Henry VII - Rise and Control of Power

Question 1

What lessons did Henry need to learn from the War of Roses?

Answer 1

The monarchs position is insecure
Important to establish a strong legitimate claim to the throne
Must have an effective working relationship w/ the nobility

Question 2

How did Henry secure his power immediately after Bosworth (1485)?

Answer 2

Officially crowned 
United two houses
Reward supporters
Discipline opponents 
Deal with other potential Yorkist claimants 
Make sure common people didn’t think he was a usurper
Had an heir (and a spare)
Officially recognised by parliament

Question 3

Henry has not officially been crowned yet

Answer 3

Crowned on 30th October 1485 - one of the first things he did after Battle of Bosworth (22nd August 1485)
Deliberately did not call parliament until he was crowned
His aim was the surpass festivities of King Richard: £8 per yard was paid for gold cloth and the purple velvet for the kings robes cost 40 shillings per yard (one shilling=5p)

Question 4

He has not united the two Houses

Answer 4

Henry applies for Papal dispensation to marry Elizabeth of York
Henry married Elizabeth of York on 18th January 1486
She was not crowned queen until November 1487 - Henry wanted to rule in his own right for a time to ensure that no one thought his only claim for the throne was through marriage

Question 5

His supporters from Bosworth expect a reward

Answer 5

Jasper Tudor (his uncle): elevates to a peerage (a landed title), became Duke of Bedford, Chief Justice of Wales, Constable of all royal castles in Wales and Lord Lieutenant if Ireland
Sir William Stanley: was made Lord Chamberlain - a powerful position at Henry’s court
Lord Thomas Stanley (step-father): Earl of Derby
Bishop Fox (a lawyer who was in exile in France w/ Henry) was made keeper of the Privy Seal
Henry was keen not to reward his subjects with too much land- over mighty subjects

Question 6

Decide what to do with his opponents

Answer 6

Henry pre-dated his reign to 21st August (day before Bosworth) so he could punish those who fought against him as traitors.
Less than a quarter of the temporal lords who fought against him at Bosworth had been killed there.
10 year old Earl or Warwick (nephew of Richard) sent to the tower
John De La Pole (Earl of Lincoln) nephew of Richard was made to swear loyalty and invited to his council
Earl of Surrey (fought at B) kept in prison until 1489- no longer threat
Earl of Northumberland (was w/Richard but did not fight) released from prison 1485 given control of North to prove loyalty
Duke of Buckingham (Yorkist but against Richard) allowed to swear allegiance
ACT OF RESUMPTION: all lands given out by Yorkist Kings back under control of crown

Question 7

Deal with other potential Yorkist claims to throne

Answer 7

Ten year old Earl of Warwick (nephew of Richard) sent to Tower of London
John De La Pole, Earl of Lincoln, (nephew) was allowed to swear loyalty to him then brought in to his council
He also developed his own personal protection unit known as the Yeoman of the guard

Question 8

Many common people consider Henry a usurper

Answer 8

In March 1486 Henry began a progress tour - enabled him to be viable to his subjects and to use propaganda to glorify his new reign

Question 9

He has no heir to the throne

Answer 9

Prince Arthur on 19th September 1485
Margaret 1488
Henry 1491
Mary 1496

Question 10

Parliament have not officially recognised him as King

Answer 10

7th November 1485 Henry called first parliament of his reign - not allowed to meet unless they were invited by Henry (demonstration of new power. During this parliament quickly obliged Henry and formally recognised him as King

Question 11

The Lovell rebellion 1486

Answer 11

Francis Lovell + Thomas and Humphrey Stafford claiming sanctuary after Bosworth. Heard Henry coming north to York - left and tried to gain support to seize him on road and replace with Yorkist

Question 12

Problems with Lovell’s rebellion

Answer 12

Never gained any real support

No real clear leader

Question 13

How was the Lovell rebellion dealt with

Answer 13

Henry heard of it through spies and quickly sent Jasper Tudor with armed forces to meet them - never went to battle.
Thomas Stafford was forgive but Humphrey was beheaded however Lovell was able to get away

Question 14

Simnel’s rebellion 1487

Answer 14

Originated in Oxford where Richard Symons a priest detected likelihood between Warwick and Simnel. In 1486 taken to Dublin where he was proclaimed King - Margaret of Burgundy sent money+2000 mercenaries commanded by Martin Schwarz along with Lincoln and Lovell. Landed in Lancashire in 1487 however relatively few joined them in England. The two sides met at the Battle of Stoke - 3 hours of fighting Henry won.

Question 15

Dangers of the Simnel rebellion

Answer 15

Early in Henry’s reign-unable to cement position
Henry was relatively slow to respond
Involved foreign forces (Irish and German)
Involved potentially dangerous nobles-John De La Pole (Lincoln)
Stanley held troops back until the outcome became clear-did not have full backing of nobility

Question 16

Problems and how it was dealt with - Simnel rebellion

Answer 16

Henry paraded Warwick in 1487 to discredit the rebellion and reduce support
Leadership provided was generally weak
Once rebels landed Henry responded extremely quickly - outnumbered 2 to 1 engaging from both in front and behind

Question 17

what were the long term response of govt. from Simnel rebellion?

Answer 17

Henry was fortunate that Lincoln (De La Pole) and Broughton were killed and Lovell has disappeared-ring leaders unable to pose any other threat
In the following parliament 28 acts of attainders were passed-further exclude unreliable nobles
Henry hurried to have his wife to be declared Queen in 1488
Edgecombe was sent to Ireland in order to pacify the Irish. In 1494 Poynings’ Law was introduced (only did this after support of Warbeck)

Question 18

What was the Yorkshire Rebellion 1489?

Answer 18

Parliament had granted the king £100,000 to help Brittany defend itself from France. Yorkshire struggled to pay this income tax due to poor harvest - normally exempt from this as busy with the Scots but only Northumberland left out of payment. Kings envoy killed by Sir John Egremont (Yorkist)

Question 19

How was the Yorkshire rebellion dealt with (1489)?

Answer 19

Henry quickly sent troops north and was able to rally 18 peers in defence of the crown (only 6 fought at stoke) due to being fearful of the development of factional rebellion. Thomas Howard given credit and was made Lord Lieutenant of the North
Rebel’s paid no more tax still.

Question 20

What was the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 20

Tax rebellion due to the king being granted a £120,000 subsidy from parliament to do with defending the Scot boarder-did not want to pay due to geographical boundaries.