royal finance

Question 1

What were the 2 ways in which Henry raised funds ?

Answer 1

1) ordinary revenue

2) extraordinary revenue

Question 2

What was ordinary revenue ?

Answer 2

This was revenue raised through the usual means and did not require permission from parliament.

Question 3

What was extraordinary revenue ?

Answer 3

This was revenue raised in the events of emergencies such as war and needed Parliament’s approval to use such methods.

Question 4

Give 4 examples of ordinary revenue under Henry.

Answer 4

1) Crown Lands
2) customs duties
3) feudal dues
4) Profits of Justice

Question 5

What 2 ways were Crown Lands acquired by Henry VII ?

Answer 5

1) by inheritance

2) confiscation from traitors

Question 6

How did Henry raise ordinary revenue through the use of crown lands ?

Answer 6

rental income

Question 7

What were Henry’s crown land profits like at the start of his reign ?

Answer 7

around £3,000 per annum

Question 8

What act was passed by Parliament in order to regain lost crown lands to increase royal income ?

Answer 8

The Act of Resumption

Question 9

When was the Act of Resumption ?

Answer 9

1486

Question 10

What did the Act of Resumption (1486) do ?

Answer 10

It enabled the King to recover all royal lands that had been lost since 1455

Question 11

When was the second act of Resumption passed by Parliament ?

Answer 11

1487

Question 12

What method did Henry use to acquire Crown lands through confiscation of traitors ?

Answer 12

Acts of attainder

Question 13

What did an act of attainder do ?

Answer 13

Declared a landowner guilty of rebelling against the monarch. This meant that lands could be confiscated from such nobles as a punishment.

Question 14

How many people were subject to acts of attainder under Henry ?

Answer 14

138

Question 15

Give one way in which Henry made the management of Crown Lands more efficient

Answer 15

He gave control to surveyors and auditors

Question 16

By 1508, what had Henry’s ordinary revenue from Crown lands increased to ?

Answer 16

Increased from around £3000 per annum in the early part of his reign to £42,000 by 1508

Question 17

How did Henry increase ordinary revenue through the use of feudal dues ?

Answer 17

He did this through the use of feudal rights and the royal prerogative.

Question 18

Give 2 ways in which Henry raised revenue from feudal dues.

Answer 18

1) Wardship

2) livery (feudal aid - payment to recover land lost to wardship)

Question 19

What was Wardship ?

Answer 19

Part of the feudal system which allowed the crown to generate profit from property of an heir.

Question 20

What was feudal aid ?

Answer 20

A fine paid to recover lands from wardship

Question 21

How does Henry’s revenue from Wardship compare in 1487 and 1507 ?

Answer 21

in 1487, Wardships provided Henry with just £350, however, by 1507, Wardships were earning Henry £6,000 a year.

Question 22

Where did the majority of the customs revenue that Henry made come from (what source) ?

Answer 22

from the use of tonnage and poundage

Question 23

What is tonnage and poundage ?

Answer 23

A right for the crown to raise revenue raised from imports and exports of goods

Question 24

The right to raise revenue through tonnage and poundage was granted to Henry for ___ by his first parliament (1485).

Answer 24

life

Question 25

How does the revenue that Henry earned between 1485 and 1509 in customs duty income differ ?

Answer 25

1485 - £33,000/ year 1509 - £40,000/ year

Question 26

What was the greatest obstacle Henry faced regarding custom duties ?

Answer 26

smuggling

Question 27

How did Henry raise ordinary revenue from the judiciary ?

Answer 27

Henry earned revenue from fees for royal writs and letters in which no court action could start without.

Question 28

Give 6 sources of extraordinary revenue for Henry.

Answer 28

1) Parliamentary grants 2) Loans and benevolences 3) Clerical taxes 4) Feudal obligations 5) French pension 6) Bonds and Recognizances

Question 29

What were Parliamentary grants ?

Answer 29

taxes used to help the King when national interest was threatened

Question 30

Give 2 examples of when henry asked Parliament for a Parliamentary grants. (which taxes on the people would pay for)

Answer 30

1) He asked Parliament for a grant in 1487 to finance the Battle of Stoke 2) Tried to introduce a form of income tax to raise £100,000 to be granted by Parliament

Question 31

What were loans and benevolences ?

Answer 31

loans = small amounts of money paid to the King by wealthy nobles which were paid back benevolences = these were forced loans which were not paid back

Question 32

Give an example of a time when Benevolences can be seen to be used under Henry.

Answer 32

In 1491, Henry appealed for money for a war with France. Through the use of benevolences, the appeal raised roughly £50,000.

Question 33

Give two forms of clerical 'taxes' that Henry used to raise extraordinary revenue.

Answer 33

1) simony 2) vacant bishoprics (areas where a bishop is responsible for)

Question 34

What was simony ?

Answer 34

The selling of church positions to raise money. (It was a form of a clerical 'tax'.

Question 35

How did Henry use vacant bishoprics (areas where a bishop is responsible for) to raise extraordinary revenue ?

Answer 35

Henry would not immediately appoint a bishop when a bishopric fell empty as he could pocket the money raised in that bishopric whilst it was empty.

Question 36

By the end of his reign, how much was the practice of not replacing an empty bishopric with a new bishop earning Henry in extraordinary revenue per year ?

Answer 36

£6000

Question 36

Give one way Henry could raise extraordinary revenue through the use of feudal obligations

Answer 36

Henry could raise money on occasions such as the knighting of Prince Arthur or the marriage of Margaret to James IV by levying a due.

Question 37

How much did Henry make of the feudal obligation of issuing a levy on the knighting of Prince Arthur ?

Answer 37

In 1504, Henry received £30,000 from the knighting of his son, Prince Arthur who had been knighted 15 years earlier.

Question 38

What treaty was the French pension a part of ?

Answer 38

The Treaty of Etaples - 1492

Question 39

What was the purpose of France giving a pension to Henry ?

Answer 39

It was a payment to remove English troops from French soil.

Question 40

How much was Henry given per year as part of the French pension ?

Answer 40

50,000 crowns per year

Question 41

How much did the raising of extraordinary revenue earn Henry during his reign ?

Answer 41

Altogether, during his reign: £400,000

Question 42

How much did Henry leave to Henry VIII ?

Answer 42

£1.8 million

Question 43

What has Henry been described as in terms of how he operated royal finance and how much money he left to Henry VIII ?

Answer 43

"The best businessman ever to sit upon the English throne"

Question 44

How much did Henry leave Henry VIII worth of plates and jewels ?

Answer 44

£300,000

Question 45

What system did Henry initially use to manage royal finances ?

Answer 45

exchequer system

Question 46

Why did Henry revert back to the Chamber system for managing royal finances from the Exchequer system ?

Answer 46

This is because he wanted to modernise the way royal income was collected and restore the chamber to its former position as the most important institution of financial administration.

Question 47

When did Henry switch from the Exchequer system to the Chamber system ?

Answer 47

1487

Question 48

How much was the Chamber system turning over for Henry per year by the late 1490s ?

Answer 48

£100,000 per year

Question 49

What was one of Henry's favourite expenditures that was shared by his son ?

Answer 49

the buying of tapestries (a visual art form)

Question 50

How much did Henry spend on a leopard for the Tower ?

Answer 50

£13

Question 51

Give 2 examples of Henry lending money to foreign powers.

Answer 51

1) 1505 - £138,000 to Philip of Burgundy 2) 1505 - 1509 - between £226,000 & £342,000 to Emperor Maximilian (Neither of these loans were repaid)