royal finance Flashcards
What were the 2 ways in which Henry raised funds ?
1) ordinary revenue
2) extraordinary revenue
What was ordinary revenue ?
This was revenue raised through the usual means and did not require permission from parliament.
What was extraordinary revenue ?
This was revenue raised in the events of emergencies such as war and needed Parliament’s approval to use such methods.
Give 4 examples of ordinary revenue under Henry.
1) Crown Lands
2) customs duties
3) feudal dues
4) Profits of Justice
What 2 ways were Crown Lands acquired by Henry VII ?
1) by inheritance
2) confiscation from traitors
How did Henry raise ordinary revenue through the use of crown lands ?
rental income
What were Henry’s crown land profits like at the start of his reign ?
around £3,000 per annum
What act was passed by Parliament in order to regain lost crown lands to increase royal income ?
The Act of Resumption
When was the Act of Resumption ?
1486
What did the Act of Resumption (1486) do ?
It enabled the King to recover all royal lands that had been lost since 1455
When was the second act of Resumption passed by Parliament ?
1487
What method did Henry use to acquire Crown lands through confiscation of traitors ?
Acts of attainder
What did an act of attainder do ?
Declared a landowner guilty of rebelling against the monarch. This meant that lands could be confiscated from such nobles as a punishment.
How many people were subject to acts of attainder under Henry ?
138
Give one way in which Henry made the management of Crown Lands more efficient
He gave control to surveyors and auditors
By 1508, what had Henry’s ordinary revenue from Crown lands increased to ?
Increased from around £3000 per annum in the early part of his reign to £42,000 by 1508
How did Henry increase ordinary revenue through the use of feudal dues ?
He did this through the use of feudal rights and the royal prerogative.
Give 2 ways in which Henry raised revenue from feudal dues.
1) Wardship
2) livery
What was Wardship ?
Part of the feudal system which allowed the crown to generate profit from property of an heir.
What was feudal aid ?
A fine paid to recover lands from wardship
How does Henry’s revenue from Wardship compare in 1487 and 1507 ?
in 1487, Wardships provided Henry with just £350, however, by 1507, Wardships were earning Henry £6,000 a year.
Where did the majority of the customs revenue that Henry made come from (what source) ?
from the use of tonnage and poundage
What is tonnage and poundage ?
A right for the crown to raise revenue raised from imports and exports of goods
The right to raise revenue through tonnage and poundage was granted to Henry for ___ by his first parliament (1485).
life
How does the revenue that Henry earned between 1485 and 1509 in customs duty income differ ?
1485 - £33,000/ year
1509 - £40,000/ year
What was the greatest obstacle Henry faced regarding custom duties ?
smuggling
How did Henry raise ordinary revenue from the judiciary ?
Henry earned revenue from fees for royal writs and letters in which no court action could start without.
Give 6 sources of extraordinary revenue for Henry.
1) Parliamentary grants
2) Loans and benevolences
3) Clerical taxes
4) Feudal obligations
5) French pension
6) Bonds and Recognizances
What were Parliamentary grants ?
taxes used to help the King when national interest was threatened
Give 2 examples of when henry asked Parliament for a Parliamentary grants. (which taxes on the people would pay for)
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
What were loans and benevolences ?
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
Give an example of a time when Benevolences can be seen to be used under Henry.
In 1491, Henry appealed for money for a war with France. Through the use of benevolences, the appeal raised roughly £50,000.
Give two forms of clerical ‘taxes’ that Henry used to raise extraordinary revenue.
1) simony
2) vacant bishoprics (areas where a bishop is responsible for)
What was simony ?
The selling of church positions to raise money. (It was a form of a clerical ‘tax’.
How did Henry use vacant bishoprics (areas where a bishop is responsible for) to raise extraordinary revenue ?
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.
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 ?
£6000
Give one way Henry could raise extraordinary revenue through the use of feudal obligations
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.
How much did Henry make of the feudal obligation of issuing a levy on the knighting of Prince Arthur ?
In 1504, Henry received £30,000 from the knighting of his son, Prince Arthur who had been knighted 15 years earlier.
What treaty was the French pension a part of ?
The Treaty of Etaples - 1492
What was the purpose of France giving a pension to Henry ?
It was a payment to remove English troops from French soil.
How much was Henry given per year as part of the French pension ?
50,000 crowns per year
How much did the raising of extraordinary revenue earn Henry during his reign ?
Altogether, during his reign: £400,000
How much did Henry leave to Henry VIII ?
£1.8 million
What has Henry been described as in terms of how he operated royal finance and how much money he left to Henry VIII ?
“The best businessman ever to sit upon the English throne”
How much did Henry leave Henry VIII worth of plates and jewels ?
£300,000
What system did Henry initially use to manage royal finances ?
exchequer system
Why did Henry revert back to the Chamber system for managing royal finances from the Exchequer system ?
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.
When did Henry switch from the Exchequer system to the Chamber system ?
1487
How much was the Chamber system turning over for Henry per year by the late 1490s ?
£100,000 per year
What was one of Henry’s favourite expenditures that was shared by his son ?
the buying of tapestries (a visual art form)
How much did Henry spend on a leopard for the Tower ?
£13
Give 2 examples of Henry lending money to foreign powers.
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)
