Government

• Henry VIII was appointed as Lord Privy Seal and Archbishop Warham was reappointed as Lord Chancellor at the beginning of his reign in 1509
• There was continuity in the use of JPs to enforce law and order throughout the country, and Henry reconfirmed that he would honour the marriage agreement with Catherine of Aragon
• The arrest and execution of the financial enforcers Empson and Dudley, and the abolition of the much-hated Council under the Law occurred in 1510
• Henry VIII wrote off 175 bonds and recognizances owed to him, and executed the Yorkist Edmund de la Pole
• The Privy Council became more important at the beginning of Henry VIII's reign
• Wolsey


  A remarkable story - a butcher's son from Ipswich who graduated from Oxford University at age 15, gained patronage, became Royal Almoner, and rose to become a Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, dominating the Royal Council
• Wolsey


  • Gave Henry VIII what he wanted, in exchange for positions and rewards
  • Held a range of key offices in the Church, including Bishop of Durham, Bishop of Winchester, and Cardinal
  • Promoted learning, setting up a school in Ipswich and Cardinal College in Oxford
• Wolsey had a mistress and a couple of children, which was not the best example for a member of the clergy
• Wolsey's legal reforms


  1. Strengthening of the Star Chamber

  2. Creation of the Court of Chancery to streamline the judicial process

  3. Establishment of the Court of Requests to provide cheap and quick justice for the poor
• Wolsey's legal reforms were popular as they gave the poor access to justice, and he was interested in issues like enclosure
• Wolsey had to undo some of Henry VIII's early financial decisions, such as the resumption of 1515 to regain the annual income of 25,000 pounds
• Wolsey issued an order in 1517 for JPs to buy and sell grain more cheaply, in an attempt to lower the price of grain
• Wolsey's attempt to bypass Parliament with the Amicable Grant of 1525 sparked a rebellion in Suffolk and was a major failure for him
• The Eltham Ordinances of 1526 reformed the Privy Council, reducing its size and removing the Groom of the Stool, Sir William Compton, in an attempt by Wolsey to gain more influence
• Wolsey faced opposition from landowners in Parliament over his concerns about enclosure, and the national inquiry he started in 1517 was suspended until 1526
• Enclosure


  The process of converting open fields and common land into privately owned enclosed land
• Wolsey's response to enclosure

  1. Started a national inquiry in 1517 to find out how much land had been enclosed and the impact

  2. Raised legal cases against people who had enclosed land illegally

  3. Faced opposition from landowners in Parliament
• Trade embargo on Spain

  Badly impacted English trade in the second half of the 1520s
• Debasement of the coinage

  The process of reducing the precious metal content of coins, causing inflation
• Debasement of the coinage

  Needed to pay for wars with France
• Bad harvest in 1527


  Caused unemployment and economic depression
• There were only two Parliaments under Wolsey, in 1515 and 1523
• Hyun case


  A case involving a man who refused to pay a mortuary fee when his child died, and then mysteriously ended up dead in the bishop of London's prison
• Hyun case


  Caused uproar in London and led to Wolsey having to kneel before the common people and ask for forgiveness on behalf of the church
• In 1523, Parliament's main job was asking for a subsidy, but only 150,000 of the 800,000 demanded was collected
• Henry's expensive foreign wars


  Struggling to pay for, causing economic problems
• Wolsey failed to get the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine
• Wolsey's failure to get the annulment


  A major part of his downfall
• Wolsey's failure to get foreign policy successes

  Henry blamed him for this
• Wolsey was accused of 'praemunire', which was essentially favoring the Pope in a way that disadvantaged the King of England
• Wolsey lost his powers, position in government, and was exiled to York
• Wolsey died on the journey after being summoned back to London, before he could go through a trial
• Wolsey was a very able and successful minister for a period of time, but ultimately the king's power was greater than his own
• Henry would not be overruled on issues like foreign policy and his own divorce