Elizabeth I's Financial Legacy

• Although Elizabeth managed her own finances remarkably successfully she often did so at the cost of her successors. The only long-term solution to the problem of finance was to increase royal revenue so that it went up in line with inflation. Elizabeth did not do this.
• Her policy had been to cut expenditure and if all else failed to sell crown lands which eventually led to an impoverished crown. This meant that in Elizabeth's reign there was no increase in customs duties in the Book of Rates and there was no attempt to exploit the Crown lands effectively.
• In 1587 a 50-year lease on some Crown property in Bermondsey was agreed at a rent of £68 a year. In 1636 when the lease was due for renewal it was found to be worth £1071 a year.
• The Stuarts were also hit by a fall of in the value of parliamentary subsidy because the local elites responsible for land valuations ( on which the subsidy was based ) tended to under-assess themselves and their neighbours considerably.
• Thus the yield of each subsidy fell from about £130000 in the mid 16th century to £55000 by 1628. This was a time of inflation so the real value had gone down even more. The Commons failed to appreciate this fully and were reluctant to vote additional sums to make up the deficit. MPs could not understand why the Crown made such poor use of their generosity