Was king henry an innovator?

Henry the VII was born on the 28th of January 1457 and had a very interesting life. He became king In the well-known Battle of Bowwow’s where he killed the king at that time, who was Richard Ill with the assistance of the Stanley brothers. At that point In history, England was a very weak culturally, economically and militarily. England was also torn in half for years by a civil war which is also known as the Wars of the Roses. This meant that king Henry VII had not only inherited the crown but several major robbers, which Henry intended to solve these issues.

Some of these problems were that the British Isles needed unification, as both Ireland and Scotland were both hostile and separate, or the English Just didn’t have control over them. Another problem was the military development. The army Henry inherited with his crown relied on the bow, while other nations were moving on to fire arms. Above all else, though, King Henry VII planned to create a new dynasty; the Tudor dynasty. He went about solving these Issues In a very clever and unique style which proved to be effective.

Some believed, though, that Henry merely adopted these ideas from previous monarchs and It just proved more effective In his rule. That’s why there Is not an agreement on whether or not King Henry was an Innovator. Some historians argue that King Henry the VII was an innovator, and have many arguments to support them. Most, if not all, of these arguments revolved around three main areas which were finance, foreign policies and his relationship with the nobles. On the first area, Henry held money very close to his heart. He had adopted.

Edward Avis use of the chamber (which can also show that he wasn’t an innovator) but had ended up creating more than 3 times the revenue that Edward had made, which was due partly to the fact that Henry supervised his accounts more closely than Edward. Henry also TLD spoil his family. He was assisted greatly by the fact that the only relative In his family was his uncle who had passed away a decade after his reign. Further proof can be seen by “He was careful not to give away much to his wife’s relatives, the Woodpile connection, to whom Edward had been more generous”.

Henry also developed to a fine are his recognizes, which were basically a way of ensuring that henrys more important subjects obeyed the law and lived in peace. The way these recognizes worked were that if a nobleman or gentleman offended the king, or that their conduct was a threat to the public order, they would be obliged to pay specified sums of money if they broke the conditions laid down by the recognizes. It is shown that out of the 62 peers that existed between years 1485 and 1 509, 46 of them were under recognizes at one point or another.

This as henrys method of holding the upper class to ransom for their good behavior. At the start of Henrys reign, he had inherited a considerable debt, but ended up becoming solvent In the beginning of his reign. Henry not only became solvent but ended up securing a surplus In his later years. He also had a very strong relationship with the nobles. During The Wars of the Roses, many nobles had taken advantage of relationship to the nobility than his predecessor did.

Henry, unlike Edward who made nine new earls, only made two new earls who were his stepfather Lord Stanley and Edward Courtesan. Another difference between Henry and Edward were that there were no “super-nobles”, while in Edwards reign; he had made his mother’s brother more powerful by showering him with land. Henry was very cautious not to reward too generously, even to the nobles who were most useful to him. Retaining, which was that lords could retain servants or followers to serve him in war or peace, was a major problem for Henry.

Both Henry and his predecessor knew that they shouldn’t end it all together, as they recognized a nobles right to retinue, due to the fact that these ties of loyalty between lords and their followers were important for the smooth functioning of society’. Henrys aim, though, was to attempt to end the lawlessness and corruption which could result if retaining remained unchecked. That is when he created the rule in 1504, which stated that every lord had to obtain a license for his retinue from the king equipped with a list of named retainers. The main difference between Henry and Edward was that Henry enforced his laws in a more resolute way.

Foreign policies were another one of his specialties. Both Edward and his successor .NET about similarly taking claim to the French throne, both led invasions of France and both achieved treaties by which the French king agreed to pay them annually. They were also very similar with Scotland, as both of them concluded long truces with their neighbors which were eventually broken up by open war. Differences between the two kings were even clearer. King Edward was the renaissance prince, and sought out to gain land by attempting to invade France and Scotland, which were both serious attempts to gain some of the land that England had lost.

Henry on the other hand was quite the opposite. He was “more inclined to peace than war”. Henry had signed a treaty with Spain to ensure security. The treaty of friendship opened the way to marriage between Catherine of Argon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and Henrys eldest son, Prince Arthur. He had also strengthened his connections with Scotland by marrying his daughter Margaret and James IV of Scotland, and also ensured that Henry VIII should marry Catherine of Argon, after the death of Prince Arthur.