How successfully did James deal with parliament during the period 1603 – 1616? * James faced many difficulties with Parliament during his reign in England. The king and parliament followed two mutually, extended exclusive views about the nature of their relationship. James believed that he owed his authority to God-given right, that the laws in his kingdom were only an extension of his royal prerogative, and that parliament was in essence a lower court to him, its laws and opinions always subject to his oversight and review; and that he was free to revise or overrule them completely whenever he wished. However, parliament believed that its rights were equal to those of the king. They also believed that in return for grants and subsidies to the crown, the king should take its views on policy formulation and execution into account. The end result of this fundamental disagreement was a series of difficult parliaments, two of which James dissolved in frustration. The first parliament brought in the idea of ‘The Great Contract’. This meant that they wanted James to give up the right to feudal dues, such as wardship and purveyance, in exchange for a fixed sum per annum to be raised in taxation. They offered him £200,000 after a lot of argument. They didn’t want to give him too much money because he wouldn’t need to call parliament. James didn’t like this idea as he thought that £200,000 wouldn’t be enough. The contract was finally sunk when James made a demand for another £200,000 lump sum. The House of Commons refused this outright so James dismissed Parliament without any solution to the crown’s financial problem in sight. James’ second parliament was also known was the ‘addled’ parliament. It lasted only a few weeks and was only called so he could ask for money to cover the costs of Henry’s (his eldest son) funeral, and the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth. No