Wolsey domestic policy
Cards (7)
- wolsey domestic policy
- legal/administrative reforms
- financial reforms
- social reforms
- legal/administrative reforms- Lord Chancellor Wolsey = head of secular legal system- Spent a lot of time hearing cases & making the reasoning for his decisions public- Evidence he tried to advance justice & supported civil law (based on natural justice) over common law (based on precedent, case by case)- Ensured courts gave cheap & impartial justice, available to poor- Court of Star Chamber = cases agst powerful often given early hearing- Court of Chancery = established permanent judicial committee to deal w/ cases from the poor- Parliament only summoned twice during Wolsey’s time (wanted to get rid altogether) & only called in times of war for funds- Eltham Ordinances (1526)- Many promoted under EOs (eg. Sir William Compton = Groom of Stool -> under-treasurer of Exchequer)- EOs = limit access to king, ^ Wolsey’s influence & control over govt- No of Gentlemen of Bedchamber = 12 -> 6
- legal/administrative reforms (counter)- Used system for his own benefit & attacked those he had a personal grudge agst (eg. Amyas Paulet = not allowed to leave London w/o permission & daily summoning)- Abandoned cases where his position was threatened- General vendetta agst nobility & gentry as they treated him with contempt – prosecuted nobility for breaches of law agst maintenance- Made no changes to ensure developments were continued once he left office- Parliament failed to provide desired level of subsidy as they’d seen little benefit from Henry’s foreign policy- Struggle btwn council (dominated by Wolsey) & Court (dominated by King’s favs)
- financial reforms- Subsidy (1523) brought in far more money than old system (fifteenths & tenths), required taxpayers to give details of their property & income to local officials (determined how much they’d pay)- First time since 1334 that crown was raising sums based on accurate assessments- 1523 - Henry wanted money for campaign agst France so parliament called & Wolsey demanded subsidy of 4 shillings in the pound (would bring in £800k)- 1525 - Amicable Grant (non-parliamentary) to finance French campaign- 2 forced loans (1522-23) raised £200,000- Wolsey tried to ^ revenue from crown lands- Act of Resumption (1515) restored crown lands given away back to the monarch- Raised £322,000+ (subsidies) £240,000 (clerical taxation) & £260,000 (forced loans)
- financial reforms (counter)- Subsidy still wasn’t enough to fund Henry’s wars (domestic policy = not strong enough to fund foreign policy)- 1523 subsidy only brought in £300k, not £800k- 2 forced loans (1522-23) still being repaid to clergy & laity, & subsidy still being collected at the time of Amicable Grant- Henry’s foreign policy brought little to gain so Wolsey = forced to back down- Unrest in East Anglia – 10,000 men @ Lavenham opposing Amicable Grant (Henry intervened, blamed Wolsey)- Wolsey forced to apologise & Henry’s prestige damaged- Income from crown lands had dropped from $400k (high point of Henry’s reign) to £25k- Act of Resumption (1515) didn’t raise enough to make up for expenditure- Money raised did not cover £1.7million spent between 1509-20 (mostly on war)
- social reforms- Seen as ‘champion of the poor’- Inquiry into enclosure (gentry & nobility benefitted from it) = identified enclosed land & buildings demolished when land was converted from arable to pasture- 1518-29 -> Court of Chancery, legal action agst 264 landowners (222 taken to court, 188 verdicts reached)- Wolsey concerned about problems caused by social & economic unrest
- social reforms (counter)- Court of Chancery trials only had a small impact- 1523 -> forced to sacrifice gains he’d made, accepting existing enclosures as part of the agreement for subsidy- Most of Wolsey’s actions were agst nobles & gentry (seen as an attack on them)