HENRY VII AND NOBILITY
Henry needed the nobility - needed them to govern and police the provinces – Henry's
relationship with inability was central for political actions – needed a positive relationship
between the king and his nobles which would help create stability - the nobles estates
would also generate revenue from rent and leases - he sought to limit the power of the
nobles - was aware of the dangers of overmighty subjects with too much power and little
love for the crown - but needed to decrease their power without alienating them and
reducing their role completely - plus Henry spent most of his life abroad so he had no blood
relatives in England he did not know any nobles - he would need peerage support to bring
stability to England – Henry hoped nobility would learn to accept their position was one of
obedience loyalty and service to the crown – controlling them was difficult because nobles
had power to provoke and disorder uneven revolt – he controlled the nobility in two ways -
by offering inducements and by issuing threats.
Patronage - restrict royal patronage in regards to the nobility - unrestricted royal patronage
was one of the causes of the downfall of Henry VI - Henry not determined to repeat
mistakes of uncle - had small nobility when came to the throne - smaller nobility helpful in
efforts to restrict his patronage - in nearly 24 year reign he gave 435 grants to only 58
different nobles - John Earl of Oxford - Jasper Tudor - Thomas Earl of Derby - Lord Daubeney
- many awarded to people on Henry’s side and loyal supporters at Bosworth - Henry not as
generous as predecessors did not want to make himself weaker
Bonds and recognisances - bonds were written agreements - people to pay a sum of money
if did not keep promise - recognisances were formal acknowledgement of debt or obligation
that already existed we have understanding to pay money if obligation not kept – scheme to
taint the nobility by penalising them for any transgression major or minor –placed them
under bond over cognizance for their offence or simply to ensure their continued loyalty -
Possibly the most important element of Henry's plan - restricting patronage was irksome to
the nobility but not exactly damaging - Nobles were independently powerful and most
wealth derived from various lands and estates - Henry knew only truly effective way to
prevent nobility from resurrecting civil wars was to target the source of their independence
which was their wealth - was unsuccessful for his uncle but successful for him - December
1485 to December 1508 135 bonds and recognisances - Maintained by the council learned -
guaranteed good behaviour of nobles - these were capable of yielding £100,000 or more a
year - some reached its peak in 1508 when they yielded £163,443 - bonds and recognizances
integral in placing the financial system and the crown's finances on a solid footing and left
Henry VIII with a massive surplus - this policy became more severe as reign went on
Acts of attainder – acts that led to family losing right to possess its land as well as right to
inherit land - led to economic and social ruin for any family – attainders were reversible and
thus used by Henry as sanction for good behaviour - for example Thomas Howard and father
fought for Richard at Bosworth - instead of executing them Henry attained his lands and
imprisoned him - by taking oath of allegiance to king in 1489 the process of reversing the
attainder was started and Thomas's title of Earl of Surrey was restored - Henry passed 138
and reversed 46 - use of these were restricted - could only be placed on nobles accused of
treason and had to be passed through parliament - therefore not used extensively
Henry needed the nobility - needed them to govern and police the provinces – Henry's
relationship with inability was central for political actions – needed a positive relationship
between the king and his nobles which would help create stability - the nobles estates
would also generate revenue from rent and leases - he sought to limit the power of the
nobles - was aware of the dangers of overmighty subjects with too much power and little
love for the crown - but needed to decrease their power without alienating them and
reducing their role completely - plus Henry spent most of his life abroad so he had no blood
relatives in England he did not know any nobles - he would need peerage support to bring
stability to England – Henry hoped nobility would learn to accept their position was one of
obedience loyalty and service to the crown – controlling them was difficult because nobles
had power to provoke and disorder uneven revolt – he controlled the nobility in two ways -
by offering inducements and by issuing threats.
Patronage - restrict royal patronage in regards to the nobility - unrestricted royal patronage
was one of the causes of the downfall of Henry VI - Henry not determined to repeat
mistakes of uncle - had small nobility when came to the throne - smaller nobility helpful in
efforts to restrict his patronage - in nearly 24 year reign he gave 435 grants to only 58
different nobles - John Earl of Oxford - Jasper Tudor - Thomas Earl of Derby - Lord Daubeney
- many awarded to people on Henry’s side and loyal supporters at Bosworth - Henry not as
generous as predecessors did not want to make himself weaker
Bonds and recognisances - bonds were written agreements - people to pay a sum of money
if did not keep promise - recognisances were formal acknowledgement of debt or obligation
that already existed we have understanding to pay money if obligation not kept – scheme to
taint the nobility by penalising them for any transgression major or minor –placed them
under bond over cognizance for their offence or simply to ensure their continued loyalty -
Possibly the most important element of Henry's plan - restricting patronage was irksome to
the nobility but not exactly damaging - Nobles were independently powerful and most
wealth derived from various lands and estates - Henry knew only truly effective way to
prevent nobility from resurrecting civil wars was to target the source of their independence
which was their wealth - was unsuccessful for his uncle but successful for him - December
1485 to December 1508 135 bonds and recognisances - Maintained by the council learned -
guaranteed good behaviour of nobles - these were capable of yielding £100,000 or more a
year - some reached its peak in 1508 when they yielded £163,443 - bonds and recognizances
integral in placing the financial system and the crown's finances on a solid footing and left
Henry VIII with a massive surplus - this policy became more severe as reign went on
Acts of attainder – acts that led to family losing right to possess its land as well as right to
inherit land - led to economic and social ruin for any family – attainders were reversible and
thus used by Henry as sanction for good behaviour - for example Thomas Howard and father
fought for Richard at Bosworth - instead of executing them Henry attained his lands and
imprisoned him - by taking oath of allegiance to king in 1489 the process of reversing the
attainder was started and Thomas's title of Earl of Surrey was restored - Henry passed 138
and reversed 46 - use of these were restricted - could only be placed on nobles accused of
treason and had to be passed through parliament - therefore not used extensively
