HVII - Rewards and Punishments/ Relations with the Nobility

• The Wars of the Roses

  • Caused in part by the Nobility's ability to exploit a weak King
  • Many still had large estates
• HVII was a usurper and there was nothing preventing a powerful noble from attempting to overthrow him
• HVII had spent 14 years in exile – so he needed the nobility to advise him on government and fill key government roles
• Those who supported Richard III and gained rewards were difficult to persuade to support HVII
• Historians debate how great a threat the nobility posed
• Perspectives on the nobility's power

  • Some argue they had become very powerful - 'super nobles' (A.Grant)
  • Others argue many were killed in the Wars of the Roses but were replaced by new families and therefore continued to be important
• Number of Peers


  Measure of the nobility's power
• Number of Major Peers (dukes, Marquises, earls)

  Measure of the nobility's power
• HVII reduced the number of nobles to make it easier to control them
• Elevation to the peerage was highly valued
• Nobles who had fought against him at Bosworth had the chance to prove their loyalty e.g. Duke of Northumberland was imprisoned and then released and his authority in the Council of the North was restored
• Order of the Garter/Knights of the Garter

  • Reintroduced by HVII
  • Created 37 Knights of the Garter
  • Dated back from 1348
  • Seen as a reward for great service and regarded as a great honour
  • Clever tactic as it gave prestige, but NOT LAND or POWER
• Patronage


  • Valued because HVII didn't give it away easily
  • Unlike Previous Monarchs, HVII didn't use it in the hope for service/support he used it to reward those who had supported him during the reign
• Summons to either the King's Council or the Great Council

  • Membership of the King's Council was a sign of trust, and 5 of his key councillors had supported him before Bosworth
  • A summons to the Great Council was a very clever way to ensure noble support for measures as once a policy was agreed, and the nobility had supported it, it was very difficult for them to criticise the decision
• Acts of Attainder


  • Most serious/notorious punishment
  • Not new in HVII's reign but used more often than usual
  • Damaging to families as they lost their land meaning social and economic ruin
• Number of Attainders by year

  • 1485-1486: 28
  • 1487: 28
  • 1489-1490: 8
  • 1495: 24
  • 1497-1500: 0
  • 1504-1509: 51
• HVII passed 9 acts against nobles but 5 were reversed and conditions were attached to 4
• There was a large increase in the use of Attainders in the later years of HVII's reign
• Bonds and Recognisances


  Written agreements between nobles who had offended HVII where they would either pay for their offence or paid money as security for future good behaviour
• The policy of Bonds and Recognisances became more severe during the reign with 36/62 noble families involved
• Retainers


  The nobles' practice of recruiting followers as fighting forces
• HVII's attempts to deal with retainers

  1. 1485 - Lord and Commons had to swear not to retain illegally

  2. 1504 - He issued proclamations which ensured nobles needed a licence to retain and there were heavy fines if they didn't
• HVII couldn't abolish retaining but he succeeded in limiting it and improving financial position
• Feudal Rights


  • Marriage - HVII profited from arranged marriages of heirs
  • Wardship - Estates of minors were placed under the control of the King and all profits during this time went to the King
  • Relief - a payment made to the King when land was inherited
  • Livery - a payment to the King to recover land from warship
• Act of Resumption 1486 - recovered land which had been granted away since before the Wars of the Roses
• Steven Gunn estimated that HVII had x5 more land at the end of his reign than HVI (1421-1471)
• HVII successfully controlled the nobility through a combination of the tactics and policies considered above
• HVII remained concerned about his own security and indeed some argue he became harsher and more repressive towards the end of his reign
• It has been suggested had his reign continued this may have caused unrest or civil war