The key factor in upholding and extending royal authority in the years 1485-1603

was the development of the institutions of central government

In the reign of Richard III, central government was very basic and so the nobles had huge
amounts of power, which they abused. When Henry VII won the battle of Bosworth in 1485, he
was determined to change the monarch’s reliance on the nobility to govern the country. This
led him to develop the institutions of central government to reduce his reliance on the nobility
and uphold and extend his royal authority. Tudor monarchs continued to do this, so by 1603
the institutions of central government had significantly developed from 1485. These
developments included parliament being able to pass laws and discuss church issues. The Royal
Court was also developed as the privy chamber grew in importance in the Tudor period. During
the reign of Henry VII, it was used as a storage place for the Chamber finance, while in Henry
VIII’s reign, it became an important political hub where the king could be influenced by those
near him. From the 1540s onwards, control of the dry stamp was left to the Gentlemen of the
chamber, meaning they could control aspects of government. However, with the accession of
female monarchs, the chamber declined in importance as female attendants could not have a
formal role in government. Moreover, the Royal Council developed into a smaller more formal
body in 1540, known as the Privy Council, which was responsible for the day to day running of
government in Elizabeth I’s reign. Additionally, the role of Secretary first became politically
important in the 1530s when Cromwell assumed the role. After his death, the role would not
become significant until William Cecil became Secretary in 1550, as he presided over the day to
day running of government on the queen’s behalf. Despite the institutions of central
government being a key factor in upholding and extending royal authority throughout the
Tudor reign, local government also played an important role in upholding and extending royal
authority as they used figures of local authority such as Justices of the Peace and Sheriffs to
control the localities and to enforce the decisions of central government. Lastly, Punishment
and Patronage was significant to a certain extent as it enabled the Tudors to control the
nobility.
Firstly, the development of central government in the years 1485-1603 was the key factor in
upholding and extending royal authority as the systems the Tudors developed allowed them to
control their country and the nobility effectively. The Royal Court was developed by the Tudors,
and it consisted of the Privy Chamber, Privy Council, Royal Household and the Secretary. Firstly,
the Privy Chamber became more important over the Tudor period. Henry VII used the Privy
Chamber to restrict access to the monarch as he constantly feared assassination and so those
that were able to get into the Privy Chamber were the most trusted men at court. He also used
the Privy Chamber to store the Chamber finance, a system he set up to store the monarch’s
money as he believed the exchequer was corrupt. However, this system was a unique result of
Henry VII’s paranoia and fell into disuse after his death. During the reign of Henry VIII, the Privy
chamber became an important political hub as the ‘Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber’ also had
formal role in government and this therefore meant that their proximity to the king enabled
them to influence him, and so the Privy Chamber was one route to having power and influence
in other important roles centered around central government. Moreover, in the 1540s, being a
Gentleman of the Chamber meant having access to the Dry Stamp, which meant they had the
ability to control decisions made in the country. This huge amount of power given to the
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber was detrimental to the Tudors upholding and extending their
power as the control of the Dry Stamp lead to Factions breaking out among the nobility, causing
hostility and unease among the nobles. However, this problem was fixed during the reign of
Edward VI, when the Dry Stamp was controlled by the Privy Chamber. Mary I controlled the use
of her Dry Stamp, thus minimizing the amount of control the nobility have. Additionally, under
the female monarchs, the Privy Chamber declined in importance as their female attendants
were unable to have formal roles in government so their proximity to the monarch did not
enable them to influence the monarch’s political actions. This shows that the Privy Chamber
declined in importance with the accession of female monarchs and therefore this institution of
central government was not the key factor in upholding and extending royal authority
throughout the Tudor reign. Another important factor of central government was the Privy
Council, which was previously known as the Royal Council in the reign of Henry VII. The Royal
Council was a large informal body with over two hundred men attending council meetings at
different times. The Royal Council remained mostly the same throughout the reign of Henry
VIII, despite the Eltham Ordinances that Thomas Wolsey was planning in 1526. However, in
1540 a council as Wolsey had planned in the Eltham Ordinances emerged and this was known
as the Privy Council. This was after Cromwell’s death in 1540, when he was beheaded on behalf
of the king. This new institution of central government upheld and extended royal authority
throughout the Tudor reign as it made sure that no individual could have the massive amounts
of power that Wolsey or Cromwell had in their roles as Secretary as there was now a group to
run daily government on behalf of the government
Additionally, the role of Secretary of the household was a role that Henry VII had used but it
only became politically important in the 1530s, when Thomas Cromwell was dominant. He had
the ability to control council meetings and he had access to the king’s private letters. This
helped uphold and extend royal authority Henry VIII was unconcerned ruling his country
effectively, as he was more concerned with his hobbies and entertainment. Thomas Cromwell’s
position of huge power allowed Cromwell to ensure the country was being run efficiently. This
position reduced in importance with Cromwell’s beheading in 1540, as decisions went through
the Privy Council. The role of Secretary became politically important again under William Cecil
in the Elizabethen period, as he was Elizabeth I’s most trusted advisor and he helped her
manage daily government. The role continued to be influential after this as William Davison,
who became Secretary in 1586 had the responsibility of holding the signed death warrant of
Mary, Queen of Scots. When the warrant was sent out by order of the council, Elizabeth was
extremely upset and imprisoned Davison for three years. This shows that the role of Secretary
was a very important role in the Elizabethen period as the Secretary had huge amounts of
power and were trusted by the Queen to oversee the running of daily government. The role of
Secretary helped uphold and extend royal authority mainly in the reigns of Henry VIII and
ELizabeth I. the role meant that central government no longer relied on the personality of the
crown, which was especially useful during the reign of Henry VIII as he was unconcerned with
effective ruling. Another significant part of central government that the Tudors developed to
uphold and extend royal control was Parliament, which grew in importance after the break
from Rome and the 1534 Act of Supremacy. This was because Parliament could make decisions
about church affairs, which Parliament had never been able to do before. This caused
Parliament to grow in confidence as shown in 1563-1566, when Parliament dared to raise the
issue of the Queen’s marriage and succession, which would have been unimaginable in Henry
VIII’s reign. The development of Parliament by giving it more power meant that royal authority
could be questioned although Parliament rarely refused the monarch. This means that
Parliament helped extend royal authority as the laws they passed and the taxes they granted
allowed the Tudors to uphold their control in England. Moreover, the role of Lord Lieutenant
helped uphold and extend royal authority as it used the nobility in their traditional role as
defenders of the country. The system of Lords Lieutenant developed over the Tudor period, but
the role began in the reign of Henry VIII in response to the threat of war with France and
Scotland as they needed to improve military recruitment. In 1512 and 1545, the king gave
commissions to members of the nobility to organise defence against Scotland and France an in
1536, Henry VIII gave a commission to handle the threat of the Pilgrimage of Grace in the
North. In the reign of Edward VI, the Duke of Northumberland, the Lord Protector, appointed
members of the nobility as Lord Lieutenants to deal with the seventeen rebellions in that year.
This system was effective at raising troops quickly to deal with both external and internal
threats, but the system was not formalised despite Mary I’s attempts to do so during her war
with France in 1557-1558. The nobility found it difficult to recruit troops and so the country was
divided into ten lieutenancies. Once the threat of a French war diminished, the role of Lord
Lieutenants disappeared, as there was no need to mobilize troops. The role of Lord Lieutenant
was only made permanent under Elizabeth I, as her war with Spain was ongoing for so long that
the country constantly needed troops to be trained so that they would be ready to fight against
Spain. The role of Lord Lieutenants was very significant for the upkeep and extension of royal
authority as it meant that an army could be raised and trained relatively quickly to fend the
monarchy and the country against both internal and external threats.
However, while the institutions of central government were the key factor in the upkeep and
extension of royal authority throughout the Tudor reign, local government also played an
important role in this, as local government enabled the Tudors to control the localities and
therefore the population of England. Justices of the Peace played a significant role in this as
they were given increased power over tax collection, law and order and provisions for the poor.
In 1495, JP’s were given the power to arrest suspects and replace corrupt jurors. Henry VII
appointed members of his court as JP’s as his constant fear of rebellion meant that he had to
trust the men he appointed as JP’s. He let his JP’s inquire into illegal retaining and gave them
the power to examine corrupt local officials. In the reign of both Henry VII and Henry VIII, JP’s
were trusted to bring the King’s authority to the local areas, which shows that JP’s helped
uphold and extend royal authority. Similarly, in the reign of Edward VI, JP’s were also seen as
very important to maintaining control over the localities as in 1549 they were ordered to take
inventories of Parish goods and prosecute anyone who stole them. This could have been a
result of the economic problems facing England at the time, one of which was the debasement
of coinage to pay the cost of war with France and Scotland in the 1540s. Moreover, in 1552, an
Act of Parliament declared that all alehouses had to be licensed by JP’s and that they had to
enforce the second Prayer Book as there were fears of more rebellions over the Prayer Book
like the prayer book rebellion of 1549. This again shows that JP’s helped upkeep and extend
royal authority as their role helped keep the peace in England. By Elizabeth I’s reign, the
number of Justices of the Peace in each county had increased from forty to ninety and they had
become more involved in making provisions for the poor. In 1563, the Act of relief for the poor
made JP’s responsible for supervising the collection of the poor relief donations and the statute
of Artificers made JP’s in charge of fixing local wages. These both meant that the poor were
cared for in society as they could increase their income, thus ensuring they would not rebel for
economic reasons. Additionally, in 1572, Parliament made JP’s accountable for listing the poor
in the parish so once every person living in poverty was known, it would be easier to make
provisions to help them. By 1603, a total of 309 acts of Parliament had been passed that gave
responsibilities to JP’s. This therefore shows that the JP’s helped to ensure all the laws passed
by Parliament were ensured. However, local governance was not the key factor in upholding
and extending royal authority throughout the Tudor reign as local officials just followed and
obeyed the instructions of the central government. Moreover, while the role of J’s was
developed significantly, local government was not developed to the extent that central
government was.
To conclude, I believe that the key factor in upholding and extending royal authority in the
years 1485-1603 was the development of the institutions of central government as together, all
the changes the Tudors made to central governance ensured that the way the country was
ruled no longer relied on the personality of the crown, but different institutions could be relied
upon to run the country. The role of the Privy Chamber rose and fell in significance throughout
the Tudor dynasty as the female attendants of the female monarchs could not assume formal
roles in government so their closeness to the queen did not enable them to influence their
monarch politically to the extent that male attendants could influence their male monarchs.
Furthermore, the role of Secretary helped uphold and extend royal authority to a certain extent
as it gave huge powers to one individual, but their many duties meant that central government
was distanced from revolving around the personality of the crown. Additionally, Parliament’s
increased power that they gained from the break from Rome in 1534 meant that they felt more
able to discuss issues they saw within the country, whereas at the beginning of the reign of
Henry VII, they only felt they had the power to either agree or disagree to pass a law or grant a
tax. Moreover, the role of Lord’ Lieutenant helped uphold and extend royal authority as they
used the nobility in their traditional role as defenders of the country to help raise armies to
tackle challenges to their rule, both internal and external. However, I believe that the reforms
made to the Privy Council were the most significant reforms made to an institution of central
government the emergence of a small group to help the monarch run daily government
prevented one individual from having mass amounts of power, such as Thomas Cromwell
during his role as Secretary. This was more effective than the royal council before it, as this was
a large informal body that met infrequently with not all members present. Having council that
regularly met ensured that all the issues within the country could be dealt with without relying
on the personality of the crown to solve these issues. However, despite the developments to
the institutions of central government being the key factor to upholding and extending royal
authority, he developments in local government also helped the Tudors control the localities
and enforce the decisions made by central government. The development in importance of the
role of JP’s mean that they were responsible for helping to prevent rebellion by enforcing laws,
collecting tax, and helping the poor. He power JP’s were given alled thTudors to extend their
autorhoity intothe localities then their power just bein centralised in London