Henry VII came to the throne in 1485 ; in many ways his reign appeared vulnerable and his fundss hapless. nevertheless. when he died in 1509 he left his boy Henry a sound financial bequest. However. was his reign destined to be the fiscal high point of the Tudor dynasty he founded? The accession of a strong male monarch and the evident decision of civil war meant many had high hopes that Henry VII could reconstruct stableness to the state. The state of affairs was so bettering – turning unsusceptibility to the Black Plague had insured steady. if slow. population growing. Henry wanted to maximize the possible economic wealth of the state. and he did so in many ways including a major reform of the county’s fiscal disposal. support of the aristocracy category as opposed to super-powerful barons. and by maintaining his Lords in line through his authorization and the distribution of crown favors. His success in working his estates and the feudal debts of his Lords is one of the cardinal factors of his economic bequest.

However. while many admired his ruthless policies. others were non so complimentary. For many his aggregation of gross from feudal beginnings and from the disposal of justness “caused great discontent and earned Henry his repute as a miser and extortionist” . By the terminal of his reign. Henry had succeeded in change by reversaling the effects of the War of the Roses. created a solvent fiscal disposal and had managed to increase his one-year income by twofold. Henry knew that if he wanted to guarantee a filled exchequer and general economic stableness and prosperity. he did non necessitate to contrive new beginnings of gross. but alternatively concentrate upon having his proper due as sovereign of the lands. To make this. Henry utilised a ruthless overplus of methods to obtain gross. with the cardinal methods being his administrative reforms. trade and the maximal acquisition of money through Ordinary and Extraordinary incomes. The steadily worsening crown income had to be addressed. and Henry attempted to right the issue through the shifting of fiscal disposal from the antediluvian and inefficient system of the Exchequer to the more efficient and effectual system that was favoured by his old Yorkist antagonists – the Chamber system.

The income of the Crown lands had been cut from ?25000 under Richard III to ?12000 at the start of Henry VII’s reign due to the inefficiency of the Exchequer. so it is clear that the reforms were urgently needed. Henry’s execution of this system meant that his
financial officers would function him straight and expeditiously. Under Henry VII. the Chamber was overseen by Treasurers Thomas Lovell and John Heron and assisted by work forces such as Sir Reginald Bray. who were dedicated to bettering the efficiency of the royal gross. The Chamber took over about all facets of fiscal disposal. and its efficient processs meant that money could be obtained when it was needed. Henry understood that having land was a cardinal to doing money. Naturally. being the reigning sovereign. Henry was the biggest landholder in the kingdom. and he wanted to increase the sum of land he owned to increase his income. He did this in many ways. both through escheats and Acts of the Apostless of Attainder and through the 1486 Act of Resumption which returned all land granted off since 1455 to the male monarch. which besides served to depower many of the one time powerful barons such as Warwick the Kingmaker. an old enemy of Henry’s.

The Duchy of Lancaster set criterions for the direction of the royal estates. increasing its income from ?650 to ?6500 due to improved direction and disposal. Using similar methods. Henry was able to increase royal land gross from ?29000 to ?42000 by the terminal of his reign. The Morton’s Fork policy was besides used by Henry to increase his revenue enhancement income. Customss dues were another major constituent of the national income. By the terminal of his reign. imposts responsibilities were a 3rd of the entire one-year royal income. gaining him ?40000 a twelvemonth. Henry built upon the modernized system put in topographic point by Edward IV and he profited greatly. particularly from responsibilities on fabric. leather. wool and vino. While somewhat less of import in the Tudor age. Feudal dues were still a ample portion of Henry’s gross. Wardship and Reliefs were the primary sorts. where Henry could derive income from lands that he maintained for Godheads excessively immature to govern themselves. and money was besides paid to the male monarch when land passed custodies.

Henry besides had ways of maintaining his Lords loyal and securing money at the same clip. Many Lords were made to curse money in return for their loyal service and responsibilities to the male monarch. and if they proved unpatriotic or failed to uphold promises. Henry could maintain the money. These were of import for Henry during the early old ages of his reign when his kingship was still delicate and needed to maintain his Lords in line. For illustration. the Captain of Calais had to assure ?40000 to execute his responsibilities. and others such as Viscount Beaumont of Powicke were forced to curse ?10000 in trueness bonds. These Chemical bonds and Recognizances earned Henry ?35000 yearly. Fines were besides issued upon those Henry considered to hold excessively many considerations. and Lord Burgavenny for illustration. was fined ?5 for every consideration he had – the entire mulct came to ?70505! Henry could farther trust on other income beginnings. such as judicial gross from tribunal mulcts. church and parliamentary grants. and loans from Lords as extraordinary income to supplement his ordinary income. Henry besides negotiated the 1492 “French Pension” in which Henry was paid an insurance of ?159000 and a annual pension of ?5000.

English wool was a valuable trade good and Henry was acute to advance trade. negociating successful pacts with France. Spanish Trade was besides moneymaking. since the engagement of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon gave Henry particular trade rights with Spain. He endorsed successful trade with the Italian province of Firenze in 1490. By the clip of his decease Henry VII received an one-year income of about ?114000. about double the sum at the start of his reign. He had overseen a major inspection and repair of the national fiscal system and had streamlined gross efficiency through pitiless development of his lands and Lords. and left a sound economic system in the custodies of his boy Henry VIII. In comparing to the ulterior Tudor sovereign. England under Henry VII was booming in the deficiency of rising prices. deficiency of war and disposal by able work forces. However. historian John Guy argues that “Henry VII’s fiscal success is immensely overrated: 1. Crown income is ?113. 000 per annum at the terminal of the reign ; 2. But it was ?120. 000 per annum under Richard III ;

3. And ?160. 000 per annum under Edward III. “
Guy’s analysis is farther supported by the fact that his income was still non impressive by monarchal criterions – the male monarchs of France at this clip. Charles VIII and Louis XII. entirely earned ?800000 yearly. which was eight times Henry’s! On top of this. some historiographers such as Duncan Radway and Mansell Baker have argued that while modern readings of Henry VII’s reign are seen as positive. modern-day beginnings frequently point to the contrary. citing modern-day Italian merchandiser Giovanni de Bebulcho who claimed that Henry was “more feared than loved. and this because of his greed. ” This modern-day reading seems like a much more realistic position. as while Henry’s reign was so comfortable. this was partially due of the pitiless development of his land and Lords to derive every bit much gross as possible. which was non looked on favorably by many critics of the age. Judging on the grounds. the modern reading of Henry as an unsuccessful swayer must be dismissed under these fortunes due to the grounds which suggests the land was booming under his regulation. and therefore John Guy’s statement should be ignored.

Henry VIII received an heritage of ?1250000 from his male parent to assist him procure the throne. and this would hold proven utile in the custodies of any other adult male. but with Henry VIII’s love of extravagancy. power and magnificence. it had the opposite consequence. This excessive attitude is reflected in historian Chris Truman’s history of his personality: “In contrast to his male parent. Henry VIII was viewed as a adult male who expected to bask himself. He dressed in colorful apparels. enjoyed have oning gems. Ate and drank good and spent money with wantonness. ” Unlike his male parent. who took a really “hands on” attack to direction of his land. Henry VIII wasn’t really interested in the elaboratenesss of opinion. and was happy to go forth disposal to his sure advisers and Lords of office. while he pursued his avocations of hunting and other imperial interests. Henry was a lover of castles. and he spent extravagantly on building 40 three ( in comparing to his father’s 12 castles ) of them and make fulling them with two 1000 tapestries – his most hideous illustration of this was at the Field of Cloth of Gold. where Henry built an full castle. particularly for his meeting with the male monarch of France. that was merely lived in for two hebdomads – his male parent would hold been turning in his grave at such fiscal frivolousness!

He moreover spent huge amounts on the national naval forces. increasing the royal fleet from five ships to fifty three by the terminal of his reign. He is frequently considered by modern heads to be a frivolous “Playboy King” . the image of whom is supported through Chris Trueman’s remarks on his behavior. However. upon farther rating another image of Henry VIII can come up. as evidenced by Professor Ronald Hutton who states that “He had a existent apprehension of munition. ballistic trajectories and transportation. and could discourse mathematics and uranology on equal footings with experts. His tribunal was a theoretical account of decorousness compared with most others in modern-day Europe. those who frequented it being out to wrangle. affaire d’honneur or look in public with their kept womans. ” On the other manus. there is greater grounds to propose support for the positions of Trueman over Hutton. since many of the positions against the “Playboy King” are mostly sweeping and obscure in comparing to grounds to the contrary. therefore it is wise to disregard the revised reading.

Henry VIII was besides a fond follower of the mediaeval ideals of glorious conflict and war. and led assorted ( dearly-won ) runs against the Gallic and Scots over the class of his kingship. In 1512 he was merely excessively happy to ship on a war against France to assist his Spanish Alliess ( through his matrimony to Catherine of Aragon ) . in which he sent 10 thousand work forces to occupy France which ended in catastrophe. He subsequently invaded in individual and had some success. and when the Scots upheld the Auld Alliance the English were able to force them back. Nevertheless. finally the war accomplished small and cost much. A similar narrative can be found when in 1523. emboldened by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Henry invaded France once more ( against the advice of his adviser. Cardinal Wolsey ) but was repelled easy ; however. despite the fruitlessness of his mission Henry wished to occupy once more but couldn’t due to miss of financess and resources.

However. arguably the most dearly-won wars of Henry VIII’s reign were the wars of 1542 and 1544. where Henry invaded Scotland during the “Rough Wooing” in order to obtain a matrimony between his boy Edward and Mary of Scotland. where he beat the Scots but were unable to coerce them to obedience. and when he invaded France with the purpose of capturing Boulogne. These wars cost Henry in surplus of ?3000000. and Henry was forced to raise revenue enhancements improbably high and sell off a ample part of the cloistered lands he had obtained through the Dissolution of the Monasteries in order to pay the war measure. The expensive wars and careless outgo meant that Henry VIII was forced to corrupt the mintage three times over his reign. and by 1551 the value of mintage was deserving ? to 1/6 of its original value before the adulterations began in 1521. The consequence was rapid rising prices and coin billboard that would last into the reign of Edward VI until it was corrected by Northumberland’s recoinage.

These unsavory effects of his regulation support Trueman’s position of Henry that he was careless and self-satisfied with his money fiscal policies. On the other manus. some historiographers such as Philip Edwards claim that “much of this [ position ] was dependant on hostile remarks of the poet John Skelton” . However. given the permanent effects of his regulation. it is likely that the traditional position is sounder in this instance Henry’s ain one-year income of around ?100000 remained reasonably steady throughout his opinion period. but its worth was significantly eroded by rising prices mostly caused by his ain workss. Henry besides become progressively reliant on benevolences from the people to fund his wars. but frequently these excess revenue enhancements were non sufficient as shown through the instance of the unpopular Amicable Grant in 1525. However. the state of affairs was kept from farther impairment by Henry’s subsequently advisor Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell was an first-class administrative official and was responsible for statute law that improved the quality of exported fabric. ensuing in a 20 five per centum addition in cloth exports from 1533-34. for statute law that fought against enclosure by restricting the figure of sheep a adult male could have. and most significantly. for reorganizing the aggregation of gross into distinguishable “courts” .

Cromwell aimed to do fiscal gross aggregation more efficient by making tribunals to cover with a specific country of gross. such as the Court of General Surveyors which was charged with supervising the Crown lands. and the Court of Augmentations which dealt with the Monastic lands. In comparing to his male parent. Henry VIII’s fiscal policies were frequently black and would do long term rising prices and monetary value rises. His expensive wars were in blunt contrast to the turning away exercised by Henry VII. and his economic system was plateaued apparently merely through able advisers like Cromwell. Contrary to popular idea. nevertheless. some positions of Henry show him as being an able male monarch who was in control of his topics. such as John Guy who argues that “Henry directed policy and his curates and functionaries were allowed freedom of action merely in recognized bounds. ” and Peter Gwyn who insists that “Henry was in control from the start” When Henry VIII died in 1547. his boy Edward faced a tough state of affairs that was made worse by a certain Duke of Somerset… Edward Seymour. Duke of Somerset became Lord Protector of England under Edward VI through the controversial use of Henry’s will. which Seymour a place of great power over the male monarch and the state.

His narcissistic invasion of Scotland and subsequent repelling by the Gallic cost over ?300000 and accomplished nil. and Seymour had to give up Boulogne to France. Furthermore. the economic state of affairs was dire under Seymour. with nutrient monetary values in 1547 fourty five per centum higher than in 1540 under Henry VIII which increased once more by 10 per centum in 1549. sulky exports due to war break and rising prices continued to increase merely as the value and silver content of coins were diminishing. This hapless economic state of affairs besides led to widespread agitation ( Kett’s Rebellion ) . unemployment and vagrancy. which Seymour’s unpopular Vagrancy Act failed to cover with. Seymour’s unwise policy of prehending Chantry wealth to be melted into mintage was besides a factor in this fiscal crisis. He even had the cheek to disregard the sound analysis of Thomas Smith. who saw adulteration as the cause of rising prices. and alternatively Seymour chose to fault avaricious enclosurers for the jobs! After the ouster of Somerset. John Dudley Duke of Northumberland took control and worked to repair the job of the economic system. He inherited a terrible fiscal crisis from Somerset – the family had to borrow ?50000 yearly merely to be.

His foreign policy was regarded as “craven but practical” and he endeavoured to maintain the state out of war. Much of his statute law was passed to comfort fiscal lesions. such as revoking the unpopular Vagrancy Act and doing it illegal to bear down inordinate involvement on debts. Furthermore. he assembled a squad of able administrative officials to administrate finance. They managed to decelerate rising prices through recoinage with all right currency and started to reform fiscal establishments. such as the scrapping of the now disused Court of Augmentations. Northumberland’s regulation saw an betterment from the black regulation of Somerset. but he fell with the failure of his mismanaged putsch d’etat of Mary. However there would be assorted fiscal lucks in the reign of Mary I after the early decease of the immature Edward VI. The traditional sentiment of Somerset as being the “Good Duke” and Northumberland as being the “Bad Duke” is wholly reversed when measuring their regulation through a fiscal filter.

Modern readings come from historiographers like John Guy. who states that Somerset was “vacillating. froward and high-minded…’sugar-coating his natural badness with talk of mildness and justness. ’” Overall. Mary had a reasonably hapless fiscal record. Her reign saw a diminution in the Antwerp fabric trade ( possibly due to European markets being saturated with English fabric ) and unluckily terrible rains that led to widespread implosion therapy and dearths. A war with France in response to a putsch led by Thomas Stafford besides led to the loss of Calais. England’s last ownership on the continent. and was considered one of Mary’s biggest declinations. Furthermore. her matrimony to the Spanish male monarch Phillip should hold theoretically increased English entree to Spanish wealth in the New World. but this failed to happen. This combined with the prostration of exports in 1551 meant that Mary had to concentrate on happening new markets to work. Expeditions to open up trade were funded. such as that of Richard Chancellor’s expedition to happen a “North East Passage” to China beyond Scandinavia. but ended up in the White Sea around northern Russia. Because of this find. the Muscovy Company was formed and dominated English trade with Russia.

Similarly. adventurers like John Lok and William Towerson attempted to set up trade in Africa. English fabric was traded for Moroccan sugar and potassium nitrate and for gold along the Guinea Coast. Besides during her reign a new Book of Rates was written to increase imposts gross and new recoinage programs were drawn up in 1557. but these would merely come into consequence during Elizabeth’s regulation. So finally. while Mary’s regulation is mostly considered financially hapless. actions were being taken during her reign that would be profitable under Elizabeth. which is a cardinal factor of this period of history: reform. Since Mary died without issue. the throne was reluctantly left to her Protestant sister Elizabeth. normally remembered as one of the. if non the. greatest swayer of England. However. the fiscal and economic state of affairs during her reign does non reflect this. While she was so a strong swayer for most of her regulation. her fiscal policies left much to be desired. She was rather mean with her outgo as a sovereign. much like her gramps Henry VII. but unlike him she lacked the reforming and exploitatory thrust that defined his regulation and made him comfortable.

Elizabeth was besides non lament on taking on new fiscal thoughts unlike her sister Mary. and despite the high rising prices she did non increase imposts rates. Furthermore. Elizabeth’s core income would get down to diminish as she sold land to pay for the struggle with her old brother-in-law. King Phillip of Spain. Elizabeth’s runs in Ireland was similarly expensive. and the high war revenue enhancements coupled with the delicate economic state of affairs. bad conditions and hapless crops resulted in dearth and high nutrient monetary values. The mintage reforms laid out under Mary besides came into consequence. this slowed rising prices but was basically negated by the demands caused by a 40 % rise in population over her reign: nutrient and goods – nutrient monetary values increased by 75 % and manufactured goods increased by 45 % in monetary value. This population roar necessarily led to unemployment and vagrancy. and steps were taken to seek and cover with this. such as the Poor Law. which aimed to happen simple work for those impotent hapless who were disadvantaged and for them to be cared for by a Poor Rate levied on local families. The Statute of Artificers passed from 1558-1563 besides served to undertake unemployment through implementing compulsory 7 twelvemonth apprenticeships in a trade. replacing the old feudal trade
clubs. By and large. Crown gross did increase during Elizabeth’s reign ( although non every bit much as rising prices ) .

However. she failed to increase feudal dues or imposts. and she made progressively frequent gross revenues of royal land. This meant that the Crown became progressively dependent on direct revenue enhancement. parliamentary grants and forced loans. Elizabeth’s general miserliness with her outgo did non better her state of affairs as a whole. but by drawing her bag strings tighter she was able to go forth her replacement James I with a comparatively smallish debt of ?300000. nevertheless it is arguable that this frugalness and hapless pecuniary wages of her retainers led to an addition in corruptness. Elizabeth frequently made up for this though through the wages of less financially nerve-racking offices. such as knighthoods. price reduction rentals and stewardships of royal land.

The Tudor age is considered one of the specifying epochs in English history. easing a passage from the senior authoritiess of the feudal. medieval past to the gateway of a centralized and more modern England. The progresss in idea. faith. engineering and power had all served to do England a much stronger power in Europe. However. it was besides finally wracked by rising prices. high monetary values. adulteration. debt and unemployment brought approximately by the hapless picks made by the likes of Henry VIII and Somerset and exacerbated by the actions and fortunes of others such as Mary and Elizabeth. The success. reform and efficiency of Henry VII’s regulation were non matched by the policies of his replacements. and even though in comparing to other European sovereign of the period he was a little earner. England finally enjoyed a fiscal high point under his regulation when compared to the other members of his dynasty.

Mentions:

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