Legal - Domestic policies under Wolsey (1514-29) - Legal

What were the courts of chancery used for?

The courts were used to deal with problems relating to enclosure, contracts and land left to others in wills

What was Wolsey in charge of?

Wolsey was not a trained lawyer but, as Lord Chancellor he was responsible for overseeing the legal system

What privileges did the title of Lord Chancellor give Wolsey?

He had the right to preside over the court of chancery and he tried to use the court to uphold ‘fair’ justice

How many cases did Wolsey over see in the Chancery?

Wolsey heard 7,526 cases in the Chancery

What did the act of parliament establish?

The act of Parliament established the court of star chambre in 1487

When was the court of star chamber established?

1487

What was the court of star chamber?

It was an offshoot of the king’s Council, and became the centre of both government and justice under Wolsey

What was difficult for the poor to obtain and why?

It was difficult to for the poor to get justice the rich could bribe a jury and judges - Wolsey wanted to address this situation

Who did Wolsey imprison?

The earl of Northumberland was imprisoned by Wolsey

When was Northumberland imprisoned?

1516

Why was the earl of Northumberland imprisoned?

For disobeying the decision of a court

What did Wolsey continue to do after the initial imprisonment?

Wolsey continued to go after noble men for being corrupt

What cases was the court of star chamber used to try?

• The court of star chamber was used to try cases for the poor against the noble men and it was used very often by Wolsey

• Wolsey also encouraged the use of the Star Chamber for private lawsuits

How impactful was the star chamber?

However the star chamber couldn’t help all so it had a very limited impact dissatisfying both the poor and the rich

When was the permanent committee set?

1515 a permanent committee was set up and became the ancestor of the later court of requests, whose job was to deal with cases involving the poor

What did the Star Chamber do to Wolsey reputation?

This chamber made him an enemy of the rich in the Tudor court

What was Enclosure?

Enclosure was the practice of landowners fencing of common land that was previously unfenced

What did many peasants have?

Many peasants had access to an amount of land which they did not necessarily own it was common land or sometimes it was rented from a landowner at various rates of rent

When did enclosing become popularised?

In the 1500s land owners began enclosing creating a huge problem for the peasants

Why was enclosing such a huge issue?

As they used this land to graze their cattle and to grow crops to support themselves and their families and to keep the economy moving

Why were land owners enclosing?

Landowners were enclosing because there was more money to be made from fencing off the land enclosing to pasture for sheep so they could graze on the grass and you can sell the wool from the Sheep to textile workers who turn it into cloth where lots of money was made as cloth was popular in the Tudor period

What did Wolsey do to combat enclosing?

Wolsey did not like this process so he began legal cases against these land owners around 260 in 1517

What was the outcome of these cases?

These cases did not really do much enclosing still continued and the land owning classes began to dislike Wolsey who had land and power

How did enclosing effect the poor?

Many were forced into unemployment and they became known as the wondering poor as they went form ton to town to try and find work there