Chapter 7- character and aims of Henry VIII Flashcards
when was Henry proclaimed King?
23rd April 1509, two days after his fathers death
when did Henry VIII marry Catherine of Aragon?
11 June 1509
when was Wolsey’s emergence as first minister?
1514
how was Henry educated?
how to be King and humanism
what was Henry VIII’s mind like according to John Guy?
his mind was able but second rate
how does Eric Ives describe Henry at the beginning of his reign?
‘extrovert, affable and charming’
how was Henry VIII’s succession welcomed?
as a breath of fresh air after the stultifying and rather sinister atmosphere associated with the influence of Empson and Dudley in the last years of his fathers reign.
how did Thomas More describe henry’s accession?
‘the end of our slavery, the fount of our liberty, the end of sadness, the beginning of joy.
How did Henry’s style of Kingship differ from his father?
hated business of government and found the writing and reading of state papers but would often intervene suddenly in the business of government, in the process contradicting decisions or actions which had already been taken. he also lacked his father’s work ethic, preferring to pass the time with good company.
what was the impact of Henry’s dislike for the business of government and tendency to suddenly intervene?
it had considerable implications for the quality of decision making within Henry’s administration.
what did Henry VIII place emphasis on?
pageants, revelry, sports, hunting and tournaments.
how did the structure of government evolve differently in Henry’s reign compared to that of his father’s?
in the short term there was a renewed emphasis on governing through council, which then made two comebacks in the later stages of his reign (1529-32, 1540-47).
for two periods of his reign Henry relied on the work of a chief minister who shaped the structure of government to meet his own needs.
why did Wolsey come to Henry’s attention?
as a result of his organisational abilities
how was Wolsey rewarded?
- range of church offices
- appointed cardinal by Leo X in 1515
- papal legate in 1518 (outranked Arch B of C and gave him control over religious orders in England)
- Lord Chancellor in 1515
what was left to Henry by his father?
£300,000 but unpopular mechanisms for gaining money
Peaceful foreign policy
conciliar form of government
how would Henry VII’s legacy be changed?
money would disappear through Henry’s aggressive foreign policy and Wolsey would become the focus of government rather than individual councils
conciliar changes in henry’s early reign
-Fox, assisted by Lovell and Weston secured arrest of Dudley and Empson.
how did Henry make himself more popular to the nobles?
-executed Empson and Dudley
- council learned in the Law abolished in Jan 1510
-cancelled many bonds and recognisances to distance himself from his father’s ‘victims,’ of his regime
Henry’s three key aims in his early years
establish his status among European monarchs through marriage
Re-establish role of the nobility
Establish himself as a warrior King
why did the councillors approve of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon
it would deflect Henry from political matters and allow them to continue their conciliar activities
early years of marriage
-successful
-Catherine had some influence over policy making
nobility in Henry VII’s reign
- had little direct political influence
- couldn’t pursue military glory
- few spent time at court
how did Henry change this?
- spent time with sons of nobles through sport, revels
- many accompanied him to war such as Marquis of Dorset to SW France and Earl of surrey to Scotland
- nobles were still disappointed because Wolsey was given so much power
What happened to the Duke of Buckingham
- executed in 1521
- he was the only Duke at the start of Henry’s reign and a direct descendent of Edward III
- too liberal in discussing the succession so tried in court of peers headed by Thomas Howard
