How Successful Was Henry Vii in Dealing with Challenges to His Royal Authority?
How successful was Henry VII in dealing with the challenges to his royal authority in the years 1485 to 1509? (24 marks)
To some extent Henry VII was successful in dealing with the challenges to his royal authority in the years 1485 to 1509. However, there were also limitations to this success. This essay will evaluate Henry’s actions, meaning that a conclusion can be drawn on how effective they in fact were.
One challenge to Henry’s royal authority during the years of 1485 to 1509 was the Lambert Simnel Rebellion. There is evidence that Henry did deal with this threat well. Firstly, he and his army managed to put the rebellion down before it reached London, which would have been a success for him as London is where the rebellion had the most potential to become a serious threat to Henry and his position on the throne. Also, as London is where the rebellion was aiming to get to, stopping it from progressing this far meant that the rebellion was defeated before it had a chance to fulfil its intentions. Furthermore, despite the rebellion occurring only two years after Henry became King, throughout it he retained the support of many nobles. If a number of nobles had switched sides and supported the rebellion, it would have increased the likelihood of it being a success and would have been harder for Henry to defeat. So by keeping these powerful people on side, it meant that the severity of this particular challenge was limited. Additionally, the rebellion only lasted for roughly a year. This is evidence to suggest that Henry dealt with it well as it is not a significantly long amount of time, so he did relatively well at defeating it. However, there is also evidence that opposes this and suggests that Henry was not so successful in dealing with the Simnel rebellion. Firstly, Simnel gained a large amount of support in Ireland (including the support of many Irish nobles) and was even crowned in Dublin. This shows the rebellion was to extent successful as gaining
To some extent Henry VII was successful in dealing with the challenges to his royal authority in the years 1485 to 1509. However, there were also limitations to this success. This essay will evaluate Henry’s actions, meaning that a conclusion can be drawn on how effective they in fact were.
One challenge to Henry’s royal authority during the years of 1485 to 1509 was the Lambert Simnel Rebellion. There is evidence that Henry did deal with this threat well. Firstly, he and his army managed to put the rebellion down before it reached London, which would have been a success for him as London is where the rebellion had the most potential to become a serious threat to Henry and his position on the throne. Also, as London is where the rebellion was aiming to get to, stopping it from progressing this far meant that the rebellion was defeated before it had a chance to fulfil its intentions. Furthermore, despite the rebellion occurring only two years after Henry became King, throughout it he retained the support of many nobles. If a number of nobles had switched sides and supported the rebellion, it would have increased the likelihood of it being a success and would have been harder for Henry to defeat. So by keeping these powerful people on side, it meant that the severity of this particular challenge was limited. Additionally, the rebellion only lasted for roughly a year. This is evidence to suggest that Henry dealt with it well as it is not a significantly long amount of time, so he did relatively well at defeating it. However, there is also evidence that opposes this and suggests that Henry was not so successful in dealing with the Simnel rebellion. Firstly, Simnel gained a large amount of support in Ireland (including the support of many Irish nobles) and was even crowned in Dublin. This shows the rebellion was to extent successful as gaining