HVII GOVERNING

Question 1

WHAT did the Royal Council do during the reign of Henry VII?

Answer 1

Advise him and helped with day-to-day government

Question 2

HOW MANY men were listed on the Royal Council?

Answer 2

227 - but it was a much smaller group that met

Question 3

NAME two examples of people on the Royal Council during the reign of Henry VII.

Answer 3

John Morton and Reginald Bray

Question 4

WHAT did the Council Learned in the Law do?

Answer 4

1) Pursue Henry’s feudal rights (what everyone in the country owed to the king - payments and soldiers - in return for the land he owned and distributed)
2) Enforce bonds and recognisances

Question 5

WHAT did Henry VII do about regional differences during his reign?

Answer 5

He allowed different systems of government for different regions (e.g. Wales was governed by the Council of Wales)

Question 6

WHAT was the Privy Chamber during Henry VII’s reign?

Answer 6

The most intimate of Henry VII’s private rooms

Question 7

WHAT was the importance of the Privy Chamber?

Answer 7

In personal monarchy, having access to the monarch increased one’s power/influence. The Privy Chamber had the greatest access to the king and changed the character of the court as it reduced overall access to the monarch.

Question 8

WHAT influenced the creation of the Privy Chamber?

Answer 8

The betrayal that was the treason of Lord Chamberlain Sir William Stanley in 1495

Question 9

WHAT did historian Steven Gunn say about Henry VII’s government?

Answer 9

The strengths of Henry VII’s regime ‘enabled his son’s yet more ambitious undertakings and in some ways shaped their direction’ (Gunn, 2016)

Question 10

HOW did Henry VII change the Council?

Answer 10

1) Introduced the Council Learned
2) Increased the role of the gentry/lawyers, who were skilled administrators, in the council
3) Introduced ‘professional’ councillors (e.g. Empson and Dudley)

Question 11

WHAT were ‘professional’ councillors during Henry VII’s reign?

Answer 11

Councillors who did not see themselves as courtiers and often met up to deal with legal/administrative matters while the rest of the council and the king were elsewhere.

Question 12

HOW did the changes Henry VII made to the COUNCIL upset the nobility?

Answer 12

When Henry brought in more of the gentry (e.g. lawyers like Empson and Dudley) into the Council, it reduced the power of the nobility and they were upset about this as they saw themselves as the natural advisors to the king.

Question 13

HOW did Henry VII’s changes to the COURT affect the nobility?

Answer 13

Reducing who had access to him through the Privy Chamber had the effect of reducing the power of the nobility as the Privy Chamber was staffed with those of lower ranking than nobility

Question 14

HOW important was the court during Henry VII’s reign (compared to the council)?

Answer 14

Less important than the council and less political (also many in the Chamber were already councillors so it did not make much of a difference). It was, however, more important in terms of patronage (rewarding subjects)

Question 15

HOW MANY times did Henry VII call parliament during his reign?

Answer 15

Seven (5 in the first 10 years of his reign)

Question 16

WHICH two Acts were prominent during Henry VII’s first parliament?

Answer 16

1) Acts of Attainder (laws that declared someone guilty of treason without a trial) - used against those who opposed him at Bosworth
2) 1486 Act of Resumption - returned all land that the Crown had granted away since 1455

Question 17

WHEN did parliament grant extra taxation to Henry VII?

Answer 17

1489 (Brittany) and 1491-2 (France)

Question 18

WHAT were the two main functions of parliament during Henry VII’s reign?

Answer 18

To pass laws and to grant taxation to the Crown

Question 19

WHAT was the relationship between Henry VII and parliament like?

Answer 19

Henry respected parliament’s decisions and there is little evidence that the king tried to ‘manage’ parliament through his ministers. In fact, in Henry’s final parliament, they did manage to limit the demand for extraordinary revenue and received a promise from Henry that he would no longer use these means.

Question 20

HOW powerful was Parliament during Henry VII’s reign?

Answer 20

Parliament was quite powerful, but only when Henry allowed them to be (as he was the only one who could call parliament). In this respect is was less powerful than the council and the court as they were both constant structures.