Ch 5 Relations & Disputes w/ Parliament 1604-29 Flashcards
What did James I say @ the start of his speech to Parliament in March 1610?
- “the state of the monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth”
- “for kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, & sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods”
What did James I touch upon @ the end of his speech to Parliament in March 1610?
-touched upon how Parliament was a key element in how he governed
What is Parliamentary Privilege?
- a legal immunity enjoyed by members of Parliament that allows them to speak freely during proceedings without fear of legal action, such as being arrested for raising controversial questions or debates
- enables Parliament to function effectively as a legislative body to the monarch
What year could MPs legitimately regard their parliamentary privileges as theirs by right?
-1603
What are the 4 Parliamentary Privileges?
- free access to the monarch & House of Lords to convey their opinions
- the right to correct mistakes/misunderstandings that might prejudice the Commons
- freedom from arrest while Parliament is sitting (& 20 days after dissolution)
- freedom of speech, w/ limits sufficiently vague to leave scope for dispute
What was the problem w/ Britain having an unwritten constitution?
-no written constitution meant the balance between monarch’s prerogative & parliamentary privilege was always a matter of interpretation & so a possible source of conflict
Buckinghamshire Election 1604 - why was the election of Francis Goodwin annulled? Who by? Who took his place?
- election of Francis Goodwin as MP for Buckinghamshire was annulled by the Court of Chancery on grounds that he was an outlaw because of fact he had outstanding summons for debt
- in the 2nd election, John Fortescue (a privy councillor) was returned in Goodwin’s place
- many saw this replacement as a ‘royal interference’
- after hearing Goodwin’s case & determining he had not been illegally outlawed, the Commons voted to reinstate him
What was James’ problem with the Commons reinstating Goodwin in the Buckinghamshire election (1604)?
- James believed that the Commons were acting illegally in allowing an outlaw to sit as an MP
- he asked them to confer w/ the House of Lords to get legal advice
How did James I make the Buckinghamshire election (1604) worse?
- made situation worse by not restricting the debate to narrow legal limits; instead choosing to raise wider constitutional issues by telling the Commons that “they derived all matters of privilege from him & by his grant” & that all disputed elections ought to be decided by the Court of Chancery, not the Commons
- by stressing the right of his Court of Chancery, where disputes could be settled on the basis of equity (fairness) rather than law, James made the Buckinghamshire election issue a matter of constitutional dispute over the balance between his prerogative & parliamentary privilege
What saved the Buckinghamshire election (1604)?
- once James asserted his defence of prerogative, his pragmatism & desire for the Political Nation to work in harmony brought about a compromise
- he suggested both Goodwin & Fortescue be dismissed & a new election held
- in return for the Commons’ acceptance of this, he acknowledged their claim to be the judge of some election returns
What was Shirley’s Case (1604)?
- MP Thomas Shirley was arrested for debt
- his arrest upset MPs who were keen to establish the parliamentary privilege of freedom from arrest while Parliament was sitting (except in cases of treason, felony or breach of the peace)
- to assert their point, Parliament sent the governor of the Fleet debtors prison (where Shirley had been held) to the Tower of London until Shirley was released
What was ‘The Form of Apology & Satisfaction’?
- a document MPs drew up protesting against James’ handling of all political issues within ch 5 (not all MPs felt same)
- the Commons were more united against the King on issues of Union & finance; dominating the session in 1606
Why did James want to unite England & Scotland?
-unification was part of design for his new kingdom to be secure internally & to have peace w/ Europe
Why was there opposition to ‘Great Britain’?
-concern that the new state would abolish English laws, since the king, as the ‘source of the law’ could rewrite laws of a newly formed kingdom (giving himself more scope to exercise absolute authority)
What did James declare by Royal Proclamation through his prerogative for the unification to ‘Great Britain’?
- his title would ‘King of Great Britain, France & Ireland, Defender of Faith etc’
- a new currency for the united country would be issued; called the ‘unite’
- that all ships were to carry the new Union flag
What was mainly debated in the 3rd session of Parliament opening in Nov 1606?
- debates on the Union (England & Scotland)
- English MPs displayed racial tolerance & economic logic
- historian Pauline Croft = “hostility to the Union proved impossible to overcome… opposing it on religious, legal, economic & political grounds… they also expressed a distaste for the Scots”
- Parliament’s anti-Scottish stance alienated James I from Parliament
What was the final result of the Union 1606?
-in the end, King’s plans for Union collapsed due to parliamentary opposition
What was the reason for the dissolution of James’ 1st Parliament in 1611?
- not conflict on the issue of Union; but the failure to reach a parliamentary solution to the Crown’s financial difficulties
- therefore negotiations over the Great Contract (1610) further alienated James from Parliament
What does the name ‘Addled Parliament’ allude to?
- alludes to the ineffectiveness of the 1614 Parliament
- ‘addled’ = confused
- lasted no more than 8 weeks before James dissolved it
What were the Economic reasons of debate leading to James dissolving the ‘Addled Parliament’ (1614) so quickly?
-finance: failure of Great Contract (1610), death of Robert Cecil & continued selling of Crown lands (which reduced long-term income) put financial pressure on James to call for Parliament for funds; the ability of King to levy impositions remained source of conflict between Crown & Parliament
What was the Crown’s debt in 1614?
-£680,000
What were the Factional reasons of debate leading to James dissolving the ‘Addled Parliament’ (1614) so quickly?
- factional conflict: emergence of competing groups in politics e.g. the Howard faction (group supporting Catholic Spain) & its counterpart the Protestant faction caused political dysfunction
- the Protestant faction called for Parliament (largely anti-Spanish & Catholic) to attack the Howards
What were the Absolutism reasons of debate leading to James dissolving the ‘Addled Parliament’ (1614) so quickly?
- Manipulation of MPs: controversial Crown plans to make deals to ensure parliamentary support for policies was leaked
- Lord Chancellor Bacon proposed idea of ‘undertaking’ = attempt to influence elections through patronage
- made MPs fearful of absolutism, as appeared to be attempts by James, through his courtiers, to manipulate the Parliament in his favour
What were the Personality reasons of debate leading to James dissolving the ‘Addled Parliament’ (1614) so quickly?
-James’ indecisiveness: James appointed no Secretary of State to represent him in the Commons until last minute & then picked the incompetent Ralph Winwood
What was the focus of James’ 1621 Parliament?
- MPs focused on the abuse of monopolies, partly as a means of attacking Buckingham
- monopolies were an issue at this time because England was not trading as well w/ its partners, & monopolies had been singularly exploited by many courtiers as a means of attacking each other
- Buckingham, Edward Coke & Lionel Cranfield encouraged Parliament to impeach their rival, Francis Bacon, over monopolies
- monopolies are therefore an indication that politics of the period were about factional infighting
What was the focus of foreign policy & parliamentary privilege in James’ 1621 Parliament?
- foreign policy = part of monarch’s prerogative & therefore Parliament had no right to discuss it
- became Parliamentary issue however, in 1621 when James implied MPs could discuss it as way to frighten the Spanish into agreeing the ‘Spanish Match’ (marriage between Prince Charles & a Spanish Princess)
- James knew majority of MPs would voice strong anti-Spanish sentiment & call for war; though James was adamant the match could be means of negotiating an end to the Thirty Years War
What was the Thirty Years War (1618-48)? And why was it of interest to James I?
- Protestant Vs Catholics
- Protestants rebelled against Emperor Ferdinand Hasburg (Catholic) & offered the Crown instead to Frederick of the Palatinate who accepted it
- of interest because James I’s daughter Elizabeth was married to Prince Frederick
- James had not only religious reasons for intervening in the crisis as a Protestant King, but also dynastic (family) reasons
- despite pressure from Parliament to join war against Catholics, James preferred to negotiate for peace
