Alice W-SHorace Greeley H. S.

May – June 2006

How effective was Henry VIII versus his daughter Elizabeth I

in dealing with domestic issues in

Tudor England?

Essential Question:Essential Question:

King Henry Tudor VIII

• Born: June 28, 1491, to King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

• Coronated: June 24th, 1509 with his wife Katherine of Aragon. 

• Died: January 28th, 1547 at age 56

Young Life

• Henry was raised to be a pious and devout Catholic– He was awarded the title "Defender

of the Faith“ by the Pope after writing a treatise denouncing Martin Luther's Reformist ideas

• He did not enjoy his father’s stoic and unexciting ruling style, instead favoring exciting court life.

• Henry wrote much poetry throughout his life

Court Life• The court life

initiated by his father evolved into a cornerstone of Tudor government in the reign of Henry VIII.

• Henry loved the extravegance and excitement of the court drama.– He spent much of

his time being entertained by the nobles and met the last five of his wives from his court.

Henry’s Wives

Catherine of Aragon (1509-1533)

Anne Boleyn (1533-1536)

Jane Seymour (1536-1537)

Anne of Cleves (1540)

Catherine Howard (1540-1542)

Katherine Parr (1543-1547)

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey

• Archbishop of York• Wolsey was quite capable as Lord

Chancellor, but his own interests were served more than that of the king– he still was subject to Henry's favor - losing

Henry's confidence proved to be his downfall.

• Led the Church in England after being given powers by Henry to bypass the church heirarchy.

• He fell out of power when he failed to get an annulment from the Pope so that Henry could marry Anne Boleyn.

The “King’s Great Matter”

• Though he and Catherine of Aragon had been married twenty years, Henry’s obsession with creating a male heir made him seek an annulment of his marriage.

• Cardinal Wolsey tried to obtain Pope Clement VII’s permission, but was unable.

• Henry created the Reformation Parliament in 1529

Thomas Cromwell and

Thomas Cranmer

• Cromwell– Lord Chancellor– created new

government departments to keep track of revenue and keep up to date records.

– Oversaw Reformation Parlaiment

• Cranmer– Archbishop of

Canterbury– dealt with and

guided changes in ecclesiastical policy and oversaw the dissolution of the monasteries.

Reformation

Parliament• The break from Rome was accomplished

through law, not social outcry.– This step was only taken after an annulment

from the Pope was deemed impossible.• 137 statutes in seven years• Religious reform movements had already

taken hold in England, but continental Protestantism had yet to find favor with the English people.

• Henry was named the Supreme Head of the Church of England

• 1536- all ecclesiastical and government officials were required to publicly approve of the break with Rome and take an oath of loyalty.

The Acts• An Act of Submission of the Clergy (1534)

– prevented the Church from making any regulations without the King's consent.

• The Ecclesiastical Appointments Act (1534)– required the clergy to elect Bishops

nominated by the Sovereign. • The Act of Supremacy (1534)

– declared that the King was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England“

• The Treasons Act (1534) – made it high treason, punishable by death, to

refuse to acknowledge the King as the Church leader.

• Act of Succesion (1534)– Rejecting the decisions of the Pope,

Parliament validated the marriage between Henry and Anne.

Dissolution of Monasteries

• Monastic lands and possessions were broken up and sold off. – In the 1520s, some monasteries

were closed down to pay for colleges like Oxford and Ipswich

– In 1535-6, another 200 smaller monasteries were dissolved

– 1539, England's remaining monasteries were all dissolved, and their property transferred to the Crown.  

After the Break

• Henry became disillusion after the break with the Catholic Church– Consequently, much of the

remainder of Henry’s reign is relatively unexciting.

• Henry’s religious policies were somewhat confusing, as he considered himself a Catholic until the end of his life.

The Laws in Wales Acts

• 1535-1542, England legally annexed Wales, uniting England and Wales into one nation.

• English became the official language of Wales, to be used in official proceedings.

The Royal Navy

• Henry is considered the father of the Royal Navy

• He engaged in naval warfare during his term and put a large investment into building a succesful fleet, creating dockyards and supporting naval innovations

• He did not, however, leave a running Navy for his succesors. – There was no structured system

to continue the tradition.

Succession• The Act of Succesion (1544)

– Henry gave the crown to his only surviving son, Edward

• Edward was the first Protestant monarch to rule England.

– In the event of a death without children, Edward was to be succeeded Mary, his daughter by his first wife.

– If Mary did not have children, she was to be succeeded Elizabeth, his daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

– Finally, if Elizabeth also did not have children, she was to be succeded by the descendants of Henry VIII's deceased sister, Mary Tudor

How He Left the Country

• England was an impoverished country torn apart by religious squabbles.

• However, Henry's reformation had produced dangerous Protestant-Roman Catholic differences in the kingdom. The monasteries' wealth had been spent on wars and had also built up the economic strength of the aristocracy and other families in the counties, which in turn was to encourage ambitious Tudor court factions.

Queen Elizabeth Tudor I

• Born: September 7, 1533 to King Henry VIII and

Anne Boleyn, his second wife.

• Coronated: January 15, 1559 at Westminster Abbey

• Died: March 24, 1603 at age 69

'Proud and haughty, as although she knows she was born of such a mother, she nevertheless does not consider herself of inferior degree to the Queen, whom she equals in self-esteem; nor does she believe herself less legitimate than her Majesty, alleging in her own favour that her mother would never cohabit with the King unless by way of marriage, with the authority of the Church.... She prides herself on her father and glories in him; everybody saying that she also resembles him more than the Queen does and he therefore always liked her and had her brought up in the same way as the Queen.'  

– the Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel describes Elizabeth; spring 1557

Pre-Ruling Conflicts

• Before she became Queen, Elizabeth, a Protestant, clashed with her sister Mary and other Catholics.– While her brother Edward was King,

Elizabeth was unrightfully implicated in a plot to overthrow the young King by his uncle Thomas Seymour.

– Then, in the Wyatt Rebellion of 1554, Queen Mary accused Elizabeth of being in the plot to overthrow her.

The Captivity of Elizabeth

• After the Wyatt Rebellion, Elizabeth was locked up in the Tower of London even though there was no evidence against her.

• She was then moved to the gate house at Woodstock Manor in Oxfordshire for one year.

• She was let go at the bequest of Mary’s husband, King Phillip of Spain.

Elizabeth’s Refusal to Marry

• Most thought that the Queen would marry within her first year or so as Queen.

• Elizabeth valued the independence she had and did not feel she needed a man to guide her.

• It would have also been politically difficult for her to choose a suitable husband.

• The Privy Council, whose job it was to choose a husband for the Queen, was too divided to ever agree on a suitable mate.– This made it much easier for Elizabeth

to refuse any marriage suggestions or proposals.

State of Affairs in 1558

'The Queen poor; the realm exhausted; the nobility poor and decayed; want of good captains and soldiers; the people out of order; justice not executed; justices of peace unmeet for office; all things dear; excess of meat and drink, and apparel; division among ourselves; war with France and Scotland; the French King, having one foot in Calais and the other in Scotland; steadfast enmity, but no steadfast friendship abroad.' 

– An anonymous contemporary observer in 1558

'Semper Eadem'

('Always the Same‘)

• This was the motto of Elizabeth’s reign, as her main goal was to stabilize the formerly struggling country.

Re-Establishing Protestantism

• After Elizabeth was named Queen, she re-established the Protestant Church in England.

• She herself believed in toleration of all religions.– She was often forced to take a

harsher stance on punishment of Catholics because of the schism between the two sects.

– ‘There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith… all else is a dispute over trifles.’

The Act of Supremacy

• Gave Elizabeth ultimate control of the Church of England.

• Title of monarch modified to "Supreme Governor of the Church in England". 

• Also included an oath of loyalty to the Queen that the clergy were expected to take. – If they did not take it, then they

would lose their office. 

The Act of Supremacy:

The Oath of Loyalty“the Queen's Highness is the only Supream Governor of this Realm, and of all other her Highness Dominions and Countries, as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes, as Temporal; and that no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate State or Potentate, hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Preheminence, or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm;… from henceforth I shall bear faith and true Allegiance to the Queen’s Highness, her Heirs and lawful Successors…  So help me God, and by the Contents of this Book.”

The Act of Uniformity

• Implemented in the summer of 1559• Crux of Elizabethan Church, establishing a

set form of worship. • The Prayer books of Edward VI were fused

into one, and were to be used in every church in the land.

• Church attendance on Sundays and holy days was made compulsory.

• The wording of the Communion was to be vague so that Protestants and Catholics could both participate,

• Had trouble getting passed through Parliament. – A large number of the Parliament,

extremists on both sides, opposed the bill

Act of Uniformity

“…all and every person and persons inhabiting within this realm, or any other the queen's majesty's dominions, shall diligently and faithfully, having no lawful or reasonable excuse to be absent, endeavour themselves to resort to their parish church or chapel accustomed, … upon every Sunday and other days ordained and used to be kept as holy days, and then and there to abide orderly and soberly during the time of the common prayer, preachings, or other service of God there to be used and ministered; upon pain of punishment by the censures of the Church, and also upon pain that every person so offending shall forfeit for every such offence twelve pence, to be levied by the churchwardens of the parish where such offence shall be done, to the use of the poor of the same parish, of the goods, lands, and tenements of such offender, by way of distress.”

Puritans• Puritans put power in the local parish,

above anything else, which put it in direct conlict with the monarchy.

• The Church of England was more dedicated to England and the Queen than to God, which troubled Protestants

• Elizabeth's government was able to keep the Puritan movement underground.  – John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury,

adopted some reforms, but did not want to create Puritan martyrs, as Mary I had created Protestant ones. 

– He was also more interested in establishing a uniform clergy rather than debating doctrine. 

The Northern Rebellion

• In 1569, The Catholics of Northern England started a rebellion with the hopes of taking away the English crownfrom Elizabeth and giving it to Mary, Queen of Scots.

• Led by two members of the Northern nobility:– Charles Neville– Thomas Percy

• Led to a Papal Bull set forth by Pope Pius V, The Bull of Deposition (Regnans in Excelsis), excommunicating Elizabeth.– The Bull of Deposition was issued after the

putting down of the rebellion but it led Elizabeth to stop her policy of religious toleration.

• The Catholic powers of Europe were also ordered to act against the unlawful queen as she was a heretic and enemy of the true faith. 

Political Skill

• Elizabeth’s approach to the monarchy was drastically different from any of her predecessors because of her willingness to listen to those around her.– She would change a policy if it

was unpopular. – Her approach to politics was

serious, conservative, and cautious.

Advisors

• Elizabeth was especially gifted at choosing smart people to help her lead.

Sir Francis Walsingham,The Queen’s Spymaster

Sir William CecilSecretary of State

Sir William Cecil

• Elizabeth and Cecil ruled England almost side by side until his death in 1598.

• ‘This judgment I have of you that you will not be corrupted by any manner of gift and that you will be faithful to the state; and that without respect of my private will you will give me that counsel which you think best and if you shall know anything necessary to be declared to me of secrecy, you shall show it to myself only.’

Robert Dudley

• The handsome Robert Dudley was appointed Master of the Horse, a position that required close contact with the Queen.

• Cecil and Dudley disliked each other– They were both rivals for the Queen’s attentione.– two rival factions developed in court around the

two men

• It was clear from the beginning that Robert Dudley was the queen's favorite courtier.  They were openly affectionate and Dudley enjoyed flaunting the queen's favor. 

Indecisive or Compromising?

• Many were annoyed by the Queen’s refusal to take sides on the issue of religion.– Protestants felt

that she should be more harsh in her treatment of Catholics and punish their religious worship as crime.

• But by not persecuting Catholics, she struck a balance that lasted through much of her reign.– She had to

endure much less political struggle than her siblings, who were more extremist towards either side.

Privy Council• The main job of the Council was to

give advice to Queen Elizabeth. The Councilors did not always agree on matters, but Elizabeth listened to all sides of the argument, and then made up her own mind about what to do. This increased her power as she could always make the final decision

• The Privy Council was part of a more localized method of government which was very important in Tudor England.– Royal representatives were situated in every county in

the country to make sure that the Queen’s wishes were carried out.

• Elizabeth cut down the number of councilors in her Council from the 50 the Mary had to 19 at the beginning of her term.– She believed that too many people with different

ideas would only cause more problems than solve them.

Parliament• The House of Lords

– The Queen had a more direct effect on these members, as she appointed bishops and created many of the positions.

• The House of Commons.– Knights of the shire  - each county sent two

representatives– borough members - many towns had

acquired the right to  elect members• The consent of both houses and the Queen was

required to pass all laws.  • The Monarch summoned the Houses of

Parliament and could prorogue (temporarily suspend) or dissolve Parliament at will. 

• The Monarch appointed Bishops and created peers, and so had a more direct influence on the composition of the House of Lords than of the House of Commons.

• Only Parliament could make law and levy taxes

Court System

• The Great Session (Assizes), – held twice a year in each county – The Assizes in particular had the

power to inflict harsh punishments. • Quarter Sessions Court, – held four times a year.

• Between them, these courts dealt with most crimes, such  as theft, witchcraft, recusancy, murder, and assault.

• For less important crimes, there were other courts such as the Petty Sessions, Manor courts, or even town courts.

• The Church Courts were important in dealing with religious or moral affairs.

Scotland

• After Mary was forced out of Scotland and fled to England, Elizabeth locked her up in the Tower of London for 20 years.

• Although Elizabeth did not want to have her cousin executed, she was forced to send Mary to execution after the plot of Babington was uncovered.

• Many believed that Mary, Queen of Scots, a catholic, was the rightful Queen of England.

• Since Mary too was a female sovereign Queen, Elizabeth was careful about how she recognized Mary’s power because she didn’t want to be in the same situation.

Succession

• On her deathbed, Elizabeth passed the crown onto James of Scotland.– He was the son of Mary, Queen of

Scots, Elizabeth’s cousin

• Elizabeth felt comfortable in giving the crown to James because he had been raised by Protestant minister with whom Elizabeth had a correspondence.

How She Left the Country

• England was one of the most powerful and prosperous countries in the world.

• It had proved itself to be the strongest Naval force in the World.

Conclusion

• Overall, Elizabeth was much better at handling the conflicts between feuding portions of the country.– Elizabeth’s skills as a realpolitique

helped her manage the balance between the Catholic and Protestant sects.

– Henry was much more of a traditional monarch and spent more time on his social and romantic life than on leading the country.

THE ENDTHE END