Finances and attempts at reform (S1.3) Flashcards
(37 cards)
What was the problem with Crown finances in the early Stuart period?
- Expenditure was rising, due to inflation
- Crown’s income was falling, as Elizabeth had failed to reform the Crown’s major sources of income.
What were the consequences of the Crown’s financial weakness?
- Increasingly difficult for the Crown to govern efficiently
- Crown had no alternatives in wartime but to devise new means of raising money without parliamentary consent; threatened to become a serious political problem.
What were the consequences of Elizabeth not updating the Crown’s sources of income?
Exacerbated problems that were already concerning due to sustained inflation
How much debt had James inherited from Elizabeth?
Elizabeth had bequeathed a debt of about £400,000 to her successor.
In the First Parliament, how did Parliament respond to James’ request for fiscal help?
Only part of the money that he demanded was voted, and the Commons spent much time discussing his domestic and foreign policy (which he believed was past their royal prerogative).
What did James’ see as Parliament’s only purpose?
Parliament existed principally for the collection of tax revenue.
> He need only summon it when he needs money; Parliament’s duty would then be to vote ‘subsidies’ or ‘supply’ for the King (i.e. vote to collect tax revenue for the King).
What were the financial problems in James’ Second Parliament (‘Addled Parliament’) in 1614?
James wished to raise a supply of £65,000 while the House of Commons resisted further taxation.
> Parliament saw no reason for a further grant: they saw the King’s continued debt as a result of his extravagance (especially on Scottish favourites such as Robert Car) and saw no justification for continued high spending.
How much in Crown lands had Elizabeth sold to finance war, and why did this cause problems?
Elizabeth had sold over £800,000 worth of crown lands
> Ensured that royal income was insufficient to meet the expenses of government.
What had Elizabeth failed to update?
Elizabeth had failed to update tax assessments in line with inflation, so James had inherited a tax system that was entirely unfit for purpose.
> It allowed the gentry to assess their own liability to pay tax.
How much did James spend in peacetime, compared to Elizabeth, and when did this peak?
Elizabeth had spent less than £300,000 in peacetime
> Under James this rose almost immediately to £400,000 and peaked at £522,000 in 1622.
What were the four main sources of financial weakness in this period?
James’s personality
Inherited problems
James’s sources of income
James’s expenditure
How much were Scottish favourites and English favourites recieving in an average year?
Scottish followers based in the royal court received £40,000 in total, whilst English equivalents received £10,000.
James considered it perfectly acceptable to pay off their debts using his own revenue before paying off his own debts. This is what happened in 1607 when James paid off the debts of three men at a cost of £44,000.
James set aside £25,000p.a. after the birth of Henry for expenditure solely on him.
What was an ante-supper?
- Notorious example of court extravagance
> Preparation of two huge feasts, where the first was for display and to be thrown away
> One ante-supper in 1621 cost £3,300
What expenditure did James increase between 1603 and 1610?
James decided that the royal wardrobe had to be suitably changed for a man, and increased the expenditure on royal clothing from £10,000 in 1603 to £36,000 in 1610.
What type of sales were a huge success, with it being estimated that between 1603 and 1629, £620,000 was the minimum profit made?
The sale of noble titles was a huge success.
> It has been estimated that between 1603 and 1629 that the minimum profit earned by the Crown in this way was £620,000.
Sale of what was condemned by Parliamentarians, and why?
The sale of monopolies was condemned by Parliamentarians because whilst it provided James with income, it created artificially high prices and put up barriers to trade.
What was the 1606 Bate’s Case?
In 1606 a merchant, John Bate, was taken to court for refusing to pay a duty on currants.
> Bate claimed the duty had not been sanctioned by Parliament.
> The judges decided in the King’s favour because the monarch had the right to regulate trade for the security of the realm.
What was released in 1608, in relation to finance, and what was the results and reactions?
In 1608 the Book of Rates brought in new duties known as impositions that were levied on 1400 items with no real pretence that it was in the interests of trade.
> Impositions immediately brought in an additional £70,000 of revenue a year, but the practice was widely condemned in Parliament.
What were the two measures and attempts by Robert Cecil, Lord Treasurer, to reform finance?
1608 Book of Bounty
1610 Great Contract
What was the 1608 Book of Bounty?
This was issued by Cecil in an attempt to prevent James giving away major items such as lands, customs or impositions.
> But James gave cash away instead. In the last 4 months of 1610 alone he gave away £36,000.
What was the 1610 Great Contract?
One-off payment of £600,000 and thereafter an annual grant of £200,000 from Parliament.
> Crown would surrender its feudal rights of wardship and purveyance
> Would likely have secured James a sufficient income, if it had been combined with a variety of cost-cutting measures.
What was Parliament’s reaction to the 1610 Great Contract?
- A distaste for James’ spendthrift ways and resentment that the political nation was being asked to pay for it.
> A fear that financial independence would allow James to sidestep Parliament and the political nation and impose a continental-style absolutism on the country.
Rejected it.
What was Parliament’s problem with prerogative taxation, and when did they clash with James over this?
The King collecting taxation using his royal prerogative meant that Parliament might become unnecessary.
> If he collected enough tax revenue using his prerogative, and therefore didn’t need Parliamentary supply for money, Parliament might never be called again!!
> So James and Parliament clashed in 1610 and 1614 over impositions.
In relation to finance, why did James’ First Parliament (1604-1610) fail?
Dominated by Bate’s Case and debt
> Failed over Robert Cecil’s failed Great Contract and impositions
