AQA A Level History Tudors Example A* standard essay - Henry VIII financial policies and dissolution of the monasteries
AQA A LEVEL HISTORY, THE TUDORS: government mindap (covers all monarchs)
AQA A LEVEL HISTORY: the tudors mindmap, society under all monarchs
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Unit 1 - Change and Consolidation
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‘Henry VIII was content to allow ministers to rule
for him.’ Assess the validity of this view
When Henry VIII came to the throne, it quickly became apparent that he would not govern
in the way his father had, nor did he possess the work ethic attributed to his father. Throughout his
reign, Henry VIII had two ‘chief ministers’ but also held conciliar governments. In order for Henry to
have allowed ministers to rule for him, the majority of decisions must have been made by the
ministers, in addition to this, Henry must have supported these decisions. Therefore, Henry VIII was
not content to allow ministers to rule for him but rather for them to carry out day-to-day
government business with larger decisions dictated by him.
Henry VIII inherited a conciliar government from his father and quickly became
disenchanted with them due to his desire to go to war with France in June 1512. Henry’s council was
primarily composed of more conservative members who did not wish to go to war. This led to
frequent clashes and shows that Henry would not let ministers rule for him as he had his own
objectives that he wished to achieve – one of which was his desire to prove himself through war.
This further shows that Henry would not support the decisions of ministers who did not seek to
support his agenda, furthering the idea that Henry would not allow ministers to make decisions for
him if their objectives did not match his. However, Henry was often disinterested in government
business (he would often only discuss government affairs following mass or dinner), and therefore, it
can be said that Henry would happily allow his ministers a degree of control. Henry’s impulsive
nature meant that he would often interject in government business, however. Therefore, this
reinforces the idea that Henry was content to allow ministers to rule for day-to-day affairs but would
dictate decisions as his interjections into policy making and decision to go to war with France shows
that Henry was not content with the decision making of the council and therefore, they cannot be
seen to have ruled for him.
The conciliar government paved the way for Wolsey’s meteoric rise to power. Henry
increasingly wanted to make his own decisions and Thomas Wolsey facilitated this from 1515 to
1529. Wolsey introduced sweeping reforms to the judicial system in the form of the creation of the
Court of the Chancery (which he oversaw as Lord Chancellor) and the reforms to the Star Court from
1516 onwards. These reforms demonstrate the rule of ministers rather than Henry VIII as he was
largely unconcerned with the population’s ability to access justice. This shows Wolsey’s role in the
ruling of England as it shows how he created policy rather than Henry and demonstrates his
influence over English law and society. However, Henry also dictated policy to Wolsey. The Tudor
Subsidy of 1523 changed the way that taxes were introduced by creating a national committee
(headed by Wolsey) to provide a more realistic assessment of wealth. This was a direct result of
Henry’s desire to go to war with France in the same year. This reinforces the idea that Henry was
largely in control of decisions as his wish to go to war caused Wolsey to change financial policy in
order to meet his demands and wishes. Therefore, Henry did not allow minster to rule for him but
rather allowed them certain degrees of freedom in carrying out day-to-day government business (as
is evidenced by Wolsey’s judicial reforms) as long as his own decisions and wishes were carried out.
However, Wolsey was not Henry’s only principal minister, the role also fell to Thomas
Cromwell. Cromwell enjoyed Henry’s favour from 1530-1540, though not to the same extent as
Wolsey. Securing the legislative break from Rome was left largely to Cromwell and in April 1533, the
‘Act in Restraint in Appeals’ was passed. This Act had been drafted by Cromwell and allowed him to
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