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
What were the consequences of the discovery of the gunpowder plot
Recusancy (not attending local parish church for services) fines increased
Catholics were removed from gov posts
Catholics had to affirm a new Oath of Aligience 1606
Pope opposed this
BUT James was able to use it to identify the moderate majority of Catholics who retained their faith while demonstrating political loyalty so that the Catholic Q became quiet for a bit
Who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1604 first- explain them
Richard Brinecroft
Anti Puritan
He favoured strict approach to religious conformity
Only removed 9 Puritans clergy for non conformity while many more were protected by sympathetic bishops
Who did James make the second Archbishop of Canterbury
Explain him
George Abbot till 1633
Sat firmly on the Puritan but who, in 1618,
worked encouraging recreational activities for Sunday which they condemned as unholy pastimes
(Anti catholic and moderate Protestants disliked him)
What did James do in relation to the English Church which he wanted utmost conformity for
Explain
Requires utmost conformity to the 1604 revision of the Official Book of Common Prayer
which established the official liturgy (wording in church services)
In Eng Scot and Ireland
But showed flexibility within the Scottish Kirk
He introduced it slower and ultimately stopped it- thru parliament 1619 due to resistance
What was James intention for the conformity of the official book of common prayer
What did it acc do
Hoped to unite England, Scotland under 1 gov and 1 religion
This proved too difficult to achieve on his own reign but helped to add further political and religious problems to Charles inheritance in 1625
With 3 separate kingdoms did James rule
England
Scotland
Ireland
James attempted to unite England and Scotland
How was this physically attempted and what was the outcome
Parliament appointed commissioners to discuss formal union
This failed, over divisions between them on relative power, trade and legal systems
Scotland
Equal on monarchy but smaller and weaker
Population of only 1 million and relatively undeveloped economy
Itself divided into lowland, highland, geographical, political, cultural and linguistic divide
Lowlands were Anglo centric, English speaking Presbyterian
Highlands were independent, spoke Gaelic and were Catholic
Ireland
Not equal status to England and Scotland- dependent on England since 1540s w pop of 2 million
Old Irish- the native people of Ireland, Celtic and Garlic and Irish speaking and Catholic
Old English- descendants of the Anglo-Norman invades from former the ruling aristocracy
New English settlers came over in plantation settlements from 16th century onwards
Exclusively Protestant concentrated mainly in Ulster
Both old and New England held v negative views of the Irish population and felt they had a duty to civilise the people
Settlement in America
During James reign, 2 important colonies set up in America
Jamestown was founded in 1607 in Virginia
It was the 1st permanent English settlement in America and it developed the plantation of tobacco
Plymouth was founded in 1620 in Massachusetts knows as The Pilgrims while seeking religious freedom for their own group, the Pilgrims exhibited intolerance to other faiths
Exploration in the east
British merchants expanded their trade in the Indian Ocean
The east India company had been formed in 1600 under Elizabeth I
Under James it continued to trade and establish a firm foothold in Bengal
Sir Thomas Roe visited the Mughal emporer Jahangir and areanged a commercial treaty that gave the company exclusive rights to reside and establish factories in Surat and other areas
In return, the company offered to prove the Emporer w goods and rangers from the European market
1604 parliament main issues
Issues-
*MPs privileges
-Dispute over election of an mp for Buckinghamshire
Fortestque (privy councillor) defeated by Goodwin, but chancery (king) office declared election invalid as Goodwin failed to pay debts
- commons argued they were judges of disputed election and king and parliament argued on their prerogative rights
*Union between Eng and Scotland
James pushed parliament to pass law recognising full union
1604 parliament outcomes
Compromise- House of Commons agreed to a new election and the king agreed that it was parliaments privellage to judge election results
Parliament blocked he union as the prejudice of the English people was so great
At the end of 1604 parliament session, commons produced a statement of their position ‘The form of Apology and Satisfaction’
This showers its concerns that its privileges were being threatened
Parliament declined to vote subsidies as those voted in 1601 were still being collected
1606 parliament main issues
Catholic threat-
After gun powder plot, James and parliament agreed hat harsher laws against Catholics were needed
Taxation- the king asked parliament for subsidies
Impositions- impositions were extra customs duties and the collection of customs contributed to the Kings revenue
1606 parliament outcomes
Parliament objected to the impositions seeing it as a back door tax they had no control over
Harsher laws against Catholics were passed
Parliament granted 3 subsidies
MPs wrote the apology of the House of Commons - this summed up what they saw as their right, dating back hundreds of years
1607 parliament issues
Union between England and Scotland
- James asked for parliament to pass law recognising full union
Purveyance - the right of the king to buy goods for the royal household at a discounted price
It was seen as a v corrupt system even tho it was traditional privilege of the crown
1607 parliament outcomes
Parliament again opposed the union and didnt pass any laws
House of Lords proposed the purveyance system should end and the king should be granted £50,000 per year as compensation but this wasn’t agreed upon
James promised to look into cases of corruption and had some royal agents punished for it
1610 parliament main issues
Finance Great Contract
- The great contract proposed a radical transformation of royal finances
- it was drawn up by James’ treasurer- the Earl of Salisbury
- James not happy about bargaining w Parliament over his prerogative RIFHT of money
Royal extravagance and impositions
- parliament criticised the crown for its expenditure on the royal household
- it also criticised how James royal officers were collecting extra customs or taxes
1610 parliament outcome
House of Commons refused James demand for a grant of money —
What was the 1614 parliament known as and why
The addled parliament
Lasted a few weeks and achieved nothing
1614 parliament main issues
Finance, taxation, impositions, royal extravagance
James needed money and asked parliament for a subsidy to pay for his eldest sons funeral and the cost of his daughters marriage
The House of Commons presented petitions about impositions (extra custom duties)
The commons complained about James extravagance again
1614 parliament outcomes
Parliament voted no subsidies
James dissolved parliament
Didn’t call again till 1621
1621 parliament main issues
Foreign policy and desire for war with Spain
- dominated by foreign policy after outbreak of 30 year war in 1618
- parliament was keen to launch English military expedition to cost Spanish forced from the Palatinate
- James realised it would be too costly (1 mill ish) and parliament wouldn’t grant it
- James was also pursuing idea of marriage alliance w Spain
- parliament called for war against Spain
Attack on monopolies
- big attack on those who held monopolies (monopolists) criminal charges brought against Mitchell and Mompesson
1621 parliament outcomes
Parliament gave 2 subsidies (140,000)
-James was furious that they were infringing on his royal prerogative right to determine foreign policy and royal marriage and he ordered them to stop doing so
Commons passed ‘protestation’ in Dec 1621 proclaiming their right to freedom of speech
-James responded by dismissing parliament in 1622 saying they were attacking his fundamental rights
The lord chancellor Francis Bacon was impeached
This was encouraged by Edward Come
-Bacon was accused of corruption and taking bribes
He was briefly imprisoned and fined £40,000
-This had more to do w faction fighting than w opposition to the gov
Individual monopolies were banned
1624 parliament main issues
Foreign policy and desire for war w Spain was dominated by issue of going to war against Spain
- James was ill at this point so Buckingham and Charles dominated and favoured war
- they attacked Digby, Lord Treasurer Lionel, Cranfield and Arundel who were against going to war
- Cranfield was impeached. He was fined and imprisoned. This was lead by Buckingham and Sir Edward Coke
- James claimed he would need a million for war but parliament only offered £300,000
1624 parliament outcomes
Charles allowed parliament to discuss foreign policy- James said not to do that
Subsidy was passed but James refused to officially declare war
However preparations for war w spain had begun
