By 1510, King Henry VIII had been in power for around a year, since the death of his father. Henry was very different to his father in many ways, one being the manner in which he regarded the nobility. While Henry VII kept his friends and supporters in check, with limited power in order to be assured of their loyalty, his son, Henry VIII, seemed to have a very different view on how to treat the nobility, giving them more power and control of their own estates. Sources 1 and 2 give varying views on whether or not Henry VIII regarded them as his friends and supporters.

Source 1 comes from a description of the festivities enjoyed by Henry and his ‘friends’ at Court in 1510. This source gives much evidence to suggest that Henry very much regarded the nobility as his friends. This can be seen through the description of the antics that Henry and co. took part in. They are said to have joked around a lot, seemingly having fun while playing a prank by coming “early to the Queen’s bedchamber one morning; dressed in short coats of Kentish cloth, with hoods, bows and arrows, like Robin Hood”. What this implies is that the King trusts his nobility enough that he allows them into the Queen’s chamber. They continued to enjoy themselves later at dinner, when Henry “arranged the seating and joked with all; and had [them] parade in strange costumes before they brought in actors to stage a play.” This could be seen as showing that Henry very much enjoyed the company of his nobility, counting them as his friends.

However when taking a closer look at Source 1 you can infer that maybe the King is not treating his nobility as his peers as it seems. Where it says “ Then later at dinner the King… had the Earl of Essex and the Lord Henry, Earl of Wiltshire, and Sir Edward Howard and Sir Thomas Parr parade in strange costumes before they bought in actors to stage a play.”. The young King was possibly making these prestigious men dress up and parade around for his entertainment to both enhance his reputation and show that he was in charge over everyone, even the Lords and Earls and it was him that held the power. Thus meaning that the nobility had to do as he said, they could not say no, Henry was king.

Source 2 is from a proclamation issued by Henry himself, in July 1511, as he was about to go to war with France. Due to the war at hand, “The King commanded all the lords and most of the nobles to prepare as many able men for war as they can muster from their estates.” This could show that Henry very much considered the nobility to be his supporters, as he “commanded” them. Also it must be remembered that Henry was the head authority figure in England at this time, therefore it would be reasonable to assume that he saw them as his supporters rather than his friends. This view is supported by “The king commands this [retaining] to cease forthwith, and orders those who have made such arrangements to remedy the situation or bear the King’s anger and indignation, to their great danger and peril”. This clearly shows that Henry [even though he would only be 18/19] is in charge and is not afraid to demonstrate his power.

After studying the two sources carefully, it would be reasonable to conclude that Henry regarded the nobility first and foremost as his supporters. Although Source 1 at face value gives the impression that Henry had seen the nobility as his “friends” and that it was “to his great displeasure” to find some of his nobles breaking the laws against retaining in Source 2, it cannot be argued that Henry was not in control. The quote “...orders those who have made such arrangements to remedy the situation or bear the King’s anger and indignation, to their great danger and peril.” clearly shows that henry was in power and it would therefore be fair to conclude the nobles only retained the King’s friendship as long as they continued to serve him.