However, Church influence was all pervasive and the church even had its own courts. All clergy were tried in these, as were those convicted of religious crimes such as adultery

Archbishops, bishops, and the abbots of larger religious houses were such important figures that the king intervened in their appointments

The pope was elected by cardinals, under home came the archbishops; in England, there were two archbishops, Canterbury and York

They sat in the House of Lords and often undertook political roles

England was a catholic country and churchmen had a dual allegiance- to both the pope and the king

Henry VII ensured that he had men of administrative ability as archbishops and bishops and preferred men with legal training e.g the royal councillors, Morton and fox

The church was important both for its spiritual role and as a great land owner.

At the parish level, curates and presets dealt with the spiritual needs of ordinary people, living modestly.

The greater gentry- often great landowners in their own right, some sought knighthoods to confirm their social status

Esquires and mere gentry- these were fear more numerous and had far less social prestige than the great gentry. They too were landowners and both groups might be office holders

The gentry ( around 500 knights, 800 esquires and 5000 gentlemen in 1500) comprised of:

The nobility and gentry combined made up around 1% of the total population of the time

Social attitudes ( people in London may see northerners as less refined; northern might envy southern wealth at the time)

Government structures: there were separate councils for the north of England, wales Ireland and the welsh marches; nobles also had considerable influence across coutnruy boundaries. Some areas such as the county palatines of Chester and Durham, enjoyed considerable independence

Differences in agriculture between the two areas either side of this Line

Church influcence. This varied by area and equally cut across other boundaries

demographic differences - the sparsely populated rural areas to the north/ west of an imaginary line from the tees estuary to Weymouth contained a quarter of the population, while three quarters lived in more densely popular counties to the south/ east of that line

Linguistic and cultural differences with the UK, most particularly in wales Cornwall and Ireland

In an age of limited travel ,regional loyalties were strong and officials appointed by or sent from London could be resent as outsiders. However the sense of a single English identity would have seem to have been relatively strong at this time

Next were shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen ( influential in borough corporations, guide and confraternties)

Lastly, unskilled urban workers and apprentices, beggars, and prositutes were at the bottom of the heichary for peasants

Educated professionals and merchants were at the top of the heigharchy of commoners

Next where husbandmen, richer peasantry ( who had bought or rented their own farms )

Lastly, where laboring peasants without land ( these were insecure- as the relied on selling their labour; and beggars, and vagrants

Whereas in the countryside, yeoman farmers were at the top of the heigharcy

Owned land, dukes earls and barons; part of goverment

Rich merchants and craftsmen in the towns

attainders were reversible and were revisersed for good behavior

These dated back to the 14th century and led to a family losing the right to possess land

In comparison to Edward IV who passed 140 and reversed 42, Henry VII passed 138 and revered 46: showing Henry’s was more prepared to reverse attainders

They had played and important role in the war of roses and therfore henry saw them as a threat to his own security

Henry tried to limit retaining, but never intentened to eradicate it altogether

1485: lord and commons had to swear that they would not retain illegally

1504: proclamations ensured nobles had to have a license to retain which had to be obtained from the king in person

E,g Katherine, dowager duchgesss of buckingham was fined around 7000 pound fort marrying without the kings license

livery: money was paid to the king for someone to recover land from wardship

Wardship- the king took control of the estates of minors in until they become of age. Henry would take most of the profits from these estates

Relie: the king received money from land when it was inherited by others

The more land henry was seen to possess the more power he was also seen to possess also

historian S.J Gunn estimates crown land was give times larger by the end of henry VII’s reign than in the 1450s

Henry was determined to bring back as much land as possible into the hands of the crown

recognisances were a formal acknowledgment of debt with an agreement to pay money if this was not resolved

for example, hetry’s use of recognisances become more severe as time went on

bonds were written agreements from which people promised to pay a some of money if they faile to carry out their promise

between 1485- 1509, 36 out of 62 gave bonds and or recognisances to henry VII, in comparison to just one during yorkist rule