Henry VIII: Wolsey, Government and the 'Great Matter' 1509-30

Question 1

When was the first English expedition to France?

Answer 1

June 1512

Question 2

Why was the first English expedition to France a failure?

Answer 2

Undersupplied + bad weather because Ferdinand II failed to provide men he’d pledged

Question 3

When was the second English expedition to France?

Answer 3

1521-23. Fails because Charles abandons him

Question 4

Where did Henry successfully lay siege to in the first English expedition?

Answer 4

Therouanne and Tournai

Question 5

What year was the Treaty of London signed?

Answer 5

1518

Question 6

What year was Charles elected as holy roman emperor?

Answer 6

1519

Question 7

What year was the sacking of Rome?

Answer 7

1527

Question 8

When was the field of cloth of gold held?

Answer 8

June 1520

Question 9

What were Henry’s aims for foreign policy?

Answer 9

1) glory/ honour
2) warrior king
3) securing his dynasty
4) trade/ money (needed for war)
5) imperial ambition

Question 10

Why and when was the amicable grant passed?

Answer 10

1525- fund expedition to France

Question 11

How much was government expenditure

Answer 11

£1.7 million between 1509-1520

Question 12

What year was the eltham ordinances passed?

Answer 12

1526

Question 13

Who was the other judge for Henry’s annulment?

Answer 13

Campeggio

Question 14

When was Wolsey accused of praemunire and what is it?

Answer 14

October 1529- recognising and responding to a foreign authority (the pope in this case) instead of the king

Question 15

Factors of Wolsey’s downfall

Answer 15

1) the amicable grant
2) Wolsey’s attitude toward enclosures and resentment of the nobility
3) Wolsey’s own ambition
4) Wolsey’s legal dominance
5) the Boleyn faction
6) collapse of foreign policy
7) Henry’s lack of a male heir
8) failure to persuade Pope of annulment in 1527
9) accusation of praemunire

Question 16

How/ why was Wolsey’s legal dominance responsible for his downfall?

Answer 16

Star chamber challenged nobility power and chancery increased legal precedents which was in huge demand

Question 17

What event showed Anne Boleyn’s power over Wolsey?

Answer 17

Abbess of Wilton

Question 18

When did Wolsey become the king’s chief minister?

Answer 18

1514

Question 19

When was Wolsey appointed Lord Chancellor and made cardinal?

Answer 19

1515. Lord chancellor= the highest office of state

Question 20

When was Wolsey appointed papal legate?

Answer 20

1518. The highest category of papal representative

Question 21

When was Wolsey removed from power?

Answer 21

1529

Question 22

How much older was Catherine of Aragon than Henry?

Answer 22

6 years

Question 23

Wolsey judicial reforms

Answer 23

Genuinely seemed to want a better justice system- ensured the courts were accessible to the poor and that the rich and powerful didn’t gain any legal advantages in the court. However, often used this to punish his own enemies

Question 24

What was the Eltham Ordinances?

Answer 24

attempted to reduce the cost of running the royal household. Reduced the privy council from 12 to 6

Question 25

Wolsey’s use of parliament

Answer 25

only called twice- 1515 and 1523

Question 26

Wolsey and the nobility

Answer 26

announced in 1516 meeting of the Star Chamber that those responsible for justice in localities, whether nobles or gentlemen, shouldn’t seem themselves as above the law

Question 27

Example of Wolsey’s clash with the nobility

Answer 27

the Duke of Buckingham- charged and convicted of treason and executed the following month for speaking out against Wolsey

Question 28

Wolsey’s success with the French

Answer 28

marriage of Henry’s sister, Mary to Louis XII in 1514. Ensuing treaty gave Henry an annual income of 100,000 crowns and confirmed English possession of Tournai. Although the treaty was short lived because Louis died 1515, the success of the negotiations had enabled Wolsey to cement his place as the king’s chief diplomat

Question 29

Failure of the Treaty of London

Answer 29

within two years, Francis I and Charles V were competing for the Holy Roman Empire

Question 30

What was the Treaty of London?

Answer 30

Treaty signed by England, France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, Burgundy and the papacy. Agreed to commit to a policy of peaceful co-operation and to make war on any ruler that broke the treaty. Massive peace summit involving 20 nations

Question 31

What was the aim of the Field of Cloth and Gold?

Answer 31

Alliance between Francis and Henry

Question 32

When was the Battle of Pavia?

Answer 32

1525

Question 33

Who won the Battle of Pavia?

Answer 33

Charles against the French

Question 34

Charles’ role in the annulment

Answer 34

He was Catherine’s nephew- Charles had power over Pope Clement after sacking Rome

Question 35

Catherine’s inability to produce an heir

Answer 35

several miscarriages and 2 stillborn babies

Question 36

Henry’s confidence in the annulment

Answer 36

Henry and Anne agreed in 1527 to marry after the annulment

Question 37

when and what was the treaty of Cambrai?

Answer 37

1529- treaty between Francis and Charles. Although not initially involved in discussions, Wolsey managed to negotiate his way into the terms of the treaty of peace, in which England’s place as a major power was acknowledged

Question 38

When was the Battle of Spurs?

Answer 38

during June 1512 expedition to France

Question 39

Early military victory by Wolsey

Answer 39

Battle of Spurs

Question 40

When and what was the Battle of Flodden?

Answer 40

1513- James IV raided England. Henry distracted in France, Catherine and Duke of Norfolk led victory against the Scots

Question 41

Wolsey’s titles

Answer 41

King’s chief minister 1514, lord chancellor and cardinal 1515, papal legate 1518

Question 42

Henry’s inspiration for warrior king

Answer 42

Henry V at Agincourt

Question 43

Wolsey’s ability

Answer 43

graduated Oxford age 15, manipulated the king in the Eltham Ordinances

Question 44

Discontent caused by Amicable Grant

Answer 44

Widespread resistance e.g. provoked an open rebellion in Suffolk and a taxpayer strike. In the most serious rebellion in England since 1497, 10,000 men converged on the major trading town of Lavenham.

Question 45

Wolsey’s rise to power

Answer 45

The primary councellors Henry had inherited, Warham and Foxe, were cautious and urged against war. Wolsey too was against war until 1511 but when Henry announced his aim to go to war with France Wolsey adapted his views and gave speeches to the privy council to persuade them to go to war. When Warham resigned as Lord Chancellor in 1515 under pressure, Henry appointed Wolsey in his place

Question 46

Wolsey’s failure in judicial reforms

Answer 46

Courts became overloaded with tenuous cases, Wolsey ordered all minor cases out of the star chamber 1528

Question 47

Wolsey and enclosures

Answer 47

1517 inquiry into Enclosures, chancery prosecuted 264 landowners, however, Wolsey was forced to abandon his reforms in 1523 so that parliament would accept taxes to fund the war

Question 48

Wolsey taxation reforms

Answer 48

New tax the ‘Subsidy’ which taxed based on an accurate valuation of wealth. More efficient system raised £300,000, whilst benevolences and forced loans on the nobility raised £200,000 in 1552

Question 49

Three French campaigns

Answer 49

1512-14, 1523-5, 1543-6

Question 50

Wolsey general reforms

Answer 50

Started a number of schemes but failed to follow them through, suggests he intended to do more than he achieved

Question 51

Failure of the Amicable Grant

Answer 51

aimed to raise £800,000 but in reality raised £300,000

Question 52

Failure of the Field of the Cloth and Gold

Answer 52

If it was intended to improve Anglo-French relations it failed, as the Venetian ambassador reported that Henry and Francis hated each other. If it was aimed to advance the cause of European peace it failed because Charles V suspected that Henry was siding with Francis

Question 53

Religious justification of the ‘Great Matter’

Answer 53

Leviticus