Henry VII - Government! Flashcards
What was the heirarchy in Henry’s Central Governmentt?
Henry —-> The Council —->Local governments, who ruled over different areas of England.
What were the three aims of The Council?
1) offer advice to the king.
2) be around to adminster the law on the king’s behalf.
3) controlled local governments.
How did the Council work?
- The council was made up of a small group of individuals who’d come from the powerful areas of society - nobles, churchmen, laymen.
- the permanent body had a core membership, and they would meet separately when the king wasn’t present.
Who was Edmund Dudley?
- born in 1462, Edmund Dudley was a key councillor, following the death of Sir Richard Bray in 1503.
- He worker in the Council Learned in Law and was executed in 1510 by Henry VIII.
What was the Council Learned in Law?
- this was a subgroup of the council.
- they would advice the king in terms of war and collected feudal dues.
- they were also in charge of bonds and recognisances, and other ways of collecting money from the nobility.
- In became more unpopular in 1503 when Dudley and Empson’s (1450-1510) main aim became to take money from the nobles.
What was the Great Council?
A meeting of the House of Lords, but not the House of Commons.
- they had no real functions and only met five times between 1484-1509.
What were the Regional Governments?
These were regions around England.
What were the three main regional governments?
- Council of the North, ruled by the Earl of Surrey, Thomas Howard.
- Councils of Wales, ran by the Duke of Bedford, Jasper Tudor (Henry’s uncle).
- Council of Ireland, led by Sir Edward Poyning.
What was the most important part of the local government?
The counties.
Within the counties, there were two different types of officials:
JPs and Sheriffs.
What did Sheriffs do?
- appointed annually (they each had a year term).
- acted as the crown’s representation, which gave them powers.
- they managed parliamnetary elections and detained criminals.
What did JPs do?
JPs (Justices of the Peace) dispensed justice in local courts. Their job was to maintain peace in the countryside, and they were appointed for life, unless they voluntarily chose to retire.
They also detained criminals, and governend local courts that would be held at quarter sessions. There were four of these each year that the JPs were required to minister justice in.
What was the Court of Assize?
This court was responsible for the most serious of offences - treason, murder, rebellion etc.
Judges on this court were appointed by the king, making them very important.
What was the Court of the King’s Bench?
This was a bit like the supreme court today. They had the power to override lower court’s decisions, such as the quarter sessions held by the JPs.
They administered justice over all other courts and also helped with decisions when it came to the Court of Assize or the quarter sessions.
In Henry VII’s reign, parliament was only called seven times. Why might this be?
Henry wanted to emphasise his belief, which was that his power came directly from the crown and God. Henry thought that calling parliament so often would signify that his power came directly from the crown.
10% of legislation when Parliament was called was to deal with what?
The powers of the JPs - control of local areas, as this was wwhere rebellions had come from.
The first five parliaments were called very close together. Why do you think this might be?
Henry was dynastically very weak. He called parliament to issue Acts of Attainents against the nobility as they were lots of threats to his throne. These acts would formally declare a member of nobility guilty of a certain crime.
Why did Henry prefer to use Acts of Attainments instead of execution or imprisonment?
It meant that the land and money that were confiscated were given to him and money gave him power.
Why did Henry start to call Parliament less as the years went?
As the nobility became more controlled, Henry became more trustful of them and called Parliament less.
When was Parliament first called?
November 1485- March 1486.
When was the second time that parliament was called?
November 1487 - December 1487.
When was the third time that parliament was called?
January 1489 - Feb 1490.
When was the fourth time that parliament was called?
October 1491 - March 1492.
When was the fifth time that parliament was called?
October 1495 - December 1495.
