Henry VIII & His Government

Question 1

How did Henry use his parliament earlier in his reign?

Answer 1

Before 1529, Henry VIII only called Parliament twice:
- First in 1515 for the Hunne Case
- Second in 1523 when Parliament needed to agree to greater taxation

Question 2

What was the Hunne Case?

Answer 2

Richard Hunne refused to pay the Church fees for his baby’s burial
After being arrested, Hunne was murdered
This was an incident that exposed anti-clericalism in parliament

Question 3

What was parliament’s role in the Henrician Reformation?

Answer 3

• Passed legislation such as the Act of Supremacy and the Treason Act in 1534
• Henry VIII and Cromwell had relied on Parliament to pass the necessary legislation

Question 4

Why was Henry’s use of parliament during the information significant?

Answer 4

• It gave Parliament a role in changing the country’s religion.
• It acknowledged the need for parliamentary agreement to secure such important changes. A precedent had been set

Question 5

How did parliament pressure the clergy?

Answer 5

1531: Henry VIII pardoned the clergy for crimes against him but forced them to recognise him as the lawmaker and head of the Church
- The Supplication Against the Ordinaries in March 1532
- The Submission of the Clergy in May 1532
- Cranmer married Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in secret in January 1533

Question 6

What was The Supplication Against the Ordinaries?

Answer 6

A petition passed by the House of Commons demanded that the king deal with the corruption of the clergy; March 1532

Question 7

What was The Submission of the Clergy?

Answer 7

Stated that Henry VIII could make decisions on Church laws without the Pope; May 1532

Question 8

How did parliament put pressure on the Pope?

Answer 8

• In January 1532, Parliament passed the First Act of Annates. This meant annotates (payments to Rome from the clergy when taking up a new post) were suspended
• In August 1532 Henry VIII asked the Pope to choose Cranmer (who had Protestant sympathies) to be the Archbishop of Canterbury
• In 1533, parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals. This meant no appeals could be made to the Pope on decisions taken in English courts

Question 9

How did Wolsey rise to chief minister?

Answer 9

• Wolsey was influential between 1510-29
• Intelligent and served Henry well
• He overcame rivals at court, e.g., The Gentlemen of the Bedchamber were purged in 1519 and reduced under the Eltham Ordinances
• Wolsey quickly rose through the Church’s ranks – became papal legate

Question 10

When did Wolsey become papal legate and what did it mean?

Answer 10

1518; he could act on the Pope’s behalf

Question 11

What were the problems for Wolsey in the church?

Answer 11

• Chief minister when the Reformation was happening in Europe
• Wolsey tried to reform the Church. He promoted education and wanted the quality of the clergy to improve
• As a Catholic and Papal Legate, Wolsey was opposed to the ideas of Protestantism
• But Henry VIII was at odds with the Church because he wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon (The Great Matter).

Question 12

What did The Great Matter have to do with Wolsey?

Answer 12

• Wolsey tried to protect the Church from the King as Henry VIII was frustrated by the Pope over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon
• Henry was concerned his royal prerogative was being undermined
• Henry wanted Wolsey, as both chief minister and Papal Legate, to influence the Pope
• Wolsey failed and the Church came under attack

Question 13

What caused Wolsey’s fall?

Answer 13

• Amicable Grant in 1525
• Failing to resolve Henry’s ‘Great Matter’, Henry VIII questioned his loyalty (believing he was serving the Pope before him)

Question 14

What was the Amicable Grant?

Answer 14

• Wolsey introduced the grant to fund Henry VIII’s war with France.
• It resulted in rebellion and Henry VIII was forced to withdraw from the war.

Question 15

Who repalced Wolsey as Henry’s chief minister?

Answer 15

By 1532, Thomas Cromwell had emerged as Henry VIII’s new chief minister as a replacement for Wolsey

Question 16

What were Cromwell’s religious sympathies?

Answer 16

• In the mid-1530s, Cromwell encouraged preachers to spread Protestant messages
• Played a main role in the dissolution of monasteries in 1536
• By the end of the 1530s, Cromwell was dissatisfied with the level of reform. He believed more Protestant reforms could be made.

Question 17

How did Cromwell deal with Henry’s divorce?

Answer 17

• In September 1530, Thomas Cranmer and Edward Foxe gave the king their book Collectanea Satis Copiosa; it provided legal grounds for Henry to have an annulment of his marriage
• He used parliament to attack the Church until, in 1534, the Royal Supremacy confirmed Henry the power of king and pope

Question 18

What were Cromwell’s reforms in government?

Answer 18

• The Royal Council became the Privy Council; this was smaller and more professional
• Cromwell became the Principal Secretary of the RC
• Parliament lasted seven years under Cromwell, with a wider scope than ever before

Question 19

What were Cromwell’s administrative reforms?

Answer 19

• Developed the Court of Augmentations, Court of First Fruits and the Court of Wards
• This centralised and professionalised Crown finance

Question 20

What caused Cromwell’s fall?

Answer 20

• Was part of dangerous court politics, e.g., he had orchestrated Anne Boleyn’s downfall
• The humiliating failure of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves was pinned on Cromwell by the Duke of Norfolk and his niece, Catherine Howard

Question 21

Was Henry intrested in governement?

Answer 21

Henry VIII was not interested in the day-to-day details of government. He increasingly relied on Wolsey, who became his chief minister. The question of who was in charge of policy is a cause of debate.

Question 22

How was Parliament involved in the Law?

Answer 22

• From 1516 the court of the Star Chamber became more important
• Wolsey’s Star Chamber investigated and punished abuses of power by the King’s councillors, corrupt JPs and local landowners, including the nobility
• Cases rose tenfold, resulting in a massive backlog of cases.

Question 23

How did Wolsey use the Star Chamber?

Answer 23

Wolsey used it to root out corruption, especially where justice favoured the upper classes

Question 24

What were the problems Wolsey faced with finances?

Answer 24

• The royal coffers were emptying. Henry VIII wanted war, which was expensive and inflation meant rising prices.
• Wolsey recognised that he needed to increase the kingdom’s income.
• Even though he got parliament to increase taxation on wealth and create a new income tax (called a subsidy), Wolsey could not get enough money to fund Henry VIII’s foreign policy.
• A key failure to raise tax was the Amicable Grant in 1525.

Question 25

What is enclosure?

Answer 25

A process where landowners put small areas of land into one big farm. Using new farming techniques, this made the farms more productive and profitable

Question 26

What attempts did Wolsey make to end enclosure?

Answer 26

• Wolsey established a national inquiry into enclosure in 1517. Over 220 landowners were taken to court for illegal enclosing. All but 34 were cleared.

Question 27

Did Wolsey’s attempts to end enclosure work?

Answer 27

• Wolsey stirred up the resentment of the landowning classes, gentry and nobility.
• Wolsey ran into opposition in parliament in 1523 and had to suspend inquiries.
• Enclosure and vagrancy continued.

Question 28

How did Henry try to maintain Royal Supremacy?

Answer 28

• Following Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the Catholic Church in 1534, he established himself as the highest authority in the English Church
• To do this, Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy in November 1534

Question 29

What did the 1534 Act of Supremacy mean?

Answer 29

• Henry was made Supreme Head of the Church of England.
• All clergy in England swore an oath to Henry’s title.
• The Crown had the power to carry out visitations on monasteries.