Henry's government Flashcards
important councilors
sir Reginald bray - chancellor of dutchy looked after crown land
John Morton -
Margaret Beaufort- mum
William Stanley- was lord chamberlain who then conspired against him
Council learned
- was a small and highly professional legal committee. It was introduced in 1495 to defend Henry’s position as a feudal landlord
- went on to deal with all Crown lands and kept up-to-date records of wardship, marriage and relief of all the king’s tenants and the collection of feudal dues that were owed to him
empsom and dudley took control and began heavily attacking the nobility financially
acted as a law court but wihtout a court of appeals therir rullings were final
everyone though this was corrupt and too powerful
how many times was parliament called?
7
for national security or rasing finance
judicial system
- church courts: offences of clergy, wills and marriages
- local courts: landholdings,landlords, use of common land
- kings’s court: assizes (2x a year, major cases)
quarter sessions (4x a year JPs civil affairs)
what is sanctuary what did it lead to
if you commit a crime you could run to a church as cant be charged.
controversial and lead to anti-clericalism
henry only ended this for acts of treason
problems henry faced
- finance
- nobility whose wealth and territorial power made them potential rivals to throne
- uneaven control through north south
what was bastard feudalism
contract system in which. annual payments were given instead of large grants in order to maintain suppport
attainders
controlled nobility by allowing henry to declare anyone of treason without trial (got henry loyalty)
- during his reign only 138 given. out, 46 of which were reversed
- increased use shows his paranoia as 51. were passed in 5 years
attacks on retaining
1485: lords and commons had to swear they wouldn’t. illegally. retain
1504: act. required nobles to obtain a license from the king before retaining men
nobels found a way around this by covering up financial records of payment to men
patronage
used to promote lower members of nobility so they would feel obliged to be loyal
didn’t use it with high members to preserve land
financial controls against nobles
demanding financial bonds from individuals which would put nobles in debt to the crown for loyalty
ex. lord burgaveny convicted in 1507 for illegally retaining 471 and fined £70,000. henry gave him a £5,000 bond over 10 years and got loyalty
star chamber
created in 1487
- prosecuted anyone who rebelled or threatened to rebel against henry
high court
strengths of henrys conservation of power
- council learned controlled nobility effectively
- attainders created loyalty
- privvy. chamber controlled access to henry
weaknesses of conservation of power
- retaining still a probelm
- use of fear; personal monarchy meant he wanted harsh punishments for non-compliance which was unpopular
- inconsistent power round country
how did henry manage finances
- to begin with, relying on the exchequer system and treasury but got rid of them due to personal monarchy and wanting control
- made a chamber to have more control taking care of private expenditure. by 1490s became centre of royal finances
crown lands
- henry inherited all land held by houses of Yorkists (29,000-£42,000 during reign)
- used 1486 act of resumption to reclaim crown lands granted away during war of roses
feudal dues
traditional rights held by crown to demand money
-improved management after appointing sir john hussey in 1503 to administer wardship
custom duties
- £33,000 - £40,000 in reign
what was the royal council
household ran council which henry attended, where they advised him on the law.
didn’t have a secretary he signed everything himself
appointed many peoplelike clegy (made up 50% but most noatbly people who ha dclear legal skills rather than a high place in society
created a privy chamber
importance of governemnt
henry needed to take control of the government as he needed to legitimised his powers and needed to reiterate personal monarchy
royal council was a continuation but new innovations star chamber and the the learned of law were new innovative stuctures
how did henry change how his council and gov was run?
instead of appointing people by class and status appointed base don legal merit that wiuld halp him create more effective governance
why were JPs so affective
it was an unpaid role but becuase people were so keen to impress the king they would work very hard for free to ensure that the reiongs stayed unde control
povided henry with control and loyalty
who led the council of the north
led by surrey
unsuccsessufl due to the yorkshire rebellion in 1486
what was the problem with ireland
the king only really had power in the pale.
solutions of ireland
henry used ponying to help him contorl
created ponyings laws which allowed henry to make laws for irladns that couldnt be overturned by irish courts
attempted to reestablish himself as dominant
failed as it was more expensive and harder than he anticipated and os had to reinstate the earl od kildare to rule who was involved in the warbeck uprising
how much did parlaiment grant henry for scottish war
120,000
what was mortons fork
morton was a key part of royal concil and he cam up with this pinciple
if member sof the nolbiity were living a flashly lifestyle they clearly have enough money to donate to the king
and if the nobility like poor lifestyls they are clearly hoarding money that can be given to the crown
effective way of managing the nobility
