Cromwell

• 7 areas that change/continuity can be observed in Cromwell's government

  • Philosophy on government
  • Royal Household
  • Privy Council
  • Finance
  • Royal control over the church
  • Parliament
  • Royal control over whole kingdom
  • Law reforms
• Philosophy on government - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • continuity
  • Despite some legal moves to help poor, Wolsey’s main motivation in government seems to be traditional one of fulfilling the king’s will & promoting his own power and wealth.
• Philosophy on government - Cromwell change or continuity?

  • change
  • Elton argues Cromwell believed in the 'Commonwealth'
  • i.e. was job of ruler to improve life of ordinary subjects, particularly through ensuring social harmony
• Royal Household - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • mixed
  • ensured gov remained v firmly rooted in the Household
  • insisted on fully accounted Household spending records - tried to reform household w/out much success
  • 1519 king's 'minions' expelled but soon returned
  • 1526 Eltham Ordinances removed unnecessary court jobs & appointments to be made on merit
  • but reforms more about Wolsey's control of access to Henry & removing opponents (e.g. Crompton & Boleyn brothers) than genuine reform
• Royal Household - Cromwell change or continuity?

  • mixed
  • admin continued to be mix of Household & more formal bureaucratic styles
  • historians have complained Elton's argument that the Tudor government was 'medieval' was exaggerated - suggested Cromwell’s reforms didn’t revolutionise matters since Household had always been based on standard bureaucratic principles.
• Privy Council - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • continuity
  • no interest in distributing power or spreading out business of gov via p council - wanted to control everything personally
  •  Privy Council’s ‘deliberations’ were dominated by Wolsey who’d met with Henry to decide policy before presenting it to the Council’s members.
• Privy Council - Cromwell evidence of change 


  • Elton argues around 1536 council stepped from governing by one (Wolsey) or a select few councillors to a situation where a wider group of expert & specialised bureaucrats organised the running of the country - 'system' mattered more than individuals
  • Act of Precedence 1539 -  laid down order people sat in Parl and in the Privy Council & showed seniority lay w formal office holders, not ranks of nobility – promoting meritocracy?
• Privy Council - Cromwell evidence of continuity 


  • Cromwell dominated the P council - took decisions w Henry which were then rubber-stamped by council
  • only when Pilg of Grace 1536-7 weakened his position that he was forced to develop council - many councillors after this were his opponents who built up importance of the institution to control him
  • decisive change happened after fall - due to all-powerful ministers, P Council collectively became 'chief minister' for subsequent Tudor monarchs - change done by opponents to limit his power, & ensure no other could dominate the English gov
• Finance - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • change
  • improved financial administration by appointing 2 general finance surveyors of crown revenues
  • introduced Subsidy tax - fairer as was 'progressive'
  • (however also tried raise taxes by unconstitutional means w Amicable Grant 1525)
• Finance - Cromwell evidence of change

  • Elton: financial reforms modernised gov finance system by replacing Household system of finances w more professional one where the king’s income placed into departments
  • 1535 Commission of First Fruits & Tenths - adminster receiving of these 2 clerical taxes
  • 1536 Court of Augmentations set up to deal w sale of monastic lands - doubled crown income from £150,000 to £300,000
  • 1540 Court of Wards & Liveries - look after lands temporarily in king's hands cause owner died w heir as child & to ensure collection of feudal dues
• Finance - Cromwell evidence of continuity

  • did not sweep away the slow Exchequer & build from scratch.  Nor did system necessarily simplify matters as was no single agency bringing together revenue from the courts - efficent but not a master plan embodying a new start
  • 1535 Commission of First Fruits & Tenths had no accounts or clear system and was replaced in 1540 b y more bureaucratic system Court of First Fruits & Tenths
  • process of formalising and improving financial processes and accountability, occurred only after Cromwell’s fall.
  • By 1550s Cromwell’s courts were regarded inefficient
• Royal control over church - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • mixed
  • unified church (as legate) & gov (as Lord Chancellor) - centralised power - develop English nation-state free from foreign interference
  • gave Henry control over much of church - (e.g. Wolsey agreed king was ultimately boss of Church in England in the Baynard’s Castle Conference of 1515) - led to a centralising of power in the Crown.
  • however church still v independent institution in eng w the Pope at its head
• Royal control over church - Cromwell change or continuity?

  • Cromwell oversaw management of parl during BWR & reformation process
  • church brought totally under king's authority w 1534 Act of Supremacy
• Parliament - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • continuity
  • didn't call parl 1515-23 - instead ran w/out their 'advice' - made an enemy of Parl
  • expected Parl to merely ‘rubber-stamp’ his and Henry’s policies - became indignant when they ‘caused trouble’ as in 1515 when they criticised the Church (Hunne case)
  • Gwyn argues Wolsey had no need to call Parl 1515-1523 - Eng at peace & Parl generously granting Crown new taxes in 1513-15, so no need of extra funds.
• Parliament - Cromwell change or continuity?

  • change
  • management of Ref Parl first example of Eng statesman bringing House of Commons into playing a significant role in Eng government
• Parliament - change by Cromwell (how often did parl meet?)

  • Ref parl met 7 times 1529-36 for 78 weeks in total - compared to 56 weeks of parl held in 20 years 1509-29 - produced laws requiring 1032 printed pages of legislation compared to a total of 1092 pages of legislation for the previous 450 years! - a ‘revolutionary role’ in gov
  • Greater role of Parl continued later part of reign w it sitting for 69 weeks 1540-47 - precedent been set by Cromwell as to the importance of Parl in Eng gov
• Parliament change by Cromwell (other)

  • importance of statute law inc - e.g. used to determine qs about ownership via acts dissolving monasteries - parl deciding more important matters of state
  • crowns inc 'management' of parl reflected inc importance - 1532 H of Commons voting system changed so way each MP voted recorded- making harder for MPs to vote against king’s wishes
  • 1533 introd first by-elections ensuring vacant seats in parl were filled (usually by candidates he favoured!) - equally when members of H of Lords likely to oppose gov policy, were told ‘they need not attend’ parl sessions
• Royal control over kingdom - Cromwell change or continuity?

  mixed
• Royal control over kingdom - Wolsey evidence of change

  • strengthened crown's power by appointing more JPs - reducing power of nobles (continuing work of Henry VII)
  • Henry made Thomas Howard (Duke of Norfolk) Lord Deputy in Ireland 1520-21 & Piers Butler (Earl of Ormand) Lord Deputy 1522-24 (Earl of Kildare's rival)
• Royal control over kingdom - Wolsey evidence of continuity

  • little or no centralization of power over the regions
  • little progress made over control of Ireland - allowed Earl of Kildare to effectively run Ireland for much of period
• Royal control over whole kingdom - Cromwell change or continuity?

  change
• Cromwell's change in control over whole kingdom - Wales 


  • Act of Union 1536 - incorporated Wales into eng legal & administrative system
  • 1543 further act divided wales into shires, introd JPs & MPs & ensure king's law to apply throughout the principality - eng official legal language
• Cromwell's change in royal control over whole kingdom - North

  • strengthened existing Council of the North - making it a GOVERNING body which dealt w issues such as appointing JPs, dealing w serious crimes & supervising trade & food policies
  • whereas in past been responsible just for overseeing of Kings's rights as a landowner in North
  • as result king's authority more direct & more rapidly felt
• Cromwell's change in royal control over whole kingdom - Ireland

  • following death of Earl of Kildare 1534 Crom sought to expand Royal control over Ireland appointing English Lord Deputy's to replace Irish noblemen
  • created permanent garrison (troops) in the Pale
  • successfully expanded Eng control of non-Gaelic Ireland but didn't attempt to expand control over Gaelic Ireland's chieftains
  • Irish parl revived & brought in ref policies inc suppression of monasteries in 1536
• Change in royal control over Ireland after Cromwell's fall

  • 1540 Sir Anthony St Leger made Lord Deputy & tried to bring Gaelic Ireland under Royal authority to create a 'united kingdom'
  • 1541 Henry declared King of Ireland (rather than just Lord)
  • Irish lords persuaded to 'surrender' lands to crown & then have them 'regranted' - meant lands held at bequest of Eng king - giving Henry control whilst giving security to Irish chieftains that they had king's support vs rival claimants to their land
  • however by 1543 plan halted due to costs
• Cromwell's change in royal control over kingdom - elsewhere

  • 1536 Calais brought into Eng system so it could be better administered - brought 2 new MPs to London
  • 1539 a Council of the West established to improve central control over Cornwall & Devon - but soon abandoned after Crom's fall as proved unpopular & ineffective
• Law reforms - Wolsey change or continuity?

  • change
  • Court of Star Chamber - sat several times a week, dealt w 10x amount cases it had done; rooted out cases of perjury amongst nobility, proving no one was above the law e.g. 1516 Earl Northumberland imprisoned fro contempt of court whilst Lord Hastings & Bergaveny prosectued for retainers
  • Court of Chancery & requests - ordinary people get cases heard, workload increased significantly, passed no. of precedents
  • however given state of eng judicial system reforms not far enough
• Law reforms - Cromwell change or continuity?

  • continuity
  • merely continued w Court of Star Chamber & Court of Requests revamped by Wolsey
• Overview: Tudor gov was NOT revolutionised

  
  

  • not enough change to be considered 'revolution'
  • Crom had no coherent plan but drafted legislation as & when required
  • idea of supreme power which lay behind Act of Appeals & Supremacy did not originate w Cromwell
  • decentralisation of financial departments was a reversion to Lancastrian practices & reforms only lasted until 1550s
  • no evidence has survived that Cromwell invented the privy council - its records only begin in 1540
• Overview: Tudor gov WAS revolutionised

  • clearly changed way eng was governed - eng more efficiently governed country when he had finished & gov was in stronger position
  • did draft much of parl legislation in 1530s - as result H obtained divorce, BWR achieved, and parl became regular partner expecting be consulted on religious affairs
  • as prot sympathiser carried through several reforms - NB dissolution of monasteries & publication of English Bible
  • at least saw several important changes: royal power more effective in north, west & Wales; role of secretary continued grow
• Why was Cromwell overthrown in 1540?

  • Cromwell's attempt to link Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes in Germany went badly wrong & marriage to Anne of Cleeves annulled
  • his dominant position had led to undermining of conciliar gov: Norfolk & Suffolk happy for opportunity to rid of him
  • 1540 dismissed & executed for treason - accused of heresy but real failure was linked to failure of marriage w A of Cleeves
  • w/out him reforming party was srsly weakened & conservative faction around Norfolk & Gardiner moved into ascendancy