8/8/2019 Henry Vii Power Point Speech[1]

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Henry elevated to power and responsibility those that had been loyal to him at Bosworth, andthose that demonstrated loyalty and ability. He did not have any close male relatives (likeEdward IV had Gloucester and Clarence) which he felt obliged to reward with power, titles andland save for Jasper Tudorwho was made Earl of Pembroke, Duke of Bedford andChief Justiceof Wales. But he had spent many years in exile with Henry and can surely be said to haveearned these rewards.

The King's Council was used in a way as an 'alternative' to elevating people to the peerage byHenry for instance, Edmund Dudley, a lawyer who was one of the King's most trustedadvisors and who was made a King's Councillor. Half of his council were clergymen, such asJohn Morton who was Chancellor from 1486 1500. While a considerable number of noblemenwere also present in the Council, few of these were the King's most trusted advisors although the Duke of Bedford, Earl of Oxford and Lord Stanley were. These were his friendsand relatives whom he knew he could trust. But most of his trusted advisors were drawn fromthe clergy or professional classes, such as Edward Poynings and Edmund Dudley. As we shallsee, the King was very keen to get the most from his estates, and so men who were apt atfinancial managementand understood property law were vital.

The Order of the Garterwas, according to S. B. Chrimes "the ultimate mark of honourfavoured by Henry VII". Making someone a Knight of the Gartergave them prestige and madethem feel important, but effectively gave them no power or land. This was an effective step in

limiting the power of the nobility, and the fact options like this were available is probably whyHenry got away with not elevating many people to the peerage.

It was quite normal, according to K. B. McFaraly, a historian writing in the 1970s, for the

nobility to lose 25% of its number in 25 years due to war and nobles not leaving sons. Thistrend continued in Henry's reign, but the reason people find to comment on it is that Henry didnot replace the lost peers with new ones at the start of his reign there were 50 peers and 16magnates, and at the end there were 35 peers and 10 magnates. This is a subtle reduction inthe power of the nobility.

Henry did not try to win the support of the nobility with patronage as previous Kings had, heinstead distributed patronage after someone had demonstrated loyalty and ability. Examplesinclude those rewarded after Bosworth, such as the Stanley family, which had changed sidesin the middle of the battle. Lord Daubeney was promoted to the peerage after staunchly actingagainst the Cornish rebellion. By only handing out patronage in the case of such excellent

service Henry increased the perceived value of it. In a way, this increased the power of thenobility but there were less of them.

Henry's attitude to retaining is a good example of his overall attitude to the nobility he neverattempted to do away with it completely, but he installed strict personal controls over it. In1504 he issued proclamations which stated that people had to obtain special licences to retain,which could only be got from the King. This meant he could keep a strict reign on thisparticular issue of the nobility, without making them feel their power was being sapped toomuch. Henry applied fines of 5 per month per illegal retainer, which was a big financial threat

to many members of the nobility such as Lord Burgavenny, who initially faced fines of 70,550in 1506 before they were scaled down.

Henry's control of Crown lands was quite significant, although it might not have seemed so atthe time. He seemed determined to retain as much land under the Crown as possible forinstance, he retained almost all the lands once owned byWarwick and the Dukes of Clarenceand Gloucester. S. J. Gunn estimates in Early Tudor Government, 1485-1558 that crown landswere five times larger at the end of Henry's reign than they had been at the start! Because15th century society equated land very much with power, this was quite significant in limitingthe power of the nobility, if not directly reducing it. This also increased Henry's personalpower, which meant he relied less on the nobility.

The King kept a tight reign on noble marriages for instance, Katherine, Dowager Duchess ofBuckingham was fined 7,000 for marrying without the King's licence. By imposing thesesanctions he not only gained money, but he good also influence who married who. It would be

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8/8/2019 Henry Vii Power Point Speech[1]

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harder for nobles to marry themselves into situations of such great power that it threatenedthe King.

Henry used Acts ofAttainder as both a sanction and a reward for good behaviour whensomeone was disloyal an Attainder would be passed against them, but they could then have itreversed if they behaved well. For instance, Thomas Howard was attainted and imprisonedbecause he fought for Richard III at Bosworth. After he refused to escape and engage in the

Simnel plot of 1487, the process of reversing his Attainder was begun in 1489. As he showedfurther aptitude and loyalty during theYorkshire risings, his estates were gradually returned tohim. Henry also tended to redistribute the lands of attainted people as patronage rather thangiving away crown lands again, he is centralising the land (and therefore power) with peoplehe trusts and keeping as much for himself. Because of his attitude to patronage (that it wasonly given to the most loyal of his subjects), he was taking power away from his enemies andgiving it to those he trusts. If these nobles are really as trustworthy as he believes, then thatpower is effectively his own.

To conclude, Henry reduced the power of the nobility at large by centralising as much powerand land as possible under the Crown and his very trusted and loyal servants. He was carefulonly to reward those that had shown themselves to be exceptionally trustworthy, and by doingso created a sort of "ruling class" of nobles. He also moved the focus ofgovernment awayfrom nobles who had simply being born into a position for instance on the King's Council,

which did not shun nobles but only included those that had shown themselves to be both ableand loyal. Although the Great Council was comprised entirely of noblemen, it did not actuallybestow much power on its members rather, it was a way for Henry to get their agreementon a particular issue so they could not turn around and bite him later on. Of the five times hecalled the Great Council, 3 were to get the approval of the nobility in 1488 to authorise asubsidy for the Burgundycampaign, in 1491 to authorise war against France, and in 1496 togrant a loan for war against Scotland. Only in 1487, when he called the Council in response toSimnel, was there ever any scope for the nobles to influence the King's decision. The othertimes he had decided on the issue before he got there, and was just seeking approval.

Henry's use of marriage licences and retainer licences shows he was trying to put a tighterreign on the nobility, but not actually do away with its power it just had a little less flexibilityin how it exercised it. This was effective because it meant Henry had more personal input intodecisions, yet the nobles did not feel their powers were being removed entirely.

Henry had centralised noble power under those who showed ability and loyalty. Thiscentralisation is perhaps more important than the reductions it made the nobles a lot lessthreatening because power was wielded by those he could rely on. Although, of course, ifsomeone had proved themselves to be not as loyal as he thought, we might have somethingdifferent to say about that today.

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