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Parliament
Topic Started: Dec 30 2013, 05:39 PM (280 Views)
Katherine of Aragon
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REGENT AND QUEEN DOWAGER
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[align=center]PARLIAMENT UNDER THE REGENCY[/align]

After Henry VIII’s death in 1533, the government of the Regency (as a precursor of the ascendancy of Mary Tudor to the Throne) granted Parliament more political autonomy than in the previous reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Katherine of Aragon, as Regent, sought to establish a more stable mechanism of governance for Mary Tudor, brought on from the need to curtail any possible changes of her policies if Henry VIII’s condition improved and he returned to the Throne. With his death, though, and the establishment of a more permanent Regency with plenipotentiary powers, these new initiatives created by Katherine of Aragon would have profound effect in subsequent reigns, starting with Mary Tudor and the rulers after her.

The first thing Katherine tried to do was to give well defined functions to Parliament as to what was expected of it. So during the Regency and the reign of Mary Tudor, she will concentrate on three specific tasks:

Parliament formed a point of contact between Crown and nation: They are, as you will, the eyes and ears of the people and they also serve in the same capacity for the Crown.

Legislation: Their main duty is the creation and ratification of laws. With the Regency, this power will be augmented, which is unprecedented.

Taxation: During Henry VIII reign, Parliament granted tax increases or exceptions depending on circumstances (Wars, National holidays, etc) but the King ultimately decided how the money was to be spent. With the Regency, it will have direct control of the spending of the taxes granted by Parliament. Because of the fiscal crisis the Regency inherited from Henry, it was decided to have Parliament more accountable of the spending of the money granted to the Crown by parliamentarian vote. Instead of carte blanch, the Regent and the Monarch had to consult Parliament concerning how the money would be spent.

As part of the governmental reforms instituted by the Regency and then the Reign of Mary Tudor, Members of both Houses of Parliament (the Lords and the Commons) received several new privileges. Although it is worth mention that the Commons benefited the most from this reforms:

1) Make ministers and royal servants accountable to Parliament on a regular basis: During the reigns of Henry VII and VIII, the monarch appointed members of the Privy Council and officials of the Court at his pleasure. With the Regency, the Crown will work closely with Parliament concerning appointments. This was done in order to start easing out the old guard and replace them with new men who would be both answerable and loyal to the Crown and Parliament. A bloodless purge, in a way.

2) Grant Freedom of Speech to Parliament Members: By 1523, the question of granting freedom to Parliament was brought by Thomas More to the king. But nothing came from it, as opposition in Parliament remained dangerous for the Crown. There are several examples of the lack of freedom of speech during Henry VIII's reign. Both More and Bishop Gardiner were in trouble for opposition to the annulment procedures against Katherine of Aragon in 1532; Harold Neville (a member of the House of Lords) along with Elizabeth Darrell and Jane Seymour were sent to the tower for opposing the Act of Succession in 1533; the Act of Appeals passed the Commons because Cromwell introduced it with a speech which ‘no man dared gainsay’. This all changed when the Regency took over. Freedom of Speech was granted as an undoubted privilege, although with one exception... Katherine sought to limit the application of Freedom of Speech when it merited under what she termed ‘matters of state’: War, Foreign Policies, and acts of treason.

3)Freedom from arrest: The notion that members of Parliament must not be prevented from performing their duties, and cannot thus be imprisoned during a session was already in place by the time of the Regency. The only exception to this was treason or other serious infraction against the Crown.

4) Speaker’s access to the sovereign:The privilege of personal access to the monarch was established in the middle ages and during the Regency it was expanded. The Regent and later on Mary Tudor would grant and encourage direct contact with both the Speaker of the Commons and the Lord High Chamberlain as speaker of the House of Lords in order to foster a better cooperation between both Houses and the Crown.

5) Management: The question of management applies primarily to the Commons, because the House of Lords could on the whole be expected to follow the government’s lead without special management. The Regent and latter on the Ruler could influence elections as lawful manager of Parliament. It is the Crown’s task to, when necessary, ensure the election of suitable Members of Parliament. Indeed direct royal pressure was negligible everywhere during the reign of Henry VIII, since there was no direct channel through which it could be exercised. However, during the Regency, indirect pressure will often be applied. Influencing elections is, in short, just another aspect of patronage and power. All that could be hoped for was the creation of a reliable supporting group behind government ministers and councilors.

The Regency could never assume that Parliament would comply with royal wishes. In 1523, there was major opposition in the Commons over Wolsey’s demand for taxation. Later, Parliament opposed the Crown over the Annates Act, the statute of Uses, the royal supremacy and the treason act, and the Proclamations Act. Opposition was usually unsuccessful, as Thomas More’s group found out in 1532. Nevertheless, Parliament frequently hindered the royal will in various ways, and government bills were amended or modified in the course of their passage through the House of Commons. For instance, Thomas Cromwell’s Poor Law of 1536 was decimated by a conservative House of Commons. Two years before, in 1534, his Sheep and Farms Act had been mutilated in the Commons. Sometimes bills proposed by the Crown were totally rejected: Henry VIII failed to secure an act against Uses in 1532.

But for the most part, the Regency will try to manage Parliament as much as it could, using three methods and techniques:

- The preparation of Parliamentary business by the monarch and Council.

- The presence in the House of Commons of Councillors who will guide debate, introduce measures on behalf of the Crown, and convey to members the wishes of the Crown.

- The use of the Speakers to control the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

In the last resort, it is possible to bring the Regent and/or the Monarch directly into play as a manager of Parliament. Henry VIII on three occasions attended Parliament in person. Katherine plans to be more active in Parliamentary issues than her husband was. She is aware that disagreements might occur, but her main objective is co-operation in the task of securing an agreed body of legislation, because the primary function of Parliament (other than taxation) is legislation, and legislation — bills for reform of the commonwealth — is what both the Regent, the Ruler, and the Members of Parliament want. Despite discussion, criticism and negotiation, both parties, Crown and Parliament, Commons and Lords, had a vested interest in harmony.
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