The Tudors for Dummies (AvaxHome Download) (12 page)

Running the Kingdom, Henry's Way In This Chapter

Assessing Henry's management style

Getting to know his advisers, Wolsey and Cromwell

Dealing with enemies

Painting a portrait � Henry's image

M odern politicians can learn a lot from Henry's style of government.

Unlike Henry VII, who did a lot of his own accounts checking, Hal

would run a mile rather than do any paperwork � after all, he had people for

that sort of thing. That makes it difficult to find all the evidence we need, but

Henry's actions always speak louder than words.

Managing Like a Monarch

In the end Henry's management style was all about getting his own way. As

the German religious reformer Martin Luther said of him, `Junker Heinz [Lord

Harry] will do as he pleases.' Bear that in mind as you look at what follows.

Getting in your face

Henry worked with his advisers through cosy chats on a one-to-one basis.

He took aside people he could count on for support � see the later section

`Meeting the King's Advisers'� rather than holding huge meetings of the

Council, which were likely to be long-winded and nit-picking. He asked for

advice but wasn't bound to take it, and he always let everybody know who

was in charge. 70 Part II: Handling Henry VIII

One of Henry's first actions as king was to fire Dudley and Empson, Henry

VII's financial advisers in the last years of his reign. He had these two thrown

into the Tower, a hugely popular move that gave the new king street cred.

Henry was highly intelligent but his concentration span was short. Look at

Chapter 3 to see how much activity he crammed into 24 hours. Clerks wrote

his letters and he liked to have information in a pre-digested form. Don't be

fooled, though � he wasn't a king who lived for pleasure alone. He was surpris-

ingly well-informed on all sorts of topics.

Who calls the shots?

With his short attention span Henry often left much routine work to ministers

and servants. So historians don't always know whether a particular deci-

sion was Henry's or someone else's. The bottom line is that even if it was

Thomas Wolsey who hit upon cunning plans for divorces and foreign policy

or Thomas Cromwell who decided to wipe out the monasteries, the final deci-

sion was always Henry's. Nothing happened without his say-so.

Trying to go it alone

For much of his time as king, Henry tried to go his own way without interfer-

ence from the Church or Parliament. Events meant, however, that he couldn't

always do this, and by the time of his death he was actually more constrained

than ever.

One of Henry's first personal acts was to marry Catherine of Aragon (see

Chapters 3 and 5). Most people at Court had advised against the union but

here was Henry surprising them all with his tough insistence. Yet the move

was potentially brilliant � the Spanish Alliance was still on and the couple's

children would rule over a huge Anglo�Spanish empire.

Surprise, surprise!

Henry was unpredictable. After 1540 he had Cromwell in particular (see the later section

mental mood swings anyway because of vari- `Meeting the King's Advisers') thought he could

ous medical ailments (see Chapter 3), but even read Henry's mind and lost his head as a result.

before that he could turn on a sixpence (or Henry often let ministers � and wives � run on

groat, to use a coin of the time) and many was a loose rein only to pull them up short suddenly.

the adviser who fell because of that. Thomas Chapter 4: Running the Kingdom, Henry's Way 71 Introducing the `great matter' Henry's `great matter' was his desperate desire to have a legitimate son who would take over after his death. When it was obvious that Catherine could no longer have children, he tried to get the pope to annul the marriage. For political reasons, the pope refused (see Chapter 6).

Henry's secret marriage to Anne Boleyn in 1533 didn't cause a break with Rome � it was a symptom of it. The king was so determined to get his own way that he took control of the Church in England away from the pope and refused to go back on that even though the pope told him he would burn in hell as a result.

Playing up Parliament Going his own way was one thing, but taking on the pope, the hugely power- ful Catholic Church and God was an enormous step and a pretty lonely road to walk. So Henry not only got his advisers on side � the ruthless Thomas Cromwell in particular � but Parliament too.

In theory, Parliament declared the Royal Supremacy (Henry's control of the Church), which gave the body a power it had never had before and one which Henry certainly never intended. The power of Parliament increased in the next three reigns because Edward VI was a child and his sisters Mary and Elizabeth `only' women. Parliament was on the (admittedly rocky) road to the almost total power it has over the monarchy today.

Sorting the Scots In Chapter 3 we have a look at Henry's foreign policy, where he was playing with the big boys, the king of France and the holy Roman emperor. But the French had an understanding with the Scots, called the Auld Alliance, and English relations with Scotland had always been difficult. Even though the Scottish king, James IV, was married to Henry's sister Margaret (she was 14 at the time), no love was lost between the two countries and the border lands had a history of rape and pillage.

Henry claimed to be overlord for Scotland (which wasn't actually legal or true), and not unnaturally, the Scots resented it. Taking his opportunity, James invaded England while Henry was winning the Battle of the Spurs across the Channel (see Chapter 3), but was decisively beaten when Queen Catherine sent an English army north. The Scots king was killed at Flodden in Northumberland and his body much hacked about. Catherine sent his blood-soaked shirt to Henry as proof of the victory. An archbishop, a bishop, two abbots, nine earls and 14 lords were killed along with the king, all their bodies stripped by camp followers on the field.

James was under excommunication from the pope for having broken a peace

treaty with Henry so his body couldn't be buried in holy ground. It was left in

a lead casket above ground at the monastery of Sheen in Surrey and the head

was taken home by a souvenir-hunting workman at the site years later, still

complete with red hair and beard. The rest of James was eventually buried in

the churchyard of St Michael's, Wood Street, City of London.

Meeting the King's Advisers

Henry only had two chief ministers during his reign � Thomas Wolsey and

Thomas Cromwell. They both died in his service.

Working with Wolsey

Thomas Wolsey was one of the last ecclesiastical statesmen in England.

As a cardinal he was a potential pope, and he was for a time legate a latere,

the pope's man on the spot. As lord chancellor for Henry, he `had the ear'

of the king.

Rising through the ranks

Typical of the new men of humble origins the Tudors employed, Wolsey was

born the son of a butcher in Ipswich, Suffolk. In 1483 (when he was about 12)

he went to Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin) College, Oxford.

Oxford was the oldest university in the country and students were generally

younger than they are today. Wolsey graduated a bachelor of arts in 1486 (at

the age of 16) and took his master's degree in 1497. He then became a junior

fellow (tutor), which meant he had to take holy orders (become a priest); this

he did in Salisbury the following year.

Progressing with patrons

An ambitious young man like Wolsey needed a patron to get on, prefer-

ably a great lord who could open doors to a rich and important career. His

first patron was Thomas Grey, marquis of Dorset, whose sons Wolsey had

tutored. Dorset got Wolsey a parish in Somerset, but the marquis's death

meant that Wolsey had to look elsewhere. He left Oxford in 1502 and became

senior chaplain to Henry Deane, the archbishop of Canterbury (the top job in

the English Church).

Clearly not cut out for the noble (if boring) life of a country priest, Wolsey

became chaplain to Sir Richard Nanfan, deputy lieutenant of Calais, and

this got Wolsey the all-important entry to the royal Court. By 1509 Wolsey

had become a royal chaplain and he was working for the powerful bishop of

Winchester. He had met Prince Henry, who was about to become king. Chapter 4: Running the Kingdom, Henry's Way 73 Having the ear of the king The best way to get on in the Tudor world was to be a personal buddy of the top man and Wolsey achieved this by 1512. All right, the marquis of Dorset's campaign in France hadn't gone well (see Chapter 3), but Wolsey's logistical organisation had. Henry was impressed, making him almoner, responsible for all the charitable handouts the king gave. Far more importantly, he made Wolsey a member of the Council.

Getting rich in Church and state Wolsey did well organising the Battle of the Spurs campaign too (see Chapter 3) and Henry made him dean of York, the second most important see (reli- gious area) after Canterbury. In rapid succession, Wolsey became bishop of Lincoln, bishop of Tournai and archbishop of York.

The revenues (income) from the York job were �5,000 a year and not enough to keep up with Wolsey's lifestyle � he had servants, horses, dogs, mistresses and several illegitimate children to pay for. By 1523 he was abbot of St Albans and lord chancellor of England. He had a staff of 430 and his annual income of �30,000 was probably more than the king's. This meant he could build lav- ishly on a vast scale, as at Hampton Court, still one of the country's top tourist attractions (see Chapter 19 for a description of this palace).

Wielding influence Everybody got the message: if you wanted to get anything out of Henry � a grant, a job, some land, a title � then you had to go through Wolsey first. Naturally, this made Wolsey a lot of enemies � nobody likes a greedy, monop- olistic lord chancellor, especially one who's come from nowhere, like Wolsey.

As chancellor Wolsey was the most powerful man in the country except for Henry. As long as he did the king's work � and did it well � he was fine. For the first 14 years of Henry's reign it was Wolsey who actually ran the coun- try. Even so, he could never relax; there were always upstarts like Thomas Cromwell looking for a leg-up and Wolsey had to be constantly on his guard.

Centralising the government To make himself more powerful and ensure that his word was being obeyed all over his kingdom, Henry decided to centralise the government. Wolsey's men got the job done:

The Council of the North got more power (nominally under Henry

Fitzroy, Henry's illegitimate son).

The Council of the Welsh Marches (borders) got more power (nominally

under Henry's 9-year-old daughter, Mary).

Wolsey also increased the power of the Court of Chancery and in the king's Council used the Court of Star Chamber as never before. 74 Part II: Handling Henry VIII

A duke gets done in

Henry naturally favoured the nobility � that treason by Richard III and that he had a vague

was, after all, how it had been for centuries � claim to the throne himself. Stafford detested

but Wolsey preferred lesser men who could Wolsey because of the man's common birth.

be controlled and who'd be totally loyal to the So Wolsey did a hatchet job on Buckingham,

king. One problem was Edward Stafford, the finding unhappy servants who swore in a show

duke of Buckingham. One of the `old guard', trial that the duke had an `ill mind' towards

Buckingham wanted the job of high constable, Henry and was planning to stab him to death.

which actually no longer existed. It didn't help This was clearly treason. Henry fell for it and

that Stafford's father had been executed for Buckingham went to the block in May 1521.

Wolsey's work in equity jurisdiction (the king's right to correct any defects in

a previous legal decision) is probably his most important lasting legacy.

Star Chamber was a good idea in that it gave the government control over

legal cases, but it also soon became swamped with requests. Some of Henry's

Council did nothing else but sit as judges � even Wolsey did from time to time.

So Wolsey expanded the business of an already existing court � the Court of

Requests or Poor Men's Causes � to handle what was, in effect, pro bono work.

Dabbling in foreign policy: the Treaty of London

Most of Wolsey's claim to fame rests in his handling of international politics.

People used to claim that Wolsey wanted to be pope; he had the chance in

1521 and again in 1523. There's only ever been one English pope, Nicholas

Breakspear, aka Adrian IV (see British History For Dummies, Sean Lang, pub-

lished by Wiley). But Wolsey always put England first and in foreign affairs

only carried out Henry's wishes.

The Treaty of London of 1518 (see Chapter 3) was Wolsey's most brilliant

achievement and the high-water mark in his European success. After that, it

was downhill all the way.

The Field of the Cloth of Gold (see Chapter 3) was Wolsey's party � he was one

of the best events managers of his day � but the main point of all the expense

and glitter was to cement friendships between Henry and Francis I. That failed

and the pair parted the best of enemies. Chapter 4: Running the Kingdom, Henry's Way 75 Allying with the emperor Charles V wanted war, especially against Francis I, and Henry did his best to keep out of it, trying to play one king off against the other and waiting for his own opportunities.

Wolsey's job was to make all this work by:

Raising money for armies

Trying to mediate between Charles and Francis

Neither was a great success.

Falling from grace The Anglo�French Treaty of Westminster, which Wolsey worked out in 1527, led to opposition from Charles V. What happened next made matters worse.

Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was in meltdown. The only man in the world legally able to grant a divorce was the pope (Clement VII) and Henry gave Wolsey orders to sort it out. Wolsey was in the dark about Anne Boleyn and only heard about the affair from someone else � not exactly a sign of trust between a king and his right-hand man.

Henry expected Wolsey, as the pope's man in England, to push Clement into co-operating. Clement, however, was surrounded by Charles V's army camped outside Rome, and Charles was the nephew of the much-put-upon Catherine. So no deal. Eventually, in 1529, the problem was passed to Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, now the pope's official protector of England, but Campeggio was playing hardball and all attempts failed.

Henry had pinned all his hopes on the annulment and he was furious, blam- ing Wolsey for not managing the impossible. Henry fired him as chancellor and Wolsey died at Leicester Abbey on 29 November 1530 on his way to London to face trumped up charges of treason.

If you remember awesome Orson Welles in A Man For All Seasons, you might feel sorry for Wolsey, but nobody did at the time. And besides, a new chancel- lor, Thomas More, was lurking around the corner. 76 Part II: Handling Henry VIII

Carrying on with Cromwell

Henry knew exactly where he wanted to go but not always how to get there.

Wolsey had been very competent and hard-working and the search was on to

find a successor.

Coming from nowhere

Wolsey's successor as Henry's fixer was Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell never

actually became Chancellor, but he was Privy Councillor, Chancellor of the

Exchequer, Secretary of State, and Master of the Rolls. Not bad for someone

whose origins were as humble as his predecessor's. He was born about 1485,

probably in Putney, west of London and his father was a shearman and inn-

keeper. Like Wolsey, he went to Oxford University, but, quarrelling with his

father, he travelled throughout Europe, working at whatever came to hand,

including military service for the French in Italy and operating as a merchant

in Antwerp, then the heart of the international business community.

Becoming a legal eagle

Back home by 1516, Cromwell was now fluent in several languages and joined

Wolsey's service, teaching himself law on the way. Three years later he sat

on Wolsey's Council and his law work made him so much money that he

became a gentleman by 1522.

Two years later Cromwell joined Gray's Inn in London. This was one of several

Inns of Court, like Furnival's and Lincoln's, which were colleges that trained

the country's best lawyers. Cromwell probably taught at Gray's, where he

would have rubbed shoulders with the best legal minds of his day. London

had no university at this time but Gray's Inn took the place of one.

Surviving Wolsey

When a great man falls, those around him stand a chance of falling as well.

It takes someone of exceptional ability to become indispensable to the state

and that's exactly what Cromwell did.

Cromwell got himself elected as an MP for Taunton in Somerset. He caught

Henry's eye as a good man and a fine legal brain, and by 1531 he was a

member of the king's Council.

Coming to Henry's aid

By 1532 the king's `great matter' had reached crisis point. Thomas More, one

of the few men to stand up to Henry on moral grounds (see `Telling Friend

from Foe', later in this chapter), resigned from his job as chancellor and Chapter 4: Running the Kingdom, Henry's Way 77

Cromwell's clever actions in the months ahead meant that the job went to

him. So what did he do to secure the top job?

He drew up the Act in Restraint of Appeals, which stopped people going

over the king's head to the pope (see Chapter 6). This made Henry's

second marriage (to Anne Boleyn) legal.

He turned his office of secretary into a clearing house for royal busi-

ness. As with Wolsey, every request to the king now had to go through

Cromwell, giving him enormous power.

He co-ordinated all the work that the Council did, including the great

laws that covered treason, the succession and the Act of Supremacy

(see Chapter 6).

He realised that knowledge was power and he set up a network of agents

and informers that was better informed than Henry VII's. Elizabeth's

spymaster, Francis Walsingham, carried on Cromwell's network (see

Chapter 14), which was the forerunner of today's MI5 and MI6.

Dissolving the monasteries and making money

It was probably Henry's idea to dissolve the monasteries because at a stroke

he could get rid of support for the pope (always strongest in the monaster-

ies) and get some cash (he was always strapped) into the bargain.

Cromwell's job was to make it all work and he became the most hated man in

England as a result. Many believed that the master secretary was evil � check

out Leo Mckern's performance in A Man For All Seasons to get the flavour of a

thoroughly unpleasant individual.

From 1536 the smaller monasteries were shut, and from 1536 the rest followed.

The land was sold off to the highest bidder and all income went to the king. By

1540 every monastery in England had gone, but their beautiful ruins are every-

where (check out Fountains, Glastonbury, Rievaulx, Jervaux and many more;

see Chapter 6).We look at the dissolution in more detail in Chapter 6.

Culling a queen Cromwell got the job of removing Anne Boleyn Laws against witchcraft appeared for the first when it turned out that she too wasn't going to time in Henry's reign and it was very convenient give Henry a son. He'd supported Anne ear- that Anne had a rudimentary sixth finger on her lier because she was part of the whole Royal left hand, which was taken to be an obvious sign Supremacy deal, but now he worked on accus- of sorcery. Cromwell now put about the fact that ing her of adultery and witchcraft. Anne had trapped Henry by bewitching him.