Henry 7th was ruthless in securing the Tudor dynasty. Firstly he quickly married Elizabeth of York, which not only united the country, but also gave him two sons, Arthur and Henry, which meant that the Tudor line was secure. Next, to protect the marriage of Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, Henry executed the Earl of Warwick who was in the tower. This was a smart move by Henry because Warwick did have a claim to the throne and could have not only split up the marriage of Arthur and Catherine, but also threaten Henry’s stability as king. Henry also needed to control the nobility because if he didn’t, or only managed to control a minority, he could have a revolution, and Nobles, together, had a lot more money and power than the king himself.
All payments went towards the king, this would've also made the Earls not feel powerful enough, especially Harold Godwin who was seen as the most powerful man in England, but theoretically he wasn’t. However the Economy was well governed because the trade increased, which encouraged both the growth of towns and foreign contacts, this demonstrates that England were still involved in trade, which was good for the economy. However the economy was not very well developed especially compared to the Byzantine Empire and Muslim world. Those economies were massive, especially when compared to England’s. Overall I believe that the economy for pre-Conquest England as well- governed to an extent as the King did have large control, he did control this well, but he may have been seen as too powerful where the government is concerned.
His death posed the question of who was to succeed him, and while Charles II ultimately returned, alternative leaders attempted to govern first. To answer the question this essay must analyse the situation under Cromwell and the events that followed to ascertain whether the Commonwealth could have survived, or whether the power vacuum could only have been filled by the monarchy. In the civil war Parliament fought to preserve the ‘ancient constitution’[1] of King, Lords and Commons. Parliament made generous offers to the king, such as the ‘Heads of Proposals’ drawn up by Cromwell and army officers. Charles would have kept his crown and most of his power and be assured of the retention of bishops.
However, as the war went on, the king’s money dwindled away, and Parliament raised taxes, therefore they had more money than the king. London was probably the most important place in the whole battle, without this, the parliamentarians probably wouldn’t have won. London had a large population and they mostly supported parliament. It was also an extremely wealthy place compared to the areas that the king owned (Wales, Cornwall and Northern England). London kept the parliamentarians supplied with soldiers and weapons for the entire war, and if the king took control of it, Parliament would certainly have lost.
After Henry VII had died, Henry decided to marry Catherine of Aragon. This proved to be a very shrewd move as by doing so he avoided issues concerning the papal dispensation and a missing part of the marriage portion. This move also made sure that Anglo-Spanish relations were not further strained. Also Henry VIII’s England was included in the Holy-League which included Spain, The Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy. It was formed by the pope and was Anti-French.
He was of the belief that he was the rightful ruler of England. He was an heir to the King Magnus, this king had ruled before Edward the Confessor seized his throne. They all fought battles towards the throne. For all of Harold’s efforts to build armies, castles and vessels he was slain in an early battle. The English retreated and eventually accepted William of Normandy as victorious and their
Also, he had very short supply of money-he solved this by getting taxes from rich people.Next,there was rivalry between the York and Lancaster families,so he married Elizabeth.Lastly, he didnt have a very strong claim to the throne,therefore,he married. Henry was a Roman-Catholic and the head of the Church within his time, was the Pope,and in Henry’s opinion,this was right,little did he know,later on this could change...in Henry’s case,the Tudors were definately important to History. Next is Henry VII’s son-Henry
This made his position a weak one, forcing Edward to bind himself to Godwin, as the Earl of Wessex and most powerful man in England at this time. Earl Godwin was the only member of the witan offering to support Edward. The reasons for this are unclear though it is likely Godwin felt that he could exert influence over the inexperienced King and therefore gain yet more power over England. Despite the odds being stacked against him, Edward took the English throne from the Danish royal family and established himself as a strong and wise King. Clearly his success had to be dependant on a number of weighty advantages, his growing up in Exile for example.
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.
First of all we’ll look at Harald Godwinson. He had a strong claim to the throne because he was a blood relative of Edwards. He also had experience of power and he was very popular with the English. But when Edwards died Godwinson was expected to mourn his dead relative, instead he rushed to fight for the throne, instead of respecting his loss he was rude and disrespectful in his race for power and people were not happy with this. This section is all about Harald Godwinson!