The finances of the Crown and attempts at reform

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what was the key issue that raised prerogative income which worried the Political Nation?
as the money predominantly came from them and the more funds the crown raised the greater the possibility of the monarch becoming independent of Parliament and potentially absolutist
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why did english monarchs not become financially independent?
due to parliaments placing stricter limits on the money the monarchs could raise
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why was the Crown's expenditure rising?
due to inflation caused by the rising prices between 1502 and 1622
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why was the crowns income falling?
because of Elizabeth's failure to reform the Crown's major sources of income
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what was one of the main consequences of the financial weakness?
it was increasingly difficult for the Crown to govern efficiently and to conduct an aggressive foreign policy
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in 1610 what did Cecil negotiate with Parliament over?
for a major reform of the Crown's finances, the Great Contract
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In the Great Contract what did the Crown give up some prerogative income in return for?
in return for an annual grant from parliament of £200,000 and the removal of debts of about £600,000
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in 1603 what were the main sources of expenditure that kept the crown in debt?
Foreign policy and war. England had long been engaged in a military struggle with Spain
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In the 1604 Treaty of London what did James do?
made peace with Spain and thereby reduced Crown expenditure significantly
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when James I took the throne in 1603 what did he see England as?
a land of plenty in comparison to his limited income as James VI of Scotland .
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Despite the weak financial position James had inherited from Elizabeth I, what was James determined to do?
enjoy the greater wealth of his new country
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how much did court spending increase?
James spent extravagantly and was generous to is courtiers. Spending during 1603-25 was double what it had been under Elizabeth
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how was James' extravagance a political problem?
in 1606 parliament granted James 3 subsidies to help with his debts, but right away he gave £44,000 of the money to 3 of his Scottish friends
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why did his lavish displays for wealth make MPs reluctant to consider the reform that was needed?
his generosity made them worried that James would give money away, esp to his favoured Scot's
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what positive results did James expenditure have?
patronage was crucial to the political system, especially in buying goodwill for a monarch upon coming to the throne
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what did James receive to help with his debts and did it help?
despite a loan of £100,000 from the city of London in 1610, he was still desperate for money and was prepared to listen to anyone with a scheme for raising extra-parliamentary funds
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what was the Cockayne project 1614?
financial scheme used which was a plan to reorganise the cloth trade and a commission to prevent further building in London
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Rather than helping crown finances what did the project actually do?
a monopoly on the production and sale of finished cloth was granted to a London businessman called William Cockayne, but the scheme failed
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what was one of the reasons for James' determination to remain out of the war?
the weaknesses of crown finances
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what made James call on parliament for subsidies?
although he didn't want to join the Thirty Years War, the possibility of being involved in it made him call parliament
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in 1621 what did parliament vote for James?
2 subsidies, totalling about £140,000.
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why were MPs reluctant to grant him more?
due to the economic depression; they also wanted their grievances addressed before allowing James any more money. They feared that if they gave him what he regarded as sufficient funds he might dissolve parliament
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why did MPs also direct their attention to the issue of monopolies?
as James' financial position had deteriorated, he had increasingly granted monopoly rights to businessmen for a price
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by 1621 how many monopolies were there?
more than 100 monopolies
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in 1623-24 what further weakened the Crown's finances?
bad harvests
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due to finance remaining an issue in the 1624 parliament what happened?
with a subsidy act, a stature of monopolies and the impeachment of Cranfield on charge of corruption. The subsidy act and stature of monopolies both placed limits on the crown's power
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what was the subsidy act?
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, as supervised by parliamentary officials
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what was the statue of monopolies?
this act limited the Crown's right to grant monopolies to individuals
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as James was unable to obtain sufficient funds from parliament to alleviate his financial situation who did he become reliant on?
reliant on the prerogative income such as impositions and monopolies,but the use of these income sources only increased tension with the Political Nation
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what made financial reform politically impossible?
The crown and parliament became caught amid distrust and vested interest, making financial reform politically impossible. Finance remained a central parliamentary concern when Charles became the new monarch
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unlike his father what did Charles plan to do?
participate in the Thirty Years World by joining the fight against Spain, due to the failure of the Spanish Match and his marriage alliance with Henrietta Maria
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Charles anti spanish policy required significant expenditure what for?
financial backing for his uncle Christian IV of Denmark to attack the catholics through northern Germany, financial support fi the Protestant Dutch, construction of a force of about 6000 Englishmen led by German mercenary & naval attack on Spain
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what was Charles planned war expenditure?
£1 million, for this he needed the cooperation of his first parliament of 1625, but he refused to explain his position or ask for a specific subsidy
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How did the commons exhibit their distrust?
granted only two subsidies, totalling about £140,000. Rather than granting Charles the right to collect tonnage and poundage for life,as would be the usual grant for a new monarch, the commons granted this right for one year only
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what did parliament view the grant of tonnage and poundage as?
a way to gain time to discuss reform of customs duties and other matters that concerned them.
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what did tonnage and poundage normally contribute to?
naval protection and some MPs wanted to make a point that Buckingham was failing in his responsibility due to the lack of success in foreign policy
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what did Charles view the limited grant of tonnage and poundage as?
a direct attack on his prerogative, felt that parliament was too influenced by men he regarded as radicals such as Coke who was responsible for persuading the Commons to vote for the limited grant
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what did Charles expenditure on foreign policy during the period 1625-29 do?
placed even more severe strain on the Crown's finances, as well as leading to increasing tension with the political nation during the 3 parliaments of the period
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what did Charles failure to secure adequate subsidies from any of the parliaments mean?
he had to resort to prerogative methods, raising further tension with the Political nation
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By 1629 how much debt was Charles in?
£2million in debt and had alienated large sections of the Political Nation
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Largely because of James' lavish spending at court what was the
£600,000 by 1608
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who did James turn to?
his principal secretary Cecil for a solution, appointing him as Lord Treasurer to manage crown finances.
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what did Cecil sought to do?
increase income and cut James' spending. 1608 James promised to not give gifts of land, 1609 he promised not to grant any gifts or pensions without Cecils agreement he failed to keep promises
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what did Cecil also attempt to do?
strengthen royal finances by ordering a survey of crown lands, entitled the book of bounty. Aimed to make more money from lands by revising the leasing policy
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what prevented his plans in strengthening royal finances?
limited nature of the crown bureaucracy and James' continuing granting of Crown lands to favoured courtiers hampered his efforts. he resorted to short term financial fixes inc sale of crown lands and deficit borrowing
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what did Cecil advise James in 1606?
that the crown had the right to levy impositions both as a source of revenue and a means of regulating trade
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in 1608 was did Cecil issue?
there first major revision of customs duties since the 1550s his new Book of Rates, based on current prices and levied impositions on 1400 items
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in 1610 what did Cecil negotiate with parliament?
a major reform of the Crowns finances, the Great Contract
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at the beginning of 1610 what was the crowns debt and current annual expenditure?
crown debt was £280,000, current annual expenditures at £511,000
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what did Cecil hope to shock MPs into granting?
£600,000 subsidy to James to cover his debts and state expenses. Also sought an annual subsidy of £200,000 in exchange for some feudal rights James would give up
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After his first proposal was rejects, after more negations what did Cecil state?
James would accept an annual subsidy of £200,000 from parliament in exchange for his giving up a range of feudal rights including his prerogative income from wardship
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what did James dire financial need see him promise to agree to?
an act that would prevent him from levying impositions in future without parliamentary consent, he said he would need to be compensated and the act must leave untouched and impositions already in place
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what happened by November 1610?
negotiations over the court collapsed and by February 1611 James dissolved the court
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what did James do to devalue titles enabling a new hereditary title of 'Baronet in 1611?
he creates a significant number go nights when he first came to power and he allowed some of his courtiers to offer knighthoods to others at a price
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what was a title sold for and what did this establish?
sold to anyone who could pay £1095, established 200 baronets and brought in a revenue of £90,885 by March 1614
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when Cranfield in 1618 took charge of crown finances, what did he conduct?
conducted investigations into the expenses of the royal household, navy, wardrobe and the court of wards. Changes from investigation not permanent solution to the financial weakness of the crown
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in 1625 having secured a limited subsidy of £140,000 what did Charles provocatively decide?
to ignore parliament and to continue to collect tonnage and poundage after a one year parliamentary grant expired
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to make up for his financial shortfall what did Charles resort to?
a benevolence, a method through which a monarch could demand money from his subjects through his prerogative in times of emergency
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what did Charles call in 1626?
form of prerogative income that was easier to enforce called the Forced Loan
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without parliamentary finance and facing war against Spain and France what did Charles do?
called on the prerogative finance of a forced loan that would be equivalent to 5 parliamentary subsidies
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what did the method of collection of the forced loan ensure?
ensured that most of those who were liable paid up: they were all summoned to public meetings where they were individually pressed to agree to pay. Public manner of collection made any refusal to pay a very open act of opposition
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what were signs of opposition to the forced loan?
across the country 76 people were imprisoned for refusal to pay the loan, this number of open resistors was merely a reflection of the wider unrest caused by the forced loan. Only about 70% of the expected amount was collected
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what meant that Charles needed to turn to parliament in 1628 to request more funds?
Charles continued conflict with Spain and France. The political tension that had been created by his prerogative demands made parliament reluctant to cooperate with the king
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Card 2

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why did english monarchs not become financially independent?

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due to parliaments placing stricter limits on the money the monarchs could raise

Card 3

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why was the Crown's expenditure rising?

Back

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Card 4

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why was the crowns income falling?

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Card 5

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what was one of the main consequences of the financial weakness?

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