Ch1 Terminology Flashcards
What was the Stuart Age?
The period 1603-1714, during which the Stuarts were monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland.
What was the Political Nation (PN)?
People in early modern Britain who had economic, social and political influence. Economic standing, predominantly based on land ownership, lay at the root of the PN’s influence.
It was their wealth (the land-owning aristocracy, gentry and elite in society) that gave them their political and social power. The Monarch was the head of the PN.
What is a Personal Monarchy?
The idea that monarchs had a God-given right to rule and that a rebellion against them was sin. The monarch could rule alone through their prerogative right.
What is an Absolute Monarchy?
The monarch could rule almost freely with unrestricted political power.
What is a Prerogative? What could monarchs do because of this?
The power of the Crown derived from the idea that the “Divine Right” to rule is given by God to monarchs.
Prerogative powers of the early modern British monarchs included the right to call and dissolve Parliament. The monarch could also declare war. Theoretically, the monarch still holds such powers today.
What is Prerogative Income?
The income the monarch receives because of their divine right.
What is a Patriarchal society?
A society controlled by men.
What was Patriarchalism?
Patriarchalism was a popular 17th century belief that God gave powers to fathers and that male monarchs could be seen as fathers of their people. This concept was used to reinforce obedience to the king.
What is a Paternalist?
The idea that it is a fatherly duty of those above in society to look after the interests in those beneath them, especially in times of hardships.
What is the “Divine Right of Kings”?
A belief that the monarch is chosen by God to rule.
What is the “Great Chain of Being”?
Describe the Pyramid.
An ordered society set in place by God.
Pyramid:
- God above monarch outside of pyramid
- Monarch at top of pyramid
- Government in middle of pyramid
- Society at the bottom. (Largest section)
What is a Subsidy?
What form did it come in?
A form of economic support. This could be a sum of money to promote or aid Crown policies, such as warfare. The Crown subsidy came in the form of parliamentary taxation, with a tax on land and other forms of property.
What were MPs?
Who were they selected by?
What was the minimum requirement for being seen as part of the PN?
Members of Parliament that were selected by agreement among the members of the PN, particularly by those families who, headed the PN in a local area.
The minimum requirement for being seen as part of the PN was an annual income of 40 shillings (£2), this was a requirement to quality as an MP.
What was the “Unwritten Constitution”?
Did England have an “Unwritten Constitution”, what did it consist of?
A set of unwritten rules.
It was open to interpretation by anyone, this was both its advantage and disadvantage as in a society that valued consensus, the ability to interpret the constitution in different ways enabled compromise.
England historically had no written constitution that documented the rules by which the state was run. Instead, the country had an unwritten constitution that was a mixture of parliamentary laws, the common law, and documents such as Magna Carta, as well as tradition and custom.
What were Crown Lands?
The crown had sold much land or rented it out on long leases at a fixed rent, thus their income was reduced because they couldn’t update rents in line with inflation.
