The Political Nation and the social basis of power

Question 1

The Monarch

Answer 1

The head of the Political Nation.

Remained the most important constant in the Stuart Age.

Question 2

Royal Prerogative

Answer 2

Gave them powers over:
Foreign diplomacy (as Head of State)
Declaration of War (as commander-in-chief of the military)
Legislation 
Religion (as head the the CofE)
Monarchs were almost absolutist.

Question 3

Royal Finances

Answer 3

limits on a monarch’s income prevented them from becoming truly absolutist.
Funds could only be raised through Parliamentary subsidies.

Question 4

Other groups in the Political Nation

Answer 4

The aristocracy.
The lesser gentry whose status based on land ownership.
Newer groups (lawyers and merchants) whose wealth was based on income.

Question 5

Great Chain of Being

Answer 5

idea of an ordered society set in place by God. Everyone must accept their place in society, whether they were a peasant or a wealthy arsitocrat.

Question 6

Land ownership

Answer 6

Land remained central to power and wealth as the economy remained predominantly agrarian.
Ownership of land during a population boom allowed landowners to benefit from increasing food prices.

Question 7

Other Professionals

Answer 7

Worked in the Church, medicine, music, surveying, architecture, or the visual arts.
Many, over time, used their wealth to buy land for their family to become part of the landed gentry.