statute law and parliamentary privilege

Question 1

statute law

Answer 1

• well established in the tudor period
• laws passed by parliament could only be changed by a future parliament
• parliament had the sole right to pass laws ans they had to be obeyed by everyone in England

Question 2

break from Rome 1530s

Answer 2

• brought about change to the importance of statute law
• use of parliament to grant royal supremacy (although netiehr cromwell nor henry wanted to act like parliament did do so) set a precendent for future monarchs to refer back to parliament when changing the rekligious settlement of the 1530s - Mary and Elizabeth
• gave parliament power over religious matters as well

Question 3

‘Crown-in-Parliament’

Answer 3

• most powerful insitutioj in the realsm was the King/Queen acting in conjucntion with the parliament rather than without it
• Crown in parliament had authority over the Church but the Crown did not

Question 4

parliament’s power overtime

Answer 4

• each time a monarch went back to parliament, it gaind more power though it was never more powerful than than the monarch
• parliament gained the right to legislate on religious change and on royal succession by the end of the period
• Led MP’s to believe they were free to discuss religious policy and the succession in parliament even though this was a privilege which Elizabeth tried to deny them

Question 5

Parliament’s rights and privileges

Answer 5

• MPs could not be arrested for debt and could not be prosecuted in the lesser law courts while they served as MPs
• freedom of speech - MPs could speak freely as long as they did not mention parliamentary proceedings outside the house
• parliamentary managers - led to potential tension between parliament and the monarchy over the extent of the commons’ freedom
• Thomas More - 1523 - requested Henry 8 to allow MPs to speak freely - request was accepted allowing parliament to restrict the amount of taxation that Wolsey was granted

Question 6

parliamentary managers

Answer 6

• placed in the commons by the monarch - informed the ruler of what was being said - led to tensions between the commons and the monarch regarding parliamentary freedoms

Question 7

consequences of parliamentary managers

Answer 7

• actual opposition was rare

- patronage meant there was always a group of nobles obedient to a powerful patron

Question 8

by elections

Answer 8

• introduced by Cromwell in the 1530s
• when vacancies had arisen during a parliamentary session, they could be filled
• allowed the monarch and their ministers to manipulate who was elected
• eventhough those MPs who werent under patronage were likely to do as they were told due to a natural deference to their social superiors

Question 9

1555 parliamentary revolt

Answer 9

• Mps refused to accept a bill which would have confiscated lands from those exiled from england(mostly reformers)
• MPs saw this to be an attack of their landowning rights
• Sir Anthony Kingston (Gloucestershire MP) locked the doors to the house and forced the speaker to take a voter defeating the bill before Mary could gather any additional support

Question 10

parliament under Elizabeth

Answer 10

• MP’s felt their views should be heard about her marriage, the succession and religion
• E was usually able to suppress these challenges with the help of Cecil and Walsingham

Question 11

Peter Wentworth

Answer 11

• 1576 - made a speech attacking E’s attempt to control discussions in the commons - used traditional ideas of parliamentary privilege to justify his attempts to challenge the religious settlement
• parliament was embarrassed by Wentworth’s outburst and imprisoned him for a month

Question 12

Parliament and taxation under Elizabeth

Answer 12

• 1593 - commons agreed to a bill that would allow for two subsidies to be raised but ina meeting w reps of the Lords were told by Cecil that they should reconsider the amount as it was not enough
• MP’s were angered - felt that the commons should have the sole right to initiate a taxation bill and the Lords should not intervene
• MPs felt they represented the maj. of the ppl would would pay sop they should be charge of decisions about taxation
• councillors in the lords managed to calm down the commons and then granted the subsidy that the lords had asked
• demonstrated the increased confidence of the commons - demonstrated th needs for commons to be managed carefully
• parliaments did end up doing what was asked of them though by the end