It may perhaps seem strange that the Tudors, with their special genius for centralization and conciliar government, had not yet succeeded in rendering the condition of the north more satisfactory, when its administration lay so completely in their own hands. But the ever-threatening danger of a raid from the Scots, coupled with the bitter feuds of the local baronage, tended so far to disorganize the region that the problem of the north had remained unsolved. The attempt of Wolsey to reform the government of the Border Counties had consisted in a thorough rehabilitation of the old Council of the Marches. He replaced the ill-defined, loosely-constructed body which had hitherto done service by a secret, permanent organization, composed principally of northern gentlemen, but still entirely dependent on the Privy Council. His reluctance to grant the local organ a sufficient degree of autonomy was the cause of the failure of his plan. The renovated Council of the Marches was forced to confess itself incompetent to deal with even the simplest problems which presented themselves for solution, and the old unsatisfactory state of affairs continued with little change, until after the Pilgrimage of Grace. The problem of the reorganization of the north was now vigorously attacked by Henry and Cromwell during the absence of Norfolk. The question which presented itself after the suppression of the revolt was whether it would be better to create an entirely new form of government for the north, or to reconstruct, readapt, and strengthen the old. The principle of control by a permanent local council, first definitely established by Wolsey, was essentially characteristic of the Tudor policy, and Henry and Cromwell saw no reason to depart from it. It had been one of the chief sources of the strength of their rule, that though they never shrank from any change, however radical, which the demands of a royal despotism in Church and State rendered necessary, they carefully avoided any gratuitous innovations which they knew would be unwelcome to the people at large. An entirely fresh organization of the north would have been exceedingly unpopular, especially in that most conservative portion of England: it was far less obnoxious, and equally effective, to infuse new life into the old régime, by granting the Council of the Marches a sufficient degree of independence, and above all by changing its composition. The problem was in many respects similar to that with which Cromwell had been confronted in connexion with the election of bishops. No radical innovation was needed in either case; the _status quo_, when fortified by official sanction, was perfectly satisfactory, save for a few trifling readaptations. It was on this basis accordingly, that Henry and Cromwell resolved to reconstruct the government of the Border Counties. The old forms were retained though under different names. The jurisdiction of the Council of the North (merely a new