Faction

One major cause of political crisis in the mid-Tudor period was faction. These groups of people fought each other for favour, and didn't always support the monarchy. This was a constant threat to the Tudors, as factions that became too powerful had influence over the way the country was ruled, and could even attempt to overthrow the monarchy. One example of political infighting was in 1536, with the Boleyn and Seymour factions. The Boleyns fought to keep Anne on the throne, while the Seymours wanted Jane to replace her. Such strong rivalry caused some political instability, and could arguably have led to revolts, as supporters of each side fought for power.

However, faction was no more of a problem for the Tudors than any other monarchs, and so arguably made little difference to the existence of a political crisis. It has also been suggested that factional disputes were only a problem because of religious divides caused by the reformation. For example, the Boleyn faction were Protestant, while the Seymours were Catholic. It is possible that had these religious differences not existed, factions would not have been such a problem for the Tudors.