Henry VII - Dealing with the Nobility

• What were the main sources of royal income?

  - Crown lands

  - Profits from feudal dues and royal prerogative

  - Customs revenue

  - Pensions from other powers

  - Profits of justice

  - Extraordinary revenue
• How did Francis Bacon's 'History of the Reign of Henry VII' present Henry and his finances?

  - It presented Henry VII as a miserly king who begrudged throwing money away like many other contemporary rulers, transforming finances to leave a large amount of money to his son
• What was the revenue from Crown Lands at the start of Henry's reign, how did this change at the end of his reign?

  - Start - £12,000

  - End £42,000
• How does Christine Carpenter regard Henry's income from Crown lands?

  - impressive

  - this is significant as Carpenter is very critical of many aspects of Henry's Kingship
• Why did Crown revenue drop at the start of Henry's reign?

  - they dropped because lands were collected and administered through the inefficient Court of Exchequer

  - perhaps shows that Henry was inexperienced in finance
• What did Henry decide to do in 1492 regarding finances?

  - reverted the Edward's system of administration through the chamber
• What was Edward's system of administration that Henry reverted to?

  - finances were dealt with through the royal household rather than through an administrative department

  - this allowed Henry to have effective treasurers of the Chamber, such as Sir Thomas Lovell and Sir John Heron
• What 3 problems did Henry face when taking the throne?

  - nobles had too much power - made them a threat

  - crown had an uneven distribution over the kingdom (limited control in the north)

  - the crown had poor finances after the wars of the roses
• What role did the surveyor of the King's wards have?

  - investigate money owed to Henry VII from wardship
• What was the Court of Order?

  - this was a place to measure government spending
• Why did the nobles prove a problem for Henry and what measure did he take overall against them?

  - they had too much power and influence

  - instead of rewarding the nobles to ensure loyalty, Henry decided to force them to support him by showing them the unwelcome consequences of opposition
• Why was nobles having money a problem?

  - they had small private armies (mercenaries)

  - could generate their own income from rent and leases
• What three factors did the nobility depend on for independence?

  - land

  - wealth

  - support

  - Henry directly attacked all three of these through his financial policy
• What were attainders?


  - these were special laws passed by parliament that allowed someone to be declared guilty of treason without trial

  - these would take away finances and titles from the person in question, leaving them in no position of power or authority
• Which men did Henry first give attainders to?

  - those who opposed him at the Battle of Bosworth
• Did Henry reverse attainders?

  - yes, if he felt that it would benefit and increase loyalty of the person attained
• How many attainders did Henry pass in his time as King?

  - 138
• How many attainders did Henry reverse in his time as King?

  - 46
• How man attainders were passed in the final years of Henry's reign? What does this show?

  - 51 were passed from 1504-09

  - this shows how Henry became increasingly insecure and paranoid at the end of his reign
• What else did Henry sometimes require when reversing an attainder, can you give an example of this?

  - often required a sum of money to reverse an attainder

  - for example, Thomas Tyrell had to pay £1,738 for the reversal of his and his father's attainders
• What were Henry's feelings towards the distribution of lands as a reward?

  - He disliked this policy as he was concerned that he would make a new group of nobles that threatened his power.
• By how much did the 'noble' population decrease by in Henry's reign?

  - fell by 1/4
• What happened to vacant lands from attainders/death?

  - Henry claimed them, making him the largest landowner in the country
• How did Henry safely employ royal agents to look after local communities?

  - he employed people who were lower down the social scale, as they were less dependent on him and did not have extensive lands in the area
• What was retaining?

  - the act of keeping personal staff for 'household servants'

  - in reality these were personal armies or gangs of enforcers
• What law was passed in 1485 to reduce retaining?

  - He passed a law in Parliament saying that one could not retain illegally
• What did Henry do in 1504 to reduce retaining?

  - passed an act requiring all nobles to obtain a special license before they could retain larger numbers of men

  - there were severe penalties if this was broken
• What penalties did Henry introduce for illegal retainers?

  - a fine of £5 per month per illegal retainer
• How did nobles avoid the new laws against retaining?

  - they found new ways to avoid getting a license

  - for example, they would cover up wages they had paid to servants so that no one knew exactly how many men were being retained
• What were bonds and how did Henry use them?

  - these were financial debts owed to the crown that would ensure loyalty

  - Henry forced nobles to agree to behave themselves or face a ruinous fine
• What percentage of the nobility were held under bonds in Henry's reign?

  - two thirds
• Give an example of someone who held a bond.

  - Lord Burgavenny

  - He was convicted in 1507 of illegally retaining 471 men, giving him a fine of £70,000

  - Henry placed this debt under a bond to repay £5000 over 10 years

  - He also gave him the instruction that he could not step foot in his family lands until the debt was settles

  - This meant that Henry both raised money from someone he did not trust, and also obliged him to keep in the King's favour or risk ruin
• How did Henry enforce these financial policies?

  - through the creation of the Council Learned in Law
• What was the Council Learned in Law?

  - this was an offshoot from the main Royal Council which dealt initially with the King's feudal rights, but later controlled all financial matters
• What was special about members of the Council Learned in Law?

  - they all had legal training and acted both as investigators and as judges in cases where there was suspicion of noble not paying their proper dues
• Who was the first leader of the Council Learned in Law?

  - Reginald Bray unitl 1503
• Who led the Council Learned in Law in the final years of Henry's reign?

  - Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson

  - They were hated and feared
• Which areas of the country were most difficult to control?

  - Those most distant from London

  - these needed the presence of local nobility
• How did Henry control areas that were more settled?

  - through JPs, who were responsible for public order, the implementation of laws and dispensing justice to criminals brought before them

  - 4 times a year they met at the Quarter Sessions to try those accused of more serious crimes (apart from treason which was left to the crown)
• Who ruled the North on Henry's behalf?

  - after the death of Northumberland in 1489, the Earl of Suffolk

  - Henry placed him here because he had no support, lands or a strong base to rival Henry from