finances Flashcards
Annual income of each king
- Henry IV = £90k
- Henry V = ? But died in severe debt, had to sell jewellery and ships after death
- Henry VI - £24k
- Edward IV = £65k, died solvent despite extravagant personal spending
- Richard III = ?
- Henry VII = £100k
Land
- Henry IV:
- £11k per year from Duchy of Lancaster
- £1,120 of this money went to government finances, support his 4 sons
- Henry V:
- £13k per year from Duchy of Lancaster
- £4,400 to government finances, linked Duchy income more to royal finances
- Henry VI:
- Duchy dropped to only £4,493 per year, Henry VI failed to collect the money owed. Poor organisation
- Edward IV:
- first reign (1461-70), annual income from land = £10k
- second reign (1471-83), annual income from land = £30k
- also gained income from Act of Resumption from lands Henry VI had given away
- income also from Duchy of York, seized Duchy of Lancaster and Earldom of March
- Henry VII:
- £42k per year from land
- had a smaller family to support, not as much land given away
Customs, how was it 1390-1510?
- charged mainly on wool as this was England’s biggest trade, monarchs charged customs on imports and exports
- biggest contribution to royal income aside from land
- 1390-1510, c21,000 sacks of wool to c8,500 sacks, disruption to trade, economic recession, etc.
Customs under Henry IV, V and VI
- it was a real problem
- trade recession, piracy in the Channel 1440s and 1450s = disruption to trade and collection of customs, basis of financial problems during reign of Henry VI
How did Edward IV increase revenue from customs in his second reign?
- subsidy on wool was fixed in 1471, standardised customs duties (there was an acknowledgement that the king shouldn’t finance gov policies on his own wealth alone)
- commercial treaties with neighbouring countries e.g. with France, trade improved so customs improved
Customs under Henry VII
Magnus Intercersus resumed trade with Burgundy so customs increased again (aided by diplomacy)
Customs around taxation in the era
- Northern counties taxed for defence of the north while Southern counties taxed for defence of the south
- raised in tenths and fifteenths (countryside = fifteenth, town = tenth), this was a fixed sum from 1334
Taxation under Henry V
- he had little difficulty obtaining necessary taxation due to his military success
Taxation under Henry VI
- he had trouble collecting taxation
- e.g. Cade’s rebellion due to high taxation + failures in France
- by 1453, estimated that only 3/4 of tax reached the crown
Taxation under Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII
- they weren’t fighting the Hundred Years War so had less need for tax for defence
- income tax under Edward IV was seen as suspicious, only half of requested £60,000 collected 1472-73
- after 1475 gaining consent for taxation was less of a problem (less war, Picquigny)
Profits of justice throughout 1399-1509
- all fines went to the king, fines were the most common punishment
- important source of income AS LONG AS the justice system was effective + functioning
When did income from profits of justice decrease?
During Henry VI’s reign and Edward IV’s first reign (due to the chaos caused by Wars of the Roses)
How did Edward IV alter profits of justice?
- new forms of loans and taxation
How did profits of justice change under Henry VII?
- bonds of the nobility (more than half the peerage was obliged to pay bonds)
Sources of income from feudal rights in 1399-1509
- tenants living on crown lands e.g. a fee when the tenant’s oldest daughter got married
- ‘right to the wardship of idiots’ where the king took the profits of all lands held by someone with a permanent mental disability
- request feudal aids for the knighting of the king’s eldest son and the marriage of the king’s oldest daughter
- less important source of income than land/customs
Wardships of minors (feudal rights)
- kings could administer the land of minors e.g. Henry IV gained income from the land of Edmund Mortimer (only 8 in 1399)
- can also sell wardships e.g. Edward IV sold the wardship of Henry Tudor to Pembroke
Feudal rights under Henry VI
- his minority government launched investigations to ensure the correct payment of feudal dues e.g. in 1427
- the minority government was careless with this source of income and manipulated it for factionalism
- 1433, revenue from feudal dues only 7% of royal income (but rest of finances were good in this year)
How did feudal rights improve under Edward IV?
efficient management through the Chamber rather than the Exchequer which circumvented slow bureaucracy (as traditionally the Exchequer audited income while the Chamber organised spending)
Feudal rights under Henry VII
- further improved on the changes that Edward IV made
- 1504: tried to retroactively collect feudal dues for knighting of Arthur (dead by this point) and marriage of daughter Margaret. Parliament refused
