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.
who was Robert Carr?
-young scot came to James’s attention in 1607
-became Earl of Somerset and was showered with money offices and titles
-1613 married Frances Howard, the Howards favoured a pro-spanish foreign policy
-the anti-Spanish faction led by the Earl of Pembroke decided to try and entice James’s favour away by introducing George Villiers who James was captivated by
what was the Overbury affair?
-Thomas Overbury was a friend and mentor of Carr.
-he opposed Carr’s marriage and so was put in the tower of London.
-the countess arranged to have him poisoned in 1613
-when it was found out the countess and Carr were found guilty of the murder, James reduced their sentence and after a few years gave them a full pardon
who was the Duke of Buckingham?
-fall of Carr led to the rise of Buckingham
-lavished gifts on him and let him to take over much of the direction of affairs.
what happened in the first session of 1621?
-country was experiencing the worst depression of the century granted only 2 subsidies of about 140k which was not enough.
-Parliament spoke of their grievances particularly about monopolies which caused inflation
-Parliament and James agreed against monopolies but was denied by the Lords
what happened in the second session of 1621?
-pressing issue was the Palatinate and securing it for Frederick with the Commons eager to see England take the lead for the Protestant cause
-James did not like Parliaments involvement in foreign policy and threatened Parliament.
-commons then entered a formal account of their privileges into their journal in a document known as the Protestation.
-when James heard about this he ripped the page out and abruptly dissolved Parliament.
what happened in the Parliament of 1624?
-Subsidy act
-statute of monopolies
- impeachment of Cranfield- Charles and Buckingham wanted to remove him because he was a strong supporter of Spain, but he still had King’s support so they used impeachment
what was the subsidy act?
-1624
-commons would give money for a war, in return for 300k the crown agreed that the money could only be used for: defence of the realm, Ireland, aid to the United Provinces and the navy. and was to be spent under the supervision of officials appointed by Parliament
what was the statute of monopolies?
-reinstatement of the 1621 bill that failed.
-no longer could James make grants to individuals as patents could not be issued except for new inventions which were held for 14 years.
-had a major flaw as patents could still be issued to chartered companies and companies, so anyone who wanted a patent just had to form themselves into a company for it to be issued legally.
