Royal councils Flashcards
What was the prime function of councils?
To transmit the monarch’s wishes into actions and ensure that the country was effectively governed
How many men attended Henry VII’s council, how many were in regular attendance, and who were his principal advisers?
227
20
The Archbishop of Canterbury/Lord Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Chamberlain, and household servants
What did Henry VIII do and who continued to hold important posts?
Added more nobles to the council;
Clerics
What was the case by 1540 and why?
A small, select group of councillors had emerged into a privy council
Due to the rebellions that beset Henry in 1536
What did Henry VIII’s council come to reflect and who assumed prominent roles?
Noble factions according to the king’s changing matrimonial circumstances
Senior members of the Boleyn, Howard, Seymour, and Parr families
What happened to the size of the council under Edward and Mary and who did it contain?
Increased from 30 to 40 members
A mixture of nobles, bishops, law officers, and household servants
Under Elizabeth what happened?
Numbers in attendance fell back from around 20 to fewer than 12
What happened to the frequency of meetings and composition?
By 1603 it was meeting every day
Heavily influenced by the secretary and treasurer, and was dominated by members of the household and sons of officials
What did Cromwell do in the 1530s?
Had given the office of Secretary of State a key role in the central administration
What ensured that the privy council survived as a vital administrative office?
Elizabeth’s dependence on Cecil and Walsingham
What did Walsingham do?
Assumed responsibility for maintaining stability
Who did the Council in the Marches of Wales take there orders on but what happened in the sixteenth century?
The privy council
Developed into administrative and judicial councils in their own right, with a president, secretary, chief justice, and clerks
Until 1536 what was the case?
No changes in the administrative organisation of the Welsh marches and lordships
The Crown held most of the land in Wales and there were few independent lordships
What did Henry VII do in 1487?
Restored a council at Ludlow, placed Jasper in charge, and invited the leading Welsh and English nobles to attend
Who were the Council of Wales’s presidents after 1495?
Often bishops, men like William Smith and Rowland Lee
What happened in the 1530s?
Lee restored royal authority (effective power used to rest with local landowners) by rebuilding castles and enforcing justice more effectively
What did the statutes of 1536 and 1543 do and what did they mean for Wales?
Created twelve new counties in Wales and extended the council’s authority to cover five English border counties
Wales now had an English administrative and judicial system and elected 24 MPs to Westminster
What did the Welsh lords accept and why?
The political and religious reforms under Henry VIII
They were bribed with church land and offices as they were keen to become JPs and enhance their local position
What was there none of and what did George Owen write in the 1590s?
Revolts or rebellions against the Crown in Tudor Wales
‘No country in England so flourished in one hundred years as Wales has done’
What did Henry VII do and who dominated the Council at Henry’s accession?
Revived the Council of the North after a lapse
The Clifford, Neville, Percy, and Dacre families
What happened in 1489, what did it herald, but what was the case?
Earl of Surrey was appointed as his lieutenant
The king’s ntention to develop greater control over the northern counties
Influence remained limited
What happened in 1525 and 1530 and 1537?
The Council of the North was remodelled
Received judicial functions in 1537, acting as a regional Star Chamber under the presidency of the Bishop of Durham
What did Henry VIII do?
Invited leading nobles to attend
Kept a watchful eyes on proceedings by assuming himself the wardenship of the marches and appointing gentlemen as his deputies
What happened in 1544 and why?
Two deputy wardens were enobled after
Norfolk declared that ‘wild people’ could only be controlled by men of ‘good estimation’
What did Edward and Mary do?
Restored the Dacres and Percys as wardens
From 1563 what did Elizabeth do?
Started to appoint more southern nobles and northern gentry to the wardenship
What happened following the northern earls’ revolt?
Earl of Huntingdon was appointed president
The council’s authority was increased to cover all northern counties except Lancashire
What did the Council of the North play a major part in doing and what demonstrates this?
Upholding order and dispensing justice
After 1570, there were no more revolts or disturbances
