Henry VII's Government

Question 1

Councils and the Court

Answer 1

• The King ruled with advisers who supported him in making decisions.
• Around 227 men are recorded as having attended council with Henry during his reign.
• In practice, there was usually only 6 or 7 men.

Question 2

The Council’s Functions

Answer 2

• Advise the king
• Administer the realm on the king’s behalf
• Make legal judgements

Question 3

Three Types of Councillor

Answer 3

• Members of the nobility
• Members of the Church e.g. Morton and Fox
• Laymen - gentry or lawyers who were skilled administrators e.g. Reginald Bray

Question 4

Council during Henry’s Rule

Answer 4

• No rules or procedures
• Permanent body with a core membership.
• Members could meet separately to deal with administrative and legal concerns when the King wasn’t present e.g. Bray and Dudley often met in London.
• Importance of council depended on the members and its offshoot (Council Learned)
• It was not essential to hold office to advise the king - Margaret Beaufort influential.

Question 5

Council Learned

Answer 5

• Developed during second half of reign.
• Often met in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster where it formed as a ‘specialist board’.
• It’s function = maintain king’s revenue and exploit prerogative rights.
• It made the system of bonds and recognisances work so effectively and entrap king’s subjects.
• Not a recognised court of law and those summoned couldn’t appeal - caused fear, frustration and anger.

Question 6

Prerogative Rights

Answer 6

rights or powers which the monarch could exercise without requiring the consent of Parliament.

Question 7

Empson and the Council Learned

Answer 7

• Empson = a lawyer and bureaucrat
• His ruthless approach defined the behaviour of the Council Leaned.
• He was joined by Dudley in 1503.
• Pair was a feared combination - extracted money very easily.
• Their enemies Bishop Fox and Sir Thomas Lovell had them executed after Henry’s death - brought rejoicing in the street.

Question 8

Court and Household

Answer 8

• Relied heavily on royal court - centre of government.
• Wealth = power - royal court was magnificent and generous - inspired by courts in Burgundy and France.
• Royal court always found with king - focus of personal monarchy and place for royal ceremony.
• Power of king demonstrated to courtiers - rewards and status distributed.
• Courtiers enjoyed paid positions - could attain advancement and obtain influential people.

Question 9

Personal Monarchy

Answer 9

• Political power and influence depended on relationship with the monarch not on any specific office they held.
• Access to the king demonstrated power - court allowed people to gain access.

Question 10

Different levels

Answer 10

• Household proper - looked after the king, courtiers, guests and others - supervised by Lord Steward.
• Chamber - presided over by Lord Chamberlain. LC and senior household officials were influential courtiers. Position of LC was both powerful and matter of trust.

Question 11

Privy Chamber

Answer 11

• Lord Chamberlain, Sir William Stanley, was involved in a treasonable plot.
• Henry remodelled the Chamber by creating the Privy Chamber - king could retreat protected by his most intimate servants.
• Changed character of court making it difficult for those out of favour to regain king’s support.

Question 12

Parliament

Answer 12

• Met occasionally and had 2 main functions - pass laws and grant taxation to crown - local issues and grievances passed on to king’s officials by MPs.
• Only king called parliament - called 7 in his reign (5 in first 10 years).
• Early parliaments focused on national security and raising of revenue - passed Acts of Attainder.
• 1st Parliament granted tonnage and poundage for life - others granted extraordinary revenue.
• Parliament = effective, king respected decisions and private acts were passed.

Question 13

Acts of Attainder

Answer 13

Declared individuals guilty without going through trial if they were alive. If they were dead, their property would be forfeit to the crown.

Question 14

Extraordinary Revenue

Answer 14

• Money raised by the king from additional sources such as one-off payments when he faced an emergency. The most usual form = fifteenths and tenths.
• Final parliament in 1504 managed to limit the demand for extraordinary revenue - received undertaking that the king would stop using it.

Question 15

Fifteenths and Tenths

Answer 15

• Standard form of taxation paid by towns and boroughs to the town.
• Made in 1487, 1489-90,1491-92 and 1497 yielding £203,000.

Question 16

Justices and the Maintenance of Order

Answer 16

• Maintenance of law and order = responsibility of king - could lead to rebellions.
• King relied on nobility - make sure they didn’t become too powerful.

Question 17

Magnates

Answer 17

• Edward IV - divided country into spheres of influence each controlled by a noble (magnate).
• No. of magnates reduced and their land fell into hands of the Crown - magnate control mainly in the north.
• Earl of Northumberland murdered in 1489 - replaced by Yorkist Earl of Surrey who was released from the Tower.
• Henry didn’t trust others e.g. Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubeney - Henry employed spying networks and imposed bonds and recognisances.

Question 18

Justices of the peace (JPs)

Answer 18

• Henry relied on JPs to maintain law and order in the countryside.
• Appointed on a county-to-county basis and met 4 times a year to administer justice.
• Usually royal officials - most = local gentry who fulfilled unpaid tasks out of sense of duty.
• Acts of Parliament passed to increase power and responsibilities of JPs responsible for routine administration.

Question 19

Bonds and Recognisances

Answer 19

• Restored law and order by forcing subjects to take out bonds and recognisances.
• Some were result of genuine debts however many were purely political.
• Edmund Dudley - the king wished “to have many persons in danger at his pleasure.”
• King used it to enforce order and obedience and defeat the law.

Question 20

The Judicial System

Answer 20

• Church courts: church admin, offences committed by clergy
• Local Courts/Manor Courts/Borough Courts
• King’s court at county level
• King’s common law courts
• Chancery and other equity courts

Question 21

King’s Court at county level

Answer 21

• Assizes: held twice a year - deal with major criminal and civil cases
• Quarter sessions: held 4 times a year, presided over by JPs to deal with less important criminal cases.
• Special commissions: set up on and ad hoc basis to deal with major issues such as rebellion.

Question 22

Sources of Royal Income

Answer 22

There were a number of sources of royal income:
• Crown lands
• profits from feudal dues and the exercise of royal prerogative.
• Customs revenue
• pensions from other powers
• profits of justice
• extraordinary revenue

Question 23

Royal Finance

Answer 23

• People believed Henry was a miserly king who hated throwing money away.
• Some people think he transformed the royal finances by leaving his son money.
• There has been research which found that Henry wasted his money on things e.g. a welsh man that makes rhymes.

Question 24

Crown Lands

Answer 24

• Beginning of his reign, income dropped by £12,000 p/y.
• Income was collected through inefficient Court of the Exchequer.
• 1492 - Henry reverted to system of admin through Chamber.
• Finance improved - income increased to around £42,000 per year.

Question 25

Profits from feudal dues and the exercise of royal prerogative

Answer 25

• Increased profits from wardship (gain profits from property held by a minor).
• Parliament granted feudal aid in 1504.
• Obligations payable on the death of a feudal tenant-in-chief became additional source of income.
• Statutes of Uses (1489) - prevented property being turned into trusts - form of tax avoidance.

Question 26

Other sources of Revenue

Answer 26

• Customs Revenue - tonnage and poundage granted for life.
• Pensions e.g. from Treaty of Etaples
• Profits of Justice - fines and incomes from bonds
• Extraordinary Revenue - Henry received over £400,000 however it came at a price - taxation sometimes resulted in rebellions e.g. Cornish.

Question 27

Finance in total

Answer 27

• Henry left plate and jewels worth around £300,000 and £10,000 in cash.
• The main victims of Henry’s policies were the nation’s landowners - people who would support him if his throne was threatened.
• Henry’s policies were therefore quite dangerous.