Zusammenfassung der Ressource
How did Henry VII build up his
power?
- Kept nobles under control
- Attainders
- Special laws
passed by
parliament
which meant a
person could
be charged for
treason
without trial
- 46/138 attainders
were reversed
- Secured
loyalty
because
if nobles
obeyed
Henry
their
attainders
could
be
reversed
- Reversing an attainder would restore
land and titles and would secure future
loyalty through the gratitude of the
victim.
- Increased
paranoia in
the last
years of
reign
- 51 attainders
were issued from
1504-09
- Attainders
would strip
nobles' titles and
their land
- Sir Thomas Tyrell had
to pay £1738 for his
and his father's
attainders to be
reversed
- Patronage
- Largely abandoned Edward IV's policy
of distributing land to loyal followers
- There were a few grants but
not enough to create a new
group of nobles that could
eventually become a threat
- Nobility fell by 1/4
during his reign
- If royal agents were needed
then they were usually given to
men of lower standing in the
community who owned less
land
- Men were dependent on Henry for their
position and status. They were not
distracted by competing loyalties
- Special favours given by
the monarch
(land/position at court)
in exchange for loyalty
- Attacks on retaining
- Practice where a nobleman kept a large number of
men as his personal staff. Whilst they were meant to
be household servants, instead they were gangs of
enforcers
- Considered to be lawless
- Laws passed in 1485 and 1504 against illegal retaining
- 1504 Act
required
nobles to
obtain a
special
licence from
the King
before they
could retain
large
numbers of
people, or
they faced
huge fines.
- Penalty was £5 per month per illegal retainer
- Nobles found new ways to avoid fines
- Covered up records of the wages paid to
servants so that no one knew exactly
how many men were being retained.
- Financial controls
- Demanded financial bonds
from individual nobles or
their families
- Placed them in debt to the Crown so
they would remain loyal in the future
- If they didn't they faced
hefty fines
- By the end of Henry's
reign 2/3 of nobility
were held under
bonds
- Lord Burgavenny
- Convicted in 1507 of illegally
retaining 471 men and fined
£70,000
- Henry knew that this amount would
bankrupt the Lord so he agreed to place
him under a bond to repay £5000 over ten
years
- Condition attached said that Burgavenny must
not set foot on his family lands in the
south-east until the debt was settled
- The Council Learned in the Law acted as a
royal debt collector to enforce these controls
- Leading figures: Reginald Bray
(until 1503) then Edmund Dudley
and Richard Empson
- Universally hated and feared
- Propaganda to justify taking the throne
- Marriage to Elizabeth of York
- Royal
progress to
the North in
April 1486
- Demonstrated royal
power and presence to
his subjects. Granted
justice and favours
- Dated his reign from 21st
of August- day before
Bosworth
- Allowed him to treat Richard's supporters as traitors
- Imprisoned Yorkists with
a better claim to the
throne than him such as
the young Earl of
Warwick
- Supporters rewarded with titles and
positions of power
- Improved finances
- Reputation for having a keen financial mind
- By the end of his reign, Henry had ensured that the
Crown had built up enough annual income to meet
its commitments
- At the beginning of his reign Henry
relied on the Treasury and the
Exchequer to control royal finances
- However, they were clumsy and inefficient.
- 1487 onwards, Henry dealt
with the admin of finance
from the Chamber and the
Privy Chamber
- Also created the new post of Surveyor of the
King's Ward to investigate cases of money
owed to him from wardships and a Court of
Audit to monitor government spending
- Financial policies
were cautious and
realistic
- Understood that foreign
wars were a drain on funds
so avoided an aggressive
foreign policy
- Income was 20x
greater than the
richest noble
- Sources of royal income
- Crown Lands
- Feudal Dues
- Custom
Duties
- Legal Dues
- Bonds and recognisances
- Loans and benevolences
- Clerical Taxes
- Parliamentary taxes
- Defeated rebellions
- Cornish rebellion 1497:
second tax rebellion in
Henry VII's reign.
Caused by his attempts
to raise money against
a possible Scottish
invasion to support
Perkin Warbeck
- Lovell's rebellion: Led by
Yorkist supporters, Viscount
Francis Lovell, Humphrey and
Thomas Stafford. Taken
sanctuary from Henry at
Colchester but emerged from
hiding in 1486 to gather troops
against him. Rebellion quickly
collapsed.
- Yorkist rebellion 1489: Located
in the area around Thirsk.
Called by Henry's attempts to
raise money for his Brittany
campaign. Earl of
Northumberland killed during
the rebellion
- Married Elizabeth
of York
- Signified
the
approval
of the
Church
and God
Himself
- Coronation
required the
nobility to
swear an oath
of loyalty to the
King, which
could not be
broken
- Took place a week before Parliament met
so no one could say that Parliament had
helped to make him King
- Coronation
held before
wedding so
there could
be no claim
that he had
gained the
throne
through his
wife
- Joined
together the
Houses of
Lancaster and
York
- Birth of Arthur
marked the
start of a new
dynasty
- Dealt with pretenders
- Lambert Simnel (1475-1525)
- Resembled
Edward IV
and spotted
by Richard
Symonds (a
priest) at age
10/11
- Taught to claim he was Richard, Duke
of York until his arrival in Ireland. Then
he was told to claim to be Earl of
Warwick (son of Edward IV) in Ireland,
where there was Yorkist support
- Simnel was declared to be
King Edward VI with the
help of Yorkist lords like
the Earl of Kildare
- Plot was amateurish because
Henry was able to produce
the real Earl of Warwick
from the Tower of London
- 2000 soldiers
supported Simnel
alongside John de la
Pole (Earl of Lincoln)
- Sourced from
Margaret of
Burgundy
- Start of invasion was
May 1487 when they
landed at Furness in
Lancashire
- Raised little support in
the North and then
they marched South to
meet Henry's army at East Stoke.
- Lincoln and several
Yorkist leaders were
killed but Simnel was
spared and given a
job in the royal
kitchens
- Perkin Warbeck (1474-99)
- First as appeared
as a threat in
1491 in Ireland
- Claimed to be Richard of York
- Charles VIII of France first recognised his
claims and welcomed him to Court in Paris
- In 1492, Charles made peace with Henry
after the attempted annexation of Brittany
so Warbeck was forced to move on
- Then moved onto
Burgundy where
Margaret offered
support but
Maximilian I was
too busy in Italy
to offer much
support
- Warbeck attempted to rouse support in Kent in
July 1495 but struggled as a result of the
execution of many Yorkists such as Sir William
Stanley
- Moved onto
Scotland
where he
married King
James'
cousin and
received
£1,200 as
income
- King James' attempt to invade England on
Warbeck's behalf failed in 1497 and
Warbeck fled to Ireland with little to no
support left
- Made a full confession
in August 1497
- Henry exercised mercy by allowing
Warbeck to remain at Court but in 1498 he
ran away and was imprisoned in the Tower
- Executed in 1499 when he
plotted to escape with the
Earl of Warwick
- Real name: John Osbeck
and born in Tounai and
educated in Antwerp
- Margaret of Burgundy's support
of Perkin Warbeck
- Foreign alliances and treaties
- Treaty of Medina del Campo
- Military intervention in
Brittany to prevent French
annexation
- War in France
- English support
for anti-French
coalitions in
the Italian war
- Trade embargo on goods from Flanders
- Magnus Intercursus trade agreeement
- Breton Crisis
- League of Cambrai
- Effective government
- Local and Regional Government
- Effective government relied on
having a reliable network of
officials throughout the
country to carry out the King's
laws
- Royal control over the kingdom was
uneven from place to place so
there wasn't one system of local
government. Instead, Henry relied
on an appropriate solution for each
regions
- JPs (Justices of Peace) were also appointed from local
landowners. Several were picked per county. Responsible for
public order, implementing laws, and dispensing justice to
criminals brought before them
- Met 4 times per year at Quarter Sessions
to try those accused of serious crimes
(except treason)
- Powers increased significantly under Henry VII
- King's authority was limited in the
County of Durham. Palatinate of
Durham, the Prince-Bishop governed as
a semi-independent ruler
- Restored Council of Wales and staffed it
with Welsh nobles under the supervision
of Jasper Tudor
- Earl of Suffolk represented Henry in
the North because he had no lands
or strong base of support there to
rival Henry
- National Government
- Parliament existed but had a minor role
- Used sparingly
- Mainly during his
first decade as
King to support
him in
controversial
policies
- Eg. Limitations of
traditional
privileges of the
nobility or new
financial
demands on his
subjects
- Most of the time, Henry ruled directly through decrees and proclamations
- Belief that all
power was derived
from the
monarch.
- Parliament only
called to serve
him and keep
subjects under
control.
- Royal Council was of more importance
- Trusted
supporters
gave him
advice and
took n some
of the tasks
of day-to-day
management
of the
Kingdom