Henry's financial policies towards the nobility Flashcards
What did Henry develop towards the nobility
Henry developed the use of financial forms of coercion against the nobility to obtain intelligence. Henry’s use of bonds and recognisances as a new
and effective method of controlling the nobility and ensuring
their loyalty.
What did the control of the nobility show
Henry VII distrusted the
nobility and sought to control them by fear rather than working
with them more collaboratively, as was the medieval ideal.
Henry’s use of bonds
These bonds were payments to the crown by members of the nobility
in return either for privileges or as fines, which were imposed upon those whose loyalty to the king was questionable or who were liable to quarrel violently with another noble family. The payment of bonds was not new, but Henry increased their use
considerably and, during his reign, more than half the peerage
was obliged to pay money to the crown as security for their good behaviour. nobles in question nobles under continual threat of being forced to sacrifice huge amounts of money if they offended the king in any
war
In addition, a noble could be made to pay an annual sum in
lieu of the whole amount, for example
in 1507, when Lord Abergavenny
Was fined the colossal sum of £70,000 and he was unable to pay,
Henry instead agreed to receive payment of £500 per year for the
next ten years, provided no disloyalty was suspected.
What bound more people to the king in financial terms.
some wealthy figures were obliged to sign bonds to guarantee
the good behaviour of their poorer relations
What did Michael Hicks say about bonds
Henry’s policy around bonds was a threat to anyone who might otherwise indulge in secrecy or criticisms of the royal family that would formerly not have been regarded as treasonous. ‘Absolute obedience to, and dependence upon, the monarch himself became a defining feature of Henry’s reign.
‘Absolute obedience to, and dependence upon,
the monarch himself became a defining feature of Henry’s reign.- what shows this
even one of his
trusted advisers, Sir Richard Empson, in 1507 was granted some
local offices, Henry personally crossed out the term
“for life” in
the grant and instead replaced this with the words
“during (the
king’s] pleasure”’
Edmund Dudley
key figure who was frequently linked to the formulation and
exaction of Henry VI’s more unpopular financial policies. disliked by many nobles because of
his involvement in the use of bonds and recognisances, which
effectively operated outside the law and allowed Henry to contro!
and, in actuality, punish nobles without trial. Scapegoat
What shows Dudley’s unpopularity?
he was arrested and sent to the Tower only days
after Henry VII died and, in 1510, was beheaded on the ordeis
of Henry VIlI.
What concerning dudley created an image of a highly suspicious
king.
During his arrest, Dudley revealingly commented that
Henry VII was keen to make people feel insecure and dependent
upon his good will
Alexander Grant has emphasised that the primary purpose
of bonds and recognisances for Henry
Was not to gain large
amounts of money, but rather to ensure monarchical control over
the nobility; Henry equated financial security with power.
Henry was nowhere near as generous with the nobility as his
predecessors had been; the days of ‘over-mighty subjects’ and
*under-mighty monarchs’ were clearly over. What shows this?
he did not seek to increase the peerage substantially with
new creations, and that he was very careful in how he distributed
patronage. In addition, any nobles accused of treasonous plotting
were treated very harshly, not only by the fact that many were
executed even for relatively minor involvement in any conspiracy,
but they also lost all their possessions, which meant that their heirs
were disinherited and the family lost power and influence. Unlike
his predecessors, Henry was disinclined to reverse these attainders
While lack of
mercy and avarice are not particularly attractive characteristics, this Tudor policy did ensure
that no significant noble opponents, such as Warwick ‘the kingmaker’ or the infamous George,
duke of Clarence, came to the fore during his reign. Instead, the main threats to his throne came from
impostors, supported by Yorkist sympathisers, not because their
false credentials were genuinely believed, but because it was tacitly acknowledged that the Tudor
king would execute rivals - and, so, risking the life of a real alternative claimant to the throne was too
dangerous at an early stage.
