Henry VII - Sources of Royal Income

• What was the Star Chamber?


  - a court that was responsible for prosecuting anyone who behaved in a rebellious or lawless manner
• When was the Star Chamber created?

  - in the Star Chamber Act in 1487
• Who sat on the Star Chamber?

  - the King's most favoured advisers
• Why was did the King's advisers sit on the Star Chamber?

  - this meant that it was possible to haul even the greatest noblemen before it
• What else was the Star Chamber used as?


  - a court of appeal
• Why is the Star Chamber's importance debated?

  - there are a shortage of records
• What are the arguments on the importance of the Star Chamber?

  - some argue that Henry made little use of it

  - the definite truth is that it became more organised and significant under Wolsey
• What two committees were established in Henry's reign to deal with royal finances?

  - the Star Chamber

  - the Council Learned in Law
• How did Henry change personally with his dealing of finances?

  - at first, when he was less experienced, he left the finances to the control of the Exchequer and the Treasury

  - By 1487, he took more direct control
• How did Henry take more direct control over finances in 1487?

  - moved financial administration to his private rooms in the palace, the Chamber and the Privy Chamber

  - this, like under Edward IV, was the most important area for financial administration
• What new post did Henry create to investigate money owed from wardships?

  - Surveyor of the King's Wards
• What did Henry create to monitor government spending?

  - the Court of Audit
• Why did Henry avoid an aggressive foreign policy?

  - because this was the mistake of past kings financially and was expensive
• What did contemporary writer Polydore Vergil write about people under Henry VII?

  - 'considered they were suffering not on an account of their own sins, but on account of the greed of their monarch'

  - this established Henry's reputation for being a greedy king
• What are the two arguments on Henry's methods of gathering finances?

  - some argue that he was a miser, obsessed with hoarding money from every source he could find

  - others argue that Henry's methods were normal, but just extremely effectively carried out
• When did Henry appear to become more obsessed with his finances?

  - after the death of his son and wife in the early 1500s
• Why do people think that Henry became so obsessed with finances in the last years of his reign?

  - his succession was not completely secure, so he wanted to ensure the Tudor dynasty was recognised as a prosperous and affluent time
• How did Henry's finances compare to other Kings in Europe at the time?

  - he was nowhere near as affluent (with £113,000) as other kings

  - for example, the King of France had £800,000
• What were Crown Lands and how did Henry increase these?

  - Henry inherited all the lands held by the Houses of York and Lancaster, the Earldoms of Richmond and Warwick the Duchy of Lancaster and the Principality of Wales

  - Henry increased these through attainders and escheats
• How did Henry VII develop Edward IV's use of Crown Lands?

  - Edward IV had improved the administration of Crown lands by introducing techniques of estate management

  - Reginald Bray developed these further and applied them to other lands
• How did Henry's use of Crown lands differ to Edward IV?

  - he was more reluctant to grant lands to family and friends than Edward

  - he instead held onto them to maximise his influence and his income from leases and rents
• What was the Act of Resumption?

  - 1486

  - this act reclaimed all Crown lands that had been granted away since the start if the Wars of the Roses

  - this was also sometimes used as a potential threat to noble families to keep them under control
• What were feudal dues?

  - these were traditional rights held by the Crown to demand money, deriving from the principle that the King was the sole owner of all the Kingdom's land and that others held it as tennants
• What were the 4 main types of payments that the King could demand from the nobility?

  - Relief

  - Marriage

  - Wardship

  - Livery
• What were relief feudal dues?

  - this was paid by an heir to the King when he received his inheritance
• What was marriage feudal due?

  - the King's right to arrange marriages of the daughters of tenants at a profit
• What was wardship feudal due?

  - this was the control of the estates of heirs under adult age, which the king was allowed to manage for his own profit
• What was livery feudal due?

  - this was a payment made by a ward on reaching adulthood who wanted to take control of his land
• In which two ways did Henry benefit from feudal dues?

  - both politically and financially

  - he used them for good behaviour by also benefitted from wardships of certain powerful families
• How much did Henry's income from feudal dues increase from 1487 to 1507?

  - £350 to £6,000 per year
• Give an example of Henry's use of feudal dues to gain power.

  - Earl of Northumberland was killed in 1489, leaving a 10 year old son

  - Henry was able to control and have power over this family through wardship
• What position did Henry create in 1503 to help administer wardships?

  - Master of the King's Wards

  - This was given to John Hussey first in 1503
• What were customs duties?

  - these were taxes paid on goods entering or leaving the country

  - by the 15th century, it was traditional practice for Parliament to grant these revenues to a monarch for life
• Where did money mainly come from for custom duties?

  - tunnage and poundage, particularly on the sale of wool, wine and leather
• What was tunnage and poundage?

  - tunnage = taxes on exports

  - poundage - taxes on imports
• How did custom duties change from Edward IV to Henry VII?


  - Henry largely continued to work of Edward

  - he introduced certificates for coastal trade

  - twice updated the Book of Rates
• What was the Book of Rates?

  - this book set out the charges on imports and exports of a wide range of items
• How much did custom duties rise by from the beginning of Henry's reign to the end?

  - start of reign £33,000

  - end of reign £40,000
• What were legal dues?

  - money from fines and other payments made by people appearing before the King's courts
• Where did legal dues come from?

  - payments came from both common law courts and the special courts operated by the Royal Council