Despite the increased responsibility and independence the senate became more subservient to him, “Though at first the senate showed real independence, it soon realised the risk of encroaching too far” (Scullard). This was due to the fact of the growing treason trials and Sejanus’ influence, senators afraid of their safety began to win favour by sycophancy. Whilst through his reserved temperament and ambiguous instructions led confusion to the senate steering towards deterioration, Tacitus notes he remarked them “men fit to be slaves”. This declining power of the senate under Tiberius became more obvious when he administered the empire from Capri failing to create the diarchic balance, Scullard writes “Tiberius had tried and failed and his failure was made irremediable by his retirement to Capri” illustrating the impact on Princeps becoming more dominating issuing imperial
This particular political skill would become one of the key factors in his rise to power. The others include the political weakness and errors of his rivals, issues brought up within the politburo such as the N.E.P, and the fact that more often than not he had luck on his side. Stalin’s main rival, Trotsky, was the early choice to gain the position of leader of the party, having been Lenin’s personal favourite. However, Trotsky lost himself a large amount of support when he criticised the N.E.P, and Lenin. He was also tricked by Stalin into not attending Lenin’s funeral.
He is supposed to have the most control, able to keep his people in line however due to his state he was not able to accomplish any of these necessary attributions of a king, therefore this would help contribute to the civil war outbreak, as a weak character in the position of a king isn’t good. In addition, Henry had a trait of having favorites among his nobility. This is shown by he gave out patronage to his favorites, Somerset and Suffolk, they were also made dukes in 1448. This would cause problems inside his nobility. Dukes were usually direct relatives of the king, however Suffolk and Somerset were not, where as Richard of York was.
Indeed, it could be argued that the intrigues and machinations of the imperial court were the defining characteristics of the Julio-Claudian period. This therefore explains why the discussions of motives behind decisions during the Julio-Claudian era have been so controversial. Due in part to his brother Germanicus being a highly regarded member of the soldiery, Claudius was bestowed the role of Emperor after the assassination of Caligula, despite his perceived feebleness and having limited military or any administrative experience at all. It is furthermore suggested that he was potentially intended to be a ‘puppet emperor’ for the Praetorian Guard’s benefit, “The Praetorian Guard sat at the very heart of Rome, and usually reported only to the emperor of Rome himself and it wasn't long before they started to abuse this power”. Initially considered too incompetent to rule, Claudius arose to the role of emperor in an admirable manner for his condition; he was always ill, and was said to have possessed neither natural dignity nor authority.
Since each noble wanted to be invited to Versailles and be close to the king, it created competition among the nobles, which kept them from conspiring against the king. He also appointed bourgeoisie to high positions in his administration. This allowed him to keep the nobles satisfied and under control. Likewise, Peter’s tour of Western Europe was cut short in 1689 because of the Strelski. Peter dealt with the troublemakers swiftly and ruthlessly, killing thousands.
Assess the reasons for the fall of Thomas Wolsey in 1529. Thomas Wolsey was Henry VIII’s chief advisor who he relied on to deal with foreign and domestic policy. He rose to power due to his ability, experience and lack of opposition. Whilst in power he had a very good relationship with Henry- David Starkey has likened it to a father-son relationship. However, Wolsey wasn’t able to maintain his power and a number of factors influenced Henry’s decision to strip Wolsey of his powers in 1529.
The nobility of England appeared to increase in power because of the weakness of the king. The King had clear favourites in both the Earl of Somerset and the Earl of Suffolk. The Earl of Suffolk was permitted to ‘dominate’ the royal household during the period Henry was too young to be ruler. When he was accused of treason by the commons due to the business in France, the King stood by him in protection. The king sent him to exile, however in the English Channel, the ship carrying the Earl of Suffolk was intercepted by ‘Nicholas of the Tower’, and Suffolk was beheaded by its sailors in April 1450.
In 1216 the Barons of England rebelled against King John, the Barons rebelled for a number of reasons, they include the trust between the King and the Barons, how John increased the taxes, the church and the rule breaking of the Magna Carta, some of the reasons were caused at the beginning of John’s reign, known as long term causes, and some of King John’s poor decisions triggered the rebellion, known as short term causes. One imperative reason that supports the fact why the Barons rebelled against King John was the fact that he did not ask their advice, a good King should always listen to the advice of the Barons. Instead he preferred to the advice of foreign advisers. This annoyed the Barons and chose not abide by The King. Consequently when he asked the Barons to provide an army to win back his land in France they refused.
He required that his subjects “loan him the equivalent of five subsidies” and although it was “opposed by significant numbers in the localities,” the taxation still occurred as the government had “employed all its powers to eliminate resistance”. Moreover, the Forced Loan only happened as a result of Charles dismissing the 1626 Parliament, forfeiting his opportunity of obtaining further grants for his wartime expenditure. Parliament had already been antagonised by Charles’ decision to dismiss them and now that Charles was forcing taxation on others in order to fund his wartime expenditure, due to disastrous foreign policy which Parliament largely disagreed with, it is clear that the Forced Loan had worsened relations greatly. In addition to this, the financing of foreign policy also affected the relationship between Crown and Parliament. As stated previously, the Forced Loan existed to fund England’s wars considering that Parliament was reluctant to grant Charles further subsidies.
Factors suggesting that enemies at Court were important might include: • an understanding of the role of Anne Boleyn and of Norfolk who had made it a matter of personal ambition to be rid of Wolsey • Wolsey had made many enemies whilst in office. Serving the King, and especially increasing his revenue had stirred a bitterness that only waited for an outlet • jealousy may have been a factor. Wolsey had dominated preferment and favour, not only as the distributor but also as the recipient. Hampton Court was the physical reminder of this • many at court opposed Wolsey’s foreign policy reversal – indeed this was key. By 1529 England was diplomatically isolated and this might be considered a consequence of Wolsey’s advances to the French • the increasingly central position of Norfolk, Suffolk and Rochford at Court was recognised even by Wolsey in the Eltham Ordinances.