Henry VII

Consolidation of power; character and aims; establishing the dynasty

Consolidation of power

Henry’s claim came from his mothers side. His mother Margaret Beaufort was a direct descendant of Edward III. His grandmother on his fathers side had also been married to the King of England before she had married his grandfather.

Henry’s father died a few months before his birth so he grew up being taken care of by his mother and his uncle. When Henry became a claimant to the throne his uncle Jasper took him to Brittany where he lived for the next fourteen years

Henry landed near Pembroke, Wales and marched towards the English border gaining support along the way. On the morning of August 22nd 1485 the army met with with the royal army at Bosworth Field. Crucially, Lord Thomas Stanley were unsure of whom to support so they stood off to one side refusing to take part until the outcome was clear.

It was important that Henry consolidate his power as soon as possible to avoid losing the throne and he did this in a very strategic ways which showed his intelligence:

• He dated his reign from August 21st, the day before the Battle of Bosworth

• Publicly rewarded his supporters and conferred 11 knighthoods

• Arranged his coronation for before the first meeting of Parliament

• Earl of Warwick was detained

• Acts of Attainder were issued against those who fought against him at Bosworth

• He was allowed to increase tonnage and poundage

• Got papal confirmation of his right to be king

• Married Elizabeth of York in January 1486

• Embarked on a royal progress

• Had a son in September 1486

Character

Henry was described as astute and clear-thinking, he was respected but not popular.

The wars of the roses caused Henry to become more independent and forced him to learn battle skills because the cousin that he relied on (King Henry VI) was ill and then imprisoned when the Yorkists took control causing four year old Henry to be taken from his mother and places with a Yorkist family.

Government; councils, parliament, justice, royal finance, domestic policies

Henry faced many problems when he first came to power

1. Nobels had lots of power and land which made them threats to the crown

2. The crown had uneven control of the country; there was strong control over heavily populated area but loose control over the borderlands

3. The crown had poor finances due to wars

So what were his solutions?

Nobility → Henry reduced reduced the land, wealth, and support for the nobles making them rely on him

Acts of Attainder were used to seize titles and possessions of nobles they were disloyal, they could be reversed if he though that it would secure the loyalty of the victim

Patronage was used to reward men lower down the social scale as they were dependant on him for the position and status they held and were not distracted by competing loyalties.

Nobles had retainers passed on them to put pressure on if they were slow in paying rent. Retainers meant that men could only keep a certain number of men

Henry controlled finances of the nobles by fining them in they misbehaved. Henry established the Council Learned in Law to act as a royal debt collector

Local and Regional government → Justices of the Peace were appointed annually from local land-owners and were responsible for public order, ensuring laws were followed and dispensing justice to criminals.

National government → Parliament existed but had very little involvement in political life, they met infrequently mainly to pass laws that the king wanted and to vote him additional taxes.

Henry took a very direct interest in the state of national finances. He signed off every transaction by himself. He exploited his legal rights to claim special payments from his nobles

Sources of ordinary revenue

Extraordinary revenue

Insert info about carrots and sticks

The King’s Council - Had three main functions: Advise the king, make legal judgements, administer the realm on the king’s behalf. The council consisted of 6-7 main men but around 227 are recorded as attending the council. Was a great honour reserved for Henrys most trusted servants.

Council Learned in the Law - Watch over and protect the king’s revenue making sure any debt to the throne was paid. The council ignored the normal legal system and would do what they wanted to get the money. It was made of three men Reginald Bray, Edmund Dudley, and Richard Empson

King’s Court and Council -

Parliament - Grant taxation and pass laws, Henry held seven parliaments throughout his reign

The Star Chamber - Enforced justice against powerful nobles, delt with corruption , conspiracy, and public order.

Relationship with Scotland and other foreign powers; securing the succession; marriage alliances

Aims in foreign policy - In the first years of his reign Henry’s priority was to gain acceptance of his right to rule from other monarchs. He built a series of truces with neighbours: France 1485, Scotland 1486, and the Habsburg Empire 1487

In 1489 as part of Medina Del Campo, England and Spain decided to work together to defend their lands and promised to not make agreements with France without discussing it with each other first. Within this treaty there was also the agreement of the marriage between Prince Arthur to the daughter the Spanish monarchs

Henry was put in a difficult position when France tried to absorb Brittany as he had relied on Brittany during his 14-year exile. If France gained control of Brittany then the coast of England would be in a weaker military position. This became known as the Breton Crisis and was considered one of the major problems in Henry’s foreign policy and the only time he committed troops outside the British Isles. To deal with the Breton Crisis Henry opened negotiations with France while simultaneously allowing English troops to cross to Brittany to help the Bretons repel the French army. This did not please France and they showed their displeasure by receiving the pretender Perkin Warbeck and pouring more of their troops into Brittany. Under the treaty of Etaples 1492 Henry’s army eft France for a payment of 745,000 crowns and the agreement that France would not support Henry’s enemies.

Society: Churchmen; Nobles and commoners; regional division; social discontent and rebellions

Socio-economic rebellions are caused by large groups of people being unhappy with their financial situation and aims to draw governments attention to their issues

Dynastic rebellions are dissatisfaction with the ruling family or faction. Usually from other powerful people with the aim to overthrow the king and replace the ruling dynasty with a new person

For Henry there were several Yorkists who could potentially have a stronger claim to the throne than him

The Lovell Rebellion

The Lovell Rebellion took place in Yorkshire and the Midlands in Easter of 1486 and was a threat from several people in high power; Viscount Lovell, Humphrey Stafford, and Thomas Stafford.

This was a dynastic rebellion as they were unhappy with Henry being in power as he was Lancastrian and they were Yorkist however they did not have an obvious contender to replace him.

Humphrey Stafford - Executed

Francis Lovell - Escaped into exile

Thomas Stafford - Pardoned

The threat of the Lovell rebellion was minimal as they did not have much support and the ordinary people hadn’t been affected by the king at this point as it was so soon into his reign

Lambert Simnel

Lambert Simnel was supposedly the “Earl of Warwick and was supported by John De La Pole the Earl of Lincoln, Margaret of Burgundy, and Lord Lovell. The Yorkists wanted to replace Henry with one of their own.

This rebellion resulted in the Battle of Stoke field in 1487 in which the Earl of Lincoln was killed however others who rebelled were treated fairly and had bonds of good behaviour to ensure loyalty to Henry

Yorkshire Rebellion

Was led by ordinary people due to economic reasons and taxation. Henry wanted to send an army abroad and his nobles were tasked with taxing their tenants more so he could have more money . This resulted in the Earl of Northumberland being murdered by his tenants

Perkin Warbeck

Perkin Warbeck was a cloth trader from Flanders who impersonated Richard Duke of York (one of the boys in the tower) and he was supported by the Earl of Warwick.

In 1495 Warbeck tries to come to England and take the throne, to reason with him Henry offers his daughter a good marriage however despite this he still keeps trying to claim the throne especially in Henry’s times of weakness like after the Cornish Rebellion. He is eventually locked in the tower but after he tried to escape he is tried and executed alongside the Earl of Warwick.

The Cornish Rebellion

The Cornish rebellion took place in 1497 and involved participation from a majority of ordinary people and some nobles. Henry needed money to finance a campaign against Scotland and the people were unhappy about this.

Around 15,000 people participated and walked all the way from Cornwall to Blackheath which is very close to one of Henry’s houses in London where his family resided. Henry’s own family had to be evacuated to the Tower of London and were kept there for about a week.

This rebellion was extremely threatening to Henry and consequently he executed a lot of the leaders.

Economic development: trade; exploration; prosperity and depression

Henry wanted to break up the stranglehold of the Hanseatic League. Navigation Acts were passed 1485/86 which encouraged the use of English ships to carry goods rather than foreign ships. An Act was passed in 1489 which limited the export of English wool and made it illegal for foreigners to buy wool to make into cloth.

Intercursus Magnus 1496 allowed English merchants to trade with all parts of Burgundy apart from Flanders.

Henry supported the voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot. John Cabot reached Newfoundland in 1497 and claimed it for England however he died on the way home. His son, Sebastian sailed to attempt to find a route to China around the north of America (which was impossible), he found what we call the Hudson Bay (New York???) but by the time he had returned Henry VII was dead and the VIII wasn’t interested

The death of Prince Arthur caused worries about succession due to the fact that his wife Elizabeth dies around the same time.

Timeline

• 1486 - Truces signed with Scotland and France

• 1488 - French attack on Brittany

• 1489 - Medina del Campo, England intervenes with Brittany

• 1491 - Perkin Warbeck makes claim to throne

• 1492 - Treaty of Etaples

• 1497 - Truce of Ayton

• 1501 - Marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon

• 1503 - Margaret Tudor marries James IV

• 1508 - League of Cambrai

Religion; Humanism; arts and learning

The catholic church was immensely powerful in the late 15th century owning about 1/3 of the land. It had it’s own legal system which frustrate Henry to no extent as it allowed clergymen to avoid proper punishment.

Access to the bible was limited to only those who could understand Latin, people had to complete seven sacraments;

• The eucharist

• Baptism

• Holy orders

• Confirmation

• Marriage

• Confession

• Unction

During the 15th/16th centuries the Renaissance spread, the renaissance was about promoting power and the potential of mankind. Henry commissioned new buildings. Humanism was a positive movement, borne out of optimism about the present and future. Humanists were involved with religion because they were disturbed by the poor quality of the parish clergy and wanted to improve the standards of education among both the clergy and the laity. They attacked the churches exploitation such as the selling of indulgences in order to raise money.

Erasmus

Erasmus was a celebrated Dutch humanist scholar who had enormous influence. He published many works encouraging learning and reform withing the catholic church. he targeted monks who were not living godly lives

Key figures