These were not new but dated back to the 14th century
Parliament passed the act
to declare a nobleman guilt
of a crime against the
Crown, usually treason.
The noble might be
imprisoned, and the attainted
family lost the right to inherit
lands and titles
The acts were reversible
Thomas Howard lost the title Duke of Norfolk and his
family estates after Bosworth
He was released from prison and restored to the
earldom of Surrey in 1489 to suppress uprising in
Northuberland
Henry VII passed an Act of Attainder when he had faced a
crisis. Each act attainted a different number of people
1495
24 people were attainted
1487
28 people were attainted
1485-7
28 people were attainted
Acts against illegal retaining
and maintenance
Previous kings had also tried to
control retaining and maintenance
but, like Henry, they needed retained
armies for defence
Noblemen kept retained men who served them as
accountants and land agents, but who also fought in
their private army
These retained men wore their
nobleman's badge, known as livery,
to confirm their loyal service
Noblemen sometimes used their
retained men to bring unlawful
influence on others in a court case
E.g controlled juries, this was called maintenance
There was a considerable amount of
legal retaining and maintenance which
Henry VII permitted to continue
Parliament passed laws
against retaining
In 1485, the Lords and Commons were
required to swear that they would not
retain illegally
In 1504, nobles had to obtain special
licences to retain from the King
Both acts gave
the King, rather
than his nobles,
the power to
decide whether
retaining was
illegal.
In 1506, Lord Burgavenny was set a
£70,000 fine for retaining over 471
men
Bonds and recognisances
A bond recognised that the person involved recognised himself
as owing the lump sum stated, which was not payable if the
conition (usually good behaviour) was observed. If the condition
was not observed, the sum stated was paid.
A recognisance was when a person formally
acknowledged a debt or obligation. The recognisance was
often enforced by a bond
The Marquis of Dorset had to give a bond
after his suspected involvement in the
Simnel plot. The bond guaranteed future
loyal conduct
Lump sums payable from bonds:
1492-4: £3000
1504-05: £75000
Use of New Men
Sir Thomas Lovell (1450-1524)
He was an English soldier and administrator,
Speaker of the House of Commons,
Secretary to the Treasury and Chancellor of
the Exchequer
Richard Fox 1448-1528
Was an English churchman, successively Bishop of
Exeter, Bath and Wells, Durham and Winchester, Lord
Privy Seal, and founder of Corpus Christi College
Oxford
1487 He negotiated a treaty
with King James III of Scotland
1491 he baptised Henry VIII
Edmund Dudley
He studied at Oxford and came
under the notice of Henry VII
and was said to be made a privy
councillor at age 23. He helped
negotiate Peave of Etaples with
France and was a very
prominent councillor of the
Council Learned in the law which
collected debts owed to the King
Whilst collecting money for the King, Dudley
amassed a great amount of wealth for
himself, which resulted in estates in Sussex,
orest and Lincolnshire
When the King died in 1509, Dudley was
imprisoned and charged with the crime
of constructive treason
Dudley was executed
on the 17th of August
1510
Court of Star Chamber
In the whole of Henry's reign he
only made 1 person an Earl, unlike
Edward IV's 9
Order of the Garter
Was a title
Henry did not have to pay anything
so gained loyalty without a
financial loss