Parliament

Question 1

How many Parliaments did Elizabeth have in her final years 1588-1603?

Answer 1

4

Question 2

How did Parliament and Elizabeth stand?

Answer 2

She was the major power in the constitution and Parliament served her.

Question 3

What was Elizabeth’s position?

Answer 3

Held the sole right to summon and dismiss P.

The right to veto laws parliament created.

Question 4

What was Parliament’s position?

Answer 4

Sole right to grant taxation of the people for gov and E.
HOC MPs- believed sole right to introduce taxation bills- represent their voters and communities (select few voted- not masses).
To offer advice and be a link between M and their gov and the localities the HOC MP’s served.
To pass other acts (laws) to deal with trade, agriculture, poverty and vagrancy.

Question 5

Were laws often initiated by MPs? Why?

Answer 5

Yes, to promote or develop a local trade or community issue. Gov Bills were only concerned with national, often financial issues.

Question 6

What did MPs do where their was tension or resentment?

Answer 6

Made E aware when gov policies were causing tension and resentment in local areas- important role.

Question 7

Give an example where MPs were vital in making E aware of the local issues.

Answer 7

1590’s (E both a conflict S and I from 1595).
the money from local areas has to raise by order of gov to pay for trained bans of military men and local defence addition to general taxation- passive resistance and open criticism.

MPs were main voice alongside LL to make E and council aware of the people’s views.

Question 8

What are Prerogative rights and powers?

Answer 8

The historical powers of the sovereign crown to control the political system and all decisions made regarding domestic and foreign policy to the state.

Question 9

What did E think about her PP and Parliament interference? What did P think?

Answer 9

E- Like her predecessors P had no place to intrude in her decision making.

P- the PP was used too much at times to push the Crown’s demands and ignore P role.

Question 10

What happened in the 1560s regarding PP and P arguably playing a more active role Tudor Politics- background knowledge?

Answer 10

P had been concerned about the issue of the religious settlement. E required P to pass the act of settlement and her authority as supreme head of the church. She had to get support from p for the laws to pass. The Queen could not act independently of P.

Question 11

What happened to the 1560s-80s- background to playing a more active role in politics and PP?

Answer 11

P felt it had a right to voice views about the Q marriage and succession and put pressure on an alliance- the Q resented this and felt it was part of her PP to decide alone if, when and who to marry.

Question 12

What is Purveyance?

Answer 12

A traditional prerogative right. A custom to feed the royal household by purchasing food and goods at up to half the true market price.

Question 13

What was the conflict with purveyance? Give evidence.

Answer 13

Traders had no ability to refuse this traditional right and it severely damaged their income.

It had saved E approx £37,000 a year by 1590s- crucial in time of war. Good and extremely helpful for her but horrendous for the traders- loosing profit in a time of heavy taxation. Complaints and agitation by P did pressure E to compromise and increase some payments.

Question 14

Why did E use monopolies?

Answer 14

A way to show patronage and reward her courtiers by rewarding a monopoly over a product or trade or import/export arrangement.

Courtiers would pay for the honor and status of having the monopoly granted- quick revenue and important to crown as funds were low, as conflict with S went on.

Question 15

What was P issue with monopolies?

Answer 15

Argued when she granted them to her fav courtiers to create profit. Them who received could raise prices without fear of competition and goods became more expensive to buy- poorer sections could not afford. Other traders could not compete and the economic market-place became uneven and with unfair trading conditions.

Question 16

When were monopolies granted more frequently ad what on? What as he effect?

Answer 16

1590s on both luxury and basic items so a bigger proportion of goods were sold at inflated prices, distorting the economic market and economically hurting broad sections of society.

Question 17

What did Walter Raleigh and Essex have monopolies over?

Answer 17

WR- Taverns, tin extraction, sales.

E- Sweet Wines imported.

Question 18

Give examples of damaged economy because of monopolies.

Answer 18

Monopolies on essential goods damaged it as prices could not be met- steel production and salt.

Salt- 11x more expensive by 1597.
1590s- a period of economic/social hardship- monopolies made the situation worse and hurt ordinary subjects.

Question 19

What happened in the 1593 Parliament Taxation?

Answer 19

Cecil met with representatives of the HOL to instruct them to inform MPs in the C to significantly increase the amount of taxation to be raised by 2 tax subsidies.

Question 20

Why was the HOC angry in 1593?

Answer 20

Felt Cecil should not use the L to interfere and should come to them directly.
Felt should have sole control over taxation bills and what was levied to be paid as they represented the citizens who would pay the bulk of the taxes.

Question 21

What did 1593 suggest?

Answer 21

A potential breakdown in the functioning of P but PC members who also sat in the L persuaded the members of the C who protested to back down.

Question 22

Why was 1593 significant?

Answer 22

The potential for the C to assert its political rights and privileges within a monarchy. Demonstrated the increasing confidence of the HOC had to assert its influence over the Tudor State.

Question 23

What happened in the 1589 Parliament?

Answer 23

P withheld money for taxation until the M listened to P grievances. E needed taxes to defend the country- S for 4 years at this point.
The grievance was over the use of Purveyance as a Royal P.

Question 24

What did the HOC do to try to limit the use/abuse of Purveyance?

Answer 24

Planned a Parliamentary Bill.

Question 25

What did E do to tackle 1589?

Answer 25

She saw it as an attack on her RP and ordered the bill to be dropped (could veto).
C and M negotiated an she promised to reform/ reduce the Purveyance system (she did) and the commons granted the taxation request.

Diluted the protest and found an agreeable solution to both.

Question 26

What happened in 1593 over succession issue?

Answer 26

MP Peter Wentworth was trying to get other MP’s to sign up to a petition (less powerful) to to the queen, over the succession. Designed to catch her attention and make her focus on the issue of who should succeed her. Wanted to follow up with a bill- directly brought into political domain.

Question 27

What did Elizabeth think 1593-succession?

Answer 27

None of MPs business and P should not interfere.

Question 28

What did E and PC do 1593- succession?

Answer 28

PC saw it was potentially creating trouble and had PW arrested, with his supporters. Sent to tower and refused to apologize to her and so not released and died 4 yrs later. The other 4 who has sympathy were placed under house arrest for whole 1593 P session.

Question 29

What was special about Wentworth?

Answer 29

Was a Puritan who had spoken out before about the importance of p having free speech and being able to criticize the crown. Early promoter by some historians of parliamentary privilege and free speech.

Question 30

What happened in the 1597 Parliament- background knowledge?

Answer 30

Level of criticism of her gov increased and posed a more serious threat to stability.

By 1597 the social and economic condition had deteriorated steeply and was at war with S and now facing Tyrone. Felt an increased threat of invasion, the 2nd Armada’s had been stopped only by bad weather.

Question 31

What happened in P 1597?

Answer 31

HOC saw the need to free up trading and commerce to a broader range of E traders by reducing the level of misuse of the granting on monopolies.

MP’s debated between introducing a bill and a petition- chose petition.

Question 32

How did E tackle 1597?

Answer 32

By reading and promised formally promised she would re-examine all monopoly licenses. The C as in 1593 took her word, backed down and passed an extensive taxation bill to continue to fund the foreign conflict.

Question 33

What was the issue of E tackling the monopolies 1597?

Answer 33

The issue was not resolved as she did not follow through on her promise and she did very little to tackle the worst abuses.

The MPs in the C were angry and determined to directly address the lack of action in the next P called in Oct 1601.

Question 34

What was the difference in MPs in 1601?

Answer 34

A high number of MPs who were barristers/legal trained gentry at the inns of court )new professional class developing). They had experience of 1st hand of the legal problems and grievances caused by monopolies in the law court and knew those contested them could not get fair justice.

Question 35

What did the MPs 1601 want and who else was there?

Answer 35

They wanted change and were joined by 157 MPs who had sat in the last P and who resented the lack of action on monopolies by the Q.

Question 36

What did the MPs want to do 1601 and what did Robert Cecil do?

Answer 36

Introduce a P bill which would if passed directly cross E and restrict her RP.

Cecil added to the tension by telling the C not to introduce ant matters or bills related to the monopolies issue. The MP’s were furious.

Question 37

Who were the Commonwealth men and what did they stand for and want?

Answer 37

This had never happened in any other Tudor P.

Stability of P was under further threat when a group of lower gentry and citizens managed to burst into the outer P buildings to request MPs act to restrain the monopolies. Could have got to QUEEN.

People who cared for the nation state and common good of the people- making a point the monopoly system was for a select élite and it damaged the whole.

Question 38

What did 1601 show and what did E have to do?

Answer 38

A serious threat to political stability and showed the divisions between the C and the gov and P Councilors.

She had to act swiftly and carefully to defuse the situation and had to be seen taking the lead and not leave it to Cecil (already made it worse).

Question 39

What did E entitally do 1601?

Answer 39

Sent a message to the C promising some monopolies would be cancelled, others would be suspended pending investigation.

Question 40

What did E do on Nov 28th?

Answer 40

Acted to cancel 12 monopolies which had caused strongest protest- including salt, vinegar, starch (all basic commodities with wide use).

Question 41

What did E do to help legal monopoly grievances?

Answer 41

Gave royal authority for people with grievances against monopoly owners to be able to prosecute them in the lower courts (legal redress for middle ranking society against the often aristocratic monopolists)>

Question 42

What was the golden speech?

Answer 42

E met with 140 MPs and have a speech where she admitted to errors but still upheld her PR as the monarch. A finely balanced approach that combined some limited admission of fault but maintained her royal status and authority.

Question 43

How do historians view the golden speech?

Answer 43

E using political strategy and political manipulation very successfully. She appeared to be conceding a lot to the C MPs but in reality she was conceding little, Monopolies were reduced but did not disappear.

Question 44

What did the C do in return 1601?

Answer 44

Granted the taxation the gov needed- so the gov and E achieved their goal.