Finance during personal rule

What is fiscal feudalism?

It was a way of structuring society around the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. It was kept alive to bring in revenue.

How much debt was Charles in by 1629?

£2 million

What was the debt largely due to?

Involvement in the Thirty Years' War.

What were the prerogative forms of income? (6)

Monopolies, impositions, wardships, purveyance, sale of titles and tonnage and poundage.

What was the problem with wardships?

It was seen as corruptive as the Crown was often criticised for exploiting the vulnerable.

What was the increase in income from levying recusancy fines?

Income rose from £5300 per annum in the late 1620s to £27,000 in 1634.

What was the increase in income from wardships?

Increased by 1/3 to £75,000 a year, and so did opposition.

How did Charles manage to obtain income from monopolies despite the 1624 act?

He exploited a loophole in the 1624 Monopolies Act.

How did Charles manage to bypass this act (1624)?

He used the Court of Star Chamber to legitimise the granting of monopolies.

How much money did Charles earn from customs duties before 1635?

£270,000 a year

When was the new Book of Rates passed?

1635

How much revenue did the Crown receive from customs duties (due to the new Book of Rates?)

£425,000 in 1639.

What was the role of William Noy?

He was Attorney General and he searched English history to find forgotten laws and lapsed practices that could be exploited to raise revenue.

What were fines for breaching building regulations?

Ancient laws to prevent towns spilling out beyond city walls were rediscovered - used to fine property developers.

What was the criticism for these laws?

Interpreted as a method of exploiting the growth of London - threatened livelihoods.

What was the 'distraint' of knighthood?

It stated that people who held land, generating more than £40 a year in income and had not received a knighthood at Charles' coronation had to pay a fine.

How much money was raised through prosecuting people who refused to take a knighthood (and refused to pay)?

£175,000 by 1635.

What was another method of raising money from people who rented land from the Crown?

Fines were levied on those who lacked a clear title to the land or they could not prove that they had continuously occupied the land for the previous 60 years.

Revival of royal forest rights

Charles reasserted this, stating that they belonged to the monarch, prohibiting access by both landowners and commoners.

How much money was raised from imposing fines on major landowners?

Around £40,000 (in the 1630s).

What was the effect of Charles' asserting royal forest rights?

There was opposition amongst the commoners because many depended on forest lands as part of their income (access to timber and grazing lands).

Evidence of opposition to royal forest rights

Between 1626 and 1632, commoners rioted in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Leicestershire.

What was an enclosure?

The process of enclosing a number of small landholding to create one larger farm - became restricted to the owner and was no longer for communal use

What did Charles do about enclosures?

He decided to prevent it so that he could impose fines on enclosing landlords - thereby increasing the Crown's revenue.

How many landlords were fined for enclosure (and when)?

600 between 1636 and 1638.

How much debt was the Crown in by mid 1630s?

£1 million and income exceeded expenditure.

What was ship money?

It was a tax which could be levied without the approval of Parliament, often levied in times of emergency (to fund the navy).

When was it announced that ship money would be levied in coastal areas?

October 1634

How much income was raised from ship money?

It raised £200,000 per annum between 1635 and 1638.