This supports the view because it says, “Look to the king’s profit and make sure all parties shall be contented.” This supports the view that finance was a key part of the dissolution because the King’s profit is highlighted as an important part of the letter, so it was obviously an important part of the Earl’s task. The second piece of evidence that the dissolution of the Greater monasteries was financially motivated was that it was only the greater monasteries dissolved. This suggests financial motivation, as any other cause, such as corruption or religious disagreement, would have seen all the monasteries, large and small, dissolved, where as a financial cause would only require the dissolution of the larger, wealthier monasteries. Thirdly, Source 8 agrees with the view because it says that the dissolution purely financial and that it were for both long term and short term financial benefits. This is because the sale of the goods found in the monasteries would provide short-term revenue for Henry’s war chest, and the land itself would be Cromwell’s way of providing a long-term income.
Charles, however, used money from any region that was willing to give it to him to finance any of his many wars. The Low countries and Italy initially financed his active foreign policy but following the 1539 revolt of Ghent Charles turned to Spain as his main source of revenue His reliance upon the tax from the Castilian Cortes and loans using Spain as collateral to pay for wars that weren’t strictly in Spain’s interest almost ran the country into bankruptcy. Charles was using extraordinary sources of Spanish revenue to maintain his control of Europe. Such sources of revenue could not be continued in the long run and it is no surprise that by 1558 Philip II had declared bankruptcy. The powerful Spanish Church contributed much to Charles V treasury.
There were also numerous gifts to be given as part of patronage. It is easy to see how the country ended up in debt, due to the many outgoings of the crown. During the reign of Henry VI, money was borrowed which created many debts. Edward then had the task of paying off these debts, and raising enough money to help pay for the cost of governing the realm. Edward was unable to ask parliament for a grant, and there was the fear that adding additional taxes could spark a rebellion.
Study sources G, H and I. How far do these sources suggest the smaller monasteries were dissolved in 1536 because of their corruption? Sources G and H do support the argument suggesting that the smaller monasteries were dissolved in 1536 due to proof of their corruption. However Source I follows the argument that the monasteries were not corrupt and were only dissolved due to their financial benefits to King Henry VIII. Source G suggests that the monasteries wrongly abused their influential power over the common folk, gaining money from the supposed religious relics they claimed to be in ownership of.
It is also important to establish that whilst the King might have been successful in the short term; he could have failed to pave the path for the long run, thus Charles was piling up trouble for himself for the future. Having dissolved parliament, the only institution which can grant the King the right to raise taxes, the immediate threat posed against the Charles was finance. Although Charles was not an extravagant King as James was, he still needed money for the general maintenance of the country; as such, William Noy the Attorney General was appointed to look through forgotten and outdated laws that could be exploited as a means of raising income for the Crown. Various non-parliamentary finances were discovered and employed with the most lucrative ones being the Distraint of Knighthood whereby men owning estates worth £40 were suppose to present themselves as knights and those whom did not were fined as well as Ship Money, which is a levy to raise money for ships to be built to protect coastal areas from pirates. However, it is important to note that both of these sources of income were ancient and had been long unused.
The money would lead to power; his greatest desire. To carry this power on he wanted it to be entrusted in a son. All the reasons link together to show his need for power as king. One of the reasons why Henry broke from the Roman Church was because he needed money. When Henry was made king he was short of money because he had fought lots of expensive wars.
Although Berkeley was very one sided in his argument, he gives across both perspectives of the time. John Pym in source D also agrees that financial problems were a main grievance of the time, but he also states that there were more reasons for opposition, such as, “attacks on liberties of parliament” and “innovations in religion”. Pym says “Financial impositions are of great grievance. One bishop preaches that a subject’s property is at the king’s pleasure” showing that the
Additionally, suspicions had risen of radical parliamentarians and the people were reliant on Charles’ return to stop this. These reasons are the main factors for Charles’ support in 1646. Charles’ return to the throne would have meant an end to Parliament’s County Committees, which many felt were worse than living under Charles’ rule. A large portion of the population had suffered the brutal dominion of the County Committees, which only worsened as the war progressed and Parliament became more desperate to finance the war. Primarily made up of fiercely loyal Puritans, the County Committees were efficient in reaching the monthly quotas set by Parliament.
Therefore when evaluating the reforms Wolsey managed to implement or fall back on in this particular case, it is important to judge by the standards of sixteenth century citizens rather than our own. One of the most important reasons for Wolsey’s lack of success was his pride and inability to forget past matters, in turn leading him to target influential people that could easily overpower his reforms, such as his battles against enclosure. A particular example of this is his feud with Amyas Paulet. Several years before assuming power, Paulet had placed Wolsey in the stocks after creating a riot. Once Wolsey had gained position as Lord Chancellor, Wolsey forced Amyas Paulet to wait in daily attendance in Wolsey’s court for five years and if failing to do so, would have all his property confiscated.
By exiling the Huguenots he lost a lot of potential revenue, and the lavish building of Versailles was not cheap. Moreover, he did not have the revenue to keep up his enormous army and after the early 1680’s his success in wars went in a never ending downward spiral. Perhaps if Louis XIV had learned to manage his money better and not gone to war so readily, his subjects would have been happier and he would have had an even more successful reign, but without a doubt he still remains one of the most powerful rulers in