The Finances Of The Crown + Attempts At Reform Flashcards
1
Q
Why was the political nation worried about crown income?
A
- because it derived entirely from the crown, and the more funds the crown raised, the greater the possibility of the monarch becoming independent of Parliament and potentially absolutist
- Parliament therefore needed this financial dependency.
2
Q
A
3
Q
Why was finance becoming a new problem for the crown?
A
- crown’s expenditure was rising — largely due to inflation caused by rising prices between 1502-1622
- crowns income was falling, especially due to Elizabeth’s failure to reform the Crown’s major sources of income
4
Q
What were the two main consequences of the crown’s financial weakness?
A
- increasingly difficult for the crown to govern efficiently + to conduct aggressive foreign policy
- in wartime, crown had no alternative but to devise new means of raising money when forced loans were not approved by Parliament - in the political nation, the crown was intent on destroying the right of parliament to raise taxes - the crowns financial weakness thus threatened to become a serious political problem
5
Q
What did Elizabeth I fail to do?
A
- reform + update crown’s sources of income - the weakness of crown income was only exacerbated by inflation
6
Q
What did Robert Cecil propose in 1610?
A
- the great contract; In return for an annual grant from Parliament of £200,000 and the removal of debts of about £600,000, the crown would give up some prerogative income
- both crown and parliament felt they had too much to lose with this agreement - reform was therefore never attempted again under James
7
Q
How were crown expenditures reduced under James’ accession to the throne?
A
- The treaty of London in 1604 marked the end of the Anglo-Spanish war; which was a heavy financial burden
8
Q
How bad was court spending between 1603-25?
A
- court spending was double what it had been under Elizabeth
9
Q
Why were James’ lavish displays of wealth an issue?
A
- they gave the court a bad reputation ; made it seem as though they lacked priorities + also gave rise to further political tension
10
Q
What did Parliament grant James in 1606?
A
- Parliament granted James 3 subsidies to help with his debts
-However James immediately gave away £44,000 of the money to 3 of his Scottish friends - such generosities made MPs reluctant to consider a reform of the crowns finances as they feared James would just end up giving the money away to favoured Scots
11
Q
What was an Ante Supper?
A
- one of the most notorious examples of court extravagance
- involved preparation of 2 huge feasts - one was simply for display
- 1 ante supper cost £3300 by 1621
12
Q
What were the positives of James; expenditures?
A
- patronage was crucial to the political system - especially in buying goodwill for a monarch upon coming to the throne
13
Q
What did James do in 1611?
A
- he dismissed parliament, and was forced for the next 10 years to use a variety of different methods to obtain unds
-they did not raise nearly enough money and instead worked to damage the crown’s reputation - eg for example ; James’ over exploitation of the sales of honours and peerages devalued the amount for which they could be sold and further alienated the Political nation
14
Q
What was the Cockayne project in 1614?
A
- conducted during the period that James had dismissed parliament
-it was a plan to reorganise the cloth trade and a commission to prevent further building in London - the cockayne project was installed to help crown finances but instead had the opposite effect
- this is because a monopoly on the production and sale of finished cloth was granted to a London businessman called William Cockayne - but his scheme failed
- the Dutch refused to purchase finished cloth from England, resulting in a slum in the English cloth trade
15
Q
How much was the royal debt in 1620?
A
- £900,000
16
Q
Why did james recall parliament in 1621?
A
- the possibility of England’s involvement in the thirty years war after its outbreak in 1618
- parliament only voted 2 subsidies - totalling about £140,000
-MPs were reluctant to grant more due to the economic depression + they also wanted to ensure that their griviences were addressed before allowing James any more money
-MPs were fearful that James would dissolve parliament as he had done in 1611 if they agreed to grant more
17
Q
What was a huge financial issues by 1621?
A
- monopolies
-by 1621, there were more than 100 monopolies - Giles Mompesson in particular had abused his monopoly for the licensing of inns
- this abuse led to parliament further examining monopolies with James’ agreement
18
Q
What else did the examination of monopolies lead to?
A
-used as part of a factional dispute by Lionel cranfield and Edward coke to remove their mutual rival, Francis Bacon
- Cranfield and Coke impeached Bacon ; James decided to sacrifice bacon to appease the commons and prevent an attack on Buckingham, who had several relatives abusing monopolies
19
Q
What else weakened the crown’s finances between 1623-24?
A
- bad harvests
20
Q
What was the Subsidy Act of 1624?
A
- this act granted a subsidy of £300,000 to the crown for warfare. In order to gain the subsidy the crown agreed that the money would be used only for specified areas of foreign policy - supervised by parliamentary officials
21
Q
What was the Statue Of Monopolies?
A
- this act limited the crown’s abilities to grant monopolies to individuals
22
Q
Why did Charles’ approach to the Thirty Years War differ to that of his father’s?
A
-he planned to participate; due to the failure of the Spanish match and his marriage alliance with France (main opponent of Spain)
23
Q
Why did Charles’ anti-Spanish policy require a significant amount of expenditure?
A
- needed financial backing for his uncle, Christian IV of Denmark to attack the catholics through northern Germany
- financial support for the Protestant Dutch
-construction of a force of about 6000 Englishmen to be led by count mansfled - a naval attack on Spain aimed at capturing their shipments of gold from South America
24
Q
How much did Charles intend on spending on the war?
A
- £1 million
- for this, he needed the cooperation of his 1625 parliament
25
How much did Charles’ 1625 parliament grant him for the war?
- commons only granted Charles 2 subsidies - totalling of about £140,000
26
What did parliament limit upon Charles’ accession to the throne?
- the collection of tonnage and poundage for a lifetime ; instead it was only granted to Charles for 1 year
- parliament saw the limited grant as a way to gain time to discuss reform of custom duties and other matters concerning them
- the limiting of tonnage and poundage was however more aimed at Buckingham, given his title as Lord High Admiral - tonnage and poundage normally contributed to naval protection + many MPs felt he was failing at doing this
-Charles viewed the limit to tonnage and poundage as an attack on his prerogative - he began to feel as though Parliament was influenced by radials such Edward coke, who was particularly responsible for persuading the commons to vote for a limited grant
27
How much was Charles in debt by 1629?
- £2 million
28
Who was Robert Cecil?
Lord treasurer, key individual in managing crown finances
29
What was the Book Of bounty in 1608?
- an attempt by Robert Cecil to strengthen crown finances by ordering a surgery of crown lands, entitled book of bounty
- he aimed to make more money from these lands by revising the leasing policy
- this failure ; the limited nature of the crown bureaucracy and James’ continuing granting of crown lands to favoured courtiers hampered Cecil’s efforts severely
30
What did the court declare in 1606 in regards to impositions?
- Merchant john bate refused to pay the royal import duty (imposition) on currants. While it was within the crown’s prerogative to levy impositions, Bates argued that such impositions were illegal unless they had been approved by parliament
-His case was held in court, and the court declared that the crown had an absolute prerogative to issue import duties or impositions
- Robert Cecil therefore advised James that the crown had the right to levy impositions both as a source of income and as a means of regulating trade
- with this justification ; the stepping stones for the Book of rates in 1608 were laid
31
What was the 1608 book of rates?
- based on current prices
- levied impositions on 1400 items
-impositions became worth £70,000 a year after being updated by Cecil in 1608.
- became a weighty political issue - as they threatened parliamentary rights over taxation and raised the question of the crown’s need for parliament
32
Who took over crown finances in 1618?
- Lionel Cranfield
- conducted investigations into the expenses of the royal household, navy’s wardrobe and court of wards
33
How did Charles attempt to make money after parliament’s small subsidy in 1625?
- resorted to benevolence, a method through which a monarch could demand money from his subjects through his prerogative in times of emergency
-payment for this was voluntary and in 1626 , very few paid up
- led to Charles enforcing the forced loan
34
What was the forced loan of 1626?
- Charles called on the prerogative finance of a forced loan that would be equivalent to 5 parliamentary subsidies
- all those who were liable were summoned to public meetings where they were individually pressed to agree to pay
- 76 people were imprisoned for refusing to pay the loan
- only about £267,000 , 70% of the expected amount was collected
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