Henry VII's government

The Council

The King ruled with a 'council' of advisors who supported him in making key decisions. The working Council contained around six or seven members. Its functions were:

  • To advise the king
  • To administer the realm on the king's behalf
  • To make legal judgments

There were three main types of councillor:

  1. Nobles, such as Lord Daubeney, though the working
    Council only rarely included the great magnates.
  2. Churchmen, such as John Morten and Richard Fox, who
    often had legal training and were excellent administrators
  3. Laymen, either gentry or lawyers, who were skilled
    administrators, such as Sir Reginald Bray and Edmund
    Dudley

Under Henry VII the Council was a permanent body with a core membership, though with no established procedures. Sometimes members also met separately to discuss legal or administrative issues.


Non councillors could also advise the King - for example, Henry's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, acted as an unofficial advisor.

The Council Learned (or Council Learned in Law)

An offshoot of the Council, this body developed during the second half of Henry's reign, initially under Bray. Its function was to maintain the king's revenue and prerogative rights. It made the system of bonds and recognisances work effectively, thus helping to ensure loyalty and raise finance.

It was not a recognised court of law and there was no right of appeal against it.

Court and Household

The royal court was the centre of government. It was a focus for personal monarchy - a system in which a person's power is determined by his relationship with the monarch. Rewards and status were distributed through the court; courtiers enjoyed paid positions or the right to receive free food, and it was there that the support of the king or other influential positions could be obtained.

In 1485, the court comprised:

  • The household proper, responsible for looking after the king, courtiers and guests, supervised by the Lord Steward
  • The Chamber, presided over by the Lord Chamberlain, a powerful and influential courtier who was also a member of the king's Council and often spoke for the monarch - this was a politically important part of the system

In 1495, after the involvement of Sir William Stanley, the Lord Chamberlain, in the Perkin Warbeck conspiracy, Henry remodelled the Chamber as the Privy Chamber. He could retreat into this, protected by his most intimate servants; this made it more difficult for anyone to gain or regain the king's favour, and also cut Henry off from many of the king's traditional contacts at court.

Parliament

Parliament met infrequently and was not central to government. It comprised of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Of these, the House of Lords was more important.

Only the king could Parliament, and Henry demonstrated his right to rule by calling his first parliament in November 1485. Henry called seven parliaments in his reign. Five of these met in the first ten years and only two in the remaining 14 years; this shows that power centred on the Crown and when Henry felt more secure, Parliament could be dispensed with.

Henry's early parliaments were largely concerned with the following:

  • National security: For example, his first two parliaments
    passed numerous Acts of Attainder (by which individuals
    could be declared guilty without trial if alive; if dead, their
    property would be forfeit to the Crown)
  • Raising revenue: For example:
    • His first parliament granted tonnage and poundage
      (customs revenue) for life
    • Other parliaments granted extraordinary revenue
      (taxation granted as a one-off payment, for example to
      enable to king to wage war)

Parliament appears to have operated effectively under Henry VII, with the King accepting its decisions.

Domestic policy

Regional government

Local government

At a local level, Henry gradually increased the powers of justices of the peace (JPs) who, together with the sheriff (the man responsible for elections to Parliament and peace-keeping), were appointed to each county.

  • JPs were unpaid and mostly local gentry (of lower social status than the nobles); a few were royal officials
  • They met four times a year to deliver judgements on disputes at the quarter sessions
  • They were responsible for routine administration, e.g. tax assessments, complaints against local officials and maintenance of law and order.

Most serious cases were heard at the courts of assize by judges appointed by the Crown. The Court of King's Bench dealt with appeals from the quarter sessions and courts of assize could overturn the decisions of the lesser courts. There was also a wide range of other courts, e.g. Church Courts, manor and borough courts, and King's courts.

Following losses of land and power during the Wars of the Roses, the great magnates (the wealthiest nobles)were powerful only in the North of England. The Stanleys controlled the North-West. The Earl of Northumberland ruled the North-East until 1389, when the Yorkist Earl of Surrey was released ed from prison and sent to the North; this risk paid off, and Surrey served loyally for ten years.

The Earl of Surrey ruled this area through the Council of the North. There were other regional councils in Wales and the Marches, and in Ireland.

Henry preferred to rely on the lesser magnates, but he trusted few and employed a spying network to ensure all the nobility remained loyal.