Mary I- Government and finances

Mary expelled Northumberland’s followers from the Privy Council

1553 but retained many experienced Edwardian advisors like Paget

how did Mary’s Privy council change in size

increased to about 50 as she reinstated prominent Catholics but still kept on some of Edward’s officials

in general what happened to the Privy Council during Mary’s reign

it was used for the daily running of government and became far more established

inner council established

1555, made up of 9 trustworthy men to try and deal with bloated Privy Council

political rivalries in government

Mary’s choice to add catholic nobles who supported her and skilled moderates from edward’s reign to the council caused strong rivalries

who was the main contemporary critic of the privy council

Simon Renard who was jealous of the English advisors and wanted to keep his own influence over Mary

what was the main innovation to government that came from the large council

it led to the specialised committees that were able to focus on specific issues of government which made it more efficient

what role did Paget hold

keeper of the privy seal

what role did Gardiner have

Lord Chancellor

4 examples of Parliament opposing Mary

1555, Parliament defeated Mary’s bill to seize the property of Protestant exiles who had fled abroad.

Parliament would not agree to restore lands taken in the dissolution and privately sold to the Catholic Church.

In 1554, Parliament rejected a proposed law that would have included Philip alongside Mary with regard to treason.

In 1555, Parliament prevented Philip’s coronation as king.

overall relations with Parliament

generally supportive of Mary, they let her marry Philip, restore Papal authority and declare war on France which were 3 key controversial areas

Mary’s government and trade

encouraged trade with Morocco and the Guinea Coast to trade cloth for gold and should have had more access to the wealth of spanish america from the marriage but that didn’t happen

Mary and merchants

government kept good relations with merchants so increased custom rates and introduce a new book of rates introduced in 1558 so Elizabeth reaped the benefits

how did Mary make financial issues worse

despite still facing the same issues Northumberland tried to fix, she gave away £60,000/year worth of crown lands to the church

what did the Privy Council do to do with finance

implement the reforms proposed by the commission in 1552

drastic changes made to the revenue courts

1554

Exchequer in Mary’s government

Restored as the main financial department, took over the work of court of augmentations and first fruits and tenths

Courts of first fruits and tenths

delt with taxes paid by the senior clergy

Court of Augmentations

administered income from monastic and chantry lands

Court of wards

collected tax levied on the heirs of great estates and administered lands belonging to the monarch as the Duke of Lancaster

what happened to the court of wards under Mary

it kept its independence

plans for the coinage

government wanted to remove the many debased coins in circulation and restore the full silver content to the coinage but this didn’t happen until 1560 after Mary’s death

New Book of rates issued

1558

when had customs rates last been changed

not since 1507

what did the new book of rates do and who experienced the benefits

increased custom revenue from £29,000 to £85,000 a year

full survey of all crown lands

1555

consequence of the survey of crown lands

rents and entry fines raised in 1557

entry fines

payment made by new tenants before they could take over a property

overall success of Marian financial reforms

Mary died before the measures had any real effect so it was Elizabeth who reaped the benefit of increased revenues

Marian navy

English navy was reorganised and reequipped which was intended for the french war but actually helped defeat Philip in the armada 30 years later

general economic situation

got worse due to a series of bad harvests and epidemics of plague, the sweating sickness and flu

government response to the epidemics

restricted the movement of textile and other industries from the towns to the countryside with the aim of preventing an increase in urban unemployment and thus vagrancy

what had begun to decline by Mary’s reign

the important cloth trade with the Antwerp markets

English ships begin trading in north africa

1551

why was Mary’s government unable to do much exploration for new trade opportunities

they were to anxious to avoid offending Spain and Portugal, it wasn’t until Elizabeth that they pursued overseas enterprise

faction concern

it was believed that one of the issues brought by a female ruler was the inability to control faction

when were the specialist committees established

1554

Clashes between Paget and Gardiner

marriage as they both backed different candidates

revival of the heresy laws only passed once Paget and his crew backed them

overall conclusion on faction

there were some clashes over specific issues but most of the time rivalries were put aside and government was efficient, plus the death of Gardiner in 1555 and Philip’s departure allowed Paget to dominate a conciliar government