Government under H8

• Henry had inherited a strong and efficient central and local government structure, staffed by able administrators. Some of these continued in office and Henry's early years saw a good deal of continuity. However there were some changes after 1514.
• 1509 - 1514: Government by the council:

  • conciliar government had broken down by 1514, this was because of disagreements between Henry and his councilors.
• 1514 - 29: Thomas Wolsey as chief minister

  • From 1514, Henry relied on Wolsey to manage government effectively. Wolsey's influence was derived more from his close relationship with the king rather than from formal positions.
• 1529 - 32: Conciliar government restored

  
  

  • Wolsey's downfall brought a return to conciliar government.
• 1532 - 40: Thomas Cromwell as Chief minister

  • Cromwell rose to power as chief minister by 1532 and dominated royal government for the rest of the 1530s.
• 1540 - 47: Conciliar government restored in a new form

  • Following Cromwell's fall from grace, a new Privy council emerged with fixed membership and recorded proceedings. In the council, power lay with the conservatives.
• Role 1: Granting revenue for the monarch:

  • Extraordinary revenue for invasions of France and Scotland (Feb 1512 & March 1514)
  • '' '' For invasions of France (Feb 1515 - Dec 1515)
  • Called to provide extraordinary revenue against a possible invasion (Apr 1539 - July 1540)
  • Provided extraordinary revenue for invasion of Scotland and France (Jan 1542 - March 1544)
• Role 2: Passing Laws

  • Abolished council Learned (Jan 1510)
  • Anticlerical act restricting benefit of clergy (Feb 1512 - Mar 1514)
  • 'Reformation Government' (Nov 1529 - Apr 1536)
  • New succession act following the fall of Anne Boleyn (Jun 1536 - July)
  • Call to produce divergent religious legislation (E.g. Dissolution of the Monasteries) (Apr 1539 - Jun 1540)
• The reformation Parliament:

  • sat from 1529-1536,
  • Did not sit continuously,
  • Changed the relationship between parliament and monarch
• Reformation: 1529-31 session:

  • Wolsey fallen from Grace, Henry needed an annulment still...
  • Cromwell still not risen to power,
  • Henry threatening to use his Parliament as a method of putting pressure on Pope Clement VII to act. (1531)
  • He 'threatened' to the pope that he would refer his divorce case to parliament...
• Reformation: 1532 Session:

  • Cromwell appointed to the King's Council and was starting ensure Henry could divorce COA.
  • Cromwell used Parliament to pass laws to reinforce Henry's claim to supremacy over the church.
  • Act in conditional restraint of Annates pressured the church as it forbid newly appointed bishops from making customary payments to the Pope.
  • production of the Common's supplication against the ordinaries, a list of complaints against the church to which made anticlericalism more widespread...
• Reformation: 1533-34 sessions

  • In Feb 1533 Henry had married Anne Boleyn who was already pregnant. This added pressure to the question of COA annulment...
  • He needed legitimacy for his new baby so its succession would be unchallenged by English Law.
  • Cromwell drafted Acts of Restraint of Appeals to restrict COA from appealing her case in Rome.
  • 1534 Parliament called to confirm Royal supremacy.
  • Act of Succession made Mary illegitimate
• Parliament: 1536 - 47

  • Following Break from Rome, Henry still used parliament...
  • Smaller monasteries were dissolved in 1536 and larger ones in 1539.
  • Parliament also passed laws that dictated religious belief.
  • Act of 10 Articles (1536) promoted the 'reformed versions of faith'.
  • Act of 6 Articles (1539) reflected Henry's reversion to a more Conservative doctrine.
  • 2nd and 3rd Acts of Succession (1536 & 1544) rewrote the line of succession twice more...
• Subsequent monarchs were forced to return to Parliament whenever they wanted to change the religious settlement enforced in the 1530s
• The Reformation created the notion of the King in Parliament, where the real power lay with the King and Parliament, not with the church
• The King in Parliament had authority over the church, with Cromwell supporting this idea as he believed God had granted Henry Royal Supremacy
• The new powers of the King in Parliament meant that monarchs called Parliament much more frequently. Before 1529, Parliament had only been called 4 times in 20 years. Between 1526 and 1536, there was a session nearly every year
• The House of Commons became much more confident at expressing views