History - Henry VII

Developments in education

• Period of widening educational opportunities in Henry’s reign

• Increase in grammar schools between 1460 and 1509

• Grammar school curriculum was the study of latin

• Suggesting in the 1480s saw the beginning of a humanistic approach

• University education such as Oxford had experienced substantial expansion including foundation of new colleges in the first half of the 15th century

• Lady Margaret Beaufort was responsible for the foundation of Christ’s College and St John’s College

Drama

• Most popular art form of the time

• Troupes of plays sometimes sponsored by nobility toured around the country

• Most famous dramas were mystery plays performed at the feasts of Corpus Christi

• Performances were important occasions in which churches, corporations and guilts combined in public celebrations

Music

• Music underwent the beginnings of a ‘renaissance’

• Most important surviving source for such music is the Eton Choirbook of around 1505

• Composers represented in the Choirbook had links with the political establishment of Henry VII’s reign

• As Robert Browne was employed in the household of the Earl of Oxford

• Music performed at court or in the homes of the wealthy

Art and architecture

• Vast number of churches built in the Gothic perpendicular style is an indication of the scale of investment that wook place

• However by Henry’s death in 1509 humanist influences had reached England, particularly from Italty

• Humanist scholars like Erasmus and Englishmen like Thomas More and John Colet became more fashionable

What was Humanism

A development of the Renaissance founded on the rediscovery of original Latin and Greek texts

Humanist scholars during Henry VII’s reign

• William Grocyn, Thomas Linacre and Desiderius Erasmus

Humanism during Henry VII’s reign

• Made little impression on England

• England intellectual life continued to be dominated by traditional medieval scholastic philosophy

• Which humanists considered to be old fashioned and too formal

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Lollards

• Small minority that were critical of the beliefs and practices of the Church

• Founded by John Wycliffe in the 14th century, still found in Henry VII’s reign

• Lollards placed stress on the understanding of the Bible and favoured its translation into English

• Considered the Catholic Church to be corrupt

• And denied the idea of the special status of the priesthood

Heresy definition

• The denial of the validity of the key doctrines of the Church

Lollard views and heresy

• Lollard views were considered heresy but were still persisted in south England

• Lollards had become fewer in numbers by the start of Henry’s reign

Anticlericalism definition

• Opposition to the Church’s role in political and other non-religious matters

Criticism of the Church

• Often assumed that anticlericalism was widespread in late-medieval England

• Anticlericalism was often politically motivated

Aquiring grace in order to reach heaven and minimising time spend in purgatory

• Baptism

• Confirmation - marked transition from childhood to adulthood

• Marriage

• Anointing of the sick

• Penance

• Holy Orders

• Eucharist

• To reach heaven, it was necessary to observe as many of these sacraments as possible

Mass

• Central religious experience of the Catholic Church

Why was Mass important

• It was a sacrifice performed by the priest on behalf of the community

• It was a sacred ritual in which the whole community participated

Feast of Corpus Christi

• Emphasised the importance of the consecrated bread

• One of the most important festivals of the 15th century Church

Benefactors

• The dying would often leave money to the parish church to reduce the time the benefactor would spend in purgatory

• Would leave money for the foundation of chantries

• Chapels where Masses for the souls of the dead took place

Confraternity

• Groups of men who gathered together in association with the parish Church to provide money for funeral coasts, pay chaplains for Masses and to make charitable donations

• These religious guilds were extremely popular

• Wealthier guilds could be sources of local patronage and power

Pilgrimages

• A way an individual could gain relief from purgatory

• Could involve visiting the tomb of a saint

• However there were vast numbers of pilgrimage sites

• Rogation Sunday - pilgrimage to ward of evil spirits and reinforce the parish property

• This event emphasises the importance of the parish as the key focus of local community

Importance of individual religious experience

• Should not be underestimated despite religion being emphasised as a social activity

• Henry VII’s mother, Margaret Beaufort believed in the personal communication of the individual with God

Monastic orders

• Estimated that 1% of adult males in England by 1500 were monks living in monasteries

• Oldest and most common religious order was the Benedictines who first devised monastic rule

• The larger Benedictine houses fulfilled an important role in the community of also operating as cathedral churches

• Other religious orders included Cistercians and Carthusians that were in rural areas

• Large proportion of monks in the larger houses were drawn from the wealthier parts of society

Friars

• Orders of the friars were supported by charitable donations

• Consisted of the orders of the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Augustinians

• However by the late 15th century, the great days of the friars were over, though various orders of the friars continued to received substantial bequests in the wills of the faithful

Nunneries

• Between 1270 and the beginning of the dissolution of the monasteries there were approximately 130 nunneries in England

• Most of them were Benedictine or Cisterian orders

• Nunneries had less prestige than religious orders of the men

• Majority of nunneries were poor and very small

• Exception to this was the Bridgettine foundation at Syon which accommodated both women and men

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Function of the Church

• Theoretically all English people belonged to the Catholic Church and were under the jurisdiction of the Pope in Rome

• Church provided the focus of entertainment

• Church made it easier for the social and political elites to maintain social control through its encouragement of good behaviour

• Provided employment and the opportunity to advance themselves socially through the attainment of high office in Church and State

The political role of the Church

• Significant in both international relations and in domestic matters

• Highest role in the Church was held by the Pope

• However the king was firmly in control and popes were generally eager to grant the demandsof the king

• The papacy didn’t object to how Henry used the Church’s wealth to reward other churchmen in high political offices

How the English Church was administered

• Administered through two provinces - Canterbury and York

• Each under the jurisdiction of an archbishop each under the control of a bishop

• It was common in the late 15th century for senior churchment to enjoy positions of significant influence and power within the kingdom

Clergy

• Common for senior clergy to participate at a high level in the political process

• The two churchmen who exercised the most power under Henry VII were John Morton and Richard Fox

Prices in the final years of the fifteenth century

• Apart from a temporary rise in the 1480s, prices seemed to have remained steady

Wages in the final years of the fifteenth century

• Available evidence suggests wages also remained steady

Export prices in the final years of the fifteenth century

• Decline in the export price of wool in the 1490s

• Decline in the price of grain and animal products in the 1490s

• Might imply a reduction in farming profitability but also rising real incomes for domestic consumers

Craftsmen and agricultural labourers

• One the whole better off during the 1490s than they would be at any other time during the Tudor period.

Reasons for rebellions in this period

• Taxation

• However living conditions for the poor appeared to be improving, real wages had increased

• However at this time inflationary pressures were increasing

The Yorkshire rebellion (1489)

• Sparked by the resentment of the taxation granted by Parliament in 1489 - to finance English forces in the Breton Crisis

• Became notorious due to the rebels murdering the Earl of Northumberland in April of that year

• Details of this rebellion are sparse

• Northumberland was a ‘victim of resentment against taxation’

• Murdered by his tenants, but what enabled them to murder him was the fact that the Earl’s retainers allowed them to do so by deserting him in his hour of need

• Punishment for the Earl deserting Richard III at Bosworth

The Cornish rebellion (1497)

• Also triggered by same reasons of Yorkshire - but Cornish was triggered by the need for revenue to finance the campaign against Scotland

• Posed a much greater threat to the stability of Henry’s rule - despite Yorkshire rebels murdering a high-profile political figure

Reasons why Cornish rebellion was a greater threat than Yorkshire

• The numbers in the Cornish rebellion (15,000 estimate)

• Their attempt to exploit the rebellion made by Warbeck

• The fact that the rebels marched on London, only being halted at Blackheath

Why the Cornish rebellion was alarming to the king

• It was a cause for immense concern for the Crown that the rebels marched such a long distance without any serious attempt being made to stop them

• Raised questions about how effective the Crown’s systems of maintaining order in the countryside were

• The rebels reaching London were in effect challenging the security of Henry VII’s regime

How Henry suppressed the Cornish rebellion

• Had to withdraw Lord Daubeney and his troops from defending the Scottish border

• Meant this put England at risk from Scotland

• Although rebellion was easily crushed by Daubeney

• Rebel leaders were executed by order of Daubeney

• However Henry only punished the leaders, treated bulk of rebels with conspicuous leniency

• Rebellion shocked Henry into ensuring that Anglo-Scottish tensions were eased and made him particularly cautious about entering into any further foreign conflicts

Elements of agriculture and trade

• The agrarian (crop) economy / farming

• The cloth trade

• Industrial activities (weaving, brewing, mining)

The agrarian economy

• Income from land declined in the aftermath of the Black Death in the 1300s + the early 1400s

• There was a greater move towards sheep farming in the 1480s and 1490s

• Reflection of the depressed profit of crop farming + the improved profits of sheep farming by the increasing demand of wool due to growing population + overseas cloth trade

The agrarian economy / farming across England

• England was divided into a ‘lowland zone’ - south and east and a ‘highland zone’ - north and west

• Mixed farming was in the lowland zone, with pastoral farming in woodland areas

• Traditional system of open-field husbandry was only in the grain growing areas of the southeast and east midlands

How agriculture changed at the end of the fifteenth / beginning of the sixteenth century

• Increased profits and production of sheep farming resulted in peasants losing access to their land and common rights

• This became widespread in the first half of the sixteenth century

• Created both a moral outcry and political pressures that were difficult to contain

The cloth trade

• 90% of the value of English exports

• Estimated that there was over 60% increase in the volume of cloth exports during Henry VII’s reign

• Originally exported by the Merchants of the Staple - but lost importance in 1363

• Finished cloth dominated the trade - led to weaving, fulling and dyeing becoming commercial enterprises

• Meaning offered opportunities for rural employment from land loss

• Exported through the Merchant Adventurers - reinforced London’s commercial dominance + a commercial axis with Antwerp

• English cloth was then transported all over Europe

Other industries

• England remained dependent on cloth industry - as their other industries remained small and couldn’t compete with their continental competitors

• Germany was superior in mining

• Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch was superior in shipbuilding

• England’s mining was only small-scale

• Coal in England was shipped from the Newcastle to meet growing fuel demands in London (domestic + industrial)

• Also a small coal export trade to Germany and the Netherlands

Trade laws and treaties

• Biggest issue with trade during Henry’s reign was his embargo (ban) on trade with the Netherlands in 1493

• Imposed this due to fear and insecurity of Margaret of Burgundy’s support for Warbeck

• This embargo ended with the treaty Intercursus Magnus

• In 1503 the claim of the Earl of Suffolk was being taken seriously around Burgundy, and Henry tried to reimpose the embargo, then negotiated the Intercursus Malus in 1506

• Navigation Acts of 1485 and 1489 - tried to encourage English shipping by ensuring only English ships should carry certain products to and from English ports

• Had limited usefulness as foreign vessels still transported a proportion of English exports

Hanseatic League

• Largely successful in limiting the development of English trading interests in the Baltic

English sailors

• Were slow to engage in the great exploration during the fifteenth century

• Bristol merchants were interested in transatlantic discovery

John Cabot

• Arrived in Bristol in either 1494 or 1495

• Cabot received authorisation from Henry VII to ‘search out any isles, countries, regions or provinces’

• Sailed in 1497, located what became known as Newfoundland

• Then never returned from his second voyage in 1498

William Weston

• May have in 1499 or 1500 set foot on the American mainland, which Cabot never did

• Even if he didn’t make it he was the first Englishman to lead an expedition to the New World

Sebastian Cabot

• John Cabot’s son

• Didn’t gain sponsorship from Henry, but led an unsuccessful attempt to find the ‘north-west passage’ to Asia in 1508

Other elements of exploration / English exploration

• Spanish and Portuguese explorers opened up much of the world

• English exploration of the north Atlantic tailed off with the accession of Henry VII - had little interest in supporting this enterprise

Agricultural differences

• East of England was mainly mixed farming, with some pastoral farming

• West of England was pastoral farming, with a small amount of grain framing and fruit growing

England’s opinions on regional differences

• Londoners looked down upon northerners for their perceived savagery

• Northerners were envious of southern riches

Other ways regional identity was enforced

• through local government structures

• Justice was administered more at a county level, and county towns contained jails and major churches

• On the other hand, magnate influence often cut across boundaries of counties

• Local identities also reinforced by saints’ cults - which placed importance on centres of pilgrimage, such as Canterbury and Durham

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Nobility’s role in society

• Dominated landownership

• 50-60 men in peerage / one of the 5 ranks of aristocracy (nobility members)

• When members died, Henry was reluctant to create new peerage titles as he was distrustful of the nobility

The extent of Henry’s control over the nobility

• Henry tried to control the nobility through bonds and recognizances

• However the key to nobles’ power was the retaining system

• Wealthy magnates (wealthiest nobility members) recruited knights and gentlemen (retainers) to serve them for multiple purposes (administration, military and more)

How Henry stopped retainers

• Noblemen could use their retained men against the Crown or influence others in a court case

• Henry used legislation against retaining to prevent most of these - would have to be authorised if a noble wanted to use retainers

• As loyal retainers were still essential to maintain Crown security

Official laws and examples of retaining

• 1486 - peers / MPs took an oath against illegal retaining

• 1487 - a law against retaining was officially put in place

• This law was reinforced by an Act passed in 1504 - stating you could only retain with a license

• These stopped Lord Bergavenny in 1506 - who abused the retaining system for himself

Gentry’s role in society

• Important members included Sir Reginald Bray

• Gentry were gentlemen who lived in large country houses + provided armies for war

• Peers + knights owned around 20% of the countries land

• By the end of the 15th century, it became easier to define who were part of the gentry and not just random landowners

• Eldest sons of knights, youngest sons of barons, magistrates and others of wealth

Churchmen’s role in society

• Archbishops, bishops, clergymen (high-lower status)

• Social status of clergy varied enormously

• Lower - curates and chantry priests were rewarded for dealing with spiritual needs of ordinary folk

• However bishops and abbots of larger religious houses were seen as important political figures

• Who were entitled to sit in the House of Lords

Henry exploiting his power over the church

• Martin V, Pope from 1417-1431 had declared that the King of England would govern the English Church rather than the Pope himself

• Henry VII exploited this power

• Only appointed men with legal training as bishops - rather than men who valued spirituality

• Two important clergymen of his reign were John Morton + Richard Fox (more legal trained than spiritual)

Commoners’ role in society

• Below the nobility, gentry, and higher clergy

• Higher scale of the commoners were lawyers, who had considerable influence and often collaborated with wealthier influence

• Lower scale, yet still respectable, were the shopkeepers and tradesmen

• Played a key role in organisations such as guilds

• Dominated town councils and urban life pre-Reformation England

Yeomen, husbandmen and labourer’s role in society

• Yeomen and husbandmen are both described as ‘peasants’

• Labourers were dependent for their income on the sale of their labour

• Both had insecure positions

Henry's heirs

• 1486 - his son Prince Arthur was born

• 1491 - Prince Henry was born

What Henry’s dynasty depended on

• The survival of Henry VII himself until his son was old enough to rule

• However Henry’s health deteriorated rapidly from Feb 1509 and he died on 21 April

Importance of marriage alliances

• Essential part of international diplomacy during this period

• All monarchs sought marriage alliances in order to enhance their power and influence

• This was important for Henry VII to obtain marriage alliances in order to gain dynastic security

Marriage alliances involving Prince Arthur

• Henry wanted to maintain an alliance with Spain through a marriage alliance of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon (Ferdinand’s daughter)

• However Arthur died

Marriage alliances involving Princess Margaret

• Marriage alliance with King James IV of Scotland

• Strengthened alliances with Scotland and weakened the threat of Warbeck

Marriage alliances with H7 himself

• Tried to remarry in a marriage alliance after his wife Elizabeth died

• Nothing ever happened with this as most princesses were reluctant to marry Henry

• Henry lost enthusiasm for marriage alliances after this

Maintenance of law and order

• One of the King’s main responsibilities was the maintenance of law and order

• Problems with this could lead to uprisings / rebellions

• Henry was always concerned that enemies might exploit trouble to challenge his authority

• He relied on nobility to exercise power on his behalf, yet had to be careful that nobles wouldn’t become too powerful and challenge his authority

Problems with law and order

• Number of magnates had been reduced during the Wars of the Roses

• Magnate control was confined to the north of England

• Left Henry in 1489 without a great magnate to exercise his power on his behalf due to the deaths of some of them

How Henry dealt with law and order problems

• Released the Yorkist Earl of Surrey from the tower to rule the north for him - risky but Surrey proved his loyalty through effective service for 10 years

• Had to rely on those who he trusted i.e Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubeney, although lacked the qualities of a Magnate

• Had to employ a spying network to report on magnate performance of those he did not trust

• JPs and bonds and recognizances

Justices of the peace

• Henry relied on the JPs to maintain law and order on a local level - especially in the countryside

• Met 4 times a year to administer justice

• JPs were mainly local gentry who hoped this would open the path to greater advancement or local prestige

• Various Acts of Parliament were passed to increase the powers and responsibilities of the JPs

• Increased responsibilities included routines of tax assessments, investigating complaints against local officials, and maintenance of law + order

Bonds and recognizances

• Henry VII restored law and order largely through forcing many of his subjects to take out bonds and recognizances

• Some of which were the result of genuine debts owed to the Crown, however many were purely political

• Henry wished to have ‘many persons in danger at his pleasure

• Meant that bonds could enforce order and obedience, and defeat the law

Sources of royal income

• Crown lands

• Profits from feudal dues and the exercise of the royal prerogative

• Customs revenue

• Pensions from other powers

• Profits of justice

• extraordinary revenue

Views on Henry VII’s finances

• Reluctantly threw money around unlike many other rulers

• Transformed the royal finances in order to leave a vast amount of money to his son, Henry VIII

Henry’s finances from crown lands at the start of his reign

• Income at the beginning of H7’s reign had dropped to around 12,000 per year

• Due to income from lands being collected + administered through ineffective Court of Exchequer

• Shows Henry’s initial inexperience in financial matters

How Henry developed crown land finances

• Reverting to Edward’s system of administration through the Chamber in around 1492

• Improved finances significantly

• Income from land increased to around £42,000 per year at the end of his reign

• Partly due to Chamber treasurers, Sirs Thomas Lovell and John Heron

Feudal dues and exercise of the royal prerogative

• Pursuit of the king’s feudal rights was tightened

• Increased profits from wardship (property held by a minor)

• Parliament granted feudal aid in 1504 (impose tax on tenants for knighting of eldest son or marriage of eldest daughter)

Other sources of revenue

• Customs revenue - tonnage and poundage got granted for life - increasing from £34,000 annually to £38,000

• Treaty of Etaples - gave Henry an annual £5,000 from France

• Profits of justice - promised money from fines + incomes - 1504-1507 estimated around £200,000 promised, but not all was collected

• Extraordinary revenue - received over £400,000 from extraordinary taxation - however method provoked rebellions in 1489 +1497 - had to promise to stop using Parliamentary taxes.

Why Henry wanted to maintain positive foreign relations

• Ensure national security

• Recognition of the Tudor dynasty

• Ensure the defence of English trading interests

Relations with Brittany and France - The Breton Crisis

• 1487 - France may gain complete control of Brittany

• Henry used extraordinary revenue to fund an army against the French

• He feared that direct French control of Brittany would increase a potential French threat to England

• The signing of the Treaty of Etaples stopped the invasion of France / Brittany

• Treaty meant Charles VIII withdrew French support of Warbeck, and had to pay Henry a pension for his army expenses

Relations with Burgundy, the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire

• Bulk of English exports went through Netherlands

• This came under Burgundy jurisdiction

• There H7 needed good relations with them, but MoB was a problem

• As Margaret provided troops for Simnel, and supported Warbeck

• As a result Henry placed a trade embargo between England and Burgundy trading

• Conflicts between England and Burgundy were largely resolved with the Intercursus Magnus 1496, ended the trade embargo

Relations with Spain

• Treaty of Medina del Campo

• Treaty offered mutual protection, no harbouring of enemies, and a marriage alliance between his son and Catherine of Aragon

• Alliance failed when son Arthur died, and Ferdinand was reluctant to agree to remarry Catherine with H7’s second son

• Ferdinand became regent of Castile after Phillip of Burgundy’s death (was married to his daughter), which reversed Henry’s attempts of getting a stronger relationship through Treaty of Windsor (1506)

• Left Henry diplomatically outsmarted

Relations with Scotland

• Scotland originally were supporting Perkin Warbeck

• Henry stopped this with a marriage alliance between King James IV and his daughter, Princess Margaret

• Formalised in the 1502 Treaty of Perpetual Peace, marriage in 1503

• Secure relations with Scotland continued until the end of his reign

Relations with Ireland

• Henry’s power didn’t extend through much of Ireland

• Dominant figure was the Earl of Kildare

• Henry feared him as he had Yorkist sympathies

• Kildare supported Lambert Simnel, and crowned him King of Ireland in 1486 + Supported Warbeck

• To try and gain control of Ireland, Prince Henry was appointed as Lieutenant of Ireland

• Henry made Irish Parliament pass a law which meant they couldn’t pass laws without English approval (Poynings Law) in 1495

• After all this Kildare decided he was no longer benefiting from supporting Yorkists, and decided to serve Henry instead

Outline of Henry’s parliament

• Consisted of the House of Commons and the House of Lords

• Existed since the 13th Century

• Only met occasionally - not central to the system of gov

• Two main functions - to pass laws and to grant taxation to the crown

• Additional function in which local issues could be passed on to King’s officials by local MPs

House of Lords and House of Commons

• House of Lords - Lords Spiritual (i.e Bishops) and the Lords Temporal (the Nobility), more important than the House of Commons

• House of Commons - 2 MPs for each County, 2 MPs for each borough, and representatives of the two unis (Oxford and Cambridge)

• Right to vote was largely restricted to men of property

Henry VII’s role within Parliament

• Only the King could call Parliament

• Henry demonstrated his right to rule by calling his first parliament early in his reign

• Called parliament a total of 7 times

• Early parliaments were largely concerned with national security issues and raising of revenue

What happened in each parliament called

• First 2 - passed numerous Acts of Attainders - declared individuals guilty without trial - having to give money / property to the Crown

• 1 - Tonnage and poundage (customs revenues) for life

• Others - extraordinary revenue, taxation granted to enable the king to fund wars

• The most useful extraordinary revenue imposed was fifteenths and tenths from 1487 - 1497 bringing in £203,000

Parliament overall

• Operated effectively

• King respected Parliaments decisions - even when the final parliament had to limit extraordinary revenue demand - meaning the King couldn’t seek more revenue through these means

• Number of private acts in response to local demands

• Meaning there was little evidence that Henry tried to operate Parliament himself through his ministers

Main functions of the Council

• To advise the king

• To administer the realm on the king’s behalf

• To make legal judgements

What was the King’s Council

• The king ruled with a ‘council’ of advisers who supported him in making key decisions

• 227 men recorded as having attended

• But Henry VII’s actual working Council was smaller with around 6 or 7 members

What types of councillors were there

• Members of the nobility - although rarely included (such as Lords Daubeney and Dynham)

• Churchmen - legal training + skilled administrators (such as John Morton and Richard Fox)

• Laymen - gentry or lawyers (Sir Reginald Bray and Edmund Dudley)

Rules in the Council

• Had no established rules / procedures

• Although was a permanent body

• To deal with key concerts without the King present, different members met simultaneously in different places

• Importance of the Council depended on key members (Sir Reginald Bray) and its offshoot, the Council Learned

• It wasn’t essential to be a councillor in order to advise the King

• Henry’s key adviser was someone who held no office, his mother.

The Council Learned

• Main offshoot of the Council

• First formed under Bray

• Function was to maintain the King’s revenue and exploit his prerogative rights

• Did this through the bonds and recognisances system which effectively trapped his subjects

• Workings of the Council Learned are arguably shady as it wasn’t recognised court of law and those summoned to it couldn’t appeal

How the Council Learned was seen by the public

• Caused fear, frustration and anger

• However it was the expression of the King’s will, therefore important to maintain his authority and raising of finances

• Empson and Dudley’s approach after Bray died created enemies out of Henry’s other key advisers, i.e Fox and Lovell, due to being more ruthless and raising the amount of money extracted from the King’s subjects

• The two got removed after H7’s death, resulted in joy on the streets, shows how unpopular the Council Learned’s financial control was.

Court and Household

• The centre of government

• Found wherever the King was at any given time

• Where the monarch’s power was most demonstrated to attending courtiers

• Where the support of the king could be obtained, useful in legal problems