Henry VII: Government - Extraordinary Revenue Flashcards
1
Q
Definition of Extraordinary Revenue
A
- This revenue came from the duty of the subjects of the king to help him in times of need
2
Q
Bonds & Recognisances
A
- These were raised for political and financial purposes
- Payments made as a guarantee of good behaviour
- A bond was a lump sum of money payable only if a condition was not observed
- A recognisance was formal acknowledgement of a debt
- Payments were enforced by the Counsel Learned in Law
- After Bosworth the Earl of Westmorland was made to sign over £10,000 for loyalty
3
Q
Loans
A
- Voluntary loans could be raised from richer subjects and institutions e.g. merchants and town corporations
- Henry repaid these loans
- Organised by the Royal Council
- Payments enforced by the Council Learned in Law
- In 1496 Henry asked wealthy subjects for loans of £10,000 to fight the Scots and Warbeck - there was little resentment as Henry ensured he paid these loans back
- Over the reign, Henry raised some £203,000 in loans
4
Q
Benevolences
A
- These were loans that were forced with the threat of sanction, and were not repaid
- These obligatory loans could not be seized, but had to be handed over
- Could be requested from individuals and institutions
- Organised by the Royal Council
- Enforced by the Council Learned in Law
- In 1491, the King raised £48,000 to fund the invasion of France
5
Q
Feudal Dues
A
- All tenants-in-chief were obliged to pay an aid to the King on the knighting of his eldest son and marriage of his eldest daughter
- Gifts were paid by leading nobles, but Parliament was also expected to make a grant on behalf of the people it represented
- Henry exploited this source of income fully – for example, he received £30,000 from Parliament in 1504 for the knighthood of Prince Arthur (who had died in 1502)
6
Q
Clerical Taxes
A
- Special taxes which the King could levy on the Church
- Convocation (the Church assembly) matched each parliamentary subsidy
- Another source of income from the church was vacant bishoprics. When a bishop died, the King might not appoint a successor, and so keep the revenue
- Practice called ‘simony’ where men were charged for church offices - banned in Church, but widely practised
- Later in the reign, several bishops died enabling Henry to raise over £6,000pa from vacant bishoprics
- Henry raised £300 for the post of Archdeacon of Buckingham for example
- In 1489 the convocation (like the parliament of the Church) awarded Henry £25,000 toward war with France
7
Q
Parliamentary Taxes
A
- Fifteenth and Tenths were the usual form of taxes with fifteen percent of a subjects’ movable goods taxed in the countryside and ten percent in the towns
- Parliamentary taxes were available but were often unpopular, and triggered two rebellions in Henry’s reign (in Yorkshire in 1489 and Cornwall in 1497)
- He avoided parliamentary taxes as much as possible