When Henry VIII became king in 1509 he had a number of aims that he wished to achieve during this period of time. He wanted to be seen as a very different king to his father Henry VII. He wanted to get England noticed as a major power in Europe and also enrich his reputation, honour and prestige. But Henry’s first and biggest goal was to get a male heir. Some may say that Henry was largely successful in achieving his aims with his biggest success being the battle of the spurs in 1513.
Wolsey changed areas of government such as the justice system and revised areas such as finances and parliament structure. His relationship with the King was significant, as he would be the higher power and would need to negotiate with the King and yet still get the correct decision. Wolsey managed his relationship with henry well, he tried to get the right outcome for the country but never forced it upon Henry, not damaging their relationship and keeping Wolsey in power. Wolsey had a poor approach with justice; in court he gained a poor reputation for taking bribes and his relationship with England’s nobility was poor to say the least. The financial approach was a tough period in finance; with a King that wanted to spend and go to war, and Wolsey had no choice but to bow to his majesty’s request.
This tells us that he had firm control of the country, and was allowing change in the safest of manors. On the other hand the lack of rebellions may have been due to Northumberland’s ruthless nature during previous rebellions making people afraid of repeating the same outcome. The movement to Protestantism can be attributed more to the Kings wishes, and not represent what Northumberland himself wanted. Northumberland’s social and economic ideas were primarily aiming towards getting the government’s finances back to stability. After Henry VIII’s erratic spending the crown and country were in financial crisis and this systematic and logical approach made by Northumberland towards the crisis shows his ability in this area of ruling.
The reform of finance and administration was the most important factor for Pitt’s domination of politics 1783-93 how far do you agree? On one had there is a strong suggestion that Pitts earlier political domination was made entirely by his skill as an administrator and financing his government. But the political situation at the time meant that there were many disadvantages facing him from very early on, hence the nickname the “mince pie” administration. There were many ways in which Pitt conquered over such problems like the Whigs and support within the Commons and the way he improved it, but what is the most important factor in his domination. Pitt from early on was a highly successful at implicating financial and administrative policies
Henry had to bring stability back to England. The king needed to win over the nobles if he was to remain secure as king, he needed a positive relationship with them. There were some nobles who did support Henry because of their Lancastrian backgrounds, then there were some that supported him due to them seeing him as mean to social and political advancement, then there were the nobles that opposed him; the Lambert and Warbeck rebellions show this. Getting the nobles to support him was a huge challenge that would take years for the king to accomplish as there were more nobles than the king. Over the course of the fifteenth century the English nobility had grown in power, however Henry VII was quite fortunate that 25% of leading noble lines had died out.
These nobles expected a monopoly of influence over the king. As a result, the king had to perform a balancing act between expectations of the nobles and the King’s own freedoms of action to appoint his own councillors. The King needed to stop one faction from dominating and not exclude people of royal blood, something that Henry would struggle with. Although Henry was not directly responsible for the growth in power of the nobility, many of his actions certainly exacerbated the problem. More powerful nobles meant hat Henry had to dispense patronage fairly or risk upsetting and isolating powerful nobles.
Fourth, their use of the feudal system, as well as the administration which accompanied it enabled them to keep their kingdoms and subjects in check. Whilst all these factors played a role, without the force of their armies behind them, the ruler’s control of the kingdom crumbled, marking out force as the most important factor enabling effective royal government. The use of force by rulers was crucial in establishing and maintaining effective royal government in the middle ages. By the victories of armies the rulers of kingdoms could be changed in a very short space of time, as the Norman conquest of England in 1066 aptly demonstrates. This ‘Right of Conquest’ gave rulers a legitimate claim to a throne because of their military might.
An example od strong leader would be Jamestown’s governor John Smith. Thoughtful and powerful man in every sense of the word. Then other important thing is that English colonists unlike spanish didn’t want a dominion over the native Indians the British men just wanted land… English North America was a place where businessmen sought investment and ordinary men and women wanted to escape from religious persecution. All they wanted was freedom and better life.As the great leader of Jamestown said:No man will leave England to have worse life in America”
Richard III in many ways could be described as either a good or a bad king, as well as hi actions before and during his short reign as King. Before Richard III became King, the people of England wanted him to be the protector of Edward V eldest son of Edward IV, thus giving him power until Edward V could make his own decisions. This proves that Richard III was thought of by the people of Britain as trustworthy of ruling their great nation. During his reign in October of 1483 Richard crushed an attempt at rebellion against him, this is one of his strengths as it proves that he was capable of retaining his power whilst under threat. He also had the Duke of Buckingham who plotted against him captured, tried and put to death, this shows that
“How far do you agree that Cromwell created a ‘revolution in Tudor government’ from 1536-1553?” Cromwell’s skill and status allowed him to play a crucial role in directing the reformation and other areas of government, ultimately leading to the creation of a ‘revolution in tudor government’. Elton believes that Cromwell was the mastermind of the revolution, though others, such as J.J. Scarisbrick, believe that many overestimate Cromwell whilst underestimating Henry, believing that Henry was the initiator, even if it was Cromwell who carried out his ideas. This shows that even if Cromwell was not fully responsible for the ‘revolution’ in Tudor government, he most certainly played a large role in sculpting it. Religious reforms were key in establishing a new form of government, and therefore, to a large extent it would be suggested that Cromwell was instrumental in creating a revolution. By 1536 the Royal Supremacy in church and state was established and widely accepted, allowing Henry to exert his power more thoroughly, and ultimately creating a revolutions the king could take full control of the kingdom.