The aims of Henry VIIs Government

Henry’s early aims

What was Henry VIIIs number 1 priority?

Henry dismantled the less popular aspects of his father’s legacy

What were Henry’s other key aims?

Henry VIII also had a number of other key aims in the first years of his reign:

• To establish his status amongst European monarchs through marriage

• To re-establish the role of the nobility

• To establish himself as a warrior king through success in battle

 

Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Who was Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII?

His brothers (Arthur) widow

When was the last time marriage between Henry and Catherine agreed upon?

It had not been agreed while Henry VII was king

What was Henry’s attitude towards the marriage?

Henry VIII was anxious to conclude the marriage as quickly as possible

How did Henry’s councillors look at the marriage?

Henry's councillors took the view that marriage for Henry would deflect him from political matters and enable them to conduct conciliar business as usual

When did Henry marry Catherine?

June 11th 1509 Henry and Catherine married

How was the personal relationship between Henry and and Catherine?

The marriage was initially successful on a personal level

What was Catherine involved in?

Catherine also exercised some influence over policy making in the first few years

What happens to Catherine and Henry’s relationship later on?

By the mid-1520s Henry would repent his marriage

What’s as a leading reason for why Henry repented his marriage?

He did it  it was clear that she could never present him with a healthy male heir

Re-establishing the nobility

What was done to the nobility by Henry VIII?

• The nobility had been largely frozen out of direct political influence by Henry VII

• Few of them had spent much time at court

• Henry's largely peaceable foreign policy had denied them their traditional outlet of the pursuit of military glory

What was Henry VIIIs attitude to the nobility?

He had similar interests in dominant military culture of the aristocracy

How did Henry VIII rebuild relations with nobility?

The sons of the nobility partnered Henry in the sports and revels were the ones who accompanied Henry to war in northern France, or the Marquis of Dorset to south-west France or the Earl of Surrey to Scotland

How strong was nobility power?

The nobles did not in the end achieve the political domination they had hoped for

Why didn’t the nobility have lots of power under Henry VIII?

Because Henry chose to promote the interests of Thomas Wolsey, the churchman who had organised the war in France on his behalf

Foreign policy

What did Henry want to overthrow quickly?

Henry quickly wanted to overthrow his father’s foreign policy legacy

What led to war with France?

The pursuit of military glory, which fitted in closely with his rehabilitation of the traditional nobilit

What were the results of Henry VIIIs military expeditions?

Vast amounts of money were spent to achieve painfully small gains which had little or no strategic significance

Who did Henry VIII commonly go to war with?

 These bouts of aggression were mixed with occasional alliances with the French against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire

Who did Henry VIII never go to war with?

Henry made sure to never  go to war with the powerful Charles V

Henry’s later aims

What important events happened within the first 5 years of Henry VIIIs reign?

The first five years of Henry VIII's reign had witnessed some celebrated events:

• His marriage

• His coronation

• A momentous victory over the Scots

• He comprehensively destroyed his father’s legacy through warfare and extravagance

What was Henry VIIIs approach to the government?

• Henry VIII lacked consistent approach to his aims in government which he had little interested in the business of government except on an occasional and impulsive basis

• He almost always gave priority to the pursuit of pleasure

 

What plunged church wealth?

• The broadening of the use of statute law (Acts of Parliament) to achieve his political ends,  resulting in the growing importance of Parliament and the destruction of much traditional religion and the plundering of much of the Church's wealth

How was Henry VIIIs ruthlessness represented throughout his reign?

• Through the treatment of Empson and Dudley

• His resort to execution for treason, often on the flimsiest of charges, combined tyranny and insecurity

How was Henry VIIIs impulsiveness demonstrated?

• He had also demonstrated his impulsiveness in the speed of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

• This impulsiveness was not restricted to his marital relationships - he came to regret his impulsive decision to execute Thomas Cromwell