Chapter 5 - Charles I's Personal Rule

Question 1

Customs Duties as a fiscal measure used by Chalres during Personal Rule

Answer 1

Tax on imports and exports
Included T+P
- Granted to Charles only for one year in 1625
- but he collected it through PR
- in 1635 the new Book of Rates updated official valuations

Trade improved in England once not at war with France and Spain.

Customs revenue increased:
- 1631-35 = £270,000 pa
- post 1635 = £425,000 pa

Question 2

Recusansy fines as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 2

Fines on those who refused to attend compulsory CofE Sunday service
- Enforcement was tightened to maximise income
- 1620 = £5,300
- 1634 = £26,866

Question 3

Distraint of Knighthood as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 3

Anyone holding land worth over £40 pa, had to be knighted or incur a fine
- not applied since the Tudor times
- by 1635, £175,000 raised

Question 4

Monopolies as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 4

1624 Monopolies Act had made an individual holding a monopoly illegal
- Charles found a loophole so he could sell monopolies to corporations
- Most notorious = ‘Popish Soap’ which earned Charles £33,000

Question 5

Wardships as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 5

Crown could administer the estate of an heir who inherited under the age of 21
- exploited by loyal officials to maximise Crown income
- raised £45,000 at the beginning of PR
- Cottington became Master of the Court of Wards in 1635
- By 1640, annual revenue = £84,000 and was collected very efficiently

Question 6

Forest fines as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 6

Fines for any land owner who had extended their boundaries into land belonging to royal forests
- William Noy looked at ancient maps to identify
- Many landed families couldn’t produce centuries-old documents to disprove his claims
- £38,667 raised
- £20,000 from the Earl of Salisbury
- at the cost of angering rich and powerful landowners

Question 7

Building fines as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 7

Fines for building beyond the chartered boundaries of a town
- rediscovered ancient charters against which new buildings could be assessed
- burden particularly in London, where over 60,000 new homes had been built since 1603

Question 8

Enclosure fines as a fiscal measure used by Charles during Personal Rule

Answer 8

Fines on landowners for illegally enclosing (e.g. fencing for use as fields) common land
- not new but vigorously enforced
- seen as a fine on landowners wanting to improve their estates

Question 9

What was the Privy Council?

Answer 9

• around 35 members from England’s noble families and leading lawyers
• role was to support monarch through regular sessions
• should’ve been a strength during PR
• it was primarliy an advisory body, but could function as a prerogative court

Question 10

What two factors mitigated the usefulness of the Privy Council during Personal Rule?

Answer 10

1 - Charles rarely attended the x2 weekly sessions

e.g. from June 1630 - June 1631, he attended only 3 times

2 - Charles allowed a Spanish faction within the group

Appeared that Charles was being steered in a pro-Catholic direction

Question 11

Charles didn’t rule with Parliament but he still had what?

Answer 11

• Advisors.
• Other governmental instruments at his disposal.

Question 12

What was the situation with ministers after the death of Buckingham?

Answer 12

• Titles went out to a few close allies
• This combined with the absence of Parliament meant the concentration of political influence within an elite group
• This alienated the broader political nation
• Also provided targets when opposition gained strength

Question 13

What did having no Parliament mean in regards to law?

Answer 13

Charles couldn’t enact new laws

But, he could change how existing laws were interpreted through prerogative courts.

Question 14

What was the Star Chamber?

Prerogative court

Answer 14

• made up of Privy Councillors chosen by the monarch
• defendants could be questioned, fined, imprisoned or forced to undergo corporal punishment
• it was useful to attack those who disagreed with government policy

Question 15

What was the Court of High Commission?

Prerogative court

Answer 15

• Chief court of the Church
• Designed to enforce canon law
• could discuss civil and religous cases
• Judgements could be passed onto the Star Chamberfor sentencing

Canon Law - laws that apply within the Church

Question 16

What were Regional Councils?

Prerogative court

Answer 16

• impose royal control far away from Westminster
• leader of each council was known as ‘Lord President’ and acted as a regional governor, ensuring locall officials carried out royal requirements effectively
• Council used imprisonment and fines as its primary punishment

Question 17

When was the Book of Orders?

Answer 17

January 1631

Question 18

What was the Book of Orders?

Answer 18

• issued in response to chronic poverty caused by harvest failures in 1629 and 1630
• set out significant reforms
• 8 Orders and 12 Directions
• the Orders outlined new, more professional working practices for the JPs

Question 19

What were some of the Orders in the Book of Orders?

Answer 19

• JPs convene a monthly meeting of enforcement officials at hundred levels (made up of parishes in a county). This would include constables, petty constables, churchwardens and overseers of the poor
• JPs to send monthly reports about their meetings to the sheriff
• Sheriffs to report from the JPs to the Circuit Judges
• Circuit Judges to report upwards to the Privy Council
• A penalty was added for non-compliance: punishment by Star Chamber

Question 20

What was the value of Charles’ debt in 1629?

Answer 20

£2 million

Question 21

What was Charles adivsed to cut expenditure by doing?

Answer 21

• Reducing spending on foreign affairs by concluding pease with France (1629 Treat of Susa) and Spain (1630 Treaty of Madrid)
• Reform Charles’ household expenditure, which was costing him 40% of ordinary income

Question 22

What were the two most effective sources of revenue?

Answer 22

• Customs Duty
• Monopolies

Question 23

Ship Money

Answer 23

• Previously levied in 1628, where he raised £170,000
• October 1634, Charles levied Ship Money on coastal towns and cities
• Extended to all of England in 1635
• he raised ~£300,000 pa (equivalent to three Parliamentary subsidies)
• initially 90% compliance, which suggested it was widely accepted and caused little unrest
• however, the only safe and culturally acceptable way to oppose the king was through parliament, which was not in session
• individulal criticism might have incurred royal anger
• gathering opposition outside Parliament would have felt dangerously radical in such a conservative, hierarchal society

Question 24

When was the Hampden Case?

Answer 24

November 1637

Question 25

What was the Hampden Case?

Answer 25

• Sir John Hampden, a prominent Puritan MP was taken to court for failing to pay his Ship Money dues
• became a test case for the King’s prerogative
• Close verdict
• 5 out of 12 judges agreeing with him that Ship Money was unlawful

Question 26

What was the result of the Hampden Case?

Answer 26

• slowed down the collection of Ship Money
• raised the debate of wider constitutional issues as the opinions of the judges were widely circulated

Question 27

Amount of Ship Money collected and % compliance rom 1635 to 1639

Answer 27

1635 - £213,964 [98%]
1636 - £189,493 [96%]
1637 - £178,566 [91%]
1638* - £55,690 [80%]
1639 - £53,000 [25%]

• in 1638, war broke out in Scotland, which meant the king could levy different charges and reduce Ship Money