Henry 8 - Rise of Wolsey and his policies Flashcards

Question

Further reasons for Wolsey’s rise to power

Answer 1

- Wolsey was lucky, Henry was bored of his fathers old legal advisors, many were arrested or retired so Wolsey rapidly rose up the ranks - Wolsey proved he was willing and able. In 1513, he supplied a piwerful army to fight France - Became a papal legate

Answer 2

- Lived a lavish life with a lot of money - Built palaces with his money to entertain foreign guests - Had around 500 servants which was equal to the Royal Household - Funded artists and musicians - Loved to show off his wealth through flattery - He would sue those who threatened him

Answer 3

- Originally, the system was flawed as it favoured the nobility - Wolsey made a point when he was appointed that no one was above the law as he sent the Earl of Northumberland to prison - Strengthend the court of the Star Chamber which gave justice to all - He wanted revenge on the upper classes for treating the lower classes poorly - Manipulated the legal system to favour him

Answer 4

- Supported cases of the poor against the rich - Oversaw many cases in person - Increased the courts work rate from 12 cases a year to 120 - Made the reasoning for his decisions public - Encouraged poor people to bring cases to court

Answer 5

- Landowners fencing-off land to turn a profit from sheep rearing - Blamed for poverty issue as this was common land intended for villagers to graze their animals - Associated with selfishness

Answer 6

- Wolsey tried to find a solution to enclosure, partly to aid he poor and partly to attack the rich - This led to 260 court cases against landowners - This led to a rise in Wolsey’s popularity from commoners - He became unpopular with landowners in parliament and they forced him to stop - Encolsure still remained an issue

Answer 7

- Henry wanted an agressive foreign campaign to prove himself a great king in Europe - His normal income was £110,000 this was not enough - Wolsey had to find a solution and he realised direct taxation was not working

Answer 8

- Each community had to pay a certain amount to parliament when called upon - This was one fifteenth in rural areas and one tenth in urban areas - This was known as fifteenths and tenths - The valuations were based on data from the 14th century so it was outdated - But it was reliable and predictable but still not enough

Answer 9

- Subsidy was an additional tax based upon a person’s income - Commisoners would go around the country to create valuations - Subsidy raised around £170,000 whilst fifteenths and tenths raised £90,000 - This helped to pay a war with France

Answer 10

- Forced loans - £260,000 | - Clerical Taxation - £240,000

Answer 11

- This ensured there was never a financial crisis in Henry’s early reign - But it still could not keep up with Henry’s spending - Around £1.4 million was spent on taxes - Wolsey became unpopular amongst commoners

Answer 12

- Charles V of France was defeated and captured in 1525, Henry wanted take this opportunity to invade France as it was vulnerable - But due to a failed invasion of France 1523, England had little money - Wolsey had already demanded subsidies and forced loans - Wolsey needed to find a solution to this, his solution was a tax without parliament’s position

Answer 13

- Parliament’s main role was to make sure the king did not tax the country too hard - Fifteenths and tenths and subsidy had been approved by parliament - If parliament was ignored, there was a risk of rebellion against the king’s rule

Answer 14

- Demanded that priests pay one third of their incomes whilst everyone else payed one sixth - Commisoners were sent out to collect tax and were greeted with anger - People simply refused to pay - A rebellion broke out in Suffolk who pledged loyalty to the crown but also said they were angry - The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk crushed this and forced the rebels to surrender

Answer 15

- First significant rebellion of Henry’s reign - Henry claimed that he was unaware of this tax and he ordered the collection to stop - Wolsey was humiliated and forced to claim full responsibility, his popularity further increased - Henry started to doubt Wolsey - No further tax was attempted by Wolsey - Henry’s wish to attack France was ruined, he sought peace instead - The leaders of the rebellion were pardoned

Answer 16

- In 1526, Wolsey turned to reforming domestic and political aspects of Henry’s household - Henry’s palaces were dirty, ill behaviour was common and expenses rose - Wolsey drew up a list of rules known as the Eltham Ordinances

Answer 17

- Servants who were sick or not needed were laid off - The umber of people who needed expenses for food, drink, fuel and lodgings were cut - Meals were at set times - Dogs were banned to promote cleanliness The Ordinances were 79 chapters long

Answer 18

- Wolsey reduced the number of gentlemen from 12 to 6 - The public reason was to cut costs - Wolsey’s main reason was to reduced side-line political hatred

Answer 19

- Henry was a strong king who enjoyed jousting, archery and hunting - Henry dreamed of military glory - But England did not have the population, resources or monehpy to compete against France or Habsburg - The difficulties of England were made clear when Engalnd failed to invade France in 1512 - His army failed due to drunkeness and disease

Answer 20

- Henry captured the French towns of Therouanne and Tourani - Defeated the French army at the Battle of the Spurs - Henry boasted this as a success - In reality, the towns were small and the battle was minor - Also, the king’s treasury was emptied

Answer 21

- Wolsey was the driving force behind Henry’s foreign policy

Answer 22

- Francis I of France | - Charles I of Spain

Answer 23

A middle power with foreign territories such as Tourani, Wales and parts of Ireland. Laid claims to France

Answer 24

Largest kingdom by population in Europe and were heavily catholic Had a fierce rivalry with the Habsburgs Ruled by Francis I from 1515

Answer 25

- Powerful catholic kingdom - Ruled by Charles Habsburg from 1516 - Main source of wealth and armies - Gained large control lf Aztec and Incan empires

Answer 26

- The seat of the Pope and higher ups of Catholicsm - The independence of the Papal Staes was under repeated threats from Spain and France who both tried to dominate the areas

Answer 27

- Collection of over 400 states each under their own control - The Holy Roman Emperor ruled over all states and had great political power - Charles V was the ruler who was also the rules of Spain and a Habsburg

Answer 28

- The Ottoman empire was a large muslim state backed by a well-disciplined army. During this time it was threatening with expansion - The Netherlands were under Spanish control and had a large export in cloth - Scotland was an ally of France and was a threat to England - The Mediterranean was a powerful sea route occupied by Ottoman pirates

Answer 29

- Both young, bright and ambitious like Henry - But they were both more powerful - Foreign affairs were dominated by the French/Spanish rivalry - Had conflicting claims to different claims to European territories

Answer 30

- Spain was an attractive ally for England as Henry was married to Catherine who was Charles I’s aunt - England’s economy relied on the Netherlands for its exports which was occupied by Spain

Answer 31

- Francis and Henry were similar in character, a rivalry was inevitable - This was confirmed when France defeated Spain to seize Milan - Henry was jealous as Francis was heavily involved in combat and the growing power of France - Wolsey tried to make allies but failed, Francis eventually made peace with Charles

Answer 32

- The ever ambitious Wolsey saw an opportunity to place England at the centre of European negotiations (mainly England, Spain and France) - He put the idea of universal peace forward to permanently end the war between European states - Each state would agree to follow a non-agressive policy - If one would break the pact, they risked being attacked by the other two - 20 leading rulers of Europe also signed up

Answer 33

- Brought great presitge to Henry VIII as he was seen as a Europe peacemaker - England started to be viewed as a significant power - Wolsey and Henry were placed at the centre of European politics - It was praised across Europe as political and diplomatic triumph

Answer 34

- There was still tension between France and Spain and in 1521 the war restarted - Charles I was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 which made war inevitable for three reasons - Francis hoped to become Holy Roman Emperor but Charles was elected - France was now surrounded by Habsburg land - As Holy Roman Emperor, Charles had a claim to Milan which was under French control

Answer 35

- Wolsey and Henry organised a series of conferences with Charles and Francis to prevent war - They also wanted to see what they would get in reutrn for British support - The field was the most spectacular meeting

Answer 36

- Both Henry and Francis wanted to show off their prestige - No expense was spared on a fortnight of jousting and feasting carefully planned by Wolsey - One feature was a fountain of wine - However, nothing was achieved as no decisions were made to bring peace. All it did was increase the suspicion that England was taking sides - England’s relationship with France was still poor, in less than two years they would be at war

Answer 37

- Both kings gathered immense prestige | - They both became the centre of European politics

Answer 38

- After the field of the cloth of gold, Wolsey experienced immense setbacks - Francis declared war on Charles in April 1521, Wolsey attempted to put a peace deal together but failed - Universal peace had fallen and now it was a decision on which side to support - Henry declared war on France in May 1522

Answer 39

- Initially, there were minor raids on France led by the Earl of Surrey - However a triple attack on Paris was led by England, Spain and the Duke of Bourbon who had taken arms against Francis - The Duke of Suffolk led an attack of 11,000 men but some troops promised by Charles did not show up, he eventually had to retreat - English enthusiasm declined because of this

Answer 40

Charles used Henry’s troops as a distraction to dfeat French troops in Northern. This stunned France and Francis was now imprisoned

Answer 41

- Wolsey and Henry pressed Charles to exploit this victory and join them in a joint-invasion - A plan was sent to Charles to divide up all of France - Charles had different ideas. He had no wish to expand Henry’s power and he released Francis making him to agree not to take revenge

Answer 42

- It had become obvious that Charles did not view England as an equal - Charles had deserted Henry in 1523 when the Duke of Suffolk attempted to capture Paris. He only used England as a distraction whilst he focused on the Italian peninsula - Charles was not prepared to share his rewards from Pavia - The cost was high forcing a tax increase lowering Henry’s popularity

Answer 43

- Charles did not repay Henry for Pavia and wll faih was lost in him - Wolsey carried out a dramatic change in foreign policy due to concerns of Charles’ increasing power - He would make peace with France - In 1525,a treaty was signed creating peace - Henry would give up Therouanne and Tourani for an annual payment

Answer 44

- The following year, Wolsey helped organise the League of Cognac which created alliances with France, the Pope, Venice and Florence - Combat against Habsburgs began but failed - France and Wolsey signed the Treaty of Westminster which threatened armed intervention on Charles if he did not improve relations with his neighbours

Answer 45

- Wolsey began to question wether he was right to turn on Spain - Henry began to press for a divorce. If Spain and England were allies, the process would be quicker - Habsburg troops had seized Rome and taken the Pope as prisoner, the Pope was the only person who had the power to grant the divorce

Answer 46

- Henry turning on Charles led to him getting no assistance in the divorce from Charles - Wolsey had to rely on the league of Cognac would break Charles dominance in the Italian peninsula - This was risky as Charles was dominant

Answer 47

- Both England and France declared war on Charles - Francis invaded Italy but no English troops were sent to fight - This discredited the idea of England being a serious international player - Wolsey placed a trade embargo on the Netherlands (Spain) but this was removed due to protests from cloth workers needed access to markets in Antwerp

Answer 48

- Following Francis’ defeat in Italy, he mad peace with Charles at the treaty of Cambrai - Wolsey was infirmed at the last minute - England was no longer being treated as an equal by all of Europe

Answer 49

- By 1527, Henry had become disillusioned with Catherine of Aragon - Anne Boleyn caught his eye as she was young, attractive and stylish - Henry claimed he was shot by the dart of love - Henry was focused on obtaining a male heir and Anne Boleyn was perfect - It resulted in the transformation of Henry’s court

Answer 50

- Aunt to Charles V of Spain - Bethrothed to Arthur whilst she was princess of Spain - This was a political marriage - Married in 1501 but Arthur died the following April - The Pope decreed that the marriage had never been consumated - This meant that Henry could marry Catherine

Answer 51

- There was originally affection in this marriage - Catherine was well-educated and deeply-religious - She defended Henry’s interests - Henry made her a regent whilst he invaded France

Answer 52

- Catherine was pregnant six times but only had one surviving baby - It had a large emotional and physical toll on Catherine and Henners - She was aged 39 by 1524 and her chances of becoming pregnant had fallen - Henry needed a surviving son

Answer 53

- Henry needed a son for the succession of the Tudor throne, if England had a female monarch, he feared that others may claim the throne - Henry felt that Catherine’s failure to produce a son was a sign of God’s displeasure - This might be due to the fact that she was his dead brother’s wife

Answer 54

- Henry was deeply in love with Anne Boleyn - Henry knew her family as Sir Thomas Boleyn was a minister and Anne’s father - She was also the niece of the Duke of Norfolk - Anne refused the king’s advance initally as she wanted them to be married but eventually she became pregnant making Henry more motivated

Answer 55

- The task fell to Wolsey and he needed the approval of the Pope - Wolsey assured this could be achieved as he was a cardinal and a papal legate - Wolsey claimed to be an influential, international statesman in Rome - He assured the Pope would help Henry as he was an ally

Answer 56

- Charles V had dominated Rome ever since the Battle of Pavia - For a short time, he had imprisoned the pope - The Pope did not want to upset neither England nor Spain so he made the process as long as possible

Answer 57

Wolsey argued that a passage in Leviticus stated that if a man were to take his brohers wife, they shall be impure. The Pope’s granting of the marriage between Catherine and Henry was wrong as it broke God’s holy law

Answer 58

- Supporters of Catherine pointed to a passage in Deuteronomy which suggested that a man should be allowed to marry and have children with his brother’s wife - It would be embarrassing for the Pope he was wrong on a religious matter - The Leviticus argument only worked if they were properly married

Answer 59

- Wolsey argued that the marriage documentation was incorrectly worded and that it would lead to it being void - This approach had the advantage of giving Rome a non-controversial reason for the annulment - However, the Spanish version was correctly worded

Answer 60

- Henry put pressure on Catherine of Aragon to become a nun - This would automatically terminate the marriage - Henners accused Catherine of being to polite in public and if he were to be assassinated, she would be blamed for it

Answer 61

- Wolsey’s final attempt was to persuade Rome for the case to be held in England - As papal legate, the task would fall to Wolsey - The pope reached a compromised by allowing Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio to oversee the case

Answer 62

- Cardinal Campeggio had been given instructions not to reach a final verdict - Campeggio delayed and he only arrived in England in October 1528, this was due to illness and old-age - Campeggio made precedings really slow as he insisted to do everything by the book - In July 1529, Campeggio broke up the court for the summer without a final verdict

Answer 63

- Catherine of Aragon was ordered to make a speech at Blackfriars court, she ignored the officials and knelt before Henry and made a direct plea, this showed Catherine’s opposition - Catherine had powerful followers such as bishop of Rochester, John Fisher and Thomas More, adviser to the king - Public support was high for Catherine - The Pope was not in a strong position to support the annulment

Answer 64

- A year after the court was suspended, Wolsey was stripped of everything and summoned to London for trial in October 1530 - Wolsey was lucky, he died in Leicester on the way to London for trial, if he arrived, he would have been executed

Answer 65

1. His failure with the Amicable Grant 2. His failure to secure the annulment 3. His failure to build an alliance with Charles V

Answer 66

- The Eltham Ordinances highlighted how Wolsey sought to prevent rivals getting close to Henry, this was successful until 1527 - As Henry got close to Anne, a faction developed led by Thomas Boleyn and her brother George

Answer 67

- They believed that Wolsey was deliberatley trying disrupt the annulment - They said he favoured Catherine and that Wolsey believed that Henry would eventually leave Anne - Anne grew to hate Wolsey as did other nobles with grudges against him - The Boleyns helped persuade the execution of Wolsey

Answer 68