Parliament

Question 1

What was Parliament not and why?

Answer 1

An integral part of the Tudor administration

It met infrequently and only when the monarch commanded

Question 2

How many sessions were held during Henry VII’s reign and Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 2

7

13

Question 3

What was its main purpose?

Answer 3

To vote on the Crown financial grants and discuss bills that royal councillors and MPs had proposed

Question 4

What did Tudors recognise?

Answer 4

That parliament could be a useful tool in preventing disorder and in dealing with rebels and conspirators who threatened the stability of the country

Question 5

What did the House of Lords act as and give examples:

Answer 5

A court of law

Hussey and Darcy, Suffolk, Dacre, Northumberland, and Essex were all tried and convicted

Question 6

What was Parliament also used to do?

Answer 6

Bills of attainder

Question 7

What suggests that it didn’t serve the Crown to be overly oppressive?

Answer 7

Much of the resentment felt by nobles and gentry towards Henry VII may have been due to the way he treated them

Question 8

What did Henry VII make clear his intention to do and what Acts confirm the king’s support?

Answer 8

Clamp down on illegal retaining

The Star Chamber Act, Act of Livery and Maintenance, and Subsequent Statute of Liveries

Question 9

What did the De Facto Act of 1495 intend to do?

Answer 9

Draw a line under past indiscretions and acts of disobedience committed by Yorkists against the Crown

Question 10

What did Henry VIII and Cromwell do in the 1530s?

Answer 10

Implemented religious and political reforms through parliament, which ensured minimal resistance and considerable support

Question 11

What went a long way towards retaining the support of MPs and peers and why?

Answer 11

The dissolution and the disposal of monastic land

Many were beneficiaries

Question 12

What did the Reformation parliament of 1529-36 mark and what happened after?

Answer 12

A watershed in the history of English parliaments

Changes to existing religious laws had first to be approved by parliament

Question 13

What did Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth understand and why?

Answer 13

The political value of having MPs endorse proposed changes

These were the men who in the past might have led protests against undesirable reforms

Question 14

What happened after 1536?

Answer 14

MPs and the gentry they represented stood behind the government and suppressed any extra-parliamentary disturbances

Question 15

What did the HoC provide in the 1550s?

Answer 15

A forum where the grievances and concerns of the gentry and nobility could be repressed

Question 16

What was evident in Elizabeth’s reign and what suggests this?

Answer 16

The growing support from MPs to the Crown

Every parliament called on to vote subsidies did so

Question 17

In 1571 and 1581 what did MPs do?

Answer 17

Legislated to protect the queen and country from Catholic plots and from Jesuits

Question 18

What reflected the increasing patriotic fervour among MPs?

Answer 18

The Act to retain the Queen Majesty; ‘s subjects in their due obedience (1581)

The Act for the Queen’s Safety (1584)

Question 19

What happened during Elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 19

Many gentry wanted to become an MP

Pressure to create more seats grew, and the Crown established 62 between 1558 and 1603

Question 20

What were MPs concerned about and what did they see parliament as?

Answer 20

Economic and social issues that affected their boroughs

A way of tackling these problems and preventing rebellion

Question 21

What happened with the 1563 Statute of Artificers?

Answer 21

Privy councillors proposed the bill to establish seven-year apprenticeships but it was MPs who extended the bill to include the urban economy

Question 22

What did the Elizabethan poor laws owe much to?

Answer 22

The initiative of MPs

Question 23

What did parliament prove?

Answer 23

A valuable ally and sounding board for the political nation