Henry VII - Government

Henry VII - Governing the Kingdom

- Henry VII decided to govern through a small council that was mainly made up of men that Henry had spent time with in exiles and in whom he placed a great deal of trust

- These "elite" councillors provided security and stability to the government because they were in power for a long time. 

- To improve the efficiency of government Henry created smaller council and committies.

- Henry created the Court of Requests, there was also the Court of General Surveyors which was responsible for auditing revenues from Crown lands. He also set up a council that was responsible for the statute of livery and maintenence. 

- Henry's council was made up of clerics, nobles and the gentry (or the 'new men')

- The Council of the North- Henry controlled them by selected member of the coucil himself and had nobles that kept him informed

- The Council of Wales and the Marches, set up because Henry was keen to control Wales even though he did not fear rebellion from there as he lived there for many years.

- The Council in Ireland, Henrys intentions were to bring peace to Ireland whilst controllin the Irish nobility and discouraging support of rebels and Yorkists and to protect Ireland from foreign invasion

- The sheriffs and Justices of the Peace, were the two most important royal officials in eahc county. They had the responsibility for the conduct and management of parliamentary elections. 

- Justices of the Peace had the power to arrest and question poachers of hunters in disguise

- They were also giventhe power to replace suspect memebers of the juries, act in cases of non-capital offence and rewards their informers. Henry relied on them to uphold law and order in local areas.

- In Henrys reign parliamnet…