James's finance

Question 1

the great contract

Answer 1

-the great contact 1610, in return for an annual grant of 200,000 from parliament and a one off payment of 600,000 to clear the crowns debts Salisbury proposed to abolish wardship , purveyance and the feudal tentures.
-after months of negotiations the commons agreed to the annual grant although they would only give 100,000 from a subsidy that had already been voted towards the discharge of the debt and James had agreed to a bill that would legalise impositions already granted but prevent him from issuing new ones without parliamentary sanction, over summer both had doubts commons couldn’t be certain that the king wouldn’t accept the grant and then continue to pocket feudal revenue and many MPS didn’t like funding the Kings extravagance

Question 2

examples of James’s extravagance?

Answer 2

• James was very extravagant with money once held a banquet for the French ambassador, Lord Hay the food alone cost 2200 480,000 in our prices, occupied 30 cooks also paid his debts off for him. Peak of 522,000 in 1614.
• Annual expenditure on royal servants and courtiers was more than double Eliz and household expenses were up 60%
• Book of bounty 1608 to help with James’ finance prohibite the crown from giving away major items such as lands customs or impositions
  didn’t work because
  • Because james gave cash instead in the last 4 months of 1610 alone he was persuaded to give away over 36,000.
  • Other reason is that no one could afford to oppose the kings wishes for as long as he valued his position.

Question 3

book of bounty?

Answer 3

1608- prohibit the crown from giving away major items like customs of impositions, james gave cash instead 4 months of 1610 alone he was persuaded to give 36,000.

Question 4

officials self interest.

Answer 4

• James was very extravagant with money James extravagance/ generosity once held a banquet for the French ambassador, Lord Hay the food alone cost 2200 480,000 in our prices, occupied 30 cooks also paid his debts off for him. Peak of 522,000 in 1614.
• Annual expenditure on royal servants and courtiers was more than double Eliz and household expenses were up 60%
• Book of bounty 1608 to help with James’ finance prohibite the crown from giving away major items such as lands customs or impositions
  didn’t work because
  • Because james gave cash instead in the last 4 months of 1610 alone he was persuaded to give away over 36,000.
  • Other reason is that no one could afford to oppose the kings wishes for as long as he valued his position.

Question 5

Who suggested the great contract?

Answer 5

Lord Salisbury

Question 6

What did the great contract suggest?

Answer 6

In return for an annual grant of 200k from parliament to clear the crowns debt salisbury proposed to abolish wardship, purveyance and the feudal tentures

Question 7

What was the end result of the great contract?

Answer 7

After months of negotiations the commons agreed to the annual grant although they would only give 100,000 from a subsidy that had already been agreed apon

Question 8

What bill was almost passed?

Answer 8

One which legalised the impositions already granted and prevent him from issuing new ones without parliamentary sanctions

Question 9

Why did the great contract fail?

Answer 9

Over summer both parliament and James had doubts, MPS didn’t like funding James’ extravagance

Question 10

When was direct collection finished

Answer 10

1604

Question 11

How much did James give away in comparison to Eliz ?

Answer 11

80k to 30k

Question 12

Why did the book of bounty not work?

Answer 12

Because James have cash instead in the last 4 months of 1610 alone he was persuaded to give away 36,000

Question 13

why did Charles start to give more to his courtiers?

Answer 13

-Eliz had given away very few, and there was a pent up demand.
-he was generous at fault and incapable of saying no to any favourite and loved to shower rewards.

Question 14

what finance did Eliz leave for the country?

Answer 14

-surplus of 90k in treasury
-debt of 400k was covered by money owed by France and the Dutch and an uncollected subsidy voted in 1603.

Question 15

how much was James in debt 3 years into his reign?

Answer 15

816,000k

Question 16

what did Elizabeth fail to do to manage her finance? and what did she need to do?

Answer 16

-she did not increase royal revenue so that it went up in line with inflation.
-instead she cut expenditure and if all else failed she sold crown lands which led to an impoverished crown.
-there was no increase of customs duties in the book of rates and no attempt to exploit crown lands.

Question 17

how did the parliamentary subsidy also fall?

Answer 17

because the local elites carried out land valuations and often under-assessed themselves and their friends.
-so fell by 130k in mid 16th cent to 55k by 1628

Question 18

how much did James spend on jewels by 1612

Answer 18

-185k

Question 19

how much moneys worth of the Crowns land had Elizabeth sold?

Answer 19

over 800k

Question 20

how much did James spend in 1614 in comparison to Eliz?

Answer 20

-eliz spent less than 300k in peacetime
-under James this figure rose to 522,000 in 1614

Question 21

example of James’s extravagance?

Answer 21

-Lord Hay, which occupied 30 cooks for 12 days, food alone was £2200, and 480k in todays prices

Question 22

how did Robert Cecil try to restrain Charles’s spending?

Answer 22

-book of bounty 1608

Question 23

what was the book of bounty?

Answer 23

-prohibited the crown giving away major items like land

Question 24

why did the book of bounty fail?

Answer 24

-James gave cash instead, last 4 months of 1610 he was persuaded to give 36k.
- no one could afford to oppose the kings wishes for as long as he valued his position.

Question 25

another reason for financial weakness?

Answer 25

military expenditure.
-ireland 1603 to 1608 600k spent on army
-money spent on maintaining English garrisons in the Netherlands

Question 26

example of officials self- interests?

Answer 26

-1609 master of the court of wards salisbury gained £1400 from a wardship which earned the crown £370
-Cranfield estimated at 90K but taxed only 150

Question 27

who proposed the Great contract?

Answer 27

Salisbury 1610

Question 28

what was the great contract?

Answer 28

in return for an annual grant of 200k from parliament and a one off payment of 600k to kill the crowns debt James would give up purveyance, wardship and his ability to create new impositions.

Question 29

why did the great contract fail?

Answer 29

-because both sides failed to trust each other, mps disliked the thought of funding the Kings extravagance

Question 30

what was Wardship?

Answer 30

• name given to the system whereby a state would be managed after the death of its owner until the heir came of age or a woman was married

Question 31

what was purveyance?

Answer 31

-the right of the court to buy provisions at a fixed prices which were well below market rates.
-open to abuse by gross abuse by corrupt officials who could buy excess provisions and sell them at a profit.

Question 32

what did James do in 1614 after no grant from Parliament?

Answer 32

-created the title Baronet
-market for titles became saturated and barony fell from 1095 to 220 by 1622.

Question 33

what was the Cockaynes scheme?

Answer 33

-William Cockayne a London Merchant wanted to break into the monopoly held by the merchant adventures for the sale of unfinished cloth to the dutch, who were Englands biggest export market in 1614 he persuaded the king to prohibit the export of unfinished cloth on the grounds it would generate employment in finishing the cloth but the opposite happened because:
-the Dutch reacted to the attempted attack on their industry by finding new sources of unfinished cloth
-unlike the merchant adventurers Cockayne and his backers did not have the resources to purchase all the cloth produced and unemployment soared in the clothing districts.

Question 34

effect of Cockaynes scheme?

Answer 34

-in 2 years exports through London went down by a third and customs revenue fell accordingly then Merchant Adventurers were allowed to resume their control of the cloth trade but never reached the high point of 1614.

Question 35

what was wrong with the Earl of Suffolk?

Answer 35

-1614 appointed Lord treasurer
-corruption surpassed anything yet seen and in 4 years built the Audley end which was said to cost at least 80k
-James said it was too big for a king but just right for a Lord Treasurer.
-while Suffolk was in control the crowns debt doubled from 500k to 900k
-was dismissed in 1618 and convicted of embezzlement.

Question 36

who was Lionel Cranfield?

Answer 36

-Lord Treasurer 1621 brought some improvement to James’s finance
-agreed that if costs fell from 42k to 20k then cranfield could keep any additional savings.
-soon made a profit of over 7k a year
-did this by attacking waste, by budgeting and eliminating corrupt and unnecessary officials and corrupt officials.
-1621 Lord Treasurer and Earl of Middlesex attempted to stop a flow to royal generosity but James was uncooperative.
-increased royal income by 80k but no lasting difference due to James’s generosity.

Question 37

how much did Cranfield cut finance in the ordnance?

Answer 37

-34k to 14k

Question 38

how did Cranfield fall?

Answer 38

-ill judged attempt to promote his nephew Brett as a favourite when Buckingham was absent in Madrid
-at Charles and Buckingham’s insistence he was impeached for corruption.