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Controlling the Nobility

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3 views2 pages

Controlling the Nobility

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neve.g.fisher
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Controlling the Nobility

Questions based on p53-55 of Rogers and Turvey


Title : Did Henry deliberately try to limit the power of the nobility?
1. Briefly summarise the traditional interpretation.
2. Why, according to recent historians, was Henry suspicious of the nobility?
3. Recent historians argue that he was not pursuing an anti-noble policy. What criticisms
do they make of Professor Chrimes assessment? (Give two reasons).
4. What reasons did Edmund Dudley give for Henry keeping nobles at his court?
5. Why didn’t Henry try to interfere with his nobles’ authority in the localities?
6. What medieval practice did Henry continue in the outlying parts of his kingdom?
7. What does Carpenter criticise Henry for in relation to the north-west and Midlands?

Evaluating sources
“Towards the end of Henry VII’s reign, members of the elite were
competing for office and influence within a clearly defined structure
of crown service. They were not challenging independently for
resources of land and men that could threaten Tudor stability.
Nobles could still be great landowners, courtiers or commissioners….
They were, however, obliged to be the king’s loyal men. They were
important because Henry allowed them a degree of power suitable
for the role he expected of them. By about 1506, noble title, status
or inherited rights were no longer enough to command major
influence within a region…..The king’s control of this system of
lordship became more centralised and structured than it had been”
Taken from “Henry VII and the Shaping of the Tudor State” by Sean
Cunningham (History Today article).

Question
Evaluate this extract using your knowledge of the period. How far do you
agree with Cunningham’s conclusions?
(Henry’s) success as a ruler was achieved by a highly unusual style of rule
which bypassed the elites and relied heavily on the exercise of royal power
through official channels, backed by the intervention of the monarch. To the
governing classes it was baffling. Henry was a king who held them, his natural
councillors and servants, at a distance

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