Historians Flashcards
1
Q
Wars of the Roses
A
- Michael Hicks = Henry was a normal king and was unlucky in circumstances with economic crisis, inadequate financing and an unwinnable war against the French and so he just committed to ruling consultatively and doing justice. He was too forgiving to the Yorkists, especially with forgiving the likes of Dudley
Edward IV was lazy and self-indulgent but also vigorous, had mixed success but did manage to reign for the second time.
Henry VII main problem was the pretenders
Main point was that the wars of the Roses definitely continued into Henry VII reign with all the issues he had to deal with, it was when Henry VIII was crowned that the security of the realm was set in stone.
I think with Hicks, he defines that the Wars of the Roses was three wars and makes it too definite, this is obviously not entirely true - A J Pollard = main argument was the king may reign, but he may not rule. Even for the most powerful such as Henry IV, Edward IV and Henry VII much is beyond their control or influence
2
Q
Henry VII
A
- Steven Gunn = Henry was a liminal monarch, caught on the cusp of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. He was an unstable monarch. He was the first of the Tudors, last of the Lancastrians, he was the end of the War of the Roses etc. His lack of military ventures perhaps made him timid, he was a conservative in many ways, didn’t induce much change in the ruling of the country. He was a king that was hard to understand.
- Stanley B Chrimes = Henry VII did not inspire the romantic interest like his heirs, he was an uninteresting. He doesn’t see Henry as a brave new monarch leading the English into a modern era. Henry is boring and ignoring the non-direct route of his succession, Chrimes essentially becomes an immediate predecessor and the product of a long, medieval tradition. “Henry was not a creator but rather a stabilizer”
3
Q
Henry VIII
A
- Diarmaid MacCulloch = Henry was seen as dominated by his great ministers Wolsey and Cromwell and sometimes his wives. His policies wavered and were inconsistent, even with the Reformation -> half-hearted attempt with Henry not actually wanting to leave Catholicism. MacCulloch praised his balanced religious policy and condemns his endless diversions from it
- David Starkey = Henry had a genuine interest in policy but he was apparently incapable of determining its direction himself. Starkey portrays Henry not as a devious manipulator of other men but influenced by his official and attendants. He was cautious, indecisive and inefficient which the people around him played on. Wolsey would keep Henry busy from the privy chamber with sporting and ceremonial events to dominate central gov but failed when he couldn’t put through the divorce of H & C and was taken down by the men of the privy council. Starkey presents Cromwell as a more ruthless and subtle, ridding the men he didn’t like of the Privy council such as Carew, Bryan and Neville. He was just as short lived in success as Wolsey, however. Both were hated for W = lack of church reform, C = Too much reform. Starkey presented Anne as at the fall of Wolsey and the emergence of Cromwell she was chief councillor essentially promoting Cramner etc and nudging king to Evangelical position
4
Q
Edward VI
A
- Stephen Alford = Edward was taught to see himself as much an emperor and supreme head as his father had been. It was Edward’s sense of own responsibility after having the strong protectorate of Somerset and then Dudley that led him to his desperate scheme of diverting the succession to Lady Jane and not Dudley. Alford thinks that if Dudley had acted like a “bad duke” he may have gained the throne.
- Chris Skidmore = Portrays Edward as the “lost king”, a contradiction of a hunt-loving child and a severe religious reformer eager to remove Mary from the succession due to her Catholicism. A large majority of his life he is guided by Duke of Somerset and Northumberland . His reign was largely overlooked compared to Elizabeth I and Henry VIII perhaps because their reign lasted much longer. Shows that Edward was certainly strong minded by sentencing Thomas Seymour to death at the age of 11 and culminating the Devise for Succession to bypass his sister.
5
Q
Mary I
A
- John Edwards = Mary’s international connections and later marriage alliance with Phillip II of Spain made her a cosmopolitan figure, unlike Elizabeth who boasted of being “mere English”. Mary took place on European stage of reforming England back to Catholicism. Edwards sees many parallels between Mary and her grandmother Isabel of Castile, by being blood relation, female monarchs in patriarchal states and married to men who were kings of their own right. I disagree, she was more like Catherine with cherishing her Hapsburg relatives but putting her interests and future with England and not Spain. Mary had not even learnt enough Spanish to speak native tongue with her Husband. Edward believed Mary did not keep her word, eg, Elizabeth promised she would remain single but would marry if God put a suitable candidate before her and followed through with this with being single but vigorously pursuing French prince suitor. HOWEVER, Mary promised during Wyatt rebellion she would consult privy council before getting married but had already privately sworn to marry Phillip regardless of the council’s views. Edward leaves her personality coming across as elusive.
- H F M Prescott = Describes Mary as a simple housewife at heart. Prescott pronounced Mary as neither a saint (Catholics) nor a monster (Protestants) and is uncertain whether she is a Catholic or Protestant. She does not entirely blame Mary for the Protestant persecutions but rather blames Phillip and blames it more on the rebellious attitudes of the Protestants rather than their religious beliefs that got them into trouble. She felt Mary was merciful to the rebellions. Her unpopularity as queen was due more to do with her faith to her Spanish husband than her religious faith, as she came near to almost selling out England in her efforts to win over Phillip who never regarded her as anything more than a political asset.
- John Knox = Protestant reformer and supported Elizabeth I even though he did not necessarily agree with a woman reigning the country. Saw Mary as unsuccessful with no heir and simply bloody and was very vengeful. He was a Calvinist and saw a woman as a monster, unnatural and deformed and lacked wisdom. Women were created to obey a man; one would not know where to stand under female rule -> lead from Eve’s fall from the Garden of Eden. He released a pamphlet of prayer in 1554 and hoped God would convert Mary.
6
Q
English Reformation
A
- Richard Rex = Henry was easily swayed by the people around him. “The king could not be pushed around. But he could be worked on. Those around Henry were not necessarily setting the agenda, but they had to present their agenda in terms of his.”
- G W Bernard = Henry was an Erasmian, Henry had the read Erasmus’s writings such as ‘Satires of the monasteries and pilgrimages’ which influenced him to reform the church and began to see himself as Supreme Head of the Church.
- Andrew Pettegree = Henry led the Reformation, he had a determination to lead the church, he wanted a purged and reformed Catholicism, he never set out for a full protestant church that the people around him wanted.
- Glasse of Truth = Henry needed backup before he could deal with the opposing arguments of his divorce to C. It was the first powerful shot in Cromwell’s propaganda campaign and it signalled a warning that the gov would soon solve the divorce problem -> linked with 1533 Act of Appeals (transferred power of Catholic Church to the king and his gov). Thesis of Glasse -> Pope is guilty of overstepping authority and delaying divorce. The lawyer and priest both focus on the injustice of the pope’s delay, postponing the day when Englishmen can enjoy a stable future insured by a birth of a male heir to the throne. Deuteronomy 25 is spoken as irrelevant. Henry defying God’s law when he opposes the Pope is treasonable. Throughout the Glasse, the reader is reminded Rome is a foreign power. Glasse is thought to also be a mirror of Henry’s own views. The Glasse is supposed to represent that it is a window into the truth, it is not distorted. Published in English so easy to access and ensured everyone in the country read it. Book emphasises how a woman cannot rule due to loyalty to husband.
