Henry VII: Government - Ordinary Revenue

Question 1

Definition of Ordinary Revenue

Answer 1

• Money gained from outside of parliament that came in annually
• Crown lands
• Feudal dues
• Custom duties
• Legal dues

Question 2

Crown Lands

Answer 2

• Most important source of revenue
• Henry VII had more land than previous monarchs from attainders and escheats (reversion of land to King if tenant died without an heir)
• Sir Reginald Bray developed techniques for estate management
• Henry was less inclined to grant land to family and friends than Edward IV - kept land to maximise influence and income
• In 1486, Henry used the Act of Resumption to reclaim all Crown lands that had been granted away since the start of the War of the Roses
• Did not always act on these claims - potential threat could be used to control a noble family
• Henry increased the money from these lands from £29,000 in 1485 to £42,000 in 1509

Question 3

Feudal Dues: Explanation & Examples

Answer 3

• These were derived from the King’s historical role as the landowner who granted lands to his tenants-in-chief
• A tenant-in-chief had to pay relief to inherit lands on the death of his father
• If the tenant-in-chief died without an heir, the land reverted (or escheated) to the Crown. This had to be paid for in escheats
• If the heir was a minor, the King had right to all income from the land
  as wardship
• When the heir came of age he had to pay livery to the King before he recovered the lands
• If there was an heiress, the King had a right to agree to her marriage as marriage dues
• All tenants-in-chief were obliged to pay an aid to the King on the knighting of his eldest son and marriage of his eldest daughter

Question 4

Feudal Dues: Improvements/Developments Under Henry VII

Answer 4

• He set up the office of the Surveyor of the King’s Prerogative under Sir Edward Belknap
• Sir John Hussey was appointed Master of the King’s Wards
• The Counsel Learned in the Law also made great efforts to chase these profitable dues
• The King’s annual income from wardship rose:
  1487: under £350
  1507: £6,000

Question 5

Custom Duties: Explanation & Examples

Answer 5

• Paid on goods entering or leaving the country
• By the fifteenth century it was traditional practice for Parliament to grant these revenues to a monarch for life
• Tunnage - taxes on exports
• Poundage - taxes on imports
• Particularly on the sale of wool, wine and leather

Question 6

Custom Duties: Improvements/Developments Under Henry VII

Answer 6

• Henry VII promoted trade to maximise this type of income
• Henry VII twice updated the Book of Rates, which set out the charges on imports and exports of a wide range of items
• Customs duties rose from about £33,000 per year at the beginning of his reign to about £40,000 at the end

Question 7

Legal Dues: Explanation

Answer 7

• Money from fines and other payments made by people appearing before the King’s courts
• All court actions started with the issuing of royal writs and letters which had to be paid for in fees
• Any fines imposed by the King’s courts had to be paid directly to the crown

Question 8

Legal Dues: Improvements/Developments Under Henry VII

Answer 8

• Henry increased the use of fines and attainders - these could be very lucrative sources of income
• The attainder of Sir William Stanley in 1495 brought an immediate payment of £9,000 and £1,000 per year thereafter
• The sums varied and many were not recorded in accounts so historians cannot estimate the income from these profits
• They were, however, unlikely to have been a significant part of ordinary royal revenue