5 Later Stuarts & Shift to Constitutional Monarchy (1678-1702)

How far was the Political Nation able to assert its influence over the Crown in the years 1678 to 1702? 

PN now significantly asserting influence over the monarchy, however the crown still remained powerful to an extent

Constitutional power - for

• Exclusion crisis 1679-81; personal rule, tory anglicans in PN supported Charles

• Glorious rev 1688; subsequent bill of rights placed formal constitutional limits on the monarchy = no standing armies in peacetime without approval and regular parls required

• Triennial act 1694; frequent elections every three years

• Act of settlement 1701; only protestants could become a monarch

Constitutional power - against

• Transformation not absolute; the crown retained prerogative powers - the right to appoint ministers, summon and dissolve parl and act as commander in chief. William had lots of power as seen by his control over foreign policy and military command during wartime

Religion

• Remained a key battleground; fears of catholic absolutism which was worsened the the popish plot 1678

• Exclusion crisis; James seen as a threat to the protestant constitution.  

• James II’s reign; issued the declaration of indulgence 1687 to suspend laws against catholics and dissenters (going against the 1673 test act)

• Toleration act 1689; granted limited freedom of worship to dissenters but excluded catholics, reinforcing the anglican church’s dominance 

• Act of settlement 1701; excluded catholics from the throne, highlighting the PN religious dominance

Finance and military - for

• William III; wars like the nine years war (1688-97) required vast financial resources that could only be raised with parl approval.

• Financial revolution; creation of the long-term national debt, the million loan act and the founding of the bank of England 1694.

• Civil list act 1697; divided personal and state finances, ensuring parl oversight of gov expenditure

• Commission of public accounts; used to monitor = prevent royal corruption and manage public spending = fiscal military state

Finance and military - against

• Charles II’s reign; parl remained essential for raising subsidies particularly for foreign policy. But avoided dependency through secret treaty of Dover when he ruled without parl = gave him autonomy  

• War; allowed William to wage larger, more coordinated wars that any previous monarch, arguably increasing the power of the crown.

In the years 1681 to 1702, how far did power shift from the Crown to the Political Nation?

• Balance of power shifted significantly from the crown to the PN

• While monarchs retained significant influence, they could no longer rule as they once had

• Glorious rev marked a turning point and by 1702 PN had become a dominant force

Constitutional power - Charles II

• In early 1680s charles II had considerable control over governance 

• Following the failure of the exclusion crisis he dissolved parl in 1681 and rule without one until his death in 1685 (11 years personal rule)

• However, he was politically reliant on tories for support and was in effect aligning with a section of the PN to maintain power, limiting his autonomy 

Constitutional power - James II

• James II also attempted to rule without parliamentary involvement but his actions such as bypassing parl laws via prerogative powers (test act) and suspending laws (used declaration of indulgence) to promote catholics provoked fear of absolutism 

• Seen during the glorious rev 1688; for the first time a monarch was removed from power by the will of the elite 

• Monarchy was now answerable to the PN, a huge change from the divine right of king

Constitutional power - PN

• Bill of rights 1689; legally constrained the crown by banning the suspension and dispensing of laws as well as raising taxes and maintaining a standing army in peacetime without parls consent. Also confirmed regular parl sessions

• The triennial act 1694; ensured no monarch could rule without parl for more than 3 yrs

• Act of settlement 1701; Future monarchs to be protestant and consent to rules limiting their political power

Religious power - Charles II

• Charles and james both attempted to assert religious policies that didn’t align with PN

• Charles while conforming to anglicanism maintained catholic sympathies 

• However, had to abandon his 1672 declaration of indulgence in favour of 1673 test act due to parliamentary pressure - early example of PN asserting control 

Religious power - James II

• Attempted to advance religious toleration using his prerogative; suspended laws that discriminated against catholics and dissenters and put catholics in key roles also reissued the declaration of indulgence 1687 and again in 1688

• Final trigger for opposition was the birth of his son in 1688 which threatened a permanent catholic dynasty 

• Led to glorious rev which his religious policies contributed to 

Religious power - PN

• Toleration act 1689 allowed freedom of worship for most protestant dissenters but not for catholics 

• Showed that religious toleration was now decided by parl 

• Test acts also remained in force, ensuring that only anglicans could hold office

• Kept PNs control over the state by excluding Catholics and most dissenters from power and the control over the religious identity of the state was passed to parl

• William supported broader toleration but was constrained by parl and had to compromise

Financial and military power - Charles II and William

• Charles II’s reign; parl remained essential for raising subsidies particularly for foreign policy. But avoided dependency through secret treaty of Dover when he ruled without parl = gave him autonomy  

• War; allowed William to wage larger, more coordinated wars that any previous monarch, arguably increasing the power of the crown.

Financial and military power - PN

• From 1688 onwards parl was essential for funding william's wars (9 years war)

• Crown could no longer raise money without parls consent due to the bill of rights, this led to the rise of the fiscal-military state

• Creation of the bank of england in 1694 and the development of national debt allowed large sums of money to be borrowed but only with parls backing

• Now have full control over taxes and expenditure

• James use of a standing army was a key concern that fuelled the glorious rev

• Mutiny act 1689 ensured standing army could only be maintained with parl consent

• The rise of political factions especially the junto whigs reflected a shift in influence = central role on shaping military and fiscal policy

• william often had to negotiate with them to secure the resources he needed 

• Political parties began to exert more influence over national direction than the monarchs personal advisors 

How far was the Political Nation able to assert its influence over the Crown in the years 1678 to 1702?

PN now significantly asserting influence over the monarchy, however the crown still remained powerful to an extent

Constitutional power

• Exclusion crisis 1679-81; directly challenged the royal succession, but 11 years personal rule and tory Anglicans in the PN supported Charles

• Glorious rev 1688

• Bill of rights; placed formal constitutional limits on the monarchy - outlawed the suspension of laws without parl consent, confirmed the illegality of standing armies in peacetime without approval and required regular parls.

• Triennial act 1694; required frequent elections every three years

• Act of settlement 1701; only protestants could become a monarch

• Transformation not absolute; the crown retained prerogative powers

Religion

• Remained a key battleground; fears of catholic absolutism which was worsened the the popish plot 1678

• Exclusion crisis; James viewed as a threat to the protestant constitution.

• James II’s reign; issued the declaration of indulgence 1687 to suspend laws against catholics and dissenters (going against the 1673 test act)

• Toleration act 1689; granted limited freedom of worship to dissenters but excluded catholics, reinforcing the anglican church’s dominance 

• Act of settlement 1701; excluded catholics from the throne, highlighting the PN religious dominance

Finance and military

• Charles II’s reign; parl remained essential for raising subsidies particularly but avoided dependency through secret treaty of Dover when he ruled without parl = gave him autonomy  

• William III; wars like the nine years war (1688-97) required vast financial resources that could only be raised with parl approval.

• Financial revolution; this huge amount of funding led to the creation of the long-term national debt, the million loan act and the founding of the bank of England 1694.

• Civil list act 1697; divided personal and state finances, ensuring parl oversight of gov expenditure

• Commission of public accounts; used to monitor this new structure = fiscal military state

• War; these changes however allowed William to wage larger, more coordinated wars that any previous monarch, arguably increasing the power of the crown in foreign and military policy.