Key topic 1: 1509- 1529

Question 1

What is the chain of being?

Answer 1

The Great Chain of Being is a strict hierarchical structure of all matter and life (eg: God -> Angels -> Royalty -> Commoners -> Animals -> Plants -> Minerals)

Question 2

What were the weaknesses in Henry’s potential of being a great king?

Answer 2

• He had no experience as a king

- > Henry could be ruthless

Question 3

What were the strengths to Henry’s potential of being a great king?

Answer 3

• > He looked impressive
• > He enjoyed sports such as hunting and jousting
• > He had enthusiasm for war
• > He was traditional

Question 4

What important steps did Wolsey take in his rise to power?

Answer 4

• > Gained a degree at Oxford university
• > Became a member of the royal council
• > Became Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York

Question 5

Why might nobility and gentry not like Wolsey?

Answer 5

He had a commoner background because his dad was a butcher and a cattle merchant and so him moving up the hierarchy fast was seen as mocking

Question 6

What was the Amicable grant?

Answer 6

A tax imposed by Wolsey to raise funds so Henry could invade France
-> This backfired and led to a rebellion in Suffolk in 1525

Question 7

What was the Eltham Ordinances?

Answer 7

These were a list of rules created by Wolsey to tackle misspending and bad management of palaces

Question 8

What were some of the rules in the Eltham Ordinances?

Answer 8

• -> Getting rid of sick or unneeded servants
• ->Cutting spending on meals and servants
• -> Reducing the number of gentlemen in the Privy Chamber from 12 to 6
• -> Dogs were banned with the exception of small spaniels

Question 9

What did Wolsey do to give the king more financial income?

Answer 9

• -> He recovered Crown lands from nobility increasing the income to the government
• -> The subsidy tax was introduced and was a tax where the more you earned the more tax you had to pay

Question 10

What did Wolsey do to try and create a fairer justice system?

Answer 10

• -> He strengthened the Star Chamber: A royal court set up by Henry VII to give out justice on the king’s behalf
• -> Encouraged the poor to bring cases to court
• -> Oversaw cases himself
• -> Supported the cases of the poor against the rich

Question 11

What were the results of Wolsey changing the justice system?

Answer 11

• -> Many of the upper class people who treated him badly thought he was seeking revenge
• -> He punished people he had a grudge against

Question 12

What did enclosure do?

Answer 12

It reduced the land available to tenant farmers (farmers who rented land) and the poor who had less common land to graze their animals

Question 13

What did Wolsey try and do to inquire enclosure?

Answer 13

In 1517 he investigated this practice and reduced it’s effect on ordinary people, his work resulted in 260 court cases being brought against land owners.

Question 14

What was the Treaty of London?

Answer 14

A treaty promising universal peace by proposing that each state would following a non-aggressive foreign policy by not attacking eachother

Question 15

What were the results of the Treaty of London?

Answer 15

• -> It was signed by 20 European leaders and the pope
• -> Brought prestige to Henry
• -> Placed Henry and Wolsey at the centre of European politics
• -> Only prevented war for 3 years

Question 16

When was the Treaty of London made?

Answer 16

1518

Question 17

When was the ‘Field of the Cloth and Gold’?

Answer 17

1520

Question 18

What was ‘Field of the Cloth and Gold’?

Answer 18

It was one of a series of meetings arranged by Wolsey, where Francis I and Henry met near Calais. It was a showcase for the 2 kings and an impressive display of English power and wealth putting Henry at the centre of European diplomacy.

Question 19

What was the Treaty of Bruges?

Answer 19

An agreement with Spain in 1521 to seize French territory and the throne

Question 20

What was the Treaty of More?

Answer 20

An alliance made with the French in 1525 against Spain

Question 21

What was the Treaty of Cambrai?

Answer 21

In 1529 France and Spain make peace and leave England isolated

Question 22

Why did Henry want an annulment with Catherine of Aragon?

Answer 22

• -> Catherine conceived 6 times but only Mary survived
• ->Henry was superstitious of the line in the bible ‘If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an impurity…they shall be childless’
• -> Catherine was getting old
• -> He fell deeply in love with Anne Boleyn, Catherine’s maid of honour

Question 23

Why did the pope refuse the annulment?

Answer 23

• -> Charles V of Spain was no longer Henry’s ally, so he had no reason to help him
• -> Catherine was Charles V’s aunt, so he didn’t want her marriage to be annulled
• -> Catherine begged Henry in front of members of the church and court to not annual their marriage, which won her much sympathy
• -> Their marriage was consummated

Question 24

What were some reasons for Wolsey’s fall from power?

Answer 24

• -> Wolsey’s decision to introduce the Amicable Grant in 1525 damaged his reputation and Henry was forced to distance himself from Wolsey’s actions, undermining his power and influence to the king
• -> Wolsey’s failure to annual Catherine’s and Henry’s marriage angered Henry. He became increasingly impatient with Wolsey and began to believe Wolsey was working with the pope to prevent the annulment
• -> Wolsey’s reforms in his justice system, opposition against enclosure and his willingness to regain Crown land made him many enemies in court
• -> The Boleyns didn’t like Wolsey and his failure to help the annulment, so they encouraged Henry to get rid of him
• -> Wolsey’s failure to build an alliance against Charles V, leaving England isolated and vulnerable in Europe made Henry prepared to get rid of Wolsey because he no longer had confidence in his skills as a diplomat