James's political system in England and Parliament Flashcards
what is the kings prerogative?
the kings power to act on his own authority without reference to others. included control of foreign policy war and peace, regulation of overseas trade and pardoning of criminals.
who was head of the political system?
- the king
what did the king have control of?
- policy, distribution of offices, gifts like money and land.
who was the head of the church?
-sovereign, and so had the authority to change religious practice
how was the highest law created?
-common law courts, to change these you needed a statute (law passed by parliament)
what is the divine rights of kings?
-right that monarchs derived their power from God and were only accountable to him
how was the court divided?
public outer chamber and the privy inner bed chamber
what was patronage?
- a young person would require a person of a more favourable position and gift him and serve him and in return the patron would advance his interests.
what happened in parliament?
policies are explained and approval sought, serious disquiet was expressed if necessary and policies were modified.
when was the king most powerful?
-when parliament was in session because the king in parliament could enact statute laws obtain additional taxes from his subjects
what happened in the first session of the Parliament of 1604?
-first a dispute over the Buckinghamshire election.
-then James talked about a union when Parliament hate the Scots
-failure of union which he seeked until 1610 caused him to lose faith in the commons
what happened in the second session of 1604?
-due to meet on 5th of Nov 1605 but stopped by Gunpowder Plot
-met Jan 1606 and Parliament was relieved that they weren’t killed so they forgot about their doubts of James’s extravagance and gave him the largest peacetime sum of 400k
what happened in the final session of the 1604 Parliament?
-largely taken up with negotiations over the Great contract with neither side feeling that the other would stick to the agreement.
what happened in the addled Parliament of 1614?
-discussed impositions due to lack of agenda
-when one MP demanded that Scottish members of the bedchamber should be sent home James dissolved Parliament after lasting only a few weeks.
-because they made no supply and did not pass any legislation it is called the addled Parliament
1610-21 who were James’s favourites?
-George Villiers and Robert Carr
-they dominated Parliament and their connections and influence determined the policy of the court.