THE TUDORS

The Birth of the Nation State

The century of Tudor rule (1485-1603) is thought of as the most glorious period in English history

Henry VII built the foundations of a wealthy nation state and a powerful monarchy

Henry VIII kept a magnificent court and broke the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church

Elisabeth I defeated the powerful Spanish navy

England experienced one of the greatest artistic periods in its history

Less Glorious Facts

Henry VIII wasted the wealth saved by his father

Elisabeth I weakened the quality of government by selling official posts in order to avoid asking Parliament for money

Her government tried to deal with the problem of poor and homeless but its laws and actions were cruel in effect

The New Monarchy

Henry VII – was far more important in establishing the

new monarchy - he had the same ideas as the growing

classes of merchants and gentlemen farmers - he based royal power on good business

sense - he believed that war and glory were bad for

business and that business was good for the state

-therefore he avoided quarrels with Scotland and France

During the War of the Roses, England’s trading position had been badly damaged

The strong German Hanseatic League, a closed trading society, had destroyed the English trade with the Baltic and northern Europe

Only after the victory of Bosworth in 1485 Henry VII made an important trade agreement with the Netherlands which allowed English trade to grow again

Many of the old nobility had died or had been defeated in the wars and their lands had gone to the king – Henry had more power and more money

The authority of the law had been almost completely destroyed by the lawless behaviour of the nobles and local justice had been broken down

Henry’s aim was to make the Crown financially independent – the land and fines he took from the nobility helped him do this

He was careful to keep the friendship of the merchant and lesser gentry classes and they wanted peace and prosperity

When he died in 1509 he left 2 million pounds as he spent money only on building of ships for the merchant fleet

Henry VIII - was cruel, wasteful with money and

interested in pleasing himself - he wanted to become an important

influence in European politics - he wanted to hold the balance of power

between France and Spain – he allied himself with Spain and then changed sides

- he spent money on maintaining a magnificent court and on useless wars and soon his father’s money was gone

- he reduced the quantity of silver used in coins – lead to a rise in prices and to a reduction of the English coinage to a 7th of its value in 25 years

The Reformation Henry disliked the power of the Church who

was a huge landowner He wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon

but the Pope didn’t agree In 1531 he persuaded his bishops to make

him the head of Church – it became law after the Act of Supremacy in 1534

It was a political act, Henry remained in the Catholic faith Fidei Defensor

1536-1539 he closed 560 monasteries and religious houses and sold their land – the greatest act of official destruction in the history of Britain

Elisabeth I - she wanted to bring together those

parts of English society which were in religious disagreement

- she wanted to make England prosperous

- she made the Church a part of the state machine – the parish became the unit of state administration, she arranged for a book of sermons to be used in church

- she carried Henry VII’s policy much further encouraging merchant expansion

- she recognized Spain as her main trade rival and enemy

- she helped the Dutch Protestants by allowing their ships to use English harbours from which they could attack Spanish ships, then helped them with money and soldiers

- English ships attacked Spanish ships on their return from America and the treasure was shared with the queen

- in 1587 Philip decided to conquer England, built a great fleet “Armada” to move his army across the English Channel – destroyed by Francis Drake

- in 1588 Philip started again but was defeated, mostly by weather

A New Empire Elisabeth followed two policies: 1. encouraged English sailors to

attack and destroy Spanish ships 2. encouraged English traders to

settle abroad and to create colonies – this lead to Britain’s colonial empire

The first colonists sailed to America at the end of the century

Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco back to England

The settlers tried to start profitable colonies in Virginia

England began selling West African slaves for the Spanish in America

More “chartered” companies were established – the right to all the business in its particular trade or region – they had to give part of the profits to the Crown: the Eastland Company, the Levant Company, the Africa Company

Competition with the Dutch for the spice trade with East Indies – lead to three wars before the end of the 17th century

Government and Society A period of far reaching changes, mostly in

ideas as a result of the rebirth of intellectual attitudes known as the Renaissance

Tudor parliaments - the kings didn’t like to govern through

Parliament, they seldom called it together -Henry VIII invited Parliament to make laws,

thus giving it an authority it never had before

Parliament strengthened its position during Edward’s reign by ordering the new prayer book to be used in all churches

2 things which persuaded the Tudor kings not to get rid of the Parliament: they needed money and the support of the merchants and landowners

Parliament only met when the monarch ordered it – in the first 44 years of Tudor reign it met only 20 times

During the century the power moved from the House of Lords to the House of Commons because they represented richer and more influential classes

The size of the Commons doubled as a result of the inclusion of Welsh boroughs and counties and the inclusion of more English boroughs

Parliament did not really represent the people – monarchy used its influence to make sure that many MPs support royal policy

In order to control discussion in Parliament the Crown appointed a Speaker

Parliament was supposed to do 3 things: 1. agree to the taxes needed 2. make the laws which the Crown suggested 3. advise the Crown but only when asked to

do so The kings tried to obtain money in different

ways: Elisabeth sold monopolies – her Parliament complained about its bad effect on free trade