Financial problems were at the heart of disputes between the Crown and Parliament. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view? (25 marks)

Between 1625-1629, Parliament and Crown had many disagreements over financial issues. However, although these issues were important, other factors such as Religion, Buckingham and Foreign Policy caused further rifts between the Crown and Parliament. These arguments led to Charles dissolving Parliament in 1629 as he claimed ‘No sooner therefore was the Parliament set down but these ill-affected men began to sow and disperse their jealousies, by casting out some glances and doubtful speeches’. Even though finance was a major issue perhaps it was Charles persistence of Royal Prerogative that was the causation of Parliament being dismissed. Charles believed in the divine right of Kings, that he had been appointed by God to rule England at that his authority was absolute and could not be challenged because to challenge him was to challenge God. This meant he no longer needed Parliament leading to the ‘11 year Tyranny’.
Financial matters were a reoccurring problem throughout all three Parliamentary sessions. The trouble started in 1625 when only a small amount of subsidies were granted to Charles along with Tonnage and Poundage voted only for 1 year. Tonnage and Poundage was the taxation which English citizens had to pay to fund the Crown. This was extremely unusual as usually Parliament granted Tonnage and Poundage for the whole reign of the Crown. This cautious approach by Parliament was partially down to previous experiences at with the Crown such as Elizabeth 1 financial problems and James 1 extravagance. Charles felt slightly insulted and was not happy that Tonnage and Poundage was not granted for the whole of his reign. This tension was not helped in 1626 when no extra subsidies were granted towards the Crown. Charles took matters into his own and went against the wishes of Parliament by implementing the Forced Loan of 1627. Despite the loan being very successful, netting around £250,000, Parliament was not happy as it had not given its consent. As well as the forced loan, Charles continued to collect Tonnage and Poundage without permission from Parliament. All these tensions and troubles led to Parliament forcing the Kings assent to the Petition of Right in 1928. As part of this deal, in exchange, Parliament would grant the King extra subsidies. Another issue regarding financial problems was the on-going need for the Crown to raise finance for wars not just against Spain but France as well. Even though Parliament supported England going to war it was not prepared to give Charles any more finance unless they could impeach Buckingham and to air grievances. This led to Charles resorting to extraordinary measures to fight the war without sufficient funds. Overall, financial problems played a very important role in causing disputes between Crown and Parliament. However there were other factors which had equally negative impacts on the relationship between Crown and Parliament…
Another issue which caused frequent disputes was that of Charles ‘right hand man’ Buckingham along with foreign policy. The Parliament of 1625 believed that Buckingham had too much power over Charles. They were also surprised as they had expected a sea war against Spain but nothing had happened. Charles had ended the 1625 Parliament as he believed that there was too much criticism of Buckingham. Not much had changed during the 1626 Parliament, if anything feelings towards Buckingham were more negative. Buckingham was blamed for the failure at Cadiz where the English were easily defeated by the Spanish Army. Sir John Eliot was perhaps the most critical of Buckingham and called for his impeachment. Dr Turner angered Charles when he accused Buckingham of being ‘the source of all problems’. Both men were sent to the tower. Charles closed Parliament yet again due to too much criticism of Buckingham. Although Buckingham was an issue the fact that disputes between Crown and Parliament continued after his assassination showed that he was not at the heart of problems and therefore financial issues did cause more disputes than Buckingham as arguments continued right up until personal rule in 1929. In fact Buckingham's removal did nothing to improve relations with the House of Commons. Charles continued to use the emergency powers complained of in the Petition of Right. Furthermore, the threat of a new religion supporting the Crown, known as Arminianism, was very unpopular with Parliament. Arminianism was not helped by the fact that a frontrunner of the religion, Buckingham, was not liked by Parliament at all. Arminianism was a group of Church of England ministers that challenged predestination. They clashed with Parliament as many of Parliament were Puritans. One effort had been made in 1626 to reconcile Puritans and Arminians. A conference was held between these two groups to try and heal religious differences. It was a failure on the part of Parliament as it led to the Arminians gaining the support of Buckingham and therefore of Charles. This created further tension between the Crown and Parliament as Parliament was angry at the failure of the York House conference. Although this was a problem and caused some disputes, it was an underlying factor throughout this period as the main issues were that of finance and Royal Prerogative.
As Parliament had not granted Charles with any more subsidies in 1626, he took it upon himself to impose the forced loan in 1627. All but 76 gentlemen paid the loan, despite many people being unhappy. These gentlemen were imprisoned. Out of the 76, 5 men challenged the right to imprison them under Habeas Corpus which seeks relief from unlawful imprisonment. This was known as the 5 knight’s case. However on the trail Charles forced the judges to find them guilty demonstrating once again his royal prerogative. Parliament was angered by Charles actions and forced him to revisit the Petition of Right in 1628 as it was not a new law but it needed re-establishing. At first Charles refused to sign the Petition but eventually after the compromise of additional subsidies he did. Once this was resolved Parliament continued to attack Buckingham and the Arminian regime forcing Charles once again to close down Parliament. These conflicts all came about due to Charles persistent use of Royal Prerogative. One of the most recognised way in which Charles used his Royal Prerogative was the billeting of troops and martial law. This was where, against Parliament, Charles moved his troops into civilians homes along the south coast and could only be tried in military courts. These actions annoyed Parliament as it showed Charles did not listen to their grievances. So yet again Charles used his Royal Prerogative to cause disputes between the crown and Parliament. Just before Charles dissolved Parliament in 1629, he used his Royal Prerogative to make the Speaker of the Commons to adjourn. However he was not allowed to do this Denzil Holles and Benjamin Valentine held John Finch, the Speaker, in his chair whilst Eliots three resolutions could be read out. This pushed Charles over the edge, he dissolved Parliament and took up arbitrary rule.
To conclude, financial problems were a cause of tensions and disputes between Parliament and Crown, however I disagree with the statement that finance was at the heart of problems as it was down to Royal Prerogative. Many of the disputes stemmed from the fact that Charles would not listen to Parliament or its grievances. Because Charles would not cooperate, Parliament felt it necessary not to give him any subsidies. Another financial problem was the forced loan and the continued collection of tonnage and poundage. These were examples of Charles using his Royal Prerogative once again to cause disputes in the House of Commons. So financial issues stemmed from Royal Prerogative along with many other issues like the billeting of troops and the Petition of Right. Even though I disagree with the statement as I believe Royal Prerogative was the at the heart of disputes I still recognise that financial problems was a very important issue which came from Charles use of Royal Prerogative.