Henry

• Henry the vIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547
• Henry- powerful athlete, talented musician, loved to have a good time, intelligent and enjoyed company
• Henry’s aims: decide on England's policies, wants victory in battles abroad, wanted a magnificent court through art and entertainment, attract great scholars and artists to court
• Attitudes to kingship: determined to be great king wants to be looked up too, showed through portraits keenness for French wars, behaviour towards kings/courts and also shown through active daily life
• Key features of his GOV: king- rules country makes important decisions including war and parliament
• Royal household- nobles and servants provide food, clothing, religious guidance, important role in government and in the rooms he met with advisors to make decisions
• Council- group of men who advise him on how to rule the country, they were chosen by the monarch but had to be approved by Parliament
• Parliament- made laws that governed the country, it consisted of three parts; Lords (noblemen), commons(representatives) and clergy (church)
• Law courts- judges would hear cases brought against people and then give them punishment if found guilty
• Parliament- made up of lords and commons, debates laws and taxes, can refuse money if not happy with what is being done, has power over taxation and legislation
• Church- church was very influential as it controlled people’s lives, Henry wanted control over the Church so that he could divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn
• 1509- Henry married Catherine of Aragon (Spanish princess) she gave birth to Mary then died soon after giving birth to stillborn son
• Laws passed by Parliament- taxation, marriage alliances, foreign policy, succession, religion, crime and punishment, trade and commerce
• Chamberlain- responsible for royal finances, controlled income from crown lands and taxes
• Treasurer- managed money spent by the Crown
• Chancellor- head of royal council, responsible for writing letters and documents, organising meetings and making sure everything was done properly
• Justice of peace- local officials who kept law and order in their area
• He spent most of his income on maintaining law and order, building castles and fortifications along the Welsh border and paying off his army
• Henry VIII- King from 1509 until his death in 1547, married six times, divorced two wives, executed two wives, broke away from Rome and created the Anglican Church
• Henry wanted a male heir so he asked Pope Julius II for permission to annul his marriage to Catherine, however this was refused because Catherine and Henry’s first child was a girl
• Anne Boleyn- second wife of Henry, she was accused of adultery and treason, she was executed at the Tower of London
• Privy chamber- part of royal household , made of Henry’s closest friends looms after needs and provides entertainment
• H strengths- popular, he wanted to become renaissance king, England was peaceful stable good gov, rich country in 1509, team of experienced advisors around him
• Weaknesses- idea of kinship- simplistic, not prepared to be king and little experience of gov, large ego sometimes difficult to manage, did not want to get involved in day-day running, wanted war to prove himself asap, liked high risk sports such as jousting threat to health
• Accession- becoming king/queen
• Renaissance- period of time
• Wolseys rise to power- excellent managerial skills good grasp of detail, keen worker
• 15 years Wolsey dominated Henry’s government he rose from humble(low) origins and was hard working
• Nobility didnt like Wolsey cus his background but he became too dangerous to criticise
• Wolsey helped lower classes by taking a stand against enclosure and increasing access to fair justice in the star chamber
• Wolseys greatest contribution- expanding government money through taxtayion and borrowing
• wolsey- position became weaker cus he abused his power and was seen as threat to king- his policies and actions created enemies
• Wolsey's reforms - justice

  1. Became responsible for legal system

  2. Legal system was flawed, delivering slow, expensive and unfair justice

  3. Verdicts favoured those with money and influence

  4. No body was to be above the law

  5. Used the star chamber set up by Henry VIII to give out justice on his behalf

  6. Made public decisions

  7. Supported the poor against the rich

  8. Encouraged poor people to bring cases to court
• Even though the justice system was fairer


  Wolsey was still criticised
• People thought Wolsey wanted revenge on upper classes who often treated him badly due to his humble origins
• Wolsey punished those he had a grudge against
• reforms- enclosure- fencing off land and caused poverty in rural areas. meant farmers were forced off their land and removal of common land for sheep grazing. Associated Greed and selfishness. Wolsey wanted to find a solution. Help poor attack wealthy- 1517, set up an enquiry, he brought 260 court cases against landowners. In 1523 angry landowners in parliament forced him to stop. He achieved little and enclosures continued
• Wolseys failure led to downfall as king lost confidence in him encouraged by powerful Boleyn faction and he didn’t live to face his trial