BIV - Strengths of Tudor Crown Notes PDF

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What were the strengths and weaknesses of the crown in the early Sixteenth century? Duties of monarchy – defence of the realm, maintenance of the law and provision of justice Strengths meaning strength, power, authority, land – less focus on strength of crown in improving welfare for example Government - Law and justice and Taxation and Council/Court Church Land and peripheries – military, defence, centralisation Image

J.S. Block – The Rise of the Tudor State (A Companion to Tudor Britain 2004) 

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Emerged a Protestant rather than a Catholic realm in which central governmental power had shifted from the full sovereignty of the crown in partnership with the nobility and the church to the sovereignty and initiative or the king in parliament Geoffrey Elton – ‘Tudor Revolution in Government’ By HVIII’s reign government was highly developed and sophisticated, nobility submitted – offered new jobs and powers to minimise opposition (e.g. Sir Reynold Bray and Edmund Dudley under HVII) Regionalism began to yield to central authority The ability to handle both local and central political affairs made for effective kingship Tudor monarchs found power to rule in their considerable non-material authority – paraded semi divine qualities, ceremony Traditional view that Henry VII left his son ‘a safe throne, a full treasury, a functioning machinery of government, and a reasonably ordered and prosperous country’ (Elton, England under the Tudors, pg. 69) The king personally functioned as the mainspring of government King’s council was the driving force of central government – formal admin authority Royal Court Thomas Wolsey was used, responsibility was left – not a threat as never forgot his place Wolsey focused on integrating the kingdom and making it responsive to the king’s will – direct taxation Direct taxation based on assessments of wealth of individuals – subsidy of 1514 alone raised £100,000 –fact it could be envisioned and imposed shows success of centralisation Personal rather than institutional authority, however, carries its own burdens and risks Shattered England’s unity with Catholicism – process of re-weaving a Protestant commonwealth from the shredded fabric of a formerly united Christendom The Act in Restraint of Appeals – asserted that England was an empire governed by one supreme head and king Cromwell sponsored an intense propaganda campaign (printing press and pulpit) – people had to be persuaded to follow the king away from Rome and toward an uncertain spiritual future Thomas More and John Fisher prosecuted as traitors Law of treason 1534 and 1536 – treason included words written or spoken against any part of royal estate  Shows degree of insecurity? Pilgrimage of Grace – failure At a constitutional level, the royal supremacy made necessary changes in central government Disillusion of the monasteries – income (in first 8 years the court of Augmentations collected almost £900,000) – execution of several abbots for treason ended resistance Cromwellian reforms – government admin became more bureaucratic, financial expedients were of great importance (once went to Pope, now London) The 1934 Act for the Payment of First Fruits led to the collection of £46, 052 in 1535 to £51,770 in 1536 – significant

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By 1540 – crown had realized 406,415 in first fruits and tenths Lack of heir

G.R Elton – England Under the Tudors Pgs. 42, 160                          

Pg. 42 Fundamental to his dynasty was, as is commonly recognised, the support of his people, a support which the Tudors rarely endangered and never lost Pg. 43 The most obvious way in which Henry’s (VII) kingship differed from that of his predecessors was in the greater stress laid upon it Feasts, joustings, displays, coronations, weddings – things to marvel at, impressive even to the cynical eyes of Venetian and Milanese ambassadors (HVII) Special deference to the royal name which later deteriorated into the king-worship of Henry VIII’s court The cheapening of the crown in the wars rendered such insistence of its dignity especially necessary and impressive (HVII) Pg. 160 The essential ingredient of the Tudor revolution was the concept of national sovereignty Pg. 162 As supreme head, Henry VIII acquired all the administrative episcopal powers of the papacy Pg. 164 The supremacy was personal, vested in the king by no earthly authority and exercised by him without reference to any earthly authority The Tudor revolution established the supremacy and omnicompetence of statute Pg. 168 Establishment of constitutional or limited monarchy (Cromwell) gave the King great power – power over the Church, power of the purse…but the polity which Cromwell wanted rested not on the supremacy of the king on the supremacy of the king in parliament From now on parliaments made laws Pg. 169 A more rigid adherence to the letter of the act now became apparent…not an arbitrary explanation roughly within its limits Pg. 170 Raised difficult practical problems – (kings, lords and commons) agreement between them must somehow be secured or government will become impossible On the whole, Henry VIII and Cromwell had comparatively little difficulty (policies on Church shared by majority) Pg. 171 Allowed opposition in parliament Pg. 176 Pilgrimage of Grace – the collapse of the rising gave the government a chance of effectively suppressing the liberties of the northern countries The medieval history of the north came to an end in 1537 when its separatism fell before the centralisation of the modern state In Wales – Cromwell’s policy of consolidation was thoroughly successful – Rowland Lee, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, as president of the council in the marches – enforcing order Pg. 178 Act of 1534 trial of murders and felonies committed in the territories of marcher lords – to sessions held in the English border counties 1536 – Great act of 27 Henry VIII c. 26 incorporated Wales with England (ended petty kingdoms of the marches – refuges for criminals, sources of constant trouble and corruption and in C15th centres of disturbances and dynastic struggles which engulfed the whole country Beyond doubt the measure was of the utmost service to the tranquillity of the country and did much more good than harm also for Wales Pg. 179 In the history of Tudor relations with Scotland and Ireland 1530s marked an interlude of comparative success Ireland had again reverted to the rule of local lords – Butlers at first and later Geraldines – with but the slenderest link of allegiance to England Kildare Rebellion – failed 1534 Pg. 180 Ireland was far from pacified or reconciled, and the progress of the religious Reformation was to render futile all hopes of a genuine settlement

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Pg. 182 Cromwell’s financial admin – 6 courts each fully organised that could be drawn upon indiscriminately when needed The system did not work with the admirable precision but it gave to the finances a management which did not involve either the excessive formality of the old exchequer of the excessive informality of the chamber system Its drawback was the multiplication of departments whose sole unifying agent was Cromwell himself – his fall made further reforms more difficult Pg. 184 Cromwell’s personal standing prevented the complete emergence of the privy council and only in August 1540 (after his death) did they meet to appoint an active clerk and inaugurate its register Pg. 185 the Tudor revolution produced a much more effective example of the paternal state than anything the middle ages knew – something so effective that only the twentieth century has come to eclipse it Pg. 187 Early Tudors faced a problem arising out of increases in population and the amount of money circulating – a problem of unemployment and inflation Pg. 188 Poor law of 1536 Pg. 189 Possibly 20-30,000 workless in a population of less than three million (but suggests it common in Europe – not confines to a specifically ‘brutal, capitalist and anti monastic Eng.’)

R.W Hoyle – The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s     

Pg. 449 Henry’s strategic record is very poor Pg. 450 Henry’s inability to compromise, his refusal to concede an unconditional pardon to people who had been unwillingly caught up in the revolt King kept revolts alive – royal pride, and Henry’s inability to cope with what he defined as disobedience, drove royal policy Pg. 453 His government tired to do too much, too quickly The majority of the population was perplexed by the kings successive marriages, alienated from his government for its religious policies and suspicious of its future intentions

Kenneth Pickthorn – Early Tudor Government 

Pg. 63 This indicates one of the main sources of Tudor strength – that in an early stage of capitalism the monarchy was in a uniquely advantageous position for controlling capital; the king had much more cash than any one else

Steven Gunn – The Structures of Politics in Early Tudor England (Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 1995)   

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Pg. 67 When using government records – reinforce idea of a strong king served by councillors and courtiers who generally cooperated with one another In terms of whether deferring power worked – some say they were uncooperative vs. others that they functioned together Pg. 68 Close examination of the correspondence concerning the attempt to levy the Amicable Grant in 1525, for instance, has convinced George Bernard that the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk and Archbishop Warham, were working hard at Wolsey’s coordination, to try to raise un unpopular levy for the king, rather than stirring up opposition to the demand or exploiting its difficulties to plot against the cardinal. The problem of course is just what such correspondence conceals = need for secrecy and mistrust Competitive and backstabbing inner world – units such as the Guildfords and the Nevilles created unstable, ruthless environment  Although kept them vying for king’s support and patronage (Pg. 83 Thomas duke of Norfolk on hearing of 1536 rebellion said he would not ‘sit still lyk a man of law’ while others went to fight for the king’ Pg. 85 Some contemporaries thought that propositions might be ‘put into the kyngs had’ (Tunstall)

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Pg. 86 Still systems of patronage from great lords and the church – system of politics only partially centralised and homogenised, one of structures not a structure  Borough chamberlains paid 3s 4d to Lord Daubeney’s butler to ask Lord Daubeney to ask Archbishop Morton to ‘deign to deal amicable and charitably with the mayor and citizens of Canterbury’ Material concerning Wolsey and Cromwell suggests a working partnership between a well-informed king and ministers capable of proposing but not disposing Pg. 87 Individuals and groups did contrive to influence the king for their personal advancement and the implementation of their chosen policies Pg. 88 Both genuine conspirators against Tudors and people trying to accuse others falsely – John Whyte under Henry VII and William Cutlerd (framed by William Whitefelde of Northampton) in 1505

Steven Gunn, David Grummitt, and Hans Cools – War, State, and Society in England and the Netherlands 1477-1559       

Henry VII and Henry VIII created a navy larger and more permanent than that of any previous English king Increased size of armies led to France – 14,000 in 1492, 30,000 in 1513 and 48,000 in 1544 – shows large access to reserves Henry VIII spent about a tenth the cost of his first war with France and Scotland on Hampton Court and Whitehall Henry VIII, whose inherited annual income was of the order of £100,000, spent something like £1 million on war in 1512–14, half that in 1522–4  General increase in cost of war but HVIII not as rich as France and Spain Reviving trade and tight collection under Henry VII raised them to a level comparable with his demesne income, though they fell back under Henry VIII Experiments to replace fifteenth and tenth under Henry VIII produced the lay subsidy, a remarkably effective and progressive tax by contemporary standards It raised an average £48,000 in 1512–17, £69,000 in 1524–5, and £89,000 in 1541–6, with a peak of £194,000 in 1546

Steven G. Ellis – Tudor Frontiers and Noble Power: The Making of the British State      

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Traditional studies exaggerate the regime's successes by marginalizing the borderlands Flaws in early Tudor policy, characterized by long periods of neglect, interspersed with sporadic attempts to adapt, at minimal cost, a centralized administrative system geared to lowland England for the government of outlying regions which had very different social structures Elton’s decision to look at the north during the Pilgrimage constituted a ‘highly special case’, and that Ireland and Calais were ‘special for different reasons’ – the real pattern of change within the Tudor state is obscured by a smokescreen of success in southern England Marches and marcher society were actually quite a common feature of the English dominions in early-Tudor times. In this context, the society and economy of the early-Tudor north and Ireland were perhaps in many ways more typical of the British Isles in 1500 than was the southeast which forms the traditional focus of Tudor historical attention. The underlying cause of the government's difficulties was the rigidly centralized character of the English system of government.  As against centralisation being a strength Enforcement of law and order depended on effective lines of communication and ordered society (common law enforced by local juries with assizes by the King’s justices biannually) - in the heavily populated regions of lowland England this system of government generally worked quite effectively In over half the early Tudor state, links with the centre were attenuated, and the standard administrative structures operated only partially or not at all

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The defence of the marches was most conveniently organized by a resident lord through his tenantry and political affinity – strengthened noble power and influence vis-à-vis the crown In Ireland, the new strategy of reliance on a local noble with extensive lands and tenantry in the Pale did at least provide a degree of stability and continuity which had previously been lacking Within the four counties of the English Pale administration and justice were quite intensive and closely controlled from Dublin Outside the Pale, however, exchequer control was much more intermittent, and the office of sheriff was dominated by the great landed families A growing chasm developed between the peaceful, ‘civil’ society of lowland England and the more turbulent marcher societies of the highland zone.

J.P.D. Cooper – Propaganda and the Tudor State 

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Pg. 2 Historians have sometimes been too swift to assume that Tudor society became less settled, and government less assured, the further one travelled away from London and into the provinces. In fact, a complex and mutually beneficial relationship existed between western-most shires and the crown, which was able to capitalize on the structures and symbols of regional difference Pg. 3 Although the Tudor crown was more assertive about its authority, its ability to impose its will on the kingdom was still governed by its limited administrative and military resources In such circumstances, propaganda and persuasion became a vital tool of politics Pg. 210 Holbein’s portraits and Whitehall palace, the new Greenwich armouries and the polyphonic music of the Chapel Royal – all served to praise a monarchy whose sovereignty appeared so all encompassing Pg. 211 Royal magnificence was necessary precisely because of the limitations on the practice of early modern English kingship One measure of the success of royal propaganda is that its printed texts and courtly display continue to steal the limelight from the practical realities of Tudor kingship  Law and order still rested on social codes of deference and obedience Pg. 215 Tudor governments did take great strides in the direction of popular propaganda Pg. 216 Tudor reformations politicized the act of going to church – gave the crown a prime opportunity to indoctrinate its subjects with the necessity of obedience A royal memorandum in late 1533 stated that the Act of Appeals was to be printed and set up on every church door Pg. 219 The crown effectively secured control of the provincial pulpit during the propaganda campaigns in support of the royal supremacy  Although Pilgrimage of Grace petitioned for a return to papal jurisdiction Pg. 238 Major uprisings in the north in 1536-37 served to emphasize the crown’s dependence on local goodwill for its muster system to work Either had to march levies from elsewhere in the kingdom, a slow and risky operation, or to recruit mercenaries, which was costly and likely to enrage the insurgents further 1536 – Thomas Berthelet and Richard Morison Lincolnshire revolt - A Lamentation in Which is Showed what Ruin and Destruction Cometh of Seditious Rebellion (1536 – Morison)  ‘Traitors that are in harness against their country…none other than their father the devil hath inspired unto them’ (The Politics of the Public Sphere in Early Modern England, pg. 40) Pg. 251 Example of Cornwall – ability to cooperate and compromise – Henry VIII and Cromwell were content to work through both Henry Courtenay and John Russell as lords warden of the stannaries

Steven Ellis – Crown, Community and Government in the English Territories, 1450-1575 (History, 1986)

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Pg. 187 D.M Palliser suggests that HVIII eventually swept away ‘the few lingering exceptions to a uniform government from the centre’ By European standards, late medieval England was precocious in the centralization of its government and the uniformity of its administrative institutions Lack of a standing army, paid bureaucracy or commensurate taxing power English kings failed to emulate monarchs like Francis I and Phillip II in achieving absolute power and developing powerful standing armies Pg. 188 Lancashire administered through the duchy of Lancaster, marches controlled by their own wardens Three bishops administered Durham, Ely and Hexham until 1536 when their powers were curtailed Pg. 191 In general, the government struggled with inadequate resources and a cumbersome machinery to enforce its wishes (as well as local interests) Impacted success of enforcing reformation In outlying parts – the north and Cornwall – the official Reformation made little practical progress before the 1570s, a failure repeated in Wales and Ireland A Venetian landing at Falmouth in 1506 found it ‘a very wild place’ inhabited by ‘a most barbarous race, so different in language and custom from…the rest of England’ Did encourage local nobles to attend or send their sons to court Pg. 195 In France, there was no common law, justice was decentralised, each province had its own customs and privileges – by 1500 the English territories were comparatively close to developing into a nation state Pg. 201 Kildare rebellion fitted the contemporary English pattern of a demonstration of dissent within a context of overall obedience – greatly extended the crowns claims over its subjects – the English palatinates and liberties were effectively assimilated into shire ground in 1536)

Richard Rex – Henry VIII and the English Reformation     

Pg. 2 Henry VIII reduced the church (and the nobility) to political subservience Negation of first clause of MC and anathematisation (banishment) in 1538 of Becket Every change, from the dissolution of the monasteries to the massive extension of royal patronage, added to the wealth or influence of the crown Pg. 70 The new dioceses were a insufficient and underfunded – hampered by debt for years Pg. 71 The only winners were the king and the ruling elites who made or increased their fortunes out of their booty
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