ABSTRACT
That the sixteenth century was a period of fundamental transformation in the
fortunes of the English nobility is one of the most enduring of historical myths.
Were not nobles powerful only in the Middle Ages? And did not the Middle
Ages come to an end in the sixteenth century, defeated by the mortal blows
of the renaissance and reformation? Had not the Wars of the Roses been the
self-defeating last gasp of a warring and factious nobility? Was not the Tudor
century a time of strong government, with determined rulers such as Henry VII
and able ministers such as Thomas Cromwell establishing a ‘new monarchy’
or a ‘revolution in government’ at the expense of the nobility? Was there not
a ‘crisis of the aristocracy’? Were not nobles now reduced to the status of
ornaments of an enhanced royal court while the Tudors relied on new men,
drawn from social categories below the nobility, to rule the localities? Were not
all these changes a ‘good thing’, since the nobility were obviously self-seeking
while kings were the fathers of their people, ruling not for themselves but for
the good of all?
