Government, Politics and the State 1536-88

The next chapter of the Access to History book focuses on the political problems that faced the Tudor monarchs during their reigns. These included the succession, foreign relations, government finances, changes in religion and the political effects of problems in public order and the economy. By examining the means by which the Tudor regimes dealt with these problems it is hoped that one should be able to come to a firm decision about whether there was a crisis in politics and the state.

Today I have managed to look at the first three sections of this chapter: The political situation in Mid-Tudor England 1536-88, Henry VIII and the succession 1544-7 and The Protector Somerset 1547-9.

The political situation in Mid-Tudor England 1536-88
Historians generally accepted that the mid-sixteenth century was a time of political conflict and confrontation in England- a period of failure and lack of progress, set between the great achievements of the 1530s and the recovery of the national economy under Elizabeth I. This period of conflict and confrontation was seen to stem from weak political leadership. The result was a contest between Crown and parliament, and bitter stife between Catholics and Protestants. The five major political figures listed below have been blamed for this failure for various reasons:

• Henry VIII: in his final years Henry was seen as an increasingly weak ruler unable to control the factional disputes that came to dominate the court.


• Duke of Somerset: Somerset was seen as a moderate reformer, who fell from power because of his tolerant and fair-minded policies.


• Duke of Northumberland: considered ruthless and greedy, creating a constitutional crisis by trying to change the succession.


• Queen Mary: condemned for being politically inept, for her obession with Philip II of Spain and for her devotion to Catholicism.


• Elizabeth I: has been criticised for her almost instinctive reluctance to take decisive and creative action. She has been portrayed as a 'do-nothing queen'.

The idea of a Mid-Tudor political crisis is no longer popular however. Although there were disruptions in the day-to-day running of the country, the machinery of government continued to operate normally. Thus the period 1536-88 is now seen in terms of co-operation rather than conflict- as a time of definite political and administrative development. In part this change results from revised opinions about the political leaders:

• Although Henry VIII's final years were marked by the king's failing health and power he managed to maintain the authority of the Crown and preserve the unity of the realm.


• The Duke of Somerset is now seen as a Tudor soldier and statesman who was more interested in war than social reform.


• The Duke of Northumberland is still regarded as ruthless and self-seeking, but he is becoming recognized as an able and reforming administrator.


• Although few would claim that Mary was a great queen, her reign is being seen as a time of significant political and administrative progress.


• Some historians have revised their opinion by suggesting that Elizabeth's 'do-nothing' approach was sometimes the wisest course of action: to put off until tomorrow what need not be done today.

Henry VIII and the succession 1544-7
Henry's major concern in his last years was the succession: he was obessed with the need to safeguard the dynasty by leaving a male heir to succeed him. In order to avoid any possible disputes Henry made a final settlement of the succession in his will of 1546. Edward was to take over the authority of England upon his death and in the event of Edward dying without heairs, the succession was then to pass onto Mary before passing onto Elizabeth if Mary had no heirs. If all of his children diead without heirs then the throne would be passed on to his neice Frances Grey following the death of Elizabeth to prevent Mary Queen of Scots taking over from Elizabeth as Henry wanted to preserve the Royal Supremacy and hence keep England as a protestant country.

Henry's main concern in his will was to secure the peaceful succession of his son and safeguard the Royal Supremacy. By 1546 it had become clear that the surest way to achieve this and so prevent a power struggle, was to give authority to Seymour and the reform faction. Thus a Regency Council was nominated consisting of Seymour and 15 of his most trusted allies. members of the councils were to have equal powers and were to govern the country until Edward reached 18 years of age.


The Protector Somerset, 1547-9

In January 1547 (on the death of Henry VIII), Edward Seymour (the brother of Jane Seymour, Henry's 3rd wife) became protector of the realm and Duke of Somerset. His friend and ally, Sir William Paget, described him as a quick-tempered man who was prone to taking the wrong decisions when put under pressure. He was a better soldier than he was a politician and within two years of taking power he had completely lost control of the situation.

• Rise to power of Somerset:

The reason why he gained power so quickly is not altogether clear, although his being the new king's uncle certainly helped. Clearly, the reformers among the clergy hoped for the introduction of religious reform, and it is likely that many moderates regarded Seymour as the best means of preserving stability and the Royal Supremacy.

Henry's death and the terms of the will were made known to an assembly of nobles and higher clergy at the Tower of London on 1 February 1547 and Somerset was announced as the leader of the council. By the end of February, Somerset had secured the firm support of the majority of councillors and was made Lord Protector, with the right to appoint and dismiss members of the Privy Council. These powers made Somerset the undisputed ruler of the country and thus he was handed the title of Duke of Somerset.

Somerset's Character:

• In the past he has been regarded as a genuine reformer, sympathetic to the plight of the poor.


• More recently, oubts have been expressed about whether he had any interest in social reform and it has been claimed that he was an arrogant self-seeker who refused to accept advice, and who enriched himself with confiscated church property.


• Using the same evidence, historians currently see him as a Tudor soldier and statesman, whose main interest was the war against Scotland and France.

System of government

Parliament

Somerset took over a form of administration that had been developed by Henry VII and Henry VIII. Due to changes introduced by Cromwell in the 1530s, Tudor government had come to rest on the principle that the power of the monarch was based in parliament. Both Houses of Parliament had to approve proposals for taxation and confirm any new lawas before they became permanent statutes. On the other hand, the monarch could call parliament to meet as often or as infrequently as he chose.


When parliament was not in session the Crown could make new laws through proclamations or could suspend existing laws, but these actions had to be confirmed when parliament met again. Certain things such as diplomacy and the making of war or peace were part of the royal prerogative over which the monarch had complete control.



Privy Council

The day-to-day administration was carried out by the Privy Council. Members of the council were chosen by the monarch and were selected for their loyalty and their administrative or military skills and could be dismissed at will. The work of the Privy Council was supported by a staff of permanent civil servants. The Privy Council was also responsible for the running of the local government and Wales and Scottish border (two parts of the country which it was thought were most open to rebellion or invasion) were administered by the Councils of Wales and the North [sub-committees of the Privy Council].


Local Government
Local government in the remainder of England was administered by the nobles and higher clergy in each county. They were expected to maintain order, administer justice, collect taxes, raise troops and carry out instructions from the Privy Council. These duties had to be organised through their own households and frequently at their own expense. They were supported by gentry who acted as Justices of the Peace and commissioners for collecting taxes and assisting the lord Lieutenants in mustering the county militia.


The major problem with this system was that f the leading local families did not support or like the government/legislation, thy often failed to carry out the instructions from London and thus the central administration had to be careful to maintain the confidence and support of the majority of landed elites.


Government under Somerset

The administration during the first two years of Edward VI's reign were relatively the same as during Henry VIII's reign. The real differences were the lack of effective leadership and the fact that existing problems had grown worse. Economic and financial expedients and a half-hearted religious reform policy created confusion and uncertainty among both the landed elites and the general public.



It has however been suggested that Somerset was neither more nor less to blame for these problems than his aristocratic colleagues. He failed to show the leadership necessary to compensate for the absence of an adult monarch. Whether this was because of his preoccupation with war or because of his stubbornness amd inability to adjust to new conditions is difficult to judge.


Somerset and the problems of government


Short-term problems

The new regime inherited three pressing short-term problems from the previous reign. Decisions had to be made about:

• Whether or not to continue the wars against Scotland and France
• The question of religious reform
• How to find way of raising more revenue

War:

Any move to end the war would have lost Somerset support among the landed elites. In any case, the Council was bound by Henry VIII's last wishes to arrange a marriage between Edward VI and Mary, Queen of Scots to secure the succession. This meant continuing a war based on the ill-founded belief that a military victory would force the scots to agree to the marriage.

Religious Reform:
In 1539 Henry VIII had tried to prevent any further religious cahnges by passing the Act of Six Articles (intended to protect and promote Catholic religious ideas and prevent the further spread of Protestantism in England and Wales). Since then pressure had been mounting among the Protestant clergy and laity for the introduction of reform along the lines of Lutheranism and Calvinism as practised on the continent. For this reason the administration therefore had to make some gesture towards introducing religious reform. If it did not then it would risk losing the support of the Protestant activists and encourage a Catholic revival, which might well have resulted in the administration losing power.

Revenue:

Revenue was the most pressing problem. In 1547, the government was virtually bankrupt. The crippling costs of war was the main reason for this. By 1547, the annual revenue from crown lands had fallen to £200,000 which was insufficient to run the country and pay off government borrowing, let alone finance the war.

There was an urgent need to reform the taxation and customs systems and to bring the way that finances were administered up to date. Somerset and the council did none of these things because of their preoccupation with the war and the concern that if they raised taxes this would be unpopular with the elites and the other taxpayers. Instead, they fell back on the old expedients of seizing more church property and debasing the coinage.

Long-term problems

As well as these immediate political and administrative difficulties, the government faced a number of serious long-term economic and social problems:

• Population continued to increase and this presented a major threat to the government which created problems of inflation and poverty (due to the number of people needing to find employment)


• Poor harvests which made the situation worse and the level of discontent rose and continuing high levels of taxation and debasement of the coinage only made this worse.

The government administration was well aware that there was rising popular discontent over the worsening economic conditions but it was unsure how to tackle this problem. Thus rather than try to solve these issues it appears the government's main objective was to continue the wars whilst introducing religious reforms which it hoped would help to dampen the popular discontent.

Laws and Proclaimations 1547-8

One of the first actions of the new parliament was to pass a new Treasons Act. This repealed the old heresy, treason and censorship laws and the Act of Six Articles, which had maintained doctrinal orthodoxy since 1539.

The removal of heresy allowed people to discuss religion freely without fear of arrest, while the ending of censorship on printing and publishing enabled the circulation of books and pamphlets on religion and the importation of Luteran and Calvinist literature.

The Treason Act

The new treason Act immediately created problems for itself:

• The removal of restrictive laws encouraged widespread debate over religion.


• Public meetings frequently ended in disorder and riots, with attacks on churches to break up statues of saints and other Catholic images.


• The repeal of old laws also left the county and urban authorities with much less power to deal with such situations

Thus the government had helped to promote the very disorder that it was trying to avoid and left authorities powerless to enforce order has it had been able to do before.

The new Treason Act also repealed the Proclamation Act of 1539 that stated that royal proclamations should be obeyed as if they were acts of parliaments, providing that they did not infringe existing laws. It has been suggested that Somerset was trying to give himself more freedom to rule by proclamation by ignoring parliament and this seems to be the case as he issued approximately 37 proclamations during his reign and he also lacked the backing of the Privy Council so needed the means to deal with any severe difficulties he faced.

The Chantries Act

The Chantries Act of 1547 can be regarded as another measure of religious reform to close the chantries (small religious houses endowed with lands to support one or two priests whose duty it was to sing masses for specific purposes). Yet in reality, this act was to a device to raise money to pay for the wars.

In early 1548, commissioners were sent out to visit the chantries, confiscate their land and property and collect all the gold and silver plate attached to them which were then melted down to make coins.

Simultaneously the royal mints were ordered to reissue the coinage and reduce the silver content by adding copper. Although these measures provided much needed revenue, they created futher problems. By increasing the number of coins in circulation the government was adding to the inflation and hence prices particularly for grain, rose rapidly which fuelled further discontent among the poor.

The Vagrancy Act and public order

The 1547 Vagrancy Act showed little concern for the poor and needy. In fact it was a savage attack on vagrants looking for work, who were seen by the government as a cause of riots and sedition.

Under the new law, any able-bodied person out of work for more than three days was to be branded with a V and sold into slavery for two years. The children of vagrants could be taken from their parents and set to work as apprentices in useful occupations.

The new law was widely unpopular and many of the county and urban authorities refused to enforce it. In fact it is clear that the level of popular discontent had risen by the middle of 1548 because the Privy Council was forced to take measures to appease public agitation.

Enclosure
The government blamed all the economic problems on enclosure. it was felt that the fencing-off common land for sheep pasture and the consequent eviction of husbandmen and cottagers from their homes were the major cause of inflation and unemployment. Proclamations were issued against enclosures and commissioners were sent out to investigate abuses.

The main effect of these measures was to increase unrest. Government took no decisive action against it. Further measures were introduced to limit the size of leaseholds and tax were placed on wool, only make the situation worse. Thus many of the elites evaded the legislation, which consequently fell most heavily on the poorer sections of society it was supposed to protect.

Law and order

The government was more concerned with avoiding riot and rebellion than with helping the poor and solving economic problems. In 1548 three proclamations were issued to maintain law and order:

1. A ban on violent sports was rigourously enforced on the grounds that they might end in riots and disorders.


2. It became an offence to spread rumours, as they were likely to create unrest.


3. All unlawful assemblies were forbidden.

Anyone found guilty of these offences was to be sent for varying period to the galleys. These seem like emergeny measures passed by a government which realised that the economic position was getting out of hand and which feared the consequences.

Fall from power

It appears that these attempts to control the situation were ineffective because in 1549 the country drifted into what was potentially a major crisis. Somerset seemed unable or unwilling to take decisive action to suppress well-supported popular uprisings in the West Country and East Anglia. It assumed this is because he showed sympathy for the rebels. However it seems the delay in action was because the local ruling elites were reluctant to intervene without government support. Lack of money made it difficult to raise a new mercenary army and Somerset was unwilling to provide troops from his garrisons in Scotland and France. It was only when the Privy Council provided additional troops that the rebellions were stopped.

As a consequence of the rebellions, Somerset was arrested and although he was allowed to re-join the Privy Council, he was soon executed for supposedly plotting against the government.

Next time I will look at the remainer of chapter two.