Subject Knowledge

It's been ages since I last visited this blog. I have however decided that I would prefer to keep copies of my notes in a folder rather than continue with this blog. I have over the last few months been reading up about the module (International Relations) for year 10 teaching as well as Britain 1815-1865 for teaching my AS class. More information about this can be seen in my Subject Knowledge Folder.

Teaching conclusion of chapter

Having look at the chapter conclusion, a lot of the information seems quite straightforward and would probably been able to have discovered by the children without any problems.



Therefore I would either ask the children to determine for themselves whether there was a political crisis or not? Through discussion amongst themselves before creating an essay plan to answer the question using the information they had learnt from previous lessons on the rule of Duke of Somerset, Duke of Northumberland and Mary I.


Or depending on the working level of the children I may give them some prompts to help them to determine the answer to the questions, for instance I would ask them to think about what support the monarchs had during their power, what support they had from their own government/parliament, where they faced many problems during their reigns etc


I could also introduce the children to some cards which had successes and failures of the reigns of the Duke of Somerset, Duke of Northumberland and Mary I and ask them to determine from these whether or not there was a political crisis.

Whichever option I chose to use to teach this lesson, the main aim of the lesson would be for the children to determine whether or not there was a political crisis or not.

Conclusion of chapter on Governmnet, politics and the state 1536-88

The end of this chapter looks at whether or not there was a political crisis?


It is often believed that there was a non-political crisis:

• The permanent machinery of State continued to function without a break after 1547


• The ruling elites provided great support and loyalty to the legitimate monarchy


• Although there was considerable rivalry between the political factions under Edward VI, it was no greater than it had been during the reign of Henry VIII


• At no time, even in 1549 with the fall of somerset, was there a real political crisis


• It is true that the political leadership was often inept and indecisive between 1547 and 1558, even so the administration continued to function without a check and some useful measures of bureaucratic reform were passed.

Although there is general agreement that there was no serious mid-century political or constitutional crisis, opinions about the political leadership continue to vary:

• The 'good' Duke of Somerset is now seen in a much less favourable light, while the 'bad' Duke of Northumberland is credited with being a much more able politician than has been traditionally thought


• Mary I is still regarded as a monarch without any real ability, but her reign is now thought to have achieved some significant advances.

Teaching the rule of Mary Tudor

Further on from my last post, I am now going to explain how I would teach this topic to students:



The main aim of the lesson would be for the children to be able to answer the following question:

How should Mary's reign be assessed? As a failure or a success?



In order for the children to be able to answer this question, I would explain to the children what are considered to be the main successes and failures of her reign.



Failures

Marriage to Philip II

Restoring Catholicism- punishment of Protestants

Childlessness

Early death

Close alliance with the Habsburgs

War with France and the loss of Calais



Successes

Defeat of Northumberland's coup d'etat (trying to put Lady Jane Grey into power)

Broad support of the majority of people until 1555

Institution of monarchy and state machinery remained intact

Important reforms made during her reign such as the ones to restore the economy



Once I had explained these successes and failures to the pupils, I would ask them to rank them in order of importance to determine which factors were more important to the failure and success of her reign. Once they had ranked them in order I would ask them to discuss amongst themselves where they had placed the factors in this order.


Once they had discussed the successes and failures of her reign, I would ask them to answer the question which I had set at the beginning of the lesson and to determine whether it is easy for them to decide whether her reign was a failure or a success or whether it was a mixture of both and to explain why they think this.


The lesson would be ended by discussing these ideas of the children and asking them what they had learnt from this lesson.

Government, Politics and the state 1536-88: Part Three

Today I have looked at the rule of Mary Tudor:

• Mary was 37 years of age when she came to the throne


• During Edward VI's reign she resisted Protestant reform as strongly as she has during the reign of Henry VIII (her father)


• While Somerset was in power she had been allowed to follow her Catholic religion in private


• With the swing towards Calvinism under Northumberland, increasing pressure had been put on Mary to abandon Catholicism and to conform to the Protestant doctrines of the Church of England


• Thus as a devout Catholic, when Mary came to power she was insistent that England should return to the Church of Rome. At the same time she was convinced that national safety depended on a close alliance with the Hasburgs. (Unitl 1555 this strategy to be prospering but thereafter Mary's popularity declined unter her death in 1558.

Assessments of Mary's character

The cause of the unpopularity of Mary has generally been attributed to Mary's own character:

• depicit as a weak and unsuccessful pro-Spanish monarch, cruel tyrant trying to enforce Catholicism through torture and burnings, 'Bloody Mary'

But recently there have been attempts to revise this critical apprisal:

• showed skill and resolution in defeating Northumberland attempted coup d'etat (his attempt to change the royal succession in order to remove Mary for becoming queen and changing England back to a Catholic country)


• Mary has been criticised for indecision in the negotiations over the restoration of Catholicism to England and her marriage to Philip II: however it has later been suggested, was in fact masterly political inactivity and pretended weakness, designed to win greater concessions from the Papacy and the Habsburgs.


• Mary had broad support of the majorit of the people until 1555 and thus the problem was not the weakness of Mary's character but her failure to produce an heir to consolidate her position as well as the outbreak of war with France and the declining economic position

On the basis of this evidence it is difficult to assess Mary's true character and thus the present consensus of opinion lies between the two extremes.

System of government
The system of central and local government remained fundamentally unchanged during Mary's reign:

• The Privy Council continued to be the centre of the administration

However there are a few criticisms of her council: it was too large to conduct business effectively, and it contained a few members of no real political ability and administrative experience.

There was also strong rivalry between the Catholics led by the Chancellor (Gardiner) and the moderates led by Paget. However in spite of these disagreements, these two politicians co-operated closely to restore effective government.

The main reason the Council failed to run as effectively as it should have done was because Mary did not appear to exert any leadership, or show any real confidence in her council. Furthermore frequently she did not consult the Privy Council until she had already decided matters of policy in consultation with Simon Renard (the Habsburg's imperial ambassador).

It has been maintained that parliament was strongly opposed to Mary policies but this view has been modified by recent research. She had strong support from the higher clergy in the House of Lords and apart from the dislike of the Spanish marriage, both houses seemed to have co-operated with the administration throughout Mary's reign. There were lively debates and criticism of policy but these were generally constructive.

The marriage issue

• First major issue of her reign
• Privy Council divided on the matter
• Two realistic candidates for her hand in marriage:

1. Edward Courtenay (Earl of Devon)- supported by Gardiner


2. Philip of Spain- supported by Paget

Courtenary was a descendant of earlier English kings and such a marriage would have strengthened the Tudor dynasty but Mary favoured a closer link with the Habsburgs through Philip.

On 7 December, a marriage treaty was presented to the Council. The terms of the treaty were very favourable to England: Philip was to have no real power in England, no foreign appointments were to be made to the Privy Council and England was not to be involved in or pay towards the costs of any of Philip's wars.

In spite of these safeguards, Mary's popularity began to drift, as many people still thought that England would be drawn into Philip's wars and become a mere province of the Habsburg Empire. By the end of January 1554, anti-Spanish feelings led to rebellion, the Wyatt Rebellion

The restoration of Catholicism

Once the rebellion was defeated, the restoration of Catholicism became a political issue. Gardiner had lost Mary's favour the Spanish marriage. Thus in an attempt to regain it he pressed for religious change but Paget opposed this and try to block Gardiner's proposals.


This introduced a serious constitutional issue. Mary thought that religion was still part of the royal prerogative but she was forced to concede that doctrinal changes could only be made through parliament. However there were only minor opposition in the House of Commons to the restoration of Catholicism but only because of fears over property rights.


Such worries were removed by guarantees that there would be no attempt to take back monastic and chantry lands already sold by the Crown. By 1555 all Henrician and Edwardian religious legislation had been repealed.


Financial and economic problems

Financial reforms

• Still faced by the problems that Northumberland had been trying to solve


• Mary had also given away more Crown lands in order to re-establish some monastic foundations.


• Need to come up with ways to find new sources of government revenue and to increase the income from existing ones


• In 1554 drastic changes were made to the revenue courts:

1. The exchequer took over the work of the Court of First Fruits and Tenths which had dealt with clerical taxation and the Court of Augmentaions (which had administered income from monastic and chantry lands).


2. The courts of Wards which collected feudal taxation and the Duchy of Lancaster, administering lands belonging to the monarch as Duke of Lancaster retained their independence.


3. Planned to remove the large number of debased coins in circulation and to continue the restoration of the silver content of the coinage (but due to Mary's death not put into effect until 1560)


4. The 1552 proposal to revise the custom rates, which had remained unchanged since 1507 was implemented. In 1558, a new Book of Rates was issued, increasing custom revenue from £29,000 to £85,000 a year.


5. In 155 a full survey of all crown lands was carrried out and as a result the payment made by tenants before they could take over a property were raised in 1557.

Mary died before these measures had any real effort and thus it was Elizabeth who benefited from the increased revenue brought about by these reforms.

The economy

During Mary's reign the general economic situation grew worse with a series of very bad harvests and epidemics of sweating sickness, bubonic plague and influenza. Towns were particularly badly hit with high mortality rates and severe food shortages.

Government reacted by restricting the movement of textile and other industries from the countryside. By doing this it was hoped that it would lessen urban unemployment and reduce the number of vagrants seeking work. However shortsighted, what was needed was an increase in the number and variety of industries in both town and country which would provide jobs for the growing number of unemployed. To achieve this the government needed to encourage the search for new overseas markets to replace the trade lost with the decline of the Antwerp market but government was anxious to avoid offending Spain and Portugal to encourgae overseas enterprise and thus little progress was made.

Reform of the army and navy

In spite of the assurance that England would not be involved in Spain's wars, Mary's strong emotional attachment to Philip made it likely that England would be drawn into the continental conflict.

1555, Privy Council reviewed the condition of the navy, which had been allowed to decline after Northumberland had made peace with France.: A new building programme was started, improvements were made to the dockyards, and naval expenditure was increased through a new system of financing.

Equal attention was paid to the army, arrangements were made for raising and maintaining the county militias which were revised in the Militia and Arms Act of 1557 which also improved the procedureds for supplying arms and equipment.

These reforms brought long-term improvements to England's military organisation.

Assessment of Mary's reign

Philip's visit to England early in 1557, and his success in drawing the country into his war against France, intensified Mary's growing unpopularity.

The last two years of her reign saw rising anti-Spanish feelings, mounting opposition to religious persecution, and discontent with the economic conditions.

Yet despite its apparent failings, important reforms had been made and institution of monarchy and the State machinery remained intact. Some historians would go as far as to claim that Mary's failure was her childlessness and her relatively early death, rather than her policies.

Government, Politics and the State 1536-88 continued

Today I have looked at the section entitled 'The Lord President Northumberland 1550-3'


The Lord President Northumberland 1550-3

Rise to power 1549-51

Even before his arrest it was clear that Somerset was discredited and had lost control of the political situation:

• He had offended members of the Privy Council


• undermined the confidence of the aristocracy and the genry


• Ineptly handled the popular uprisings


• His religious reforms alienated even moderate among the Conservative faction

Power Struggle

A power struggle soon developed in which Northumberland was a leading contender:

1. Northumberland crushed the rebel army in Norfolk on 26th August 1549


2. Somerset was unable to order troops to return France and Scotland following the rebellions under the two proclamations that he issued


3. The Privy Council issued a proclamation blaming Somerset for the rebellions and after agreeing to negotiate Somerset was arrested on 11th October 1549

Northumberland the politician

He had risen to political prominence during the last years of Henry VIII's reign and had gained a good military reputation in the Scottish and French wars. Furthermore in Henry's will he had been named as one of the members of the Privy Council.

The events of 1549 gave him his opportunity to take advantage of Somerset's political isolation and showed his considerable ability as a politician. By pretending to be a Catholic sympathiser, he successfully conspired with the conservatives which gave him control of the council.

Northumberland the tactician

Northumberland plotted too with the reform party, particularly Archbishop Cranmer and with his help he gained contol over the administration of the Royal Household, which gave him immediate access to Edward VI and enabled him to win the confidence of the King. To secure his position he becamse Lord President of the Council and was mnade General Warden of the North which gave him military command. However he only achieved complete power in October 1551 when he had Somerset re-arrrested and assumed the title of Duke of Northumberland.

In marked contrast to Somerset he introduced a series of significant and lasting reforms and thus is described by historians as an ambitious but able politician.

Maintaining control

Northumberland had learned from Somerset's mistakes and saw that control of the council was the key to political power.

As Lord President he was able to appoint and dismiss councillors at will and had complete control over procedure. Able supporters of Somerset such as Paget and William Cecil who had been arrested, were released and returned to their posts. Under their guidance the Council and its procedures were restored to the pattern established in the period 1536-47.

Northumberland enlarged the membership of the council to 33 and chose whenever possible men of military experience so if any further rebellions came about then he could be sure of immediate armed support. To make the Council more efficient and stable Northumberland created a smaller, inner committee with a fixed routine to conduct business and to stop the bypassing of the Council, Northumberland restored it to the centre of the government. Also for similar reasons he made less use of proclamations, preferring to use parliament to conform legislation.

Northumberland and the problems of government

The political difficulties facing the new government were the same as those that Somerset had failed to resolve. Unfortunatel for Northumberland, they had become more acute and the most pressing problems were:

• the diplomatic position


• the short-fall in revenue

The diplomatic position

The war situation had deteriorated because the French, taking advantage of England's domestic position, had declared open warfare in August 1549 and thus placed Boulogne under serious threat. Northumberland realised that England was in an impossible military and financial position and therefore ended the war with France and withdrew many of the garrisons from Scotland.

While this eased the immediate difficulties, diplomatic relations with Charles V became strained as the Emperor mistrusted England's new position of neutrality towards France. Furthermore in order to gain further supreme power he allied himself with more extreme Protestat reformers such as Bishops Ridley and Hooper but Northumberland had to allow the Church of England to swing towards Calvinism. This further antagonised Charles V, who favoured moderation in the English Church and England became diplomatically isolated.

The short-fall in revenue

Revenue remained a serious problem. The government was bankrupt in 1549: Somerset had spent £1,356,000 on the war and sold crown lands to the value of £800,000. The government even had to borrow to raise the £50,000 a year needed to maintain the Royal Household.

Ending the war greatly reduced the expenditure but a number of other things had to be done to keep the government solvent:

• In May 1551, the coinage was debased for the last time but more money still needed to be loaned from Continental baks despite the government making a profit of £114,000.
• Cecil was restored as Secretary of State and put in charge of financial planning: he recommended the sale of chantry lands and Church goods to start paying off loans
• Gresham (from the government Treasury) was sent to the Netherlands to manipulate the stock market, restore the value of sterling against continental currencies and pay off loans.
• In March 1552 the coinage was called in and reissued with the silver content which helped to slow the rise of inflation and restore confidence in sterling.
• Strict economies were made in government spending and Northumberland paid off the remainder of his mercenary troops.

Thus most of the overseas debts were now paid off and an emergency fund had been established. By 1553 the financial situation had been stablished and Northumberland had shown considerable political skill in resolving a serious financial crisis.

At the same time there was a concerted effort to improve the efficiency of the financial machinery. The most pressing need was to streamline the collection of revenue and to find ways of increasing government income. In 1552 a commission began to investigate the five revenue courts that carried out the work of the Exchequer and recommended that to avoid corruption and inefficiency that the number of courts be reduced to two- the Exchequer and the Office of Crown Lands.

Economic and social problems

The government was faced by equally pressing economic and social problems:

1. Population and inflation was still rising which meant that the living standards of the masses continued to decline and that work was more difficult to find.
2. NBy 1550 the growing instability of the Antwerp cloth market was causing widespread unemployment among textile workers in W.Country and E.Anglia.
3. The debasement of the coinage in 1551 raised inflation still further.
4. Grain prices rose rapidly; a situation worsened by poor harvests.
5. In 1550 the country was still simmering after the recent popular uprisings and was further unsettled by the political power struggle among the privy councillors.

Thus the administration had to act carefully to avoid further unrest, for instance:

• The unpopular 1547 Vagancy Act and the sheep tax of 1548 were repealed in 1550 which helped to dispel unrest.
• In the same year a new Treason Act was passed, which restored censorship and gave the authorities more power to enforce law and order.

Initially these measures helped to prevent the widespread popular discontent from turning into actual revolt.

At the same time the administration introduced further measures in 1552:

• It tried to improve the economic situation and relieve poverty and distress.
• The existing anti-enclosure legislation was rigorously enforced and the unpopular enclosure commissions were withdrawn.
• The revaluation of the coinage halted inflation and reduced prices.
• Acts were passed to protect arable farming and to stop the charging of excessive interest on debts.
• A new poor law was passed which made it easier for the parish and town authorities to support the aged, infirm and crippled.

It seems from this research that Northumberland was a lot more successful than Somerset at ruling under the reign of Edward VI.

Thus if I was to ask children to look at this two topics in more detail I would explain to them the main problems of Somerset's rule and the successes of Northumberland rule either by using a powerpoint presentation aksing them questions as they went along to check they had concentrated on what I was telling them or by displaying around the classroom problems and successes of their reigns and asking them to match them with the rulers before I revealed the correct answers.

Once they had completed this task I would ask them to answer the following questions in groups and to make an essay plan of their answers which could be used to write an essay for assessment purposes:

How and why did Somerset fall from power?

How and why was Northumberland able to deal with the problems he faced much better than Somerset did?

Once they had answered these questions and we had discussed their answers with the rest of the class to check they had got all of the points they needed for their essay, I would ask them to complete a comparison of the reigns of Somerset and Northumberland reminding them to look at why one seemed to succeed and the other failed.

Next time I will look at the section entitled 'Mary Tudor 1553-8' to try to understand the political problems that she faced during her reign and how she dealt with them.

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.