Chapter 1: The Political Nation and Social Basis of Power

• Political Nation


  People in early modern Britain who had economic, political and social influence
• Royal prerogative

  The power of the Crown, derived from the Divine Right of Kings. Included the right to call and dissolve Parliament, as well as declare war
• Parliamentary subsidies


  Funds approved by Parliament for emergencies such as war
• Crown lands

  Land sold or rented out on long leases by the Crown. (Income was reduced as rents couldn't be updated in line with inflation)
• Customs duties


  Taxes from goods imported into the country. The Crown could sell the right to collect these taxes in order to raise funds quickly
• Feudal dues


  The Crown's right to control an estate that was inherited, by ancient right, by an heir under the age of 21
• The role of the Political Nation

  • Responsible for collecting taxes, training the militia, enforcing laws and conducting trials
• The unwritten constitution

  England had no written constitution that documented the rules by which the state was run. This meant that it was often up to the interpretation of the monarch
• Members of the Political Nation

  • Lesser gentry (members whose status was based on land ownership)
  • Pseudo-gentry (members whose wealth came from income, not land ownership. This could include merchants, those who worked in the Church, medicine, music, surveying, architecture or the visual arts)
• The Great Chain of Being

  The idea of an ordered society set in place by God; everyone was linked to each other and must accept their place in society
• Consequences of England's population doubling

  Price inflation (particularly with regard to food), food shortage, land shortage, unemployment, greater reliance on the state for poor relief
• The elites' paternalist duty

  To ensure that in times of hardship, those at the bottom of society were looked after (some took this responsibility more seriously than others)