Controlling the nobles

Great council

• reward

• meetings of noblemen called in emergencies when parliament would take too long

• helped Henry secure support from nobles

Order of the Garter

• reward

• significant honour reserved for the King’s closest servants

• it gave prestige but not power or land

King’s council

• reward

• position as king’s councillor was a sign of the King’s confidence

• for trusted servants who were undyingly loyal

Bonds and recognisances

• punishment

• bonds = written agreements where people promised to pay a sum of money if they failed to keep their promise

• recognisances = formal acknowledgement of debt or an obligation, with the understanding to pay money if the obligation was not met

Crown lands

• punishment

• Henry wanted to bring back as much land as possible to the crown

• land equalled power

• the more land henry had, the more power he was seen to have

Patronage

• reward

• the giving of land, titles, positions of power

• Henry used it as a reward for good and loyal service

Acts of attainder

• punishment

• laws that led to families losing the right to possess land

• an “attainted” family lost the right to inherit land

• good behaviour could led to the reversal of an attainder

attacks on retaining

• punishment

• noble practice of recruiting gentry followers

• could be used as local fighting forces, which threatened Henry’s power

• Henry limited retaining through fines and licences

Feudal dues

• punishment

• Henry wanted to assert his feudal rights over the nobility

• wardship

• Marriage

• Livery (king was paid to recover land from wardship)

• Relief (form of inheritance tax)

Successes in controlling the nobility

• Henry found new ways of controlling the nobility

• number of nobility decreased from 50 to 35

• Order of the Garter was effective as it gave prestige but not power or land

• Willoughby was loyal throughout his life and received a place on the kings council

• increased the crowns wealth

Limitations in controlling the nobility

• some nobles ignored the rules

• did not stop retaining

• Lovell rebellion proved there was still opposition

• still worried about nobilities loyalty at the end of his reign