‘England was never well governed in the reign of Edward 6th’
How far do you agree with this?
Edward VI inherited the throne in 1547 at the infant age of 9. Because of his youth, he had two advisors. The first was his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, who became Lord Protector, and for the first two and a half years of Edward’s reign, Somerset advised and guided the young king. Somerset was replaced by the Duke of Northumberland. Edward was a mere figurehead, the Lord Protector controlled the majority of his government but how well was England governed during the reign of Edward VI for the mere 6 six years he was in power?
During the years of 1547-1553 England experienced a handful of serious rebellions during the six-year reign of
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Once chantries were abolished it, the donated money was used to help as charitable money for public good however there have been suggestions that the majority of the money had gone to Edwards advisors. Religion significantly backs up the statement ‘England was never well governed under in the reign of Edward VI’ because it was a radical change considering the majority of people believed in Catholicism, which was showed through rebellions (western rebellion) and book burnings of the new prayer book. Although by dismantling chantries it did
Benefit those in need.
The abolition of chantries in 1547 under Edward allowed the money gained to help those who most needed, particularly children however what about other finical policies/plans? Throughout this period there were disastrous economic problems. Many of them were caused by debasement. This was where a small percentage of the value was removed from each coin as it was made and then used to make new coins. This helped in the short term, but led to inflation and worse problems later. This was a huge problem for peasants, who normally spent around 80% of their income on food. The population also increased from about 2.3 million in 1500 to 3 million in Edward's reign, as well as continuous military expenditure which amounted to around 3.5 million between 1544 and 1550.All these led to huge inflation and unemployment, moreover there were lower wages and
The influence of political factors and change cannot be ignored when weighing up the most significant cause of rebellion throughout the Tudor period. Both in England and Ireland, political unrest was common among all of the Tudor Monarchs meaning it was a consistent factor in all rebellions across the era. The main problems came from self-serving greed, with plans to overthrow the Monarchs in order to position someone who would be in their favour or get rid of corrupt advisors in order to attain more political influence.
Pollard)"crushing foreign policy failures" (Matusiak, 2005, p.32) striking in congruence with popular rebellions, occurring at a greater rate than had occurred in the whole rest of the Tudor era. Some of the most devastating (The Western Rebellion 1549, Ket's rebellion 1549 and Wyatt's Rebellion 1554) having been struck in Southern England; the centripetal seat of Tudor power. The impact of these incursions on the politico-administrative continuity of Tudor dominance was magnified by their concurrence with foreign war, escalating into the vacuum of localized administration exacerbated not only by ubiquitous famine and religious turmoil but also by the absence of a sufficiently strong magnate presence in several key counties. Despite this deficiency in localized administrative rule these factional conflicts, far from being the catalysts of a political crisis were indicative of the extent of dominance and stability of central authority; the effective suppression of civil rebellion illustrates that monarchical supremacy was sufficiently internally fortified against the "many-headed monster" (Matusiak, 2005, p. 35) of social insurrection directed at subverting
“In the years 1547-1558, English government was at its most effective during the rule of Mary I” How valid is this statement? (45 marks)
During the reign of Edward VI, Northumberland and Somerset attempted to rule England. They dealt with several issues, including foreign policy, finance, social and economic affairs, working as political operators and dealing with with rebellions. Northumberland proved to be successful in many of these aspects, particularly in social and economic affairs as well as finance. This is because he was able to effectively correct the faults Somerset had made such as introducing certain taxes and causing debt as well as debasement. This essay will talk about the extent of how successful Northumberland was in comparison to Somerset when it came to ruling England.
Prior to the Western rising, also known as the Prayer Book rebellion, England had experienced uprisings. The Amicable Grant uprising in 1525 and the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 are just two examples of monumental uprisings that occurred. In 1549, large swathes of the country (23 counties) were shaken by rebellions. The huge geographical extent of the rebellions made them the most serious, widespread movements of disorder since the Peasants Revolt of 1381. One of the rebellions that posed as a particular threat was the Western rebellion in Devon and Cornwall. Some historians argue that the Western Rising was not a significant threat to royal
It could be argued that Henry VII was never seriously threatened by rebellions. Throughout Henry’s 24 year reign, only 5 disturbances occurred, showing that rebellion only preoccupied a short span of time within his reign. It is clear to say that the loyal rebellions, based around economical aims and issues, did not pose a threat to Henry as the rebels did not want to harm the crown, but change crown policies which eventually Henry did sacrifice. Nonetheless, whilst the disloyal rebellions aims were strong and threatening, they were poorly led and constructed and didn’t have the strength to personally damage Henry VII. To sum up, any rebellion would be a threat to a certain extent, but it
The Extent to Which Tudor Rebellions Have Similar Causes Tudor rebellions were caused by one or more of the following factors: dynastic, political, religious, and social and economic. There was an element of both similarity and continuity in the period as most of the rebellions were politically motivated starting with Warbeck’s rebellion in 1491 until the end of the period with Essex’s rebellion in 1601. This displays clear political motives across the period. During the reign of Henry VII, many of the rebellions were dynastically motivated with a series of challenges from pretenders to the throne, Simnel and Warbeck and rebellions due to heavy taxation; Yorkshire and Cornish anti tax riots.
In the context of the years 1485 to 1603 to what extent was the government of England dysfunctional in the mid-Tudor period?
TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THERE A "MID TUDOR CRISIS" DURING THE REIGNS OF EDWARD VI AND MARY I? "The mid-Tudor crisis" is a term often used by historians to describe the reigns of Edward VI (1547-1553) and Mary I (1553-1558). This period can be seen as a crisis, due to the fact that there were so many problems financially, socially, religiously and constitutionally, which led to rebellions, and placed the country in a very unstable position.
Throughout history, Cromwell has been portrayed in very different lights, especially in Great Britain. It is an undeniable fact that Cromwell contributed some good to his country. For instance, numerous laws were made less severe and politics as well as justice less corrupt. In matters of religion, he granted freedom of worship. Yet, after his death Cromwell was seen as a tyrant and a king slayer and the people were tired of living under such strict rules. Regarding politics, debates arose about what effect he had on the political system after his death. It is incontrovertible that his rule was one of the turning points in British history, as Cromwell ensured that a king would never be able to rule on his own.
British history from 1600 to 1650 wasn’t the best time of history for british people. Britain had a society from 1600 to 1650. From 1600 to 1650 Britain’s government had kings, queens, laws and punishments for outlaws. Britain also had wars religiously, politically and militarily during that time too.
Tudor governments were relatively successful in dealing with the problem of rebellion, although this was more effective towards the end of the period than at the beginning shown through the decline in rebellion after 1549: only 5 English rebellions occurred as opposed to 10 before 1549. Over the course of the Tudor period the main aims of rebellions were only fully achieved in the rebellions of 1525, the Amicable Grant and 1553. In addition to this the reforms made to local government, policies directly implemented by central government and the effects of trials and retribution, such as Henry VII’s concessions made to the late 15th century pretenders, Lambert
The many lawmakers died leaving lawbreakers to go unpunished. Society needed many services to be preformed. “At this moment of crisis, if you survived the Black Plague and you were able body, you might have been put to work. Work opportunities were made available to anyone who was alive and could work. Despite any attempt to keep the economy in order supply and demand took over. Wages in the towns soared to two even three times the level they had held in the crowded thirteenth century,” (Herlihy, 48). The poor people started to go from town to town looking to make the most money. “The people who could work changed there tone and wanted money instead of food and shelter. The poor liked the fact that they were getting more money but the enjoyed the great gain on being able to buy more land. How numerous were the famous families, the vast estates, the notable fortunes, that were seen to be left without a rightful successor!”(Boccaccio, 13). Two things were needed to be more economically efficient and that was consumption reduction and production increase. In order to raise production, people would have to get and cultivate more affordable land. With population reduction and higher wages, new agricultural technique needed to be put in place. The new agricultural allowed those that could afford to rent the land a new investment in livestock. In spite of the many new accomplishments the people still want to be more efficient because of the better
However, Elizabeth's reign was one of considerable danger and difficulty for many, with threats of invasion from Spain through Ireland, and from France through Scotland. Much of northern England was in rebellion in 1569-70. A papal bull of 1570 specifically released Elizabeth's subjects from their allegiance, and she passed harsh laws against Roman Catholics after
Bacon’s Rebellion, Coode’s Rebellion, and Leisler’s Rebellion all happened between the dates of 1676-1691. Each rebellion was a cease or change of power. Whereas, in 1676, Nathaniel Bacon, recruited common men, John Coode used puritans and Jacob Leisler used his militia.