Addled Parliament

Parliaments of England 1593–1689
Parliament Date 8th Parliament of Elizabeth I 1593 9th Parliament of Elizabeth I 1597 Final parliament of Elizabeth I 1601 1st Parliament of King James I 1604 Addled Parliament 1614 3rd Parliament of King James I 1621 Happy Parliament 1624 Useless Parliament 1625 2nd Parliament of King Charles I 1626 3rd parliament of King Charles I 1628 Short Parliament 1640 Apr Long Parliament (1) 1640 Nov Oxford Parliament 1644 Long Parliament (2) 1645 Rump Parliament (1) 1648 Barebone's Parliament 1653 First Protectorate Parliament 1654 Second Protectorate Parliament 1656 Third Protectorate Parliament 1659 Rump Parliament (2) 1659 Long Parliament (3) 1660 Convention Parliament 1660 Cavalier Parliament 1661 Habeas Corpus Parliament 1679 Exclusion Bill Parliament 1680 Oxford Parliament 1681 Loyal Parliament 1685 Convention Parliament 1689
List of Parliaments of England

The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James I of England (following his 1604-11 Parliament), which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614. Its name alludes to its ineffectiveness: it lasted no more than eight weeks and failed to resolve the conflict between the King, who wished to raise money in the form of a 'Benevolence', a grant of £65,000 and the House of Commons (who were resisting further taxation). It was dissolved by the King, who observed grimly that he was "amazed that his ancestors should have allowed such an institution to come into existence" . He probably intended to rule from then on without Parliament, and in fact did so for seven years.

Parliament saw no reason for a further grant: the long war with Spain had reached its resolution with the 1604 Treaty of London and so they saw the King's continued financial deficit as a result of his extravagance (especially on Scottish favourites such as Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset) and saw no justification for continued high spending. This ran contrary to the king's beliefs who felt that he was entitled to demand more money if and when he needed it. The failure of the 'Great Contract' (1610) with which James hoped to secure an annual grant of £200,000 meant that he still relied heavily on parliamentary grants of supply.

Moreover, there remained the continuing hostility as a result of the king's move of setting impositions without consulting Parliament, and nebulous rumours of a Roman Catholic "conspiracy".

See also

• List of Parliaments of England
• List of MPs elected to the English parliament in 1614

References

• Kenyon, J.P. The Stuarts Fontana edition 1966