Henry VII Flashcards
(47 cards)
Why was Henry VII’s claim to the throne weak?
Came through the female line
Came from birth out of wedlock, making it illegitimate
How did Henry VII consolidate power?
Dated reign day before Bosworth
Publicly rewarded key supporters
Coronation before parliament
Marraige to Elizabeth of York
Acts of Attainder
Arrest of Earl of Warwick
Produced heir Arthur 1486
What happened during the Lovell rebellion in 1486?
Viscount Lovell and Humphrey tried to raise forces against Henry. Lovell in Yorkshire and Humphrey in Midlands. Plot failed and shows that there was little enthusiasm for Yorkist rising at this time in traditional Yorkist heartlands.
Outline the Lambert Simnel imposture.
Simnel passed off as Earl of Warwick and crowned King Edward in Ireland in 1487.
Hoax was put together by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln.
Henry vii paraded the real Warwick around London for all to see.
Lincoln fled court and joined Lovell at the court of Margaret of Burgundy.
They convinced her to support Simnel’s claim and finance mercenaries to send to England.
How did Henry vii respond to the threat posed by Simnel?
Reinstated untrustworthy Earl of Northumberland, who had led large portion of Richard’s army at Bosworth.
This neutralised Richard’s old power base and ensured that Yorkist Howard family would not join conspiracy as Northumberland was one of their descendents.
Battle of Stoke Field 1487
Led by Earl of Oxford, Henry’s army victorious.
De la pole killed after being unable to add enough local support to mercenaries.
Significance: brought end to war of the Roses, securing Henry’s position.
Outline the Perkin Warbeck imposture
Pretended to be Richard Duke of York in Ireland.
Trained as yorkist prince at court of Margaret of Burgundy, where he drew English courtiers into the conspiracy. E.g. William Stanley.
Landed in England 1495 but defeated and fled to Scotland.
Small Scottish forced crossed border on Warbeck’s behalf but soon retreated. James iv quickly sacrificed Warbeck’s interests when Henry proposed a marriage between him and his daughter Margaret.
Tried to exploit Cornish rebellion in 1497 but quickly surrendered to King. Allowed to stay at court until he tried to escape where he was kept in the tower.
Executed along with Earl of Warwick in 1499 after being accused of plotting against Henry together.
Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk and Richard de la Pole, ‘the White Rose’.
Edmund: fled to court of Maximilian in 1501. Handed to Henry as part of Treaty of Windsor in 1506. Put in tower of London where he stayed until being executed for treason in 1513 by Henry the 8th.
Richard: Killed in 1525 fighting for the French at the Battle of Pavia.
Describe the council of Henry VII
Contained 6-7 members at a time
Functions: advise king, administer the realm, make legal judgments
Types of councillor: nobles ( rarely great magnates), churchmen( such as Richard Fox and John Morton), and laymen ( gentry or lawyers such as Reginald Bray and Edmund Dudley)
What was the great council?
Not to be confused with the council, the great council was a gathering of the House of Lords. They only met 5 times in H7 reign. Usually discussed war and rebellion and was a way of binding nobles to decisions regarding national security.
Describe the function of the council learned in the law. Why was it unpopular?
Maintained the King’s revenue by:
Exploiting his prerogative rights e.g. feudal dues.
Enforced bonds and recognizances.
Unpopular as bypassed normal legal system. Empsom and Dudley, who ran the council, removed shortly after Henry VIII death.
Describe the different levels of Henry’s court.
- Household proper responsible for looking after king and courtiers, with the Lord Steward supervising over personal and catering needs.
- Politically important part of court was the chamber, presided over by lord chamberlain. Therefore, big blow to Henry when william stanley turned out to be involved in Warbeck imposture.
How did Henry vii respond to Stanley compromising the chamber.
Remodeled the chamber to create the privy chamber. This is where the king could retreat, protected by most trusted servants. This cut him off from many of the King’s traditional contacts at court.
Functions of Parliament in reign of Henry VII
Pass laws and grant taxes
His first parliament granted him tonnage and poundage for life, which allowed him to raise revenue on imports and exports for the whole reign.
H7 called parliament 7 times. It ran effectively, and he respected their decisions.
How did Henry deal with lack of great magnates to replace Earl of Northumberland after his murder in 1489?
Released Yorkist Earl of Surrey who had been imprisoned since Bosworth.
Appointing known supporter of Richard’s to Yorkist heartlands= risky, but paid off with 10 years of loyal service to Henry.
How did JPs maintain law and order at local level?
Most JPs= local gentry who fulfilled their unpaid task out sense of duty or to enhance local prestige.
Various acts of parliament passed to increase JPs’ power. They were responsible for tax assessments, alehouse regulation, investigating complaints against local officials and the maintenance of law and order.
How did bonds and recognizances help to maintain law and order?
Whilst some were genuine debts to crown, many bonds and recognizances were purely political. Henry used them to enforce order and obedience by bypassing the law. A morally dubious policy.
Name sources of royal income.
Crownlands
Customs revenue
Extraordinary revenue
Profits of justice
Feudal dues/exercise of royal prerogative
Pensions from other nations
How did Henry VII increase crown land revenue?
Beginning of reign= £12,000 from crown lands a year.
Because of use of inefficient court of exchequer.
1492, reverted to admin through chamber, where policies were formulated and decisions made.
Increased crown land income to £42,000 per year.
How did Henry use royal perogative to raise revenue?
Increased profits from wardship from 1504 ( crown taking revenue from property held by a minor)
Parliament granted feudal aid. ( tax for knighting of first son or marriage of first daughter.)
Obligations payable on death of feudal-tenant-in-chief useful source of raising revenue, especially after statue of uses closed loophole that made it possible to avoid the charge.
Who was the Treaty of Redon in 1489 between and what did it agree?
Brittany and England. Agreed that Duchess Anne would pay for English army in Brittany to defend from French threat.
What happened in Brittany?
Duchess Anne surrendered to France and married Charles VIII.
This left English army marooned in Brittany.
Made worse by Perkin Warbeck seeking French backing for his claim to the English throne.
How did Henry recover the situation in 1492?
Invaded France. French sought quick peace settlement as Charles VIII more interested in invading Italy.
Treaty of Etaples 1492: Charles viii agreed to pay annual pension of £5000 and withdrew support for Perkin Warbeck.
This improved crown finance and anglo-french relations.
What did Henry do in response to Philip of Burgundy hospitality for Perkin Warbeck?
Put embargo on English trade with Burgundy.
