Cromwell's Reforms While in Power Flashcards
GOVERNMENT (how the country was actually governed) - reforming the Royal Council, government of Wales and the North of England
Problems:
Royal Council meetings were disorganised and unrecorded and had no rules. There were 100 members of nobility and clergy who were allowed to attend but rarely met. This meant that determined ‘advisers’ such as Wolsey could become over dominant.
Wales was semi independent and had its own laws and customs.
The North had a long history of independence.
Solutions:
Cromwell turned the Royal Council into the Privy Council - which included 20 well-trained lawyers and administrators with a Clerk to record meetings. This was a huge improvement - creating a modern government that lasted hundreds of years.
1536 Act of Union brings Wales under English law. Wales divided into 7 counties headed by JPs and given MPs in parliament.
Council of North (which had been established in 1472) strengthened: made responsible for maintaining law and order. Cromwell pushed through a 1536 Act abolishing liberties and franchises in the North and elsewhere - this made the King’s law more far reaching.
FINANCES - Reforming the King’s Chamber and creating new government departments
Problems:
Keeping an eye on income and expenditure was boring to Henry. There were no rules on how the King’s Chamber should be run; accounts not properly checked.
Solutions:
Created a bureaucracy of departments that dealt with different financial issues. Departments checked to ensure they were acting appropriately and bureaucracy staffed by well-trained officials
Another (welcome) problem:
Dissolution of the monasteries led to massive increase in income; King’s Chamber could not cope!
Solution:
Court of Augmentations (1536): dealt with property and income form monasteries
Court of First Fruits and Tenths (1540): collected Church tax that used to go to Rome
PARLIAMENT - increasing the power of the House of Commons
Problems:
Was a minor institution that approved taxes and England was ruled by a personal monarchy, with Henry making decisions by royal proclamation.
Solutions:
Cromwell used parliament to pass laws (esp. Act in Restraint of Appeals - which paved the way for the break from Rome).
House of Lords represented by nobility and clergy; House of Commons represented, landowners and merchants; Cromwell used this to get support for laws.
e.g. 1509-1531 = 203 Acts 1532-1540 = 333 Acts passed, showing the increasing use of statute law. Cromwell used experience as lawyer and MP to “persuade” parliament.
