The reign of James I (a) Explain briefly the financial policies of James I, (b) To what extent was finance the main problem in the reign of James I.

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Tom Hollister1/11/2003The reign of James I(a) Explain briefly the financial policies of James I(b) To what extent was finance the main problem in the reign of James IFinance was at the centre of James' disputes with Parliament. After his move from king of Scotland, James overestimated England's wealth. He spent a great deal of money on Elizabeth's funeral and when the ambassador of Spain came to England, he was sure to highlight the countries riches. Parliament did not give James more money. Consequently, he was forced to resort to impositions.Salisbury came up with a great plan called the 'Great Contract'. This meant that James would give up his feudal rights in return for £200,000 a year. However, parliament failed
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to disagree with this idea, if James had enough money to rule without Parliament, he would. This refusal may have led to major dispute. Luckily, James strayed from the idea himself as he feared that high inflation would leave £200,000 a small fee for his feudal rights.As was stated earlier, One of James' most influential problems with Parliament was finance. However, this was not the only problem that he encountered with Parliament. Some of the most influential disagreements between the King and Parliament were the Divine Right of Kings and the right of Parliament to represent public opinion. James was ...

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