James I And IV Flashcards
When did James call parliament
1604
1606
1607
1610
1614
1621
1624
What did James argue w parliament over
Finance
Religion
Foreign policy
Favourites
Crown v Parliament
Divine Right of Kings
King- he is above the law and has the right to anything. He classed himself as a ‘God’ and that he sat on ‘Gods throne’
Parliament- King has the right to act within the law. No one is above it
Crown v parliament
Royal prerogative
King- he had the power to make decisions beyond the competence of Parliament eg in Foreign policy- to make/break alliances, appoint judges, arrange marriages
Parliament- parliament has priveledge of freedom of speech- so should have some power- the king shouldn’t have all of it
Crown v parliament
Royal finance
King- he had the right to raise money w out parliament if he deemed in necessary
Parliament- the king pays for the cost of household, court and gov from Crowns income ‘ordinary revenue’ so he has to explain why he needs more money
Crown v parliament
Parliamentary privilege
King- can formulate policy- James argued w Commons after …
Parliament- …Commons passed a protestation, criticising him for failing to respect Parliaments privilege
Crown v parliament
Impeachment
King- his choice of ministers is a matter of royal prerogative
Parliament- they can impeach people as it’s their money
But
Advisors are not above the law only king
Crown v parliament
The Church of England
King- he’s the head so can have full control of it
Parliament- they talk on behalf of the country so have a RIFHT to be heard
What was the overall view towards
Crown v parliament
Often disagreements
James policy was never significantly altered by a hostilic parliament not did he ever lose a minister he was keen to retain to impeachment (Cranfield/Bacon)
Parliament debates rarely touched on major constitutional issues and where they did, King always cane off at best
Ultimately, he could do w out them- surprise is he called them so often
Where did James get income from
Royal prerogatives
Scale of crown lands
Parliamentary subsidies
Customs and excise duties
Scale of monopolies
Why did James have a problem with finance
Inherited significant debt from Elizabeth
Costly war w Spain
James had extensive household- wife and 3 kids
Had to spend a lot of money on patronage to help buy loyalty of new subjects
Spent heavily on rewarding favs like Buckingham
What was the failure of the great contract
In 1610 James treasurer Robert Cecil, became the Earl of Salisbury
he proposed a radical transformation of royal finance
James would receive an annual income of £200,000 in return for him giving up some prerogative rights to raise taxation
James was not happy about bargaining w parliament over his prerogative rights of money and resisted this aspect of the contract
The House of Commons refused James demands for a grant of money as part of the contract
They were worried that if they granted James’ a generous income- that he would have no need to raise money
They were also angry at royal extravagance and the collection of custom duties or impositions
James’ religion and overview
James inherited the Elizabethan religious settlement which left and established Protestant Protestant Church, which contained elements of Catholic liturgy and worship
James did not strictly enforce religion across his kingdoms and there was considerable local variation
While most were satisfied w status- Puritans argued for greater religious reforms while arminians wanted to see greater solemnity beauty and ritual within the church
There was widespread Catholicism especially after gunpowder plot
The Church of England under James I
On Elizabeth’s death, those English Churchmen known as ‘Puritans’ who thought Elizabeth didn’t take religion seriously, used the opportunity to draft a list of reforms for James to consider
List contained over 1000 signatures
Became knows as the millenary petition
Thought James would consider it as Scottish Kirk was stricter then England Church and that it would create ‘purer’ form of Protestantism
James held conference 1604 Jan in Hampden court to discuss
culminated in a dispute between 4 Puritan spokesmen and 2 bishops
No Presbyterian Church
Episcopal church✅
He affirmed his independence as Supreme Governor above all divisions
Trigger of The gunpowder plot
James initially promised religious toleration
But hostility by parliament to reverse this by withholding money from him
When was the gunpowder plot
1605
Explain the gunpowder plot
An attempt by Catholic terrorists go kill the king and his gov
And replace him w Catholic monarch
But failed- discovered