government and parliament Flashcards
How often did Henry VIII call for Parliament in his first half of his reign?
Just 4 times before 1529.
What had been Henry’s primary reason for summoning Parliament?
To secure revenue.
How did Henry’s need to have a son change the relation between the Crown and Parliament?
The system was reworked and it meant Parliament had come to play a much bigger role than it had done previously.
How had Wolsey and Cromwell differed in how they had used Parliament?
Wolsey seemed to have a certain distaste towards Parliament, only calling for them one time in his time of power.
Cromwell, however, exploited its legislative possibilities much more thoroughly, meaning Parliament met a lot more frequently during the second half of Henry’s reign.
When had Henry adopted a conciliar reign and when did it end?
Lasted from 1509-1514.
Why had governance via councils broken down for the first time?
Due to conflict between Henry’s impulsive personality and his more conservative councillors.
Who provided Henry with effective management of government?
Thomas Wolsey.
What were several of the factors that brought the conciliar approach of government to an end?
- Henry was disenchanted with the reluctance of some of his father’s senior councillors to support his war with France
- He became increasingly assertive of his right to control decision making
- He’d surrounded himself with young councillors who reinforced his suspicions of the ‘old guard’
- Became impressed by organisational skills of Wolsey
Where did Wolsey’s influence derive from?
His close relationship with the king, rather than the positions he held.
What were Wolsey’s main concerns?
- The legal system
- The formulation of domestic policy
- Political decision-making
What was the one area of government that Wolsey had had no immediate control over?
The Privy Chamber.
Why had the role of the Privy Chamber been extended in the early years of Henry’s reign?
The king’s ‘minions’ (a group of young courtiers who enjoyed Henry’s company) had been made Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber.
What did Wolsey set out to do to the minions?
Neutralising their influence, it was clear the minions did not trust him.
What did Wolsey secure in 1519?
The removal of the minions and replaced them with his own supporters.
How did the Privy Chamber retain its prestige and influence even after Wolsey had removed the minions?
The minions had managed to recover their position, keeping this one part of government outside of Wolsey’s control.
What system did Wolsey oversee due to his role as Lord Chancellor?
The legal system, despite not being a trained lawyer.
How did Wolsey try to use the court of chancery but what became the problem with this?
As a way to uphold ‘fair’ justice, through dealing with problems to do with enclosures, contracts, and land left to others in wills.
The problem with this is that it became too popular but the legal system was slow, and so became backed up with too many cases.
What was Wolsey’s most distinctive legal contribution?
It came through the operation of the Court of Star Chamber, it became the centre of both government and justice under Wolsey.
When did Wolsey extend the use of the Star Chamber and what was his motive for doing this?
In 1516, to increase cheap and fair justice. He’d heard cases of alleged misconduct by people who were dominant in their localities.
How else did Wolsey encourage the use of the Star Chamber and what was an effect of this?
He encouraged people to use it for private lawsuits.
This became too successful and her was forced to set up a series of ‘overflow tribunals’ to deal with pressure of business.
What was set up in the Star Chamber in 1519?
A permanent committee which became the ancestor of the later court of requests, dealing with cases involving the poor.
Who were expected to provide extraordinary revenue?
Taxpayers, including the nobility.
What was the most effective way in which extraordinary revenue was made?
By raising subsidies.
How did Wolsey change the way subsidies were collected?
Previously, local commissioners assessed taxpayers’ wealth; this was risky as they tended to be lenient to the local nobility.
Instead, Wolsey set up a national committee which he himself headed. This meant there were direct and realistic assessments of wealth, and the country’s revenue became much more realistic. Wolsey had managed to rise money for Henry VIII’s war with France.
Why had Wolsey created the ‘Amicable Grant’ in 1525?
Because the revenue raised from subsidies had been an insufficient amount.
What did the Amicable Grant lead to?
Widespread resistance which almost developed into a rebellion.
When and why were the Eltham Ordinances introduced?
In 1526, in order to reform the finances of the Privy Council.
How did Wolsey use the Eltham Ordinances to reduce the number of Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber?
He used the excuse of pushing forward proposals for a reduction of royal household expenditure.
Who was Henry’s Groom of the Stool, and who replaced him once Wolsey had successfully removed him?
Sir William Compton, replaced by the more compliant Henry Norris.
Why did Henry want an annulment from Catherine of Aragon?
She was past childbearing age and she had not given birth to a male heir, which Henry desperately needed for his reign to continue.
Henry had also fallen in love with a different woman, Anne Boleyn, but she was unwilling to become the king’s mistress.
What did the need for an annulment become known as?
The King’s Great Matter.
Who had been given the task of securing an annulment and what did they have to do to get it?
Thomas Wolsey.
He had to secure a papal dispensation.
How had Henry biblically justified his annulment?
Through the book of Leviticus; it contained a prohibition on a man marrying his brother’s widow.
Henry’s wife, Catherine, had been previously married to his brother, Arthur, for a very short period of time. He claimed that the papal dispensation he’d been issued to originally marry Catherine was invalid, and that in God’s eyes his marriage was illegal.
What had Catherine of Aragon counter claimed about Henry’s own claim that their marriage was invalid?
That her previous marriage to Prince Arthur had never been consummated and was therefore also invalid, meaning that her marriage to Henry was consequently legal.
What did Wolsey do in May 1527?
He used his power as the personal representative of the Pope to bring Henry before a fake court to ‘accuse’ him of living in sin; a fault that Henry was ready to admit.
Catherine had refused to accept the court’s verdict and appealed to the Pope.
