HENRY VIII & WOLSEY Flashcards
1
Q
Describe Henry’s personality
A
- looks king like -> athletic, well dressed
- very different to father -> large ego, overly confident, arrogant, popular
- believes everything he does is godly - small interest in theology
- renaissance interest/fashion -> music, multiple languages
2
Q
Define court/royal household
A
- group of people surrounding the monarch eg companions, entertainment, queen, dukes and duchesses, cook, kitchen maids between 800 and 1500 people
- impress subjects and foreign visitors, parties, sporting events, intrigue
3
Q
Define privy council
A
- people appointed to give advice on affairs of the state (roughly 20)
- Henry doesn’t have to sit through meetings eg Wolsey, Cromwell
4
Q
Define privy chamber
A
- part of the household who looked after the rest of the household
- head of the Privy Chamber is the Groom of the Stool (helps the king use the toilet) eg William Compton, Henry Norris
- Most private of all the royal apartments, members were chosen by the monarch
5
Q
Define dry stamp
A
- forged kings signature used on documents only 3 could have it at a time and recorded in a book to make sure its use was proper
6
Q
Define faction
A
- group of people who sought to advance shared interests and push for action eg Boleyn faction who orchestrated Wolsey’s death because he didn’t obtain a divorce for Henry and Catherine of Aragon
- Positive interests -> gaining/keeping privileges, grants or jobs
- Negative interests -> denying such things to their rivals
7
Q
Define patronage
A
- ability to give awards, positions and titles eg church positions, knighthood, peerage
- Henry gives out a lot of titles, people get envious
8
Q
How did Henry use parliament
A
- before 1529 he only called parliament twice -> 1515 hundred case (hunger refused to pay church fees for his baby’s burial, arrested then murdered - anti clericalism in parliament), 1523 parliament needed to agree greater taxation
9
Q
Who was Henry’s council
A
- he became king before 18 so inherited his fathers council
- sir Thomas Lovell, archbishop warham, bishop hon fisher
- Wolsey accepted 1510
10
Q
What were Henry viii foreign policy aims
A
- aggressive policy against the French -> henry to claim french land
- Honour and glory
- Maintain links with the Netherlands –> needed for vital cloth trade, Netherlands controlled by HRE (Charles)
- Peacemaker of Europe -> Wolsey convinced Henry to be diplomatic due to declining reputation of England in war (didn’t have the money/strength for war)
- Secure dynasty
- Collect his pension - money collected from french
11
Q
Summarise foreign policy relationship with each country
A
- France -> enemy, defeat France get glory, Wolsey fails to provide this
- Spain -> use and abuse, betray England, Charles v troublesome
- England often left out of European politics
- Cambrai treaties are worst situations
12
Q
What was league of cambrai
A
- 1508
- all countries vs Venice, England left out
- France didnt get along with pope
13
Q
When did Henry marry Catherine of Aragon
A
- 1509
14
Q
How did Wolsey rise to power
A
- 1514 - archbishop of York
- 1515 - pope made him a cardinal
- then king appointed him lord chancellor
15
Q
How did Wolsey manage administration/govt
A
- reorganised local councils
- managed enclosures well -> good harvest, food price control effective
- used power to appoint trusted allies
- building loyalty through patronage
- used personal officials for got business
- reluctant to delegate, feared rivals
- Eltham ordinances -> reduced number of privy chamber members and household expenses
- less administrative reform -> efficient rule and continuity of officials
16
Q
How did Wolsey manage finances
A
- 1513 introduced subsidy -> personal tax took into account amount people could pay rather than tax being a fixed sum -> progressive tax system
- 1522 national survey -> who/how much tax
- 1526 recoinage - increased number of coins, decreased value of silver in them -> stimulated exports but contributed to inflation
- raised £332000 in subsidies, £240000 in clerical taxation, £260000 in forced loans
- amicable grant 1525 (type of benevolence - gift of money demanded by king from subjects) - raised money for french invasions, led to public unrest (taxpayer strike/threat of rebellion in Suffolk) -> forced to retract decision, undermined Henry’s confidence in Wolsey as he failed to raise necessary war funds
17
Q
How did Wolsey manage law/judicial system
A
- increased role of prerogative courts, system of law is equity
- Equity based on common sense -> could deliver swift, cheap justice (no need for complex, technical arguments)
- ‘new law’ of Court of the Star Chamber -> dealt with crimes
- encouraged use of the Court of Chancery -> dealt with disputes over inheritance/wills or land/trusts
- established the Court of Requests -> a tribunal to hear cases for those too poor to use existing courts
18
Q
Was wolseys reform of the judicial system a success or failure
A
- he failed -> much promise but little performance
- reforms not effective -> many took advantage of low fees to start frivolous cases/restart cases already lost in Common Law, number of cases increased so much where Wolsey and officials couldnt cope with demand
- Wolsey used Star Chamber to flaunt his authority, humbled members of the aristocracy, prosecuted those who offended him
- he removed business from Common Law courts - many lawyers lost out financially, feared Lord Chancellor’s word would replace Common Law of England
- he attempted to make no institutional changes -> quick to abandon the Commons when matters affected him personally/threatened his power
19
Q
How did Wolsey influence foreign policy
A
- 1510 - although Anglo french truce renewed, Wolsey advised Henry to declare war on France
- 1512-13 - organising expeditionary force to France in summer -> used opportunities well to appeal to Henry, rising though ranks
- 1515 - Wolsey alliance with Ferdinand and Maximilian (this alliance against france)
- 1518 treaty of London -> European peace (Francis, Maximilian, pope), Wolsey given papal legate title, treaty only lasted 6 months
- 1521 Calais conference where Wolsey meets Charles v
- 1523 - MPs critical of aggressive foreign policy
- 1526 kings great matter -> Henry wants to marry Anne Boleyn
- 1527 treaty of Westminster -> Wolsey attempts to join France and England against Charles v
20
Q
List more of Henry’s foreign policy events
A
- Habsburg-Valois wars until 1559
- 1511 England invited to holy league, deal made between Ferdinand (father in law) and Henry to attack france
- 1512 failures in france -> troops suffer dysentery and revolt, Ferdinand betrays by taking Navarre, Henry got played (was a distraction for france)
- 1513 battle of the spurs -> Henry takes therouanne and tournai but too expensive so he returns them, Spain, hre and pope help (army 2500), french troops fled (dug spurs into horses to get away)
- 1513 battle of flodden field -> Henry away in France so Catherine leads battle against Scotland and wins, James iv and 10000 Scottish killed
- 1514 anglo french treaty -> £10000 war pension per year to England, Henry will control tournai, marry Henry’s sister to louis xii, Spain and hre had made peace with France
- 1514 - Ferdinand and Maximilian make peace with Frances so Henry has to follow
- 1516 Franco Spanish treaty at noyon -> Ferdinand dies
- 1518 treaty of London -> European peace
- 1520 field of the cloth of gold -> huge shoe of englands wealth, unhealthy competition leads to war, £1.5 million, tents made from gold
- 1521 treaty of Bruges -> Anglo-imperial agreement to attack France
- 1522 treaty of Windsor -> Charles and Henry invade france in 1523, fail for next 2 years
- 1525 battle of pavia -> Spain defeat France (Francis taken prisoner), due to failure of amicable grant England cant provide troops, Charles makes peace with France and takes over most Italy/controls pope
- 1528 England and France declare war on Charles v, truce after unrest in England
- 1529 Catherine appeals to pope for help in trial at Blackfriars, pope overrules Wolsey (fails to get annulment)
21
Q
Define anti-clericalism
A
- criticism of the practices and morality of the Catholic clergy
22
Q
Define simony and pluralism
A
- simony -> buying a clerical office from a leading cleric
- pluralism -> holding more than one clerical office at a time for material benefit
23
Q
Why was Catholic Church so important to people
A
- involved in many aspects of day to day life including the baptism, marriage, the Eucharist
- people attended mass every Sunday and holy days
24
Q
What were the causes of dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church
A
- riddled with corruption and ready to collapse, rampant anti-clericalism
- uneducated priests - couldn’t deliver traditional services and unable to recut backs parts of the liturgy such as the Lord’s Prayer
- simony, pluralism, non residence, nepotism and sexual misconduct
- benefit of the clergy
25
Define non residence and nepotism
- non residence -> bishops who don’t live in their diocese but still collect tax
- nepotism -> donating a clerical position to a member of family
26
How was the church pre-break
- some priests uneducated -> can’t deliver services/say Lord’s Prayer
- well regarded -> met needs of people (burials, marriage and christenings)
- monk provided employment, charity and education
- still corruption, nepotism, simony, pluralism
- good relations -> pope allowed monarch to select senior leaders in church, some independence
27
Why did the reformation begin
- 1526 great matter -> Henry’s divorce, Catherine only gave birth to girl but he wants male heir
- pope doesnt grant Henry annulment -> used Leviticus as proof, dont marry your brothers wife and will result in having no children, amateur scholar and told he couldnt use bible to suit his needs
- Rome intentionally makes process long -> Henry blames Wolsey
28
How did Henry and Wolsey seek to proceed in search for annulment
- process meant to take weeks but took months as pope stalled -> Henry agree at Wolsey, wanted him to find solution
- first strategy -> saying pope doesnt have rights to set aside divine law
- second strategy -> Wolsey should persuade pope to transfer case to England and delegate power to him
29
Why was it difficult for Henry and Wolsey to obtain annulment
- Charles V kidnaps Clement VII (pope) - now he controls pope, opposes the annulment as he was Catherine’s nephew
- Needs to go to war to restore the pope’s diplomatic independence - France and England declare war on 1528
- Treaty of Amiens 1527 - Henry agrees to pay for the French attack
- Wolsey suspended trade with the Netherlands to force the Habsburgs to further the annulment policy - English cloth workers protest as they rely on Antwerp markets so truce made in June 1528
30
List reasons for fall of Wolsey
- failure to get annulment -> Henry exiled him to York, removed his power/possessions
- failure of amicable grant
- failure in foreign policy against Charles v
- influence on Boleyn family -> claimed Wolsey was deliberately sabotaging annulment proceedings as he secretly favoured Catherine,
- other nobles felt Wolsey treated them unfairly -> eg Eltham ordinances
