths’ = both oppressive and gave money from the church to the king
• provoked clerical protest

Question 22

explain cromwell’s personality?

Answer 22

• many believe him to be a cunning and scheming man (machiavelli figure)
• although ***pole describes him as an ‘agent of satan’ this is refuted by cases of treason with 900 being charged, but only 350 executed and half was because of the pilgrimage of Grace

Question 23

what were the problems with the royal council?

Answer 23

• meetings weren’t recorded

- normally became dominated by one man

Question 24

how did Cromwell reform the privvy council?

Answer 24

creates a smaller privvy council
-all members must attend
-clerk appointed for each meeting, and records kept
-meetings were regular with a key agenda
no longer just members of the royal household, trained professionals such as lawyers
-**elton: believes he was a ‘brilliant public servant’ and believed in the ‘rule of law’