Henry V Extract 4 Analysis

Both extract 3 and extract 4 describe Henry’s finances and his attitude towards them, despite the difference in detail within both. Extract 3 is more descriptive in its wording, whilst extract 4 focuses more heavily on statistics and fact. Despite this, extract 3 is a more convincing interpretation of Henry VII’s attitude to finance as it presents more of an idea about Henry’s personal attitude to finance than extract 4, which is more impersonal.
Extract 3 shows Henry’s desire to have personal control over his finances, especially in the line “most of [his treasure of state] in secret places under his own key and keeping.” This reflects the evidence that Henry was incredibly meticulous about personally appointing each member of the chamber upon its reinstatement in 1487. This, along with the fact he

personally signed off each page of financial accounts (likely in order to remind Sir Thomas Lovell and Sir John Heron, the two treasurers of the chamber throughout Henry’s reign, that he was checking them and to discourage any deception) shows Henry’s near obsession when it came to the validity and control over his finances.
Whilst focusing strongly on Henry’s personal life, extract three is also useful in its description of Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley, two of Henry’s employees who were closely associated with the increasing ruthlessness of Henry VII’s reign during the 1490’s.

Both were key figures of the Council Learned, especially Empson who eventually chaired it. This Council Learned in Law was established during the second half of Henry’s reign in order to maintain the king’s revenue and to exploit his prerogative rights (the powers a monarch could exercise without the consent of Parliament). However, it became widely disliked due to its abuse of the system of bonds and recognizances, all of which, to paraphrase the historian Thomas Penn, was the cause of ‘fear, frustration and anger’ because of its ability to bypass the legal system. Despite this, Empson and Dudley’s work is described as “more to be marvelled at,” which presents the idea that Henry only employed the best and most successful financial minds in order to make as much money as possible. This demonstrates quite clearly Henry’s personal desire to improve royal finances, even at the cost of appearing

tyrannical.
Although helpful in some aspects, extract 3 is weak in others as it provides a weak estimate of just how much wealth Henry VII had actually amounted by the end of his reign. Described as “near eighteen hundred thousand pounds sterling” and as a “mass of treasure,” the extract is neither specific nor explicit in its information. It is also likely exaggerated when described as a “huge mass of money even for those times” as it only took Henry VIII two years at war with France to exhaust this inheritance. This therefore does not allow an exact interpretation of Henry’s attitudes towards finance to be formed. Despite this, extract 3 is still incredibly informative in other areas.