Steven Gunn’s Henry VII’s New Men and the Making of Tudor England shows that the mechanism that gave rise to men of “simple birth” (in Perkin Warbeck’s words) was, to some degree, set in place by the Lancastrian-Yorkist struggle in the final phases of the War of the Roses. Of the group of new men examined in Gunn’s book, some were of noble birth, though many were not considered to be high born enough to have risen to the most important offices of the realm. Gunn focuses on the careers of Reynold Bray, Richard Empson, Edmund Dudley, John Hussey, Thomas Lovell, Henry Marney, and Henry Wyatt, among others; those with Yorkist connections included Thomas Brandon, Robert Southwell, and Edward Poynings.

Whether they were traditional Yorkists or not, Henry VII’s new men had much in common. Working under a king who was deeply personal and increasingly tyrannical and paranoid, the new men were ambitious. Their devotion to the king, their versatility within and beyond their offices, and their extensive networks of patronage and clientage were well suited to Henry VII’s court; the king developed a reputation of favoring men who were more likely to remain loyal to him than the nobility, even when their personal interests did not always align with his agendas. The new men’s attachment to Henry VII was perceived to be more personal at some levels precisely because many of them were not of noble blood. They fashioned themselves after the king in many ways: they imitated the way he dressed and incorporated Lancastrian markers into their heraldic banners and even their personal portraits; their personal identities were, in some cases, more bound up with the king’s ancestry than with their own histories. Some of the men had early ties in the royal household. Lovell, Brandon, and Hussey worked in various capacities in the king’s privy chamber. Others played roles in the ceremonial duties of the court, such as the arranging of royal christenings and funerals; and yet others were engaged in important diplomatic and military work.

Gunn’s book is an immensely detailed study of how exactly the new men came into power, how they remained in power, and how they perceived and used that power to their advantage. Their involvement in just about every aspect of governance cannot be underestimated. Gunn attributes their success to their training at the Inns of Court and their versatility in using that knowledge to effectively and efficiently impose the king’s will. They were placed in positions and offices that ensured their practical functions: many served as speakers of Parliament; Lovell, Poynings, Guildford, and Hussey all held offices as treasurer and comptroller, and Wyatt was clerk of the king’s jewels at one point. Together with their positions in Parliament, the judicial tribunal, and their stewardship and wardship roles, the new men oversaw the management of vast sums of money in the king’s household and the Exchequer. Even so, the new men were acutely aware that they would not be entitled to receiving substantial land grants for their services from a king who was bent on accumulating and maintaining direct control over Crown estate. As they exploited and extorted in the name of the king to build their land holdings and patronage networks, their debts mounted accordingly.

The end of Henry VII’s reign disrupted the new men’s ambitions to some degree though not completely. Besides Empson and Dudley, who were charged with treason and beheaded, the other new men continued to serve Henry VIII through the Protestant Reformation. Dudley’s Tree of Commonwealth, written while he was in the Tower, is especially significant; it provides readers with a firsthand account of his perceptions of English kingship and, more importantly, his perception of his role in it. Gunn covers Tree of Commonwealth briefly in the opening section of his book; his observations of Dudley’s work anticipate the complex views of the new men in the Tudor era. These views shaped and challenged political, cultural, and social expectations that were often interpreted in different ways by the different strata of early modern English society. Gunn’s thorough study of the new men is an indispensable source for early modern scholars who are keen on examining the characteristic tensions between monarch and council, and the nobility and the commons in Tudor governance.