Economic
History: KS3, topic 10.2.5
The Effect of War and Taxation
Wars with France, Spain and Scotland were very costly and embarrassing for Charles.
Wars with France and Spain
- In 1625, Charles went to war with Spain and lost.
- In 1628, Charles went to war with France and lost.
- As well as being embarrassing, this all cost the country a lot of money!
Parliament's tax refusal
- Parliament refused to grant Charles the tax money he needed until he agreed to their demands for more say in how the country was run.
War against the Scots
- In 1640 AD, Charles fought a war against the Scots and lost. He had to pay the Scots to leave England.
- This was why he was forced to recall parliament, to raise a tax.
- Again, this was extremely embarrassing and costly, making Charles unpopular with the people.
Taxation
- Under English law, taxes were only supposed to be raised to fund wars or defence.
- The king was supposed to check with Parliament before introducing new taxes.
Personal Rule and taxation
- Despite the fact that Charles didn't hold a Parliament between 1629 AD and 1640 AD, he continued to demand new taxes.
- Some even suggested his actions were illegal.
Ship tax
- Charles also raised money through the collection of a special tax called Ship Tax.
- This was only supposed to be collected from coastal towns during wartime, to pay for defences to prevent an invasion.
- Charles collected Ship Tax from the whole country during peacetime.
- People found this outrageous and said that Charles did not follow the rules of how a good king should govern.
Charles' luxurious lifestyle
- Charles also spent too much on artwork by famous painters Rubens and Van Dyck.
- He faced criticism for his luxurious lifestyle, while ordinary people had to pay more and more taxes to fund his failures in war.
Test yourself on Economic
Which tax was traditionally collected from coastal towns to pay for defences to prevent an invasion during peace time?