AS FP2 : Henry VIII, Society Flashcards
(19 cards)
Elites and commoners, conceptual awareness
Overall, what was society like under Henry VIII?
The reign of Henry VIII witnessed a dynamic period in English society in which the remnants of the feudal system still existed, but - in contrast - there was the growth of a professional and commercial group. However, the traditional nobles and greater gentry still represented a social elite which wielded considerable economic and social power.
Elites and commoners
What was Henry VIII’s relationship with the nobility?
Henry had a positive relationship with the nobility, during his reign the size of the peerage increased with nine new peers - for instance Edward Seymour becoming the Earl of Hertford.
Promoted 2 Ducal titles - Norfolk and Suffolk
And bestowed property on nobles to exert royal authority ; Duke of Suffolk gained property in Lincolnshire after the Pilgrimage of Grace and Baron Russel was endowed with lands in Devon after the execution of the Marquis of Exeter.
Elites and commoners
How were nobles crucial to the enforcement of local order?
Henry needed nobles to exert royal authority so he rewarded loyalty and sought their support during war time, for instance the Earl of Shrewsbury raised over 4000 men for the invasion of France in 1513.
Elites and commoners
How did Henry begin to bring the nobility under crown control?
Henry executed several nobles during his reign :
- Thomas Fiennes, Baron Dacre of the South, was convicted of the murder of a neighbour’s servant in 1541 and was hung like a common criminal.
- Duke of Buckingham was executed in 1521 for treason.
- Henry Pole Baron Montague + Henry courtenay, Marquis of Exeter were executed for treasonable conspiracy in 1538
- Lord Darcy and Hussey were executed following their involvement in the Pilgrimage of Grace.
Elites and commoners
Describe the gentry under Henry VIII.
By 1540 there were roughly 5000 gentry families, those whose lands were valued under £10pa or goods under £300 couldn’t be knights from 1530.
Administration was increasingly occupied by laymen and not clergymen.
Elites and commoners
Describe life for commoners under Henry VIII.
There was little dramatic change in the standard of living of commoners during the first half of Henry’s reign.
There was a rise in inflation and a drop in real incomes, while the social structure remained substantially unchanged, with the vast majority of people having few possessions or opportunity that would allow them to climb out of their rank.
Outbreaks of disorder were common
Regional issues
Why did Henry VIII attempt to further centralise government and create a more unified country?
Local loyalties were often much stronger than national ones, thus Henry wanted to bind the country as one nation.
Regional issues
How did Wales change during Henry VIII’s reign?
Before 1536, Wales was a seperate territory from England, it had neither a single, unified administration nor a formal political link to England.
- Law in Wales Act, 1536 ; divided wales into shire counties, gave shires direct representation in the House of Commons and brought Wales into the same legal framework as England.
Increasingly became the responsiblity of the nobility, e.g Earl of Pembroke, and anglicised Welsh gentry to exercise power in Wales on the crown’s behalf.
Regional issues
What were the English Palatines, how were they reformed under Henry VIII?
Lancashire, Chester and Durham were not techinally under crown juridstriction but rather a bishop’s. The Act of Resuming Liberties to the Crown reduced the level of independence enjoyed by the palatines without destroying it completely - 1536.
Regional issues
How was the Anglo-Welsh border administrated?
There were four border counties, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire that came under the juridstriction of the Council in Wales - allowing for cheap and local acces to the law.
Regional issues
Who was the Anglo-Scottish border administrated?
The Anglo-Scottish border was difficult to police, during the winter months it was inhospitable and remote ; cattle and sheep rustling, as well as outbreaks of violence, were rife.
The border was split into three marches, each under the juridstriction of a warden, however, Henry found it difficult to fulfil these posts as he couldnt’ trust magnates completely nor did people owe allegiance to the gentry as they did peers.
Regional issues
When was the Council in the North re-established?
The Council in the North was re-establihsed as a permanent body in York following the pilgrimage of grace, it showed its worth by helping to keep the north quiet during the summer of rebellions in 1549.
The social impact of religious upheaval.
What was the main fear concerning religious change?
Cromwell’s dissolution of the monastaries began in 1536 and his royal injunctions of the same year attacked many traditional religious practices; this provoked fears that these reforms may affect parish churches.
The social impact of religious upheaval.
What were the long-lasting social consequences of religious upheaval?
- A huge amount of land was taken away from the Church and then sold off to pay crown dents, thereby increasing the size and wealth of the land-owning gentry ; by 1547 almost 2/3 of monastic land had been sold away.
- Education from monastic schools was lost.
- 8,000 religious servants were dispossessed, nuns’ positions were the most precarious as they were deemed unfit for marriage.
- Monastaries had provided employment and business opportunites, education and often doubled as the parish church. Dissolution was seen as a potential disaster and some communities went to considerable lengths to protect their monastaries e.g royal commissioners were prevented from even beginning the process in Hexam.
The social impact of religious upheaval.
Outside of the Pilgrimage of Grace, name 3 figures that opposed the reformation.
1) Elizabeth Barton, ‘Nun of Kent’, In 1527 Barton prophesised that the king would die a villain’s death, she even approached Henry to challenge him on his marriage to Anne Boleyn. In 1533 she was arrested and executed (1534) , all 700 copies of her book were burned.
2) John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. John Fisher had tutored Henry as a young boy, his links to the Nun of Kent was recieved with a £300 fine. However, when he refused to take the oath of succession in 1534 he was arrested and executed in 1535 - he had been made cardinal shortly before he was executed.
3) Sir Thomas More, More was a leading scholar in Europe, an exceptional lawyer, Speaker of the House of Commons, and a close advisor to the King. When he was appointed chancellor in 1529 he banned all protestant books and protestants were burnt for their beliefs. In 1532 he resigned after the Submission of the Clergy, and ,after refusing the oath of succession, he was executed in 1535.
Rebellion
Describe the Lincolnshire Rising and the Pilgrimage of Grace.
Together, the Lincolnshire Rising and The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, compiled the largest rebellion in the history of Tudor England.
Began in Lincolnshire in October 1536 and spread into the East and West Riding of Yorkshire, a second more militant rising began in the dales between Ripon and Richmond, spreading into Cumberland ; the rebels were more radicalised and hostile, evident in the letter sent out in the name of ‘Captain Poverty’, reflecting class tensions.
30,000 rebels.
Rebellion
What were the causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace?
- Resentment towards the government for pushing for religious reform that the rebels could neither sympathise with nor understand.
- Dissolution of the monastaries resulted in the loss of charitable institutions, parish churches and fears that the North that would be impoverished by monastic land falling into southern hands.
- 1536 Injunctions were seen as attacking traditional religious practices, the celebration of saints and pilgrimages were discouraged, there was a loss of church plate and jewels which had been donated by parisheers.
Secular reasons : - Economic grievances over taxation
- Appointment of Suffolk as a magnate in Lincolnshire
- May have also been a courtier conspiracy to reinstate Pirncess Mary as the heir.
Rebellion
How did Henry VIII supress the rebellion?
As the most geographically widespread and popular rebellion of the period, as well as the fact that the rebels had captured York Pontefract Castle and Hull, there was much alarm amongst ministers.
The Duke of Norfolk attempted to diffuse the rebellion by issuing a pardon, this initially worked but once the rebels had dispersed martial law was imposed and the rebels were brutally supressed.
- 74 rebels hung, Robert Aske, the leader, was hung with a chain ; despite recieving a pardon from the king.
- Darcy, Hussey, members of the Gentry, Monastic heads were brought to London and tried and executed.
Rebellion
What was the consequence of the pilgrimage of grace?
The pilgrimage of grace shook Henry, it made him more tyrranous and resulted, in the long-term, the execution of Cromwell and, in the short-term, the doubling down of Henry’s autocracy.
The rebellion, however, did not slow the pace of religious change.
