Henry VIII - Consolidation of Power and Early Government

Question 1

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Answer 1

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Question 2

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Question 3

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Question 4

When did Henry VII die?

Answer 4

21st April 1509

Question 5

When was Henry VII proclaimed King of England?

Answer 5

23rd April 1509

Question 6

When did Henry VIII marry Catherine of Aragon?

Answer 6

11th June 1509

Question 7

When was Henry and Catherine’s coronation?

Answer 7

24th June 1509

Question 8

How old was Henry VIII when he came to the throne?

Answer 8

It was two months before his eighteenth birthday.

Question 9

How many years had passed after the death of Arthur? What did Henry do in this time?

Answer 9

Seven years had passed since the death of Arthur, and in this time Henry had been preparing for his role as future king of England.

Question 10

What had been done to prepare Henry for the role of King?

Answer 10

• he was well read - well educated - had some acquaintance with the new learning of Humanism

Question 11

What did John Guy say about Henry’s mind?

Answer 11

it was ‘able but second rate’

Question 12

What was Henry’s early impression and how did Eric Ives describe him?

Answer 12

The early impression Henry created was very positive and the modern historian Eric Ives describes Henry at this time as an ‘extrovert, affable and charming’.

Question 13

How was Henry VII’s accession seen after Henry VII?

Answer 13

Henry VIII’s accession was welcomed as a breath of fresh air after the stultifying and rather sinister atmosphere associated with the influence of Empson and Dudley in the last years of his father’s reign.

Question 14

What did the new king represent to Sir Thomas More?

Answer 14

‘the end of slavery, the fount of our liberty, the end of sadness and the beginning of joy’.

Question 15

What did Henry have no experience in at the start of his reign?

Answer 15

Government or public affairs

Question 16

How did Henry VIII’s version of kingship differ from his Father’s?

Answer 16

• He had a profound dislike for the business of government - found the writing of state papers both tedious and painful

Question 17

What did Henry VIII’s new role allow him to do and how did he use this?

Answer 17

His new role allowed him to intervene suddenly in the business of government, in the process contradicting decisions or actions which had already been taken.

Question 18

What did Henry VIII lack in his personality that Henry VII had? What did he do instead?

Answer 18

• Henry VIII lacked the work ethic that his many historians attributed to his Father. - He instead preferred to pass the time with good company. - This was evident in the courtly activities which followed his accession. - There was much emphasis on pageants, revelry, sports, hunting and tournaments

Question 19

Why did the structure of government change under Henry VIII?

Answer 19

Henry VIII was rarely directly involved with the business of government.

Question 20

What was there short-term emphasis on in Henry’s government?

Answer 20

In the Short term, there was a renewed emphasis on governing through the council, which then made two comebacks at later stages of the reign (1529-32 and 1540-47)

Question 21

What else did Henry rely on to shape the structure of government?

Answer 21

• There were two periods in which Henry used chief ministers to meet his own needs. - The first of these was Thomas Wolsey, who was particularly adept at using the Star Chamber - The second was Thomas Cromwell, who developed his role as principal secretary

Question 22

What four things did Henry VIII receive from his father?

Answer 22

• money (believed to be around £300,000, and Henry VII was the only Tudor not to leave debt) - unpopular mechanisms for extracting money - a peaceful foreign policy - a conciliar form of government

Question 23

What did Henry VIII do to these four things at the start of his reign?

Answer 23

• the money inherited would disappear due to paying for the revival of a traditionally aggressive foreign policy towards France - The conciliar form of government would disappear due to the emergence of Fox’s former protege, Thomas Wolsey, as the focus of the government.

Question 24

What big changes happened at the start of Henry VIII’s reign?

Answer 24

Some members of the council were able to dispose of others and establish themselves in power.

Question 25

What did Richard Fox do at the start of Henry’s reign and who was he assisted by?

Answer 25

Richard Fox, who was assisted by Thomas Lovell and Richard Weston, secured the arrest of Richard Empson and Edmond Dudley. Henry VIII wasn’t involved in this, but was involved in the further decision to execute them.

Question 26

What happened to the Council Learned in Law when Henry became King?

Answer 26

It was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1510.

Question 27

What else did Henry VIII do to distance himself from his Father’s regime?

Answer 27

• cancelled many Bonds and Recognisance - abolished council learned - executed Empson + Dudley

Question 28

How did Henry VIII’s new take on Kingship affect his status in England?

Answer 28

It ensured his own popularity amongst the nobility and propertied classes, who considered themselves the victims of Henry VIII’s approach to taxation

Question 29

What were Henry VIII’s key aims in the first years of his reign?

Answer 29

• to establish his status amongst European monarchs through marriage - to re-establish the role of the nobility - to establish himself as a warrior king through success in battle

Question 30

Why did Henry VIII want to marry Catherine of Aragon quickly?

Answer 30

He was worried that Catherine of Aragon had been unfairly treated after they couldn’t wed before the death of Henry VII

Question 31

Why did Henry VIII’s councillors want him to marry Catherine quite quickly?

Answer 31

As they believed it would deflect him from political matters, and allow them to continue with a concillar form of government as usual.

Question 32

Why was the marriage between Catherine and Arthur initially successful?

Answer 32

• Henry VIII found it successful on a personal level - Catherine also exercised some influence over policy making in the first few years.

Question 33

What problem became prominent by the mid 1520s?

Answer 33

Catherine of Aragon could never give Henry VIII a healthy male heir.

Question 34

What had Henry VII done with the nobility during his reign?

Answer 34

• the nobility was largely frozen out of direct political influence by Henry VII - Henry’s peaceful foreign policy meant that they were denied their traditional outlet of the pursuit of military glory

Question 35

What did Henry VIII do with the nobility that differed from Henry VII?

Answer 35

• Henry VIII shared to nobility’s taste for military glory - The nobility were generally young men who accompanied Henry in sports and revels - It was the nobility who accompanied Henry to war in Northern France, or the Marquis of Dorset or the Earl of Surrey to Scotland

Question 36

Why did the nobility not achieve the political domination they desired?

Answer 36

Henry chose to promote the interests of Thomas Wolsey, the Churchman who had organised the war in France on his behalf.

Question 37

Who was the Duke of Buckingham?

Answer 37

Buckingham, like Henry, was a descendant of King Edward III and the only English duke at the start of his reign

Question 38

Why was the Duke of Buckingham executed in 1521?

Answer 38

• he had been a cause of concern for Henry for a while as he was muttering about issues such as the succession - He was tried in court as any discussion to what may happen after the King’s death could be treason - The duly found him guilty and quickly executed him; Wolsey was thought to be a key figure in his execution

Question 39

Why did Henry VIII quickly go to war with France?

Answer 39

• he wanted to break from his Father’s foreign policy and pursuit military glory

Question 40

What did Henry gain (or not gain) by going to war with France?

Answer 40

A common theme throughout Henry’s invasions; a vast amount of money was spent to gain a very small and insignificant amount of land.

Question 41

What did Henry VIII confusingly do throughout his foreign policy?

Answer 41

His bouts of aggression were mixed with occasional alliances with the French against the Spanish and the HRE, although Henry was never foolish enough to go to war directly with the powerful Charles V