Henry VII: Henry VII's Government - Councils & Courts & Parliament
- Created by: elladavisxn
- Created on: 12-12-20 18:48
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- Henry VII's Government - Councils & The Court
- The Council
- 3 Main Functions
- 1. To advise the King 2. To administer the realm on the King's behalf
- During Henry VII's reign the Council had no established rules and procedures
- Sometimes members met separatly
- Professional councillors (Bray and Dudley) often met to deal with legal and administrative matters
- Sometimes separate meetings occured at the same time
- 3 Main Functions
- The Council Learned
- The body was developed in the second half of the reign, first under Bray's leadership
- Met in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster, where it formed a 'specialist board'
- It's function was to maintain the King's revenue and to exploit his prerogative rights
- Met in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster, where it formed a 'specialist board'
- Made the system of bonds and recognizances work effectively and able to entrap many of the King's subjects
- The workings were often viewed as being a rather 'shady' operation
- Arguably the Council Learned caused fear, frustration and anger, as it bypassed the normal legal systems
- However, it was the expression of the King's will and was important for the maintenance of his authority, as it was for raising finances
- Empson (Bray's assosiate and an abitious lawyer and bureaucrat) and Dudley, formed a feared combination of able and conscientious bureaucrats
- They raised the extraction of money from the King's subjects to a fine art. They created enemies unsurprisingly of some of the King's advisers (Fox and Lovell)
- The body was developed in the second half of the reign, first under Bray's leadership
- Court & Household
- The royal court was heavily relied on, since wealth was power, the royal court had to be magnificent and generous
- Henry was heavily influenced by foreign courts (Burgundy and France)
- Was always found wherever the King was at any given time. The focus on personal monarhcy and a place for a royal ceremony was what in Henry's personal interest
- There were different levels of court; the household proper and the Chamber
- The household proper; was responsible for meeting the personal and catering requirements were supervised by Lord Steward
- The Chamber was politically important, presided over by the Lord Chamberlain
- For such a vital part of rhe system if came as an obvious blow to Henry, when he discovered Sir William Stanley (Lord Chamberlain) had been involved with Perkin Warbeck
- Parliament
- Comprised of the House of Commons and House of Lords, existing since C13th, but only met occasionally and wasn't central to the government
- It had 2 main functions; to pass laws and to grant taxation to the Crown
- Only the King could call a parliament, demonstrating Henry's power
- His first granted tonnage and poundage
- His first 2 parliaments passed numerous Acts of Attainder
- Declaring individuals guilty without going through a trial
- Those who were dead, had their property forfeit to the Crown
- Declaring individuals guilty without going through a trial
- The first parliament limited the demand for extraordinary revenue and recieved an undertaking that the King would not seek more revenue
- Research has shown that Parliament operated effectively,
- Th King respected decisions and there were a number of private acts passed in response to local demands for improvements
- The Council
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