The royal power extended to a large extent because the changes made by Henry VII during his reign strengthened the monarch. Henry claimed that the King in Parliament had superior authority over the Church and he brought in huge changes to the system in parliament even though he had to work with them. Furthermore, Henry VIII appointed Justice of Peace and the Nobility to fulfill new responsibility and to consolidate the royal power across England.The Royal power increased in the years 1536-1553 because it had Royal supremacy over the Church.
The king was now responsible for the souls of his subjects as well as their bodies. By the middle of 1536 the process of dissolution was carried out by the government and this wealth of the Church was used to improve Royal finances but he also began to sell of Church lands to the gentry and nobility. The King followed a set of injunctions in 1536 and encouraged the dismantling of statues and shrines.In addition he ordered the English translation of the Bible and in 1538 ordered that a copy should be placed in every parish Church. These measures reflect a Protestant theology and in the long run significantly change the nature of practice in religion.
However, even though Royal power increased to a large extent over Churches in some areas reform continued and people followed the Old Catholic ‘law of God’. Overall, the royal supremacy of the Church was established and widely accepted.Henry had direct control of government and the Kings power was at its strongest when he exercised it as King of parliament. However this power was distributed in a variety of formal and informal ways and according to Elton, Cromwell “began to overhaul the administrative machinery to make it more efficient and more institutionally independent”.
The parliament was called to suit the Kings purposes, mainly law and taxes, sometimes trials and attainders. The privy chamber included a secretary to whom the King could delegate whatever task he chose to.Alongside to this, there were three main components of government administration: The court of Chancery was a writing office which recorded the Kings decision and sent out his instruction in writing as legal writs and the second component is the Royal office holder which was appointed by the King and in charge of day to day management of various government departments. Finally the third component was the Royal Council which main role was to advice the King but the Councilor had many other duties. Therefore, this shows that the Kings royal power expanded through his administration.
An act of parliament allowed the Crown to resume control of Liberties and Franchise; also the future crown could appoint judges and justices. As a result it was extended through the Kingdom when jud1qges were sent on circuit to conduct County Assizes and were supported by the Justice of Peace. The JPs were supervised but the council which compiled lists for each county of those granted the Kings commission also it dealt with local administration and crime with more serious offences were transferred to assize.Furthermore, the cooperation of the nobility and the gentry was essential in enforcing royal authority across the Kingdom. Therefore, Henry VIII was determined to demonstrate that the route to power and privilege lay in the service to the King and obedience to his will.
As a result Henry VIII awarded families such as Stanley who had supported him at Bosworth to become Earls of Berby and be a prominent family in Lancashire and Cheshire. On the whole, this shows that the government interference in local affairs in increasing within the community.Cromwell reorganized and greatly improved financial administration making it firm and stable for the government. He found vast source of income from lands and revenues of churches which met the government financial needs. The ten years following the first closure of the abbeys brought the Crown over a million pounds of new income. Some lands were sold or granted for political reason allowing revenues to be endowed onto schools colleges and to pay dept.
However, Henrys war against France cost over two million pounds and authorized a serious of debasement of the coinage.
