Stability Of The Monarchy

Question 1

Named Elizabeth as successor, and Mary a bastard

Answer 1

1st Succession Act 1533 (passed ’34)

Question 2

Declared that Elizabeth was also a bastard

Answer 2

2nd Succession Act, 1536:

Question 3

Hugh Latimer in 1549

Answer 3

“Woe to thee, O land, where the king is a child” – Old Testament of Ecclesiasticus

Question 4

Main problems of minority kingship

Answer 4

· Can’t lead troops into war
· Weaker states might look to exploit temporary weakness
· Could spark rivalries and civil war
· Minor unable to control factional rivalries

Question 5

Why did HVIII’s Regency Council plan fail?

Answer 5

HVIII attempted to establish a balanced Regency Council (reformists under Seymour and conservatives under Norfolk and Gardiner). This was large (16 members) and impractical for ruling, since in theory each person on the Council would have been equal. it’s impossible to make everyone equal

Question 6

How did Somerset remain powerful post Henry VIII’s death

Answer 6

Somerset took power easily because:

• He was the uncle of Edward VI
• He had a reputation as a successful soldier during Sc. wars in 1540s
• HVIII’s death was kept secret until Somerset had possession of EVI
• Some feared that the Regency Council was impractical, although others questioned the validity of it since it defied HVIII’s wishes.

Question 7

When was Edmond Seymour born

Answer 7

Edward Seymour is thought to have been born in 1505.

Question 8

When was Seymour Lord Admirable

Answer 8

Seymour served as Lord Admiral from 1542 to 1543 and fought in Scotland and France between 1544 and 1546. By the time of Henry’s death in 1547, Seymour was the leading political figure in the land.

Question 9

Economics Problems

Answer 9

. Wars had been costly – especially given the changed nature of warfare in this period – so Henry had been forced to sell off a lot of monastic lands, raise taxes/forced loans

· He also debased the coinage, which had led to massive inflation. A series of good harvests has largely masked the effects of this, but poverty and vagrancy were already a problem.

· Sale of monastic lands had reduced the independence of the Crown in the long term and made them more dependent on Parliament.

Question 10

Economic Problems

Answer 10

· Expensive wars with Scotland and France had satisfied Henry’s ego but cost a fortune (1.5 million to be exact). His capture of Boulogne alone cost over a million pounds but it was virtually indefensible in the long term and it was agreed that it would be given back after 8 years (Treaty of Camps)
· Another effect was that wars had heightened factional struggles – Northumberland and Somerset owed their rise largely to their military achievements, Somerset for example led the rough wooing.
· Henry VIII had hoped to secure a marriage between the Houses of Tudor and Stuart.

Question 11

Somersets foreign Policy

Answer 11

Somerset’s ambitions were progressive – to enforce the 1543 Treaty of Greenwich and hence lay the foundations for an Anglo-Scottish Protestant Tudor/Seymour Union.

Question 12

When was Boulogne captured

Answer 12

, captured by H8 in 1544, due to be handed back to France in 1554 but expensive to garrison

Question 13

Social & Economic Policy

Answer 13

endorsed by historians such as AF Pollard as a liberal man pursuing liberal policies defending weaker peasants against enclosing landowners. Somerset seemed to listen closely to advice of radical ‘commonwealth men’ – Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Hales – who blamed the greed of gentry for England’s economic problems.

Question 14

Enclosure

Answer 14

The commission failed to see the benefits of enclosure in some areas, and failed overall as prosecutions were thwarted by landowners on local juries.

Question 15

Enclosure

Answer 15

The commission failed to see the benefits of enclosure in some areas, and failed overall as prosecutions were thwarted by landowners on local juries.

Question 16

Failure in economic policy

Answer 16

Of £1.4M was spent on military affairs across the whole of Edward’s reign, Somerset spent £580,000 in 1549 alone, a year in which he also borrowed a massive £250,000, half of it from abroad.
· Debasement raised £1.3M between 1544 and 1551, £537,000 of that between 1547 and 51 (there was one final debasement in 51 after Somerset’s fall).
· Despite the 1547 Chantries Act producing a £160,000 cash yield (c.20% of monastic closures) he also sold vast tracts of Crown land, reducing long term Royal income.

Question 17

Removing figures of authority

Answer 17

Execution of Edward Courtenay (1538) and imprisonment of Norfolk (1547) had removed usual figures of authority

Question 18

Ketts rebellion

Answer 18

July 1549: Norfolk / Ket’s Rebellion led by tanner, Robert Ket. Army of 16, 000 rebels occupied Norwich. They mistakenly believed Somerset supported their social and economic grievances. Somerset failed to disperse rebels by issuing pardons. Motive was not sympathy with their plight but stretched resources (Scotland and France). Left to Lord Russell and John Dudley to supress rebels brutally and restore order.

Question 19

Somerset’s arrest

Answer 19

Somerset’s failure to deal with rebellions of 1549, insistence on wasteful foreign policy at the time of mounting economic problems and his alienation of his fellow councillors led to his arrest in October 1549.

Question 20

Religion

Answer 20

Act of Six Articles (1539) repealed; Treason Act (1534) modified and censorship lifted. Perhaps a publicity stunt but attracted exiled preachers back to England (Becon, Turner, Hooper).

Question 21

What was the chanceries act

Answer 21

· 1547: Chantries Act – drawn up in last few months of HVIII reign but activated by Somerset, it passed all Chantry assets to the Crown. Much lined Somerset’s pockets 2500 priests affected but 2000 given secular benefices or regular pensions.

Question 22

When and who write the book of uniformity

Answer 22

1549: New Act of Uniformity and Book of Common Prayer. Ambiguous over the Eucharist, Protestant regarding ‘priesthood’, traditional vestments and alters remained. Clerical marriage permitted. Moderate reformist settlement despite Somerset’s more radical personal views.

Question 23

What did William Paget say in the book of uniformity

Answer 23

William Paget advocated reforms ‘as God be pleased and the world little offended.’ But people were offended in 1549 all the same.

Question 24

ARG smiths argument

Answer 24

AGR Smith argues the 1549 Prayer Book was a ‘shrewd statesmanlike measure’

Question 25

Where did sommerset retreat to ?

Answer 25

Somerset lost authority following rebellions, and retreated to Hampton Court. He summoned loyal subjects to defend him and the king (5th Oct)