Charles I: Personal Rule -> Financial policies during his personal rule Flashcards
Who were Charles’ chief advisers?
Sir Thomas Wentworth and William Laud
What did ‘Thorough’ refer to?
Involved making royal government much more efficient and effective through a centralised form of control
Who developed the concept of ‘Thorough’?
Spearheaded by Sir Thomas Wentworth who was despised by his former allies as ‘the great apostate’ and made Lord President of the Council of the North
What were the positives of ‘Thorough’?
- prerogative courts worked speedily
- better administration
- Centralisation of decision making led to a ‘thorough’ implementation of these decisions
What were the negatives of ‘Thorough’?
-JPs and officials were given a tough workload
- little recognition of the political sensitivities of the political nation
- enhanced role of the bishops and the Court of High Commission
- Centralisation of decision making and ‘thorough’ implementation of these decisions did not always produce the ‘right’ decisions
What was the nature of Charles’ royal court?
Replaced James’ court with a more formal, dignified regime and became a model of restraint, establishing the idea of royal virtue at the heart of the kingdom
Why was access to Charles limited?
Charles’ sense of dignity led to further formality
- the King became more remote, his semi-divine status was safeguarded by a strict hierarchy and proper etiquette
What were the key reasons for personal rule?
- foreign policy
- religion
- parliament
- finance
What examples of foreign policy led to the Personal Rule?
- Failure at La Rochelle in July 1627
- Failure at Cadiz in November 1625
What examples of religion led to the personal rule?
- the rise of William Laud
- Charles marriage to Henrietta Maria in May 1625
- the rise of more radical Puritan MPs e.g. Sir John Eliot and John Pym
What examples of parliament led to the personal rule?
- 1625 Parliament: T+P
- Charles’ personality/DRoK/royal prerogative
- Charles’ attempts to purge Parliament of opposition 1625-26
- 1626 Parliament calls for impeaching Buckingham
- the Duke of Buckingham 1625-1628
- The Three Resolutions - March 1629
What examples of finance led to the personal rule?
- 1625 Parliament: T+P
- The Forced Loan 1626-27
Who became greatly important during the Personal Rule and why?
The Privy Council gained even greater importance as there wasn’t a Parliament to govern
How did Charles enforce his will and that of the Privy Council?
Through key prerogative courts such as the Star Chamber and High Commission
What was the Court of High Commission made up of?
Privy councillors selected by the monarch
What was the Court of High Commission used for?
The Court of High Commission was the chief court of the Church used by Laud to enforce conformity
Why is it important to recognise that not every aspect of Personal Rule led to the total breakdown?
Society was deeply entrenched in kingship so it would be difficult to come into civil war
- in 1640, nobody would have put Charles on trial for treason
Why was finance a key issue for Charles during his personal rule?
Involvement in the Thirty Years’ War had been expensive and by 1629, Charles was in debt to financiers in the City of London to the sum of £2 million
What did Charles rely on to finance his personal rule without Parliament?
Charles relied on prerogative forms of income
What included prerogative forms of income?
- monopolies
- impositions
- wardships
- purveyance
- sale of titles
- tonnage and poundage
What were these methods of raising revenue regarded as?
Fiscal feudalism
What else did Charles do in 1629 and 1630 to save?
Secured peace with France in 1629 and Spain in 1630 through the Treaties of Susa and Madrid, withdrawing from the Thirty Years’ War
Why did the withdrawal from the Thirty Years’ War create issues?
Puritans were uncomfortable as they regarded the destruction of Catholicism a crusade
How much revenue did customs duties (T+P) bring for Charles and when?
Between 1631 and 1635, it brought Charles about £270,000 a year
- After a new Book of Rates was introduced in 1635, the revenue the Crown received from customs duties increased markedly to roughly £425,000 in 1639
How much had feudal dues including wardship increased the Crown’s revenue?
Income from wardship increased by about a third, to about £75,000 a year during the personal rule, as did opposition
How did Charles get income from monopolies?
Charles exploited a loophole in the 1624 Monopoly Act allowed grants to corporations although it was supposed to curtail the granting of monopolies to obtain income
- bypassed this Act using the Star Chamber to legitimise granting of monopolies
How had finance caused resentment and opposition previously from the political nation>
- There was resentment over ordinary forms of income that was levied
- there had been vocal opposition when Charles had tried to obtain income not subject to the control of Parliament before 1629
What did Article 12 of the Magna Carta (1215) say?
‘No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom unless by common counsel of our kingdom’
What did article 12 of the Magna Carta mean for Charles?
Charles had to exploit ordinary revenue as efficiently as possible
Who did Charles task with finding forgotten laws that could be exploited to raise income?
William Noy, the Attorney General, was tasked with searching English history to find forgotten laws, lapsed practices and medieval precedents that could be exploited to raise income
What were the ‘King’s mines’?
Many of the measures used in the 1630s to raise money resulted from efforts to search the ‘King’s mines’; money that had rightfully belonged to the Crown in the past
What was Charles accused of by raising income from these means?
Charles was accused of introducing new taxes without parliament’s consent, to make the Crown financially independent, creating resentment
What did Fiscal Feudalism mean?
A combination of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries
How did Charles go further than his father in feudal measures to raise revenue?
In the 1630s, Charles revived both financial measures from the Middle Ages and creating new ones that were animated by much the same spirit - in order to obtain revenue
Who did Charles levy fines on known as the ‘distraint of knighthood’ fines?
Charles levied fines on anyone holding land that generated more than £40 of income a year who did not receive a knighthood at his coronation
How much revenue had Charles raised by 1635 through the ‘distraint of knighthood’?
By 1635, Charles had raised nearly £175,000 by prosecuting people for refusing to take a knighthood and refusing to pay for not doing so
What were forest fines?
Fines for any landowner said to have encroached on areas of royal forest, using dubious maps and documents to impose fines on major landowners
How was Charles’ imposition of fines on major landowners received?
Aroused opposition from landlords, but raised little revenue (fines only raised £38,667)
Why was there intense opposition to Charles’ assertion of royal forest rights amongst commoners?
Many people depended on forest lands for part of their income as access to timber and grazing lands were very important for their livelihoods
What were enclosure fines?
Fines imposed on those who had illegally enclosed, or closed off, common land
What happened to landholdings once enclosed?
Use of the and became restricted to the owner and it ceased to be common land for communal use
Who were in favour of enclosure fines?
A majority of the gentry in the South, East and Midlands and had gained Parliamentary approval for their actions in the 1620s
Who disliked the enclosure fines?
The common people disliked the measures intensely
Did Charles decide to prevent enclosures or not?
Charles decided that he would prevent enclosures because he could impose fines on enclosing landlords, thereby enhancing Crown revenues
How many enclosing landlords were fined and during when?
600 enclosing landlords were fined for enclosure between 1636 and 1638
Where did opposition to the Personal Rule stem from?
- Puritans
- MPs as they were not allowed to convene
- some members of the gentry
- however these groups possessed no forum for their opposition
What support was there during the personal rule?
The gentry on the whole continued to administer Charles’ laws, collect taxes and continue with their duties as magistrates and sherrifs
Why did the gentry support Charles?
- they thought Charles would call a Parliament
- most of them were moderate gentry not susceptible to open opposition
- there was little opposition until later on in the decade
Who was Charles’ Lord Treasurer` in 1635?
William Juxon, Bishop of London
What economy did Charles’ Lord Treasurer make?
- pensions were cut at Court
- commissions were set up to investigate excessive spending and regular audits picked up fraud
- sale of crown lands stopped (Charles had already sold £600,000 worth of Crown land)
what was the state of finances by the mid 1630s?
Accumulated crown debt had decreased to £1m and income exceeded expenditure
What did Charles decide to focus on as he rethought foreign policies following the failure of his interventions in the TYW?
- Decided to focus on building a strong navy
- this was to respond to pressure from merchants who wanted to protect their shipping from pirates
What was ordered in August 1634?
Sovereign of the Seas
What was the Sovereign of the Seas?
a giant Great Ship that was built as a deliberate attempt to bolster the reputation of the English Crown
How as the name Sovereign of the Seas significant?
It was a political statement as Charles tried to revive the perceived ancient right of the English kings to be recognised as the ‘lords of the seas’
Why did Charles want a strong navy?
It would allow for the extension of English power into the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay and secure trade routes in the Americas and the Caribbean
- project to expand English power globally during the ‘Age of discovery’
How did Charles ensure the security of the English channel/
By deterring Algerian privateers and pirates operating from the Spanish Netherlands, the security of the English channel could be ensured, helping to promote increased trade and encourage prosperity and stability
Who would a strong navy be used to impress?
To impress and even help, the Spanish who were seriously bogged down in the Thirty Years’ War
Why was it essential to help Spain after the TYW?
Charles’ Danish cousin, Christian IV had been defeated and signed a peace treaty with Spain in May 1629 - meaning that the only practical way the Palatinate could be recovered for Frederick V was by ensuring good relations with Spain
What was ship money?
A tax of medieval origin and a prerogative form of income levied in times of emergency to fund the navy
Who was ship money assessed on?
Only on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England
When did Charles wrongfully claim ship money?
In the 1630s, Charles decided that he would levy the tax in order to fund an ambitious programme of ship-building although it could be claimed that England was not suffering an emergency
What was Charles’ aim for England with ship money?
To make England a serious ‘blue water’ power
When was it announced that ship money would be a tax levied in coastal areas?
october 1634
What happened to ship money in June 1635?
In june 1635, the demand for ship money was extended to inland areas, obtaining a verdict from the judges that legalised this action
How much ship money was paid between 1634 and 1638?
90% of the ship money that was demanded was paid
How much had ship money made between 1635-38?
it raised £200,000 p.a (equivalent to three subsidies)
What could ship money be judged as on the surface?
a financial success
What example of opposition to ship money is there?
The 1637 Hampden Case
Who was John Hampden?
A leading parliamentarian involved in challenging the authority of Charles I in the run up to the English Civil War
When did Hampden become a national figure?
When he stood trial in 1637-38 for his refusal to be taxed for ship money
Was Hampden moderate or radical?
Hampden was moderate in his politics and his religion and was well-connected
What was at stake for Charles following ship money?
Without the loyalty of men like Hampden, Charles I might govern but he could not rule - nor could he withstand a crisis
What did the ship money case indicate?
Deep-rooted problems
- the legal issues might have been thorny but more was at stake than just revenue
- this was a case that had constitutional importance as it tested the limits of royal prerogative - again
What were the consequences of the Hampden trial of 1637?
- a key turning point during the personal rule
- The Crown won the case but the verdict was not unanimous: five of the twelve judges gave their verdict against the Crown
What did the case provide a focus and forum for?
It provided a focus and forum for opposition, making it possible for opposition to Charles to become more determined and more organised, making Hampden a rising star of the opposition
What had Charles failed to do in this case?
Charles had failed to ‘read the political map’ and to build on the stability of the 1630s
Was the Hampden case the beginning of the rebellion that would lead to the civil war?
The Hampden case was not the beginning of the rebellion that would lead to the civil war as events in Scotland would generate real opposition to Charles.
