A-Level Tudors Revision: Henry VII and Henry VIII

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key treaties, legislation, individuals, and events of the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII as outlined in the A-Level History revision guide.

Act of Attainder

A legal tool used by Henry VII to declare Yorkist opponents traitors enabling him to take their land as he had dated his reign from $21$ August $1485$, the day before the Battle of Bosworth.

Bonds and Recognisances

Financial contracts used by Henry VII to maintain control over the nobility by enforcing debt or loyalty, with receipts rising from $£3,000$ in $1493$ to $£35,000$ in $1505$.

Council Learned in Law

A specialized committee established in $1495$ to manage bonds and recognisances; it was led by Empson and Dudley and was deeply feared by the nobility.

Treaty of Medina del Campo ($1489$)

An alliance between England and Spain that included the betrothal of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon, providing dynastic legitimacy for the Tudors.

Treaty of Etaples ($1492$)

An agreement with France where the French agreed not to support pretenders and paid Henry VII a pension of $£5,000$ per year.

Intercursus Magnus ($1496$)

A treaty that restored the English cloth trade with the Netherlands, ending a trade embargo which began in $1493$, and forced Margaret of Burgundy to abandon Perkin Warbeck.

Justices of the Peace (JPs)

Unpaid local landowners, approximately $18$ per county, who acted as the King's representatives in the localities to maintain order.

Yorkshire Rebellion ($1489$)

An uprising triggered by an income tax for the Brittany campaign, resulting in the murder of the Earl of Northumberland.

Cornish Rebellion ($1497$)

A revolt against taxation for a campaign against Scotland; $15,000$ rebels marched to Blackheath before being defeated.

Star Chamber

A judicial body expanded by Wolsey from ~$12$ to ~$120$ cases per year to target noble abuses and champion the poor.

Tudor Subsidy ($1523$)

The first national tax introduced by Wolsey that was based on income rather than just property value.

Amicable Grant ($1525$)

An unparliamentary tax attempted by Wolsey that caused widespread resistance and forced Henry VIII to back down.

Act in Restraint of Appeals ($1533$)

A statute law declaring England an 'empire' independent of foreign authority, preventing legal appeals to the Pope in Rome.

Act of Supremacy ($1534$)

The legislation that formally declared Henry VIII as the 'Supreme Head of the Church of England'.

Valor Ecclesiasticus ($1535$)

A comprehensive national survey commissioned by Thomas Cromwell to assess the total wealth of the Church in England.

Pilgrimage of Grace ($1536$ )

The largest Tudor rebellion, led by Robert Aske, which was primarily motivated by the dissolution of the monasteries.

Six Articles ($1539$)

A conservative reassertion of Catholic doctrine, such as transubstantiation, which followed the initial Break with Rome.

Battle of Flodden ($1513$)

A major military conflict during the reign of Henry VIII that resulted in a decisive defeat for the Scottish forces.

Treaty of London ($1518$)

A diplomatic success for Wolsey that established a general European peace and briefly placed England at the center of international affairs.

King-in-Parliament

A constitutional concept emerging during Henry VIII's reign where the monarch exercised supreme authority in conjunction with the houses of Parliament.

Battle of Spurs (1513)

King Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I defeated French cavalry during the War of the League of Cambrai. The French fled so quickly they earned the battle its nickname. Won Toulouse and Tournai

Enclosure act (1517)

laws in England that let landowners fence off and privatise common farmland, forcing many rural people off shared land and reshaping agriculture.

Ideas of Erazimus

1499, encouraged a more critical, text‑based approach to religion and helped expand education through new grammar schools, raising literacy among the gentry.