How successful did Henry restore royal finances ?

Why was strong finances important for henry ?

• allow him to raise funds to put down unrest

• on his death- provide son with resources to tackle problems

what were the main three ways henry attempted to achieve royal finances?

• reorganise financial administration

• exploit sources of ordinary revenue

• increase income from extraordinary revenue

How was was the attempt to increase income particularly hard ?

henry would face opposotion form those were subject to pay - he was expected to ‘live off his own’

yorkshire and cornish rebellion proved this

Henry needed change - how much had he recieved from his lands in first year compared to Richard III?

• £11,700

• richard - £29,000

How did his poor finances show through his royal displays ?

• had to take loans out for marriage and coronation

• 1487- not enough money to pay for celebrations at Windsor for St Georges day

During the Middle ages , what did monarchs use to administer crown finance?

the Exchequer

• role was to receive and pay out money and audit accounts

what was the problem with the exchequer?

• slow in collecting the money and auditing accounts

What had Edward IV replaced the Exchequer with and why ?

the Chamber system

more flexible and informal - had greater control over finance

Henry initially used the exchequer but switched back to the chamber system - by 1490s it had central role of managing what ?

• crown lands

• feudal dues

• profits from justice

• the french pension

what was feudal dues ?

money paid to the king by those that held land from him in return for avoiding military service

what was french pension?

• part of the treaty of etaples in 1492

• English removed the army from France in return for 159,000£ to cover the cost of the war - paid in annual amounts of £5000

what did the chamber system not cover, that the exchequer still did?

custom duties

how did the privy chamber change under the new chamber system?

• importance of the Treasurer of the Chamber and officials such as the Gentleman of the bedchamber had increased

what were the two sources of revenue the king could have?

• ordinary and extraordinary revenue

where did Ordinary revenue come from?

• crown lands

• customs

• profits from the justice and feudal dues

where did extraordinary revenue come from?

• usually raised in times of emergency through taxation and borrowing

what was the most important source of ordinary revenue?

crown lands

how much larger was crown lands by the end of reign than Henry VI ?

5 times larger

how did henry increase crown lands?

1486 Act of Resumption

seizure of lands from the attainted

how much did crown lands rise from the start of his reign to 1509?

from £29,000 to £42,000

How did henry avoid antagonising the nobility ?

he didnt take back all the land he was entitled

What area of crown lands had the most success?

Duchy of Lancaster

increased its income 10 times

How was custom duties somewhat of a failure? (defined as taxes levied on goods imported into or exported from England.)

under Edward IV custom duties brought in £70,000 a year whereas only £40,000 under Henry

Henry tried to replicate Edward’s methods , why was this an issue?

smuggling was a problem and income from trade depended on the relationship between euro powers - unable to control

How was profits from justice exploited successfully and unsuccessfully?

success:

• he charged some subjects with crimes merely to fine them

unsuccess:

• profits varied yearly

Who was fined £10,000 for raping a royal ward ? - linked to profits from justice

Earl of Northumberland

How did feudal dues rise? why and how much

• fully exploited income from wardship , livery , marriage and the fine of ‘relief’

• income rose from £350 in 1487 to £6000 in 1507

What was the final area of ordinary revenue that was exploited fully?

bonds and recogniscances

What was the most frequent source of extraordinary revenue ?

parliamentary taxation

• henry didnt misuse this

what made henry cautious in demands?

yorkshire and cornish rebellions

what other times had henry asked for parliamentary tax?

• defeat simnel

• resists scottish invasion in support of warbeck

How was parliamentary taxation unsuccessful?

amounts collected varied

sums levied based on wealth assessments that didn’t bring in amount they should have done

how much did loans from Henry’s wealthy subjects bring in? what was the issue with this form of revenue

£203,000 - had to repay

what loan didn’t require henry to repay ?

benevolences

when was benevolences used?

1491

• to raise money for expedition into france - brought in £48,500

How was Henry able to raise money from the church ?

• church raised £25,000 towards expedition into france - made contribution when parliament granted the king money

How did Henry use less justifiable methods to extract money from the church ?

• he sold church offices - charged £300 for archdeaconry of Buckingham

• towards end of reign he elf bishoprics open so he could claim revenue - making £6000 in revenue

What other two forms of extraordinary revenue helped to swell income?

• feudal aid

• french pensiom

how did feudal aid assist henry ?

• Henry was chief feudal lord so aid was levied on special occasions such as the knighting of prince Arthur - brought in £30,000

• marriage of daughter Margaret to James IV of scotland

How much money did the french pension bring in?

£5000

what was henry accused of that showed he made the most of all methods available?

greedy

What did henry also spend money on to increase his image of power and dissuade challengers?

maintenance of lavish courts

despite risk of henry alienating nobility , what was the main success? but but was the income of the french king ?

• crown lands increased to £113,000 annually - restored solvency of the crown

• £800,000