James I and Parliament Spec Notes

Background information. Set up of Parliament:

        “Parliament was an event not an institution”, Conrad Russel,         1979

    Legislative (passes laws) - statutes passed by King, Lords,     Commons considered highest form of human law
    Conciliar (advises monarchs) - Point of contact between Crown     and localities. Bring monarchs attention to grievances of the realm

    Judicial (enforces laws) - try criminal offenders. attainder [declares     an individual guilty of treason, leading to execution], or     impeachment [trial by house of Lords due to complaint by the     Commons, removed “evil counsellors”]

    Financial (money) - parliament provides money in the form of     ordinary revenue (lands, justice, custom duties, feudal duties),     and extraordinary (in times of evident and urgent need)

James I and Divine Right - divine right, the idea that King is God’s representative on earth. allowed james to believe he was absolute [meaning he had power and authority over everything, and his view, rule and opinion were final]. james published “the true law of free monarchies”, which stated that king has duty to subjects to:

    be absolute, but not above the law

    advise good and punish the evil

    establish good laws

james particularly discusses psalm 82. this linked to the coronation oath which stated:

     maintenance and defence of religion

    execution of laws

    military defence and maintenance of order

divine right can be seen as compatible with the political systems at the time, however this theory led to conflict between the political system, people, and parliament.

James I and his financial problems

    inherited - financial issues inherited from elizabeth (elizabeth had no heirs).     inflation. bates case (1606), suggested that king should  not be able to use     impositions, however this part of king’s prerogative. land and custom duties had not     kept up with rising inflation, meaning that king unable to “live of his own”.     inadequacy of customs revenue highlighted by book of rates, which was not     updated in accordance with inflation.

    inadequacy of royal finances - outdated understanding of ordinary supply led to     decreased supply from parliament, underassessment from barons. redress before     supply [the idea of solving issues that barons faced before parliament would pay     james] decreased money from parliament as well as harming relations. evidenced by     dissolution of 1614 parliament

    extravagance - increased members of privy council from 18-48 between 1603 and     1624 [required increase of wages], increase of 200 courtiers. between 1603 and     1617, £424,469 spent on gifts, james generosity considered “too high”.

        HOWEVER - 1621 appointment of lionel cranfield as lord chancellor decreased         financial spending, due to harsh limits on james. this did not solve financial         difficulties, suggesting that extravagance was not the major cause of financial         issues

Financial Disputes:

    Great contract (1610) - king in dept, contract was suggested by earl of salisbury [lord     treasurer at time], that king give up his prerogatives in return for large sums of money.     however, parliament wanted to remove impositions, but james felt this was against     bate’s case. two week discussion, commons refused and james dissolved parliament.