Summary of the key dates and statistics of Henry VII's reign. Includes his consolidation of power, government, foreign policy, society, economy, and religion. Perfect for students revising for A Levels.
HENRY VII, 1485-1509 GOVERNMENT:
CONSOLIDATION OF POWER: • Law that Lords and Commons had to swear not to illegally retain = 1485
• Act of Resumption = 1486
• Start of Wars of the Roses = 1455 • Star Chamber Act = 1487
• Edward IV dies, Richard III seizes crown, Princes in the • Sir William Stanley conspiracy, execution, and introduction of the
Tower disappear = 1483 chamber system = 1494
• Buckingham’s rebellion against Edward IV = 1483 • Law that nobles required a special license for retaining, otherwise
• Battle of Bosworth = 22 August 1485 would be fined £5 per month per retainer = 1504
• Conferred 11 knighthoods to publicly reward key • Lord Burgavenny convicted of illegally retaining, fined £70,000 and
supporters = August 1485 placed under a bond to repay £5,000 over 10 years = 1507
• Henry VII’s coronation = October 1485 • Got immediate payment of £9,000 and £1,000 every year after for
• Made key appointments to his household and council = attainder of Sir William Stanley
October 1485 • Created 3 Earls throughout entire reign (Lord Stanley as Earl of Derby,
• Sir Reginald Bray made Chancellor of the Duchy of Philibert de Chandee as Earl of Bath, Sir Edward Courtenay as Earl of
Lancaster = October 1485 Devon)
• Sir William Stanley made Chamberlain of the Household • Edward IV created 9 Earls
= October 1485 • 138 Acts of Attainder passed in entire reign
• Acts of Attainder against Yorkists who had fought • 46 Acts of Attainder reversed in entire reign
against Henry VII at Bosworth = October 1485 • 51 Acts of Attainder passed at end of reign, 1504-1509
• Demanded customs revenues of tonnage and • Sir Thomas Tyrell paid £1738 to reverse his & father’s attainders
poundage, increasing crown’s income = October 1485 • Called parliament 7 times
• Henry VII summons parliament for the first time, lasts 3 • Annual income averaged = £113,000 (French King’s £800,000)
months (longest parliamentary session in his reign) = • Made £6,000 from wardships and marriages annually from 1507
November 1485 • Customs duties increased from £33,000 to £40,000 1485-1509
• Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York = January 1486 • Raised £300 for selling post of Archdeacon of Buckingham (simony)
• Royal progress through kingdom to the North = April • Earl of Kildare replaced by Sir Edward Poynings as Lord Deputy of
1486 Ireland = 1494
• Prince Arthur born = September 1486 • Earl of Kildare restored as Lord Deputy of Ireland = 1496
• Prince Henry born = 1491 • JPs powers extended to cover poachers and hunters = 1485
• Act of Resumption = 1486 • JPs given power to grant bail = 1491
• Backdated his reign to = 21 August 1485 • JPs given power to vet juries = 1495
RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN POWERS: SOCIETY:
• Lovell’s rebellion = 1486
• French invaded the Duchy of Brittany = 1487
• Lambert Simnel dominated government = 1486
• Treaty of Redon (England & Brittany) = February 1489
• Simnel crowned as Edward VI in Dublin = 24 May 1487
• In Treaty of Redon, Anne of Brittany paid for 6,000 troops, Henry
• Battle of Stoke (Simnel) = 16 June 1487
VII sent 3,000
• Yorkshire Rebellion after parliamentary tax to finance aid to
• Treaty of Dordrecht (England & HRE) = February 1489
• Brittany (& Northumberland murdered)= 1489
In Treaty of Dordrecht, Henry VII sent 3,000 troops
• Perkin Warbeck lands in Ireland, Irish refuse to back him = 1491
• Treaty of Medina del Campo (England & Spain) = March 1489
• Warbeck arrives in Burgundy, welcomed at court = 1493
• Catherine of Aragon’s dowry = £40,000
• Cornish rebellion over tax for campaign against Scottish invasion
• Henry VII launches invasion on France to secure Treaty of Etaples
by James IV = 1497
= October 1492
• Battle of Blackheath (Cornish rebellion) = 16 June 1497
• Henry VII had 26,000 men in 1492 invasion of France
• Warbeck executed, along with Earl of Warwick = 1499
• Treaty of Etaples (England and France) = November 1492
• Printing press introduced from Germany to England by William
• Terms of Treaty of Etaples = entire campaign paid for (£150-
Caxton = 1476
£160,000) arrears of Treaty of Picquigny (£150-£160,000), £5,000
• Henry VII created post of the ‘King’s Printer’ = 1504
for every year Henry VII remained king
• Louth raised money to construct church spire = 1501-1515
• Economic income from Treaty of Etaples made by 5% of Henry
• Number of nobles decreased by ¼ across Henry VII’s reign
VII’s annual income
• Trade embargo with Burgundy (Margaret supported Warbeck)=
1493
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
• Intercursus Magnus, ends trade embargo with Burgundy = 1496 • First Navigation Act = 1485
• Marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon = 1501 • Second Navigation Act = 1489
• Death of Prince Arthur = 1502 • John Cabot sailed from Bristol, found what would become
• Death of Elizabeth of York = 1503 known as Newfoundland = 1497
• Treaty of Blois (Spain and France) = 1505 • William Weston led expedition to the New World, may have
• Treaty of Windsor = 1506 landed = 1499 or 1500
• Intercursus Malus with Burgundy = 1506 • Depression in the cloth industry = 1493-96
• Henry VII fails in attempting to establish anti-Spanish alliance =
1508 RELIGION, HUMANISM, ARTS, LEARNING:
• League of Cambrai = 1508 • Burning of heretics introduced into English law = 1501
• Truce of Ayton (England and Scotland) = 1497 • Works of humanist scholars had become more fashionable by 1509
• Marriage of Princess Margaret to James IV of Scotland, sealing • Roughly 900 monasteries
Truce of Ayton = 1503 • 1% of adult males were monks
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