The reform of the Privy Council was not something that happened in a few years, it took until 1603. It was finished under Lord Burleigh. (Guy)
Cromwell would make decisions on the basis of conversations held informally at court. It was not a bureaucracy in the modern sense of the word. (Guy)
The historical debate is about whether he reformed the Privy Council. There is no denying that the numbers were reduced dramatically to 19.
The tightening of the system meant that the Star Chamber was free to dedicate itself to legal matters alone.
He did have a role in drawing up agendas for meetings, which demonstrates that he did have some political clout.
The theory of Elton's revolution is in the nature of the Privy Chamber under Cromwell.
Elton's theory is that Cromwell took the jobs of the Household and split them into departments, which were smaller and more specialised.
Each councillor would be given a specific job and a clerk to record their decisions.
It is Elton's theory that Cromwell had a master plan.
The speed at which events happened at court in the 1530s meant Henry's closest advisors naturally retreat to the more privy apartments of the King. (Guy)
Starkey argues that the idea of a Privy Council was in line with what the nobility opposed to what Cromwell wanted.
Cromwell always had control over the council.
Changes in government were more pragmatic than revolutionary. (Lotherington)
Ability to tax efficiently is a valid index of the strength of a modern political regime. (Guy)
The system under Henry was so efficient that it remained the system for centuries. Much of this due to the work done under Henry VII and Wolsey. (Guy)
Cromwell developed the idea of a subsidy. Subsidy Act was in 1534 justified taxation on grounds of peace as well as war.
The Privy Purse became the King's coffer. A bureaucratic system of acquiring and recording income and expenses.
Parliamentary Taxes = £45 000
Clerical tax = £406 000 in 1535 and 1540.
Dissolution was when the big money came in! £1.3 million Aug. 1536. (Guy)
The gross receipts from land sales were £8,000,000. Gold and silver plate and jewels from churches came to £79,500. (Guy)
Land sales brought in £82 000 pa after 1539. There was also money from rents. (Guy).
Henry wanted to spend all of his new money on a war chest. Cromwell wanted to set up a permanent land endowment for the imperial crown.
Henry made him 'Vice Regent in Spirituals'. This gave him the authority to inspect the conditions of the monasteries.
He implemented a number of small, but significant changes in the church such as teach children the Lord's Prayer
He banned the use of idols and pilgrimages
Restricted the burning of candles for the dead,
Said that an English translation of the Bible had to be placed in every parish.
Part played in the break with Rome was to make legislation out of Cranmer's ideas. (Guy)
He also enforced the royal supremacy with the oaths and the extension of the treason laws.
The Lincolnshire rebels referred to him as an upstart and they wanted him removed from court and council.
Cromwell personally wanted to do away with monastic life altogether. (Lotherington)
The fear of invasion in July 1538 brought about the dissolution of the greater monasteries.
He masterminded the Cleves marriage.
He tried to secure an alliance with the German states.
At the beginning of 1540 it did not look like he had fallen out of the king's favour, as he had recently been made Earl of Essex.
The conservatives led by Howard wanted rid of Cromwell and his reforming ideas for the church.
No sooner was he out of the picture, the Six Articles are passed, reversing some of the changes in church from the 1530s.
It was said in the official explanation of his fall that he was promoting Lutheran ideas too strongly.
He was arrested in June 1540 and by July he was dead.
Condemned unheard under Act of Attainder on charges of High Treason that were clearly absurd. (AGR Smith)
Gardiner and Norfolk had managed to poison the King's mind against him. (AGR Smith)
Outnumbered at council. A victim of faction. The conservatives were in ascendancy.
Cromwell's enemies at court made use of the failed Cleves marriage
The Duke of Norfolk used his niece, Catherine Howard, to gain influence with Henry again
Catherine H was encouraged to spread rumours about Cromwell at court
Norfolk accused Cromwell of protecting a group of extreme Protestants in Calais - to drive a wedge between Cromwell and Henry
Norfolk conversed with the King of France in 1540
Norfolk and the King of France discussed the fall of Cromwell and a restart of war between France and the Holy Roman Empire
Cromwell could make religious decisions on behalf of the King because of his appointment as vicegerent in spirituals in 1535
Cromwell's Protestant ideas were too radical for Henry
Henry was influenced by religious conservatives eg Steven Gardiner
Lambert's death was followed by a royal proclamation against heretics and showed Henry's more conservative views on religion
The Act of Six Articles which reinforced Catholic ideas eg transubstantiation
Cromwell arranged the Anne of Cleves marriage. Henry thought Cleves ugly and blamed Cromwell for the marriage's failure
Anne of Cleves marriage weakened Henry's relationship with Cromwell
Henry disliked Cromwell's extreme protestant reformist policies
Hapsburg-Valois conflict ended the need for a Protestant alliance
Numerous marriages displeased the Pope
Pope excommunicated Henry in 1538
