Henry VII & Nobility 1

Henry’s policy to control the nobility is also known as the “carrot and stick policy”.

Carrot - order of garter, patronage, acts of attainder

Sticks – acts of attainder, bonds and recognisances, feudal dues and laws against
retaining

Patronage
 The award and distribution of royal favours
 Unlike predecessors, he did not try to buy the loyalty of the nobility through
the use of patronage
 Believed in meritocracy, patronage had to be earned and was not an
automatic privilege of the upper class
 Would give positions to members of the gentry if they warranted it
 Previous kings used this to try and win support, but was dangerous as it led
to the creation of powerful nobles

Henry rewarded those who joined him at Bosworth and also loyal supporters that
offered good services
 John de Vere (Earl of Oxford) -> land in East Anglia
 Lord Daubeney -> given land after proving his loyalty by putting down the
Cornish rebellion
 Edward Dudley (Sussex lawyer) -> rose to become one of Henry’s most
trusted advisers

Order of the Garter

 A useful alternative to patronage as it cost money to give them grants of
land
 Consisted of a special ceremony, a badge and a flag
 Not many nobles were made members and it didn’t cost the king much
money (compared with gifting them grants of land)
 Rewarded good behaviour, but did not cost money, nor lead to the
recipient becoming too powerful

37 of Henry’s closest followers received this privilege during his reign

 Sir William Stanley: considered it scant reward for his good service
 Sir Rhys ap Thomas: embraced it with enthusiasm

Acts of Attainder
 If a family or person was attainted, they lost their title as well as all lands
 Reversible: could be used as a way of maintaining good behaviour
 If there was no chance of winning the land back, there was no incentive for
those attainted to be loyal to the king

Example: Thomas Howard (Earl of Surrey)

 Attained in 1485 after the Battle of Bosworth
 Lost the title Duke of Norfolk and his family estates and ended up in the
Tower
 His good behaviour resulted in gradual restoration (impressed the king by
turning down the chance to escape the Tower during the Simnel plot)
 Loyal services included containing threats from the north and Scotland
  Restored to the earldom of Surrey in 1489 to suppress uprising in
Northumberland
 Secured the office of Lord Chancellor

Bonds and Recognisances

Bonds: written obligations in which people promised to perform some specific

action on pain of paying money if they failed to carry out their promise

 Included responsibility for friends and family (peer pressure)

 Example: Marquis of Dorset: had to give bond after his suspected
involvement in the Simnel plot
 Lord Lisle had to pay 9225 marks if Dorset participated in any rebellions or
posed any threat to the throne (including several other nobles)
 First decade: 119 bonds collected
 The receipts of bonds rose from £3,000 in 1493 to £35,000 in 1505

Recognisance: formal acknowledgements of actual debts or other obligations that

already existed

 In effect a suspended sentence that could be called in if the nobles were to

misbehave in the future
 36 out of 62 noble families were bound by recognisances

HISTORICAL DEBATE: Some say Henry’s main aim in using these was to increase
royal income and so his reputation for greed grew, particularly in the later tears of
the reign. But some say that his chief concern was to threaten financial ruin in order
to maintain his subjects’ loyalty. In the case of the Earl of Northumberland, he was
only made to pay 2000 pounds when he was originally made to promise much more.

Feudal dues
 Henry could assert certain privileges over the nobility
 Maintained his power and reinforced his position as their superior

Wardship
 Took control of the estates of minors if they were too young to inherit
land
 Once they were old enough to recover this, they had to pay a fee
 Kept potentially powerful nobles in check (those with claim to the
throne??)
 1489 death of Northumberland: H7 would not let his son inherit the land
until he was 20, until Henry was assured of his loyalty

Marriage
 nobles should not marry without king’s license
 an attempt to prevent families from becoming too powerful and prevent
over mighty power blocs from emerging
 1496: Katherine of Buckingham was fined 6000 for marrying without
license

Claiming relief
 Henry VII & Nobility 3

 a form of inheritance task- people paid relief when inheriting estates

Acts of escheat
 This was when land passed on to the crown if there were no heirs

Retaining
 Long-held noble practice of recruiting members of the gentry to serve as
administrators (often accountants)
 They were also expected to fight in their private armies

Why did H7 have to deal with retaining?

He had not developed effective relationships with the political nation in England. He
also knew little of the country and was virtually unknown to the English people.
Therefore, he was wary of trusting people, especially the powerful nobility.

1. E4 had legislation passed in 1468 that outlawed retaining except in cases of

domestic servants, estate officials and legal advisers.

o The law was effectively ignored

o Huge weakness – it allowed retaining for “lawful service”
o Lords continued to maintain their retinues and claimed that these
men were for “lawful service”
o Provide a possible threat to the king

2. The chance that one nobleman or several grouped together would become
more powerful than the king -> he was not willing to tolerate or risk
o Henry was determined to secure his throne, as he did not have a
legitimate claim. (It threatened his authority)
o One of his foreign policies was to promote prosperity in England, and
therefore he needed to prevent rebellions.

3. H7 was aware that a noble needed a strong retinue of a certain social class
serving him if he was to assert his authority within his locality

o Another purpose was that the king frequently needed a large army at
short notice to fight foreign campaigns
o Retaining allowed kings to gather a sizeable number of trained men at
short notice
o 1486: it was the Earl of Northumberland’s force that rescued the king
from ambush in Yorkshire
o 1492: the army he led across the Channel to France was raised from
many of his lords’ retinues
o Incidents of the monarch being threatened by retaining were rare

4. Openly condemning it at the beginning of his reign, 2 laws were passed

against it in 1487 and 1504 (imposed more effective controls)

o Rather than condemning retaining completely, these laws clarified

what was meant by “lawful” retaining
 o 1504: brought in a licensing system whereby a lord could employ
retainers for the king’s system alone. Needed a license with the seal of
the Privy Council and the license was only valid for the lifetime of the
King

5. Henry also wanted to demonstrate to the nobility that he was a fair, capable
king that treated everyone alike.

o Earl of Oxford, his friend and a highly valued adviser, was fined
£10,000 for putting on an impressive show in honour of his visit
o Earl of Devon fined for alleged retaining
o Executed one of his most loyal nobles, William Stanley for even
hinting at plotting against him

He only wanted to end retaining that THREATENED his authority or corrupted

public order. He was aware that he needed his noblemen to keep their retained
armies for suppressing rebellions and maintaining his law.

Successful?
 Reduction in the numbers of retainers that magnates kept
 Limited to the legitimate categories: servants, officials, lawyers
 HISTORICAL DEBATE: Studies show that some nobles (Earl of
Northumberland and Duke of Buckingham) got round official policy by
employing more estate officers than were necessary
 If nobles did retain without royal permission, they were careful not to leave
any evidence (controlled them successful, as nobles feared him)
 Those who broke the law and were found out were made examples of to
other would-be offenders
 He did not eliminate the practice but controlled it to a far greater extent than
his predecessors and prevented it from being a significant problem

Control – Overall Success

 Evidence of success: no internal noble rebellion took place during the last
decade of his reign, although H7 became increasingly
 H7 suppressed the possible rebellions of over-mighty nobles
 YET his policies towards the nobles were often harsh and unsympathetic and
aroused resentment
 Although noble rebellions did not materialize towards the end of his reign,
the atmosphere of noble resentment may have threatened H7’s rule