Henry VIII Flashcards
Character of Henry VIII:
- Enjoyed courtly activities over having a strong work ethic
- Relied heavily on the council or chief ministers
Legacy of Henry VII:
- Left his son a full crown coffer (£300,000)
- Relatively peaceful kingdom, in which the Tudor kingdom was secured
Aim:
Dismantle unpopular aspects of his father’s legacy, while maintaining stability
Actions:
Empson and Dudley executed, Council Learned in Law abolished and many bonds cancelled
Aim:
Establish his status among European monarchs through marriage and preserve the dynasty
Actions:
Married Catherine of Aragon
Aim:
Establish himself as a warrior king through success in battle
Actions:
Pursued military glory through war in France
Government under Henry VIII:
1509-14: Conciliar government had broken down. Mainly due to disagreements Henry had with his councillors over war with France and ‘minions’
1514-29: Thomas Wolsey as chief minister
1529-32: Conciliar government returned
1532-40: Thomas Cromwell as chief minister
1540-47: Conciliar government returned, with power laying with the conservatives in the Privy Council
Domestic policies under Wolsey (1515-29):
- appointed lord chancellor in 1515
- Presided over the court of chancery, which he used to uphold ‘fair’ justice
- the authority of the Crown over regional councils was extended
- tried to raise the amicable grant, which led to widespread resistance
- Eltham Ordinances reformed the Privy chambers finances and reduced the influence of the Privy Chamber
King’s Great Matter (1525-33):
- Wolsey was tasked with securing a papal dispensation for the annulment of Henry’s marriage
- Catherine appealed to Pope Clement VII, but he was reluctant to cooperate because Catherine’s nephew had sacked Rome
- Cardinal Campeggio was sent to hear the case but he didn’t agree with the annulment
- Wolsey was charged with praemunire
King’s Great Matter (1525-33):
- Wolsey was tasked with securing a papal dispensation for the annulment of Henry’s marriage
Acts of Parliament (1532-41):
1532: An act was passed withholding the payment of annates
1533: Act in restraint of appeals (no appeals could be made to Rome against decisions of Church courts in England)
1534: Act of succession (Annulled Henry’s marriage to Catherine, succession now with Anne’s children, denying Henry’s marriage was treason)
Act of supremacy (king declared supreme head of the church of England)
Treason Act (became treasonable to call Henry a heretic, used on Thomas More who was Lord Chancellor 1530-2)
Act in restraint of annates (allowed the annates to be transferred from Pope to king)
1536-41: first and second suppression acts (dissolved the monasteries)
Domestic policies under Cromwell:
- He helped give statute law precedence over canon law
- created departments and courts such as First fruits and tenths that was subject to scrutiny and auditing of all accounts
- privy council was reduced to 20 men, with a higher value placed on talent
Foreign policy (1509-14):
- Holy league with papacy, Spain and HRE against France
- Battle of the Spurs against France. Captured Therouanne and Tournai
- Battle of Flodden against Scotland. James IV killed along with many of the Scottish nobility
Results of the military campaign 1512-13:
- huge drain on English finance
- resentment against taxation nearly caused another rebellion in Yorkshire
- Loss is the french pension Henry VII
- Insignificant gains, Tournai was sold in 1519
- relative peace with Scotland until 1542
Foreign policy (1514-26):
- Treaty of Cambrai between Charles V, HRE and France left England isolated
- Treaty of London (1518): achievement by Wolsey. Non-aggression pact signed by all key states
- Field of the cloth of gold (1520): reinforced positive relations between England and France
- Battle of Pavia (1525): Charles V defeated the French but refused a joint invasion with Henry. Henry then supported the League of Cognac, with France, to counterbalance Charles’ power
Foreign policy (1527-40):
- Treaty of Amiens (1527): France and England
- Henry’s position was weakened:
Charles and Francis signed the Treaty of Nice, in which they agreed to sever ties with England
Pope Paul III absolved English Catholics from obedience to their ruler
1539: Pope tried to raise support in Scotland and France for a Catholic crusade
Relations between Charles and Francis broke down
Henry’s relation with Ireland:
- An invasion of the pale in 1539 was eventually controlled and the English government tried to pacify Ireland by:
Separate kingdom, under English law
Counties out of Gaelic lordship
Titles and protection as their English counterparts
No residual Irish loyalty to the English crown and emerging religious differences complicated the situation
Foreign Policy (1540-7):
- Battle of Solway Moss (1542). James V died but Henry failed to mount a full scale invasion
- 1544, Boulogne captured by Henry
- Battle of Ancrum Moor (1545) English defeated by Scotland
- 1546, peace was agreed between England and France
Securing the succession:
- 1544 Succession act: re-legitimated Mary and Elizabeth
- Affirmed Henry’s right to determine the succession by will or letters patent
Social change under Henry VIII:
- Gentry grew considerably under Henry, as ex monastery land became available
- Greater emphasis on legal training for local administration etc
- Growth in the urban elites as towns and cities grew and the number of merchants and skilled artisans living by trade increased
- more prosperous peasants bought land outright and entered the ranks if yeoman
Regional issues:
Ireland: tried to control the Irish through force, by keeping a standing army there
Wales: Cromwell’s Wales Act (1536) gave the Welsh direct representation in the House of Commons and brought Wales under the same legal framework as England
North of England: Henry and Cromwell re established the Council in the North, in response to the Pilgrimage of Grace
Social impact of religious upheaval:
- In the short term, resentment at the dissolution of the monasteries and attacks on traditional Catholic practices
- Huge amount of land was transferred from church to crown. By 1547 nearly 2\3 of Church land had been sold to fund Henry’s expensive foreign policy
- Education suffered, with loss of monastery schools
- Many monks and nuns became unemployed
- Loss of jobs, welfare services, education and hospitals
Minor rebellions:
- Complaints in Yorkshire in 1513 about the raising of a subsidy
- Widespread resistance to the amicable grant in 1525. 1000 people on the Essex-suffolk border refused payment
- Wolsey sought pardon for protesters and they were treated leniently
- For his next invasion of France, Henry supplemented his revenue from profits from monastic lands
Lincolnshire rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace:
- Largest rebellion in the history of Tudor England, with 40,000 people involved
- The rebels were more hostile towards the Gentry because of the strength of their grievances against their landlords, sending out letters in the name of Captain Poverty
Causes of pilgrimage of grace:
Secular Motives:
- Resentment over taxation
- tenant’s grievances
Courtly conspiracy by former supporters of Catherine of Aragon who wanted Princess Mary as heir
Religious motives:
- Loss of charitable functions
- loss of parish churches
- fear that north would be impoverished if monastic land was transferred
- rumours that church plates and jewels would be confiscated
Prosperity and depression:
- Debasement of the coinage (first attempted in 1526) created a short term, artificial boom in 1544-6
- Enclosure, new agricultural techniques and engrossing benefitted agriculture
- Bad harvests raised food prices. Food almost doubled across Henry’s reign
- In countryside, some were made homeless on account of enclosure and engrossing
Weaknesses of the Church:
- corruption, including pluralism and non-residence
- corruption of legal privileges of the clergy and clerical misconduct
Changes to doctrine and religious practices:
- Relics and images were destroyed and an English bible was introduced
- Henry personally disliked early moves to Protestantism and was responsible for the Six Articles
Ten Articles (1536):
Only three sacraments were needed for salvation (penance, baptism and eucharist). A mixture of Lutheran and Catholic practices
Praying to saints to forgive sins was rejected but confession praised
