What Did Henry Viii Do To Establish His Rule On Secure Footing?

What did Henry VIII do to establish his rule on secure footing?

With the Tudor dynasty formed on a reign that began through war; there were always difficulties between the Tudors and others rivalling for the throne.

However although Henry VIII was wary of powerful English noblemen, during his reign added Imperial concepts of Kingship to existing Feudal concepts and substantially decreased the power of the nobles and increased the power of Parliament and the monarchy. English noblemen were no longer allowed to build privately owned castles which were built as power bases and strongholds to threaten the monarchy. English castles in the time of King Henry VIII were built as magnificent and palatial residences of the wealthy, not as fortresses.

To combat any possible threats of invasion and to the throne, from Europe, King Henry VIII created a great chain of coastal fortresses and increased the size of the English navy from just 5 ships at the beginning of his reign to about 60 ships.

According to Raphael Holinshed (died c. 1580) the English chronicler, who compiled the work commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, the number of executions in his reign accounted to 72,000.

Anyone who disobeyed the orders of King Henry VIII were executed for treason. These executions also included every living descendant from the Plantagenet line of English Kings.

His ruthlessness even extended to Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1473-1541) who was the last direct descendant of the Plantagenet line - she was a descendant of King Edward III and 68 years old when she was cruelly executed on the block.