How much of a threat was posed by the nobility? Henry's nobility

Throughout Henry VII's reign he chose men solely on the basis of competence and willingness to serve the Tudor regime. Loyalty and ability were the only criteria of service.

William Stanley, for example; whose intervention at Bosworth had been critical, was initially rewarded for his role, but later, when he communicated with the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, his disloyalty was severely punished, Stanley was convicted of high treason.

Until relatively recently, historians took the line that Henry VII did not have much of a nobility to deal with. Many contemporaries said that the Wars of the Roses had more or less wiped out the ancient nobility. More recently it had been asserted that during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries it was normal for the nobility to lose a number of families from it's rank. 25% every 25 years. Were the nobilities all that powerful?

Subtly, Henry worked at decreasing the number of nobility.  Henry controlled the size and power or the nobility by limiting the number of new Lords. Henry, through his whole reign, only created one new earl, whereas Edward IV created nine! And 5 Barons (Edward created 13!) 

Peers dropped from 50 to 35 as more nobles died out than titles created. But the key point is that during the reign of Henry VII the lost noble families were quickly replaced by wealthy families previously excluded from the peerage. So it seems that the nobility did retain its position of importance in society. Yet, at the same time, changes within the nobility did occur to Henry's advantage.

The reduction in number of nobles:

No. of peers at the Start of reign:

Edward IV: 42

Henry VII: 50

No. of peers at the End of reign.

Edward IV: 46

Henry VII: 35

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No. of major peers (Dukes, earls etc) at the Start of reign:

Edward IV: 7

Henry VII: 16

No. of major peers (Dukes, earls etc) at the End of reign:

Edward IV: 12

Henry VII: 10

It is clearly displayed that nobility remained largely intact, but subtly reduced in power. Most significant, perhaps is the reduction of over-mighty magnates (nobles who combined the lands and inheritances of several major families)  Although such nobles still did exist (for example, the Stafford dukes of Buckingham and the Percy earls of Northumberland). There was no one to compare with the dukes of Clarence and Gloucester under Edward IV. In this Henry was fortunate.  

Nevertheless, it was vital for Henry to both sustain and control the nobility's authority if he was to survive

Task: Describe the threat posed by the Nobility to Henry's position.