Henry VIII

Early Reign

• Henry fitted the physical ideals of a Tudor Monarch, he was tall and handsome, with broad shoulders and thick calves.

• He also had the personality and interests of a ‘renaissance prince’, he enjoyed music, dancing and poetry.

• Henry also loved jousting and wrestling, he fulfilled the chivalric ideals of a renaissance prince, in contrast to his father.

• In 1509, straight after Henry 7^th’s death, Henry married Catherine of Aragon, showing that he had a sense of duty and that he was willing to make sacrifices for the good of the country.

• He had Empson and Dudley executed, to show a break from his father’s reign, as they had been the most hated symbol of his father’s greed.

Wolsey’s rise to power- Character/ability

• Wolsey was of humble origins, born the son of an Ipswich butcher. Nobles resented his rise from the beginning, as they felt it challenged their right to be the King’s closest advisors.

• Wolsey got his first degree from Oxford at the age of 15.

• Took holy orders in 1498 and became chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

• In the latter years of Henry VII’s reign he also served Bishop Fox of Winchester, where he was employed on small diplomatic missions to the Netherlands and Scotland. On these missions he stood out as an efficient administrator.

• Wolsey was a great flatterer and told the King what he wanted to hear, even when he personally disagreed with it.

•  Wolsey arranged an expeditionary force to invade France (despite the fact that he didn’t personally agree with the invasion), he arranged for over 12,000 men to set sail for Gascony.

• In 1518, Wolsey was made Legate a latere (Papal Legate), giving him the power to reform the Church and appoint benefices. By this point he was the most powerful man in England.

Wolsey’s rise to power- Henry’s Will

• Sir Richard Nanfan brought him to the attention of Henry VII, who appointed him as chaplain in 1507 and later as Dean of Lincoln.

• Wolsey first came to the attention of Henry VIII as a member of Bishop Fox’s entourage, but he quickly realised that he would never gain prominence promoting peace (as Fox did) when the King wanted war.

• Henry VIII grew tired of his father’s old councillors (Archbishop Warham and Bishop Fox) and was worried they wouldn’t approve of the changes that he wanted to implement. He was looking for new talent.

• There were many talented nobles who were capable of serving Henry, but he did not trust them, as they had a potential claim to the throne.

•  Wolsey became Royal Almoner, which made him a member of the Royal Council. This gave him regular access to the King.

Wolsey’s rise to power- Luck

• Sir Richard Nanfan brought him to the attention of Henry VII, who appointed him as chaplain in 1507 and later as Dean of Lincoln.

• Wolsey first came to the attention of Henry VIII as a member of Bishop Fox’s entourage

• Henry VIII grew tired of his father’s old councillors (Archbishop Warham and Bishop Fox) and was worried they wouldn’t approve of the changes that he wanted to implement. He was looking for new talent.

Early foreign policy- War

• Henry led an army of 30,000 men across the channel to Calais in June 1513.

• This campaign included the Battle of the Spurs (1513) and resulted in the capture of Therouanne and Tournai, as well as the capture of some important French nobles.

• Battle of Flodden= James IV of Scotland took advantage of Henry’s presence in France to launch an invasion of England.

• Battle of Flodden= The Earl of Surrey led a smaller army to a huge victory against the Scots, killing most of the Scottish nobility and James IV himself. James V was only a boy and Henry’s sister Margaret was regent (in charge until James V came of age). This was a huge success.

• Between 1511 and 1513, Henry spent £960,000. This compared to a yearly income of only £110,000.

• Anglo-French Treaty (1514)= The French promised to pay the rest of the French pension (that Henry 7^th negotiated), Henry kept his conquests and his sister (Mary) married Louis XII. When weighed against the cost of the war, this was a very modest outcome.

• In August 1523, an English force costing £400,000 was sent to France to team up with troops from the HRE and the Duke of Bourbon (French rebel). This was costly and achieved nothing.

• Between 1511 and 1525, Henry spent £1.4 million fighting wars, he had squandered the secure financial position left to him by his father.

• Diplomatic Revolution (February 1525)= Charles won a decisive victory against the French, taking Francis himself prisoner. Henry hoped to benefit from this, but Charles offered him nothing.

• In 1527, Charles sacked Rome and Pope Clement VII was taken prisoner, this was a disaster for Wolsey, as he needed the Pope’s approval for Henry’s annulment of the marriage with Catherine. Charles V was Catherine’s nephew.

Early foreign policy- Treaties

• Treaty of London (1518)= Wolsey did not allow Campeggio to enter the country until his position as Papal Legate had been confirmed.

• Treaty of London (1518)= Guaranteed non-aggression between the major powers, ensured that any aggressor would be attacked by all the other states.

• Treaty of London (1518)= Ensured that England would not be isolated in Europe, brought great prestige to England as the 20 foremost nations of Europe attended, Tournai was given back to France in return for a French pension, Henry’s daughter Mary was betrothed to the Dauphin and the Duke of Albany was kept out of Scotland.

• Field of the Cloth of Gold (June 1520)= Over 3,000 important people from England and France met for feasts and tournaments. Wolsey impressed in organising the creation of royal pavilions, wine fountains etc. This was highly expensive and achieved little/nothing, though it did enhance English prestige.

• Treaty of More (1525)= Instead, Henry looked to France for a new alliance and agreed to give up his claim to the French throne in return for an annual pension.

• Treaty of Cognac (May 1526)= Newly released Francis I worked with Wolsey to set up an anti-Habsburg (HRE) league. England financed it, but never joined. Ultimately this achieved nothing.

• Treaty of Westminster (1527)= Cemented alliance with France and suggested a marriage between Mary and either Francis I, or his second son.

• Peace of Cambrai (August 1529)= Peace between France, HRE and the pope left England isolated and Wolsey with almost no chance of getting an annulment for Henry’s marriage.

Parliament/Financial

• Between 1510 and 1515, Henry called six parliamentary sessions to raise money for war.

• Wolsey’s new tax, developed in 1513, was based on personal wealth. He used it 4 times from 1513-16 and raised £170,000.

• The old tax of Fifteenths and Tenths raised only £90,000 from three uses.

• Income from crown lands had reduced from a high point of £400,000 a year in Henry VII’s reign, to only £25,000.

• Wolsey passed an Act of Resumption in 1515 to reclaim some of the crown lands that had been lost, but this only went some of the way to plugging the gap.

• Wolsey only summoned parliament once, in 1523, he asked for loans to fund Henry’s foreign policy, but when it became clear that he could not control them, he simply didn’t call them again.

• In the 1523 parliament, Wolsey asked for a subsidy of four shillings in the pound, which would bring in £800,000. This caused an outcry. Eventually Wolsey got a subsidy, but it was not at the rate he wanted and only raised £300,000.

• He also used up any goodwill he had with the nobles and had to give up his policies on enclosure.

• Wolsey raised £322,000 in subsidies, £240,000 in clerical taxation and £260,000 in forced loans. But this did not cover the £1.7 million that was spent between 1509 and 1520, mostly on war.

Law

• Wolsey oversaw almost 9,000 court cases, including 120 a year in the Star Court alone. This compared to only a few dozen a year during Henry VII’s reign.

• Wolsey sent the Earl of Northumberland to Fleet prison in 1515, antagonising the nobles further.

• In 1516, Wolsey increased monitoring of the nobility and announced in the Star Chamber that they should not consider themselves above the law.

• Wolsey accused Lord Burgavenny of illegal retaining in 1516.

• Wolsey set up a special committee in Westminster in 1519 to hear cases from poor people and make the court system more accessible to them.

• Wolsey summoned the Duke of Buckingham to London in 1521 and convicted him of treason. He was executed and foreign ambassadors claimed that his only crime had been ‘murmurings against the chancellor’s doings’.

Amicable Grant

• This followed a period of high taxation (two forced loans of 1522-23 worth £200,000 were still being paid back and Wolsey’s subsidy of 1523 was still being collected) and popular revolts sprang up in Suffolk, London and Kent.

• In East Anglia, 10,000 men assembled in Lavenham in opposition to Wolsey’s demands.

• The Dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk told Wolsey that the money could not be collected and the Grant had to be dropped.

• Wolsey took the blame for the Amicable Grant, as Henry claimed he had no knowledge of it. This reduced Wolsey’s standing and made him even less popular with the nobles. However, no one really believed that the King had nothing to do with it and Henry’s prestige was also reduced.

Enclosure

• Wolsey set up an enclosure commission in 1517-18, which identified land enclosed land, buildings that had been demolished and land that had been converted from arable to pasture.

• From 1518-29, legal action was taken against 264 people, of whom 222 were brought to court and 188 verdicts were reached, including: 9 nobles, 3 bishops, 32 knights, 51 heads of religious houses and several Oxford colleges.

• When Wolsey called parliament in 1523, they would only agree to a parliamentary subsidy (money for Henry’s wars), if he stopped his anti-enclosure work. So ultimately it achieved nothing.

The Church

• Hunne Affair (1515)= Hunne was found dead in prison. After his death the Church found him guilty of all charges and seized his property.

• Hunne Affair (1515)= Merchants in London were outraged and accused the Church of making up heresy charges, having Hunne murdered, then finding him guilty of false charges just so they could seize his property.

• The parliament of 1515 was focused on this issue and there was widespread anti-clericalism, which did not reflect well on Wolsey.

• Henry Standish also attacked the ‘Benefit of the clergy’ (members of the clergy could be tried in their own courts, where they got more lenient sentences), in the same parliament of 1515.

• The biggest problem in the Church was pluralism and Wolsey himself held the archbishopric of York, bishopric of Winchester and the abbey of St Albans at the same time. He also never once visited his sees of Lincoln, Bath and Wells, and Durham. He only went to York after he fell from power.

• Another problem with the Church was a lack of celibacy and Wolsey had two illegitimate children. He even used ecclesiastical patronage to support his illegitimate son, Thomas Winter. His daughter was placed in a nunnery.

• Wolsey closed 29 religious houses (monasteries) and used the money to build Cardinal College in Oxford and a grammar school in Ipswich.

The King’s Court

• In 1519, Wolsey expelled ‘Henry’s minions’(they had access to him at all times and helped him govern) from the privy chamber, claiming that they were leading Henry astray. They returned later that year.

• Wolsey introduced the Eltham Ordinances in 1526, which sought to reduce the number of Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber from 12 to 6.

• The Eltham Ordinances were short-lived and by mid-1527, many of the more political members of the Privy Chamber had managed to get their jobs back, as a result of the political drama unfolding with the rise of Anne Boleyn and the fall of Wolsey.

Reasons for the Annulment- A matter of conscience

• The French questioned the legitimacy of Henry’s marriage to Catherine as part of marriage negotiations for Mary in 1528.

• Henry was extremely religious and his copy of the Bible was heavily annotated.

• Henry was granted the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’ by the Pope for his criticism of Martin Luther (prominent protestant). This proves his religious conviction.

• Henry believed that his marriage to Catherine was against God’s law, as it violated Leviticus 20:21. The Latin version says ‘If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing…they shall be without children’.

• This did not apply to Henry, as he had Mary, but the original Hebrew version replaced ‘children’ with ‘sons’.

• Henry believed that this was a judgement on him and that his marriage offended God.

Reasons for the Annulment-  A legitimate heir

• 1516– Mary Tudor is born.

• Catherine of Aragon had several miscarriages and two stillborn babies. Her last pregnancy was in 1518.

• In 1524 Henry stopped sleeping with Catherine, who was now 39 years old.

• Charles V rejected the possibility of a proposed marriage to Mary (Henry’s daughter) in 1525.

• Henry made his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond later in 1525, many saw this as a reaction to Charles’ rejection.

• Fitzroy was also sent to run the Council of the North in order to gain experience of government, compounding doubts over whether Henry believed Mary to be an appropriate heir.

• Henry Fitzroy was the product of one of Henry’s many mistresses, including Elizabeth Blount and Anne’s own sister Mary.

• December 1532– Anne Boleyn became pregnant- may have a male heir

• January 1533– Henry and Anne marry in secret.

Reasons for the Annulment- Love for Anne Boleyn

• Henry began to woo Anne Boleyn in 1526. 

• Easter 1527, Henry tried to persuade Anne to become his mistress, he was happy not to marry her at this stage. Secret arrangements for the annulment began in May.

• September 1528– Anne was sent to Hever Castle to get her out of the way. She returned in December, as Henry wanted her back in court, evidence of his infatuation with her.

• In 1527, at the age of 36 and despite the fact that he hated writing, Henry VIII wrote Anne Boleyn a series of passionate love letters, proving his infatuation with her. ‘Henceforth, my heart shall be dedicate to you alone’– Henry

• In February 1529, Campeggio claimed that Henry’s love was ‘something amazing and in fact he sees nothing and thinks nothing but Anne. He cannot stay away from her for an hour; it is really quite pitiable, and on it depends his life, and indeed the destruction or survival of this kingdom’.

Failure to obtain an annulment

• 1527– Wolsey tries to hold a council of Archbishops to pronounce on the case, as the Pope is imprisoned, but the French cardinals refuse to agree.

• December 1527– The Pope is technically released, but Charles V still has complete control over him.

• April 1528– Pope Clement grants Wolsey’s request to have the case heard in England, but insists that Campeggio is there to head the commission.

• October 1528– Cardinal Campeggio arrived in England to act as judge on behalf of the Pope. He was under orders not to come to a judgement.

• The opening of court is delayed by the discovery of the ‘Spanish Brief’. The Spanish claimed that it contained no clerical error, but refused to send it to England.

• 31 March 1529– Legatine Court finally begins; Campeggio is still under strict orders not to decide on the case.

• July 1529– A summer recess was called in the proceedings and Campeggio was recalled to Rome by the Pope. The Pope was under the complete control of Charles V at this point.

• August 1529– The Treaty of Cambrai ensures that Charles will remain dominant in Italy, the case is recalled to Rome, meaning that no progress has been made whatsoever.

Fall of Wolsey- Boleyn Faction

• Wolsey had nothing to gain from Anne’s ascension to Queen. She was much more political than Catherine and he knew that her rise would challenge his own power. Some historians argue that he purposely slowed down the process in order to allow Henry’s infatuation with Anne to fade. The Boleyn faction recognised this and this put them on opposing sides.

• The King was now persuaded that the Boleyn faction had been correct and Wolsey had no intention of helping him obtain an annulment. Wolsey had promised a quick resolution and it had been two years. Henry’s patience had run out.

Fall and Death of Wolsey

• October 1529 – Wolsey was accused of praemunire, forced to give up the Great Seal and replaced as Lord Chancellor by Thomas More.

• Parliament was summoned to indict Wolsey on 44 different charges.

• Wolsey was able to live in comfort during his exile in York. 

• He was finally arrested on 4^th November 1530 for sending indiscreet letters to Rome. He was ordered to London, but he could not be executed, as he died on 29 November 1530 in Leicester, on his way to London.

Condition of the Church before the reformation- Bad

• Pluralism was common. For example, Thomas Magnus was Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire, canon at Windsor and Lincoln, Master of St Leonard’s Hospital in York, Master of the College of St Sepulchre and Sibthorpe College, vicar of Kendal and rector of Bedale, Sessay and Kirby.

• Hunne Affair (1515)= Hunne was found dead in prison. After his death the Church found him guilty of all charges and seized his property.

Condition of the Church before the reformation– Good

• Archbishop Warham’s visitation of 260 parishes in Kent in 1511-12 found that only four priests were ignorant.

• Religious guilds were still widely supported, with 57% of people who made wills in Devon and Cornwall leaving money to them between 1520 and 1529.

Initial Break from Rome

• May 1530– Oxford and Cambridge universities both found in favour of Henry, arguing that the Pope had no right to grant a dispensation for Henry’s marriage with Catherine.

• 1530– English clerics, including Thomas Cranmer and Foxe put together the Collectinea Satis Copiosa, which states that English Kings have always had more authority that the Pope.

• February 1531– The Convocation of Canterbury recognised Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church.

• May 1532– Submission of the Clergy = The clergy accepted the King as their lawmaker, rather than the Pope.

• April 1533– Cranmer (Archbishop of Canterbury) ruled that Henry’s marriage to Catherine was invalid, whereas his marriage to Anne was legal.

• May 1533– Anne Boleyn was crowned Queen of England.

Henry in control

• Collected opinions from universities on the ‘Great Matter’.

• Submission of the Clergy- 15th May 1532- legislative independence of the Church surrendered to the Crown.

• Henry overrides papal authority in appointing Bishops in England with Bill of Annates. This was made conditional, showing H8 still holding out hope that the Pope will allow annulment.

• With legal Supremacy in place, H8 looks to exploit the wealth of the Church, e.g. new payments to the crown.

 Cranmer in control:

• Rapid rise (over Stephen Gardiner) shows H8’s need to appoint a sympathetic cleric quickly - Papal Bull from Rome did allow Cranmer's consecration.

• Head of new court of Appeals in Dunstable – appeals to Rome now go here, so he can deal with them.

• Act in Restraint of Appeals 1533 means May 1533 Henry & Catherine’s marriage declared void.

• Act of Dispensations 1534 - stops all payments to Rome. All future dispensations allowing for exemptions or departments from Church law need to be issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury (or Praemunire charge).

Cromwell in control:

• 1532- Cromwell introduces a petition against Church Courts and clerical jurisdiction into the Commons (Commons Supplication Against Ordinaries).

• Use of new Treason Act (1534)– made it offence to slander Supremacy or deny king’s new title - treason is now in word and deed. 300 people were put to death with this act between 1532 and 1540. Cromwell used it as an instrument of terror.

 Monasteries- Corruption:

• Records of visitations from the 1520s – before the Break with Rome, show that most houses were well-disciplined: silence was observed and good works were carried out in the community.

• The reaction to the dissolution in the North – the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion was caused by anger at the dissolution of monasteries – suggests that monasteries were popular and effective in their roles before the Reformation.

• In some monasteries moral standards had indeed slipped. At Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, the abbot (head of the abbey) slept in his own private quarters and every monk had his own servant.

 Monasteries– Money:

• The Valor Ecclesiasticus (1535) revealed that the total income of religious houses was over £160,000 a year, more than three times the income from royal estates.

• In 1536, Thomas Cromwell told Henry VIII he would make him the ‘richest prince in Christendom’ by dissolving the monasteries.

• Henry took £1.3 million in wealth from the dissolution of the monasteries.

• After the break from Rome, Henry needed money to protect against a Catholic crusade.

• Many of the larger monasteries had incomes of more than £1,000 a year and this money was used to build fortifications on the South coast.

 Monasteries– Religious Opposition:

• Protestants did not believe in the value of religious houses and all monasteries had been dissolved in Protestant areas of Germany and Scandinavia.

• Monasteries held an allegiance to the main house of their order, which was usually outside England. This challenged the idea in the Act in Restraint of Appeals, that England was supreme.

• Henry did not subscribe to the Protestant critique of the monasteries. He even refounded two monasteries in the 1540s to say prayers for him and his family.

Opposition to the Reformation: individuals

• Elizabeth Barton = She was arrested in November 1533 and executed along with 4 followers on 21st April 1534, the same day Londoners were required to make an oath swearing to support the succession.

• Thomas More = More accepted the Royal Supremacy but refused to swear that the King had always been the head of the church and that parliament was simply reasserting Henry’s rights. He was held in the Tower along with Fisher until the Treason Act of 1534 made it possible to charge him.  During his trial More attacked Henry’s tyrannical nature, his trial was an embarrassment to the crown and his execution of 6 July 1535 did little for the crowns reputation.

• Bishop Fisher = Fisher was the only Bishop to oppose the Supremacy to such a degree that he was executed.

• The Religious Orders = The Carthusians were known to be the least corrupt of the Holy orders, which gave their opposition greater impetus and meant Henry dealt with them harshly. In April 1535, 3 monks were arrested for denying the supremacy. They were all executed, becoming martyrs. all Carthusian monks united in speaking out against Henry and over the space of three years, 18 more were arrested and either executed, or starved to death in prison. 

The Pilgrimage of Grace causes

Evidence rising was religious = In Westmorland a rebel army rose up when the priests failed to announce a Holy day. In Craven they rose up to defend Sawley Abbey. Aske claimed that the dissolution of the monasteries was ‘the greatest cause’. The rebels restored monks to their monasteries.

Evidence rising was not religious = Poor harvests in 1535 and 1536. Enclosure was an issue in areas near York and the Lake District. There were complaints about the scale of rents and entry fines. Taxation during peace time had been brought in by the 1534 Subsidy Act.

Events of the Pilgrimage of Grace

• In October 1536 a rising in Lincolnshire, sparked by the closure of the monasteries and the enforcement of religious changes.

• This led into the Pilgrimage of Grace proper, from 8th Oct to 8th Dec most of the North was in open rebellion against Henry with 40,000 men getting involved, at this point the King had an army of 8000, so the rebels outnumbered him 5:1.

• Bigod Revolt and Cumberland Rising = From 16^th January – 10^th February 1537, unsatisfied rebels again rose up, led by Sir Francis Bigod, however they were unsuccessful and lacked support

• Bigod was arrested in Cumberland, many others including Aske and Darcy were rounded up and executed. The death toll reached 178.

Cromwell’s rise to power:

• Of common birth in Putney, probably born after 1485.

• able to memorise the entire New Testament

• Joined the French army and fought in the Battle of Garigliano, Italy in December 1503.

• Settled in Italy and worked for a merchant banker named Francesco Frescobaldi.

• He returned to England in 1515 and began working in London as a business agent, which involved legal work and moneylending.

• Cromwell was successful and while he was working for Charles Knyvett, who had connections with Edward Stafford (third Duke of Buckingham), he came to the attention of Cardinal Wolsey.

• In 1523 he entered the House of Commons for the first time and a year later he was appointed as Wolsey’s legal advisor.

• After Wolsey’s fall he secured a nomination to the vacant parliamentary seat of Taunton, with the help of one of his contacts, Sir William Paulet.

• As an MP, Cromwell defended his old master in Westminster, demonstrating his loyalty. Henry was impressed by this.

• Cromwell was also helped by the fact that he had a number of friends who were close to Henry, including Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Thomas Heanage.

• He started to impress the King informally by coming up with solutions to problems e.g. the Great Matter, that more experienced/high status ministers were unable to solve.

• He approached the Boleyn faction to try and ally himself with them, but they were unwilling to work with anyone who had been close to Wolsey.

• Cromwell recognised the untapped potential of the minor post – Principal Secretary to the King. He volunteered to deputise in this position whilst its current incumbent was on business abroad, then he asked the King to dismiss them and appoint him permanently, this occurred in April 1534.

Religious reforms

• 1532- Cromwell introduces a petition against Church Courts and clerical jurisdiction into the Commons

• Use of new Treason Act (1534) – made it an offence to slander Supremacy or deny king’s new title - treason is now in word and deed.

• illegal to fail to report anyone who spoke out against the King’s new position (called misprison). 300 people were put to death with this act between 1532 and 1540. Cromwell used it as an instrument of terror.

• 10 Articles (1536) = Included only the three sacraments approved by Protestants (baptism, the Eucharist and penance)

• Bishop’s Book (September 1537) = However, this did include the four sacraments that had been previously lost and Henry marked that it should only be published in the name of the bishops, not in his name, reducing its influence.

• Bishop’s Book (September 1537) = Four Catholic sacraments were explicitly said to be of lesser value than the other three and this was shown as a clear development towards Protestantism.

• English Bibles (1537) = It was ordained, thanks to Cromwell, that all parishes had to have an English bible within two years. Cromwell organised this task, which was roughly equal in terms of organisation and effort to mounting a military campaign.

• Second set of General Injunctions (1538) = Explicitly stated that relics of saints should be removed from churches and people should be discouraged from going on pilgrimages. This led to the dismantling of the Shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

• Act of Six Articles (May 1539) = Henry called a House of Lords Committee, which was evenly divided with reformists and conservatives. However, Henry had already shown that his own beliefs were largely conservative.

• Act of Six Articles (May 1539) = This reasserted the four lost sacraments and included severe penal clauses backing it up. Denial of Transubstantiation was to be punished with automatic burning, which was even harsher than it had been pre-reformation. Cromwell’s religious changes had largely been undone in one strike.

Government under cromwell

• Following the disgrace of the Boleyn faction in spring 1536, Cromwell was able to secure the appointment of many of his own servants (e.g. Peter Mewtis and Anthony Denny), into key government positions.

• In July 1536, Cromwell was given the position of Lord Privy Seal and raised to the peerage as Baron Cromwell.

• In the course of 1538-39, Cromwell was able to plant charges of treason against the Marquess of Exeter, Sir Edward Neville and Sir Nicholas Carew. He also discredited Sir Anthony Browne and Sir Francis Bryan. This destroyed the Boleyn faction entirely and severely weakened the conservative faction, leaving Cromwell free to rule how he saw fit.

• Cromwell increased the workload of parliament substantially. The laws passed in the 251 years before his reign cover 1,094 pages, but during the 37 years of Henry VIII’s reign, 1,032 pages of laws were passed.

• Between 1536 and 1543, the semi-independent power of the Marcher Lordships in Wales was ended and it was split into shires, just like England.

• The Council of Wales was also given extra powers to govern the region properly, bringing Wales under the control of government.

• However, Cromwell’s attempts to increase the power of central government over the North and West of England were largely unsuccessful, as he had no choice but to rely on the goodwill of the local gentry, who acted as JPs.

• Cromwell insisted on correct use of the legal system, even when it ran counter to his aims. For example, of the 883 people who were charged with treason during his time of power, only 329 (about 40%) were actually executed. Many were able to get off on legal technicalities.

• Privy Council = Cromwell orchestrated the change from a large privy council (70-90 members), to a far more efficient council of 20 members. This was far more efficient in times of crisis e.g. The Pilgrimage of Grace and can be seen as a change towards modern government.

Financial

• Cromwell was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1533.

• Cromwell promised to make Henry the ‘richest prince in Christendom’ with the closing of the monasteries. This ultimately made Henry £1.3 million.

• Cromwell set up departments to administer the crown’s sources of income. These were much more accurate and efficient and were modelled on the Duchy of Lancaster (an existing department).

• The most famous of these were the Court of First Fruits and Tenths and the Court of Augmentations. These were set up to deal with the new wealth that was coming to the King via the Church. They were called courts because they also had the legal power to settle disputes over how much should be paid.

• Cromwell succeeded in reducing the power of the King’s Chamber and increasing the power of the Court of Exchequer (which he controlled). Some historians argue that his reorganisation of Royal finances was done purely to increase his own power and was not designed to modernise finances at all.

• Cromwell oversaw a general survey of coastal defences, which led to the building of new defences around Calais, at a cost of £376,477. This ultimately achieved nothing, as no Catholic crusade occurred.

• On 12^th April 1540, Cromwell persuaded parliament to agree to peacetime taxation worth £214,065 over four years.

Cromwell’s Fall from Power

• Cromwell persuaded a reluctant Henry to seek marriage with a German noblewoman in order to negotiate an alliance with the Protestant League of Schmalkalden. This led to a treaty signed at Hampton Court in October 1539, between Henry VIII and Duke William of Cleves.

• Henry married Anne of Cleves (under protest) on 6^th January 1540.

• Cromwell’s main enemies in the Privy Council were the Conservative faction. Including the Duke of Norfolk.

• Gardiner was temporarily in disgrace and Cromwell managed to exclude him from the Privy Council in 1539.

• Earl of Sussex, Sir John Russell, Sir Thomas Cheyney and Sir William Kingston join on the side of the conservatives, leaving Cromwell and Cranmer isolated.

• Act of Six Articles = Cromwell tried to distract the King by seeking another peacetime subsidy, but this failed and the Duke of Norfolk took charge.

• Act of Six Articles = Endorsed transubstantiation, claimed the laity could not take communion in both kinds, claimed that priests could not marry and that auricular confession was necessary. All of these conservative views were endorsed by the King and passed by parliament.

• Cromwell was able to fight back after this disastrous parliament, in April 1540 he assumed leadership of the Privy Chamber, persuaded the King to make him Earl of Essex and appoint him as Lord Great Chamberlain (the highest court office). He then packed the Privy Chamber with his own supporters, to offset his disadvantage in the Privy Council.

• The discord between France and Spain reduced the chance of a Catholic crusade against England and made the treaty with Cleves unnecessary.

• Cromwell was blamed for exaggerating the beauty of Anne of Cleves, who Henry called the ‘Flanders Mare’.

• Henry’s choice for his fifth wife was Catherine Howard, the niece of the Duke of Norfolk. As such, Cromwell hesitated in arranging Henry’s divorce, which should in theory have been easy given that the marriage was unconsummated.

• Norfolk discovered in Spring 1539 that Cromwell had been harbouring over sixty Protestants. The King ordered a full enquiry and the report showed that Cromwell was not enforcing the Act of Six Articles.

• He was arrested in June 1540 and the significance of the divorce is clear, as the evidence needed for Henry’s divorce from Anne was obtained from Cromwell whilst he was imprisoned in the tower. After that, he had no further use and he was executed on the 28^th July.

• Henry married 19-year-old Catherine Howard on the same day (28^th July 1540) as Cromwell was executed, symbolising the importance of both the conservative faction, who had used Catherine to manipulate Henry and Cromwell’s failure to facilitate the marriage himself.

Foreign Policy - General

• There had been concerns of a Catholic crusade against England throughout the 1530s and in December 1538, the Pope sent Reginald Pole to persuade Francis and Charles to lead it. This only failed because both feared that the elimination of Henry might benefit the other.

• When France and Spain recalled their London ambassadors at the start of 1539, a Catholic invasion was feared.

• The most thorough survey of coastal defences since Edward I’s reign was undertaken and a national network of fortification was built. The work, including that at Calais, cost £376,477.

• Fear of a Catholic crusade was also what drove Henry to marry Anne of Cleves – to form an alliance with the Lutheran princes of Germany (League of Schmalkalden).

• The Auld Alliance (1295), was strengthened by the marriage of James V and Mary of Guise and this encouraged Henry to side with the HRE. He also naturally wanted to oppose France, as he still held ambitions of winning back French lands, or even claiming the French throne.

• A fresh war between the HRE and France began in 1541.

• Henry spent £2 million on war during the 1540s. This used up the rest of the resources gained from the dissolution of the monasteries, debased the coinage, used forced loans, ensured heavy taxation and even led to Henry borrowing money on the Antwerp money market, setting up some of the economic difficulties of the MTC. Most historians consider it to be a costly failure.

Factions

• Catherine Howard = In 1540, Henry was unhappily wed to Anne of Cleves. Conservative Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk looked to increase conservative influence at court.

• Catherine Howard = Howard, who had used the same technique with Anne Boleyn (his niece) and introduced another niece, Catherine Howard to Henry.

• Catherine Howard = Once Cromwell annulled the Cleves marriage and had been executed, Henry wed Catherine, giving the conservative faction great influence, and leaving the Reformists with no leader.

• Catherine Howard = Catherine had an affair with Henry’s favourite Thomas Culpepper. In October 1541 the Reformist faction found out and Cranmer and Seymour gave Henry evidence.

• Catherine Howard = Catherine, Culpepper, Dereham (who Catherine had had an affair with prior to her marriage) and Lady Rochford (who facilitated the affair) were executed, while many conservatives ended up in prison. Though their leaders, Gardiner and Howard remained untouched.

• Cranmer Plot = In 1543, several conservative clergymen accused two reformers of heresy. At the last-minute Stephen Gardiner’s nephew, Germain Gardiner added an attack on Cranmer to the accusations.

• Cranmer Plot = The articles were delivered read to the Council on 22 April 1543. Henry probably saw them that day, Cranmer was not informed and his commissioners dealt with the two reformers accused, acquitting them.

• Cranmer Plot = Henry took no further action until September when he revealed the conspiracy to Cranmer himself. Henry stated Cranmer was to carry out a new investigation into the full charges, including those against Cranmer and gave a ring to Cranmer to show his support. Surprise raids were carried out, evidence gathered, and ringleaders identified.

• Cranmer Plot = When the Privy Council then came to arrest Cranmer for this involvement with the reformers, Cranmer however revealed the ring Henry had given him. The Council had to back down because of this symbol of the king’s trust. The plot ended with two second-rank leaders of the conservatives imprisoned and Germain Gardiner executed.

• Catherine Parr = Parr was a reformist with Lutheran views that were potentially too extreme to be legal. The conservative faction presented evidence to Henry that she was a heretic and he allowed them to confront her.

• Catherine Parr = Before the conservatives could act against Parr, she visited Henry herself and plead with him, promising to believe and follow whatever he wanted.

• Catherine Parr = The King was satisfied and when the conservatives came to arrest Parr, Henry abused them for trying to commit a treasonous act.

• Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Surrey = Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard) and his son the Earl of Surrey (Edward Howard) were old nobility, and related to Edward III (giving them a claim to the throne). They believed this meant that they should advise the King.

• Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Surrey = In 1546, Surrey, a respected military leader, lost 205 men in a skirmish with French forces at St Etienne. He was blamed and fell from favour with Henry.

• Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Surrey = Later in 1546, it was claimed that Surrey had fitted a window containing the Plantagenet coat of arms and had discussed his families Plantagenet blood. This could have been a risk to the Tudor dynasty.

• Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Surrey = On 2nd December Seymour showed evidence to the Privy Council that Surrey had committed treason. Surrey was arrested and taken to the Tower and executed on 19th January 1547. Norfolk was also arrested, but Henry died before he could be executed.

• The Will = By 1546 it was clear that the King’s declining health meant a minor would succeed him.

• The Will = The will proposed a regency council, consisting of Conservatives and Reformists. Members of the council were to have equal powers, and were to govern the country until Edward reached 18 years of age.

• The Will = In order to secure the loyalty and co-operation of the Council its members were to be rewarded with new titles, and lands taken from the monasteries and the Howard family.

• The Will = It seems probable that William Paget drew up the first (uncontroversial) part of the will part of this with the king’s knowledge in December 1546 and arranged for it to be signed, however in between the clauses and the signature, plenty of space had been left to write in further amendments.

• The Will = The details of the Regency Council were then added when the king was sufficiently near to death not to be able to do anything to alter them.  Seymour was able to utilise a loop-hole which gave him full control of the council and effectively gave him full monarchical power. He also ensured that the council was loaded with 15 of his closest allies. Anthony Denny, who held the Dry Stamp (a stamp of the King’s signature) was bought in on the plan to enable them to make all necessary changes. It is likely that the king’s death was kept secret for three days while the reformists put these plans into action. Although this version of events will never be able to be proved beyond doubt, it does ring truest of all the scenarios so far offered by researchers.

Foreign Policy – Scotland:

• Henry arranged to meet James V at York in 1541, but James failed to attend. Henry took this as a personal insult.

• James V had been loyal to France in the 1530s and had married two French princesses. He had also protected rebels who fled North after the Pilgrimage of Grace.

• In the aftermath of the Anglo-Imperial alliance of 1542, the Scots conducted a number of border raids.

• As a result of one or more of these reasons, Henry sent a huge army, led by the Duke of Norfolk, to attack the Scots. They won a huge victory at Solway Moss in November 1542, capturing many Scottish nobles.

• Ten days after the defeat, James V died, leaving a baby, Mary, on the throne.

• Henry proposed peace, backed up by the marriage of Edward to Mary. This was agreed by the Treaties of Greenwich in 1543. The Scottish nobles who had been captured at Solway Moss were given bribes in return for their support.

• The Scottish parliament rejected the Treaties and refused to hand over Mary.

• Throughout 1544 and 1545, the Earl of Hertford (Seymour) lead a series of border raids against Scottish towns, which were often set alight. The plan was to try and force the Scots into agreeing to the Treaties.

• Seymour was given too few troops however and he was unable to inflict any serious damage against the Scots. All he did was make them more determined to oppose the English.

• The Scots decided that Mary should marry the French Dauphin (prince) instead. This reinforced the Auld Alliance and meant that border raids against the English could continue whenever they were occupied with fighting the French.

Foreign Policy – France:

• The Anglo-Imperial treaty of 1542 also drew England into the Habsburg-Valois conflict on the side of the HRE.

• France and the HRE signed the Treaty of Crepy in 1544, ending their conflict and leaving England vulnerable and alone in their war against France.

• Henry led an army of 48,000 men to France, which was able to capture the city of Boulogne in 1544.

• This was an important symbolic victory for Henry. It was more than either Charles (HRE), or Francis (France), achieved in the same time period and restored some of his honour, after a foreign policy that had essentially achieved nothing since 1520.

• The capture of Boulogne could also be considered strategically useful in the defence of Calais.

• 1545 saw an attempted French invasion of the South West of England. 200 French ships were able to sail up the Solent and land a raiding party on the Isle of Wight.

• Treaty of Camp/Ardres (June 1546) = England could keep Boulogne for 7 years. France had to pay all outstanding payments from the French pension.