government in Henry 7

• Parliaments role was fulfilled by the council learned in law, made parliament jealous
• house of lords can be seen as having too much power, they could have formed an army to overthrow
• 10% of legislation dealt with by JP's
• in the first 15 years of parliament, it was called 5 times
• parliament called when king needed taxes, wars or to pass laws- only called 7 times
• Henry chose men from lower ranks to run local government, powerful families were given too much power in Edward's reign
• Henry had to rely on the support of nobility
• local offices reluctant to act which made them unpopular
• Regional councils: different councils for each regions e.g., North, Wales, Ireland
• Henry used Earl of Northumberland to act as deputy in the north , after his death used the earl of surrey
• Ponying's law was passed in 1494- only Irish laws could be passed and dismissed
• Henry could not gain control of ulster
• control in Ireland was limited and relied on traditional families
• Had the kings council: chose by king with 200+ councillers
• the inner group of the kings council was his most trusted
• members of the kings council came from gentry, nobility and church
• commitee of central government became more hated after 1504 as bonds were handled by Empson and Dudley: exploited royal rights
• Henry was a strong and independent king
• Henry possibly relied on too small a circle
• could not control Ireland so threat of war