development of the Lord Lieutenant

Question 1

before the introduction of the Lord Lieutenant and why they needed to be introduced

Answer 1

• local govt carried out by the nobility and gentry and increasingly the yeomen and artisans
• carried out roles associated with legal cases as JPs and collecting taxation
• the absence of a standing army and police force meant that local communities were led by members of the local gentry and nobility - responsible for upholding the law and order and raising armies to fight for the king
• these roles gave considerable power to the landowners, and it was important the monarch could trust them
• possible for those in positions of power locally to abuse their positions - War of the Roses - noblemen had raised armies against their own king
• could manipulate the local legal system into favouring their families and friends
• roles were done by people who were unpaid and at times unsuited for these roles
• the development of Lord-Lieutenant was done in order to tackle these problems and to increase royal control of the regions

Question 2

Henry VIII

Answer 2

• role emerged (not really though) as a response to foreign and domestic threats (war and rebellions)
• 1512 and 1545 - gave commissions to nobility to organise defence against the threat from France and Scotland
• 1536 - issued commissions to deal with the threat posed by the PoG
• lacked organisation and not all countires had one

Question 3

Edward VI (Duke of Northumberland)

Answer 3

• 1549 - appointed members of the nobility as Lieutenants to deal with the consequences and trouble caused by the serious rebellions of that year
• His lieutenants were expected to have both a policing and military role at local level

Question 4

Mary I

Answer 4

• further attempts to formalise the system in response of the war with France
• 1557-58 - Mary’s troops found it difficult to muster and recruit troops
• Mary responded by dividing the country into ten lieutenancies wit each lieutenant being responsible for the defence of their region and military recruitment - did not survive once the threat of french invasion had diminished in 1558

Question 5

Elizabeth I

Answer 5

• post of LL became permanent - in response to the war with Spain (1585-1604) - E ensured all counties had one
• in the beginning - LL’s appointed to each country with a deputy to help them - appointments were lifelong because of how long the war lasted
• initially their role was to focus on the organisation of the war effort - responsible for the recruitment of the national militia
• commission given to them was to organise the mustering of all available men to fight in the wars - also had to ensure these men were properly armed, trained and disciplined
• local officials were expected to help and obey them
• system harnessed the most powerful men in the country in service of the crown
• LL’s were directly answerable to the crown - raising troops for a national army rather than their own private armies as was the case before 1585
• members of the council often acted as LL’s = enhanced links between central govt and localities - council ran war effort on E’s behalf
• LL’s could gather info about local conditions - system of recruitment and organisation ran smoothly
• enhanced the ability of the monarch to control their country more directly than ever before

Question 6

criticisms of L’s under Elizabeth

Answer 6

• possible for local communities to close ranks against the LLs and refuse to cooperate - Suffolk and Wiltshire (1530s)
• not really an innovation - still relied on the nobility in their traditional military role