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AQA A-Level History: Tudors > Henry VIII: Government - Ministers - Wolsey > Flashcards

Henry VIII: Government - Ministers - Wolsey Flashcards

1
Q

Timeline of Wolsey’s main policies

A

• 1086
- Domesday Survey

• 1487
- Star Chamber is established

• 1512
- Wolsey entrusted with organising 1513 French expedition

• 1514
- Henry referring all major business to Wolsey

• 1515
- Wolsey appointed Lord Chancellor

• 1516
- Wolsey starts using Star Chamber

• 1517
- Wolsey sets up national enquiry into enclosure

• 1518
- Further investigations into enclosure done

• 1522
- Wolsey sets up national commission into who could pay tax and how much

• 1523
- Parliament refuses to approve Amicable Grant

• 1522-23
- Gained £200,000 in forced loans after 1522 commission

• 1525
- Amicable Grant implemented

• 1526

  • Eltham Ordinances
  • Debasement of coinage

• 1529
- Wolsey falls from power

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2
Q

What were Wolsey’s main policies?

A

• Government

  • Development of Star Chamber
  • Court of Chancery
  • Expulsion of the minions
  • Eltham Ordinances

• Finance

  • Administrating subsidies
  • Amicable Grant

• Economic
- Enclosures

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3
Q

How did Wolsey rise to power?

A

• Gained patronage under Bishop Fox, one of king’s most trusted councillors to become Royal Almoner (distributed leftover food to needy outside castle daily)
- Wolsey had ability to say what the king wanted to hear at time where Henry was frustrated by cautious foreign policy of his father’s ministers

• 1512
- Henry entrusted Wolsey with organisation of 1513 expedition to France

• By 1514
- Henry referred all major business to Wolsey

• 1515
- Wolsey appointed Lord Chancellor

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4
Q

What was the Star Chamber like prior to Wolsey?

A
  • Established by Act of Parliament in 1487
  • Staffed with members of Privy Council who dealt out justice on his behalf, often involving cases on nobility
  • Only hear about a dozen cases a year
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5
Q

When was the Star Chamber established?

A
  • 1487 by an Act of Parliament
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6
Q

How did Wolsey develop the Star Chamber?

A
  • From 1516, Wolsey used Star Chamber to attack nobles and local officials who abused their power
  • Increased number of cases heard to 120
  • Wolsey known as friend to the poor
  • So successful there were a backlog of cases
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7
Q

From what year did Wolsey use the Star Chamber?

A
  • 1516
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8
Q

Court of Chancery

A
  • Role was to apply principle of equity (fairness) rather than a strict use of common law
  • Wolsey wasn’t a trained lawyer but as Lord Chancellor was responsible for overseeing Court of Chancery
  • Dealt with enclosure, contracts and land left to others in wills
  • So popular it became slow with a backlog of cases
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9
Q

Enclosure

A
  • Wolsey believed the conversion of arable land to sheep pasture by enclosing fields destroyed village life and jobs
  • In 1517, Wolsey began a national enquiry to find out how much land was enclosed and its effects
  • From this, legal cases drawn up against landlords who enclosed land without proper permission
  • Further investigations conducted in 1518
  • Opposition from landowners in Parliament in 1523 forced Wolsey to suspend enquires until 1526
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10
Q

When did Wolsey set up a national enquiry into enclosure? When did he conduct further investigations and when were these suspended to?

A

• 1517
- Wolsey set up national enquiry

• 1518
- Further investigations conducted

• 1523
- Landowners in parliament suspend investigations until 1526

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11
Q

What were the minions?

A
  • Group of young courtiers who enjoyed Henry’s personal favour and became Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber
  • Wolsey never able to control them and the Privy Chamber
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12
Q

How did Wolsey try dealing with the minions?

A
  • In 1519, Wolsey expelled the minions

- They were gradually reappointed and Wolsey was never able to fully control the Privy Chamber and the minions

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13
Q

When did Wolsey expel the minions?

A
  • 1519
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14
Q

How did Wolsey change how subsidies were administrated?

A
  • Instead of using local commissioners to assess taxpayer’s wealth (often over-generous to nobility)
  • In 1522, Wolsey set up national commission to assess who could pay tax and how much
  • First systematic investigation into national finances since Domesday Survey of 1086
  • Gained £200,000 in forced loans in 1522-23
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15
Q

Amicable Grant

A
  • Designed to be a more flexible tax to raise more money for French campaign following Francis I’s capture by Charles V at Pavia
  • Demanded 1/6 of income of laymen and 1/3 of clergy
  • Wasn’t approved by 1523 House of Commons and was extremely unpopular
  • In 1525, Wolsey implemented it anyway
  • Led to rebellion in Kent and East Anglia
  • Wolsey’s first major failure and Henry VIII forced to abandon it
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16
Q

When did Wolsey establish a national commission? How much money did it raise and when?

A
  • 1522

- Gained £200,000 in forced loans in 1522-23

17
Q

When did Wolsey try getting Parliament’s approval for the Amicable Grant?

A
  • 1523
18
Q

When did Wolsey implement the Amicable Grant?

A
  • 1525
19
Q

What were the Eltham Ordinances?

A
  • In 1526, Wolsey attempted to reduce the power of the Privy Chamber by reforming the finance of the Privy Council
  • Wolsey claimed this was to reduce the royal household expenditure
  • Secured reduction in number of Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, the one area of government where he didn’t have control
  • Secured the removal of Henry’s Groom of the Stool, Sir William Compton, replacing him with the more compliant Henry Norris
20
Q

When did Wolsey introduce the Eltham Ordinances?

A
  • 1526
21
Q

What was the Groom of the Stool?

A
  • The most intimate of an English monarch’s courtiers, who became a man in whom much confidence was placed and royal secrets were shared as a matter of course
22
Q

Debasement of coinage

A
  • Done in 1526
23
Q

When did Wolsey fall from power?

A
  • 1529
24
Q

Did Wolsey make many reforms?

A
  • No
  • Some of Wolsey’s reforms of government were designed more to undermine potential political opponents, such as the minions, rather than to ensure good government
  • Wolsey didn’t make many changes to structure of government
  • Wolsey’s policies of enclosure and development of Star Chamber unlikely to continue after his time

AQA A-Level History: Tudors (65 decks)

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