Gaining Influence in 16th-Century England: Courtiers Held More Power than MPs

Today, in 21st-century England, anyone with political ambitions has to first become an MP. Only then can one reach the pinnacle of power or around it. But things were different in Henry VIII's reign in 1516. The positions of the most prestigious and powerful men in the royal court and around the king were considered the most humiliating. Because they had to do everything for the king, which is basically the work of a low-level employee of the royal chamber. Historian Dr. Edward Dutton, according to the report of HistoryExtra, believes that in the autocratic England of the Tudor period, then the royal court was not the first place for people with political ambitions. Then the first step to gain real influence was to become a courtier in the eyes of the king or prince. Through the right contacts, people were able to enter the royal court somehow. Sometimes the first entry into the court was by becoming a "Knight of the Shire," i.e. instead of a "courtier."