What problems did james 1 incounter?

Authors Avatar

Economic

The inadequacies of the financial system left behind by Elizabeth were to cause problems for both James 1 and Charles 1 and it was not until the end of the reign of Charles 11 that the monarchs ordinary revenues were really sufficient for government to operate as it wished.

The financial problems of James’ reign were caused by mainly his personal extravagance and a reduced income resulting from the sale of crown lands by Elizabeth and by James himself. This shortage of money left him at mercy of parliament, which capitalized on the situation by exerting “the power of the purse” to extort concessions from the king. In the Addled parliament of 1614, James’ refusal to give way to such pressure created an impasse in which parliament broke up without achieving nothing because the king was insisting on subsidies being voted before he would consider parliaments grievances, while parliament was demanding redress of grievances before it would supply the kings needs.

Experiments such as the personal rule of Charles 1 demonstrated that it was possible for a monarch to survive without recourse to parliament, as long as they could avoid war. Charles 11s final years gave an even more powerful indication of the strength of the monarch who had no need to call parliament.

It was war however more than anything that forced a monarch back onto parliament. This in turn gave mps the opportunity to raise other issues of concern. While matters such as exercise of the royal prerogative or religious change, may have been concern throughout the period it was only during the sitting of parliament that they could properly be brought up. The need for parliamentary finance forced a monarch to bargain and compromise, if they were to gain access to the funds that they needed.

Join now!

James 1 dissolved parliament in 1621 for intruding on his royal prerogative, but had to recall it and strike certain compromises with it to obtain tax revenues for war against Spain.

Charles 1 was force to recall parliament in 1640 because the Scots war thereby opening up the possibility of renewed conflict with them, as he attempted to gain their financial backing.

More than any other time parliament’s power during a time of war was demonstrated in the reign of William and Mary, where the crown was forced to bargain away large areas of its prerogative in return ...

This is a preview of the whole essay