Henry VII : AQA Q1 – How did Henry develop the Powers of the Monarchy?

21st August 1485

Date Henry VII put the beginning of reign at first Parliament to ensure any Yorkists were designated traitors and vulnerable to attainders, charges of treason etc.

22nd August

Battle of Bosworth, Henry’s 6,000 army v Richard III’s army of double, Stanley’s 3,000 remained on the side-lines.

30th October

Official coronation at Westminster, before marriage to Elizabeth and first Parliament, to show he was rightfully king.

7th November

First meeting at parliament – 28 Acts of Attainder against Yorkists. Granted tonnage and poundage for life. Act of Resumption, returned all crown lands given away after 1455 (Beginning of W.o.R)

Beginning of reign

Annual income at 12,000. Placed Jasper Tudor as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

1486

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, made Lieutenant of the North

16th Jan 1486

Papal dispensation granted for Henry and Elizabeth’s marriage.

18th Jan 1486

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York's Marriage takes place.

April 1486

Begins Royal Progression to the North.

19th September

Birth of Prince Arthur.

25th November 1486

Elizabeth of York crowned Queen of England.

Order of the Garter

Earl of Oxford, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1486 for helping Henry win BoB, 37 nobles awarded 1485-1509.

Peerage

62 in 1485, 42 in 1509.

JP’s – powers increased:

1485 – power to arrest poachers and hunters
1491 – power to grant bail
1495 – power to vet juries

King’s Council

227 attended 1485-1509, only around 6 or 7 on the working Council. Compromised of Nobility, Churchmen and Laymen.

Patronage:

Earls – Edward IV created 9 earls while Henry VII only created 3 – Earl of Derby, Earl of Bath, Earl of Devon.

Edward IV created 2 viscounts and 13 barons. Henry VII created 2 viscounts and 8 barons and only 3 were genuinely new peerages accompanied by land grants.

Acts of Attainder

138 Attainders were passed, 46 were reversed. More lenient than Edward III.
Examples:
- Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey:
1486 – Imprisoned and attained for supporting Richard III at BoB
1487 – refuses to escape with Simnel
1489 – half reversal of attainders, helped quell the first Yorkshire rebellion
1491 – helped to quell the second
1492 – complete reversal of attainders.

- Henry became more paranoid, 51 passed from years 1504-09.

- Thomas Tyrell paid £1,738 for the reversal of his and his father’s attainders.

- After Warbeck, 1493, William Stanley placed under attainder; fined £9,000, £1,000 per annum income.

Laws against retaining

Passed at second parliament Nov-Dec 1487.
Example:
Lord Burgavenny, convicted in 1507 for retaining 471 men, fined £70,650. Allowed to be placed under a bond of £5,000 over 10 years. (Sort of a carrot, showing slight leniency.)

Placement

Moving a noble away from his powerbase.
Example:
Earl of Surrey sent North as part of his attainder.

Feudal rights/dues

Relief – paid by an heir to receive inheritance.
Wardship – control of the estates of minors before they come of age, Sir John Hussey was appointed Master of the King’s Wards to distribute Wardships. Wardship income rose from £350 in 1487 to £6,000 in 1507.
Marriage – Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Buckingham fined around £7,000 in 1496 for marrying without a license.

Bonds

Example:
Marquis of Dorset was placed under a £10,000 bond after suspected involvement in the Simnel plot.

Recognisances

Example:
– Earl of Westmorland, Earl of Northumberland, Viscount Beaumont of Powicke were fined £10,000 after B.o.B. If they were disloyal, this £10,000 had to be paid.

– 46 of 62 noble families were at Henry’s financial mercy

– 191 bonds in the first ten years of his reign

– Number of nobles fell from 62 to 42 during his reign.

–“Loyalty and ability were Henry’s sole requirements in his most important servants; patronage had to be earned, it was not an automatic privilege of the upper class.” (Caroline Rogers)

Lovell Rebellion:

- April 1486.
- During Henry’s Northern Progression (at Lincoln).
- 3 of Richard supporters had broken sanctuary in Colchester.
- Viscount Lovell tried to raise an uprising in North Yorkshire.
- Thomas and Humphrey Stafford tried to raise on in the midlands.
- Rules of sanctuary were altered as Staffords tried to reclaim it, no longer applicable in cases of treason.
- Lovell fled to Flanders.
- Humphrey executed, Thomas pardoned.

Lambert Simnel:

- Why Earl of Warwick – imprisoned in the tower, strong claim to the throne, believed to be dead.
- Support from Margaret of Burgundy, angry at the usurpation of Richard III, her brother. Recognised Simnel as her nephew.
- Raised 2,000 German and Swiss mercenaries, as well as Commander Schwarz set sail for Ireland in April 1487.
- General Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, accepted Simnel.
- 24th May 1487 – Simnel crowned as King Edward VI in Dublin.

Battle of Stoke

- 16th June 1487
- Henry had 12,000 men, led by Earl of Oxford. John de la Pole had 8,000, of which 4,000 died in battle.
- John de la Pole killed in battle, Simnel sent to work in the royal kitchen.

Yorkshire Rebellion:

- 1489
- Parliament voted for £100,000 to be raised in taxes for war with Brittany, only £27,000 was raised.
- Yorkshire hit by bad harvest, people believed it was too much.
- Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, pleaded to the King. After returning with no success, was promptly murdered.
- Rebels led by John Egremont.
- Earl of Surrey put down rebels easily, Egremont fled to Flanders.
- Faced no more northern rebellion, but never collected the tax quota for Brittany.

Perkin Warbeck:

- Impersonated Richard, Edward’s younger son.
- 1491 – Lands in Ireland, Kildare did not give support.
- Was welcomed by Charles VIII of France but expelled after 1492 Treaty of Etaples.
- Welcomed into Burgundy by Margaret and Philip.
- 3rd July 1495 – First attempted landing in Deal, Kent. 150 of his army were killed, never even disembarked.
- July 1495 – Arrived in Scotland, welcomed by James IV.
- Married to James’ cousin, Catherine Gordon.
- September 1496 – Small Scottish force crosses the border, retreated due to threat of no support and Henry’s army.
- 1496 – Kildare becomes loyal to Henry.
- Treaty of Ayton 1497 – Forces Warbeck out of Scotland.
- Lands in Ireland again, rejected due to Kildare’s loyalty to Henry.
- September 12th 1497 – Warbeck arrives at Lands End with 120 men, attempting to exploit the Cornish rebellion and garner support. Crushed by Daubeney’s army in Exeter, surrenders.
- 1499 – Warbeck and Earl of Warwick conspire to escape.
- 23rd November 1499 – Warbeck hanged.

Cornish Rebellion:

- 1497
- January 1497 – Parliament vote for £120,000 in taxes for war with James IV and Warbeck.
- 15,000 rebels marched to London, were stopped outside Exeter.
- 17th September, Battle of Blackheath, Henry’s army crush rebels, 1,000 killed.
- Leaders, Michael an Gof and Thomas Flamank beheaded.

Earl of Suffolk (The White Rose):

- Edmund de la Pole flees to Calais in 1499, Henry’s response is 51 attainders on Suffolk’s relations.
- 1501 – Fled to court of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian.
- 1505 – Philip’s ship wreaked in Port of Weymouth. Agrees to hand over de la Pole, in return Henry paid £158,000.
- Suffolk imprisoned until 1513, Henry VIII takes over and executes him.

Crown Lands

All land inherited by Houses of Lancaster and York, Earldoms of Richmond, March and Warwick, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Principality of Wales. Annual income rose from £29,000 in 1485 to £42,000 in 1509.

Custom Duties

Tunnage (Exports), Poundage (Imports). Annual income rose from £33,000 to around £40,000.

Legal System and Profits of Justice

Attainder of William Stanley brought in £9,000, £1,000 annually afterwards. 1507 – Burgavenny fined £70,450 for retaining 471 men.

Bonds and Recognisances

Receipts rose from £3,000 in 1493 to £35,000 in 1505.

Parliamentary Taxes/Subsidies

Gross yield of a 15th and 10th was £29,000-£31,000. Special taxes such as for the wars with Brittany and Scotland caused 2 rebellions (Yorkshire and Cornish)

Clerical Taxes

Special levies/subsidies imposed on the Church. £9,000 per parliamentary subsidy. Also, occasional funding in the form of gifts from the convocation, such as £25,000 for the war with France.

French Pension

After Treaty of Etaples 1492 – French agree to pay £159,000 (750,000 crowns) in £5,000 annual sum. Charles VIII agrees to pay arrears.

Feudal Obligations

£30,000 for the Knighthood of Arthur.

Loans and Benevolences

In 1491, raised £48,000 for war with Brittany, of which £9,000 was contributed by London.