Henry VIII and his ministers 1509-1540

HENRY VIII AND HIS MINISTERS KEY TOPIC 1: HENRY VIII AND WOLSEY 1509-29

Section A: Henry VIII Renaissance Prince

England in 1509: society and government

1. Henry VIII’s father, Henry VII, fought and defeated Richard III to become King in 1485. He had become King after a period of civil war known as the War of the Roses, and the legitimacy of his claim to the throne was questionable.

2. Henry VII was suspicious and careful with money, and so had become identified with greed and repression.

3. However, Henry VIII was also hard working, efficient, and an excellent administrator, and had created a stable and well-governed kingdom, a group of experienced advisors, and a wealthy country.

4. English consisted of about 2.5 million people, with most of them living and working on the land, and only 6% living in towns.

5. The city of London was the largest and most important in the country, with 60,000 inhabitants. The next largest towns were Norwich, Bristol, Exeter, York and Coventry, but they had much smaller populations.

6. The religion of the whole of England was Roman Catholicism.

7. Tudor society was hierarchical, and there were only very limited opportunities to move up the social ladder. This was known as the ‘Great Chain of Being’, with God at the top.

8. In the countryside, the nobility was at the top of the hierarchy, followed by the gentry, then yeomen, then tenant farmers, then the landless (labouring) poor, and finally vagrants (homeless) at the bottom. Status was defined by land ownership, with the nobility holding the most land, and the landless poor and vagrants the least.

The young Henry

1. Henry was the second son of Henry VII. It was expected this his older brother, Arthur Prince of Wales would become King. However, in 1502 Arthur died, and ten year old Henry became heir to the throne.

2. Henry was strong and athletic, and enjoyed hunting and archery, but was banned from jousting.

3. He was also intelligent and well educated, but his father did not want to risk losing another son, and so Henry stayed at court, instead of being sent off to other parts of the kingdom to learn how to govern. As a result, he was largely untrained when his father died in 1509.

Henry’s accession in 1509

1. Henry VIII inherited the throne peacefully in 1509. His coronation was greeted with celebrations and bonfires.

2. Henry’s accession was greeted with enthusiasm across the country. Henry VIII’s portraits portray him as open and handsome, as opposed to his father, who looks tired and suspicious.

3. Henry VIII took steps to immediately distance himself from his father, for example by ordering the arrest of two ministers most closely associated with Henry VII’s unpopular financial policies.

4. Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess who had been previously married to his brother Arthur, in 1509. Catherine was part of the powerful Habsburg family, and her nephew was Charles V, the heir to the Spanish throne.

5. The marriage strengthened England’s alliance with Spain, and Henry VIII was fond of Catherine.

Henry’s character

1. Henry was only 18 when he became King, and he was handsome and charming.

2. Henry was a powerful athlete and excelled in things like archery and wrestling. His greatest passion was jousting.

3. Henry was a true Renaissance man: this meant someone who was knowledgeable, educated, and proficient in lots of areas. He spoke French, Spanish and Latin, and was a talented musician.

4. He was good at singing and dancing. He also loved to dress in fine clothes and cover himself in jewels.

5. He was also religious: as a Roman Catholic, he attended church regularly and gave charity to the poor.

6. He also had a big ego and was stubborn.

Henry’s views on sovereignty and monarchy

1. Henry believed in the divine right: the idea that kings were appointed directly by God.

2. He wanted to model his rule on the great monarchies of France and Spain. In these monarchies, the king was a towering figure, with a dazzling court.

3. Henry also looked to England’s past for inspiration, and he dreamed about repeating the heroic victories of English Kings over the French.

4. He had also grown up listening to the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and so for him, kingship involved performing brave deeds, as well as being skilled in the art of courtly love: a form of elite entertainment in which noblemen attempt to win the hearts of women through poetry and quests.

Henry’s personal style of government

1. Henry VIII ruled the country, and had personal control over all the important decisions, including when to go to war and when parliament should be called. He settled disputes between nobles and made appointments to important religious and political posts.

2. He had the following institutions to help, but he nonetheless remained in ultimate control:

a. THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD: a group of nobles and servants who ensured that he was provided with food, clothing, and spiritual guidance. It also played an important part in government: it was in the rooms of the Royal Household that the king met advisors and made decisions.

b. THE PRIVY CHAMBER: part of the Royal Household, this was made up of a small group of the king’s closest noble friends. They looked after his personal needs and provided entertainment. They had opportunities to informally influence the King on matters of policy. The Privy Chamber was headed by the Groom of the Stool.

c. THE ROYAL COUNCIL: a group of advisors chosen by the King and selected mainly from the nobility and church. They provided guidance on policy and matters of state.

d. COURT: a body of people made up of the monarch’s key servants, advisors and friends. Drawn mainly from members of the nobility, they were called courtiers. They lived in, or near, the same palace as the king, entertaining him and his visiting guests. Being able to attend the court required the monarch’s permission.

e. PARLIAMENT: made up of the House of Lords (which included bishops), and the House of Commons. Its main job was to pass laws required by the king and approve new taxes for him.

f. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE: known as JPs, these were large landowners who kept law and order in their local areas.

Henry’s aims as a monarch

1. He wanted to be in sole charge of deciding England’s policies.

2. He wanted to achieve glorious victories in battles abroad.

3. He wanted to create a magnificent royal court, through art, architecture, dress and entertainment.

4. He wanted to attract great men to his court, such as important scholars and artists.

5. He wanted to perform the traditional duties of a monarchy, including: maintaining law and order; being a good servant to the Church; and having a son to continue the royal line.

Henry’s strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

1. He was popular with the people of England, as he looked the part of a great king.

2. He inherited a rich country from his father.

3. England was stable, with an established system of government.

4. He loved his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and she had important foreign connections in Spain.

5. He had a team of experienced advisors around him.

6. He had ambition to become a great Renaissance king.

Weaknesses

1. He had little experience of government.

2. He had little desire to get involved in the day-to-day business of governing England, and preferred sport and entertainment.

3. His attitude of kingship was simplistic and partly based on heroic legends.

4. He wanted England to go to war as soon as possible, so he could prove himself as a true, heroic knight.

5. He had a large ego that was difficult to manage.

6. He liked high-risk sports, such as jousting, which could threaten his health.

7. His tastes for entertainment and clothing were expensive.