Suppose that when Henry VIII tries to start the English reformation and in 1528 combines the Act of Supremacy WITH the dissolution of the monasteries, seven noblemen (6 of which are Earls or countesses) march in their personal armies and seize control of London... with Henry VIII inside it. They declare that Henry VIII had gone mad like his cousin Henry VI (7th cousins 3rd removed?), and therefore a regency council is needed. Who is the council? They are, because by some insane troll logic parliament had poisoned the monarch's mind, and start restricting parliamentary power. They declare any decision made by 6 of them to be the same as Henry VIII's royal wits.
A counter force tries to restore order. Three earls in Southern England, none of which have land connections to each other, try to march on London, but the coup forces stop them. They are stripped of their lands. 3/4 of it is entered into the royal demesne while some of the rest goes to 2nd/3rd/4th sons of some noblemen or daughters/sisters of noblemen who have brothers (in other words these people don't inherit the primary family lands normally). It's a complete coincidence all those who are given new lands are brothers/ sons/ daughters/ daughter-in-laws/ 1st cousins/ 2nd cousins of the seven on the regency council, they were just chosen nobles who didn't follow rebels. It's also a complete coincidence that these men on the council seem to be getting richer.
The next order of business is the undoing of the dissolution of the monasteries. 7/8 of the lands are resorted and the rest somehow finds its way into the family members of the regency council, but that's not embezzling officially they are merely trying to safeguard themselves from rebels since the monks themselves proved powerless to stop them.
The council them allows anyone to see the King and reassure everyone that Henry VIII is being treated properly and not tortured or poisoned or something. His family choses the food, not them. Of course, this is a constant source of instability since any would be counter coup forces (loyalists? Would they be called loyalists?)
The regency council works on balancing the budget. Henry VII worked the treasury out of the red and in the last decade was simply grabbing wealth for the sake of greed (they were out of debt by that point). Henry VIII proceeded to squander almost all of it, and most of the money didn't even go to the navy. They trim 70% of the annual royal expenses from... somewhere. Wherever it was going before. So the treasury is now running a surplus even with the oddly inflated salaries of the regency council.
The council puts down a counter rebellion in 1530 and 1535. The last one was a real scare since the rebellion outnumbered the council's forces 3 to 1 and the rebels only lost by trying to storm fortifications head on instead of... leaving being a small number to siege and most of the army going AROUND. Thomas Cranmer burns at the stake when the council realizes he coordinated the third counter rebellion and was trying to kickstart the English reformation.
After seven years of being under house arrest, but otherwise being treated well, Henry VIII really does start to go mad. he starts showing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. To the untrained 1530s eye, the first sign is that he becomes really, really, really, forgetful, before actually going mad. The council then tells Catherine of Aragon something along the lines of "see, he really was mad. Didn't you think something was wrong when he asked for a divorce when you were faithful." The Queen consort signs several papers, retroactively legitimizing the coup.
The eight now try to talk about stabilizing England and what to do with Mary's marriage. The seven say "we prefer a local noble, but as her mother we will allow you a wide degree of latitude in choosing, as long as it's not Castilian or French. We don't like Phillip because (inert some trivial unimportant reason here that has more to do with Phillip than Castile)"
What's next? A fourth counter-revolt?
A counter force tries to restore order. Three earls in Southern England, none of which have land connections to each other, try to march on London, but the coup forces stop them. They are stripped of their lands. 3/4 of it is entered into the royal demesne while some of the rest goes to 2nd/3rd/4th sons of some noblemen or daughters/sisters of noblemen who have brothers (in other words these people don't inherit the primary family lands normally). It's a complete coincidence all those who are given new lands are brothers/ sons/ daughters/ daughter-in-laws/ 1st cousins/ 2nd cousins of the seven on the regency council, they were just chosen nobles who didn't follow rebels. It's also a complete coincidence that these men on the council seem to be getting richer.
The next order of business is the undoing of the dissolution of the monasteries. 7/8 of the lands are resorted and the rest somehow finds its way into the family members of the regency council, but that's not embezzling officially they are merely trying to safeguard themselves from rebels since the monks themselves proved powerless to stop them.
The council them allows anyone to see the King and reassure everyone that Henry VIII is being treated properly and not tortured or poisoned or something. His family choses the food, not them. Of course, this is a constant source of instability since any would be counter coup forces (loyalists? Would they be called loyalists?)
The regency council works on balancing the budget. Henry VII worked the treasury out of the red and in the last decade was simply grabbing wealth for the sake of greed (they were out of debt by that point). Henry VIII proceeded to squander almost all of it, and most of the money didn't even go to the navy. They trim 70% of the annual royal expenses from... somewhere. Wherever it was going before. So the treasury is now running a surplus even with the oddly inflated salaries of the regency council.
The council puts down a counter rebellion in 1530 and 1535. The last one was a real scare since the rebellion outnumbered the council's forces 3 to 1 and the rebels only lost by trying to storm fortifications head on instead of... leaving being a small number to siege and most of the army going AROUND. Thomas Cranmer burns at the stake when the council realizes he coordinated the third counter rebellion and was trying to kickstart the English reformation.
After seven years of being under house arrest, but otherwise being treated well, Henry VIII really does start to go mad. he starts showing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. To the untrained 1530s eye, the first sign is that he becomes really, really, really, forgetful, before actually going mad. The council then tells Catherine of Aragon something along the lines of "see, he really was mad. Didn't you think something was wrong when he asked for a divorce when you were faithful." The Queen consort signs several papers, retroactively legitimizing the coup.
The eight now try to talk about stabilizing England and what to do with Mary's marriage. The seven say "we prefer a local noble, but as her mother we will allow you a wide degree of latitude in choosing, as long as it's not Castilian or French. We don't like Phillip because (inert some trivial unimportant reason here that has more to do with Phillip than Castile)"
What's next? A fourth counter-revolt?