Finances and attempts at reform (S1.3) Flashcards
What significant expenditure was required for Charles’ initial anti-Spanish foreign policy aims?
Charles’ wanted;
- Financial backing for his uncle Christian IV of Denmark to attack Catholics
- Financial support for the Protestant Dutch
- Construction of a force of 6,000 to be led by Count Mansfeld
- Naval attack on Spain, capturing shipments of gold
> This was an expenditure of £1 million
What did Charles’ recieve out of the £1 million he needed for his initial foreign policy aims?
Two subsidies worth £140,000 in the 1625 Parliament
What did Charles’ recieve in the 1625 from Parliament, which was different from previous monarchs?
- Parliament broke precedent by denying him Tonnage and Poundage (T+P) for life, granting it only for a year
Why did Parliament only grant tonnage and poundage for one year?
Parliament saw the limited grant as a way to gain time to dicuss reform of customs duties and other matters that concerned him.
> Move was largely directed at Buckingham (Lord High Admiral), as customs duties were usually to help with naval protection
How did Charles’ view the limited grant of tonnage and poundage?
Charles viewed it as a direct attack on his prerogative.
> Felt that Parliament was too influenced by ‘radicals’ (i.e. Coke)
By 1629, how much debt was Charles in?
£2 million.
What was the legacy of the 1625 Parliament, in terms of finances?
Charles was urged to do without the constitutional means of raising revenue
> Charles would use extra-parliamentary arbitrary revenue-raising measures (arguably unlawful)
> Led to both remonstrances against his taking of tonnage and poundage, and conflict with Parliament
What did Charles’ call on in 1626 and 1627, in terms of finance?
Forced loans (equivalent to five parliamentary subsidies)
What were ‘forced loans’?
Form of prerogative finance
> Individuals pressured to pay in seperate meetings; public manner of collection made refusal to pay a very open act of opposition
> Charles personally identified himself with the loans, testing loyalty
How else did Charles’ collect revenue without Parliament?
- Borrowed £20,000 from London merchants, and £58,000 from Dutch bankers
- Collected customs duties (i.e. tonnage and poundage, even after Parliament’s allocation had expired)
How much did Charles’ collect from the forced loans?
£267,000 (70% of expected revenue)
What was the 1627 ‘Five Knights’ Case’?
76 prominent gentleman (including Wentworth, Hampden and Eliot) were imprisoned for refusing to pay the forced loans
> Charles’ use of this power was unprecedented
> Later in 1627, five imprisoned gentleman (Five Knights) applied for habeas corpus; judges found in favour of royal prerogative (undermining the Magna Carta)
What was the main event in opposition to the forced loans?
1627 Five Knights’ Case
What was billeting, and why did Charles’ use of it upset the Political Nation?
Billeting was putting soldiers in civilian houses on the south ccoast, at the civillan’s expense; Charles had no money to pay tariffs for housing (soldiers were often underpaid, undisciplined and unwelcome)
> Sparked fears of absolutism
What were the financial implications of the 1629 ‘Three Resolutions’?
- Expressed opposition to Charles’ continued collection of tonnage and poundage
