Councils and the court (2) Flashcards
What did Henry rule with?
A council of advisers who supported him in making key decisions.
How many men are recorded having attended the Council during his reign?
227
How many members were in his working Council?
Around 6 or 7 members.
What were the Council’s 3 main functions under Henry VII?
1) To advise the king
2) To administer the realm on the king’s behalf
3) To make legal judgments
What was the Councils rules and procedures during Henry VII’s reign?
It had no established rules or procedures.
What was the Council?
A permanent body with a core membership.
What did other members do?
They met separately to deal with key administrative concerns when the king was not present, so it was possible for different members of the Council to meet in two places simultaneously.
Who were Bray and Dudley?
They were classed as “professional” councilors who met to deal with legal and administrative matters in London when other councilors were with the king elsewhere.
What did the importance of the Council depend on?
It’s key members and it’s offshoot, the Council Learned..
What was it not essential to hold to be a councillor in order to advise the king?
For man or women to hold an office.
What did the historian David Loads argue?
That Henry’s most influential adviser was someone who held no office, Lady margret Beaufort his mother.
When did the Council Learned develop?
In the second half of Hnery’s reign.
At first who lead the Council learned?
Bray
Where did the Council Learned often meet?
In the office of the Duchy of Lancaster.
What was the Coucil Learned function?
To maintain the king’s revenue and to exploit his provogative rights.
What did the Council Learned make work so well?
The system of bonds and recognizances thus able to entrap many of the king’s subjects.
Was it a recognised court of law?
No
What happened to those who were summond before the Council Learned?
They had no chance to appeal.
Who was Bray’s associate in the Coucil Learned?
Richard Empson
Who was Richard Empson?
A fiercely ambitious laeyer and bureaucrat.
Following Bray’s death in 1503 who was Empson joined by?
Edmund Dudley
Together what did Edmund Dudley and Empson create?
A feared combination of able and conscientious bureacrats who raised the extraction of money from the king’s sibjects to a fine art.
Who were enemies with Edmund and Empson?
Bishop Fox and Sir Thomas Lovell thus removing them when Henry VII died.
What did the downfall of Empson and Dudley bring?
Rejoice on the streets, indicating just how feared and unpopular their financial control became in the last year of Hnery VII’s reign.
What was the centre of the government?
The royal court
What was the royal court? (3)
1) It had to be magnificent and generous since wealth was power.
2) Henry VII was influenced by continental examples of ryal courts especially in Burgundy and France.
3) They royal court was found wherever the king was at any given time.
What were the different levels to the court? (2)
1) The household proper was responsible for looking after the king, the courtiers, guests and other “hangers-on” who were being entertained.
2) The Politically important part of the system was the Chamber, presided over by the Lord Chamberlain. The Lord Chamberlain and other senior household officials were influential courtiers. The position of Lord Chamberlain was both powerful and a matter of considerable trust.
What did Henry create?
A new Privy Chamber where the king could retreat and be protected by his most intimate servants.
