Henry VII Government

Question 1

What categories can Government be split into?
(5 things)

Answer 1

1. Councils
2. Parliament
3. Justice
4. Royal Finance
5. Domestic policies

Question 2

On a government question what paragraphs would you create?

Answer 2

• Court & Councils
• Parliament
• Domestic policies (Justice & finance)

Question 3

How many members of the council were there across the reign?

Who made up these numbers?

Answer 3

• 227
• Nobility, Churchmen (50%) & skilled men from educated classes

Question 4

Who were the 3 main men in the council?

What was one attribute all of these councillors had?

Answer 4

1. John Morton (Arch-Bishop of Canterbury 1486-1500)
2. Richard Fox (Secretary)
3. Reginald Bray (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster & head of council learned)

• All legally trained & were good administrators

Question 5

What financial term did John Morton come up with & what did it mean?

Answer 5

• Morton’s Fork
• A nobleman who appears rich can loan the King money & a nobleman who looks poor is hoarding money so too can still loan the King money

Question 6

Who were the nobility appointed to the council?
(2 names)

Answer 6

• Earl of Oxford made Great Chamberlain
• Thomas Howard made Lord Treasurer (1501)

Question 7

Why did Henry need laymen in particular?

Answer 7

• Because his aim of extracting wealth required Knowledge of property law (crown lands) & auditing
• So he did not care about their social background just their expertise
• Theme was continued under Henry VIII

Question 8

What was the Council Learned in law?

Answer 8

• Est. 1495 replacing the Star Chamber
• Small body of lawyers & were ruthless & efficient in controlling the nobility
• They did this through extracting their wealth anyway possible
• Maintained King’s feudal rights, revenue & exploited Henry’s prerogative rights

Question 9

Who was in the Council Leaned?

Why was the council unpopular?
(2 things)

Answer 9

• Led By Sir Reginald Bray until his death (1503)
• From 1503-09 Richard Empson & Edmund Dudley led the council
• Council was unofficial & not recognised by Courts of Law
• Those summoned had no rights of appeal (illegal)

Question 10

Which two bodies of government audited the revenue from Crown lands?

Answer 10

1. Committee to implement acts of livery
2. Council of General Surveyors

Question 11

What were the 2 levels of Royal Court in 1485?

What additional component was added?

Answer 11

1. Household Proper: Looked after king & Guests, supervised by Lord Steward
2. Star Chamber
3. Privy Chamber: established after Sir William’s Stanley’s betrayal (1495), this made it more difficult to gain favour with the King

Question 12

What was the purpose of Royal Court?

Answer 12

• Centre of government & focus of personal monarchy
• rewards & positions were provided through the court
• Courtiers could enjoy paid positions and receive free accommodation & food

Question 13

How many times did parliament sit during the reign?

Answer 13

• 7 times
• 5 in the first 10 years (1485-95)
• 2 in the last 14 years (1495-09)

Question 14

Henry’s early parliaments were largely concerned with two things?

Answer 14

1. National security
2. Raising revenue

Question 15

What were the Parliamentary uses in 1485-86?

Answer 15

1485-86:
1. To confirm Kingship, 28 attainders of Yorkists (from Bosworth)

2. Granted Henry Tonnage & Poundage for life (import & export tax)
3. Act of Resumption (returned all crown land sold before 1455)
4. Granted taxes 15ths & 10ths

Question 16

What were the Parliamentary uses in 1487?

Answer 16

• To deal with lawlessness & financial matters after Battle of Stoke

1. Taking of Bail by Justices Act (allowed for JP’s to receive Bail from the accused)
   - Crown was extracting more money

Question 17

What were the Parliamentary uses in 1489-90?

Why was this bad?

What were the parliamentary uses in 1491-92?

Answer 17

1. Fund the Royal Army through extraordinary revenue for wars against France, £100,000 raised for war with Brittany

• Caused Yorkshire rebellion (1489)
• Again to fund wars with France

Question 18

Parliamentary acts/aims 1495 - 1504?
(3 things)

Answer 18

1. 1495: Manage threat from Perkin Warbeck
2. 1497: Fund potential war against Scotland, grants £120,000 for war against Scotland & Warbeck (causes Cornish rebellion 1497)
3. 1504: Raised feudal dues for marriage with Princess Margaret & James IV & Prince Arthur’s posthumous Knighthood (receiving £40,000 vs £90,000 Henry asked for)

Question 19

What 2 categories come under domestic policy?

Answer 19

1. Justice & maintenance of Law & Order
2. Finances

Question 20

What can Justice & maintenance of order be split into?
(2 things)

Answer 20

1. Regional government
2. Local Government (JP’s)

Question 21

What were provincial councils for?

Answer 21

• Ensured Henry’s personal government was felt in every part of the Kingdom
• Chose representatives he could trust (which was hard)

Question 22

How did Edward IV rule the regions?

Why could Henry not do this?

Answer 22

• Divided the country into spheres of influence each controlled by a Magnate
• The number of Magnates had fallen during the Wars of the Roses & their lands had fallen into Crown hands

Question 23

What was the regional situation in the North?

Why was the change in the North after Northumberland’s murder dangerous?

Answer 23

• Great magnates (wealthiest nobles) wielded immense power in the North
• Stanley’s controlled North-West
• Earl of Northumberland ruled North-East until his murder (1489) when the Earl of Surrey was released from the Tower since BOB & ruled for 10 years (loyally)
• Earl of Surrey ruled through Council of the North
• Placing a supporter (Surrey) of Richard III into Yorkist heartlands was high-risk

Question 24

What was the regional situation like in the rest of the country?
(3 things)

Answer 24

• East Anglia: Earl of Oxford
• Cornwall & South-West: Lord Daubeney
• Dorset: Marquis of Dorset

Question 25

What was the regional situation in Wales?

Answer 25

• Since 1301 Wales had been ruled by the King’s eldest son
• Henry delegated Jasper Tudor (Uncle) as ruler of Wales
• Prince Arthur named Prince of Wales
• Edward IV council (est. 1471) restored in Wales (1493)
• 7 year-old Arthur appointed nominal head

Question 26

What was the regional situation in Ireland?

Answer 26

• Jasper Tudor made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1485) (honorary position)
• Sir Edward Poyning became Lord deputy (1494)
• Poyning reorganised Irish courts & made Poynings Law giving more authority to Crown in Ireland
• This authority only in the Pale (50 mile strip of land north of Dublin)
• Irish chieftans controlled the rest (Geraldine & Butler families) Earl of Kildare (leader of Geraldine family)
• Earl of Kildare Lord deputy up to 1492 when he recognised Warbeck’s claim to the throne
• Kildare reinstated (Lord deputy) when difficulty & cost of controlling Ireland was clear

Question 27

What did Henry do to the JP’s?

Answer 27

• Gradually increased their powers & Jp’s were appointed to each county
• JP’s given powers in conjunction with sheriff’s

Question 28

How did JP’s operate?

Answer 28

• Appointed on a county-by-county basis
• Met 4 times a year to administer justice on disputes
• 18 per county on average
• Dealt with routine admin e.g. alehouse regulation, tax assessments, complaints, maintained law & order

Question 29

What 3 Parliamentary acts were given to JP’s to increase their powers?

Answer 29

1. 1485: Powers to arrest poachers & hunters
2. 1491: Power to grant bail
3. 1495: Power to vet juries, allowed to decide on all criminal offences (except murder), difficult cases given to the Assize court

Question 30

Where can I find information of Finances?

Answer 30

• Consolidation section brev (overlap)