Charles: relations with parliament 1625-9

Question 1

What happened during the parliament of 1625?

Answer 1

Charles wanted money for war with Spain, but it was not made clear to commons what this money would be used for, so they granted him two inadequate sums of £140,000, so Charles asked them for more!

Question 2

What was the issue with tonnage and poundage?

Answer 2

Kings tended to be voted it for life, but Charles was only granted it for one year. This insulted Charles and he continued to collect it without parliamentary approval.

Question 3

What happened to the 1625 parliament?

Answer 3

It was adjourned and met three weeks later at oxford, they still refused to grant more money and turned their attention to attacking Buckingham, Charles felt insulted and dissolved Parliament.

Question 4

List the two main outcomes of the 1625 parliament

Answer 4

1. Charles felt betrayed and couldn’t understand how commons could refuse to finance a war they had approved. 2. Commons were bewildered at Charles’ refusal to negotiate with them and did not trust him to keep his promises, they also worried about Arminianism.

Question 5

What did Charles do before the parliament of 1626 met?

Answer 5

He removed those he considered to be malcontents by making them sheriffs (a position which could not stand for election), all this did was allow others to voice their discontent.

Question 6

Why did the parliament of 1626 go badly?

Answer 6

1. The York house conference had farther raised fears about Arminianism. 2. The failure of the mission to Cadiz led to commons looking for a scapegoat for foreign policy failures, Buckingham. 3. When commons began to prepare the articles of impeachment for Buckingham, Charles dissolved them.

Question 7

What was the forced loan?

Answer 7

In 1626, against precedent, Charles levied a forced loan of 5 subsidies against all subsidy payers. It created unrest in parliament, but was successful and by 1627 had brought in £260,000.

Question 8

What was the five knights’ case?

Answer 8

76 people were arrested for refusing to pay the forced loan, this included 5 knights, who attempted to challenge for habeas corpus, they were told that they were arrested “by special command of our lord the king.” This along with the promotion of Arminians, billing and martial law convinced many that Charles was going to impose a Catholic tyranny.

Question 9

What did Charles have to do out of desperation in 1627?

Answer 9

He raised a £350,000 loan from the city of London by selling the last major body of crown lands, meaning the city would not support him in the future.

Question 10

What was the atmosphere initially like at the 1628 parliament?

Answer 10

Both realized that they needed to make concessions, parliament offered the king 5 subsidies and tonnage and poundage to show their loyalty to him and expected the compromise to be reciprocated.

Question 11

What were the terms of the petition of right?

Answer 11

Tabled by parliament in 1628, this asked for an end to: billeting, martial law, imprisonment without cause and non parliamentary taxation. It was intended to confirm their traditional liberties.

Question 12

How did Charles show his dislike of the petition of right?

Answer 12

He initially refused to give it the traditional form of assent, but was eventually forced to out of a need for money. Debates over it showed the deep division between king and parliament.

Question 13

What was the grand remonstrance?

Answer 13

Drawn up by parliament in 1628, in this they identified all the threats they thought faced them: foreign policy failures at home and abroad, god’s judgement on the the government, innovations in religion and innovations in government.

Question 14

What did Charles do to the 1628 parliament?

Answer 14

When he learned they were working on a second remonstrance which denounced non parliamentary taxation, he adjourned them, still not having gained tonnage and poundage.

Question 15

Why was the death of Buckingham in 1628 such a turning point?

Answer 15

It showed commons that Charles was the one who was behind unpopular policies, not Buckingham.

Question 16

What was the second session of Parliament in 1629 dominated by?

Answer 16

Discussion on Arminianism and tonnage and poundage. Commons wanted religion to take precedence over all issues and wanted to use tonnage and poundage to extract religious concessions from Charles. They were also concerned over the seizure of goods from merchants who’d refused to pay tonnage and poundage.

Question 17

What happen when Charles informed the speaker he wanted to adjourn parliament?

Answer 17

The speaker was held down in his chair whilst Eliot called out the three resolutions condemning anyone who: encouraged innovations in religion, paid tonnage and poundage or collected tonnage and poundage.

Question 18

What happened after the three resolutions had been read out?

Answer 18

They were passed with shouts of acclamation and the house dissolved itself. Charles dissolved Parliament and arrested those that had been involved.

Question 19

Give three reasons why the relationship between king and parliament broke down

Answer 19

1. Misgivings over Charles’ religious policy. 2. Unpopular foreign policy and religious polices with no explanation as to why they were being followed. 3. No effective management of debates in parliament and a lack of tact from Charles.

Question 20

How did Buckingham’s domination of the privy council change the role of parliament?

Answer 20

1. This meant many men found their route to entering royal service blocked, so began to voice their discontent in commons, which became more and more critical of the crown. 2. He suppressed effective discussion in the privy council, meaning parliament became the only place for expressing dissent.

Question 21

What four things strained relations?

Answer 21

1. Unpopular changes in religion. 2. Unsuccessful foreign policy. 3. Long term financial crisis. 4. Common’s increasingly vocal criticisms of the government.

Question 22

How did parliament strain relations with Charles?

Answer 22

They adopted policies which could be justified as going beyond the bounds of tradition and refused to finance a war they had agreed to.

Question 23

How did Charles strain relations?

Answer 23

Raising money in any way that he could, through the forced loan and continuing to collect tonnage and poundage, despite the protests of parliament.

Question 24

What did the events of 1629 give Charles the opportunity to do?

Answer 24

The chance to dispense with parliament and to blame the breakdown in relations on a few ill disposed malcontents. It had been parliament’s fault for breaking the bounds of tradition.

Question 25

What did Charles resolve after 1629?

Answer 25

That he would only call another parliament when “such as have bred interruption shall have received their deserved punishment.”