AS - Level History Mr Bentley (Monarchs and parliaments 1603-49) Mind Map on The financial weakness of the Crown, created by Rebecca Birch on 11/03/2016.
THE STATE OF THE CROWN
FINANCES AND THEIR UNDERLYING
STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS
Raising prerogative income worried
Political Nation because the money came
predominantly from them. More funds
the Crown raised, the higher the
likeliness that the monarch could become
independent and therefore absolutist
This was prevented by placing stricter
limits on the money the monarchs could
raise. This meant that they continued to
be dependent on Parliament and the PN
for substantial funds
Finance became a more
serious problem for the
Crown as a result because...
Its expenditure was
rising due to inflation
caused by rising prices
between 1502 and 1622
Its income was falling because
of Elizabeth's failure to reform
Crown's major sources of
income during her reign
Consequences of
the Crown's financial
weakness were...
Increasingly difficult for
them to govern
efficiently and to conduct
aggressive foreign policy
Had no alternative but to
devise new means of
raising money when loans
weren't approved by
Parliament during wartime
THE FAILURE TO REFORM
CROWN FINANCES,
1558-1649
Elizabeth I had failed to update the Crown's
sources of income, thus leading to them
becoming exacerbated during a period of
inflation. However, monarchs thought it
politically safer to organise reforms in the
short term rather than undertake reforms
that would mean dealing with the vested
interests of the PN represented in Parliament
Severity first recognised by Robert Cecil. 1610
- He started negotiating with Parliament for
major reform, known as the Great Contract.
In return for a grant of £200,000 from
Parliament and the removal of £600,000
worth of debt, the Crown would give up
some prerogative income. BUT...both Crown
and Parliament felt that this was too much to
lose and so the Contract was refused
It took Civil War and a period of
Personal Rule for major reform to
be made to Crown Finances and
finances of the state
THE FINANCIAL
WEAKNESSES OF THE
CROWN, 1603-25
1603 - Still in debt
Foreign policy and war were
the greatest sources of
expenditure for monarchs
BUT... this was significantly
reduced when James I made
peace with Spain in the
1604 Treaty of London
1603 - James I took the
throne. Saw England as land
of plenty in comparison with
his limited income in
Scotland. Determined to
enjoy greater wealth in
England, despite the lack of
Crown reform from
Elizabeth. He spent
extravagantly, was generous
to courtiers. Court spending
during his reign was double
that of Elizabeth's
1606 - Parliament granted
James 3 subsidies to help
with debts -> he gave
£44,000 of it to Scottish
friends. This made MPs
reluctant to reform as they
worried he would just give
the money away
Positive results of his expenditure were that
patronage was crucial to the political system,
especially in buying goodwill for monarch upon
coming to the throne, and in particular given
the nature of James' accession
1610 - James received a £100,000
loan from London BUT... he was
still desperate for money and
listened to anyone who had a
method of raising funds
1611 - Dissolved Parliament, ruled
independently for 10 years. Had to
use a variety of methods to raise
money, none of which raised
enough money and thus the
Crown's reputation was ruined
One example is the Cockayne Project
(1614). Planned to reorganise cloth trade
and a commission to prevent further
building in London. Had the opposite
effect. A monopoly on the production and
sale of finished cloth granted to William
Cockayne (London businessman) failed.
Dutch refused to purchase finished cloth
from England, resulting in a slump
1617 - Royal debt was
£726,000, economy
entering depression
1620 - Royal debt
reached £900,000
THE ANTE-SUPPER
The preparation of two
huge feasts, the first of
which was simply just for
display and was then
thrown away before the
second one was
consumed. One
ante-supper in 1621 cost
£3300
JAMES' PARLIAMENT
OF 1621
James was forced to call
Parliament because of the
financial aid that they could
give him should England enter
the Thirty Years War
In the 1621 Parliament, James was only
granted 2 subsidies, totalling £140,000.
MPs were reluctant to grant more
because of the economic depression and
because they wanted James to address
their grievances beforehand. There was
also still the fear that if he had sufficient
funds, he could dissolve Parliament
Also concerned about the number of monopolies as in
his independent rule, James had increasingly granted
monopoly rights to businessmen for a price and by
1621, there were more that 100 monopolies.
Examined people who had been given a monopoly.
This was used during a factional dispute by Lionel
Cranfield and Lord Chief Justice Edward Coke to
remove Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon. They revived
impeachment, not used since 1450, whereby the
Commons could remove a Crown minister. James
sacrificed Bacon to appease Commons BUT... he
mostly did it to prevent an attack on Buckingham who
had several relatives who had exploited monopolies
THIRTY YEARS
WAR, 1618-48
Religion had divided
European states against each
other and internally since
the Reformation and
emergence of Protestantism
1618 - Series of wars between
Catholics and Protestants, mostly
in what is now Germany, which
then consisted of 329 states. The
conflict centred in this region but
it brought in a range of countries
through various alliances
JAMES' PARLIAMENT
OF 1624
1623 and 1624 -
Bad harvests
weakened
Crown's
finances further
SUBSIDY ACT - Granted a subsidy of
£300,000 to Crown for warfare. In
order to receive it, the Crown had to
agree that it would only be spent on
specified areas of foreign policy, as
supervised by Parliament officials
STATUTE OF
MONOPOLIES -
Limited Crown's right
to grant monopolies
to individuals
James' death 1625 - Still no
systematic reform. His
extravagance had made
Crown finances worse than
in 1603. Finance remained
a central Parliamentary
concern when Charles
became the new monarch
THE FINANCIAL WEAKNESSES
OF THE CROWN, 1625-29
Charles I wanted to participate in the
Thirty Years War due to the failure of
the Spanish Match and his marriage
alliance with Henrietta Maria of
France, Spain's main opponent.
However, his anti-Spanish policy
required significant expenditure...
Financial backing
for his Uncle
Christian IV of
Denmark to attack
Catholics through
northern Germany
Financial
support for
Protestant
Dutch
Construction of a
6000 strong force of
Englishmen to be led
by Count Mansfeld, a
Germany mercenary
A Naval attack on
Spain aimed at
capturing
shipments of gold
from South America
Charles planned war expenditure of £1 million.
Needed subsidies from Parliament but refused to
tell them why he needed the money, so they
would only grant him two (£140,000). They also
only granted him the right to collect tonnage and
poundage for a year, rather than for life, as a
way to gain time to discuss customs duties BUT...
Charles saw this as a direct attack on his
prerogative. Felt that Parliament was
two influenced by radicals, like Edward
Coke. Following two Parliaments (1626
and 1628) were no more persuaded to
grant Charles more money
The expenditure on foreign policy
between 1625 and 1629 further strained
Crown finances. Led to increasing tension
with the PN during 3 Parliaments.
Charles' failure to secure subsidies meant
he turned to prerogative forms of
income, raising further tension with PN
1929 - £2 million
worth of debt,
large sections of
the PN had been
alienated by
Charles