Notes on the set up of parliament in Tudor England, with a section on the Act of Supremacy 1534, the parliaments of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Also includes the roles and relations of the church before 1529.
HOW DID THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE CHURCH CHANGE?
Church-state relations
Parliament = gained important powers by Tudor period
Included sole right to grant taxation and sole right to pass laws
Monarchs still retained the right to veto any laws they didn’t like and could summon
and dismiss parliament at will
Unlike today, parliament was not involved in day-to-day government
Most monarchs would still call parliament periodically
How was Parliament organised?
2 chambers: 1. House of Lords – unelected house where hereditary peers and bishops
sat. 2. House of commons – elected MPs (2 elected to represent each county in
England)
To vote = necessary to own property generating income of 40 shillings (£2) a year
means that voting = restricted to those wealthy enough to own property
Parliament tended to represent the interests of the landed gentry and the nobility
To pass an act through parliament – bill had to be heard in both Houses before being
given assent by the monarch
Tensions between parliament and the monarch arose over taxation, religion and the
royal succession etc.
The role of parliament under Henry VII
Henry forced to call parliament periodically – needed grants of taxation to fund
defence
Summoned parliament 7 times in 24 years – parliament sat for a total of 72 weeks
1504 – last meeting of parliament
Parliament was only called when Henry needed a grant of taxation – Parliament
granted this request on every occasion apart from 1504
Since the early 14th century, the Commons had acquired the right to challenge the
monarch about taxation
The early parliaments of Henry VIII, 1509-23
Parliament only met 4 times between 1509-1529: 1510, 1512-14, 1515 + 1523
Role in this period = mainly grant taxation to fund Henry’s wars
By 1517, Parliament = less keen to grant increasing amounts of money – after
military failures internationally
This was due to MPs (landowners) fearing rebellion from increasing taxation
1523 – Wolsey faced opposition from Commons to detail the amount of taxation he
wanted
by this date - £288,814 had been raised in taxation and £260,000 in unpaid loans
Henry and Parliament’s relationship remained harmonious until 1529 when Henry
began the annulment against Catherine of Aragon
The role of the Tudor Church before 1529
Before 1529 – Roman Catholic church = enormously powerful
Since Middle Ages, the Church had grown in wealth and influence – with its own
complex structure and hierarchy
Head of Catholic church = Pope – believed to be placed here by God
Pope had power to appoint senior churchmen (Cardinals, bishops, Archbishops)
Technically these appointments reflected the wishes of the English Monarchs
Roman Catholic beliefs and practices = in every aspect of people’s lives
, Church performed marriages and funerals, a key source for alms and cared for the
sick and elderly
Lent, Christmas and Easter = key events in most people’s lives – most legal
documents would be dated by referring to the closest religious festival.
Church taught that Heaven, hell and Purgatory were real places: how people
behaved on Earth could affect what happened to their souls after death
Attendance at regular church services = crucial as well as performing good deeds,
confessing sins, and going on pilgrimage
Transubstantiation – belief that at Mass, during the consecration, the bread and
wine would become the body and blood of Jesus
Church = main source of learning and education
Papacy challenged those who conflicted the Church’s teachings – heresy
Punishment for heresy = burning at the stake
Church services and the Bible were in Latin – many couldn’t understand what the
priest was saying
A career in the Church offered opportunities to rise to the top of society – Thomas
Wolsey is an example of this
Was the son of an Ipswich Butcher but became Henry VIII’s chancellor and chief
minister – Alter Rex
Before 1529 – church had supporters and critics – debate over popularity and
relevance to everyday life
Humanist thinkers criticised the power and wealth of Church and clergymen – in
the Bible, the original Church and Priests = poor and humble
Criticised Church for the exploitation of fear for what would happen to souls after
death
Worship of saints seen as superstitious and non-biblical
Antagonism towards the church = anticlericalism
Tudor period = Church = biggest landowner in England
Relations between the Tudor state and the Church before 1529
Tensions between factions tended to arise over the power and privileges of the
Church, esp. when thought to be undermining or challenging the power of the
monarchy
Further source of tension = ability of the papacy (based in Rome) to intervene in
English Church affairs
Papal foreign intervention = could be seen as an attack on the power of English Kings
As a usurper, Henry VII needed the support of the Church to equate for support from
God following Bosworth
1489 + 1491 – Henry passed laws tightening controls over who could claim benefit of
clergy – seen as an attempt to ensure those who claimed privileges were genuine
members of the clergy --- not intended as an attack on the Church’s power
Henry’s relationship w/papacy was good. Able to ensure that the Pope appointed John
Morton (Henry’s candidate as Archbishop of Canterbury)
Anticlericalism existed in England and was sometimes expressed in Parliament –
e.g., between 1512 + 1515
1512 – another Act to limit the benefit of the Clergy – may be seen as continuation of
process begun by Henry VII
1515 parliament – anticlerical feeling exacerbated by the Hunne affair – rich London
merchant found dead in the Bishop of London’s prison
Church claimed he committed suicide, but was rumoured Hunne was murdered –
parliamentary criticism of power and corruption of the Church
Henry VIII regarded himself as a loyal catholic – published a book Assertio Septem
Sacramentorum (The defence of the seven sacraments)
Henry’s chief minister, Wolsey, = one of the most powerful men in Europe after being
appointed as Cardinal by the Pope
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