Key topic 1

• personal and political qualities - general

  • kings ruled by the grace of god
  • passed from father to son
  • monarchs could decide to go to war , summon or dissolve parliament , and for up holding justice and the law
  • could not ignore parliamentary laws and were expected to listen to the advice of councilors
  • was expected to be a male who is intelligent and physically strong to lead an army
  • monarchs had to be involved in the day to day running of the country
• personal and political qualities - Henry VIII

  • was 17 when he became king
  • became king in 1509
  • was well educated but could be cruel , he disliked paperwork and would delegate tasks though he always remained in charge
  • enjoyed sports
  • was keen to go to war to asset England's rights - imperial king
• personal and political qualities - Edward VI

  • became king at age 9 in 1547
  • was well educated and interested in military matters
  • radically protestant
  • was increasingly involved in government
• personal and political qualities - Mary I

  • was 37 when she became queen
  • queen in 1553
  • was intelligent and well educated
  • loyal to Catholicism
  • suffered from ill health ( phantom pregnancy's )
• personal and political qualities - Elizabeth I

  • was 25 when she became queen
  • became queen in 1558
  • she was protestant but religiously tolerant
  • was well educated
  • her past experiences had made her cautious ( had been arrested twice once by Mary )
  • she could be indecisive and hot tempered
• popular attitudes towards the Tudors

  • rebellions tended to be aimed at rulers policies or their councilors rather than the monarch themselves
  • i.e. pilgrimage of grace ( 1536 ) - complained about people of low birth on henrys council
  • western rebellion ( 1549 ) - directed at the religious policies of Edward VI
  • northern rebellion ( 1569 ) - called themselves Elizabeth's most true and lawful subjects
  • to kill or remove a monarch was considered against gods will
• popular attitudes towards the Tudors

  • the role and power of the monarchy did have some restrictions
  • monarchs could not raise taxation without the approval of parliament
  • when Wolsey attempted to do so with the amicable grant ( 1525 ) it lead to rebellion
  • a monarch could not ignore the laws - Edward VI attempted to do so with the succession in 1553 , it lead to a successful rebellion as according to the act of succession ( 1544 ) Mary was next in line
• popular attitudes towards the Tudors - propaganda

  • propaganda was used to reinforce obedience and loyalty
  • tournaments were put on for the public
  • were private court plays and banquets
  • progresses around the country increased a monarch visibility ( henry viii visited the north of England in 1541 and Elizabeth visited east Anglia in 1578)
• the disputed successions

  • the Tudors were a new dynasty with a weak claim
  • henry needed a son to secure the Tudor dynasty - Catherine of Aragon gave him Mary , Anne Boleyn gave him Elizabeth , jane Seymore gave him Edward
• the disputed successions

  • faction grew from the 1530s - reformers may have manipulated henrys will to allow a protestant regency council also kept his death a secret in 1547 so Edward Seymore could become lord protector
  • 1553 Edward and john Dudley attempted to change the succession from Mary to lady jane grey - once Edward died jane was proclaimed queen and people rose up in support for Mary as the legitimate ruler .
• the significance of gender for Mary and Elizabeth

  • female rulers did not fit the conventions of a strong monarch
  • Mary - wanted to marry and have an heir
  • she married Philip of Spain for many reasons but there was fears about the marriage which caused rebellion
  • Elizabeth - was wary of marriage and used the prospect of marriage as a diplomatic tool
  • she remained single developing the idea of the virgin queen desirable but beyond reach
• The changing role of parliament - Henry’s before 1529

  • The role of parliament was To grant taxation and pass laws
  • parliament was in frequent and was only summoned when needed
  • noblemen could influence who stood for elections - needed to own a property that brought in an income of 40 shillings
  • parliament mainly represented the interest of the gentry and nobility
• parliament before( 1529 Henry’s reign )

  • only met 4 times between 1509 and 29
  • main role was to grant taxation for Henry’s wars
  • as taxation increased parliament became reluctant to to grant them - 1523 was opposition in commons and Wolsey had to persuade them ( already 288,814 had been raised and 260,000 in loans )
• From “king and parliament“ to king and “parliament“

  • 1529 the reformation parliament met - by 1531 Henry was threatening to use parliament to put pressure on the pope
  • 1532 Cromwell began to use parliament to pass laws to re enforce the kings claim to supremacy over the church
  • the act in conditional restraints of annates proposed to stop the clerical tax - was opposed by commons and lords
• From king and to king in

  • 1533 Cromwell drafted the act in restraint of appeals - prevented Catherine from appealing to rome and referring to England as an empire
  • 1534 parliament was used to conform the the new royal supremacy and the break with Rome
  • The act with succession made Elizabeth heir and the treason act made words as well as deeds treasonable
  • 1536 and 1539 was used to dissolve monasteries and pass acts that dictated belief ( reformed 10 articles in 1536 and act of 6 articles 1539 )
• from king and to king in

  • Using parliament to set religious change set a presenent for future rulers ( to alter religious settlement ) meant it met more frequently
  • the commons continued to enjoy there freedom of speech and power to oppose bills
  • king and parliament refers to the king governing separately to parliament
  • king In parliament means that they were acting together as the supreme legestlative authority in the kingdom
• from king and to king in ( other reigns )

  • Edward used parliament to further the protestant reformation
  • Mary faced opposition in 1555 to the first fruit and the tenths ( to revert taxes back to Rome )
  • and the exiles bill - to seize the property of exiled Englishmen
• the growing confidence of parliament under Elizabeth

  • Elizabeth was forced to reverse Mary’s changes and to restore the royal supremacy - she had difficulty doing this in 1559 due to the house of lords
  • Neale argued that a puritan choir existed ( small group of religious radical Protestants ) who wanted to create a more extreme religious settlement
  • jones showed that there was only 25 puritan mps and graves found that most were not religious radicals - leader was Thomas Norton who was a moderate puritan
• parliament under liz

  • mps in commons had grown
  • 302 in 1512
  • 402 in 1559
  • 462 in 1586
  • council wanted to manage parliamentary business , they raised issues like the succession of the queen ( 1563) and her indecisiveness (1566) -
  • this lead to conflict with the queen over the right of freedom of speech ( she tried to restrict in 1566 and 76 )
  • she allowed them to talk about the common wealth but not matters of state ( royal provocative )
• • 1566 the council was forced to talk about the succession and marriage in return for taxation - minority of religious radicals tried to push for more Protestant acts but were imprisoned in the tower
  • her relationship with parliament did not become strained until 1590s
• The powers excersized by leading minister's - Wolsey

  • Thomas Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich butcher and rose through the ranks of the church
  • 1509 he was a royal almoner to Henry viI
  • became archbishop of York in 1514 and was made a cardinal by the pope in 1515
  • 1515 became lord chancellor of England - was in charge of the whole judicial system
  • 1518 became legate a latere meaning he had full powers to act on behalf on the church
• wolsey p 2

  • 1525 his relationship with Henry declined - he failed to get Henry an annulment of his marriage
  • he was accused of pramunire , stripped from his possessions and banished in court
  • he died on his way to trial in 1530 r
• the powers exercised by leading ministers - Cromwell

  • Was the son of a London cloth maker
  • he had served in the french army and learned accountancy and law
  • by 1516 he was working for Wolsey and in 1523 became an mp
  • he survived wolseys fall and by 1531 he was a member of Henry’s council
  • he manipulated proceeding to achieve the annulment and steer England towards a reformed church
  • 1534 was made vicegerent in spirituals
  • 1539 - 40 his enemies took advantage of Henry’s displeasure with Anne of cleaves
  • cromwell was arrested and executed for treason
• the powers exercised by leading ministers - Cecil

  • wilLiam cecil ( lord burghley from 1571 ) was a member of gentry
  • he had previously worked for Mary and Edward
  • he had a good working relationship with Elizabeth but did attract enemies
  • 1569 was a plot to remove him from power in court
  • but he also built up a support through patronage and had the trust of the queen
• the influences of Wolsey

  • Wolsey attempted to improve the justice system by prosecuting corrupt officials in the star chamber e.g john savage was fined 4000
  • he encouraged ordinary people to seek justice through the star chamber
  • he also launched a national enquired into enclosure 1517- 18 ( 264 landlords were prosecuted )
  • his ambition led to criticism
  • due to him having Hampton court led to he being labeled an alter Rex ( the other king ) his household numbered 500
• influences of Wolsey p2

  • cases backlogged the star court
  • he used his position for revenge - sir Robert Sheffield was imprisoned 5,333 for being critical of Wolsey
  • in 1523 he reversed his enclosure policy due to pressure from landlords
  • he mismanaged the financial crisis of 1522-23 and failed with the amicable grant of 1525
• Cromwell influences

  • his main achievement was to use parliament to give the king his annulment
  • and to make the break with Rome legal creating a president for future monarchs
  • he was the architect for the dissolution of the monasteries although this caused rebellion
• Cecil’s influences

  • Cecil was Secretary of State until 1572 then lord treasurer
  • He organised the council and was up for 5 counties
  • he negotiated a peace treaty with Scotland in 1560
  • he pushed for tighter controll over catholics in the 1570s and 1580s
• changes to the structure of government - council

  • the councils role was to advise the monarch
  • originally there were 40 members and most did not meet regularly
  • in 1526 Wolsey planned to reduce this to 20 men meeting daily
  • by 1537 the smaller privy council emerged more as a response to the pilgrimage of grace than due to Cromwell
  • less important in Mary and edwards reign as there was 19 working councillors
  • under Elizabeth’s reign there were a dozen key individuals meeting every day
• changes to structure of government - income

  • Ordinary income came from crowns lands and extraordinary income was taxation as required
  • the monarch was often short of money ( the royal household in the 1550s cost 75,000 a year )
  • Wolsey developed a subsidy raising 322099 between 1513 and 1523 alongside the 117,936 from the fifteenth and tenths
  • wolsey had problems granting taxation and the amicable grant failed
  • the crown income peaked in 1541 with 126,296 due to the dissolution of monasteries but 2/3 of lands had been sold off by 1547
• changes to structure of government - income p2

  • cromwell created 4 financial courts : augmentation , first fruit and tenths , wards and liveries and General surveyors
  • Mary ended debasement and reformed custom duties raised 25900 in 1550-51
  • after 1585 Elizabeth had to rely on taxation more
• changes to structure of government - star court

  • Under Wolsey it saw 120 cases a year compared to 12 under Henry
  • Elizabeth used it for cases of riot and abuses of the judicial system
  • in 1536 Cromwell used parliament to abolish franchises and to bring wales into the english judical system