Co-operation of the localities

• Council of the North originally set up in 1472
• Henry VII re-established the council of the North in 1537
• The Council of the North lapsed after Henry VII's death in 1509 , however after the Pilgrimage of Grace it was re-established by Henry VIII
• Law in Wales Acts 1536 and 1453 (under Henry VIII, Cromwell's reforms)
• 6 counties in the North were governed by the Council of the North
• Wales and 4 western counties of England were governed through the Council of Wales and the Marches
• Regional divisions:
• Regional divisions:

  • existence of semi-independent lordships
  • Ethnic differences - Wales and Cornwall had their own language and culture
  • Cultural differences - big differences between regions, counties and even villages
• House of commons increased and House of Lords decreased
• Henry VIII cut the number of lords in half when the head of the monasteries were removed
• In 1547 the Lords had 84 members
• Due to the increasing urban population there was an increase in the number of borough constituencies
• In 1547 the Commons had 342 members
• Edward introduced 20 new borough constituencies
• Mary introduced 21 new borough constituencies
• Elizabeth introduced 62 new borough constituencies
• Rotten borough - villages given representation as a favour to local noble landowners or designed to support the crown by nominating members likely to support the monarch in government
• Increasing borough representation led to more merchants and lawyers being elected
• An increasing number of borough MPs did not owe their seats to either noble or royal patronage
• In 1533 Sir Thomas More estimated that 60% of the population were illiterate
• during Elizabeth's reign 160 new grammar schools were established
• Literacy rates in Durham rose from 63% in 1560 to 77% in 1600
• Literacy rates in East Anglia was 45% in 1560 to 68% in 1600
• Justices of the Peace became the most important royal officials in local government
• Average number of JPs per county rose from 10 in 1485 to between 40 and 50 by 160
• JPs dispensed met and dispensed justices in local courts known as quarter sessions which met four times a year: assault, Burglary, riot, witchcraft etc
• For more serious offences JPs sent criminals to the senior courts or Courts of Assize. Highest criminal court was the Court of the King's bench
• 1586 - privy council issued a 'Book of Orders' which set out for the first time to print the duties and responsibilities of the JPs, listed 306 statues they were responsible for enforcing
• Subsidy Act 1513 - taxed people based on wealth
• The Statue of Artificers 1563 - start to differentiate between the poor and vagrant
• Acts for the relief of the poor - 1598 and 1601

  • set up a system of poor relief across the kingdom
  • included charity and philanthropy
  • encouraged a change in attitude towards the poor
• Policy of patronage - designed to increase the Crown's power at the centre whilst at the same time extending it's authority out into the furthest reaches of the kingdom
• By rewarding people hoped to bind the political nation into a close relationship with their soveriegn
• The power to reward by bestowing the crown's patronage was a powerful tool
• Henry VII inherited an impoverished crown on the brink of bankruptcy
• Henry VII only rewarded the most faithful
• Jasper Tudor was given the title Duke of Bedford (adding to existing title of Earl of Pembroke) and office as governor of Wales and the English border counties - By Henry VII
• Henry VII laid the foundations for a 'service nobility' with rewards given for serving the crown rather than being based on traditional and long-standing titles
• Despite the use of Patronage people still rebeled:

  • Earl of Lincoln - Henry VII 1487
  • Lord Darcy and Hussey - Henry VIII 1536
  • Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Duke of Suffolk - Mary I 1553
  • Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland - Elizabeth I 1569
  • Earl of Essex - Elizabeth I 1601
• Anne Boleyn became a mistress in 1527