AS FP2 : Henry VIII, Government + Parliament ; Government in Henry VIII's last years (1540-47)

Question 1

Government 1540-47

What type of government was revived during Henry VIII’s last years?

Answer 1

There was a return to concillor government, however the style of government was different due to the emergeance of a professional privy council with a fixed membership in the 1530s.

Question 2

Government 1540-47

How did power shift during Henry VIII’s last years?

Answer 2

In 1540 power temporarily lay with the conservatives in the council such as Norforlk and Stephen Gardiner, however following Katherine Howard’s execution for suspected adultery Norfolk was wounded politically. These issues for Nordolk were exacerbated by Henry’s marriage to Catherine Parr, a protestant.

Eventually Edward Seymour of the Reform faction emerged as the successor, he became the head of the Regency Council.

Question 3

Government 1540-47

What two factions existed at the end of Henry VIII’s reign?

Answer 3

Reform Faction (protestantism) : Led by Edward Seymour and Archbishop Cranmer. Associated with the Foreign Policy Success in Scotland, the fall of Catherine Howard and the plot against Gardiner in 1544.

Conservative Faction (Catholicism) : Led by the Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard) and Stephen Gardinder (Bishop of Winchester). Associated with the passing of the Six Articles, the fall of Thomas Cromwell. The Plot against Cranment in 1543 and the plot against Catherine Parr in 1546.