Edward VI- Northumberland's governance

Names and titles of Northumberland

Born John Dudley

Earl of Warwick on deathbed of Henry VIII

Made himself duke of Northumberland

when did Northumberland rise to prominence

1540s gained military reputation on land and sea and was lord high admiral and commander of the army that took boulogne

Northumberland and Kett rebellion

crushed it decisively and when he returned to London he had the support of all of the senior nobility

How did Northumberland use faction to gain control

Once in London with the army, he got key catholic nobles onside like Arudel and Wriothseley by pretending to have Catholic sympathies but at the same time plotting with progressives

Northumberland’s coup and Cranmer

Cranmer helped Northumberland gain control of the administration of the royal household and thus immediate access to the king whose support he won

Council majority Conservative

October 1549

Northumberland strong enough to expel conservatives from the council

February 1550

What title did Northumberland pick

Lord President of the Council

Significance of Northumberland’s choice of title

it was his way of showing he will use the council and restore their influence rather than be an autocrat

Northumberland made General Warden of the North and significance

April 1550, gave him military command

Northumberland achieves total power

October 1551 when he had Somerset imprisoned and assumed the title of Duke of Northumberland

What did northumberland realise about the council

learned from Somerset’s mistakes and realised that control of the council was key to political power

What could Northumberland do with the council as lord president

appoint and dismiss councillors at will and complete control over procedure

How did Northumberland alter the size of the council

enlarged it to 33 and selected new members with military experience who would be loyal

How did Northumberland make council more efficient

created a smaller inner committee with a fixed routine to conduct business

Northumberland and proclamations

made less use of them, preferring to use Parliament to pass legislation

Most pressing issues when Northumberland took over

finances and foreign policy

How much money had somerset spent on war by 1550

£1,356,000

what value of crown land had Somerset sold to finance war

£800,000 worth

evidence government was virtually bankrupt

they had to borrow to raise the £50,000 a year needed to pay for the royal household

Coinage debased for the last time

March 1551

Profit from last debasement

£114,000 to pay for immediate expenses but inflation rose further

How much did Northumberland have to borrow from continental bankers

£243,000

Secretary of state

Sir William Cecil who was in charge of financial planning q

Northumberland’s main 3 financial aims

• end debasement to stop inflation

• Reduce spending

• Reduce debt

Cecil’s recommendation to restore financial solvency

the sale of chantry lands and church goods to star paying off debts

Coinage reissued with restored silver content

March 1552 with silver content restored to levels seen in 1527

How did Northumberland cut costs

drastic reductions in military and household spending, Boulogne returned to France for £133,000 and garrisons removed from Scotland

Emergency fund established

Privy Coffer which was a contingency fund

Financial situation largely stabilised

1553

Revenue collection failure

extra revenue taxes voted for by Parliament were not collected as they were so unpopular so a further £140,000 worth of crown lands had to be sold

After debts paid what was the most pressing financial need

increases in ordinary income

Commission on reducing corruption and inefficiency in finances

1552, recommended that the number of revenue courts should be reduced from 5 to 2

Remaining 2 revenue courts

Exchequer and Office for Crown Lands

Overall success of Northumberland’s financial policy

very successful, inherited a dire situation and largely improved situation in just 2 and a half years, met all three of his aims and only limited by failure to increase ordinary income but again this was limited by short tenure

foreign policy winter of 1549

occupied with gaining control of the government so didn’t make any changes to foreign policy

French take advantage of power vacuum in English government in autumn'/winter 1549

built up forces around Boulogne and broke lines of communication between Boulogne and Calais but an English fleet responded decisively and gained control of the channel meaning Boulogne could be supplied by sea

Delegation sent to france to negotiate peace

January 1550

Treaty of Boulogne signed

March 1550

Terms of Treaty of Boulogne

English would withdraw for a ransom of 400,000 crowns

Agreement to remove troops from scotland

happened at the same time as negotiations with the French, agreed not to renew the war unless attacked by the scots first

Sir Thomas Gresham

job was to pay off royal debts on the Antwerp market

What id Sir Thomas Gresham do

crossed the channel over 40 times in a few months and manipulated exchange rates to improve the worth of sterling

Success of Sir Thomas Gresham

Paid off all of the government’s Antwerp debts in 2 years and negotiated an interest rate of 12% for loans when the HRE was paying 16%

Defensive alliance with france

agreed within Boulogne peace negotiations, there was to be a perpetual defensive alliance between the two nations

French policy and Northumberland’s popularity

Peace with France seen as a humiliation and the defence alliance with a traditional enemy was seen as a national disgrace which made Northumberland very unpopular

French foreign policy and links to finance

crown finances improved as peace restored and economy improved when trade between France and england was restored

England’s international position during N.land

remained weak especially as lack of money forced him to reduce the size of the army and navy

Consequence of improved relations with France on HRE

caused a deterioration of relations with the HRE

What was Charles V angered by

The Anglo French alliance as HRE and France were enemies as well as attempts by the King and other reformers to make Princes Mary abandon her catholic faith

Significant consequence of cooling of relations with HRE

breakdown in commercial contact with the Netherlands which had been protected since 1496 by the Magus Intercursus

Catholic Inquisition allowed into Netherlands

April 1550, edict signed by Charles V

Significance of inquisition being allowed into Antwerp

although it was modified to exempt foreigners, it angered English merchants and helped bring about the collapse of the Antwerp cloth market

Collapse of the Antwerp cloth market

occurred as many Flemish cloth workers fled to England to avoid persecution from the inquisition

Attempt made by Charles V to restore trading relations

December 1550 due to fears England would be pushed closer to France

Consequence of Northumberland withdrawing troops from Scotland

left the French in control which was actually unpopular with many of the Scottish nobles and protestant lowlanders who feared becoming just another province of france

Fall of Somerset and Scotland

Left no clear policy for the nobles charged with defending the border to follow so Northumberland took charge and appointed himself General Warden of the North

What action did Northumberland take to address disputes on the Scottish border?

He ordered Sir Robert Bowen to survey the border to identify disputed territory.

What did Sir Robert Bowen find about the scottish border disputes

an area of 15 miles by 4 miles was under dispute between England and Scotland.

Who settled the Scottish border disputes

Lord Dacre, negotiations stalled until French landed troops in Scotland

Final settlement reached with Scotland over border

March 1552, border was to be restored to line pre Henry VIII’s campaigns

Policy of Neutrality to continental powers

1551

War between France and HRE

March 1552, led to closer anglo imperial relations as Northumberland refused to enter into the war against them

Diplomatic relations restored between HRE and England

June 1552

English response to the French invasion of the Netherlands

reinforced Calais but didn’t actively enter in the war, despite this relations with France weakened and second half of the Boulogne ransom not paid

1552 breakdown of relations with France

second half of Boulogne ransom not paid

French ships begin attacking English shipping

Northumberland proposes to mediate between France and HRE

January 1553 due to fears over the health of Edward and Charles V but France not interested so hostilities resumed in 1553

Cranmer’s ordinals

January 1550

Content of Cranmer’s ordinals

Revised procedure for the ordination of priests and included details like the wearing of a surplice and swearing an oath to the saints

Impact of Cranmer’s ordinals

led to conflict with Hooper who was angry about the oath and surplice and refused the Bishopric of Gloucester and being imprisoned for failure to stop preaching

Introduction of communion tables

Began in 1550

Communion tables

Ridley Bishop of London ordered all of the alters in his diocese to be removed and replaced with communion tables in line with Calvinist teachings

Communion tables observance nationally

uneven, depended on the attitude of local ruling elites and clergy

Gardiner deprived

February 1551 deprived of the Bishopric of Winchester

Removal of the Conservative clergy

posts at Worcester and Chichester replaced by reformers

Significance of the removal of the Conservative bishops

changed the structure of the convocation and gave it a majority of reformists meaning any opposition to further reforms could just be overruled

Treason Act

1552

content of 1552 treason act

enabled the church to enforce doctrinal uniformity and it was now treason to deny royal supremacy or slander any of the affirmed articles of faith

Significance of 1552 treason act

removed some of the religious freedoms that had existed under Somerset and moved the country more towards Protestantism

Second Prayer book date

1552

3 big Calvinist principles included in the second prayer book

Justification by faith alone

Transubstantiation removed

Predetermination of who will be saved

Significance of the Second Prayer book

most significant move towards Protestantism as it made the doctrine incredibly protestant and had to be used by both the laity and clergy

Removal of Catholicism in second prayer book

mass defined as ‘drink in remembrance of’ and all traces of catholic beliefs removed

Second Act of Uniformity date

March 1552

Second Act of Uniformity

It became an offence for both laity and clergy to not attend church of England services and offenders either fined or imprisoned

Further attacks on church wealth

1552 survey of the temporal wealth of bishops and all senior clergy

result of survey on wealth of clergy

Lands of the clergy had an estimated capital value of £1,087,000 so steps taken to transfer some of this to the crown

Commissioners sent out to churches

sent out in 1552 to draw up inventories and begin the removal of all gold and silver plate still owned by parish churches and to list any items illegally removed since 1547

impact of commissioners being sent to churches

they had only just begun confiscations when the king died so the operation ended with only a few churches losing their medieval plate

Forty Two articles

1553 (never actually became law)

Who drew up 42 articles

Cranmer himself

What were the Forty-Two Articles of 1553?

A set of doctrinal statements defining the beliefs of the Church of England in line with Reformed (Calvinist) theology

What key doctrine did Article 17 of the Forty-Two Articles affirm?

Predestination — the belief that God has eternally chosen the elect for salvation.

Result of the Edwardian reformation

By 1553 the church in England was thoroughly Protestant doctrinally but the pollical and administrative structure of the church was unchanged and there is insufficient evidence to decide whether the people had embraced Protestantism

Religious views of the landed elites at the end of Edwardian reformation

seemed to favour moderate protestantism but only a few found it impossible to conform during the Marian Restoration

Lower Clergy and wider population religious views by 1553

majority seemed to have been largely indifferent to religious debate

Where had support for Protestantism been seen

London and the counties encircling London and East Anglia

Summary sentance for the extent the country was Protestant

It is considered that it was not widely opposed but received only lukewarm acceptance

When were the most radical moves towards Protestantism made

at the end of the short reign so will have had very little time to make an impact on the beliefs of the wider population

Percentage of Kentish wills having an obvious protestant preamble

8% in 1549