Not surprisingly, he appointed very few nobles and it was to his great advantage that many of them had deceased at the Battle of Bosworth. He also used other tactics. To limit the growth of the noble classes, he forbade inter-noble marriages. This enabled him to limit the birth of “pure” nobles.
Another way to keep the nobles in line was the use of the Act of Attainder. This particular act was an act of parliament which registered people’s conviction for treason and would have to surrender all their assets to the king. This was very useful, as it was reversible, and kept the nobles in line as well as eliminating the chance of “over-mighty subjects” who were nobles who had great influences over the king and tended to be stronger than the king himself.
Needless to say, Henry VII was very unpopular with the nobility. However, this could also be counted as one of his greatest successes that although many monarchs were overpowered by the nobility, Henry generally had more power than monarch before him.
Local government was carried out by a complex network of local officials, such as Sheriffs and Justices of Peace, who were directly responsible to the king. It, however, was not so successful, as the roles of these officials were limited and the members of the nobility would often get into disputes with each other.
Since the twelfth century the centre of the crown’s financial administration was the Exchequer and the Chamber. Henry VII found it easier to maintain the same system instead of changing it completely. He did, however, reform the system. This resulted in a better financial status for the monarchy overall, and he passed down a solvent crown to Henry VIII. Although he did decrease the amount of overall payment he gave up to the nobility compared with he predecessors, which did not increase his popularity with the nobles. He was largely successful, however, in improving the overall financial condition of Tudor England. He passed 140 acts of attainder which gave him more ready cash that he was able to spend easily. He evolved the way he gave out money to people. Unlike his predecessors who gave money and gifts to ensure loyalty, Henry VII would give money and gifts to those already loyal to him. This was, in part, because of the large amount of threats he had for the crown.
Significantly, dissimilar to previous monarchs, Henry VII had a more personal grip on the royal finances; he did not leave it all to his officials, but liked to know what was going on with his money. By the end of his reign, his annual income totalled £113,000.
During middle ages, people preferred peace (Don’t we all?). This had particular religious significances. Henry VII also preferred to live in peace, mainly because his crown was at stake, and war could weaken him financially as well enable contenders to the throne to side with the opposition, which could be particularly dangerous as many European countries were just as militarily powerful as Britain if not more.
During the reign of Henry VII, he generally used diplomacy to solve foreign policy affairs. He signed many agreements with foreign lands of which most significant were three: 1482 treaty with Spain, which agreed the marriage of the Spanish princess to Henry’s oldest son Arthur in return for help from Spain when Britain was attacked; 1492 agreement with France, which agreed that Britain would not attack France in return for a promised pension for Henry; and an agreement signed with European countries to surrender potential Yorkist rebels and contenders to the throne in return with amnesty.
It could be argued well that Henry VII was very successful with his foreign policy, which was not a hard and fast one, but one that was decided taking into account the circumstances of the time. There was, however a downside to his reluctance to go to war. Monarchs and Nobles were expected in the fifteenth and sixteenth century Britain to be chivalrous. The only way that chivalry could be expressed was through war. This again, made him very unpopular with the Nobles as well as implying to some that he was a weak king.
Central government, as with the financial system, remained unchanged during Henry’s reign. He adopted the Yorkist system of government with slight reforms. The Kings Council, which exists to the present day, was slightly different back then. It consisted of high profiling barristers as well as clerics. However, the role of the parliament was very limited. It is interesting to see that Henry had 29 Yorkists on the council, which shows that he was willing to work with them. It could also show his wisdom, that because the Yorkists were aware as to how the government was run, Henry retained them in his council. The Parliament met very infrequently and this implies that the state run by Henry was not fully democratic. Inevitably, the inadequacies of the local government had much bearing and impact on the central government.
In conclusion, it can be said that Henry was generally a successful monarch as far as establishing his dynasty, finance and foreign policy are concerned; it could be argued that his success was limited in reforming the government systems, both local and central, and also his behaviour towards the nobility was frowned upon. He was successful in limiting the powers of the nobility, but was unable to become popular with them. Overall, his successes most definitely outweigh his failures and shortcomings.