chapter two- Henry v11's government Flashcards
why was Henry’s government different?
Henry placed a large emphasis on the power of the monarch and would limit the power of the elites and would hold many of his close advisors at a distance.
Henry will rely on the gentry as they do not have the power to affect his rule.
Nobleman will have skills in military though that is not important to Henry.
The council under Henry, what did it look like?
the council would have three main functions to advise the king, administer the realm on the king’s behalf and to make legal judgements.
Three main types of councillor-
the members of nobilty would be rarely included in the great magnates of the realm.
churchmen with legal training often had key influence.
the dependence of lawyers would also be relevant with the reign of Edward 4th.
the council would have no specific rules on what they had to do and people such as Bray and Dudley considered themselves suitable to meet by themselves.
lady Margret beaufort would be a key advisor, being his mum she would serve as an important councillor though she would hold no office due to her being a woman.
the people that would closest to the king would be the William Stanley, his mother his uncle would be the handful of people that would support him closely, then he would receive support from the professional classes.
there would be over 200 members but only around 40 but be active at anyone time.
a significant thing that this council would create would be the court of the star chamber in 1487 and this would help to deal with the threat of the nobles, particularly to stop retaining- this would not be connected to Henry 8th court of star chamber
who was John Morton?
churchman(key aspect) and lawyer
would be a passionate Lancastrian though would become the bishop of Ely under Edward 4th.
he would work against Richard and would be promoted to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486.
cardinal in 1493
who was Sir Reginald Bray?
he would be a faithful servant of Henry and would help him to raise funds for Bosworth.
he would be chancellor and duchy of Lancaster.
he also led the council learned in law.
who was Sir Richard Empson?
member of the kings council from 1494 and would eventually chair the council learned. he would be arrested for treason after the kings death and would be charged with treason and executed.
who was Edmund Dudley?
he would be prominent following the death of Sir Reginald bray, Steven Gunn claimed that his role was to exploit financial activities which gave him ample opportunity to make influential enemies. after the king died he would be vulnernale with regards to counter attacks and he would become accountable for the kinds demands.
what was the great council?
DO NOT CONFUSE WITH THE COUNCIL LEARNED
this was the house of lords meeting with the House of Commons. It would only meet 5 times through out henrys reign and was occasional would tend to discuss issues such as war.
what was the council learned?
John Guy describes this as a “specialist board”
this was to maintain the kings revenue and exploit the prerogative rights.
this would make the system of bonds of recognisances.
it was not an official court of law and those who were forced to appear before the board are not allowed to appeal. many historians have highlighted how this has caused mass amounts of anger.
it important to note that the council happened at the kings will.
brays key associate would be Richard empson, following brays death he would be joined by Dudley.
the general public would not appreciate the financial control of the council learned.
it would be detested though would be created to establish the kings role as feudal landlord and would operate without a jury, though it would be vital to promote law and order.
what was the royal court?
this was wherever the king was and followed him, the tudors would follow their predecessors and would rely heavily on the royal court. this would be where the power of the monarch would be focussed.
it was through the court that things like status would be distributed.
what were the different levels to the courts?
the household proper would look after the king and the people
the chamber which would be presided over by the lord chamberlain, this was a matter of trust. would be a blow with William Stanley and the warbeck case.
Henry would create a privy chamber which would be private and would have the most intimate of people to try and not suffer any blows.
what did parliament look like in henrys time?
this had two key roles to pass laws and to grant taxation and it would only meet occasionally and at this time the house of lords would the more important of the two houses.
the king would only call 7 parliaments during his time, 5 of these would be in the first decade.
it was not of a major significance for the day-to-day running of the country , though ut would be used for the most important issues for example funding a war against France. Parliament would also oversee 10% of all acts with regards to the JPS and the local provinces, though the council learned and other offshoots would be seen to have the most power.
domestic policy- justice and the maintenance and order
Henry would have to put a strong emphasis on law and order as king and without this the risk of future rebellions was high. he would also have to rely on nobles to execute power. there would be a reduce number of magnates in the wars of the roses and with the murder of the earl of northumberland in 1489 it would leave Henry without some key control in that part of the country. Henry would have no choice but to send the earl of Surrey who would prove his loyalty. Henry would have little faith in some people for example the Marquis of Dorset and would have spies report back.
who were justices of the peace? and how did their power grow?
at a local level these were the people that would insight law and order. many of these people were gentry who would do these unpaid tasks because they felt that they were necessary. their power would grow for example they would be in charge of routine administration such as tax assessments. Henry would trust these people to insight order due to their lack of power to encourage a rebellion against him.
1485- powers of arrest would be extended to cover poachers and hunters
1491- powers to grant bail
1495- power to vet juries.
what were bonds and recognises?
Henry would force law and order this way and people would be forced to take out bonds and recognisances.
some may have been the result of debt that people owed Henry however, many of them would be political. he would use this as a way to ensure that he could obtain power and obedience
why did the number of lawyers at the centre of government increase?
lawyers can manipulate the law and are also debted to the king.
lawyers are also intelligent people who give the king high book keeping. they would also have the kings best interests at heart. many of the gentry are lawyers and they don’t have the power to overthrow the king.
