2 - Henry VII's Government
- Created by: Becca Newman
- Created on: 04-02-20 12:17
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- Henry VII's Government
- Councils and the Court
- The Council
- six or seven members
- Types of councillors included nobility
- Chrichmen with legal training
- Laymen (gentry or skilled lawyers)
- Chrichmen with legal training
- Types of councillors included nobility
- Had to advise the King
- Administer the realm on the King's behalf
- Make legal judgements
- Administer the realm on the King's behalf
- Council had no established rules/procedures, but it was a permanent body
- Sometimes members met separately
- You didn't have to be a councillor to advise the King (eg. his mother advised him a lot)
- six or seven members
- The Council learned
- Developed in the 2nd half of the reign under Sir Reginald Bray
- Had to maintain King's revenue + exploit his prerogative rights (rights/powers as monarch)
- Made the system of bonds & recognisances work
- Had to maintain King's revenue + exploit his prerogative rights (rights/powers as monarch)
- Often seen as rather shady + caused fear and anger
- It bypassed the normal legal system
- Richard Empson - ambitious lawyer + bureaucrat
- Edmund Dudley joined him after Bray's death in 1503
- Together they ruthlessly extracted money
- After Henry VII's death they were removed by Fox and Lovell (they were enemies)
- This caused rejoice in the streets
- After Henry VII's death they were removed by Fox and Lovell (they were enemies)
- Together they ruthlessly extracted money
- Edmund Dudley joined him after Bray's death in 1503
- Developed in the 2nd half of the reign under Sir Reginald Bray
- Court and Household
- Court was relied on heavily as the centre of government
- Had to be magnificent as wealth was power
- Reward + status was distributed through the court
- Had to be magnificent as wealth was power
- Levels to the Court
- Household Proper - looked after the King, courtiers + guests
- The Chamber - overseen by the Lord Chamberlain was the political part of the Court
- Henry's Lord Chamberlain Sir William Stanley had been a part of the perkin Warbeck plot
- Henry remodelled the camber and created the Privy Chamber - only for the most intimate servants
- Henry's Lord Chamberlain Sir William Stanley had been a part of the perkin Warbeck plot
- Court was relied on heavily as the centre of government
- The Council
- Parliament
- Comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords
- Met only occasionally
- Functioned to pass laws + grant the Crown taxation
- Local issues could be passed from the MPs to Parliament
- Only the King could call Parliament
- He called it first early in his reign to demonstrate his right, then 6 more times
- 5 of these were in the first 10 years of his reign
- His early Parliaments were concerned with national security + raising revenue
- First 2 Parliaments passed numerous acts of attainder
- Declared them guilty without a trial; property went to the crown
- Other parliaments granted him tonnage and poundage (Customs revenue) + extraordinary revenue
- Tax (fifteenths and tenths) made in 1487, 1489-90, 1491-92 and 1497 raised £203,000
- His final parliament limited the demand for extraordinary revenue
- First 2 Parliaments passed numerous acts of attainder
- He called it first early in his reign to demonstrate his right, then 6 more times
- Comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords
- Domestic Policies: Justice and the Maintenance of Order
- Problems with order could lead to uprisings which enemies could exploit
- Henry relied on nobility to exercise his power
- Needed balance so they didn't become too powerful
- Number of magnates had reduced during the Wars of the Roses
- Magnates controlled the borth, the Stanleys controlled the northwest + the Earl of Northumberland controlled the northeast and Yorkshire until his death in 1489
- The Yorkist Earl of Surrey was released from the tower and allowed to rule the north on Henry's behalf after Northumberland died
- He proved his loyalty + ruled effectively for 10 years
- The Yorkist Earl of Surrey was released from the tower and allowed to rule the north on Henry's behalf after Northumberland died
- Magnates controlled the borth, the Stanleys controlled the northwest + the Earl of Northumberland controlled the northeast and Yorkshire until his death in 1489
- Henry relied on Earl of Oxford + Lord Daubeney who lacked a magnate's resources
- Elsewhere he had to rely on those he didn't trust eg. Marquis of Dorset
- He used a spy network + bonds and recognisances to report on magnate's performance
- Elsewhere he had to rely on those he didn't trust eg. Marquis of Dorset
- Justices of the Peace (JPs)
- Appointed in counties to keep the peace
- Most were gentry who did it unpaid out of a sense of duty
- Parliament acts increased their powers eg. investigation of complaints + tax assessments
- Most were gentry who did it unpaid out of a sense of duty
- Appointed in counties to keep the peace
- Bonds and Recognisances
- Henry forced his subjects into these
- Some were the result of genuine debts owed to the Crown
- Many were purely political
- Dudley said the King wished t'o have many persons in danger at his pleasure'
- Henry forced his subjects into these
- The Judicial System
- Church Courts
- Managed offences committed by clergy, marriage issues + moral offences
- Local Courts: Manor Courts and Borough Courts
- Manor Courts managed landholding, use of common land
- Borough courts mamaged medieval trading standards
- King's Common Law Courts
- Dealt with major civil cases
- The Exchequer dealt with issues of royal revenues
- Chancery and Equity Courts
- Jurisdiction based on fairness rather than a strict reading of common law
- Church Courts
- Domestic Policy: Improving Royal Finances
- Sources of royal income
- Crown lands
- Feudal dues profits + royal perogative
- Customs revenues
- Pensions from other powers
- Profits of justice
- Extraordinary Revenue
- Henry was often presumed to be miserly + left a lot of money to his son
- Crown Lands
- At the beginning of his reign income had dropped was only £12,000
- Henry revamped the Court of Exchequer in 1492 + reverted to Edward's Chamber administration system
- Finances improved + at the end of the reign income was £42,000 per year
- Henry revamped the Court of Exchequer in 1492 + reverted to Edward's Chamber administration system
- At the beginning of his reign income had dropped was only £12,000
- Profits from Feudal dues and the exercise of the royal prerogative
- Increased profits from wardship
- Parliament granted feudal aid in 1504
- Obligations payable on the death of a feudal tenant-in-chief became an additional source of revenue
- Landowners found it annoying
- Increased profits from wardship
- Other Sources of Revenue
- Customs Revenue
- Henry was granted tonnage and poundage for life
- Annual revenue increased from £34,000 to £38,000
- Pensions from other powers
- Treaty of Etaples 1492 - French paid Henry £5000 per year
- Profits of Justice
- Fines and incomes from bonds
- Between 1504-07 £200,000 was owed to the King but not all was collected
- Fines and incomes from bonds
- Extraordinary revenue
- He received over £400,000 from extraordinary taxation
- Taxation provoked rebellion in 1489 + 1497
- 1504 Henry had to promise Parliament to not raise any more money in this way
- Taxation provoked rebellion in 1489 + 1497
- He received over £400,000 from extraordinary taxation
- In total, Henry left £300,000 worth of plates and jewels + £10,000 in cash
- Landowners suffered from his money-making policies
- Quite dangerous policies
- Customs Revenue
- Sources of royal income
- Councils and the Court
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