Relations with Nobility, Royal Finances and Tax Opposition

To further secure his position and to prevent the civil wars that characterised the rule of his predecessors, Henry VII had to control the nobility and avoid an unhealthy dependence upon them.

• He maintained a reduction in the size of the nobility. His relatives and closest supporters received the bulk of grants and restorations. The peerage shrank from 55 nobles to 42.
• He disallowed the marriage of certain nobles and wealthy heiresses and put the old, powerful families including the Percys and the Staffords under surveillance.

• He developed a policy of using bonds and recognisances as he used them to control areas of the country.
• He ordered the release of the ex-Yorkist Thomas Howard**,** Earl of Surrey, from the Tower and assigned him to control Yorkshire.
• He tried to limit retaining, and the keeping of private armies of the nobles, by passing laws in 1487 and 1504. Peers and members of the parliament took an oath against illegal retaining. Nobles had to acquire licences to keep armed men that should only be used on the king's behalf.

Thomas Howard

Thomas Howard fought alongside Richard III at Bosworth, thus he was attainted. After his earldom was restored, he played significant roles in Tudor politics later on.

The Chamber

One of the important changes in finances under Henry VII was the transfer of the administration of royal finances from the Court of the Exchequer to the Chamber system. The Chamber became the centre of royal finances and Henry VII kept a close eye on the accounts and checked all entries. It was under the direct supervision of the king, unlike the Court of the Exchequer which had its own officials.

The development of the Chamber into the national treasury resulted in:

• Reorganisation of the royal household
• The Privy Chamber increased most in importance as it took over the administration of the household and the king's private expenditures, which were formerly a function of the Chamber.

A page from a 1505 Chamber book

Function of the Chamber = to oversee the transfer of all royal revenues.

• Ordinary revenue and extraordinary revenue. Due to this shift in the administration of royal finances, the Treasurer of the Chamber became the most important financial figure during Henry VII's reign.

The post was held by:

• Sir Thomas Lovell (1485-1492)
• Sir John Heron (1492-1509)

Types of Royal Revenues

Ordinary Revenue

• Crown lands - lands held by the king through inheritance or confiscation from traitors. Crown lands significantly increased under Henry VII through the Acts of Attainders, Act of Resumption and forfeitures.
• Feudal obligations - collected from tenants-in-chief for various reasons:
  • Wardship – the king had the right to look after the heir and their land if the heir was a minor
  • Livery – a fine paid to recover lands from wardship
  • Relief – money paid to the king if land was inherited
  • Escheats – money paid when land was reverted to the Crown
  • Marriage dues for heiresses
• Bonds and recognisances - bonds were written agreements in which a person promised to pay a sum of money if they failed to keep their promise while recognisances were a formal acknowledgement of a debt/obligation with the understanding to pay money when the debt/obligation was not met.
• Customs duties - payment collected for English defences including the prerogative duties on wool and some imports, import and export duties of tonnage and poundage and a subsidy on wool exports.
• Profits of justice - fees paid for royal writs and letters, and fines levied by the court.

Extraordinary Revenue

• Parliamentary grants - basic tax: one-fifteenth of the value of goods in rural areas and one-tenth in urban areas.
• Loans - provided by wealthy subjects in times of emergency.
• Benevolences - forced loans without repayment.
• Clerical taxes - collected from simony and revenues from the vacant bishopric.
• Feudal aid - a due levied on special occasions.
• French pension - paid by the King of France, by the terms of the Treaty of Etaples.

Opposition to Taxation

Location of the rebellions

Yorkshire people resented being governed by southerners and the Cornish were unwilling to pay taxes for the defence of the northern part of the kingdom. This opposition to taxation led to non-dynastic rebellion in Yorkshire (1489) and Cornwall (1497).