‘The consolidation of royal authority in the years 1487-1509 was due to Henry VII’s control over the nobility’

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Henry came to power in 1487 after Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. The government by 1485 was well organised but had come perilously close to collapse on a number of occasions during the fifteenth century. Therefore Henry faced many problems such as crown authority as Henry was not entitled to the crown and he was only supported by some because he was an alternative to Richard III. He knew he had to establish his claim to the throne and to secure his immediate future. Henry also faced problems with the nobles as he had to balance their wealth and territorial power which they had as they could become potential rivals and may spark a rebellion such as Lovell and Stafford. The uneven control that the crown had over the kingdom was another problem for Henry, as it was stronger in the more populated areas of the south and east, but looser in the borderlands, especially with the lack of a developed system of local administration. Henry had problems with the poor finances of the crown which had been depleted by wars at home and abroad and the council learned and council in star chamber.

Henry’s biggest challenge was to win the support of the nobles, while at the same time making sure that their power and arrogance were controlled. Henry had two options which he could take: either to buy their support by rewarding them with lands and titles, or to force them to support him by showing them unwelcome consequences of opposition. Henry’s relationship was vital to consolidating his position of royal authority. He depended on them to maintain law and order in areas where they held land and estates. However, the nobility had grown powerful in the fifteenth century, gaining more lands at the expense of the crown. Their large estates generated an income from rents and leases, which allowed the nobles to build strongholds and to recruit and retain private armies. Henry used a number of different policies to consolidate his position on the throne. The nobility depended on three factors - land, wealth and support - to maintain their independence from the King.

Right from the beginning of Henry’s reign he used attainders to seize the titles and possessions of the nobles he suspected of disloyalty. Attainders were laws passed through Parliament that allowed someone to be declared guilty of treason without going through the process of a trial. Henry first used attainders against men who opposed him at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485. He cleverly predated his reign one day before the battle, on 21st August 1485 so that anyone who fought against him was now a traitor. Henry was often prepared to reverse an attainder and restore lands and titles if he thought that would secure the gratitude and future loyalty of the victim. During his reign 138 attainders were passed, of which 46 were reversed. Henry abandoned most of Edward IV’s policy of distributing lands to loyal followers. At the beginning of his reign there were some grants but Henry became concerned not to create a new group of nobles who could rise to become a potential threat. The patronage was the monarch granting special favours, such as land or positions at court, to groups of people in order to retain their support. Attainders were used to consolidate Henry VII’s power by threatening nobles with them, or promising to reverse them if the nobleman did the King’s bidding. This allowed centralised royal authority to the crown.
Henry knew that in order to be able to consolidate his position he had to demand financial bonds from individual nobles or their families. This would place the nobles in debt to the crown, so that he would remain loyal in the future. In effect, Henry forced the nobles to obey by his rules or face a fine. An example of this is Lord Burgavenmy. He was convicted in 1507 for illegally retaining 471 men and fined £70, 000. Henry knew that paying this amount would bankrupt the lord, so he agreed that he would have to pay £5,000 over ten years. Henry showed he could raise money from someone he didn’t trust and obliged him to keep in the king’s favour or risk ruin. This led to the establishment of the Council Learned in Law.

The nobles played a large part in the consolidation of Henry’s reign because they provided him financial support when he needed any. This provided him with power because he was significantly financially prosperous from Edward IV before him.

The consolidation of Henry’s royal authority was not only due to his control over nobility but many other factors such as stabilising the country. Immediately after Bosworth, Henry brought Elizabeth of York out of the Tower of London to go onto marry her. The purpose of this action was to get the Yorkist opponents of Richard III on his side and build bridges with his opponents. It would make him feel more secure as she isn’t a queen in her own right. He applied for Papal dispensation to get backing from the Pope to marry Elizabeth of York, he did this so that the church could recognise him as King. The church was an essential part of England, it was a powerful ally in his claim to the throne if it were challenged. Henry was careful to ensure that his coronation in October 1485 came before his marriage in January 1486, so that no one could say he gained the throne through his wife. Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward VI so the union symbolised the reconciliation between the families of Lancaster and York. Elizabeth soon gave birth to a son, Prince Arthur, in September 1486. This helped to establish a future for the new Tudor dynasty. Henry’s marriage to Elizabeth of York did help him to stabilize the country and ultimately lead to his consolidation of royal authority.

Rebellions were also a major factor in the challenges faced by Henry to consolidate his position. In 1486 Henry decided to make a royal progress to his northern capital of York, this would show people that he was king and not afraid as Richard III had been popular in the north. Lord Lovell had been Richard’s chamberlain and one of his most loyal friends and had been in sanctuary in Colchester Cathedral since the Battle of Bosworth as well as Thomas and Humphrey Stafford two other supporters of Richard III. Sanctuary was where the church gave people protection from the law for 40 days though by the 15th Century there was no real limit. In April, when Lovell heard about Henry’s progress, he broke sanctuary to lead an armed force to waylay the king while the Staffords travelled to Worcester to raise a rebellion in the west. Henry heard of the plan whilst in Lincoln, so sent an armed force to offer the rebels a choice of pardon and reconciliation or excommunication and death. The Staffords sought sanctuary for a second time while Lovell escaped and ran away to Flanders. Henry felt sanctuary for the Staffords was unreasonable so sent them to the Tower of London. Humphrey was executed, although Thomas was given pardon and remained loyal to Henry from then on. Henry showed his power and strength and that he was able to show calculated mercy by being severe towards the ringleaders, but lenient towards the rank and file, he was able to provoke a reaction of loyalty and obedience from the people, whilst being seen to uphold justice and order.

In addition to this pretenders were another challenge which Henry faced to be able to consolidate his position. Lambert Simnel whom at the age of ten or eleven showed marked resemblance to the younger son of Edward VI was spotted by his teacher, a priest named Richard Symonds. Symonds taught Simnel to claim that he was Richard, Duke of York and took him to Ireland, which had become the centre of Yorkist support. There, Symonds seems to have decided that it would be more effective to pass Simnel off as Earl of Warwick, where they began to rally troops for an invasion of England. Henry immediately produced the real Earl of Warwick to demonstrate the falseness of Simnel's claims. This lead to the Battle of Stoke in 1487 where Henry outnumbered troops and became victorious. The battle consolidated Henry’s royal authority as it was the last part of the Wars of Roses and therefore a milestone was reached over the Yorkists and Lancastrians. Simnel’s only real support came from old guard yorkists and an Irish earl who would do anything to rid his country of the English. Although it exposed Henry’s vulnerabilities as he had been jeopardised by a child.

Furthermore there were other aspects that consolidated Henry’s royal authority, such as his management of finance. Henry VII changed from using the Exchequer system for accounting the King’s income, scrutinising ward-ships, debts and recognisances to the Chamber in 1493. This consolidated his royal authority because the Chamber system took place within the King’s household, so Henry VII had complete supervision of his and the crown’s finances. He made the final decision on all matters to do with finances, consolidating his royal authority by him having supreme economic control. The Chamber’s income in 1508 was £42,000; allowing Henry’s wealth to increase, furthering his influence and authority.

In 1487 the Star Chamber was set up to hear charges against those who broke the law. This allowed Henry VII to consolidate his royal authority as it allowed him to control the power of the nobles, increasing his own power. These measures which were strictly confidential allowed Henry VII to also dismiss or remove nobles, which means he had control over the composition of his nobles, this consolidated his royal authority as he had unquestionable support from his nobles.

In conclusion, Henry VII’s consolidation of royal authority in the years 1487 to 1509 was only partly due to his control over the nobility. It was an essential aspect of his royal authority however and the consolidation could not have been achieved without his success against imposters such as Lambert Simnel and his calculated approach towards his finances, all ensuring either financial gain, centralised political power or peace between warring parties.