As devastating as the Wars of the Roses had been for England (and would continue to be) for their family lines, there were still promising avenues and opportunities as well. There was relief that the 'hard-headed Richard III' was gone, and a general desire for more stable conditions that could prevail again, despite the intermittent problems. Mackie says, "... any rule which promised peaceful order would be generally accepted." The failures of the local baronies depleted in the wars, and the weakness of the church to resolve anything (but what a king could want), also made the monarchy the logical place for people to turn to, and place their hopes.
One statistic that Mackie tells, is that there were only eighteen of the old nobles that were sworn in by Henry VII's first parliament, and several of these ended before the end of his reign.* From this point, Mackie's narrative turns from what the King did to How did these barons interact and need to interact with this new monarch. The overall story shifts here, from monarch to noble spheres and then spirals from the inner to the outer rims of the noble's periphery. Power spread out from the center, from the monarch, to the noble, to the church and clergy, to the burghers and merchants, and to the peasant. Just like their world-view.
While the Wars raged, the locals could go on about their local affairs and, families could be tended, if they would, despite the military extractions from time to time. Locally,
"... the lord could sway the law in his own interest. Maintenance, the supporting of a magnate's dependents in courts of law, was common; courts were venal, royal officers were terrorized or bribed. But it is necessary to distinguish between the influence improperly enjoyed by the over-mighty subject, which would vanish with the might which gave it birth, and the legitimate authority of a baronial court." [p. 14]Monarchy gave nobility birth and could take it away. But so could a court of peers. Justice was found locally based on feudal custom, and in local criminal courts with and without a noble's oversight. These had grown weaker through the Wars. But the King's courts sat in Westminster year-round processing cases and publishing them in the Year Book. Law across England was mostly the King's law. But most of the 'law' that a local lord might exert on a populace was "... illegal and rested solely upon his possession of actual power." [p.15] A new monarch found that amidst the widespread interpretations that had been handed down locally from age-old feudal law, after all the changes, a King could establish a Royal law that could be far more effective, and popular.
The very important ability to raise an army lay on baronial heads. But here too, only a few could pay the wages necessary, or arm them. Armor was not as common as popular stories tell, even for great lords. The baronial castle built in the previous two or three centuries was now subject to new artillery. A new security from this threat was not yet available. And already the wars had depleted their coffers in more ways than one. Wars were not profitable then, and wars did not make estates more profitable or able to produce more goods.
The incomes that nobles might expect from land rents were fixed, while prices for goods rose. Nobles hired people to spread merchandise. That was a task below their traditional station. But these English liked their wares and their merchandising, according to reports sent back to Venice in Henry's day. [p.16] Great families, for instance, liked to hold big feasts. They also liked to collect books. Mackie details some of a wealthy earl's Household Expenditures. A house with 166 servants and a yearly cost of £933. This Mackie calculates was one-fifteenth of the Royal household. This earl died at the young age of 49 in 1527, with £13 to his name and £17,000 in debt. This earl liked books, poetry, & hired a storyteller to produce a "... metrical 'Chronicle of the Family of Percy'." [p.17]
But mostly, if a noble needed money, and there was always a need for money, if the king had it and gave it to you, you were now in his service and in his effective employment. No longer a potential rival. This was an important bond. Thomas More (Mackie quotes him), knew it was a time when you didn't know who your friends were and who the enemy. [p.18] Italian chroniclers and Titian, Mackie says, saw a young man with 'no illusions'. [p.19]
Titian made some cute pictures. Hate them. Especially this one.
Portrait of a Young Man (The young Englishman). #art pic.twitter.com/Pk3sGu9rJA
— Preserved dreams (@vantuz_subhuman) May 1, 2013
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* from Mackie's footnote "A.F. Pollard, The Reign of Henry VIII iii, app. ii for the diminution of the old families."
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notes and pagination from JD Mackie: The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 Oxford, UK 1957
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