Crown-pardiamnet relations Flashcards
Who had access to the king?
Gentlemen of the bedchamber freely passed into the inner-world of private lodgings and accompanied the king when he went on trips out of London.
Wasn’t a formal governmental role but one could freely tell the king ones own opinions.
there wasn’t an Englishman in this position until 1615 and this caused resentment.
What’s the deal with patronage?
An important part of the political nation
By the 1620’s Buckingham had monopolised patronage
What was the ordinary revenue for the corn mean?
Annual income n to dependent on parliamentary grants.
What were some of the avenues of ordinary revenue?
-Crown lands: highly diminished in importance as successive lord treasures saw the sale of land as being the quickest, easiest ways to raise money.
What is tongue and poundage?
Taxes on imports and exports-usually granted for life by the monarch’s first parliament.
What’s the deal with customs revenue?
By 1621 customs revenues brought in three times as much revenue from crown lands.
What’s the deal with wardship?
feudal tenures and wardship had lost importance but financial usefulness.
What was a monopoly?
The monarchs right to grab exclusive access rights to make and sell goods of a particular kind.
Lizzie had to abolish this in 1601 yet James doubled expenditure on the royal household between 1603 and 1610. This extravagance meant he couldn’t live on his ordinary income alone.
Explain the relationship between the king and the political nation.
The king was on top.
His court was next which consisted of the kings household, friends and greater nobility. The king ruled with the help of the privy council which was the kings chosen advisors and heads of major departments.
Next the parliament which consisted of 2 sides:lords and commons. This fed into the common law courts which had judges appointed by the king himself.
The church was also just below the king and his court, it’s governed by bishop and archbishops chosen by the king. This fed into the prerogative courts which ere governed by the privy council. in turn these then fed into local government in counties that helped to regulate the law.
then there were the electorate which consisted of mainly gentry and merchants elite but did contain some yeomen and master craftsmen, also provided local government personnel
at the very bottom there were the meddling sort, craftsmen, labourers.
What was the purpose of parliament in the 17th century?
‘an event not an institution’
hear the kings needs
provide appropriate council
provide financial supply when requested-subsidies
express the concerns of their constituencies
return to their localities and communicate the kings policies
What is parliamentary privilege?
A legal immunity enjoyed by members of parliament that allows them top freely speak during proceedings without fear of legal action.
What was the relationship between parliament and finance?
Remained a point of contact between monarch and ruled, providing a platform from which to explain royal policies. It was also a forum for the political nation to gather and make their views known to the crown.
The state of the countries financial affairs when James I came to the throne in 1603 that gave parliament a sense that its time had come.
How much debt had Lizzie left James with?
£420,000
What were the diff typed of taxation the gov. could impose?
Tenths and Fifteenths-a tax on moveable goods paid by all.
Subsidies-tax on income for landowners, office-holders and wage-earners, or moveable property for merchants, craftsmen and Tennent farms-not levied on the poor.
Poll tax-a tax paid by individuals.
Ship money-a tax levied in times of war from coastal regions for building ships and defence.
What was the Goodwin case?
In 1604, MP’s found out that the election of Francis Goodwin as MP of Buckinghamshire had been annulled by the court of chancery as he was an outlaw:he had two outstanding summonses for debt.
During the second election Goodwin had been related by Sir John Fortescue, privy council member, as the new MP. Many saw this as a royal interference-after hearing Goodwin’s case Commons voted to reinstate Goodwin.
James believed that the commons were acting illegally and so during parliament raised wider constitutional issues and said they ‘deified all matter of privilege from him ands his grant.
However, Commons thought it should be the judge of it’s own election results and after some dispute, James pragmatically backed down and they reached a compromise:a new election will happen with neither Goodwin or Fortescue and in turn James would have to acknowledge the Commons claim to the judge of the election results.
James’ behaviour during the dispute, and his behaviour during the dispute over the union of England and Scotland caused some members of the commons to draft a protest-‘The Forum of Apology and Satisfaction’
They began to feel like their parliamentary privileges were being threatened by James’ obsession with his divine right.
