TUDORS REVISION NOTES
BREADTH THEME 1 – CHANGES IN GOVERNANCE AT THE CENTRE
How effective were key developments in Tudor government and administration
Tudor society based in hierarchy, and everyone having their social superiors
The monarch had divine right and therefore in theory could rule as they wished
however their power was limited as they needed support prevent rebellions and
uprisings. And use the of nobility and gentry to run the country. they were the
monarchs eyes and ears on a local level, any local disorder would be the
responsibility of the local nobility and gentry.
Before Henry VIII challenges from the nobility were more common however
under Henry VIII and his children, they became increasingly infrequent.
In the Tudor period there was increasing control that the monarch was
able to exert over their nobility , this was linked to the changing role of the nobility in central and local
government.
Nobility and gentry
These were below the monarch, they helped the monarch govern, under the Tudors there were 40-60 men who held
the nobility title, number fluctuating with royal policy and as families died out. The population of England rose from
just over 2 million in the early 16th century in early 16th century to just over 4 million by 1600. Although they were a
small minority group, they held roughly 10% of the land that was available for cultivation. They saw themselves as
the natural friends, advisers and military leaders of the monarch, the relied on the monarchs favour and protection
also, when rebellions did occur it was usually because the relationship had broken down Below the nobility were
about 5000 gentry families, like nobility originally had a military role but by the Tudor period they were increasingly
involved In local government, they were landowners also although their estates were generally less extensive than
those of the nobility. Although Tudor society was hierarchical in nature it was possible to rise through the ranks, but
it was also able to lose rank through political miscalculation or because of economic hardship.
Yeomans and artisans
Below land owing groups were these two emerging groups. Yeomen were prosperous farmers who tended to their
own land, they tended to be relatively financially secure due to the fact that they owned their own land and
therefore less affected by price rises and rent increases. artisans were skilled craftsmen who often lived In towns or
larger villages. In the early Tudor period it was these groups who would provide the leadership and shaped the
demand for popular rebellion, in the second half of the Tudor period this group was less involved in rebellion as it
became more involved in local government.
Peasants
Majority of England’s population still lived in rural areas despite growing Tudor towns. They worked on the land for
the local landlord, usually they did not own the land where they lived and worked on, they were most vulnerable to
social and economic changes such as poor harvests epidemics and price increases. It has been estimated hat about
two fifths of the English population were living on the margins of subsistence and any social or economic crisis would
push this group into hardship anger and rebellion.
Vagrants and beggars
People without master’s that roamed the countryside, particularly feared due to the fact that they did not have a
master, they defied the Tudor hierarchy system, threat to social order as their movement around could lead to the
spread of rumours and dangerous ideas, they were harshly treated and punished.
,The monarchy and government
Personal monarchy was key in the Tudor government, as long the monarch was able to do so they would make key
decisions about policy, although a sensible monarch would be seen to take advice even if they did not act on it, they
still ruled England and made the important decision to amend foreign policy and religious policy. Given the
importance of the monarch it was important that he was competent, adult and male, it was assume that women
were incapable of ruling on their own. It was the duty of the monarch to protect their country from invasion and
protect the rights and privileges of heir subjects. Their powers were curbed by the Magna Carta, which was written in
1215 stated that no one is above the law including the king and established free elections for all, as well as the
development of other branches of government such as parliament and the royal council.
By 1485 a more complex system of government had been established which could both help and hinder the monarch
in their rule. These systems contained more informal bodies such as the royal court and the privy chamber from
Henry VIII’s reign. There were also more formal institutions such as the council and financial and judicial systems.
These institutions were central and tended to remain in London.
Royal court (part of the royal household)
Served the monarch, display of wealth and source of entertainment, wherever the monarch was the court would
follow, under the Tudors those who sought patronage came to the royal court. Those who succeeded in gaining
patronage could then build up enormous power and wealth however they remained dependent on the court for this,
it was important for the court to show their power and wealth to visitors and put on elaborate and expensive
displays such as tournaments and plays.
Royal household
Household was responsible for the monarchs domestic needs, hundreds of people were employed in the kitchens
laundries and gardens, most were menial servants. The household could grow or shrink according to the needs of the
monarch and his family, it was sometimes criticized when it became too expensive and costly, there were occasional
attempts to reform the household and to reduce its expenses, Wolsey issued the Eltham ordinances in 1526 to try to
achieve this but they were unsuccessful because Wolsey did not have sufficient control over appointments and the
desires and wishes of the king himself. The Eltham ordinances were reforms that proposed a smaller council 20 men
who would travel with the king, it was an attempt to reduce the amount of ‘hangers on’ around the king and reduce
the size and cost of the household, an attempt to restrict access to the king.
Privy chamber
Served by the household, access to the monarch was strictly controlled, even the arrangement of rooms was to
ensure privacy, The privy chamber was a private chamber which was actually a series of rooms where the king and
his family lived and resided. Changes were made to the privy chamber henry VII feared betrayal from those he
trusted, his position as a usurper, chamber was used to restrict physical access to the monarch, he created the
yeomen of the guard who acted as personal bodyguards and guarded the entrances to his private rooms. He even
sued the chamber to collect income which he personally monitored, the system of chamber finance had the
advantage that henry always had access to money, but it was dangerous as it was reliant on the monarchs ability and
interest in controlling royal income, Monarchs after Henry VII did not have the time or will to do so and so the use of
chamber finance collapsed.
Under Henry VIII David Starkey ahs suggested that the chamber became an important political hub, had its own staff
who were knows as the gentlemen of the privy chamber, including the groom of the stool, in charge of the royal
toilet. Henry filled these positions with those who were his most trusted friends, usually men from the nobility or
gentry. They were not simply servants as they had close and intimate access to henry on a daily basis. They were also
his advisers and were often employed in more formal areas of government. Access to the monarch through the privy
chamber was one route to power and influence in the Tudor period and was an opportunity to influence the
direction of government, by 1540s this also meant control of the dry stamp which was kept by the gentlemen of the
chamber. This could be a threat to royal power as abuse of the royal seal was a possibility, it did occur most notably
with Sir Anthony Denny who used the seal to make alterations to the kings will in his favour in 1547, which bought
him increased power and influence in government. Under Edward dry stamp also controlled by privy chamber. Under
,Mary and Elizabeth role of chamber began to shift. With female monarchs, because role included close physical
contact, increasing numbers of women instead of men filled the chamber, this did not mean it lost its political role
entirely although it was declining, Marys female attendants were her former servants married to male members of
the household, they undoubtedly had their influence with the queen. The holy roman emperor Charles V even wrote
to his ambassador speaking of how some of the ladies were taking advantage of their position to gain patronage and
favours. Mary however kept her dry stamp under lock and key, and she seemed to have never let her administrators
have access to it. It continued to decline in political importance under Elizabeth, by then political decisions were
determined through the formal channels of the council rather than the informal route of the chamber.
Privy council
A more formal body had existed since the medieval times to advise the monarch, helped with the day to day running
of the country and could act as a judicial court when there were high profile legal cases that could not go through the
regular courts, in particular those to do with nobility.
Under Henry VII the council was larger and more informal body than it became under Henry VIII. Between 1485 and
1509 over 200 men attended council meetings, As Henry was a usurper, he had no previous experience and so these
people were crucial in establishing and securing his position on the throne. He did not hold regular parliaments his
councils played a more important role in gathering information about popular opinion and mood of the country. they
advised him on the best policies to pursue. He also made use of great councils which were special gatherings of
nobility and councillors, these usually used when issues of taxation and war needed to be discussed. He held 5 great
councils in between 1487 and 1502, they allowed him to appear as if he was considering the opinion of his advisers
however, he had in reality already made up his mind on what he wanted to do.
Under henry VIII he had access to an experienced council however they held many of his fathers ideologies which did
not match up with his own. His father had tried not to engage in expensive foreign wars however Henry was trained
as a warrior and wished to prove himself, he soon replaced his fathers advisers with his own including Wolsey who
rose to power as he was able to meet Henrys desire of war. Wolsey remained dominant in politics until 1529 when he
fell from power. As a result of Wolsey’s dominance the council retained its traditional functions it was still fairly large,
40 members most of whom would not attend on a regular basis, however in 1526 Wolsey proposed his Eltham
ordinances, although this initially came to nothing, by 1540 a council such as one suggested called the privy council
was formed and by Elizabeths reign was responsible from most of the day to day running of the country.
Reform of privy council In 1540
Geoffrey Eltons revolution in government thesis – argued that changes occurred in 1536-37 where there was a
conscious act of administrative reform designed to modernise the existing kings council. Elton argued this was part of
Cromwell’s attempt to modernise the existing kings council which brought about lasting change to how the Tudor
system operated. Guy argues that this reform was as a response to the pilgrimage of grace in 1536. The smaller body
met in 1536 and was an emergency body filled with trusted advisers, many of these were actually enemies of
Cromwell so it was not accurate to say that he instigated the council as otherwise he would not have filled it with
men who resented him, it was only after Cromwell’s fall and execution that real and lasting changes to the council
took place.
Changes that happened in 1540 were permanent ones which lasted for the rest of the period. After the fall of
Cromwell there was a need to restructure government so that it could continue to work without him, he had
manipulated his position as the kings secretary in order to wield power and influence the king. Henrys reign to 1540
had been dominated by the influence of his two chief ministers Wolsey and Cromwell, they came from relatively
common backgrounds and so were resented by traditional members of the nobility who saw themselves as natural
advisers of the king. After Cromwell’s fall the council turned into a chief minister this meant that the members were
now collectively responsible for what Wolsey and Cromwell had previously done, this meant that now it was no
longer possible for a singular individual to wield the amount of power that Cromwell had. Under Elizabeth Cecil
preferred to use his position as queens secretary rather than chief minister although he did act as such.
From 1540 membership was permanently reduced compared to under Henry VII whose council had 227 members
many of whom attended infrequently. Before 1536 henrys council had included up to 120 members, after 1540
, membership was reduced to around 19 members, although in the reigns of Edward and Mary there were slight
increases the trend was continued by Elizabeth and the reasons for the fluctuations reflected the individual styles of
the monarchs. Under Edward the role of the council was also undermined due to his uncle Duke of Somerset’s desire
to make decisions and rule from his own household. Although this may seem as if it undermines the notion that
permanent change was established the council was able to reassert itself. Under Mary a larger number of men were
included in the council in an attempt to be inclusive however only a small core of this group were regularly active. By
the time of Elizabeths reign these changes had established permanency and not only had the size changed but also
the focus of their work. They could now issue collective proclamations in the monarchs name and did not have to
wait for explicit instruction to do so. From Mary’s reign onwards it had its own seal which did not override the dry
stamp. As Tudor government expanded further into the localities the volume of administrative work increased and
the amount of work done also increased, the council was meeting increasingly regularly and by the 1590s it was
meeting every day even sometimes twice a day.
The development of the role of secretary
The post first became important under Cromwell in the 1530s. originally the role was one of personal secretary to
the monarch and the secretary was part of the royal household. Holding the position meant close personal access to
the monarch as well as control of the monarchs personal or privy seal, this meant the secretary could be highly
influential and in the hands of Cromwell the position grew however it was not sustained after his fall. Cromwell was
able to manipulate his position until he became the most powerful person in the country besides the king, he had
become henry’s secretary by 1534. He used his position to control council meetings and he had access to the kings
day to day business. Post Cromwell’s fall the position of secretary declined in importance as the post was split
between two people for the first time Wriothesely and Sadler, neither of whom were ever as powerful as Cromwell.
It is likely that the decision to split the post was due to increased levels of work. Appointing two meant that there
was collective responsibility once more and no one person had too much power. Secretary only became important
again under William Cecil who was also Elizabeth’s spymaster. Walsingham was also secretary until his death in 1590.
During Elizabeth’s reign the post of secretary became permanently important, the men appointed used it to enhance
their own power and to conduct day to day running of the government on the queens behalf. They had to make sure
that council meeting were well run and also sift through effectively the information that was sent to them. The role
could even be a dangerous one as responsibility was heavily placed upon them and any wrong move could result in
angering the monarch which was always a risky move. After Walsingham Elizabeth refused to fill the post for six
years. Nevertheless ambitious men kept wanting the role due to the great power that came alongside it. When
Robert Cecil came to power, he was able to distribute patronage to those whom he anted and ensure followers of his
rival the earl of Essex were not rewarded.
Post of lord lieutenant
Tudor central government also extended with increasing directness into local communities especially through the
post of LL’s. Before the a6th century management of the local government was carried out by the nobility. Some roles
included being JPs, collecting taxation, raising armies to fight for the king, upholding law and order. However it was
possible for those members of nobility to abuse their position such as in the wars of the roses, they were also
capable of manipulating the legal system to benefit them and their families. The system of lord lieutenants
developed over the period to solve these problems and to increase royal control of the regions.
Henry VIII as a response to the demands of foreign war and the threat of domestic rebellion : in 1512 and 1545 he
gave commissions to members of the nobility to organise defence against the threat of France and Scotland whom
England was at war with. In 1536 he issues commissions to deal with the threat posed by the pilgrimage of grace. In
1549 the duke of Northumberland who was acting as protector of Edward appointed members of the nobility as
lieutenants to deal with the trouble caused by serious rebellions of that year. Under Mary There were further
attempts to formalise the system again in response to the demands of war with France. In 1557-8 Marys nobility
struggled to recruit troops and so Mary’s response was to divide the country up into 10 lieutenancies with each
lieutenant being responsible for the defence of their region and military recruitment however this was a temporary
development and did not survive once the threat of French invasion had passed in 1558.
