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How did James react to the Thirty Years War?

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How did James react to the Thirty Years War?

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· James knew that if he married Charles to the Spanish Infanta this would cause Spain to put pressure on the Austrian branch to restore Frederick to the Palatinate.

· The dowry that came with the Infanta would also be useful.

· Gondomar’s aim was to prolong the negotiations to prevent any English aid going to the Palatinate or after 1621 the Netherlands.

· James saw no alternative to the Spanish alliance as the French were occupied with the Protestant unrest and thus unlikely to want to become part of a wider, European protestant alliance.

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· This war broke out in 1618 when the protestant nobility of Bohemia revolted against their newly elected king.

· In 1619 they offered their newly available throne to Frederick of the Palatinate, James’ son in law.

· Frederick asked James advice what to do, whether to take the throne but he did not want to wait to accept the offer of the throne, and therefore took the offer before he received James’ reply. Frederick was egged on by his wife, who wanted to be queen.

· James counselled caution. He did not believe that establishment kings should be cast down by rebels.

· Archduke Ferdinand responded as James had expected. He had been elected as Holy Roman emperor in 1619 and he invaded Bohemia, defeating Protestant forces at the Battle of White Mountain.

· By April 1621, Frederick and Elizabeth were refugees at the Haig.

· Their crowns had proved fleeting and worthless.

· The situation was complicated at the end of the twelve-year truce and the renewal of the war in the Netherlands in 1621.

· Needed to keep the ‘Spanish Road’ open so they could continue to move their troops easily from their lands in Italy.

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· James won international respect for his mediation skills.

· He helped to settle a war between Sweden and Denmark in 1613.

· He successfully married his daughter to Frederick of the Palatinate, a leading protestant which helped his cause with his subjects as they finally thought he was carrying out the role of a protestant leader.

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· The Treaty of London was negotiated between Spain and England.

· There was no reason for this war to continue.

· The English felt that they were justified in making a separate peace and English soldiers in the Netherlands were transferred to Dutch regiments.

· England continued to be trade partners with the Low countries and was able to expand into the Mediterranean markets.

· The peace had a good outcome in that expenses were reduced, there was a trade boom and James fulfilled his ideals.

· James had got what he wanted without making serious concessions to the Spanish.

· There was some opposition in England to the peace, mainly from those who had profited from piracy or had a deep-rooted hatred for Spain.

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· James disliked war, particularly religious war and liked to see himself as rex-pacifist.

· James was eager to end the war with Spain and to improve relations with Spain.

· The continent was dominated by the power struggle between Spain and France and England’s only role in this was to be an ally to either side.

· He preferred to rely on diplomacy and negotiation to settle international disputes.

· The people of England had an issue with James’ new peace with Spain as they saw the strong Catholicism as a threat.

· Was ready to fight in a ‘just’ war.

· Foreign policy was a part of royal prerogative and therefore was decided by the king.

· James was not always prepared to explain what he was trying to do and therefore his aims became misunderstood.

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· Distrust between James and Parliament (did not want James to have an independent income)

· Parliament disproved of his extravagant and immoral court.

· Disagreed with the idea of increasing tax, as did general citizens.

· Refused to negotiate with the King and refused to pay off the royal debts.

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· Created by Robert Cecil

· In return for £200,000 the King would give up his right of wardship and Purveyance.

· James did not like this as it was giving up some of his rights as King. He compared it to Prostitution.

· Parliament did not like it. Would have to increase taxes to accommodate it. Rift between Lords and their subjects.

· Parliament was afraid James would not call Parliament again, as he wouldn’t need to as he would have his own income.

· Parliament would also pay off the royal debts.

· It was a very long process and James was extremely inpatient.

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· James decided as early as 1614 that a Spanish Match for his son Charles would be of good policy.

· He had the Spanish infanta Maria, the daughter of Philip III of Spain in mind and hoped to use such a marriage to build a better relationship with Spain.
· The arrival in 1613 of a new Spanish ambassador: Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, who became the Count of Gondomar in 1617, encouraged James in this aim.

· They became good friends, with the result that some felt James was unduly influenced by the ambassador.

· The Spanish Match was favoured by the Howards, who were Catholic sympathisers and hoped the infanta (Spanish Princess) would bring a handsome dowry of £600,000 with her.

· Spain was concerned that England would help the Dutch after the truce expired in 1621.

· The marriage of Charles who was only 14, was not urgent and when it became Spain would expect any Children to be brought up Roman Catholic and the Infanta to be allowed to have Roman Catholic services which would be open to the public, James knew it was impossible as Parliament would never agree to such terms

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· The period after 1588 is often seen as the crisis period because of social and economical problems caused by inflation, unrest at home and in Ireland and clashes in Parliament.

· A cult had derived around Elizabeth I who was the Virgin Queen and meant that many of these issues were ignored. Her time was remembered as ‘The Golden Age.’

· Elizabeth was extremely popular.

· Elizabeth had left James in a lot of debt. £420,000 debt, which is a lot more than the average annual crown income.

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· James was extremely extravagant, for example he used the ‘ante-supper’ which was when an entire meal was prepared before the actual dinner and then removed and discarded. These ‘ante-suppers.’ Would cost up to £3000, which was the annual income of a wealthy landowner.

·  James was fond of jewels and spent £185,000 on these.

· James also expanded the personnel of the royal household, possibly adding 200 extra courtiers, all of whom had to be fed.

· When Henry (James’ oldest son) died in 1612 he was given an elaborate funeral. The following year James had to pay for his daughter’s wedding. Combined, both events cost him £116,000.

· These issues caused more tension with Parliament. As James complained about the low income the MPs argued that if he was more frugal these problems would vanish.
· Royal wardrobe: £10,000 in Elizabeth’s reign, £36,000 in 1610 for James.

· James was extremely insecure which lead to him having to bribe/buy his friends. For example, in 1607 he spent £44,000 of the royal budget on his favourites. This was unpopular with the English as most of James’ favourites were Scottish, and the English considered the Scottish as ‘foreigners.’

· By 1610, nearly £90,000 had been given to the Scottish as gifts.

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James I

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· Whilst James was king of Scotland he had very little money and described it ‘like a poor man wandering about forty years in the wilderness and barren soil, now arrived at the land of promise.’.

· James was a complete contrast to Elizabeth. She had never even married but James had a wife and 3 children, therefore the budget that had satisfied Elizabeth may not be adequate for James and his family.

· The only other income that James had was the Subsidy, however this was difficult to fix as it was only to be collected when Parliament approved so and was meant to be only for emergencies such as war.

· The income of the subsidy had also dramatically declined, as in 1558 Elizabeth had gained £137,000 but by 1621 this had dropped to £72,500.

· There had also been inflation over Elizabeth’s reign which meant that James could only buy a fifth of what Elizabeth had been able to buy.

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·  Belief that God had appointed him as both King of Scotland and King of England. He was above others and it was gods will for him to be there. ‘I am King because of God.’

· Because of his belief in the Divine Right of Kings he was happy to spend on luxuries such as parties and his favourites: ‘Spend and god will send.’

· Was arguably not an absolute monarch because he kept to the rule of law and asked parliaments permission before he changed taxes.

· Worked with parliament to create legislation, never acted alone