Nobles

• Order of the Garter

  • 37 knights
  • Great honour for recipient
  • Effective as gives prestige without power or land
  • Patronage now result of royal service
  • For men like Earl of Oxford who was loyal before and after Bosworth
  • Not only nobles gained from this as Edmund Dudley was rewarded
  • The limited amount of people made it even more rewarding
• The Kings Council

  • Membership was a sign of trust
  • Summons were a clever way to ensure noble support for measures
  • Once policy agreed upon, very difficult to criticise decision
• Acts of Attainder

  • Family would lose their right to possess their land
  • Economic and social ruin unless reversed
  • Special conditions often attached to any reversals
  • 139 passed throughout reign
  • Good behaviours could result in reversal
  • Loyalty encouraged as the affected would want to reverse social and economic ruin
• Bonds and Recognisances

  • Written agreements
  • Nobles who offended king paid money for offence or security for future good behaviour
  • Sums could reach up to £10,000 per peer, e.g. the Marquess of Dorset
  • 36 out of 62 families involved
• Illegal Retainers

  • 1485 Lords and Commons made to swear not to own illegal retainers
  • 1504 Proclamations issued to ensure retainer licences
  • £5 per month for each illegal retainer
  • 1506 Lord Burgavenny paid £70,000
  • Helped improve finances
• Act of Resumption

  • Took back crown lands that had been granted away since before the War of the Roses
  • When land was used as a reward, the land taken from Acts of Attainder was given
  • Crown had five times more land by end of Henry VII reign than Henry VI
  • Income went from £29,000 to £42,000
  • Not all land taken back due to fear of antagonising nobility