Henry VII Royal Finance And Domestic Policies

Question 1

Henry VII financial aims

Answer 1

• achieve solvency by increasing royal income
• decreasing expenditure
• restore the crowns financial strength

Question 2

Henry did not feel secure unless he was rich so he was efficent. He used his wealth to…

Answer 2

• reward loyal service
• bribe potential opponents
• fund armies
• consolidate the dynasty by leaving a treasury for his heir with the resources to fight to retain the throne

Question 3

Ordinary revenue

Answer 3

• regular income which the crown could rely on to finance the costs monarchy
• 4 principal sources:
  Crown lands
  Customs duties
  Feudal dues
  The legal system and profits of justice

Question 4

Finance: crown lands

Answer 4

• consisted of inherited lands that included the Earldoms of Richmond, March and Warwick and the principality of Wales
• annual income increased from £29,000 in 1485 to £42,000 in 1509

Question 5

Finances: customs duties

Answer 5

• provided a third of the crowns ordinary revenue

- average annual receipts rose from £33,000 to £40,000

Question 6

Finances: feudal dues

Answer 6

• in 1487 the annual proceeds from feudal dues like wardship and marriage was £350 but by 1507 it was £6,000

Question 7

Finances: legal system and profits of justice

Answer 7

• Henry ensured that most criminal acts, including treason, were punished by fines rather than imprisonment or execution

Question 8

Extraordinary revenue

Answer 8

• money that came to the crown on particular occasions (not regular)
• 6 sources of this revenue
  Bonds and recognisances
  Clerical taxes
  Feudal obligations
  French pension
  Loans and benevolences
  Parliamentary grants

Question 9

Finances: bonds and recognisances

Answer 9

• subjects paying a sum of money to the crown to guarantee their good behaviour
• £3,000 in 1493 to £35,000 in 1505

Question 10

Finances: clerical taxes

Answer 10

• grants made by convocation

- £25,000 towards the cost of the french campaign of 1491-92

Question 11

Finances: feudal obligations

Answer 11

• the right to levy such obligations as distraint of knighthood or demand payments for special occasions like the marriage of his eldest daughter

Question 12

Finances: french pension

Answer 12

• the king of france promised to pay Henry £159,000 in annual instalments of £5,000 (treaty of etaples, 1493)

Question 13

Finances: loans and benevolences

Answer 13

• requests made to his landholding subjects for financial support that were almost impossible to decline but ‘agreements’

Question 14

Finances: Parliamentary grants

Answer 14

• raised by taxes on moveable property called ‘fifteenths’ and ‘tenths’
• Helped pay for the battle of stoke which marked the defeat of the yorkists and the french campaign

Question 15

Domestic policies

Answer 15

• financial administration underpinned and supported his other domestic policies
• controlling the nobility
• co-operating with the church
• maintaining law and order

Question 16

Domestic policy: nobility

Answer 16

• controlled nobility by issuing attainders, curbing retaining and rewarding good service

Question 17

Domestic policy: the church

Answer 17

• henry offered the church his patronage and protection and it publicly upheld his god-given right to rule
• the head of the church, pope, supported henry

Question 18

Domestic policy: law and order

Answer 18

• agents of the central government such as JP’s and sheriffs, supported by trusted noble governors working through regional councils, helped control the kingdom

Question 19

Financial management

Answer 19

• inherited a bankrupt throne

- avoided large rebellions or efficiently combatted then so less money was spent