The Tudors

• In 1509 Henry's most important foreign policy aim was glory through an adventurous policy of conquests
• Wanted to follow in the footsteps of Henry V

Henry required an ally in Europe who would support his attack on France. The obvious chance was Spain.

• Henry VIII formed and alliance with Spain
• Catherine of Aragon had married his brother Arthur and now was waiting in England as a widow

Henry also needed to ensure that the Scottish border with England was effectively controlled

• 1509 - He married Catherin of Aragon, secured the spanish alliance
• His plans for Foreign glory did not succeed
• One of the reasons was because of Henry's chief advisors; Archbishop Warham and Bishop fox. They both opposed war

• 1512 - Memeber of the Holy League 
• Henry launched an attack on Guienne in South West France with the expectation that he would be supported by his ally, Ferdinand of Spain.
• Ferdinand was merly using Henry as a distraction for the French while he siezed Navarre.
• Once he had accomplished this, Ferdinand made peace with Louis XII of France and Henry was forced to return to England, with nothing to show

The Battle of Spurs 1513

• Henry would lead the English army himself without relying on his allies, Ferdinand of Spain and Maximilian, The Holy Roman Emperor
• He placed the task of supplying the arm in his government, Thomas Wolsey
• Henry was unable to draw the French into battle
• His troops took the towns of Therouanne and Tournai
• From the King's point of view this was a very big achievement, and was looked at as a great victory.

The Battle of Flooden 1513

• The King's absense provided the Scots with the perfect oppitunity to cross the English border
• Henry had left Catherine as regent in his absense and the Earl of Surrey in control of the smaller army between 15,000 and 20,000 men remained in England
• James was Killed
• A third of Scottish army (10,000) men lost their lives

1513 marked the highpoint of Henry's military successes;

• He had achieved Glory by conquest
• Mary Tudor's marriage to Louis XII secured the peace with France 
• The Scottish border was secured for the next two decades

Wolsey's success in supplying the English army confirmed his position as Henry's most trusted adviser

However, some victories came at significant cost

• The campaigns had exhausted the entire tresury, which Henry had spent 20 years getting
• The towns of Therouanne and Tournai were expesive to fortify against French attack
• Therouanne and Tournai were on the French border, so offered a strategic advantage to Maxmillian rather than Henry

• Wolsey's and Henry's greatest diplomatic success
• Pope Leo X had called upon the European powers to unite and join a crusade against the Ottoman Turks

More than two dozen countries, including France and the Empire signed the treaty

• It commited the powers to live in peace with one another
• Any country that broke the peace risked invasion from other signatories to the treaty
• Each country made an individual treaty with England 
• Henry was placed at the centre of European affairs as the arbeiter of peace

Lasted for a fornight, jousting, sports and feasting

Effective?

• Henry achieved international glory
• The English displays were genrally agreed to have outdone those of the French
• Although it cost a year's income, it was considerably cheaper than war

Ineffective?

• No agreements of any sort were signed
• Charlves V was not invited
• England was appeared to be siding with France rather than remaing impartial as the international arbeiter of peace
• Henry was defeated in an impromptu wrestling match with Francis I. - Not internationally insignificant, Henry felt humilitaed and his feelings of enmity towards France increased

Brought international recognition and prestige to Henry VIII was the award of the title Defender of the Faith from Pope Leo X

The treaty of London established a fragile peace, and by 1521 it had broken down.

The main reaosn was the Hapsburg - Valois conflict rivalry that resulted in war between Francis I and Charles V in 1521:

• Charlves V won the imperial election in 1519. Franics I and Henry lost
• Charles was king of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders - So his lands surrounded France
• Both Charles and Francis had territorial ambitions in Northern Italy
• Pope Leo encouraged Charles V to drive back French incursions into Italy
• Fracis invaded Luxemburg (Imperial territory) in April 1521

• Henry would be forced to make a choice between Francis and Charles V. 
• Charles was determined to secure an alliance with England 
• Catherine of Aragon urged Henry to suport her nephew, Charles

Wolsey travelled to Bruges in 1521, In August he signed a secret alliance with the emperor on the following terms

• Henry and Charles would delcare war on France is Francis refused to make peace
• Charles would compensate Henry for the pensions from France that he would forfeit during the war
• The treaty would be kept secret until the French had paid the next instalments of the pension
• Charles was betrothed to Mary (Henry's daughter)

The treaty of Bruges kept England at the centre of European affairs, but it came with a high risk of conflict

War broke out between Charles and Francis over Milan

Under the terms of the treaty Henry delcared war on France in May 1522

The war prooved to be disastrous for Henry

• Henry was let down by Charles V, who focused all his attention on recovering Milan
• The Duke of Bourbon failed to bring the support he had promised for the march on Paris
• The English troops, led by the Duke of Suffolk, became bogged down in the mud and returned to England with nothing to show for their efforts

Although financial pressures meant that Henry was obliged to withdraw from an active role in the conflict, Charles V continued to fight

February 1525, Charles achieved victory over Francis at Pavia, which resulted in the capture of the French king

Henry sent Wolsey to make the following offer to Charles

• Henry and Charles should immediately invade France
• France should be divided between Charles, Henry and the Duke of Bourbon
• Henry would assume the title 'King of France'

Money had to raised to fund a new campaign in France

The taxes imposed to pay for 1522-23 campaign were still being collected, so it was not possible to request any more money from parliament

The cover the costs of the war, Wolsey sent out commissioners to collect a so called Amicable Grant - forced loan - It was one third of the incomes of the clergy and laity - This met with resistance in London, Kent and East Anglia, so had to be abandoned

Henry's dream of glory to an abrupt end and Wolsey was blamed

By 1525 Charles V was the most powerful of the Eurpoean monarchs

Chales had not demonstrated loyalty to England;

• He refused to accept Henry's plan to divide and conquer France after Pavia, and released Francis in return of promises for good behaviour and hostages
• 1526 Chalex married Isabella of Portugal, abandoning his promise in the treaty of Bruges to marry princess Mary

Henry abandoned the traditional alliance with spain and the Empire, and pursued a policy of alliane with France

The Policy was not successful and by 1529 England had been sidelined in European affairs

in 1525, Wolsey began negotiations with France

Treaty of More

• Henry gave up his claims to France
• Henry would recieve an annual pension of £20,000 from France

Treaty of Westminster

• England would eneter a full alliance with France
• Either France I or his son would marry Princess Mary

Henry's aim- England would be at the centre of European affairs

Wolsey entered negotations with the League of Cognac to put pressure on Charles V

Problem for Henry;

• in order to acquire allies in Europe he was actually being dragged into conflict in which he had little intrest

May 1527

Week long display of violence, in which they attacked the churches, shrines and monasteries

Consquences:

• Was a diaster for Henry VIII and Wolsey. Henry's decision to ally with France instead of with the Holy Roman Empire was clearly a failure for Henry's foreign policy
• Henry needed the support of the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon - The pope was in the hands of the emperor, Catherine's nephew

• England and France delcared war on Charles V in 1528
• England agreed to pay for the French attack
• England suspended trade with the Netherlands to place economic pressure on Charles V

However the policy was not a success as a protest by English cloth workers against the trade ban forced Wolsey to abandon this policy, France was once again defeated by Charles V

Charles deafeted Franic at Landrino in June 1528, For Francis, there was no alternative but to agree terms with the Emperor.

In the peae of Cambrai, Charles' control of Italy was confirmed 

Henry's aims

• To achieve glory by military conquest
• to conquer France
• to secure the scottish border
• to establish a reliable alliance againt France

Wolsey's aims

• To serve Henry's wishes
• To place England at the heart of European affairs
• To achieve glory and prestige at an affordable cost: peacemaking rather than war

Secruing the Scottish border

• The victory achieved at Flodden in 1513 secured England's northern border for two decades
• Henry was not to face a serious Scottich problem until 1540's

Territorial gains in France

• In the first French war 1513, Henry deafeated France in the battle of the spurs and took possession of the towns of Tournai and Therouanne
• They also ensured that England was seen as a force to be rekoned with

Between 1518 and 1521, Wolsey placed England at the centre of European affairs with the treaty of London and the spectacular displays at the field of the cloth of Gold.

This served Henry's purpose of achieving glory and prestige, and satisifed Wolsey's aim to keep the foreign policy affordable

Successes

• The battle of Spurs 1513
• The battle of Flodden 1513
• The treaty of London 1518
• The field of the Cloth of Gold 1520
• Defender of the faith 1521

Failures

• The holy League's war 1512
• The second French War 1522 - 23
• The battle of Pavia and the Amicable Grant 1525
• The diplomatic revolution
• The sack of Rome 1527
• The peace of Cambrai 1529

The role of Wolsey - Four key reasons why Wolsey became indispensible to Henry

• pursuing the King's aims- He tried to fufill the King's aims at the lowest cost possible

Diplomatic Skills

• When Henry demanded war 1522, Wolsey raised £200,000 through parliamentary tax
• reflects thee great effort Wolsey put in

Supplies

• Most difficult problem in war was suppying troops
• 1513 Wolsey took charge of the supply routes to France, made sure that Henry's 12,000 troops were supplied with food and weapns 
• Wolsey did benefit 
• 1514 - He was made Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York
• 1515 - Henry made him Lord Chancellor, pope made him cardinal
• 1517 pope made him papal legate

The Hapsburg - Valois rivalry: opportunities

• The rivalry assisted him in forging an alliance with Ferdinand of Spain and the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian. This was possible because France was the common enemy
• First French war 1513, Henry benefited from Maximilian's siege of Therouanne; England recieved the town in the peace treaty
• 1521 - Henry was about to use the Hapsburg - Valois rivalry to forge an alliance with Charles V at bruges - He was a powerful ally. The outcome did not meet his expectations when the English troops were effectively abandoned by Charles V and the Duke of Bourbon, who were pursuing their own goals
• Henry and Wolsey were able to initite the 'diplomatic revolution' in 1525 because Francis I wanted an ally against Charles V
• The treaty of Amiens in 1527 provided for the French to fight Charles V on behalf of the English

Scotland: James V's minority

• most significant threat was the Auld alliance between France and Scotland. 
• This problem was solved in 1515 when, as a result of the battle of Flodden, James IV died
• The initial regency of Margaret Tudor (Henry's sister) meant that the border was secure
• The later regency of the Duke of Albany was subject to factional disputes and therefore not strong enough to challenge Henry

1522, while Henry was occupied with the second French war, Albany sent 5000 troops across the border and laid seige to Wark castle in Northumberland. The castle was vigorously defended, and when the earl of Surrey led troops to relieve it, the Scots quickly retreated

Unreliable allies

• Henry's aims meant that he needed allies, but those he allied himself with could not be trusted.
• 1512 Ferdinand of Spasin used Henry's forces in Guienne while he seized Navarre. He then abandoned his agreement with Henry and made a separate peace with the French
• 1513 Maximilian's troops sacked and burned down Therouanne after it had surrended. Henry recieved the town as part of the peace treaty, it needed reconstruction and therefore cost more to maintain than it was worth
• 1522, Duke of Bourbon failed with the troops led by suffolk. The english troops were unable to advance on Paris. Wolsey refused to consider another campaign with Bourbon
• The diplomatic revolution of 1525 resulted in an alliance with France. Francis I was not unreliable, but was weak. 
• Henry had chosen the wrong ally and was eventually sidelined in the 1529 Peace of Cambrai

Limited resources

Population

• England - 2.75 million
• France - 15 million
• Hapsburg Empire - 23 million

Income

• England - £100,000
• France - £350,000
• Hapsburg Empire - £560,000

The role of the papacy

• 1512 - he placed himself at the centre of the European affairs by joining the Holy League
• 1518 Wolsey was able to transform Pope Leo's calls for the crusade into the Treaty of London
• 1521 Henry was awarded 'Defender of the Faith'
• However, after the sack of Rome 1527, the pope's fear of Charles V meant that he could not satisfy Henry's desire for an annnulment

Wolsey's ambitions

• 1525, he insulted the Emperor in the neogations after Pavia and this contributed to Charles negative response
• The failure of the Ambicable Grant was the key reason why Henry was not able to go to war in 1525

Henry was 17 years old when he received the throne

In this order

• King - The king was the feudal overlord, military leader, source of justice . He was seen as appointed by God, appointed the leading churchman
• court, - This included all the people who attended on the king
• Royal Council, - included up to 100 members- 1515 - 1529 - most important member was Wolsey 1532 - Thomas cromwell
• Privy Chamber - Consisted of men who were closest to Henry
• Parliament - Was called infrequently, usually for taxiation 
• Local Government - The king was represented in the country at large by the great noble families - often selected by the gentry

• Very different to his father
• He exected his fathers debt collectors; Dudley and Empson, and cancelling the bonds they owed

Background 

• born in 1472/1473 - son of an innkeeper and butcher - very able
• 1507 entered royal household
• soon appointed royal almoner, put him charge of the kings charity
• 1511 - 1515 he rosde to get top position in Henry's gov

Luck

• 1515 - Duke of Norfolk was getting to old to dominate politics
• Archbishop Warham resigned as Chancellor
• Bishop Fox resigned in 1516

Skill

• Wolsey successfully supplied the troops in the 1513 war.

Patronage

• Wolsey was rewared for the first French war with the bishoprics of Lincoln and Tournai. First of many positions to be given to him by the king

• Top position in royal governement.
• Wolsey replaced the king in day to day administraion of the real
• Responsible for the management of the King's finances and his household
• This ensured Wolsey recieved the King's gratitude and hence rewards

Wolsey was made Cardinal in 1515 - highest ranking churchman in England

1518 - Made papal Legate by Pope Leo X

The position of Papal Legate gave Wolsey to act at the Pope's representive in England

As a result Wolsey had been described as the most powerful man in England

• The court was a civil court
• The judgments passed int his court were based on equality and fairness
• Wolsey heard not only the cases of the rich and powerful, but also hundreds of cases on minor issues brought before him by the poorer classes. While hearing these cases Wolsey had a reputation for justice
• For wealthy clients, Wolsey took bribes
• The demands for Wolsey's time was great, especially because of Henry's foreign policy needs
• 540 cases a year

Was a criminal court

Wolsey was balmed and accused of conducting a vendetta against the wealthy

heard 120 cases a year

• Wolsey's hard work could not be denied 
• Some claim that Wolsey used the court system to exact revenge and bring down his opponents
• The distinction that Wolsey gained for his treatment of the poor came from his intervention in matters such as enclosures 
• 1517, Wolsey set up a commission to investigate the impact of enclosure on village life, began to prosecute landlords who had not had permission to enclose
• 1523 - parliement forced him to suspend his investigations and enclosures continued

Wolsey had been accused of prejudice against the rich because of his own humble origins

• Sir Amyas Paulet was to be kept at the middle temple for five years, unless he gave up all his properties

Wolsey was in charge of dispensing the King's justice and maintaining the law and order

Foreign Policy meant that Wolsey had to maximise the returns from the existing system and find new sources of revenue

The source of Henry's income

• The Crown lands
• Customs duties by parliament
• feudal dues
• parliamentary taxiation; fifteenths and tenths

This income had been falling because Henry had granted the lands away from the crown at the beginning of his reign

Wolsey pushed the act of Resumption through parliament in 1515. This restored some of the lands and brought an improvement to Henry's financial situation

Provision was made for additional money to pay for war and its associated costs. In these circumstances, Henry could request parliamentary taxes

The standard form of taxiation in England was fifteenths and tenths. These were fixed rates that were paid by towns. - not related to the actual wealth of the town.

Parliamentary tax

based on an accurate assessment of taxpayers income

• Parliament was summonded infrequently and usually for the purpose of raising taxes
• wolsey requested taxes on the King's behalf in parliaments of 1512- 1514, 1515 and 1523

1524 - Wolsey asked for a subsidy of four shillings in the pound, which would have provided £800,000

only raised £200,000 (Still the biggest sum they have ever raised) 

• 1515 - Act of Resumption was passed, revoked a number of royal grants - saved up to £10,000 a year
• 1519 - Wolsey persuaded Henry to dismiss Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in what had once been called the expulsion of the minions
• 1526 - Eltham Ordiances - Gentleman of the Bedchamber 12 to 6
• As many as 2000 royal servants were removes

Overall saved £107,000 a year

Was Wolsey an 'alter rex?'

• Wolsey had been accused by G. R Elton of trying'to rule as king when he was not king' behaving as an 'alter rex'
• Wolsey's title of cardinal and Papal legate elevated his rank to challenge the king
• Unpopular decisions were blamed on Wolsey
• Cavendish's emphasis that Wolsey had the 'King's authority' make it quite clear that Wolsey could not pursue his own independent policy

Wolsey strengthened rather than challenged the authority of the king

• He took the blame for the failures of the regime such as the disastrous Amicable Grant
• He managed parliament to deliver the finances necessary for the king to pursue his foreign policy

Little evidence that Henry's authority was weakened because of Wolsey's role

• His personal wealth, which was greater than that of the king
• his palac at Hampton court to which ambassadors sometimes came to before they went to the King's palace
• His use of gifts to impress the king and to manipulate him into agreeing with Wolsey's views

• Buckingham had a claim to the throne. He was therefore extremely dangerous to Henry. He was found guilty of illigally retaining men and of plotting to kill the king and was executed in 1521
• Wolsey's treatment of some nobility in the courts and his campaign against enclosures confirmed suspicions that he deliberately sought to humiliate the nobility
• For this part, Wolsey was suspicious of those who had access to Henry in the Bedhcmaber

Wolsey is often regarded as disliking parliament

16th Century - the primary pupose of parliament was to raise money

1515 - The Hunne case - Critism of the clergy after the murder of suspected heretic Richard Hunne

It was not called frequently because policy was made in the king's household

His power in the church

• Wolsey was the most important church man
• Archbishop of York 1514
• Wolsey was in a unique position to control the church
• It also put him in the prime position to tackle the problems that were confronting the church

Reform of the Church - why it needed reforming

• Pluralism (Holding more than one church office)
• Absenteeism (Failure of the bishop to live in his diocese)
• neopotism (giving a church office to a family member)
• simony (buying and selling church offices)
• sexual misconduct (Clergy were supposed to remain celibate, but there were frequent cases of priests keeping a mistress)
• Poor education (Some parish priests could barely read, so were in no position to explain the complexities of the Bible to their parishioners)
• Wolsey would not pursue reform with vigour. By not adressing the key issues that prompted criticism, he became assoicated with the corruption

When he did intervene to restrict benefit of clergy, Wolsey was mainly concerned that the church bowed to royal authority. Little evidence that he used his powers to address the burning issues of the day.

• To manage his finances so that the king's policies were affordable
• to keep the nobility under control and prevent any threats to Henry
• To achieve justice for all in the legal system
• to manage parliament and the church so they supported the king

Finance

positives

• New source of income (The Subsidy) was introduced and collected four times. in 1523, it raised £200,000 for war against France. This was the largest sum ever for a single tax
• Reduction pf expenditure - the expulsion of the minions in 1519and the Eltham Ordinances in 1526 cut the costs of the bedchamber

Negatives

• 1523, Wolsey requested £800,000 from the subsidy but parliament only granted £200,000, a quarter of the sum requested
• The Amicable Grant sparked such an oppisition in 1525 that it had to be abandoned without a penny collected. It was one reaosn why Henry was unable to take advantage of Francis I's defeat at Pavia
• The Eltham Ordinances alientated the nobility, whose sons often held positions in the Bedchamber

The legal system

1515 Wolsey claied he wanted to achieve justice for all

Positives

• 120 cases a year heard in the court of star chamber, compared to an average of 12 under HVIII
• 540 cases a year heard in court Chancery, including many from poorer backgrounds
• Wolsey established a court of requests where there were no fees
• 1517 inquiry into enclosure

Negatives

• Wolsey took bribes and personally enriched himself
• The Nobility accused Wolsey of using the legal system to conduct Vendettas against them
• The inquiry into enclosure was suspended 1523 because of opposition from landowners in parliament

The Church - he was expected to protect the church against the state while at the same time ensuring that nothing diminished the powers of the king

Positives

• He increased his perosonal wealth and prestige
• He protected benefit of clergy from the King's and parliament's attempts to end it
• He dissolved 30 monasteries that were not viable becuase of low numbers

Negatives

• By maintaining benefit of the clergy Wolsey protected abuses in the church
• He used the money he dissolved monasteries to fund the foundation of cardinal college, Oxford
• He became assosiated with clergical abuses
• He admitted that royal power was superior to ecclesiastical power
• He left the church vulberable to attack becuase he had done little to introduce reforms

The Nobility and factions

The heart of the governement was in the privy chamber and the royla council. Henry wanted Wolsey to control the power of the nobility here.

Positives

• He prevented Buckingham's 'plot' to overthrow Henry
• He reduced the influence and cost of the nobility by expelling the minions and the Eltham ordinances

Negatives

• Wolsey was blamed for the execution of Buckingham
• He faced opposition over the Amicable Grant by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk
• He was opposed over the issue of enclosures
• Some ragrded him as using the legal system to puruse prejudices against the nobles

1529 Wolsey was becoming overwhelmed by the failures of his policies

Failures

• Foreign policy
• annulment
• Faction
• Parliament

Successes

• King's support
• Role in the church

• Wolsey had not delivered any foreign policy successes since 1520
• The diplomatic revolution of 1525-1527 was a failure. The alliance with France put England on the loosing sie in the Hapsburg - Valois struggle 
• Francis I was defeated again at ;andriano in June 1529, and England  was stranded on the sidelines in the peace of Cambrai in August
• The sack of Rome in 1527 had made it impossible for the Pope to agree to Henry's request for an annulment. This failure caused Henry to  recall Wolsey's failure over the Amicable Grant, and the king lost faith in his chancellor

The annulment was the key issue

Wolsey strategy had completly failed

• 1527 he passed the case to Rome, but the sack of Rome and the Pope's capture prevented the Pope declaring Henry's marriage invalid
• Wolsey's attempt to be elected as acting Pope was blocked by opposition from the French cardinals
• The court held at Blackfriars in the summer 1529 failed when Catherine appealed and Cardnial Campeggio, who was hearing the case with Wolsey, referred the case back to Rome

Wolsey's downfall can be attributed to the growth of the anti-Wolsey faction. 

The membership of this faction included:

• The duke of Norfolk
• Anne Boleyn
• Thomas Boleyn

On 9th October 1529, Wolsey was charged with praemunire

Cromwell initially defended Wolsey in parliament valiantly

Instead of being reinstated Wolsey was summonded to trail. However, escaped the possibility of execution when he died at Leicester in Novemeber 1530, on his way to the trial

The parliament summonded in October 1529 was bitterly anti- clerical Wolsey was regarded as the greatest example of an immoral cleric

The charge of the praemunire that was imposed on Wolsey was extended to the whole clergy. Henry used the charge to threaten the entire church. This put pressure on the Pope to give into Henry

In the later years of the 1520's, Henry bacme convinced that this marriage to Catherin of Aragon was invlaid 

Henry broke with Rome and replaced the authority of the Pope with the royal supremecy

The succession problem

• Henry's marriage had failed to produce a male heir. Priness Mary was the only surving baby (1516)
• There was no precedent in England for female succession
• Henry's own father had taken the crown by force. The security of the succession was a priority for Henry to secure his kingdom against a repeat of those events

Catherines Age

Mary legitimacy

• Charlves V had doubts about Mary's legitimacy

Henry's religous doubts

• By 1525 Henry's studys of Leviticus convinced him that Catherine was not his wife. Leviticus proclaimed that it was unlawful for a man to marry his brother's wife, and the punishment would be childless

Wolsey had no appreciation of Henry's infactuation for Anne

Anne was not the orginal motivation, but as time progressed she became incresingly important

Anne promised sons to the man she woud marry, but Henry would have to be free from his marriage before he could sleep with her

Wolsey's secret court - 1527 May

• Wolsey began legal proceedings to free Henry from his invalid marriage
• He set up a secret tribunal at Westminster - Catherine was not informed
• Archbishop Warham was called to confirm that Henry had been living in sin with Catherine for 18 years
• The vailidity of the papal dispensation was attacked

Catherine's opposition

• She mainted that she had been pure when she married Henry
• Catherine's family did complicate the matter
• Catherine's next step was to inform her nephew, Charles V. His control over Rome would insure that the annulment would drag on for years and not be settled within a few months

Wolsey's strategy

• Suspend the Tribunal in the summer of 1527
• In order to achive the position of 'acting pope' Wolsey needed the support of the French cardinals. In july 1527 he set off to France with a scheme in his mind
• Wolsey's diplomatic revolution 1525-1526 had put England in the wrong camp
• The capture of the French king had weakened England's position. In the end Wolsey's scheme had failed

Wolseys case for an annulment

• The annulment was now in the hands of the Pope 
• If Catherine's claims that she was a virgin when she married Henry wa accepted at true, then the dispensation was flawed since it was assumed the marriage had been consummated
• Wolsey was instructed to pursue the case based on Henry's arguments and not his own

The weaknesses of Henry's strategy

• The passage in Leviticus refers no a living wife not a widow, and Henry did had a child - Mary
• Deuteronomy - a man can marry his brother's widow and raise sons for him

The consquences of the Sack of Rome

• Pope clement was kept a prisoner in Castel Sant' Angeli for sixth months until he escaped in October 1527
• He could not afford to offend Charles V

Clement propsed 2 solutions

• He would kegitimise any illegitimate children born both to Henry and Anne
• He would sanction a marriage between Princess Mary and Henry Fitzroy, Henry's illegitimate ******* son

The annulment was to be decided at Blackfriars Court in London, in May 1529

Diaster for Henry

• Catherine rejected Campeggio's previous proposal that she return to a nunery
• She would live and die in a state of matrimony
• Catherine unexpectanly produced a copy of her dispensation obtained from Spain
• It differed slightly from the English version and so added a legal complication
• Catherine refused to acknowledge the validity of the court
• Campeggio took advantage of Catherine's appeal and suspended the court for the summer
• Henry made no pregress in achieving his annulment, and on October 1529 Wolsey was dismissed

The failure of the Court at Blackfriars to settle matters pushed policy into a state of disarray

• The reformation parliament sat for 7 years
• In time, this parliamt would pass legislation that was vital to the English reformation

Anti-clericalism

• The parliament began with an attack on Wolsey
• Led to the charge of Praemunire

Thomas Cromwell

• First elected MP in 1523
• Wolsey defended Cromwell in parliament
• Cromwell was elected to the 1529 parliament as the member for Taunton
• 1530 - Cromwell was appinted to the royal council

Thomad Cromwell was the man who steered the policy through parliament

Why was little progress made?

• Sir Thomas More, Henry's friend was appointed chancellor to replace Wolsey
• It was the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor to represent the King in the House of Commons
• Sir Thomas More was opposed to the annulment
• Henry had promised More that he did not need to have ay involvement in the matter

Henry's attempt to achieve his annulement by Papal authorityhad reached a dead end by the early 1530's

Lutheranism

• Luther argued that the prince must take the reform of the church into his own hands

Cramners Solution

• While Henry was developing his ideas, new solutions were put forward by Thomad Cramner

Pressure on the Church

• Henry believed applying the correct pressure on the church would force the clergy to submit to his authortiy, and that would enable him to get his annulemt. 
• Jan 1531 the whole clergy was charged with praemunie - It was impossible for the clergy to deny the church, so as such they had to give the king: £100,000 and the title supreme head of the church in England and Wales

Early 1532, the House of Commons petitioned the king to take action against clerics who abused their legal powers

Henry demanded that

• All future change in canon law would require the consent of the monarch
• Canon law that contridicted the royal prerogative must be annuled

The submission of the Clergy meant that the Englihs church was placed under royal control

Sir Thomad More resigned - May 1532

The royal supremacy refers to Henry's control of the church. It would remove the authority of the Pope in England and establish the absolute control of the monach over religion

The importance of Parliament

• Was essential 
• 'The king is the supreme Head of the Church in England and Wales' - 'As far as the word of Christ allows' left an ambuiguity in the claim that needed to be settled

Restraint of Annates 1532

• Cut ties to Rome
• End of payment of annates to the papacy
• Bishops could be consecrated by English authority
• Henry still hoped that the financial pressure would force the Pope to give him the annuelment

Act in Restraint of Appeals 1533

• By this time, Anne Boleyn had finally given in to Henry's demands and falled pregnant
• They were married by Cramner - Archbishop of Canterbury

The act set out Henry's legal position as head of the English church

• All legal cases, even of a spiritual nature, could be settled in England
• There was no right of appeal to Rome
• The King was supreme authority in all legal cases

The act's more imoportant pupose in the first instance was to prevent Catherine from appealing her case to Rome

• It established Henry's supreme authority over the church
• Severed ties between the church in England and Wales and The Roman Catholic church

Act of Succession 1534

• Anne's pregancy resulted in a daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in September 1533

The act of Sucession, passed in 1534, declared;

• Henry's only child were his children with Anne Boleyn
• Mary was illegitimate
• All subjects must take an oath to ensure they would agree with the act
• Those who denied sucession were ounishable by death

Act of Supremacy 1534

Treason's Act 1534

• The new act stated that it was treasonable to oppose the Royal Supremacy by the spoken word
• It was also an essential piece of legislation, because is September 1534 the pope threatened to excommunicate Henry

The influence of Anne 

• Important figure in pushing Henry on the path towards supremacy, not only because she was determind to marry him, but because she introduced him to the ideas that encourage him to take control of the church

Cranmer

• It was Cranmer who had broken the deadlock in the King's case in Autumn 1529
• He was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. Held a seat in the House of Lords and was able to promote legislation that established the Royal Supremacy. He produced Henry's marriage void

Cromwell and the Royal Supremacy

• Thomas Cromwell is the key figure
• Cromwell steered through a great volume of legislation that broke the English ties to Rome, established the Royal Supremacy and moved to England on the path to Protestant reform. The most significant act was the Act in restraint of Appeals

Church hierachy

Catholic

Pope - Cardinals - Archbishop - Bishops - Parish priests

Church of England

King - Archbishop - Bishops of Southern Dioceses and Archbishop of York - Bishops of Northern Dioceses - Clergy

Catholic

• Consecrated and therefore regarded as superior to parishioners
• Necessary to intercede between the individual and God and to interpret the Bible for parishioners
• Celibate

Protestant

• Regarged as an equal member of the community
• Responsible for preaching the word of God
• Clerical marriage permitted

Catholic

• Highly decorated vestments worn by the priest
• Decorated interiors with stained glass windows and wall paintings
• Highly decorated alter set at the eastern end of the church and railed off from the congregation

Protestant

• Plain surplice worn by the vicar
• Plain church interiors with only scripture painted on the walls
• Plain communion table that could be apporached by the whole community; in some reformed churches it was set in the centre of the church

Catholic

• Transubstantiation - the bread and wine was turned into the actual body and blood of christ
• Only the priest would take communion in both kinds
• The dead were held in purgatory until they had atoned for their sins
• Confession to a priest was necessary to obtain forgiveness for sins
• latin bible
• Salvation could be achived by faith and good works

Protestant

• Consubstantiation - the doctrine developed by Martin Luther that the body and blood of Christ co-existed with the bread and wine
• Communion in both kinds was available for clergy and for laity
• There was no evidence in scripture for the existence of purgatory
• Private confession to God (there was no need for the intervention of a priest)
• Bible in the vernacular
• Salvation could be achieved by faith alone

The Boleyn faction

• Played a vital role in the initial changed
• Aimed to secure the break with Rome and the Royal Supremacy that would secure Anne's marriage to the King
• Key members - Anne, Cramner and Cromwell - all favoured change

• Emerged out of the Boleyn faction
• Aimed to ensure that the collapse of Henry's marriage to Anne did not push reform off course
• Key members -  Cromwell, Thomas Cramner and Edward Seymour
• More radical than the King in their religious beliefs, but careful not to go beyond what the King would find acceptable
• Reagrded the Royal supremacy as the starting point for reform

• Opposed the pace of change set by the reformists
• Key members were the Duke of Norfolk and the Bishop of Winchester
• Regarded the royal supremacy as the finishing point for reform
• Gained upper hand in 1539 because of Anne of Cleves
• Promoted orthodox Catholic beliefs in the doctrine and practices of the Church

Henry's marriages played a key role in the development of religous policy. 

• Henry's marriage to Anne was a key factor in the inital religous changes
• Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleeves was an attempt by Cromwell to promote further reform in the Church by securing a Protestant alliance
• Catherine Howard was deliberately dangled before Henry by the conservatives in order to improve their access to the King and reduce the influence of the reforming faction

The role of Parliament

• The reformation Parliament was essential in religous change for a number of reasons. This played a significant role in the removal of Cardinal Wolsey in 1529, the submission of the Clergy in 1532, and the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 - 1539

The struggle between reformist and traditional beliefs

• Henry supported the dissolution of the monasteries which encriched his tresury, but he did not endorse the Bishop's Books in 1537

The Holy Maid of Kent

• Elizabeth Barton was a serving girl who was sent to a nunnery after she claimed to have visions. 
• 1527 - She prophesised that Henry would die if he married Anne Boleyn
• Barton gained some high profile supporters, including Archbishop Watham and John Fisher
• 1534 - Charges were drawn up against Elizabeth and Edward Bocking

• Fisher had opposed Henry's attempts to annul his marriage to Catherine in books and sermons
• 1532 Fisher refused to sign the Submission of the clergy and he preached openly against yhr divorce 
• He was arrested and sent to the Tower in April 1534 for refusing the Royal Supremacy, but Fisher remained steadfast 

• Thomas More had been Henry's close friend - He became chancellor in 1529
• More resigned the Chancellorship in 1532
• He refused to take the oath, he was arrested and sent to the Tower. He mantained his silence in prison for a year
• More was executed on 6th July 1535

• Cromwell was appointed as Vicegerent in Spirituals in 1535

Ten Articles 1536

• The purpose of the ten articles was to define the faith and practices of the new national Church in England 
• Panance was not fully adopted
• The real presense of Christ in the Eucharist was reaffirmed
• The Lutheran Doctrine of justification by faith alone was outlined

The Bishops book was ordered by Henry in the aftermath of the Pilgrimage of Grace

• All seven sacraments were acknowledged, but the four missing from the ten articles were said to be of lesser value

However, at the same time

• The mass was deemed to be of less importance
• The special status of the priest was downgraded

Henry refused to endorse the book specfically, although he was allowed it to be printed 

1536 injunctions

• The clergy must defend the Royal Supremacy in Sermons
• Children were to be taught the Lords prayer, the ten commandments, and other verses from scripture
• The number of Holy Days would be reduced
• Bibles would be provided in Latin and English for people to read in church

1538 injunctions

• All parishes were to have an English bible by 1540
• Pilgrimages were discouraged
• Candles before images were forbidden
• Relics to be removed from churches
• Registration of births, deaths and marriages in parishes

Cromwell was very enthusiastic about access to the Bible and provided considerable sums of his own money to pay for English Bibles for every parish. He thereofre played a key role in driving forward an essential element of Protestantism - access to the Scriptures in the vernacular (mother tounge). People would be able to read and interpret the Bible for themselves for the first time. Cromwell belived that studyong the scriptures would remove the influence of Catholic teaching and advance Protestantism

The consequences of COA's death 

• While Catherine was alive, Henry needed to remain married to Anne to prevent any sggestion that he could return to his first wife
• Catherine's death in January 1536 opened up the possibility of an alliance with Charlves V, but this would require the restoration of Mary to the succession. Anne would never allow princess Elizabeth to be declared illegitimate

The king's doubts on the validity of his marriage

• Henry began to voice concerns that his previous relationship with Mary Boleyn invalidated his marriage to Anne. He claimed that the Levitical argument he had used to justify the annulment of his marriage to Catherine was similary valid

Anne's temperament

• Anne's temper was fiery and her behavious often unpredictable. Anne's enthusiasm for reform conflicted with Henry's belief that women should not interfere in religion

Anne's failure to produce a son

• June 1534 Anne's second preganancy ended in stillbirth
• Then, in Janurary 1536, she miscarried a 15 wekk foetus. It was rumoured that the miscarried foetus was deformed. The miscarriage confirmed Henry's doubts about the validity of marriage

The Anti- Boleyn faction

• A new faction headed by Edward Seymour encouraged opposition to Anne. It was joined by Cromwell
• Edward hoped to get rid of Anne with his sister Jane, a demure lady-in-waiting who had already caught Henry's eye.

The role of Cromwell 

• Cromwell had argued with Anne over foreign policy and the control of patronage. Although he had risen as a member of her faction, he was only too prepared to attack Anne and so preserve his own position and the rogress of the reformation

The role of Cromwell

• Cromwell launched an attack on Anne by aligning temporarily with the remaining conservative faction in court. It was his decision that Anne would be removed not on a technicality of canon law, but for treason
• Members of the King's household, including sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Breton and Anne's brother Lord Rochford, were arrested along with Anne's musician Mark Smeaton. The men were accused of commiting adultery with the queen 

The Accusations against Anne

• Cromwell presented Henry with evidence that the queen had comitted adultery and incest. In the trial, Cromwell made the charge that Anne and her lovers had plotted to kill the King
• Anne was found guilty and beheaded by a French swordsman in 1536

Henry married Jane Seymour eleven days after Anne's execution - She provided Henry with the long -Awaited male heir, Edward, born September 1537

Janes role in the reformation was therefore extremely limited

The removal of Anne Boleyn significantly increased Cromwell's powers in the privy Chamber

• Cromwell grasped the opportunity to fill the vacant places created by the purge of Henry's gentlemen during the investigation into Anne's adultery with his own followers
• These promotions enhanced Cromwell's power in the court
• 1539 - Cromwell finally secured Henry's agreement to a marriage to Anne of Cleves, sister to the Duke of Cleeves, Protestant ruler of an important imperial duchy that would deter Charles V from planning an attack on England

1535 - more than 800 of them

Protestants - in their view salvation was achieved by faithe alone, no need tp pray for the dead so had no need for monasteries

Stage One: Valor Ecclesiasticus 1535

• Cromwell despatched a set of commissioners to investigate the wealth of the church
• The results were recorded in a document called Valor Ecclesiasticus 
• This report revealed tremendous wealth held  by the monastic houses. Monastic income was three times greater than the revenues generated by crown lands. This was the most powerful incentive for the King to take possession of the monastic lands

Stage Two: The Visitations 1535

• Cromwell had instructed them to find corruption and to report on it

Act three: Dissolution of the smaller monasteries

Smaller monasteries worth less than £200 annually were closed immediately

Stage 4: The process of dissolution

• Abbeys were plaundered, the monks and nuns turned out into the countyside
• Medieval artwork was destroyed or taken off into private possession and roofs were stripped of their lead

Stage 5: The second dissolution act 1539

• Henry's income had always been too small for his expenses and especially for him to realise his foreign policy ambitions
• Valor Ecclesiasticus had revealed the vast wealth of the church. As head of the church in England, this was Henry's wealth
• In addition, the monks had been among the most vocal opponents to the break with Rome and the establishment of the Royal Supremacy dissolution would remove that opposition

Crowell gained very generous livings from the dissolution

Reformers wholeheartedly supported the dissolution

1536 - 1537

The Licolnshire rebellion 1536

• dissolving the smaller monasteries
• collecting the Subsidy granted by parliament 1534
• inspecting the quality of the clergy

The Pilgrimage of Grace

• October 10 1536, Robert Aske, 30,000 people
• All men were made to rake an oath to defend the Church and be loyal to the king
• They marched to Pontefract Castle. Lord Darcy, who held the castle handed it over to the rebels
• The pilgrims now had control of the North of England.
• The numbers would not have been so threatening if they had been scattered around the country, but they were concentrated in Yorkshire and made a sizeable army more than 3 times larger than the kings

• The dissolution of the monasteries had ended centuries of religous tradition and the chairty that the poor relied on
• Opposition to Cromwell, regareded as a man of low birth, he was blamed for legislation that closed a tax loophole used by the nobility and gentry 
• Taxes - These included the Subsidy and the Church taxes that were now paid to the crown
• Inflation caused by a rising population and not particulary good halves
• Enclosures had destroyed the livelihoods of many farmers and labourers

Initially, Henry appeared to be willing to negotiate

Norfolk met with Aske and an agreement was reached

• The rebels would be granted a general pardon
• A parliament would be held at York to discuss the grievances
• No more monasteries would be surpressed before the parliament met

Henry kept none of the promises made. His oppitunity came in Janurary 1537 when Sir Francis Bigod, frustrated by the slow progress, led a rising.

Henry now proceeded without a mercy

• 178 rebels were executed
• Lord Darcy was beheaded on Tower Hill
• Lord Hussey was beheaded in Lincoln
• Robert Aske was hanged outside Clifford's Tower in York
• The Percy family were forced to name Henry as their heir to the Northumberland estates

The rebels always professed loyalty to the Crown; they did not want to topple Henry, only redirect policy

Henry was prepared to be ruthless in his punishment to destroy the rebellions

The treason Act 1534 dettered the majority from rebelling

The majority of the population was loyal to the Crown

The rebels dispered before their grievances had been addressed

The Duke Of Norfolk misled the rebels into believing that Henry would address their grievances

Serious threat

• The rebels in the Pilgramage of Grace had supportters from the nobility including Lords Darcy and Hussel
• The rebels appealed to Charles V for help
• 30,000 people joined the rebellion whilst Henry had an army of 8,000
• There was some sympathy for the rebels in the South

Limited threat

• The Pilgrimage of Grace was confined to Yorkshire
• The population at large and the rebels professed loyalty to the king
• The Treason Act 1534 stamped out most potential opposition
• Henry's punishment, including his readiness to enact the death penalty, ensured that potential rebels kept their criticism to themselves; treason could be spoken as well as acted on

Henry's enthusiasm for reforming the doctrine and practices of the church was never as great as was Cromwell's

The rebellions of 1536-1537 served as a reminder that rapid change caused social and political unrest and was dangerous to him

In the Latter years in 1530, Henry began to limit the pace of reformation and steeped in to define the doctrine along traditonal lines that would be acceptable to all

The act of six articles passed in June 1539 - seen as a key sign that Henry rejected Protestant reform

The Act confirmed

• The King was supreme Head of the Church
• Transubstantiation
• Private mass
• the hearing of confession by priests

The Act banned

• Marriage of priests
• Marriage of anyone who had taken vows of chasity
• The taking of communion in both kinds (bread and wine) by the laity

The Ten Articles

• Three sacraments: Baptism, Penance and Eucharist
• Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but no mention of transubstantiation
• Moderate version of justification by faith alone
• Fous on the authority of the Bible rather than the priestt

Six Articles

• All seven sacraments  acknowldged
• Transubstantiation
• Clergical Celibacy
• Private Masses

He was not popular with the nobility and higher gentry in the court

in 1540, he was overwhelmed by the opposition, found guilty of treason and heresy, and executed

The Trial of John Lambert

The trial of the reformer John Lambert is taken as a sign that Henry was concerned that Cromwell's reforms were leading to the spread of heresy

• Cromwell set up the trial over which Henry himself presided
• Lambert's fate was decided when he denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• Cromwell, however, had appeared to give Lambert the benefit of the doubt in the trial. This raised questions about Cromwell's own beliefs that his enemies would later use against him

The significance of the Six Articles

The Cleves marriage and its failure

• The possibility of a catholic attack on England encouraged Cromwell to search for an alliance, which he forged with the Duchy of Cleves
• Henry declared himself impressed by Holbein's painting of Cleves and Cromwell proceeded to organise the marriage
• Howver, when Anne arrived, Henry claimed that she was 'Fat fanders mare' who did not look like her painting

Cromwell persuaded Henry to go through with the marriage for the sake of the alliance, but Henry did not consummate the marriage and he blamed Cromwell for forcing him into it

The Changing situation in Europe

The rise of Howard faction and the role of Catherine Howard

Accusations of heresy

Cromwell was found guilty and executed on 28th July 1540 - On the same day Henry married Catherine Howard.

The Royal Supremacy

Achievements

• Annulement of Henry's marriage to Catherine
• Contorl over the clergy (They no longer served two masters)
• Huge extension of Royal Authority across the whole realm secured by oaths
• Established England as an independent nation state answerable to no oath power
• Huge increase in wealth from the dissolved monasteries, sufficient to make Henry financially independent of Parliament and so increase his authority

Failures

• Excommunication of Henry in December 1538
• Threat of invasion by Catholic monarchs Charles V and Francis I

Finance and administration

Achievements:

• The act in restraint of annates cut off payments from bishops to Pope and transferred them to Henry
• The act of dipensations, steered throigh Parliament by Cromwell, transferred the payments of Peter's oence to Henry instead of the Pope
• The Wealth of the dissolved monasteries (three times  that of the crown lands) now came to Henry
• Cromwell established the court of First Fruits and Tenths and the court of Argumentations to manage all the revenues coming in from the church
• Cromwell management of finances was more efficent than they had been under Wolsey.

Faliures: 

• The international threat and Henry's desire to achieve glory by military conquest meant that in the 1940's he rapidly spent the income from the monasteries and left a backrupt monarchy to his heir 

Realtionship with European powers

achievements: 

• Henry was not involved in any wars during Cromwell's eriod in office
• Improved relations with the Empreror Charles V after 1536
• Establishment of the Protestant alliance in 1539

Failures: 

• Threatended invasion by Charles V and Francus I in 1538
• Failure of the Cleve marriage and the protestant  alliance 1540

Political motivation 

• The annulment
• the succession
• complete control over all subjects including the clergy
• wealth
• Ideas of Erastian Kingship

He was clear that this could not be achieved his annulment, this could not be remained a member of the catholic church

Religous motivation

• Act of Six of Articles was a definition of faith
• Dissolution of the monasteries demonstrated a rejection of purgatory
• Royal succession rejected papal supremacy
• Injunctions ended Catholic supstitions
• English Bible gave access to the scriptures to all

Went beyond the King's initial idea to divorce Catherine of Aragon