Ch3 Terminology Flashcards
What was the “Great Contract” of 1610?
Who negotiated on behalf of James I?
What was its aims?
What annual subsidy would James receive in exchange of his…what?
What happened to Parliament for the Summer?
Robert Cecil negotiated with Parliament on behalf of James to reform Crown finances, its aim was to increase Crown income and get remove debt.
Cecil said that James would accept an annual subsidy of £200,000 from Parliament in exchange of his feudal rights, including his prerogative income from warships. Parliament was prorogued for the summer.
What was Inflation?
A general increase in prices and fall in the value of money.
What was Crown Expenditure?
The crown spending funds.
What were Customs Tax?
A tax on goods on their way to market, which was paid to the King.
What were Impositions (Import Duties)?
A tax or duty. In this case, since the monarch held the feudal right to control all trade, the impositions were additional to the normal customs duties set by Parliament.
What was a Feudal Right?
A system of rule from 1066; monarchs had the right to grant land to members of the PN in return for military service, which later changed monetary payments.
What was Proroguing parliament?
Who would return?
To discontinue Parliament without dissolving it.
Unlike a dissolution of Parliament, after which an election was needed before Parliament met again, prorogation was a temporary end to the sitting of Parliament - the same MPS would return when the monarch decided he or she wanted Parliament to resume for another session.
What was dissolving Parliament?
Officially ending Parliament.
What were the Forced Loans of 1626-27?
A form of prerogative income for the Crown; they were not demanded very often by monarchs and normally only applied to wealthy individuals. There were consequences if you didn’t abide.
What was the Cockayne Project of 1614?
Who was involved?
What was the government promised?
Why did this fail?
James allowed Alderman Sir William Cockayne to launch a project designed to boost the earnings of those involved in the manufacture of undyed cloth setting up a dyeing industry to do the job at home.
The government was promised £40,000 from increased customs through the importing of dyestuffs.
James gave control to Cockayne and the new company was given permission to export in 1615. It was clear by 1616 that Cockayne had not the resources to buy the cloth from the clothing districts and hold it until it could be marketed.
Matters became worse when the Dutch banned the import of cloth. Merchants went bankrupt, weavers rioted, cloth exports slumped and the industry stagnated.
By 1617 James abandoned Cockayne and the Merchant Adventurers regained control.
What was Tonnage and Poundage?
Taxes on imports and exports.
What was an Ante-Supper?
The ante-supper was one of the most notorious examples of court extravagance.
This involved the preparation of 2 huge feasts; the first was simply displayed to the courtiers and then thrown away, before the second was consumed.
One ante-supper in 1621 cost around £3300.
What was the Thirty Years War?
Why was this a potential problem for James?
What did James do to avoid war? What did he label himself as?
Since the protestant Reformation and the emergence of Protestantism, religion had divided European states again each other as well as internally.
In 1618 a series of wars broke out between Catholics and Protestants. The most disputed area of what is now Germany consisted of 329 separate states.
Although the conflict centred in this region, it brought in a range of countries through various alliances.
War was the biggest expenditure to monarchs, James I income had reduced and the crown was in debt. Going to war would further strain England’s financial problems.
James I labelled himself as the “peacemaker king”.
Who were the Habsburgs?
What are they known for?
What were the two Habsburg branches?
The most powerful Catholic family in Europe at that time, they were extremely influential and very powerful.
The Habsburgs are known for establishing a major empire and dynasty throughout Europe.
One branch ruled over the Holy Roman Empire, and another branch ruled the Spanish Empire with the coronation of Phillip II.
Habsburg Branches:
- Spanish Habsburgs
- Austrian Habsburgs
What was a Monopoly? What could the Crown do with this right, through its…what?
The Crown, through its prerogative, could sell the exclusive right to provide a product or service.
Those who purchased the right could then charge what they wanted for their product or service, as they had no competition.
The fact that monopolies were often sold for whatever amount the Crown could raise, rather than taking any wider economic issues into consideration, brought this financial device into disrepute as a form of the Crowns exploitation of its prerogative.
