Henry
also required recognizances from men of all classes, including
clergy, captains of royal castles, and receivers of land. The
higher nobility now consisted of about twenty families. The heavy
fines by the Star Court put an end to conspiracies to defraud,
champerty [an agreement with a litigant to pay costs of litigation
for a share in the damages awarded], livery, and maintenance. The
ties between the nobility and the Justices of the Peace had
encouraged corruption of justice. So Henry appointed many of the
lesser gentry and attorneys as Justices of the Peace. Also he
appointed a few of his councilors as non-resident Justices of the
Peace. There were a total of about thirty Justices of the Peace
per county. Their appointments were indefinite and most remained
until retirement or death. Henry instituted the Yeomen of the
Guard to be his personal bodyguards night and day.
Many bills of attainder caused lords to lose their land to the
King. Most of these lords had been chronic disturbers of the
peace. Henry required retainers to be licensed, which system
lasted until about 1600. Henry was also known to exhaust the
resources of barons he suspected of disloyalty by accepting their
hospitality for himself and his household for an extended period
of time.
Henry built up royal funds by using every available procedure of
government to get money, by maximizing income from royal estates
by transferring authority over them from the Exchequer to
knowledgeable receivers, and from forfeitures of land and property
due to attainders of treason.
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