A2 James: finance Flashcards
The financial weakness of the Crown and attempts to reform and strengthen royal finance (109 cards)
1
Q
A
2
Q
What year did the new Book of Rates come out?
A
1608
3
Q
What was the Book of Rates?
A
It adjusted imposition rates to keep up with inflation.
4
Q
What year did the Book of Bounty come out?
A
1608
5
Q
What was the Book of Bounty?
A
It attempted to limit James’s spending on favourites.
6
Q
What year was the Great Contract proposed?
A
1610
7
Q
From what year did James start selling titles?
A
1610
8
Q
What titles did James sell?
A
Baronet, knighthood, and esquire
9
Q
Who was James’s fourth treasurer from 1617 to 1623?
A
Lionel Cranfield
10
Q
What did Robert Cecil believe about the relationship between the Crown and Parliament?
A
Cooperation was necessary.
11
Q
What year was the Great Contract proposed?
A
1610
12
Q
In the Great Contract of 1610, how much was Parliament willing to give the king annually, on the condition that James gave up some of his prerogative rights?
A
£200,000.
13
Q
Why did James dislike the Great Contract?
A
He felt it would reduce his independence and his ability to raise continual income that would keep up with inflation.
14
Q
Why did Parliament dislike the Great Contract?
A
They didn’t want to give the king too much money, which would make him more independent and less reliant on Parliament for funds.
15
Q
Why did James dissolve his first Parliament?
A
The failure of the Great Contract.
16
Q
What did Cranfield do to increase income from wardships and customs revenue?
A
He increased custom duties, raised income from wardships by 25%, and extended impositions.
17
Q
Why was the court threatened by Cranfield?
A
He got rid of corrupt officials, reduced court and royal waste, and reduced the amount of benevolences (gifts) that James gave out.
18
Q
How much money did Cranfield save for the Crown per year?
A
£150,000.
19
Q
By 1620, by what percentage had Cranfield reduced household expenditure?
A
0.5
20
Q
From what years was Lionel Cranfield Treasurer?
A
1621 to 1624.
21
Q
What year did Cranfield introduce a new Book of Bounty?
A
1619
22
Q
What declaration did James make about gifts?
A
He said he wouldn’t give land, pensions, or allowances without his authorization.
23
Q
Shortly after promising Cranfield he wouldn’t give any gifts without authorization, what unauthorised gift did James give to Buckingham?
A
A new house in 1623.
24
Q
What policy gobbled up all of Cranfield’s savings?
A
Foreign policy.
25
Why was Cranfield against war?
He said it would cost too much.
26
What four things did Cranfield do that created enemies?
Increase customs duties, get rid of corrupt courtiers, increase wardships, and make James financially independent (which upset Parliament).
27
Who was the relative Cranfield tried to introduce to James to make him a favourite?
His nephew.
28
What year was Cranfield impeached?
1624
29
What are crownlands?
A system of prerogative finance where land was leased out for rent, but the leases often did not keep up with inflation.
30
What are wardships?
The feudal right granted to the king to act as a guardian to the children of tenants whose parents died before they were old enough to inherit the land.
31
What is perveyance?
The right to buy goods for the royal household at a discount, which could then be sold for a considerable profit.
32
What is a monopoly?
The right to grant exclusive rights to buy and sell specific goods.
33
What is tonnage and poundage?
A customs duty on wine and wool.
34
What are impositions?
An import duty raised by the king to protect English trade and industry.
35
What are benevolences?
A voluntary gift, raised from individuals to improve the crown's finances.
36
What is a city loan?
A loan from London to improve the Crown's finances.
37
What is ship money?
A tax levied in wartime for coastal areas for the building of boats.
38
From 1603 to 1608, who was James's treasurer?
Thomas Sackville
39
What year was the Treaty of London signed?
1604
40
Who did the Treaty of London make peace with?
Spain
41
In 1606, how much money did James spend on three Scottish favourites after receiving a parliamentary subsidy?
£44,000
42
What was the case that challenged James's right to impose duties?
The Bates case
43
What happened in the Bates case?
Bates, a merchant selling currants, was unhappy with the impositions, but the judge ruled in favour of James.
44
Who was James's second treasurer?
Robert Cecil
45
Where did the bulk of James' money come from at the start of his reign in England?
Crownlands, prerogative and feudal rights like purveyance, wardship, and tonnage and poundage
46
Why were Crownlands less valuable during James's reign?
Elizabeth had sold off much land in her final years, and Crownlands were rented out in long leases below market value, meaning their leases didn’t keep up with inflation.
47
What issue made it difficult for James to raise money from Crownlands?
New surveys of Crownlands were overdue, and the leases didn’t keep up with inflation.
48
Was patronage popular with Parliament?
No, patronage was not popular with Parliament.
49
What could Parliament do to financially support James?
Vote subsidies.
50
What was the issue with subsidies?
They were infrequent and unlucrative.
51
What issue with the English gentry made taxes difficult for James?
Tax evasion.
52
Which two wars was England involved in at the start of James's reign?
The Spanish War and the Irish War.
53
What general issue put strain on James’s finances?
Inflation.
54
What quote describes James's extravagant and generous nature?
Too much inclined to giving.
55
In which country did James spend more, Scotland or England?
England.
56
Why did James spend more in England than in Scotland?
He had to be seen as a generous king because he was foreign, and this helped gain the trust of the English people.
57
What was the name of the extravagant entertainment that James held on special occasions?
Masks (masques).
58
By what percentage did household expenses increase from Elizabeth’s reign to James's reign?
0.6
59
Why did household expenses increase by 60% from Elizabeth's reign to James's?
James had three courts to support: Anne's, Henry's, and his own.
60
What year did James make peace with Spain, and what treaty was signed?
1604, Treaty of London.
61
What did James do in Ireland to increase finance during the war?
[No specific action provided in the original text—this section needs clarification]
62
What was the most profitable way that James generated money?
Increasing impositions.
63
How many new impositions were introduced in the 1608 Book of Rates?
1400
64
What did Robert Cecil do to Crownlands?
He sold off many Crownlands and raised rent by conducting surveys on the remaining lands.
65
Did James pay any attention to the 1608 Book of Bounty?
No.
66
What happened to trade after the Treaty of London?
Trade increased.
67
What did Parliament see impositions as?
A backdoor tax.
68
Why was Parliament unhappy with the Treaty of London?
Many Puritans disliked Catholic Spain and wanted to continue fighting, while Catholics wanted to maintain the war to defend Catholics in England.
69
Why was it a bad idea for Cecil to have sold $400,000 worth of Crown lands?
It was good initial money, but it could not be repeated, and the loss in rent from Crown lands was sorely missed. It was not renewable income.
70
From what years was the Baronet title sold?
1603 to 1629.
71
Why did the gentry and aristocracy dislike the sale of titles?
They saw the people buying titles as unsuitable, including barbers, innkeepers, and ex-criminals.
72
What was the original price of the Baronet title?
£1,000.
73
To what price did the Baronet title go down?
£200.
74
What were the total profits from the sale of titles between 1610 and 1640?
Around £500,000.
75
To whom did many of these profits from the sale of titles go?
Courtiers.
76
What was the first title James sold?
Knighthoods.
77
What did James sell after knighthoods?
The Baronet title.
78
What had James initially promised about the sale of titles?
He had promised not to sell any more than 200 titles.
79
Who was James's third treasurer from 1614?
Thomas Howard, also known as the Earl of Suffolk.
80
What was the name of Thomas Howard's extravagant house?
Audley End, said to have cost £80,000.
81
What did James say about Audley End?
I was too large for a king, it might do for a lord treasurer.
82
Was the Earl of Suffolk reliable in his role as treasurer?
No, there was widespread selling of offices, and little was done to hide this. He was corrupt.
83
What happened to royal debt with Suffolk in charge?
It rose from £500,000 to £900,000.
84
Which faction pushed through a program of financial and administrative reform, which exposed Suffolk’s embezzlement?
The Abbot faction.
85
What led to Suffolk’s corruption?
[Details unclear—context missing for "what led to corruption."]
86
What year was Suffolk charged with corruption, sacked, and imprisoned?
1618
87
How did Suffolk’s corruption impact James’s reputation?
It made him look very bad.
88
Who was Alderman Cockayne, and what was his connection to the Howard faction?
He was a city merchant and a friend of the Howard faction.
89
What was Cockayne’s big idea?
He wanted England to stop exporting unfinished cloth and instead sell finished cloth.
90
Who originally held the monopoly on cloth?
The Merchant Adventurers.
91
How much money did Cockayne give James as a bribe to remove the Merchant Adventurers' monopoly?
£10,000.
92
Why was Cockayne unprepared for the monopoly on cloth?
His associates couldn’t afford to buy the wool, didn’t know how to finish it, and had no foreign contacts to sell to.
93
By what year had the cloth trade collapsed in England as a result of the Cockayne project?
1618
94
How much money did James make the Merchant Adventurers pay to buy back their monopoly?
£10,000.
95
What year did the Cockayne project begin?
1615
96
What was a significant external factor that meant the Merchant Adventurers could never re-establish their trade to the same level?
The Thirty Years’ War.
97
What happened in London as a result of the Cockayne project?
London lost all trust in James, and loans to the Crown dried up.
98
Which country did the Cockayne project irritate?
The Dutch, who retaliated by banning the import of any English cloth.
99
What did James do to the Treasury in 1618 to try and lower court rivalry?
He put the Treasury into commission.
100
Was putting the Treasury into commission effective for ending court rivalry?
No, because it was filled with Abbot courtiers.
101
How did Bacon try to cut back on pensions?
He gave monopolies to those who had invented ideas instead of pensions.
102
What happened to Chancellor Bacon?
He was impeached for corruption.
103
Who replaced Chancellor Bacon?
Lionel Cranfield, who used to be a London merchant.
104
What are seven examples of ordinary revenue for James?
Crownland, wardship, marriage, livery, purveyance, monopolies, and justice.
105
What are two examples of customs duties that were income for James?
Tonnage and poundage, and new impositions.
106
What are three examples of occasional sources of income for James?
Benevolences, forced loans, loans on credit, and sales of assets.
107
What are three examples of direct taxes granted by Parliament that were financial income for James?
10ths and 15ths (tax on movable goods), subsidies, and ship money.
108
What was livery?
The king’s right to receive a gift of money set by him from those who inherited land from him in feudal tenure.
109
What was tonnage and poundage?
Custom duties on wine and wool, normally granted to the king for life by his first Parliament.
