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51 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How does historian Hirst describe the early seventeenth century? |
Hirst sees the early seventeenth century as one of growing social and economic change, particularity in the metropolis of London, and this change helped bring about the crisis that most marks the Stuart Age- civil war and revolution. |
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Describe society in early modern England |
While England was still an agricultural economy dominated by a small elite group of landowners, there were developments in trade and industry. |
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What does the term 'Political Nation' refer to? |
Those people in early modern Britain who had economic, political and social influence. |
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What bought tensions in the Political Nation to breaking point? |
The developments in trade and industry, combined with religious developments. |
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What lay at the root of the Political Nation's influence? |
Economic standing, predominately based on land ownership. It was their wealth that gave them their political and social power. |
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Who was the head of the Political Nation? |
The monarch. |
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Quote historian Kishlansky on the monarch's postion |
The institution of monarchy remained the most important constant throughout the Stuart Age, as Kishlansky stresses 'atop the political hierarchy.' |
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What was the significance of personal monarchy? |
The characters and personalities of each monarch did much to shape the period and the monarch's relationship with the rest of the Political Nation, particularly though the institution of Parliament. |
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Describe James I (reigned 1603-25) |
James Stuart became King James VI of Scotland in 1566. In 1603, when Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch died, James succeeded to the English throne as King James I, having a claim through Margaret Tudor. A successful ruler, James was pragmatic and practical enough to work with Parliament. However, he did dissolve Parliament several times through frustration. |
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Describe Charles I (reigned 1625-49) |
Charles was the younger son of James I, with whom he had a strained relationship. His older brother, Henry, was viewed as a model prince by the English political elite, but he died aged 18. Charles became heir to the throne at 11. He was temperamentally unsuited to kingship and was unprepared for the role. He did not get along with Parliament. |
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Describe Charles II (reigned 1660-85) |
The eldest son of Charles I spent his formative years in exile in mainland Europe after the defeat and execution of his father. Restored to the throne in 1660 as a result of the collapse of the post-Cromwellian regimes, Charles II's main goal was to remain on the throne. Similar to his grandfather in his sociable nature, Charles II was also a pragmatic king. |
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Describe James II (reigned 1685-88) |
James II was Charles II's younger brother. Like his father he was principled and stubborn, and this underpinned his political feelings. It was James' Catholicism and his determination to establish his religious values as a dominant political force that sparked a revolution against him. |
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Describe William III (reigned 1689-1701) and Mary II (reigned 1689-94) |
William of Orange was a Dutch Protestant whose claim to the English throne was through his wife, Mary, the eldest daughter of James II. The Political Nation invited William and Mary to take over from James II to protect Protestantism and the strength of its influence. |
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What was prerogative? |
The power of the Crown, derived from the idea that the divine right to rule is given by God to monarchs. |
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List the main prerogative powers |
-Foreign policy (Head of State) -Declaration of War (Commander-in-chief) -Legislation (right to call & dissolve Parliament) -Religion (Supreme Governor of C of E) |
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What was meant by 'absolutist'? |
A monarch that could rule freely with unrestricted political power. |
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What prevented the monarch from becoming absolutist? |
Finance, the limits on the monarch's income prevented them from becoming truly absolutist. A century of inflation meant that English monarchs increasingly found their income could not meet their expenses, especially in relation to foreign policy and international diplomacy. |
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What was the only way to raise substantial funds? |
Parliamentary subsidies, a form of economic support for a particular undertaking. In this case, a sum of money to promote or aid Crown policies, such as warfare. |
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How were subsidies raised? |
The Crown subsidy came in the form of parliamentary taxation, with a tax on land and other forms of property. Because only the wealthy had to pay a parliamentary subsidy, they had a vested interest in not granting them to the monarch. |
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Who did the Political Nation represent? |
Although in theory members of Parliament represent all people in the area in which they had been selected, in reality they tended to represent only the concerns of the voters who had selected them- the landed aristocracy and gentry, as well as wealthy lawyers and merchants. |
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What was the impact of limited subsides? |
Monarchs were forced to exploit their prerogative income, which was money received due to their position as monarch. |
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List the main forms of Crown income |
-Crown lands (leases on fixed rent) -Custom duties (taxes from imports; sell the right to tax) -Feudal dues (control land of heir until 21 years) -Parliamentary subsides (funds approved by Parliament) |
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Why did prerogative income raise concerns? |
If a monarch became finally self-sufficient, then they could establish themselves as absolute, meaning they did not need Parliament at all. |
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What was a central issue of tension between Crown and Parliament? |
Finance. |
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What was another limit on the development of absolutism? |
The monarch needed the Political Nation to help control the general population. The Crown did not posses the force or civil service to impose its will independently; it had fewer than 2000 paid officials. |
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Why did the Crown rely on the Political Nation? |
To ensure that both central and local government could function. For example, the Justices of the Peace, who were chosen from the ranks of nobility and gentry, enforced the Crown's will in the localities. |
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What was the Political Nation responsible for? |
Collecting taxes, training the militia, enforcing laws and conducting trials. |
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What was the unwritten constitution? |
Rather than a written constitution that documented the rules by which the state was run, the country had a constitution that was a mixture of parliamentary laws, the common law, and documents such as Magna Carta, as well as tradition and custom. |
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What was the impact of the unwritten constitution? |
The nature of the country's constitution was part of the reason for the blurred nature of the English political system during the Stuart Age. |
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What was a disadvantage of the unwritten constitution? |
It was open to interpretation, but this was also its advantage. In a society that valued consensus, the ability to interpret the constitution in different ways enabled compromise. |
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How was the structure of society disproportionate? |
The king and the Political Nation were in the minority compared to the rest of the population, but exerted an unbalanced amount of power. |
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Quote historian Wrightson on the Political Nation |
The Political Nation was composed of "an elite of wealth, status and power, internally differentiated and yet united by their shared interests as substantial landowners and agents of government." |
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List the social groups within the Political Nation |
-Aristocracy -Lesser gentry (status based on land ownership) -Lawyers and merchants (new groups; wealth based on income not derived from land; pseudo- gentry) |
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How many people lived in England in 1603? |
Approximately 4,110,000 people. |
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How many peers and gentry were there by 1640? |
120 peers and 20,000 gentry. The Political Nation could be said to constitute about 1 in 200 of the adult male population. |
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What was the minimum requirement to become a member of the Political Nation? |
An annual income of 40 shillings (£2), as this was needed to qualify to vote for one's local member of Parliament. |
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How did the Political Nation become MPs? |
MPs were simply selected, rather than elected, by agreement among the members of the Political Nation, particularity by those families who headed the local Political Nation because of their wealth. |
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What is meant by a 'patriarchal' society? |
A society controlled by men. The concept is related to patriachalism, a popular 17th century belief that God gave power to fathers and that male monarchs were fathers to their people. This concept was used to reinforce obedience to the king. |
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Outline the role of women |
Women could not hold any of the formal offices through which the Political Nation exercised their control. Despite the historically recent example of Elizabeth I, women had to exercise their power in less overt political forums. Personal interaction with other people at court was the key way in which women, and many men, could assert their influence. |
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What happened between 1500 and 1650? |
The population of England nearly doubled. |
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List the negative concequences of an increased population |
-Price inflation (particularly food) -Food shortage -Land shortage -Unemployment -Greater reliance on the state for poor relief |
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What happened in the 1620s? |
As agricultural production could not meet the increased demand for food, some died from famine during harvest failures in the 1620s. At the other end of society, however, the rich got richer. Landowners and landlords could charge higher prices because of the increased population's growing demands. |
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What was the Great Chain of Being? |
A contemporary phrase for the idea of an ordered society set in place by God; the idea held that everyone was linked to each other and must accept their place in society, whether they were born a poor peasant or a wealthy aristocrat. The concept maintained that it was for the benefit of all to accept the social position in which God had placed them. |
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What was part of the elite's paternalistic duty? |
To ensure that, in times of hardship, those at the bottom of society were looked after. Some members in the nobility took their responsibilities more seriously than others. |
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What happened as a result of the unequal society? |
Riots, particularly during times of hardship. Those with authority often treated the rioters leniently, partly in recognition of the economic pressures they were under. |
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What was the impact of riots? |
They were only minor disturbances, and the participants' demands were usually for the enforcement of laws to protect their positions, rather than calls for an overturning of the established order. |
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What remained central to power and wealth? |
Land. |
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What were the professions of pseudo-gentry? |
Clergymen, doctors, musicians, surveyors, architects or visual artists. Many of these professionals used their acquired wealth to purchase land for their families to become part of the landed gentry. |
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Compare the income of merchants to the aristocracy |
Some London merchants could have an annual income of £100,000 while some of the aristocracy could have as little as £200 a year. While in general those of higher status in the Political Nation were the most wealthy, this was not always the case. |
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What was central to the emergence of the pseudo-gentry? |
The growth of trade which led to the development of towns and the explosion of London as a metropolis across the century. |
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What was the impact of urban growth? |
It saw the development of non-landed forms of wealth and some of those people entered the Political Nation. |
