Wolsey: Reducing power of the nobility/opposition

Nobility
1. 1518 Expulsion of the Minions
  1. Wolsey gave them positions outside of court
  2. Wolsey put William Pace into the minions as a spy
2. 1526 Eltham Ordinances
  1. reduces size of The Privy Chamber from 12 to 6
    1. William Compton is removed - replaced by Henry Norris who isn't anti-Wolsey
  2. 1520 - 'Gentlemen of The Privy Chamber' formed
  3. Henry agrees - Wolsey did this under financial reform - however other parts weren't carried out
3. 1521-25 Wolsey sends them abroad as ambassadors/to control the army
  1. 1525 Treaty of More - peace with France means they all come back
4. Wolsey disregarded the noble's advice on the 1525 Amicable Grant
5. Wolsey encouraged people to take nobles to court because of enclosure
6. 1515 Act of Resumption - nobles disliked as they had to give land back to the crown
Legal System
1. Canon Law - religious law
2. Civil Law - based on Roman law, decisions based on common sense
3. Common Law (Norman) - derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than laws
4. Changes
  1. 1516 - Star Chamber was made more efficient. Case load rose from 12 a year under Henry VII to 120 a year with Wolsey
  2. Status gave people no protection - 1516 Earl of Northumberland sent to jail
  3. 1519 - Set up Court of Requests so that poor people could get justice cheaply
  4. Court of Chancery used more often - cases about property and wills
5. Abuses
  1. Sir Amyus Paulet - made to attend court every day for 5 years because he put Wolsey in the stocks when he was young
  2. Wolsey used the courts to target his enemies, e.g. Sir Robert Sheffield was sent to jail in 1517 for being an 'accessory to crime'
  3. Decisions in court were often corrupt and bias towards the rich; cases were also too long and expensive
Parliament
1. 1515
  1. Wolsey was appointed Lord Chancellor
  2. Parliament was hostile towards Wolsey because of the 1511 Richard Hunne case and the fact that he didn't want Horsey (accused of Hunne's murder) to go on trial
  3. Wolsey opposed the Benefit of the Clergy being taken away
  4. Wolsey dismissed Parliament before they voted on taxation, as he didn't want higher taxes - caused dislike
  5. The public resented Wolsey because Horsey was released after being tried in 1515. Wolsey also blocked law reforms on mortuary fees - linked to Hunne case
2. 1523
  1. Wolsey was given £130,000 for war with France, originally asked for £800,000
    1. Taxes were increased and people had to declare their earnings to the government - dislike from public
  2. Wolsey was forced to drop his anti-enclosure policy in order to appease Parliament for money
  3. Only meeting of Parliament whilst Wolsey was Chancellor
  4. Parliament disliked Wolsey as he manipulated the House of Commons into voting in the Subsidy Tax
  5. 1st December 1529 - Thomas More created a list of articles against Wolsey's government and accusing him of treason. However, this was dropped because of Cromwell and the King's lack of support
Finance
1. 1515 Act of Resumption
  1. Nobles had to give land back to the crown that had been gifted
  2. Once the land was given back the Crown rented it out
  3. The Crown gained £5,000-£10,000 p/a
2. Subsidy Tax
  1. 1 shilling per pound taken
  2. The Crown gained over £300,000 from this
  3. Based on a more accurate valuation of the taxpayer's wealth
  4. Collected in 1513-15 and 1523
  5. Gained £170,000 between 1515-1516
3. Benevolences of 1522
  1. Emergency measure, collected from wealthy subjects
  2. Brought in £260,000 between 1522-23
  3. Needed for 1523 3 Pronged Attack
  4. Caused resentment from nobles
4. 1523 Parliament
  1. Wolsey demanded £800,000 to be collected over several years
  2. Only £150,000 was collected in 1522
  3. Problem - this was on top of loans collected in 1522
  4. Wasn't a lump sum, paid in installments
5. 1525 Amicable Grant
  1. non-Parliamentary tax
  2. Commission sent out in April 1525 - met with much resistance
  3. Rebellion in London and East Anglia - 10,000 people took part in Lavenham, crushed by Norfolk and Suffolk
  4. This was for the 1525 Battle of Pavia
  5. Henry had to abandon his campaign to invade France after the Battle of Pavia
Domestic Policy
1. Enclosure
  1. 3 Statutes were passed against enclosure before Wolsey became Chancellor
  2. 1517 Wolsey launched a national anti enclosure act - had to rebuild houses and return land to farming
  3. Problems caused by enclosure
    1. Food shortages due to a lack of crops
    2. Rural depopulation and unemployment
    3. Caused by inflation
  4. 264 people were taken to court because of enclosure; 32 knights, 9 nobles, 3 bishops, 51 heads of religious houses and several Oxford colleges
  5. Wolsey insisted that the enclosure laws of 1489 and 1514-15 were obeyed
  6. 1523
    1. Wolsey dropped his anti-enclosure campaign in 1523
      1. This was to appease Parliament in order to obtain money for war with France
2. Subsidy Tax
3. 'Just Price' - to stop people being overcharged for basic foodstuffs. Poultry prices in London were fixed in 1518 and in 1527 he purchased surplus grain to sell to the poor at a cheap price

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Wolsey: Reducing power of the nobility/opposition

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	Created by Eva Clifton about 10 years ago