Control - Parliament

Question 1

Met infrequently evidence:

Answer 1

• 7 times under VII (24 years)
• 13 under Elizabeth (45 years)

Question 2

1550 House of Commons:

Answer 2

• Provided forum where grievances and concerns of gentry and nobility could be expressed.
• Whether or not MPs and peers were able to affect policy-making, their voices heard at highest level

Question 3

Act for the Queen’s safety (1584)

Answer 3

Reflects increasing patriotic favour among MPs

Question 4

Act to Retain the Queen’s Majesty (1581)

Answer 4

• Due to obedience

Question 5

House of Lords:

Answer 5

Nobles had to be tried by peers so acted as court of law for:
- Hussey and Darcy (1537)
- Suffolk (1554)
- Dacre (1570)
- Northumberland (1572)
- Essex (1601)

Question 6

Use of Parliament against rebels under Henry VII?

Answer 6

• 138 Acts passed
• Only reversed 1/3rd attainers

Question 7

Use of parliament against rebels generally?

Answer 7

• Authorised statutes in the wake of rebellions
• Once lands attained, only act of parliament could restore

Question 8

General use of Parliament?

Answer 8

• Star Chamber Act
• Act of Livery and Maintenance
• Act of Liveries

Question 9

How did Henry VII use parliament to restore stability after Stanley’s treason?

Answer 9

• De Facto Act 1495 -> acts of disobedience by Yorkists forgotten

Question 10

Use of parliament by Henry VIII?

Answer 10

• 1530s Henry and Cromwell implemented religious / political reforms through parliament -> minimal resistance and considerable support
• Parliament approved of dissolution -> helped retain support of MPs and peers

Question 11

Edward VI and Mary I’s use of parliament?

Answer 11

• 1550s the House of Commons provided a forum where the grievances and concerns of the gentry and nobility could be expressed

Question 12

From 1571 under Elizabeth?

Answer 12

• MPs legislated to protect queen and country from Catholic plots

Question 13

1581 Parliament under Elizabeth?

Answer 13

Protect from Jesuits who allegedly entered England to ‘stir sedition’

Question 14

What acts reflect increasing patriotism among MPs under Elizabeth?

Answer 14

• Act to retain the Queen Majesty’s subjects in their due obedience (1581)
• Act for the Queen’s safety (1584)

Question 15

What was an effect of more gentry wanting to become MPs?

Answer 15

• Pressure to expand parliament
• 80 new seats established 1509-1558
• 58 new seats 1558-1603

Question 16

What were MPs interested in?

Answer 16

• Economic and social issues affecting their boroughs
• Parliament seen as a way of tackling these problems and preventing rebellion

Question 17

Examples of acts passed by Parliament to prevent rebellions?

Answer 17

• The 1563 Statute of Artificers
• Privy Councillors proposed the bill to establish 7-year apprenticeships -> but MPs extended the bill to include urban economy as well as agriculture
• Elizabethan poor laws created by MPs