Henry VII was Successful in Limiting the Powers of the Nobility

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How successful was Henry VII in limiting the powers of the nobility?

Henry implemented many methods in order to control the nobility with varying success. Henry sought to limit the power of the nobles as he was acutely aware the dangers of over mighty subjects with too much power and little love for the crown or just wanted a change like Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick who deposed two kings to replace them. Also Henry’s own rise to the throne was helped by nobles dislike towards Richard III. By restricting the nobles Henry wanted to reduce the power of the nobles and possible threats against him and return the nobles from their quasi king status to leaders in their local areas but under the power of the crown.

The most widely used method of control was financial forfeits such as bonds and recognisances. These could be placed on a noble even if they had not done anything which meant that they were very widespread in their use and were payable if certain conditions were not met. However the heavy and widely considered unjust, use of bonds and recognisances brought widespread hostility towards Henry. These were often used in conjunction with other policies such as retaining in order to enforce them and ensure that the nobles would be loyal.

Acts of Attainder were also used to control the nobility which acted as a double whammy helping to increase the power and wealth of the king but also bring financial ruin and sometimes death to the king’s enemies, however the use of these was restricted as they could only be placed on noble accused of treason and had to be passed through parliament, therefore they were not used extensively. Therefore the main point was to deter nobles from acting against the King. However tho...

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...l as there was no serious uprising after 1497.

I side with Loades on this as despite resentment from the nobles, after the Perkin Warbeck imposture there were no more serious uprisings which strongly support the success of Henry’s policies. Whilst most nobles would see his methods as unjust (especially the wide of use bonds and recognisances) Henry succeeded in increasing the crown’s standing at the expense of the nobility, securing his position whilst weakening the nobles. Through most of his policies Henry was successful in limiting the powers of nobility. Henry sought to restrict the noble’s power and yet at the same time needed them to keep order and represent him at local levels, therefore Henry sought not to destroy the nobles but to weaken them enough that they did not pose a threat, he needed a balance of control over the nobles and strong nobility.

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