Government Flashcards
How effective was Henry VII’s use of the privy council?
Effective:
1. Had 6 or 7 men of a permanent body with a core membership
2. They had 3 jobs:
- to advise the king
- to administer the realm on the kings behalf
- to make legal judgments
3. He had experience from different areas of workers:
1. Nobles: Lord Daubeney
2. Churchmen: John Morton and Richard Fox- had legal training and were excellent administrators
3. Laymen: Sir Reginald Bray, Edmund Dudley- gentry or lawyers who were skilled administrators
4. Non- councillors could alos advise the king such as his mother Margaret Beaufort
Not effective:
Council Learned in Law
How effective was Henry VII’s use of Parliament?
Effective:
1. Compromised the house of commons and house of lords
2. Only the king could call parliament- He called his first parliament after he was coronated in nov 1485
3. Henry called parliament seven times, 5 times in the first 10 years and 2 in the remaining 14- shows that power is centred on the crown and when henry felt more secure, parliament could be dispensed
3. Early years focussed on 2 problems
- National security: passed numerous acts of attainder
- Raising revenue: His first parliament granted tonnage and poundage for life
- other parliaments granted extraordinary revenue
Not effective:
1. Met infrequently so was not central to government
How effective was Henry VII’s use of the court?
Effective:
1. At the centre of government
2. Rewards and status were distributed through the court; courtiers enjoyed paid positions or free food and support from the king was offered in returned
3. In 1485 they compromised
- the household proper, responsible for looking after the king, courtiers, guests. Supervised by the Lord steward
- the chamber, presided over by the lord chamberlain, often spoke for the monarch: this was the politically important part of the system
4. After the treason of william stanley henry remodelled the chamber as the privy chamber compromised of his most intimate servants- this made it hard for anyone to gain or regain the kings favour
Not effective:
1. In 1495- the Lord chamberlain, william stanley, was involved in the perkin warbeck conspiracy
2. This cut henry off from many traditional contacts at court
How effective was Henry VII’s use of regional councils?
Effective:
1. A risk sending yorkist earl of surrey to control the north paid of as he served loyally for 10 years
2. Henry trusted few and relied on the lesser magnates with less power- he employed a spying network to ensure all of the nobility remained loyal
Not effective:
1. The nobled were most powerful in the north of england
How effective was Henry VII’s use of local government?
Effective:
1. Gradually increased the powers of the jp’s who together with the sheriff (responsible for elections to parliament and peacekeeping), were appointed to each county
2. Jp’s were mostly unpaid local gentry and few were roya; officials
3. They met 4 times a year to deliver judgments on disputes
4. They were responsible for routine administation e.g taxassesments, complaints against local officials
5. More serious cases were hears at the courts of assize by judges appointed by the crown
Not effective:
1. The court of assize could overturn decisions made by the jp’s- causing tension
To what extent did Henry change the Privy Council?
Change:
Continuity:
To what extent did Henry change Parliament?
Change:
Continuity:
To what extent did Henry change the royal court?
Change:
Continuity:
To what extent did Henry change regional and local government?
Change:
Continuity:
How effective were Henry’s financial changes to government?
Effective:
1. Profits from feudal dues
- Profits from wardshipsincresed
- Feudal aid granted in 1504
- dues paid by land owners on death of a feudal tenant-in-chief
2. Crown lands
- Large proportion of ordinary revenue
- from 1492 henry changed income to the chamber and increased revenue to £42,000 by the end of the reign
3. Other sources
- customs revenue (tonnage and poundage)
legal system and profits of justice (fines and income form bonds)
- bonds and recognisances
4. Extraordinary income
- pensions from other powers (35000 per annum from france 1992 treaty of etaples)
Not effective:
1. around £12,000 per annum at beginning of reign collected using ineffective court of exchequer
2. Extraordinary income (provoked rebellion)
- clerical taxes and grants
- loans and bevolonces
- parliamentary grants
What areas of Ireland did Henry VII control and not control?
Control:
1. Only the pale, the land around dublin
No Control:
1. the rest of ireland ruled by independent chieftains
Why did Henry replace the Earl of Kildare?
-The earl of kildare (Lord deputy of ireland since 1477) was a threat to henry because of Yorkist sympathies. Kildare crowned lambert simnel king of ireland in 1486 and supported Perkin Warbeck in 1491
- Consequently Henry replaced him with Sir edward poynings
Why was Henry’s replacement of Kildare, Poynings, a failure?
- Henry appointed Sir edward Poynings as Lord deputy of ireland who passed poynings law of 1495, which declared that the irish parliament needed the approval of the english monarch before it could pass laws
- Poynings also tried to subdue the irish by force. However, kildare was persuaded to abandon the yorkist cause and was reinstated in 1495. Thereafter, he served henry loyally and secured the submission of various irish chieftains. by 1500 henry had established a reasonable level of control
Summary of Government?
- Henry VII largely maintained the traditional structures of government; however there were developments, such as the establishment of the privy chamber in 1495 and the creation of the council learned in law
- He kept law and order through the nobility (helped at a local level y justices of the peace), while his system of bonds and recognisances enforced obedience ; a network of spies ensured performance of both
- A key focus was the improvement of royal finances, in which he achieved considerable success, though at the cost of rising unpopularity and at the risk of alienating the group whom his throne most depended
