England's Government in the 1500s: Tudor Constitutional Monarchy

Throughout the 16th century, England was a constitutional monarchy under the Tudor dynasty (Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I). The Crown held vast prerogative powers, but they were exercised within a framework of law, custom, and a increasingly assertive Parliament.

Structure

• Monarch: Head of state, church (post-1534), government. Appointed ministers, judges, bishops. Directed foreign policy, war, patronage.
• Privy Council: Executive core — nobles, bishops, lawyers. Issued proclamations (binding if within prerogative).
• Parliament: Two Houses:
  • House of Lords: Spiritual (archbishops, bishops) + Temporal (hereditary peers). ~50–60 members.
  • House of Commons: Elected by 40-shilling freeholders (counties) + freemen/burgage holders (boroughs). ~300–400 members. Electorate: ~2–3% of adult males.

Powers

• Legislation: Bills required King + Lords + Commons assent. Statute law supreme over common law.
• Taxation: Commons' exclusive right to initiate supply bills. Monarch could not tax without Parliament.
• Impeachment: Commons could impeach ministers (e.g., Thomas Cromwell 1540, though by attainder).
• Church: Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy (1534) made monarch "Supreme Head." Parliament enacted Reformation statutes.

Tudor Management of Parliament

• Managed via Crown servants in Commons (Speaker, Privy Councillors), patronage, "management" of boroughs.
• Parliament met intermittently (Henry VIII: 9 sessions in 38 years; Elizabeth: 10 in 45 years).
• Dissent existed (Puritan "Puritan Choir" in Elizabeth's reign) but suppressed.

Evolution

By 1603, the Tudor system had centralized administration (Star Chamber, Court of Wards), nationalized the church, incorporated Wales (1536/43), and begun Irish conquest. The stage was set for 17th-century constitutional crisis (Stuarts vs. Parliament).