5: James' And Charles' Relations With Parliament Flashcards
1604-1611 Parliament
Main issue discussed here was James’ proposed unification act that would create Great Britain - PN opposes this because of the fear that James could gain influence in the event of new laws being drawn up.
1614 Parliament
‘Addled’ Parliament - only lasted for 8 weeks, dissolved as no legislation could be passed
James alienated Parliament with his financial reforms, and this was still a fiercely criticised move even in 1614. Monopolies were also a debated issue
Why couldn’t the commons trust James in Parliaments following 1611?
His extravagance gave off the impression that he couldn’t be trusted with money granted by Parliament
Why was Parliament suspicious of James in terms of religion?
There was worry that James was too heavily influenced by Catholics, as his mother was a Catholic and he tried to get his son married to a catholic.
He also failed to pursue Catholics following the Gunpowder Plot which could be seen as a sign of weakness towards them
1621 Parliament
James tried to use this Parliament to threaten Spain into agreeing to the Spanish Match. He did this by telling Parliament he wanted war with Spain. This was coupled by James lowering recusancy payments on Catholics between 1621-23 to move towards the Spanish Match. The largely Puritan Parliament was obviously suspicious of this. When Parliament was too eager to genuinely start war with Spain, James dissolved the Parliament, claiming that foreign policy was his royal prerogative and that he would never call another Parliament again.
Why was lowering recusancy payments a source of tension with Parliament in 1621?
Parliament wanted to go the other way and pursue them to a greater extreme. James’ desire to improve relations with Spain became obvious to all.
Charles’ PRE-ALIENATION
Before even taking the throne, Charles promised Louis XIII he would lift restrictions on Catholics in England
Why was the 1604-1611 parliament dissolved?
Failure of the Great Contract
Foreign Policy Failure - Cadiz 1625
Suggest-ably as a result of not being granted tonnage and poundage for life in 1625, Charles (keen on war with Spain anyway) decided to organise a raid on the Spanish port of Cadiz to try and steal gold and become more financially independent. This failed arguably thanks to Buckingham’s poor leadership as well as a lack of funds granted from Parliament. Charles blamed Parliament while Parliament blamed Buckingham
1626 Parliament
Critics of Charles in the 1625 Parliament such as Sir Edward Coke were silenced by by being made sheriffs. This meant they couldn’t sit in Parliament.
Charles also got William Laud to preach the opening sermon, which was clearly a despotic action to take and outright aggressive.
Parliament tried to impeach Buckingham, and there is much alienation when Charles imposes his forced loan
Forced Loan of 1626
In 1626, Charles imposed a forced loan as a means of gaining financial independence and to fund future foreign policy interventions such as La Rochelle
Backlash of the Forced Loan
Five high profile disputers were arrested for not paying the false loan. This was known as the ‘Five Knights Case’ in which Charles falsified evidence. The protestors were eventually released after a short time and helped to subsequently draw up the Petition of Rights
1628/29 Parliament
In this Parliament there was much backlash against Charles for the Five Knights Case. The Petition of Rights stated that Parliament retained the right to grant Charles money, and Charles accepted this out of desperation for funds (needed 5 subsidies). Other issues were Billeting, which was seen as despotic as well as Charles STILL collecting tonnage and poundage.
La Rochelle, foreign policy failure 1627
Charles wanted war with Spain and believed he had an alliance with France through his marriage to Henrietta Maria, however France made a secret peace with Spain, prompting Charles to help out the French Huguenots, a minority group of Protestants in France who had taken La Rochelle and were fighting against Louis XIII’s forces. Buckingham leads thousands of men to Saint-Martin de Ré, where they become isolated and huge numbers die (including of starvation) making Charles look silly and Buckingham even more unpopular
Why was the 1628/29 Parliament called?
Because Buckingham wanted to try again at La Rochelle
