Tudor History: Henry VIII (10)

• Many historians believe that Thomas Cromwell revolutionized government at the time of the break with Rome
• Cromwell's role


  Securing the King's and nation's break from Rome
• Cromwell's role in the break from Rome


  Allowed him to dominate royal government
• This was to the annoyance of conservatives such as the Duke of Norfolk who were hostile to his religious reforms
• Cromwell didn't have as much freedom as Wolsey did in the previous decade
• Privy Council under Cromwell


  • More professional
  • Contained less people
  • Contained more professional bureaucrats
• The Privy Council was first suggested by Wolsey in his ordinances
• Cromwell created new financial institutions

  1. Court of Augmentations

  2. Court of General Surveyors

  3. Court of First Fruits and Tenths

  4. Court of Wards
• Court of Augmentations


  Controlled the land and finances previously under the control of the Catholic Church
• Court of First Fruits and Tenths

  Collected the money that was previously sent to Rome
• Court of Wards


  Collected money from the estate of a minor (anyone under 21 years old) who had inherited
• Cromwell increased the importance of Parliament
• The importance of Parliament

  Commonly depended on the state of finances in the country
• Parliament had been used infrequently during Wolsey's reign
• Cromwell started to use Parliament frequently to achieve the break from Rome and to strengthen the Royal Authority
• By the end of the 1530s, it was recognized that statute law made by the king in Parliament represented ultimate authority in England and Wales
• Cromwell chose to use Parliament more frequently because he needed to strengthen the changes he was making in the church and the government, as they were very risky and often completely revolutionary