Henry VII Government Flashcards
How many men were in Henry’s Council throughout his reign?
227
What were the Council’s functions? (3)
- Advise the King
- Administer the realm on the King’s behalf
- Make legal judgments
Types of councillors (3)
- Members of the nobility e.g. Lord Daubney and Dynham
- Churchmen e.g. John Morton and Richard Fox (often had legal training and were excellent administrators)
- Laymen (gentry or lawyers. Lawyers continued on from Edward IV) e.g. Sir Reginald Bray and Edmund Dudley
John Morton (3)
- Churchman and lawyer
- Worked against Richard III
- Promoted by Henry to Archbishop of Canterbury in 1486 and cardinal in 1493
Sir Reginald Bray (4)
- Helped Henry raise funds for Battle of Bosworth
- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Lead Council Learned in law
- King’s chief executive and held more power than most nobles
Sir Richard Empson (4)
- Member of King’s Council from 1494
- Chaired Council Learned
- Empson arrested shortly after death of Henry
- Charged with treason and executed in following year
Edmund Dudley (4)
- Came to prominence after death of Reginald Bray
- Role was to exploit financial opportunities, made many enemies
- Losing King’s protection, became very vulnerable
- After Henry’s death, held accountable for mistakes
What was the Council like under Henry’s reign? (5)
- No established rules or procedures
- Permanent body
- Core membership
- Members also met separately to deal with matters when King not present
- Dependent on Council Learned
What was the Great Council? (3)
- A gathering of the House of Lords, without the House of Commons
- No clearly defined functions and not permanent
- Met only five times throughout Henry’s reign
Functions of the Great Council (2)
- Concerned itself with issues related to war or rebellion
- Was a means of binding nobility to decisions regarding national security
What was the Council Learned? (9)
- Council’s main offshoot
- Developed during second half of Henry’s reign under Bray’s leadership
- Met in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Not a recognised court of law
- Was an expression of the King’s will, so held huge importance
- Empson’s role within the Council Learned was also impactful, as his ruthless approach seemed to define the Council’s behaviour
- Dudley joined after Bray’s death in 1503
- Empson and Dudley, although good at collecting and raising revenue, created many enemies
- People rejoiced after they were removed from power after Henry’s death
Functions of Council Learned (3)
- Maintain the King’s revenue
- Exploit his prerogative rights
- Made the system of Bonds and Recognisances
Importance of court and household (3)
- Rewards and status were distributed through the court
- Courtiers enjoyed paid positions or right to receive free food
- Where the support of the King or other influential figures could be obtained
Levels of the court (2)
Household proper
- Responsible for looking after King, courtiers and guests who were being entertained
- Supervised by the Lord Steward
Chamber
- Supervised by the Lord Chamberlain (influential courtiers)
- Lord Chamberlain very important position, however Sir William Stanley betrayed Henry
- Henry remodeled Chamber
Privy Chamber (3)
- King could retreat to, protected by most trusted servants
- Changed character of the Court
- Made it more difficult for those out of favour to regain it
What was Parliament like during Henry’s reign? (8)
- Made up of House of Commons and House of Lords
- Not central to the system of government
- Had two main functions; to pass law and grant taxation to Crown
- Local issues and grievances could be passed to Parliament by local MP’s
- House of Lords more important at this time
- Parliament operated effectively
- Henry respected Parliaments decisions
- Little to prove Henry managed Parliament through his ministers
Development of Parliament (5)
- Only the King could call Parliament
- Called his first Parliament early in his reign
- Called a total of seven Parliaments throughout; five of these met within the first ten years, with two in the remaining fourteen
- Early Parliaments concerned issues of national security and raising of revenue
- Final Parliament, Henry limited demands for extraordinary revenue
Fifteenths and tenths
The standard form of taxation, which earned Henry £203,000.
Maintenance of order (5)
- Without this, could lead to uprisings
- King relied on trusted members of the nobility to exercise power on his behalf
- Since Edward IV, there had been a decrease in the number of magnates, so Henry released the Earl of Surrey from Tower to rule North
- Henry had to rely on people he trusted, Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubeney, however they were not good magnates
- Used spy network and bonds and recognisances to keep magnates under control
Justices of the Peace (5)
- They became more highly used throughout Henry’s reign
- Met four times a year to administer justice
- Most JP’s were local gentry
- Job was unpaid. People did it out of sense of duty or believed it would lead to prestige or advancement
- Gave them more control than county sheriffs
What did JP’s do? (4)
Parliament passed laws to increase their power and responsibility
- tax assessments
- alehouse regulations
- investigation of complaints against local officials
- maintenance of law and order
Bonds and Recognisances (3)
- A legal document which bound an individual to forfeit a sum of money if they failed to do something
- Occurred due to people who were in debt to the Crown
- Many purely political; King used bonds and recognisances to enforce order and obedience
What did Church courts deal with? (5)
- Church administration
- Offences committed by clergy e.g. nepotism, simony, pluralism
- Proving of wills
- Issues relating to marriage
- ‘Moral’ offences
What did Manor courts deal with? (4)
- Landholding
- Rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants
- Use of common land
- Responsibilities for drainage and land issues
What did Borough courts deal with? (2)
- Medieval trading standards
- Specific judicial rights granted by royal charter
What did the King’s court deal with? (3)
- Assizes (held twice a year to deal with major criminal and civil cases and presided over by senior Westminster judges)
- Quarter sessions (held four times a year, presided over by JP’s, to deal with less important criminal cases as well as civil and administrative affairs
- Special commissions (set up when necessary to deal with major issues such as rebellion)
What did the King’s common law courts deal with? (3)
- King’s bench (had superior criminal jurisdiction)
- Common pleas (dealt with major civil cases)
- Exchequer (dealt with issues relating to royal revenues)
What did the Chancery court deal with?
It exercised jurisdiction on the basis of equity rather than on a strict reading of the common law
What were the main sources of royal income? (6)
- Crown lands
- Profits from feudal dues and the exercise of royal prerogative
- Customs revenue (tonnage and poundage - £34,000 to £38,000)
- Pensions from other powers (Treaty of Etaples 1492, Henry got £5,000 per year)
- Profits of justice (fines and income from bonds. Between 1504-07, £200,000 promised to King but not all collected)
- Extraordinary revenue (Henry received £400,000, but it provoked rebellions in 1489-97. In 1504 Henry promised to not use this method to raise taxes
How did Henry use the Crown lands? (4)
- Henry was the country’s largest landholder
- At the beginning of Henry’s reign, income had been around £12,000 per year (income had been collected and administered through Court of Exchequer - ineffective)
- In 1492, Henry reverted to Edward IV’s system through the Chamber (finances improved hugely by the work of Lovell and Heron)
- By the end of the reign, yearly income was around £42,000
Profits from feudal dues and royal prerogatives (4)
- Increased profits from wardship (Crown gained profit from property held by a minor)
- Parliament granted a feudal aid in 1504 (Crown could tax when eldest son was knighted or eldest daughter was married - old way of raising finances)
- Taxes also had to be paid when a tenant-in-chief died, landowners found irritating
- Statute of Uses prevented any loopholes to avoid these taxes
What was the Star Chamber?
Established to prosecute rioting, rebellion, retaining, and the corruption of justice
Early Parliaments
- Passed Acts of Attainders
- Granted tonnage and poundage for life
- Granted extraordinary revenue
- Taxation for wars
- Fifteens and Tenths (taxation), raised H £203,000
Final Parliament
- 1504
- Limited demand for extraordinary revenue
