Parliament & Henry VIII

Henry VIII's Early Parliaments

Henry VIII was not interested in the day-to-day detail of government. He increasingly relied on Wolsey, who became his chief minister. The question of who was in charge of policy is a cause of debate.

The Hunne Case

The Hunne case caused Parliament to clash with Wolsey.
In 1515 London merchant Richard Hunne challenged the Church over high fees charged for his baby’s burial. The Church arrested him for heresy. He was later found dead in his cell.
Parliament demanded the renewal of the 1512 Act restricting benefit of clergy (where the clergy were tried in a Church court).
Wolsey prevented it, leading him to have to swear to Henry that royal authority was greater than Church authority.

Finance

In the parliaments of 1510, 1512-14 and 1515 Parliament granted Henry taxation.
However, government expenditure between 1509 and 1520 was £1.7 million less than the government's income.
By 1517 Henry’s foreign policy gains were not proving worth the expense. Henry VIII still wanted war – but the Crown was running out of money.
In 1523 Wolsey got parliament to approve a new extraordinary tax called a subsidy. This was based on income rather than wealth.

Enclosure

Wolsey established a national inquiry into enclosure in 1517. Over 220 landowners were taken to court for illegal enclosing. All but 34 were cleared.
Wolsey stirred up the resentment of the landowning classes, gentry and nobility.
Wolsey ran into opposition in parliament in 1523, and had to suspend enquiries.

The Impact of the Reformation on Parliament

The Reformation Parliament broke new ground, sitting for 7 years and passing a wider range of law than ever before that set precedents for all future monarchies. This also contributed to the concepts of the sovereignty of statute law and parliamentary privilege.

Increased authority to Henry VIII

1532: The First Act of Annates. Annates (payments to Rome from the clergy when taking up a new post ) were suspended.
The Submission of the Clergy recognised the king as the Church’s lawmaker.
By January 1533 Anne was pregnant. On 25 January, Anne and Henry were secretly married by Cranmer.
1533 Act in Restraint of Appeals to Rome:
- No appeals could be made to the Pope.
- The king was head of the Church.

Succession and Supremacy

March 1534: The Act of Succession annulled Henry’s marriage to Catherine and disinherited Princess Mary in favour of Anne’s children. It became treason to deny Henry’s marriage to Anne.
November 1534: The Act of Supremacy
- Henry was made Supreme Head of the Church of England.
- All clergy in England had to take an oath swearing to Henry’s title.
- The Crown power to carry out visitations on monasteries.

Other Acts of Parliament increasing royal power

The Treason Act: It became treasonable to call the king or queen a heretic or to deny the royal supremacy.
Other acts channelled taxes previously raised by Rome to the Crown instead (e.g. Second Act of Annates, Act for First Fruits and Tenths, both passed 1534)
The 1534 Act for the Submission of the Clergy transferred all church matters from the Archbishop’s Court to the king’s court of Chancery.

The impact on Parliament

Cromwell had relied on Parliament to pass the necessary legislation. This set a precedent because:
- It gave Parliament a role in changing the country’s religion.
- It acknowledged the need for parliamentary agreement to secure such important changes.
The ‘King-In-Parliament’ now represented the ultimate authority.
Gundy (2016): "The King in Parliament also had authority over the Church, but the King alone did not … God had granted Henry the royal supremacy but the people [parliament] had given Henry VIII the authority to assume [it] through parliament."

Parliament Under Henry VIII After the Reformation

Henry VIII used Parliament to implement change.

Dissolution of the monasteries

Acts for the dissolution of the monasteries were passed in 1536 (smaller monasteries) and 1540 (larger) leading to:
- Greater Crown intervention in local communities.
- Massive transfers of land ownership.
- Setting up government departments to administer the changes.

Defining the doctrine of the Church

Religious legislation to define the doctrine of the Henrician church:
Act of the Ten Articles (1536) – more Protestant.
Act of the Six Articles (1539) – more Catholic.

Henry VIII's actions without Parliament

Other religious changes were made without parliament (e.g. Injunctions, Bishops’ Book, King’s Book). -The Act of Proclamations 1539 gave royal proclamations equal force with parliamentary statutes BUT could not change or go against existing statutes.
It could be useful in times of crisis, such as the Pilgrimage of Grace.

1Monarch & Government

1.1Tudor Monarchs

1.1.1Henry VII

1.1.2Henry VIII

1.1.3Edward VI

1.1.4Mary I

1.1.5Elizabeth I

1.1.6Succession Disputes

1.2Changing Role of Parliament

1.2.1Parliament & Henry VII

1.2.2Parliament & Henry VIII

1.2.3Parliament After the Reformation

1.3Principal Servants to the Crown

1.3.1Principal Servants to the Crown

2Religious Changes

2.1Tudor Monarchs & Religious Change

2.1.1The Henrician Reformation

2.1.2Impact of Religious Change Under Henry VIII

2.1.3Religious Change Under Edward VI

2.1.4Religious Change Under Mary I

2.1.5Elizabethan Settlement

2.2Catholicism & Survival

2.2.1Popular Attitudes to Catholicism

2.2.2Catholicism Under Henry VIII

2.2.3Catholicism Under Elizabeth I

2.2.4Catholic Nobility

2.3Protestantism & Puritanism

2.3.1Protestant Influences

2.3.2Protestantism Under Edward VI

2.3.3Protestantism Under Elizabeth I

3State Control & Popular Resistance

3.1Tudor Control of the Country

3.1.1Councils

3.1.2Role of Nobility

3.1.3Justices of the Peace

3.1.4Lord Lieutenant

3.2The State & the Poor

3.2.1Reasons for Growth of Poverty

3.2.2Punishments for Paupers

3.2.3Role of Charities

3.3Resistance to Tudor Rule

3.3.1Resistance to Tax & Subsidies

3.3.2Uprisings Against Henry VIII

3.3.3Uprisings Against Edward VI

3.3.4Uprisings Against Elizabeth I

3.3.5Decline of Popular Resistance

4Economic, Social & Cultural Change

4.1Patterns of Domestic & Foreign Trade

4.1.1Wool & Cloth

4.1.2Exploration & Trade

4.2Changing Structure of Society

4.2.1Population

4.2.2Dissolution of Monasteries

4.2.3Enclosure

4.3Cultural Change

4.3.1Education & Literature

4.3.2Impact of Religious Change

4.3.3Patronage

4.3.4The Arts

4.3.5Cult of Gloriana

5Historical Interpretations

5.1Significance of Threats to National Security

5.1.1Spain

5.1.2The Spanish Armada

5.1.3Ireland

5.2Court Politics

5.2.1Court Factions

5.2.2Essex's Rebellion

5.3Elizabeth & Parliament

5.3.1Conflict with Parliament

5.4Social Distress in the 1590s

5.4.1Social Distress in the 1590s

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