Henry VII - Managing the Nobility Flashcards
How many peers were there?
50 at start of reign, down to 35. Major peers - 16 to 10. Only 3 Earls made during reign, compared to 9 in E4’s.
Different methods - Carrots: Order of the Garter
37 Knights of the Garter. Gained prestige, but no power or wealth.
Different methods - Carrots: King’s Council + Great Council
King’s Council - Loyalty to trusted servants - 5 Councillors had been with H7 before Bosworth e.g. John Morton + William Warham. Richard Fox - Keeper of the Privy Seal. Great Council - Ensured support from nobles about policies - once a policy was agreed, it was difficult to criticise the decision.
Different methods - Sticks: Attainders
Allowed H7 to seize lands of suspicious nobles + accused them of treason. Some Attainders were reversed, e.g. Earl of Surrey, who fought against H7 at Bosworth, but won favour through Council of the North. H7 passed 138 Attainders, reversed 46. First year: 28 passed, 1504-1509: 51 passed. Attainder of Sir William Stanley in 1495 brought £9k and a yearly £1k afterwards.
Different methods - Sticks: Retainers
1485 - Nobles had to swear not to retain men.
1504 - Nobles had to get special licenses to retain - £5pm for every retainer. Lord Burgavenny had to pay £70k for 470 men between him and 26 others, but later reduced to £5k over 10 years. Nobles could hide servants’ records to cover up retaining.
Different methods - Sticks: Bonds
Agreements to pay money if a promise wasn’t kept. In 1500s, 2/3 of the nobles were held under bonds. CLIL put in charge of bonds + recognizances - Edmund Dudley, Richard Empson. Earl of Westmoreland had to pay £10k after Bosworth.
Different methods - Sticks: Recognizances
Formal acknowledgement of outstanding debt that had to be paid if an obligation wasn’t met. The Marquiss of Dorset had to pay recognizances worth £1k, whilst his friends had to pay £10k to make sure he stayed in line. However, these were cancelled after he helped to put down the Cornish Rebellion. 36 out of 62 nobles gave bonds + recognizances.
Different methods - Feudal Rights
Marriage - Profited from arranged marriages.
Wardship - Estates of minors were placed under royal control to exploit resources. Had a Master of the King’s Wards to manage this.
Relief - Inheritance tax.
Livery - Payment to recover land from wardship.
Different methods - Feudal Rights 2
Had a Master of the King’s Wards to manage wardship. The Duchess of Buckingham was fined £7k in 1496 for marrying without the King’s licence and her son was fined £7k in 1498 for entering his inheritance without a licence before he was 21. In 1487, his income from wardship and marriages was £350, by 1507, it was £6k.
Different methods - Regaining Land
1486 Act of Resumption - recovered all lands granted away since 1455. Crown had 5X more land at the end of H7’s reign than H6’s.
Different methods - Custom Duties
Tonnage - tax on exports. Poundage - tax on imports. Twice updated the Book of Rates. Income rose from £33k to £40k, although E4 had £70k.
Different methods - Legal Dues
Fines for using the court system, coming from common law courts and the special courts held by the Royal Council. Fines for misbehaviour, e.g. Earl of North fined £10k for raping royal ward.
