When Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth field, the power of the crown he won was volatile, with several people staking claims to the throne. One of his immediate tasks was to consolidate power by being ruthless in his treatment of the nobility. The nobility were very powerful entities, controlling parts of the country, with their own private armies. Those who were against the king could mount opposition with ease, (such as Lord Lovell and the Staffords in 1486,) and force a battle for the crown. Henry’s biggest challenge was to curb the power of the nobility, and gain their support at the same time. Henry focused all of his attentions to the nobles, and used both rewards, such as patronage, and punishments, such as Attainders and attacks on retaining. By the end of Henry’s reign, the nobility were no longer in a position to pose a threat to the security of the Tudor dynasty, and he became the first leader in over a century to pass the throne on peacefully. Henry’s success in dealing with the nobles was a major coup and represented a very focused policy towards containing them, and strengthening the power of the monarchy. In assessing the impact of this on the entire Tudor reign, one would have to conclude that it was a major factor contributing to Tudor survival.
In addition to dealing with the nobility, the other major factor determining the strength of Henry VII’s position, was his financial policy. Henry realised that with no independent source of income, he would be at the mercy of parliament, and would not have the means to defend himself against internal or foreign threats. Furthermore, his meagre upbringing had made him very greedy and he placed much store in the value of money. He brought fiscal policy under his own personal control, handling every penny that when in or out of the coffers. Henry expanded the crown lands, by taking money from nobles, and exploiting his feudal rights. There were many other measures taken by Henry, with great success. For example, he increased ward revenue to £6000 from £350. Whilst it is in no doubt that Henry’s fiscal policy increased his own power, and and consolidated his position, it did not really affect the Tudor reign as a whole, as his successor spent it all very quickly.
Under Henry VII, religion was not a major affecting the power of the crown, as it was not an issue that needed addressing. The problems Henry faced meant that for him the major issues were the nobility and finance.
Following Rome’s refusal to grant Henry VIII a divorce from Ann Boleyn, he dissociated himself from the Catholic Church, and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534. He dissolved the monasteries, taking all their money. This major change in the religion of the country, was known as the reformation, and is seen as a key turning point in the Tudor reign. It greatly increased the power of the crown, as nobody had the authority to overrule the king, and they benefited from a huge cash windfall from the monasteries. However, there were other factors affecting Henry’s power, mainly the role of key servants. Unlike his father, Henry preferred to delegate power and did not take much interest in day to day affairs. Many historians maintain that Cromwell really ran the country, and it is true that he was responsible for increasing the power of parliament during the reformation. This became known as his Revolution in Government. However, Henry did have objectives, and it could be argued that it was his servants jobs to achieve them.
Henry endeavoured to regain territory in France and become known as a great warrior king. His foreign policy meant that he had to rely heavily on parliament for money, as he was not the shrewd financier his father was. His conquests were expensive and largely unsuccessful, weakening the power of the crown. Henry’s financial problems were solved, when the monasteries were dissolved as part of the Reformation, giving Henry a huge cash injection. This shows how religion impacted upon the other factors affecting the power of the crown, and suggests that it was possibly the most important. Many historians maintain, that because the Reformation came about mostly through Acts of Parliament, the power of the monarchy diminished, as the power of parliament increased.
