Soceity

• Nobility:

  The nobility still dominated land ownership. As a result of the war of the roses the nobility had gained equal power to the king. Henry focused greatly on supressing the nobility.
• Gentry:

  Previously they were not expected to hold positions in goverment however Henry trusted them much more so he:

  • Sir reginald Bray - treasurer of the exchequer
  • The rise of JP's who were members of gentry who henry relied on to maintain law and order
• Churchmen:

  The church was extremely important as it played a spiritual role but also it was a great land owner. Henry used his power to appoint bishops who had legal training who would be complitent. There were also growing stories of corruption
• The North:

  The council of North was set up in 1489 to improve law and order. The North remained reasonably compliant throughout henrys reign. Yorkshire uprising 1489 was sparked by a taxation, but this being a well known Yorkist strong hold it remained very well behaved
• Ireland:

  English power was limited to the pale. This meant the real power lay with the Earl of Kildare:

  • Kildare support for lambert simnel as he was crowned King of Ireland 1487
  • Poynings attempted to install law in ireland 1494 but was unsuccessful as Henry viewed it as too expensive
• summary:

  England remained broadly stable in this period, this was mainly because the people at the bottom of the scale reamined well of as they had been since the black death. There were various pretender plots and uprisings but these were unable to attract much support
• Peasants lost access to their land as owners enclosed it to replace crop farming with a far more profitable sheep farming
• Yorkshire rebellion:

  • Yorkist stronghold, Northumberland murdered at Topcliff attempting to enforce tax. H7 had to call Surrey, a known Yorkist, to supress. Only raised 27 % of the tax

  Cornish rebellion:

  • Uprising with 15000 rebels, marched to London, reaching Blackheath. Troops had to be withdrawn from Scottish border and H7 had to seek a new foreign policy with Scotland
• Lambert Simnel rebellion:

  • Posed as Earl of Warwick gained international support as crowned King in Ireland 1487, Margaret Burgundy's court supplied mercenaries. 8000 troops meant Henrys 12000 at Battle of Stoke

  Perkin Warbeck rebellion:

  • issue to Henry for 8 years, gained significant backing from Scotland and launched a small attack 1497. H7 forced to raise tax leading to Cornish rebellion