Henry VII Government Flashcards
councils, parliament, justice, royal finance, domestic policies
Function of the council
Advise the king, administer the realm on the kings behalf, make legal judgements
Types of councillors with examples
Members of the nobility (Lord Daubney)
Churchmen (John Morton)
Laymen (Sir Reginald Bray)
Churchmen function in the council
Often had legal training and had good administration skills
Laymen function in the council
Good administration and were often gentry or lawyers
Why were there very few members of the nobility in the council
Henry was distrustful of those with power as he was paranoid they were going to try and over throw his position on the throne
Negatives of the council
Had no established rules
Not essential for people to be in the council to advise Henry e.g. his mother (lady Margaret Beaufort) was very significant
Members could meet separately meaning matter were discussed without others present causing confusion and chaos
When was the council learned developed
1495
What was the council learned function
To exploit the kings prerogative rights and to maintain his revenue
Who ran the council learned
Initially ran by Sir Reginald Bray, when he died in 1503 it was taken over by Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley
Why was the council learned disliked
Bonds and recognizance trapped the kings subjects using money, it was not a recognised court of law so there was no chance to appeal, it by passed the normal legal system
Why was the council learned not good for Henry
It created enemies in the nobility who Henry needed support from in order to keep the throne
What was the household proper
Responsible for looking after the king, courtiers and guests, supervised by the Lord Stewart
What was the purpose of the court and household
Henry relied on it as the centre of government
Demonstrated Henry’s power and wealth to courtiers
Was a place where advancement and support could be gained from the king or other influential people
Those deserving and connected were rewarded
What was the chamber
Supervised by the Lord Chamberlain (position of power and trust) took charge of the national treasury
private area of the court
Why did Henry reform the chamber
1495 Lord Chamberlain was Sir William Stanley. he was involved in Perkin Warbeck’s conspiracy so the privy chamber was created
What was the privy chamber
Gentlemen of the privy were chosen by Henry, though were often low status and uninfluential so could not gain power. Personal chamber for the king to retreat to to be protected by his most intimate servants
made it more difficult for those who were out of favour to regain the kings support
What were justice of the peace
local level of maintaining law and order appointed on a country-by-county basis and met 4 time a year to administer justice
Acts of parliament which increase the power of JPs
1495: parliament extends the role of JPs enabling them to decide on all offences except murder
What were bonds and recognizances
agreements that if a person breached a certain condition they would pay Henry money
How much was the Marquis of Dorset’s bond and what was it for
£100,000 for the promise of good behaviour
between 1504-1507 how much money from bonds was promised but not collected
£200,000
What made up parliament
a meeting of the house of commons and the house of lords
How many parliaments did Henry call and when
7 in total, 5 in the first 10 years, 2 in the final 14
Acts of attainder
declared noblemen guilty of a crime against the crown without trial.
If they were dead their property would be forfeited to the crown
