1st Irish Parliament of King Charles I

Irish Parliament 1634–1635, the first of Charles I April 2021 April 2021 April 2023 April 2023 The Parliament 1634–1635 was the first of the two Irish parliaments of Charles I. The main purpose was to raise money by taxation and to ratify the Graces, a bundle of concessions to Irish Catholic landowners. Six years of taxes were voted, but few of the graces were ratified. Background Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, summoned the Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 to put the Irish government on a sound financial footing.Asch147 The preceding parliament had been the Parliament of 1613–1615, the only Irish parliament of James I. In this parliament James I had created more than 30 pocket boroughs under Protestant control.Bagwell109 Gardiner285 Wedgwood149 The Irish House of Commons of 1634 therefore had 254 members: 112 Catholic and 142 Protestant.Gillespie103 Gardiner47 In 1632 Charles I had appointed Thomas Wentworth (the future Earl of Strafford) as his lord deputy of Ireland.Asch146 Wentworth had taken office in July 1633.Wedgwood126 Irish Parliaments:Monarch # Years Chief governorChief RemarkJames I11613–1614Chichester, L.D.The 1st with a Protestant majorityCharles I11634–1635Strafford,L.D. then L.L.21640–1649Leicester, L.L.Ormond, L.L. Van dyck thomas wentworth earl of strafford with sir philip mainwaring 1639-40.jpg 600 170 200 60 130 left The Lord Deputy Thomas Wentworth A painted portrait of a man with short dark hair and a moustache of a lighter colour with a mouche on the lower lip. He wears a dark jacket and a wide flat band collar with rectangular points. Proceedings During the parliament the King stayed in England and was represented at the parliament in Dublin by his lord deputy. Parliament was opened on 14 July 1634Kearney53 at Dublin CastleMacNeill408 by the lord deputy.Wedgwood150 Nathaniel Catelyn, one of the two members for Dublin City, was elected speaker. Taxation Wentworth insisted that subsidies needed to be attended to first.Wedgwood151 Six subsidies of £50,000 (about £UK 50,000 1634 -5 c in UKUK) each,Cusack307 or according to another source £240,000 (about £UK 240,000 1634 -5 c in UKUK) altogether,Joyce192-31 were voted by the Commons unanimouslyWedgwood152 on 19 July 1634.Kearney54 These subsidies were approved by the Lords on 2 August, when the 1st session was closed and prorogued to the 4 November by the lord deputy.HouseOfLords25 The Graces The Graces (Ireland) King Charles I had indicated in 1626 that he would concede certain rights to the Irish Catholics if paid well enough. These concessions are known as the Graces.Kelsey431 At Whitehall in 1628Gillespie76 the King and a delegation of Irish noblemen had agreed on 51 articles.Gillespie77-4 At the core of the Graces were land rights and religious freedom.Wallace The payment had been fixed at £120,000 sterling (about £UK 120,000 1628 -5 c in UKUK) in three yearly instalments.Gillespie77-3 Clarke238 The Irish Parliament should have confirmed the Graces promptly, but the then lord deputy, Lord Falkland, had never summoned that parliament.Joyce191 The parliament summoned in 1634 was the first Irish parliament since the proclamation of the Graces. Irish Catholics, therefore, expected to see them confirmed in this parliamentJoyce192-28 Gardiner274rc10 while Wentworth expected trouble when he refused.Carte122 The ratification of the Graces was tabled afterwards. Of the 51 articles Wentworth let 10 be voted into law, the others would be left at the discretion of the government, except articles 24Gillespie77-26 and 25,Gillespie77-31 concerning land tenure, which he rejected.Wedgwood156.1 Other laws The Catholic MPs expressed their anger by voting against any law later proposed by Wentworth and due to absenteeism among the Protestant MPs, the Catholics were able to vote several laws down.Wedgwood156.29 The government recalled the absent Protestant MPs, and the laws passed.Wedgwood157 Wentworth dissolved parliament on 18 April 1635.Wedgwood160 Table of sessionsSession Start End Remark1st14 Jul 1634Wedgwood150 Gardiner274lc2 Aug 1634Gardiner274rc1Voted 6 subsidies unanimouslyWedgwood1522nd4 Nov 1634Gardiner274rc915 Dec 1634MorresLegislation voted, including ratification of some of the Graces"Wedgwood156.13rd26 Jan 1635Kearney6418 Apr 1635Wedgwood160 See also List of acts of the Parliament of Ireland, 1600–1690 List of parliaments of Ireland Notes and references Notes Chief The title "chief governor of Ireland" is a general term for the king's representative and head of the executive in Ireland. The actual title was either Lord Lieutenant (L.L.), Lord Deputy (L.D.), or Lord Justice.Wood Citations Asch 2004 146, right column, line 23 : "Wentworth was appointed lord deputy on 12 January 1632 ..." Asch 2004 147, right column, line 15 : "The foundations for a sound financial policy were to be laid by a generous grant of parliamentary taxation." Bagwell 1909 109 : "James created thirty-nine new boroughs expressly for parliamentary purposes ..." Carte 1851 122 : "He [Wentworth] was not without apprehensions that the parliament might press for the confirmation of all the graces given 24 May 1628 in instructions given to Lord Falkland;" Clarke 1976 238 : "In return for the 'graces' the agents agreed that three successive annual subsidies of £40,000 (English), payable quarterly, to meet the calculated deficiency of the cost of supporting the army." Cusack 1871 307, penultimate line : "... six subsidies of 50,000ℓ each were voted ..." Gardiner 1884 47, bottom : "On July 14, 1634, Parliament met. As Wentworth had hoped, the Protestants, many of whom were official dependents of the government were in a small majority." Gardiner 1899 274, left column : "Parliament met on 14 July 1634." Gardiner 1899 274, right column, line 1 : "... on 2 Aug. [1634] parliament was prorogued." Gardiner 1899 274, right column, line 9 : "The second session of parliament commenced on 4 Nov. [1634]." Gardiner 1899 274, right column, line 10 : "What the catholic members expected was that Wentworth would introduce bills to confirm the 'graces' ..." Gardiner 1883 285, bottom : "It was accordingly proposed in the autumn of 1611 that 36 new boroughs should receive charters empowering them to send no less than 72 members to Parliament, and as in these cases the right of election was confined to the exclusively Protestant corporations, there can no longer be any doubt on which side the majority would be." Gillespie 2006 76 : "The deputation had its first formal audience with the king on 28 March 1628 ..." Gillespie 2006 77, line 3 :"Their price was fixed at £40,000 sterling each year for three years " Gillespie 2006 77, line 4 : "The list was redrafted in fifty-one 'Instructions and Graces' ...'" Gillespie 2006 77, line 26 : "Article 24 promised security of tenure ..." Gillespie 2006 77, line 31 : "Article 25 provided security of title for those in the province of Connaught ..." Gillespie 2006 103, line 11 : "In the parliament that met in 1634 the House of Commons had 254 members of whom 112 were Catholic and 143 Protestant." House of Lords 1779 25, right column : "... we have thought it convenien   to prorogue this present parliament ..." Joyce 1903 191, line 24 : "... the king and Falkland dishonestly evaded the summoning of parliament;" Joyce 1903 192, line 28 : "The Irish landholders, still feeling insecure, induced the deputy to summon a parliament, with the object to have the graces confirmed;" Joyce 1903 192, line 31 : "Parliament met in 1634 and passed subsidies amounting to £240,000;" Kearney 1959 53 : "Parliament met on 14 July [1634] and the first session lasted until 2 August." Kearney 1959 54 : "The fact that the subsidies were voted unanimously on 19 July [1634] ..." Kearney 1959 64 : "It remains now to consider the third session of the parliament: from 26 January 1634/35 to 18 April " Kelsey 2004 431, right column, line 31 : "In 1626 ... the English crown indicated a willingness to concede proprietary rights and religious freedom to the Old English gentry, the so-called 'graces'." MacNeill 1917 408 : "From the meeting of Elizabeth's first Irish Parliament in 1560 till 1641, the Parliaments met in Dublin Castle in rooms arranged for the purpose." Lord Mountmorres 1792 329 : "On the 15th of December [1634] the parliament was prorogued." Wallace 1973 46, last paragraph : "... 'Graces, of which the most significant concerned land tenure and religion." Wedgwood 1961 126, line 31 : "... he [Wentworth] embarked at Chester and reached Dublin bay early in the morning of July 23rd [1633]." Wedgwood 1961 149, line 12 : "The creation of a number of new boroughs in the interests of Protestant settlers, and the plantation of Ulster gave the Protestants the majority in the Parliament of 1613 ..." Wedgwood 1961 150 : "Parliament met on July 14th, 1634. Wentworth rode down in state ..." Wedgwood 1961 151, line 33 : "... making it clear that nothing whatever would be done in the way of legislation until the subsidies had been voted." Wedgwood 1961 152 : "... voted six subsidies unanimously ..." Wedgwood 1961 156, line 1 : "... Wentworth agreed that ten only should become statute law, and that all the rest, with the exception of two, should be continued at the discretion of the government. The two exceptions, articles 24 and 25, affecting land tenure ..." Wedgwood 1961 156, line 29 : "... rejected Hand over Head all that was offered them from his Majesty and this State;" Wedgwood 1961 157 : "... the Protestants were now at full strength and the remaining ten days of the session all the important government measures were ... hurried through the House." Wedgwood 1961 160 : "When parliament rose on April 18th, 1635, Wentworth had every reason to congratulate himself." Wood 1935 1 : "The titles of the chief governors of Ireland have been various ... lieutenant of the king, lieutenant general and general governor, deputy or lord deputy, justiciar or lord justice ..." Sources 30em yes Asch Ronald G. Matthew Colin Colin Matthew Harrison Brian Brian Harrison (historian) 2004 Wentworth, Thomas, first earl of Strafford (1593–1641) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 56 Oxford University Press New York 142–157 0-19-861408-X https://archive.org/details/isbn_019861408x/page/142/ registration Bagwell Richard Richard Bagwell 1909 Ireland under the Stuarts and under the Interregnum 1 Longmans, Green, and Co. London 458582656 https://archive.org/details/irelandunderstua01bagw/ – 1603 to 1642 Carte Thomas Thomas Carte 1851 1st pub. 1736 The Life of James Duke of Ormond New 1 Oxford University Press Oxford 1086656347 https://archive.org/details/lifeofjamesdukeo01cart/ – 1613 to 1641 Clarke Aidan Moody Theodore William Theodore William Moody Martin F. X. F. X. Martin Byrne Francis John Francis John Byrne 1976 A New History of Ireland 3 Chapter 8: Selling Royal Favours, 1624–32 Oxford University Press Oxford 233–242 0-19-820242-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=OhceE8RkisEC&pg=PA233 – 1624 to 1632 Cusack M. F. Mary Frances Cusack 1871 A Compendium of Irish History Patrick Donahoe Boston 1042465804 https://archive.org/details/compendiumofiris00cusa/ Gardiner Samuel Rawson Samuel Rawson Gardiner 1883 History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War 1 Longmans, Green & Co. London 559091724 https://archive.org/details/historyenglandf19unkngoog/ – 1603 to 1607 Gardiner Samuel Rawson Samuel Rawson Gardiner 1884 History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War 8 Longmans, Green & Co. London 559091724 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.275095/ – 1635 to 1639 Gardiner Samuel Rawson Samuel Rawson Gardiner Lee Sidney Sidney Lee 1899 Wentworth, Thomas, first Earl of Strafford (1593–1641) Dictionary of National Biography 60 Smith, Elder, & Co. London 268–283 8544105 https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati60stepuoft/page/268/ Gillespie Raymond 2006 Seventeenth-Century Ireland: Making Ireland Modern Gill & MacMillan Dublin 978-0-7171-3946-0 https://archive.org/details/seventeenthcentu0000gill/ House of Lords 1779 Journals of the House of Lords 1 William Sleater Dublin 35009219 https://opac.oireachtas.ie/Data/Library7/Library1/DC900086.pdf 17 January 2022 – 1634 to 1699 Joyce Patrick Weston 1903 A Concise History of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1837 M. H. Gill & Son Dublin 12th 815623752 https://archive.org/details/aconcisehistory00joycgoog/ Kearney Hugh Francis Hugh Kearney 1959 Strafford in Ireland 1633–1641 – a Study in Absolutism Manchester University Press Manchester 857142293 https://archive.org/details/straffordinirela00kear/ Kelsey Sean Matthew Henry Colin Gray. Colin Matthew Harrison Brian Brian Harrison (historian) 2004 Cary, Henry, first viscount Falkland Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 10 Oxford University Press New York 430–432 978-0-1986-1360-2 https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198613601/page/430/ registration MacNeill John Gordon Swift 1917 The Constitutional and Parliamentary History of Ireland till the Union The Talbot Press Dublin https://archive.org/details/constitutionalpa00macn – Snippet view Lord Mountmorres Hervey Redmond Morres, 2nd Viscount Mountmorres 1792 The History of the Principal Transactions of the Irish Parliament from the Year 1634 to 1666 I T. Cadell London 843863159 https://archive.org/details/historyprincipa00soutgoog/ – House of Lords Wallace Martin 1973 A Short History of Ireland David & Charles Newton Abbot, Devon 978-0-7153-6306-5 https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofir0000wall_b7u9/ Wedgwood C. V. C. V. Wedgwood 1961 Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford 1593–1641. A Revaluation Jonathan Cape London 1068569885 https://archive.org/details/thomaswentworthf0000wedg/ registration Wood Herbert 1935 The titles of the chief governors of Ireland Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 13 37 1–8 10.1111/j.1468-2281.1935.tb00065.x https://academic.oup.com/histres/article-abstract/13/37/1/5694686 subscription Category:Irish MPs 1634–1635 Category:1965 disestablishments in Ireland Category:Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) Category:Charles I of England