The Legacy of Henry VII

• Henry VIII's legacy from his father Henry VII


  • Money - £300,000 left upon his death
  • Unpopular mechanisms for extracting money
  • A peaceful foreign policy
  • A conciliar form of government - decisions were made through a council
• Henry VIII's legacy from his father

  Disappeared during the first few years of Henry VIII's reign
• Money Henry inherited from his father's reign

  Vanished as a result of paying for the revival of a traditionally aggressive foreign policy towards France
• Conciliar form of government

  Disappeared in the short term as a result of the emergence of Fox's former protégé, Thomas Wolsey, as the focus of government
• Abolition of the Council Learned in the Law

  1. Act of Parliament in January 1510

  2. Cancellation of many of the bonds and recognizances which the Council Learned had imposed

  3. Executions of Empson and Dudley
• Henry VIII's actions


  • Distanced himself from his father's regime
  • Ensured his own popularity amongst the nobility and propertied classes who considered themselves the victims of his father's approach to taxation