How Henry VII controlled the nobility

Acts of Attainder
1. These were not new but dated back to the 14th century
2. Parliament passed the act to declare a nobleman guilt of a crime against the Crown, usually treason.
  1. The noble might be imprisoned, and the attainted family lost the right to inherit lands and titles
    1. The acts were reversible
3. Thomas Howard lost the title Duke of Norfolk and his family estates after Bosworth
  1. He was released from prison and restored to the earldom of Surrey in 1489 to suppress uprising in Northuberland
4. Henry VII passed an Act of Attainder when he had faced a crisis. Each act attainted a different number of people
  1. 1495
    1. 24 people were attainted
  2. 1487
    1. 28 people were attainted
  3. 1485-7
    1. 28 people were attainted
Acts against illegal retaining and maintenance
1. Previous kings had also tried to control retaining and maintenance but, like Henry, they needed retained armies for defence
2. Noblemen kept retained men who served them as accountants and land agents, but who also fought in their private army
  1. These retained men wore their nobleman's badge, known as livery, to confirm their loyal service
3. Noblemen sometimes used their retained men to bring unlawful influence on others in a court case
  1. E.g controlled juries, this was called maintenance
  2. There was a considerable amount of legal retaining and maintenance which Henry VII permitted to continue
4. Parliament passed laws against retaining
  1. In 1485, the Lords and Commons were required to swear that they would not retain illegally
    1. In 1504, nobles had to obtain special licences to retain from the King
  2. Both acts gave the King, rather than his nobles, the power to decide whether retaining was illegal.
5. In 1506, Lord Burgavenny was set a £70,000 fine for retaining over 471 men
Bonds and recognisances
1. A bond recognised that the person involved recognised himself as owing the lump sum stated, which was not payable if the conition (usually good behaviour) was observed. If the condition was not observed, the sum stated was paid.
2. A recognisance was when a person formally acknowledged a debt or obligation. The recognisance was often enforced by a bond
3. The Marquis of Dorset had to give a bond after his suspected involvement in the Simnel plot. The bond guaranteed future loyal conduct
  1. Lump sums payable from bonds:
    1. 1492-4: £3000
      1. 1504-05: £75000
Use of New Men
1. Sir Thomas Lovell (1450-1524)
  1. He was an English soldier and administrator, Speaker of the House of Commons, Secretary to the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer
2. Richard Fox 1448-1528
  1. Was an English churchman, successively Bishop of Exeter, Bath and Wells, Durham and Winchester, Lord Privy Seal, and founder of Corpus Christi College Oxford
    1. 1487 He negotiated a treaty with King James III of Scotland
    2. 1491 he baptised Henry VIII
3. Edmund Dudley
  1. He studied at Oxford and came under the notice of Henry VII and was said to be made a privy councillor at age 23. He helped negotiate Peave of Etaples with France and was a very prominent councillor of the Council Learned in the law which collected debts owed to the King
    1. Whilst collecting money for the King, Dudley amassed a great amount of wealth for himself, which resulted in estates in Sussex, orest and Lincolnshire
      1. When the King died in 1509, Dudley was imprisoned and charged with the crime of constructive treason
        Dudley was executed on the 17th of August 1510
Court of Star Chamber
In the whole of Henry's reign he only made 1 person an Earl, unlike Edward IV's 9
Order of the Garter
1. Was a title
  1. Henry did not have to pay anything so gained loyalty without a financial loss
2. 37 people recieved this in Henry's reign

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How Henry VII controlled the nobility

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	Created by Catherine Dilnot about 9 years ago