Breadth Study 1 - Tudors

• The Privy Chamber was used by Henry VII to restrict access to the monarch
• Henry VII used Yeomen of the Guard to guard entrance to private rooms
• Henry VII used the Privy Chamber to collect and store royal income, and this was known as Chamber Finance
• The Privy Chamber had its own staff from 1518, called Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. The most important was the Groom of the Stool, who allowed access to the King's private rooms
• Henry placed his most trusted friends in important places, eg between 1520-1525, these people were sent on diplomatic missions
• The Dry stamp was kept by the Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. It held significance as it was used to sign documents with the King's authorisation on it
• Under Mary and Elizabeth, roles in the Privy Chamber were filled by woman rather than men
• Mary kept more control over her Privy Chamber - She kept her dry stamp under lock and key
• Members of Elizabeth's Privy Chamber were members of her household, but also of her council. Decisions were now made through the formal route of her council
• The Royal council was a formal body used to advise the Monarch
• The Monarch chose who they wanted on their council, and they could dismiss them at any time
• The Council also aided the monarch in day to day running of the country and could be used as a judicial court eg cases with the nobility
• Under Henry VII, the council had around 200 members between 1485-1509
• Henry VII's council consisted of; nobility, churchmen, royal officials and lawyers
• Due to the lack of Parliament's Henry VII held, he needed to use the council to gain knowledge of the mood os the country
• Henry VIII inherited a very experienced council , with senior members of the church and nobility
• Thomas Wolsey replaced the Council's influence on the King as he granted the King what he wanted up until 1529
• The Council of Henry VIII still housed around 40 members, who wouldn't attend on a regular basis
• From 1526, Wolsey used the Eltham Ordinances to reduce the council to 20 men who would meet daily
• The church was a key part of ordinary peoples lives; its 3 main purposes was baptism, marriage and funerals
• The church could offer routes into the top of society eg Thomas Wolsey
• Humanists criticised the church for its amount of power and selling of indulgences
• The anatgonism towards the church was known as anticlericalism
• The Church was seen to undemine the monarch's power through church rights over sanctuary and benefit of clergy
• There was a particular instance of anticlericalism expressed in parliament over the Richard Hunne affair in 1515
• In 1515, under Henry VIII, Thomas Wolsey was appointed as a cardinal
• Henry VIII published a book (an assertion of the 7 sacraments), which he was awarded by the Pope with the title 'Fideii Defensor'
• The Lord Lieutenant oversaw the training of the militia and was responsible for the administration of the county.
• Mary divided the country into 10 lieutenancies, with each lieutenant being responsible for the defence and recruitment of the area
• Lord Lieutenants were also able to gather information about the local area and the people living there.
• The Role of the Secretary allowed personal access to the King and the ability to influence the King's decisions, as well as access to the King's dry stamp
• The Secretary could control council meetings and access to the King's correspondence
• The role of secretary declined in political importance in the 1540's after Cromwell's fall
• William Cecil was appointed to the role as Elizabeth's secretary in 1558-1572, followed by William Davidson
• Davidson's job became dangerous as he had responsiblity of keeping the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots
• Robert Cecil than became Elizabeth's secretary in 1596, and he built up a network of supporters + monitored the flow of correspondence through the government
• There was a collective agreement from the privy council that no man should hold as much power as Wolsey and Cromwell did
• From 1540, members of the council now become the King's most trusted advisers, a figure around 19
• One key change was that the council became a body which served the state of England, rather than private servants to the monarch
• By 1590's, the council was vital in the administration of the country and it was meeting every day, sometimes twice a day