Relations And Disputes With Parliament 1604-29 Flashcards
1
Q
What was James’ attitude to parliament, parliamentary privilege, finance, religion and foreign policy?
A
- strong belief in the divine right of kings
- in a speech in 1610, he argued” the state of the monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth”
2
Q
When was James’ first parliament?
A
-1604-11
3
Q
What was the 1604-11 parliament characterised by?
A
- the relationship between James’ prerogative and parliamentary privilege
4
Q
What is parliamentary privilege?
A
- legal immunity enjoyed by members of parliament that allows them to freely speak during proceedings without fear or legal action, such as being arrested for raising controversial questions or debates
- this enables parliament to function effectively as a legislative body to the monarch
- by 1603, MPs could legitimately regard their privilege as theirs by right, although the origins, nature and scope of them were matters of debate
5
Q
What was the 1604 Buckingham Election?
A
- MPs learned that the election for Francis Goodwin as MP had been annulled by the court of chancery on the grounds that he was an outlaw
- john fortescue was put in Goodwins place
- many saw goodwins replacement by fortescue as a royal interference
- after hearing the goodwins case and determining that he had not been legally outlawed, the commons voted to reinstate Goodwin
- James however believed that the commons were acting illegally by allowing an outlaw to sit as an MP + he asked them to confer with the House of Lords
- James made the situation worse by not restricting the debate to narrow legal limits - and instead chose to tell the commons that all disputed elections ought to be decided by the court of chancery, not the commons
- James therefore made the issue of the Buckinghamshire election a matter of constitutional dispute over balance between his prerogative and parliamentary privilege
- James asserted his defence but still required harmony within the political nation, therefore he dismissed both candidates and called for a new election
6
Q
What was Shirley’s case in 1604?
A
- MP Thomas Shirley was arrested for debt
- his arrest upset MPs who were keen to establish the parliamentary privilege of freedom from arrest while parliament was sitting (except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace)
- to assert their point, parliament sent the governor of the fleet debtors’ prison, where Shirley was held, to the Tower of London to be released
7
Q
What dominated the session for the 1606 parliament?
A
-the union of Scotland and England
- finance
8
Q
What did James hope to gain through unifying Scotland and England?
A
- part of James’ design for his new kingdom to be secure internally and to have peace with Europe
- there was immediate intense opposition to the name “Great Britain”
- there was concern that the new state would abolish English laws, since the king as the source of law could simply rewrite the laws and give himself the authority to exercise absolutism
9
Q
What did James try to impose through his attempt at unification?
A
- that his new title would be “king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith”
- that a new currency for the united country would be issued - to be called ‘unite’
- that all ships were to carry the new union flag
10
Q
What were the MPs reaction to James’ attempt at unification?
A
- English MPs displayed radical intolerance
- expressed distaste for the Scottish parliament
- James’ plan for unification collapsed due to parliamentary opposition
11
Q
What other issue led to the dissolution of James’ first parliament?
A
- failure to reach a parliamentary solution to the crown’s financial difficulties
- negotiations over the great contract further alienated James from parliament
- however, despite dissolution, the attachment of the political nation to the monarch and old constitution was still strong by 1610
12
Q
What was the 1614 addled parliament?
A
- alludes to its ineffectiveness
- lasted no longer than 8 weeks
13
Q
Why did the 1614 parliament fall apart?
A
- financial need:failure of the great contract, the death of 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 (debt was £680,000 by 1614)
- the ability of the king to levy impositions was an ongoing issue since 1606 + caused conflict
- factional conflict: the emergence of competing groups in politics, such as the Howard faction, and its counterpart, the Protestant faction also caused political dysfunction
14
Q
What was the main issue during the 1621 parliament?
A
- start of parliament ; MPs focused on the abuse of monopolies, partly as a means of attacking Buckingham
- monopolies were an issue because England was not trading as well with its partners + monopolies had become a source of exploitation as a means of attacking each other -eg Buckingham with Edward coke and Lionel cranfield to impeach their common rival,Francis bacon
- monopolies were an indication that the politics of this period wee not necessarily a crown-parliament split, but also a factional infighting
15
Q
Why was foreign policy an issue during the 1621 parliament?
A
- foreign policy was considered part of the monarch’s prerogative, and there parliament had no right to discuss it
- the turning point was in 1621 when James implied that MPs could discuss foreign policy as a way to frighten the Spanish into agreeing to the Spanish match (James knew that a lot of MPs would oppose this and call for war)
16
Q
Why was james so fixated on the Spanish match?
A
- he believed it could be a means to negotiate an end to the thirty years war
17
Q
What was the thirty years war about and how did it impact James?
A
- broke out in 1618
- triggered in part by the election of a German catholic prince to the position of king of Bohemia in 1617
- traditionally, the holy roman emperor would be elected to this position as it was believed to be his right
- however ; Protestants rebelled against emperor Ferdinand Habsburg (Catholic) and offered the crown to Frederick of the palatinate, who accepted it
- this was an issue for James because Frederick was married to his daughter, Elizabeth
18
Q
What major thirty years war battle took place that forced princess Elizabeth and prince Frederick into exile?
A
- battle of white mountain, October 1620
- the Spanish and Ferdinand’s imperial army occupied the palatinate - which was a key geographical area that provided the Spanish a route to attack Protestant kingdoms, such as the Dutch republic
- James therefore had both a religious reason to intervene and a dynastic one
- but despite pressure form parliament, James still decided to attempt negotiating for peace
19
Q
What did the commons produce in December 1621?
A
- a petition opposing the Spanish match
- in response, James firmed that foreign policy was part of his prerogative and not up for discussion
- this provoked a protestation from the commons claiming that it was parliaments “undoubted birthright” to discuss foreign policy
- James used his prerogative to rip up the document and dissolve parliament
20
Q
What happened during the 1623 Madrid Trip?
A
- Charles and Buckingham travelled to Spain to help complete the Spanish match
- they received poor treatment by the Spanish at court due to anti Protestant sentiment
-by the time Charles and Buckingham had returned to England, they have converted to favouring war against Spain
21
Q
What agreement was signed in 1624?
A
- for Charles to marry the French princess, Henrietta Maria
- this aligned England with Spain’s main rival, France
22
Q
What happened during the 1624 parliament?
A
- Due to Jame being ill, Charles and Buckingham were deeply involved in foreign policy
- the crucial issue remained whether or not England should intervene in the 30 years war
- James’ authority began to be undermined due to Charles and Buckingham agreeing with the MP’s pro-Spanish war stance
- this was ironic because the MPs were reluctant to provide necessary funds for an aggressive foreign policy when James finally decided to take a tougher approach towards Spain
23
Q
What was the relationship between crown and parliament like by 1625?
A
- still relatively strong - the relationship was working and had not yet collapsed
24
Q
What was the state of relation between Charles and parliament in 1625?
A
- the themes of finance, foreign policy, religion + favourites remained central to political discourse + but pressure was added with a king who was determined to wage war + was much less inclined to compromise over his prerogative
-these aspects of Charles’ rule damaged crown-parliament relations more than any statement or action of James ever did
25
When did Charles call his first parliament?
- 1625
26
How much did Charles plan for war expenditures + why did parliament not grant him this?
- £1 million
- Charles failed to adequately explain his position to the House of Commons, so they only granted him two small subsidies
27
What else did parliament refuse to give to Charles which deepened early issues?
- only gave Charles the right to collect tonnage and poundage for a year
- Charles ignored this and just continued to collect t+p
28
What else was a source of tension during the 1625 parliament?
- favourites, particularly Buckingham due to the enormous influence he held under James - his power was extended under Charles in the 1620s
- Arminianism : parliament attacked Charles’ support of the Arminian cleric, Richard montagu
29
Who did Charles appoint as royal chaplain in 1625?
- Richard montagu
30
How long did the 1625 parliament last?
- only two months
31
What happened at Cadiz in 1625?
- troops for the German mercenary count Mansfeld were raised by force and shipped to the Netherlands with no training +limited equipment
- out of 6000 troops, 4000 died of disease and starvation
- English fleet failed to take the Spanish port of Cadiz or capture the Spanish treasure fleet
- this was a particular failure for Charles ; the fleet was carrying gold from South America + the failure to capture it meant Charles had to call another parliament for finance - this provided the backdrop for the 1626 parliament
32
What happened during the 1626 parliament?
- Charles immediately antagonised the 1626 parliament by asking anti-Calvinist William laud to preach in the opening sermon
- Charles and his supporters had began to take steps in removing opposition - eg Edward coke and Thomas wentworth had been removed by ensuring they were picked as sheriffs (sheriffs were responsible for organising the polls and therefore could not stand for election)
33
Who else did Charles arrest during the 1626 parliament?
- figures opposing Buckingham - eg Lord keeper John Williams and the Earl of Arundel
34
Who did parliament blame for the failure of Cadiz?
- Buckingham because he was lord high admiral
35
Why did Charles blame parliament for the failure of Cadiz?
- their failure to provide adequate funding
- MP’s reluctance to provide subsidies was perhaps a sign that their calls for war were merely rhetoric - MPs did not want to approve huge sums needed to win the war against Spain and preferred to think in terms of limited and therefore cheaper naval engagements
36
Why else was Charles antagonist towards the 1626 parliament?
- MPs started impeachment proceedings towards Buckingham
- MP John Eliot directed the attack on Buckingham in the commons
- the earl of Bristol was threatening to both Charles and Buckingham - he was there during the 1623 Madrid trip and knew that Charles had bribed Spanish courtiers and promised to offer concessions to catholics in England if the Spanish match was secured
- earl of Bristol was charged with treason - but he offered evidence to the lords that persuaded them to charge Buckingham with treason instead
37
What was Charles’ response to the lords agreeing to charge Buckingham with treason?
- he undiplomatically threatened parliaments future existence “as i find the fruits of them good or evil, they are to continue or not to be”
- the statement alluded absolutism
38
Who were the Huguenots?
- french Protestants who were a persecuted minority
- as a result of Charles’ marriage alliance to France,he agreed to assist the french in crushing the Huguenots at La Rochelle by lending 8 warships
-supporting this attack was far from popular with parliament as they were both anti catholic and anti french
39
What happened at La Rochelle in 1627?
- Buckingham was in charge of Charles’ reversal of the crown policy by aiding the Catholic french monarch against the Huguenots
- the policy reverse was useless - Louis XIII had already made peace with the Huguenots
- only 2989 out of 7833 soldiers returned
- Buckingham attack signalled that Britain was now a war with both Spain and France - all of Charles’ funds had now been spent
- he therefore had to call another parliament
40
When was Charles third parliament called?
- 1628
41
What happened during the 1628 parliament?
- at the start of this parliament, the commons seemed willing to compromise - this was helped by the fact that Charles allowed his Secretary of State, John Coke, to community with MPs rather than doing it by himself and causing more unrest
42
What did parliament agree to do in 1628 if the following grievances were addressed?
- agreed to grant Charles 5 subsidies if these issues were addressed:
-taxation : the illegality of extra parliamentary taxation eg tonnage and poundage
- billeting: troops were raised for war in Europe and were lodged temporarily with local populations in the southwest - billeting was somewhat known as “free quarter” because civilians had to house and feed the soldier. The promised payment for this did not often materialise.
- martial law: in order to stop the soldiers billeting in the southwest from becoming out of control, martial law was imposed- this law felt too much like absolutism for much of the gentry + the commons wanted it addressed
- imprisonment without trial: related to the five knights case + those who had been imprisoned for opposing the forced loan
43
What was the five knights case in 1627?
- 76 people were imprisoned for refusing to pay the forced loan
- 5 of the main resisters prompted Charles’ imprisonment of them by claiming a writ (court order) of habeas corpus - meaning thy had to be tried for an offence or else be released
- Charles took them to trial + a judgement upheld Charles’ prerogative to imprison without trial those who refused to pay the loan
- however. That judgement was not a general right for Charles, he was only allowed to imprison without a reason in this particular case - but Charles allowed one of his leading legal officers to falsify the legal records in the case’s judgement to state that the king had a general right to imprison people without showing good reason
44
Why did the fie knights case amplify crown-parliament tensions?
-the commons’ opposition to Charles became bitter when they found out about his underhanded action in faking the judgement in the case records
- in response, MPs were united in demanding action to prevent this from happening again
-extreme criticism of this eg John Eliot suggested creating a bill of rights
- however, parliament proceeded with the less aggressive petition of right, drafted mainly by Edward coke
45
What was the 1628 petition of right?
- a response to the concern that Charles could not be trusted to rule by the unwritten constitution
-4 main points reflected in the petition:
1) parliament needed to consent to taxation
2)people could be imprisoned only if just case was shown
3) the imposition of martial law on the population was illegal
4) the imposition of billeting on the population was illegal
46
What was the result of the petition of right?
- Charles accepted under the threat of further parliamentary proceedings against Buckingham + because he was desperate for funds for his foreign plicy
- however - Charles’ first reply to the petition did not use the traditional form of royal assent to bills- which denied the petition the force of law - but the commons insisted on the correct response
- but Charles’ handling of the petition once again raised the question on whether or not he could be trusted
47
What did Edward coke refer to Buckingham as?
“ the cause of all our miseries”
48
What happened in the June 1628 remonstrance?
- the commons viciously attacked Buckingham’s foreign policy failure
- a week later, the commons issued another remonstrance which attacked Charles’ continued collection of tonnage and poundage even though it went against the petition of right
- parliament’s deliberation on this topic were cut short hen Charles temporarily suspended the body the next day so he could continue collecting T+P
49
When was Buckingham assassinated?
- august 1628, by john Felton
50
