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The 4th Parliament of King James I was the fourth and last
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
of the reign of
James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
, summoned on 30 December 1623, sitting from 19 February 1624 to 29 May 1624, and thereafter kept out of session with repeated prorogations, it was dissolved on the death of the King on 27 March 1625.; ; The
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...
was Sir Thomas Crewe, the member for Aylesbury.


History

The parliament was referred to as "''Fælix Parliamentum''" or the "Happy Parliament" by
Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
. The three previous parliaments of James I had been a source of conflict and the King's opening address to the Commons commented on the "desire of all parties to forget past disagreements." However the parliamentary session was clouded by mutual suspicion and nearly every speech made tacit or explicit comments with reference to previous sessions.
Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
and the
Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...
used the Parliament to aid their push for a war against Spain. Buckingham and Charles played a large role in ensuring the impeachment of
Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
Lionel Cranfield, who was opposed to a war for financial reasons. The Fourth Parliament sat for only one session (labelled in statutes as "21 James I"), which ran from 19 February 1624 to 29 May 1624. Its second session was scheduled to start on 2 November 1624, but it was prorogued before opening to 16 February 1625 then again to 15 March and once more to 20 April. However, before that last date arrived, King James I died (27 March 1625), and the Fourth Parliament was dissolved.


Notable Acts passed in the Parliament

* Statute of Monopolies 1623 * Common Informers Act 1623 * Intrusions Act 1623 *
Forcible Entry Act 1623 The Forcible Entry Act 1623 (21 Jac 1 c 15) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England. It provided that any judge who already had a statutory power, on enquiry, to give restitution of possession of freehold land in respect of which ...
* Limitation Act 1623 * Crown Lands Act 1623


See also

* List of MPs elected to the English parliament in 1624 * Acts of the 4th Parliament of King James I *
List of parliaments of England This is a list of parliaments of England from the reign of King Henry III, when the '' Curia Regis'' developed into a body known as Parliament, until the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. For later parliaments, see the Lis ...
* Duration of English parliaments before 1660


Notes


References

* * * * *


Further reading

* * {{Citation, ref=none , first=Philip , last=Baker , date=12 February 2018 , url=https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/1624-proceedings-the-house-of-commons/ , title=1624 Proceedings: The House of Commons , publisher=Blog at WordPress.com 1624 in England Political history of England Parliaments of James I of England 1624 in politics