Henry VII Flashcards
How did he become King
- proclaimed King of England on battlefield by Lord Stanley, 3rd September 1485, Henry met by Lord Mayor of London = public wooed by pageantry/ceremony into cheering new monarchy
- Richard had become an object of suspicion (due to the disappearance of princes in the tower), public accepted Henry because he was not Richard
Problems Initially Faced
- weak: lived abroad since he was 14
- weak: descended through female line represented by mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort (line came from John Gaunt’s 3rd wife, son of John Beaufort born before marriage = illegitimate, so Henry only Lancastrian claimant only because there was no one else to fulfil role)
- power insecure: no discernible claim to throne + many enemies
- terminated Plantagent rule in England = established Tudor dynasty
- victory over Richard III’s forces at the Battle of Bosworth on 22nd August, 1485
How he Consolidated his Power
- publicly rewarded many key supporters (e.g. conferring 11 knighthoods)
- dated his reign from 21/08/1485, day before Battle of Bosworth, ensuring anyone who fought on Yorkist side = traitor
- detained Earl of Warick, Edward IV’s nephew, who had a claim to the throne
- Parliamentary Acts of Attainder against Yorkists who had fought at Bosworth ensured property was forfeit to crown = increased royal income, enhanced when Parliament granted Henry customs revenues of tonnage and poundage for life
- made key appointments to council + household (made Sir William Stanley Chamberlain of Household)
- coronation 30/10/1485 before meeting of first parliament on 7th November, right to throne = hereditary right, not because parliament sanctioned it
- January 1486, Henry married Elizabeth of York, daughter of King Edward IV. Waiting till other consolidation steps completed = ensure crown not bought by wife’s own claim to throne. Able to exploit royal propaganda union of 2 houses Lancaster + York
Position still Insecure
- several Yorkist claimants to throne
- pretenders to throne
- Margaret of Burgundy never reconciled to Tudor takeover, had access to funds to encourage Yorkist claimants
Viscount Lovell and the Staffords, 1486
- led by Viscount Lovell and Humphrey Stafford
- Lovell tried to raise a rebellion in Richard III’s heartland of support in Yorkshire, managed to escape from king’s forces
- Stafford tried to raise forces against Henry in Yorkist support area, Midlands, captured + executed
- significance: easily suppressed, shows little significance for a Yorkist uprising at this stage
Lambert Simnel + Rebellion of the Earl of Lincoln
Figurehead: Lambert Simnel (passed as Earl of Warick, imprisoned by Henry)
Conspiracy by: John De La Pole, Earl of Lincoln, potential Yorkist claimant
Henry’s Response:
- Richard III’s main power base in North of England, Henry reinstated Earl of Northumberland, who led a major portion of Richard III’s army at Battle of Bosworth, to power in North
- Neutralise Richard’s old power base + ensured Yorkist Howard family would not join conspiracy
- reinforced coastal defences in East Anglia, however rebels landed on Northwest coast, crossed Pennines to drum up support in Yorkshire. Yorkist gentry reluctant to commit wholeheartedly, waiting to see who was likely to win
Response to Hoax:
- Henry had the real Earl of Warick exhibited in London for all to see.
- Lincoln fled, joined Lord Lovell at court of Margaret of Burgundy
Battle of Stoke Field, 1487
Significance:
- brought end to War of the Roses, Henry’s position = safer
- Crisis overcome by shrewdness + hard work + organisational skills + military leadership of supporters + willingness of landowners to support his cause
Events:
- Henry gathered group of advisors in South + Midlands
- 2 armies met at East Stoke near Newark in Nottinghamshire
- army held firm
- Earl of Lincoln killed in battle, crucially been unable to add followers to army of mercenaries (Margaret had arranged)
Perkin Warbeck Imposture
- 1491: impersonate Richard, Duke of York in Ireland. Brief appearance in court to Charles III France, flee to Margaret of Burgundy (trained as potential Yorkist prince). Attracting patronage from foreign rulers = serious threat, fragile position
- 1495: tried to land in England, quickly defeated and fled to James IV court in Scotland. Conspirators = accomplice in heart of Henry government, Sir William Stanley (Lord Chamberlain), Henry vulnerable where should be secure
- 1496: small Scottish force crossed border on Warbeck’s behalf, quickly retreated. Warbeck interests sacrificed when James gave in to Henry’s offer to marry daughter, Margaret.
- 1497: Warbeck made a final attempt to seek English throne by trying to exploit uncertainties by Cornish rebellion, but forces were crushed and surrendered to king. Tried to escape with Earl of Warick but failed
Executed in 1499
Edmund de la Pole + Earl of Suffolk + Richard de la Pole
- younger brothers of the Earl of Lincoln
- Suffolk fled to Flanders in 1498, persuaded to return after a short exile, but fled again in 1501 (took refuge at Court of Emperor Maximilian)
- Treaty of Windsor 1506, friendly relations restored. Maximillian agreed to give up Suffolk, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Executed for treason in 1513.
- Richard de la Pole was at large, but killed at Battle of Pavia in 1525
Key Aims of Foreign Policy
- national security
- recognition of the Tudor dynasty
- defence of English trading interests
Brittany and France - 1487
Following an invasion in 1487 it looked as if the French would gain complete control of Brittany.
Brittany and France - 1489
This alarmed Henry who, in 1489, summoned Parliament to grant him extraordinary revenue to raise an army against the French. Two main reasons for this:
1) sense of obligation to the Bretons
2) his fear that direct French control of Brittany could increase a potential French threat to England
Treaty of Redon
England + Brittany agreed to the Treaty of Redon in February 1489, where Duchess Anne would pay for a small English army to defend Brittany from the French threat. At the same time, Henry tried to strengthen his position by an alliance with Maximilian, the Holy Roman Emperor-elect. A widower, Maximilian had contracted a marriage-by-proxy with Anne and had no desire for the Duchy of Brittany to fall into French hands. The English army went to Brittany but Anne surrendered and married Charles VIII. Left army marooned in Brittany/Maximillian lost interest in the matter. Situation made worse when Perkin Warbeck sought French backing for his claim to the English throne.Failure- Henry suffered major setback
How did England recover in 1492?
Recover- skilfully. Launched invasion of France in 1492 and the French quickly sought a peace settlement. (used knowledge of Charles VIII wanting to launch an invasion of Italy to his advantage).
Treaty of Etaples
Treaty of Etaples November 1492- Charles VIII agreed to withdraw his support for Perkin Warbeck and to pay a pension to Henry to compensate him for the expense of having recruited an army of invasion. Strategy = successful, managed to defend financial position/period of relative cordiality in Anglo-French relations.
Burgundy, the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire
- bulk of England’s exports went through the Netherlands (under Burgundy jurisdiction), important keep good relations. Complication = Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy (lead upholder Yorkist cause), who enlisted support of Maximillian (Holy Roman Emperor in 1493), who passed over jurisdiction in the Netherlands to his son Philip.
- relations deteriorated: due to hospitality they were offering Perkin Warbeck, Henry gambled putting an embargo on English trade with Burgundy would ease the matter. Problem = caused securing the dynasty/encouraging trade into conflict with each other.
- relations improved: after Warbeck left Burgundy, Henry and Philip were able to agree the Intercursus Magnus in 1496, which brought trade embargo to an end
1504- Isabella, Queen of Castile died. Outcome of Treaty of Windsor was new trade agreement, the Intercursus Malus. Henry demanded trade deal which would have given much stronger trading position to English merchants in the Netherlands had it ever been enforced (this trade deal never put into practice). Another outcome: Philip/Maximilian agreed to hand over Yorkist fugitive, Earl of Suffolk, whom Henry imprisoned in the Tower.
Success: Henry improved both England’s trading position/security of the dynasty
Treaty of Medina del Campo 1489
Treaty of Medina del Campo 1489-
success:
- the 2 monarchies offered mutual protection in event of attack
- they agreed not to harbour rebels or pretenders
- treaty arranged marriage alliance between Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon
problems:
- arrangements for royal marriage did not go smoothly
- Ferdinand proved reluctant to allow the marriage to go ahead as long as Henry’s dynastic stability remained threatened by Perkin Warbeck
- 2 monarchs argued over the size of Catherine’s dowry
Catherine and arthur
marriage agreed in 1499 and took place in 1501. Death of Arthur in 1502 brought complications to relationship with Ferdinand:
- Henry immediately suggested Catherine should marry Prince Henry, Ferdinand reluctant to agree. Little need for English alliance and proposed marriage would need a papal dispensation (price)
- 1504, Henry lost enthusiasm for the marriage, when death of Isabella made Ferdinand a less significant political figure.
- Henry supported Juana (Catherine of Aragon sister). Juana and husband Philip of Burgundy set sail for Spain in January 1506, but were forced to take refuge in England when ship was wrecked at sea
Treaty of Windsor
Treaty of Windsor 1506 (Henry took advantage in Juana/Philip situation) and secured strong relationship:
- the Intercursus Malus restored trade relations between England and Burgundy
- the return of the Earl of Suffolk (further securing Henry’s dynasty)
- proposed marriage alliance for Henry VII and Philip’s sister, the Archduchess Margaret (never happened)
- Henry’s recognition of Juana and Philip as rulers of Castile (strengthening couple’s claim to the throne)
Disadvantages after Philip of Burgundy’s death:
- Juana was described by her father as having gone mad
- gave Ferdinand opportunity once more to become regent of Castile
- this left Henry diplomatically isolated as once again he had been diplom
1485-1495
Anglo-Scottish relations were tense
1495-1496
1495-1496 (turning point): King James IV offered hospitality to Perkin Warbeck. Warbeck stayed for 2 years at the Scottish court, and received pension from king + aristocratic marriage. Potential threat to Henry, made worse by James encouraging Warbeck to cross the border in 1496 with an army. The army was small, spent little time in England, received no support from the people of Northumberland and quickly retreated back over the border when word was received that an English force was making its way north from Newcastle. This attempt at invasion led Henry to raise a larger army to launch an invasion of Scotland. This decision had important political repercussions because it prompted a taxation rebellion the following year.
1497
1497, the Cornish Rebellion: a large scale rebellion in Cornwall shook Henry. It was evident that it was in the interests of both England and Scotland to secure an immediate truce.
1498 onwards
1498 onwards: Anglo-Scottish relations significantly improved. Because of this improvement, James had no longer any diplomatic use for Warbeck, who had become tiresome. Warbeck was executed in 1499.
1501-1503
1501-1503: It was agreed that James should marry Henry’s daughter, the Princess Margaret. In 1502 this was sanctioned by a formal peace treaty, the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, and this marriage took place in 1503. The improvement in relations with Scotland lasted until the end of Henry’s reign, Henry had been successful in ensuring the security of the dynasty.
Ireland
- Henry VII power only extended as far as the ‘Pale’, the area of land which surrounded Dublin. Power in rest of Ireland lay with the descendants of Anglo-Norman barons (important were Fitzgeralds and Butlers)
- dominant figure: Earl of Kildare (leader of Fitzgeralds), Lord Deputy of Ireland since 1477. Feared by Henry as had Yorkist sympathies. Suspicion reinforced by Kildare’s support for Lambert Simnel, whom he crowned king of Ireland in 1486. He supported Perkin Warbeck in 1591.
Kildare’s actions forced Henry into action:
Kildare’s actions forced Henry into action:
- instead of relying on Irish aristocracy, who were cheap/unreliable, he attempted the more costly approach of rule of the ‘Pale’ through an Englishman, back by armed force
- appointed Prince Henry as Lieutenant of Ireland and appointed Sir Edward Poynings as his deputy
Poynings
Poynings success:
- established royal authority by force/bribery
- reinforced success by requiring the Irish parliament to pass ‘Poynings Law’ in 1495, which laid down that the Irish parliament could pass no law without the prior approval of the English crown. He also attempted to implement English law in Ireland.
Poynings
Poynings Limited Success:
- too expensive, financial problems made worse when Warbeck returned to Ireland in 1495 and amassed a force which besieged the town of Waterford
- Henry, short of money due to threat of invasion by Scots, was forced to recall Poynings and once again had to depend on cheap option of using Kildare as his deputy
Kildare
Kildare- by 1496 decided there was no benefit in supporting Yorkist cause any longer, decided to serve Henry loyally and secured the submission of various Irish chieftains. By around 1500 Henry had eventually secured peace, and cheap authority over Ireland. (Kildare benefitted by using his office to rebuild his family’s fortunes)
Securing Succession + Marriage Alliances
1486- Prince Arthur born (received education deemed to be fitting for a prince and was set up with his own court at Ludlow in Shropshire. He died in 1502, which increased insecurity of the dynasty.)
1491- Prince Henry born
- Henry recognised the need to dispose of the threat from the Earl of Suffolk. It was lucky that Juana/Philip of Burgundy were forced to take refuge in England in 1506 as it gave him opportunity to press Philip of Burgundy/Maximilian to hand over Suffolk to him.
- Still uncertainty amongst Henry’s key followers. Growing split between officials who were associated with Council Learned, e.g. Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley. Still fears about Suffolk/Richard de la Pole.
- Henry’s health deteriorated rapidly from February 1509, died in April 1509. No announcements made immediately as some individuals tried to manipulate the terms of the succession to their advantage and to position themselves around the king (Empson and Dudley excluded). King’s death announced and potential troublemakers were rounded up.
Royal Marriage Alliances, Foreign Policy and the Succession
- essential part of international diplomacy to enhance power/influence/dynastic security
- sought marriage alliance between Catherine of Aragon and Prince Arthur (later Henry VIII when Arthur died).
- arranged for oldest daughter Princess Margaret to be married to James IV of Scotland, which strengthened alliances with Scotland during his reign and weakened Perkin Warbeck’s threat to the Tudor throne
- younger daughter Mary would later (during Henry VIII throne) marry King of France, Louis XII to secure peaceful relations between the 2 countries
Who were the nobility?
Dominated land ownership
No more than about 50-60 men
Peerage families (nobility) died out on a regular basis but were replaced by others who had acquired or bought the king’s favour, crown relied on these for maintenance of law and order
Why was Henry reluctant to create new peerage titles?
Henry VII was reluctant to create new peerage titles (he was distrustful of nobility as a class). Only trusted Lancastrian military commanders such as Earl of Oxford had much political influence under Henry.
How did Henry control the nobility?
Through bonds and recognisances
What was the key to nobles power?
Key to nobles power = bastard feudalism (‘retaining’) by which wealthy magnates (leading/wealthy members of nobility) recruited knights and gentlemen (‘retainers’) to serve them as administrators or accountants, or sometimes for military purposes
What could noblemen potentially do?
Potentially noblemen could use their retained men to bring unlawful influence on others in a court case or use them against the Crown, so Henry sought to limit the military power through the use of legislation against retaining. Also remained conscious of the fact that loyal retainers were essential to maintain the Crown’s security
What were the limits on retaining employed during Henry’s reign?
- 1486: peers and MPs were required to take an oath against illegal retaining or being illegally retained. (however, what constituted illegality in this context remained undefined)
- 1487: a law against retaining was established
- 1487 law was reinforced by an Act passed in 1504, under which licences for retaining could be sought
Gentry
- below nobility in status came the greater gentry (often great landowners)
- important member = Sir Reginald Bray, sought knighthoods as confirmation of their social status
- 1490 about 500 knights (originally this status had imposed military obligations upon its holders, assumed those holding the status would assist in administration of their localities
- peers + knights together owned 15-20% of country’s land
‘esquire’ = eldest sons of knights and the younger sons of barons
‘gentlemen’ = anyone recognised as such by his neighbours
Churchmen
- social status of clergy varied hugely
- lower parish level, curates/chantry priests modestly rewarded for dealing with spiritual needs of ordinary folk
- bishops/abbots of larger religious houses were important figures who were entitled to sit in the House of Lords and who often had political roles to undertake
- Henry VII used power to appoint as bishops only men who had legal training and whose administrative competence was valued more than their spirituality.
- 2 most important clergymen of the reign were John Morton and Richard Fox
- King reluctant to appoint men whose social background was aristocratic. The higher clergy were thus becoming less socially exclusive than had once been the case.
Commoners
- below nobility/gentry/higher clergy = commoners
- top level commoner group: ‘middling sort’, the rich merchants and craftsmen
- lower down social scale, still respectable, were shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen. Tended to dominate the borough corporations (town councils) and played a key role in organisations such as guilds and lay confraternities which were a common feature of urban life in pre-Reformation England
- in countryside the middling sort comprised yeomen farmers who farmed substantial properties for an increasingly sophisticated market economy.
- decline in population had occurred as a result of Black Death reduced demand for land, resulting drop in land values had enabled the emergence of this group
- below yeomen came husbandmen who typically kept smaller farms than yeomen and who supplemented their farming incomes through employment by yeomen/gentry. Together, yeomen + husbandmen = ‘peasant’
Regional Divisions
- relatively small/politically unified, England did demonstrate regional variations (some derived from differences in agriculture)
- line drawn from roughly Tees to Weymouth would have revealed extent of contrasts. Roughly 3/4 population lived below this line, which divided country into 2 basic agricultural areas. South/east of line mixed farming predominated in the more densely populated counties, especially Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent.
- In more sparsely populated area to north and west, pastoral farming predominated with the rearing of sheep, cattle and horses. Expectations to this rule- pastoral farming dominated in the Fens and in the wood pastures of the Kent/Sussex Weal, and grain farming/fruit growing in Herefordshire and the Welsh border countries.
- Regional identity reinforced by local government structures. Justice increasingly administered at a county level and county towns often contained jails and major churches.
- areas of magnate influence often cut across county boundaries. Local identities were also reinforced by saints’ cults which placed importance on centres of pilgrimage, such as Canterbury/Durham.
Social Discontent
- during much of the second half of the fifteenth century, living conditions for the poor appeared to be improving. Real wages seemed to have increased but inflationary pressure more evident.
- evidence points to slight increase in real wages in 1490s, by following decade seem to reversed
- compared with later Tudor period, not seem to be much social discontent
- 2 rebellions occurred, main trigger was taxation
The Yorkshire Rebellion, 1489
cause: resentment of taxation granted by parliament in 1489 to finance the involvement if English forces in the campaign in Brittany
why known: became particularly notorious due to murder by rebels of the Earl of Northumberland
details: Northumberland was a victim of resentment against taxation. He was murdered by his tenants, but what enabled them to murder the earl was the fact Northumberland’s retainers allowed them to do so by deserting him in his hour of need (punishment for his own desertion of Richard III at Bosworth)
The Cornish Rebellion, 1497
cause: revolt triggered by need for revenue to finance campaign against Scotland
threat to rule: sheer numbers involved (15,000), attempt to exploit rebellion made by Perkin Warbeck, fact rebels walked on London (raises question how effective maintaining order in countryside/reaching London was challenging security of Henry VII)
problem: in order to ensure effective suppression he needed to withdraw Lord Daubeney/troops from defending the Scottish border.
outcome: in the end rebellion crushed easily enough by Daubeney. Rebel leaders executed. Henry punished only leaders and treated the bulk of rebels with conspicuous leniency.
Rebellion shocked Henry into ensuring Anglo-Scottish tensions were eased and made him particularly cautious about entering into any further foreign conflicts
Society at Time
- population around 2.2 million, majority living in countryside farming for a living
- London population 50,000
- no more than 20 towns had as many as 3000 people
- wool + cloth main industries (others included mining tin, shipbuilding and metal working)
Agrarian Economy
- income from land declined after Black Death but was recovering late 1400s as the population increased again
- move towards sheep farming in 1480s/1490s (due to decrease profit in crop farming and improved profits for sheep farming due to demand for wool)
- England divided into ‘lowland zone’ to the south and east and a ‘highland zone’
- Mixed farming common found in lowland zone, though pastoral farming predominated in woodland areas. Open-field husbandry could be found in such areas
- other areas region experiencing change, wool/cloth trades = sheep farming more profitable. Peasants lost access to land and common rights and left destitute by this process.
- more widespread in first half of sixteenth century, when it created a moral outcry + political pressures
no significant changes
Trade Industry- The Cloth Trade
The Cloth Trade:
- cloth was 90% value of English exports
- estimated 60% increase in cloth exports in Henry VII reign (earlier part century bulk exports were raw wool, increasingly was finished cloth dominating the trade)
- finished cloth led to development of weaving, usually done as a domestic process, and fulling and dyeing, which were commercial enterprises (offered opportunity of rural employment)
What cloth towns were prosperous?
Some cloth towns are prosperous, e.g. Lewes in Sussex. Some cities like Winchester suffered decay as cloth industry moved to newer manufacturing centres in smaller market towns/villages
Merchant Adventurers
An increasing proportion of finished cloth was exported from London through the ‘Merchant Adventurers’. This established a commercial axis with Antwerp (the commercial metropolis of Europe). From Antwerp, English cloth transported all over Europe. Merchant Adventurers could not achieve complete domination of trade as could not overcome trading privileges enjoyed by the Hanseatic League which had been reasserted in treaty in 1474 and 1504. (may have agreed to reassert this treaty to ensure the Hanseatic League would offer no support to the Yorkist claimant to the throne, Earl of Suffolk)
Trade Industry- Other Industries
Other Industries:
- other industries remained small and did not compete effectively with continental competitors. e.g. Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch were superior in shipbuilding
- most industrial activities e.g. weaving were small scale craft operations which needed little capital investment (supplied basic necessities of life/food/shelter)
- mining remained small scale
- tin mined in Cornwall
- lead mined in upland areas like the Mendips
- development of basic pumping technology, first in County Durham in 1486, enabled greater production
Trade Industry- trade laws and treaties
- approach to trade had little consistency, Henry wanted to maximise customs revenue (but happy to sacrifice revenue in order to secure the dynasty)
- biggest issue concerning trade in Henry’s reign stemmed from his embargo on trade with Netherlands
- imposed this in 1493 due to fear/insecurity brought from Margaret of Burgundy’s support of Perkin Warbeck
- instead of trading directly with Netherlands, merchants were required to direct trade through Calais (invited retaliation from Netherlands)
- embargo ended with the Treaty of ‘Intercursus Magnus’
- panic again in 1503 when Earl of Suffolk taken seriously by Burgundy. Henry attempted to reimpose the embargo
- several trade treaties concluded, but minor importance, showing Henry rated foreign policy/dynastic interests as greater priorities than English merchants
- trading restrictions removed 1486, reimposed to show Henry’s support for Brittany, but removed again by ‘Treaty of Etaples of 1492’ (which encouraged Anglo-French commercial relations)
- most remaining trading restrictions removed in 1497
weakness trading: attempt to make breakthrough in Mediterranean trade proved failure + Hanseatic League largely successful in limiting development of English trading interests in the Baltic
Navigation Acts of 1485 and 1489
- Navigation Acts of 1485 and 1489: encourage English shipping by ensuring only English ships should carry certain products to and from English ports. Limited usefulness as foreign vessels continued to transport a substantial proportion of English exports
Early English Exploration
- fifteenth century great era of European exploration (Spanish/Portuguese opened up much of world)
- English sailors slower to engage in activities, Bristol merchants/seamen interested in possibilities of transatlantic discovery (rumoured this had occurred before)
- John Cabot received authorisation from Henry VII to search areas. He sailed in 1497, located Newfoundland and reported extensive fishing grounds. Set off on a second voyage, never returned. Established way for Bristol fishery.
Exploration of the north Atlantic tailed off with the accession of Henry VIII, who had little appetite for supporting enterprises.
Prosperity and Depression
- temporary price rise in 1480s, rest remained steady
- decline in export price of wool and in the price of grain/animal products in the 1490s. Might imply a reduction in farming profitability + rising real incomes for domestic consumers
- both building workers and agricultural labourers were better off during 1490s than they would be at any other point in Tudor period
