Ship Money extended to inland counties

Question 1

Ship Money extended to inland counties:

Date

Answer 1

1635

Question 2

Ship Money extended to inland counties:

Summary

Answer 2

Charles introduced Ship Money as an annual tax and levied it across the entire country. This greatly increased its value.

1634: First year of the levy carried out in the traditional way- provoked little comment.

1635: Repeated and extended to the inland countries.

1636: Become an annual tax.

Question 3

Ship Money extended to inland counties:

Causation/Background

Answer 3

Levying of Ship Money for the upkeep of the navy was not new.

• Was a demand for payment of an amount set by the gov.
• Collected by the county sheriffs, normally from the counties that lined the coasts.
• Most monarchs had levied Ship Money once or twice during their reign.

Question 4

Ship Money extended to inland counties:

Consequence

Answer 4

Was eventually worth about £200,000 a year to the Exchequer.

As it had become an annual tax and was extended to the inland counties, it had the capability of providing a regular income that was independent of any parliament.

Question 5

Ship Money extended to inland counties:

Significance

Answer 5

If the king had no need of parliamentary grants, then he had no need of parliaments. Even if they were called, they would have little power to influence the government since it was controlled centrally by the monarch.

• As early as 1610, MPs had remarked that the main reason for summoning parliaments was to obtain money and that, if that need ceased, it was unlikely that parliaments would survive.