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Summary English Society under Henry VIII
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Background information on English society under Henry VIII's reign.
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English Society under Henry VIIIElites
· The remnants of the feudal system still existed
· Growth of professional and commercial bourgeoisie
· Traditional nobles and greater gentry still represented a social elite with considerable politi-
cal and economic influence
The Nobility
· The size of the nobility increased under Henry VIII
➢ Nine more peers at the end of his reign than at the beginning
➢ Offset by ‘natural wastage’ and the number of attainders
· Most new nobles achieved their rank by successful royal service or family connection
➢ Henry’s brother-in-law, Edward Seymour, was elevated to the earldom of Hertford
· Henry promoted two non-royal ducal titles
➢ Norfolk and Suffolk
Duke of Norfolk
o Restored to the title that was enjoyed by his father
Duke of Suffolk
o Promoted on account of his closeness to the Kin
o Prompted criticism from some quarters
➢ For example, Erasmus
o Endowed with property in Lincolnshire after the rebellion of 1536
o Ordered to move there to exert his authority properly
· Henry would bestow property on nobles to enable them to exert royal authority
John, Baron Russell
o Long career as a courtier
o Served Henry as a diplomat and soldier
o Became a councillor in 1546
o Raised to peerage and endowed with lands in Devon
o Bolstered royal authority in the south-west following the execution the Marquess of Exeter
, · Nobles were expected to have great households and offer hospitality to the affinity and
neighbours
➢ Affinity: all those who had relationships with a person of higher status based on landholding
and/or holding a position within the household
· Nobles remained critical to local influence and the recruitment of royal armies
➢ Earl of Shrewsbury raised over 4000 men for the invasion of France in 1513
· Bastard feudalism had not completely disappeared
· Nobility brought more under the rule of the monarch
Thomas Fiennes, Baron Dacre of the South
o Convicted and hanged for the murder of a neighbour’s servant in 1541
o Like a common criminal
o Wouldn’t have suffered the same fate at the start of the Tudor Period
➢ Duke of Buckingham was executed for treason on the vaguest of charged in 1521
Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter
o Grandson of Edward IV
o Dominant in the South-West
o Had a close relationship with Henry
o Identified with the Aragonese faction
o Had an enmity towards Cromwell
o Accused of treasonable conspiracy
o Executed in 1538
o Conspired with Henry Pole Baron Montague
Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury
o Attainted of treason
o Held in the Tower for over two years before execution
o Arguably suffered the most vindictive of Henry’s punitive actions
The Gentry
· There were about 5000 gentry families in England in 1540
· Knighthood was conferred as a sign of royal favour
· It was assumed that a knight would possess an income to reflect his status
· 200 knightly families in 1524
· A gentleman who was entitled to bear a coat of arms was deemed an esquire
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