Duke of northumberland

when in power

1549 - 1553

other names

john dudley, viscount lisle, earl of warwick

titles before becoming lord president

position of master of the horse to anne of cleves, made a name for himself fighting the scots and the french in the 1540s, son of edmund dudley (who was executed)

how did northumberland distinguish himself

calls himself lord president, somerset called himself lord protector

approach to government

enlarges privy council to 33, governed through the authority of the privy council, staffed kings council with his own men so he could control access to the king

edward becoming more influential

from 1551 starts attending some privy council meetings, from 1552 attends all

edward age of maturity

in 1552 recognise that instead of 18, edward will become king at 16, age of maturity brought forward

northumberland's problems

bad relations with france and scotland, huge economic problems, pressure from protestants, social order messy

May 1551 coinage

debased for the last time

money gained from debasement

£114,000

money borrowed from continental bankers

£243,000

march 1552 coinage

silver content restored, slowed rise in inflation

privy coffer

established, contingency fund

1553 financial situation

stablilised

crown lands sold

£140,000 worth of crown lands sold to replace revenue taxes

Treaty of Boulogne 1550

peace with france, england withdraws from boulogne, perpetual defensive alliance between england and france

money gained from releasing boulogne

400,000 crowns

relations with scotland

had to remove their remaining garrisons from scotland and agreed not to renew the war unless provoked by the scots under treaty of boulogne

national view of treaty of boulogne

seen as humiliating and a national disgrace

trade with france

resumed

englands international position

weak, lack of money forced northumberland to reduce the size of the army and the navy

social order problems inherited

rebellions in 1549, vagrancy, people out of work, enclosure commission got peoples hopes up, bad harvests