James I: attitude to Parliament, parliamentary privilege, religion, finance and foreign policy

Question 1

What did James say in his speech to Parliament in 1610 about his view of the monarchy?

Answer 1

“The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth: For kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth…but even by God himself they are called gods”

Question 2

What does this quote reveal about monarchy and James’ views of it?

Answer 2

By the time of the Stuarts, the monarchy had been long established as the central organ of political power, but nonetheless was constrained constitutionally by a variety of legal avenues. But James still felt he could operate how he wished

Question 3

Did James favour his Scottish Parliaments or the English institution more?

Answer 3

His experience of Scottish parliaments were much more the tool of the Crown than the English institution was.

Question 4

Were James and Parliament in agreement about the divine right of kings?

Answer 4

James and Parliament were ultimately in agreement about the suitability of the concept of the divine right of kings. Nonetheless, Parliament did not see this as justification for James acting with impunity, which James at times did. The main division that emerged was over the problem of finance.

Question 5

How can James be argued to be pragmatic?

Answer 5

His pragmatism and willingness to compromise for political stability that was the mark of the rest of his kingship

Question 6

How did James’ 1610 speech to Parliament demonstrate his pragmatism?

Answer 6

In the second half of the speech, he touched upon how Parliament was a key element in how he governed

Question 7

What mistake did James make by allowing Parliament to speak on what?

Answer 7

James made the mistake of allowing parliamentary debates on specific topics to broaden into bigger, dangerous discussions about the balance between his prerogative and parliamentary privilege

Question 8

What was James’ first parliament dominated by?

Answer 8

By a number of issues that raised constitutional questions, notably the relationship between his prerogative and parliamentary privilege

Question 9

When was James’ first parliament?

Answer 9

1604-1611

Question 10

Who was arrested in 1604 for debt?

Answer 10

MP Thomas Shirley was arrested in 1604 for debt

Question 11

How did Shirley’s arrest in 1604 upset MPs?

Answer 11

Shirley’s arrest upset MPs who were keen to establish the parliamentary privilege of freedom from arrest while Parliament was sitting

Question 12

Who did Parliament send to assert their point in Shirley’s Case of 1604?

Answer 12

Parliament sent the governor of the Fleet debtors’ prison, where Shirley had been held, to the Tower of London until he was released

Question 13

When was the unification of England and Scotland?

Answer 13

1606

Question 14

Why did James desire the unification of Scotland and England?

Answer 14

The unification was part of James’ design for his new kingdom to be secure internally and to have peace with Europe

Question 15

How did people react to the idea of unifying Scotland and England?

Answer 15

There was immediate opposition even over the name ‘Great Britain’

Question 16

Why were people opposed to the idea of a ‘Great Britain’?

Answer 16

some were concerned that the new state would abolish English laws, since the king, as the ‘source of law’, could rewrite the laws of a newly formed kingdom and could give himself more scope to exercise absolute authority

Question 17

Which session of the first Parliament did debates on the Union dominate?

Answer 17

the third session, which opened in November 1606

Question 18

What did historian Pauline Croft note about hostility to the Union?

Answer 18

“hostility to the Union proved impossible to overcome. MPs opposed it on religious, economic and political grounds”

Question 19

What happened to James’ plans for the Union in the end?

Answer 19

In the end, the king’s plans for the Union collapsed amid parliamentary opposition

Question 20

What was the main reason for James’ dissolution of his first parliament in 1611?

Answer 20

The primary reason for James’ dissolution of his first parliament was not the conflict on the issue of Union but the failure to reach a parliamentary solution to the Crown’s financial difficulties

Question 21

What specific issue was tied to financial difficulties that led to the dissolution of James’ first parliament?

Answer 21

The Great Contract further alienated James from Parliament as seen in his angry letter to his privy council in 1611

Question 22

What did James say in his angry letter to his privy council in 1611?

Answer 22

They have, “encroached upon many of our rights, and plagued our finances with their delays”

Question 23

What was James’ second Parliament called and why?

Answer 23

The ‘Addled Parliament’ of 1614 alludes to its ineffectiveness

Question 24

How long did his Addled Parliament last?

Answer 24

It lasted no more than eight weeks of 1614 before James dissolved it

Question 25

How did financial need cause the Addled Parliament to fall apart so quickly?

Answer 25

The failure of the Great Contract, the death of the great statesman Robert Cecil and the continued selling of Crown lands, which reduced long-term income, put financial pressure on James to call on Parliament for funds

Question 26

What was James’ debt in 1614?

Answer 26

£680,000

Question 27

How were impositions an issue in the Addled Parliament?

Answer 27

The ability of the king to levy impositions, which has been a key financial issue 1606, remained a source of conflict between the Crown and Parliament

Question 28

How did factional conflict cause the Addled Parliament to fall apart so quickly?

Answer 28

• the emergence of competing groups in politics, such as the Howard faction (supported Catholic Spain) and its counterpart, the Protestant faction caused political dysfunction
• the Protestant faction called for Parliament, which was largely anti-Spanish to attack the Howards

Question 29

How did James indecisiveness cause the Addled Parliament to fall apart?

Answer 29

James appointed no Secretary of State to represent him in the Commons until last minute, and then he picked the incompetent Ralph Winwood

Question 30

When was James’ third parliament?

Answer 30

1621

Question 31

What did the start of the 1621 Parliament focus on?

Answer 31

Parliament MPs focused on the abuse of monopolies, partly as a means of attacking Buckingham

Question 32

Why were monopolies an issue in 1621?

Answer 32

Because England was not trading as well with its partners, and monopolies had been singularly exploited by many courtiers as a means of attacking each other.

Question 33

Who did Buckingham and others encourage Parliament to impeach?

Answer 33

Buckingham with Edward Coke and Lionel Cranfield, encouraged Parliament to impeach their rival, Francis Bacon, over monopolies

Question 34

What are monopolies therefore an indication of?

Answer 34

Monopolies are an indication that the politics of this period was not necessarily a Crown-Parliament split but more about factional infighting

Question 35

How did the monarch’s prerogative become a parliamentary issue in 1621?

Answer 35

James implied that MPs could discuss foreign policy as a way to frighten the Spanish into agreeing to the ‘Spanish match,’ a dynastic marriage between Prince Charles and the Spanish princess
- believed could be a means to negotiate an end to the Thirty Years War

Question 36

How did the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War and James’ response to it put extra strain on his relationship with the Political Nation and Parliament?

Answer 36

• James saw himself as ‘Rex Pacificus’ and having secured peace with Spain in 1604, he had tried since 1618 to continue good relations with the country through the Spanish match.
• the widespread anti-Catholicism of most of the English population meant that this approach was unpopular and it was the root of opposition to James in the 1621 Parliament

Question 37

When was James’ final parliament?

Answer 37

1624

Question 38

Who was mainly involved in foreign policy in the 1624 Parliament?

Answer 38

With James ill, Charles and Buckingham were deeply involved in foreign policy

Question 39

What was the crucial issue of the 1624 Parliament?

Answer 39

Whether England should intervene in the European war

Question 40

What changed Charles and Buckingham’s views towards war?

Answer 40

Following their visit to Madrid in 1623, by which they had hoped to secure the Spanish match but had failed, both Charles and Buckingham converted to an anti-Spanish policy, leading to the start of the Anglo-Spanish war

Question 41

What undermined James’ authority in the 1624 Parliament?

Answer 41

The failure of the Madrid trip of 1623 and the common cause made by Buckingham and Charles with MPs in 1624 appeared to further undermine James’ authority

Question 42

How did MPs react to James’ push for a more aggressive anti-Spanish stance?

Answer 42

MPs were as usual reluctant to provide the necessary funds for an aggressive foreign policy

Question 43

How did James intelligently manipulate the Political Nation?

Answer 43

It’s possible that James never truly converted to a more aggressive anti-Spanish stance but appeared to be so in order to push MPs to realise that involvement in war was against their financial interests