HI2038

Name: Martin O Regan

Student No. 108595062

Lecturer David Edwards

Discuss the significance of the viceroyalty of Sir Edward Poynings.

The significance of the viceroyalty of Sir Edward Poynings was that he managed
to successfully regularize the relationship between Ireland and England. His
primary aim was to ensure the loyalty of the Anglo Irish lords to Tudor
monarchy. He didn’t want the Anglo Irish interfering in English affairs against
him. The Gaelic lords were not the primary focus of Poynings’ viceroyalty. In
order to curb the independence of the Anglo-Irish, Poynings enacted a law that
made it illegal for parliaments to be summoned in Ireland without the approval
of the King in England. Poynings together with expert administrators reformed
the governance of the Pale. The tax system was reformed so that more taxes
were raised. Poynings was successful in militarily. He brought the some of Gaelic
lords to heel and he successfully stopped Perkin Warbeck from causing uprising.

Sir Edward Poynings came to Ireland in order to secure Ireland’s loyalty to the
Tudors. During the Wars of the Roses Ireland was firmly on the side of the house
of York. Even after the victory of the House of Tudor Henry VII the first Tudor
monarch was insecure. His claim to the English throne was not excellent. There
were others who had as good or even better claims to the English Throne.
Ireland had been on the Yorkist side during the wars. Ireland was relatively
independent of England happy to be left alone. Earlier in the fifteenth century the
Irish parliament had declared that “the land of Ireland is and at all times has
been Corporate of itself.”1 This was striking because it had never been stated by
an Anglo-Irish parliament. Henry Tudor sent Edward Poynings to Ireland to
bring it under control to bring Ireland under control without having to launch an
invasion of the island. The lordship of Ireland was nominal. The Gaelic lords
largely ignored the English King. The Anglo Irish lords were supposed to be loyal
to England. But Earl of Kildare Gerard Fitzgerald had crowned Lambert Simnel
king of England in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin. This was serious act of
rebellion. Henry Tudor was too insecure to go and invade Ireland himself. Hence
Poynings was sent to secure the English presence in Ireland for the Tudors.

By far and away the most significant aspect of the viceroyalty of Sir Edward
Poynings was the law of his name. “No parliament beholden hereafter in the said
land but at such season as the king’s Lieutenant and council there first do certify
the king under the great seal of the land.”2 The viceroy had to request a license
1
Thomas Bartlett, “Ireland A History,” (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
2010), 72
2
Brian D. Quinn “The Early Interpretation of Poynings’ Law1494-1534,” Irish
Historical Studies 2 (1941) 242
from the King and his council in England. The Anglo-Irish magnates were no
longer able to call parliaments without the permission from the King. The power
of the parliament was curbed. The Lord Lieutenant was forced by the legislation
to consult with his council in order to draft the request for the license. Poynings
law lead to the Irish parliamentary procedure developing differently to the
English one. The parliament developed differently because it had to sit before a
certain date and it had to finish after a certain amount of time. Any legislation
discussed had been approved prior to the parliament by the king. Hence the
Viceroy’s veto was limited because he couldn’t veto legislation that had been
approved by the king. The Irish parliament had always followed English laws.
The introduction of Poynings law was a way of stopping anything like the
crowning of a pretender to the throne happing again.

Besides Poyning Law other legislation was introduced in order to bring Ireland
more tightly under the control of the English. The past the tradition had been
that holders of great offices of state would hold the great offices for life. Under
Poynings this was changed so that these offices were held at the pleasure of the
King. Now the Anglo Irish lords could only exercise power in Ireland at the will of
the King of England. There was to be legal conformity between England and
Ireland. The judges then began to apply the oldest of English laws to Ireland.
English kings since Edward II had giving land grants. The Poynings parliament
passed an Act of Resumption bringing the lands back under Royal control. The
statues of an earlier Yorkist parliament were repealed. The tax sytem was
reformed. Ireland would have to pay from the royal army through a reformed
system of coign and livery. The general thrust of these laws was to regularise the
relation ship of the Lordship of Ireland to the Kingdom of England. Irish lords
would not be allowed to develop their own power bases that could be used to
interfere in English affairs.3

Edward Poynings set out reforming the Dublin administration. Three lawyers
were sent over with the Viceroy. Henry Deane, the bishop of Bangor, was to be
his chancellor and two lawyers with him were to be the chief justices. With the
Act of Resumption and the grant of a double subsidy the parliament gave it’s
approval to these measures. The double subsidy was 1500 pounds but Henry VII
exceeded this. 12000 pounds were spent in 1494-1595. This was spent on
soldiers who were needed for campaigns against Gaelic lords in Ulster. Henry’s
aim was to make Ireland a reliable source of tax revenue. Poyning was relatively
successful in this. The offices of Under-Treasurer and Treasurer were relived.
Poynings installed two associates William Hattecluff and John Pympe. They were
successful. Tax revenues in Ireland yielded 3056 pounds double that of an
average year. With the administration reformed it could not be used by the Anglo
Irish to interfere in English politics. 4 In the course of his stay in Ireland Poynings
ordered that “diches to be made aboute the Inglishe pale.” 5 Poyning clearly
delineated the line of the English control part of the Ireland. The “four obedient
3
, R. Dudley Edwards, “Ireland in the age of the Tudors,” (London, Harper and
Row Publishers, 1977) 30
4
“Sir Edward Poynings,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 0-
www.oxforddnb.com.libr#8EE412 accessed 7 February 2011
5
Ibid
shires”6 around Dublin were made distinct from the Gaelic lands around them.
The division between the Gaelic and English Irish was deepened by the Poynings
viceroyalty.

Poyning task was to restore Ireland to loyalty to England. Ireland allegiance to

the Tudor monarch was threatened both by the Gaelic Lords and pretenders to
the English throne in this case Perkin Warbeck. When Poynings arrived pledges
of peace were extracted from the most of Gaelic and all the English lords. But O
Hanlon and McMahon in Ulster did not go meet the Viceroy. O Donnell was
believed to dealing with the Scottish King James VI. Poynings went north with an
army accompanied by the earl of Kildare and Sir James Ormond. O Hanlon’s
country was invaded and the English army won. It was then discovered that earl
of Kildare was dealing secretly with the rebels. Kildare was shipped off to
England. In England Kildare was accused of plotting to murder of the Kings
deputy the viceroy, communicating with the Kings enemies and conspiracy with
the Scots. He had in the past acted like a king in his own county. Kildare was
being brought to heel.
During the spring of 1495 the Earl of Desmond besieged Waterford apparently
in collusion with Perkin Warbeck who was sailing from Flanders. Poynings with
an army made up of Gaelic, Anglo-Irish and English soldiers. The siege of
Waterford was broken and Warbeck was forced to flee to Scotland. Poynings was
successful in his military objectives. Gaelic lords were forced into submission
and Ireland was secured against rebels such as Warbeck.

The significance of the viceroyalty of is that it marked the end of Medieval

Ireland. The lose connection of the Anglo-Irish to England was tightened, the
ambiguities of having a parliament in Ireland independent of the English
executive were cleared away. It was too dangerous for the Tudors to tolerate.
The Gaelic lords were tolerated because it was not prudent for England to
expend huge amounts of money to conquer them. But the Poynings viceroyalty
was the first step in the process in which they were brought under English
control. The effective administration Poynings introduced was the first step
towards creating a centralised state in Ireland. The military victories over
pretenders to the English throne stabilized the Tudor monarchy. Poynings
viceroyalty was an efficient way to remove a threat to Tudor dynasty without
Henry VII putting himself in too much danger. The Poynings viceroyalty was a
major step towards fully legitimising the Tudor dynasty.

6
Ibid
Bibliography

Thomas Bartlett, “Ireland A History,” (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,

2010)

“Sir Edward Poynings” Dictionary of Irish biography accessed 7th February 2011
http://0-
dib.cambridge.org.library.ucc.ie/quicksearch.do;jsessionid=ADF16AEF4223B6D
78D92FFC5D0A6CDAA

“Sir Edward Poynings” Oxford dictionary of National Biography accessed 7 th

February 2011 0-www.oxforddnb.com.libr#8F3D89

R. Dudley Edwards, “Ireland in the age of the Tudors,” (London, Harper and Row
Publishers, 1977)

R. Dudley Edwards T.W. Moody, “The history of Poynings’ law: Part I, 1494-
1615,” Irish Historical Studies 2 (1941) 415

Stephen G. Ellis, “Ireland in the Tudor Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603,” (London,
Longman, 1998)

David B. Quinn, “The early interpretation of Poynings’ law, 1494-1615,” Irish

Historical Studies 2 (1941) 241