Lex loquens: legislation in the Parliament of 1624

Abstract

The Parliament of 1624 enacted seventy-three statutes - the greatest number in a single session since 32 Henry VIII (1540). Traditionally, these pieces of legislation have either been ignored, viewed by orthodox historians as tools by which the House of Commons won the initiative from the Crown, or mentioned en passant as illustration. This dissertation challenges those views and considers the role of bills as the 'proper business' of Parliament. It examines not only the acts which were transcribed onto the Parliament Roll but the other 112 pieces of abortive legislation introduced in 1624. After two opening chapters which introduce the study and provide an overview of the legislation and procedure in 1624, the work is divided into sections of public bill categories: Trade and the Economy, the Courts and Law Reform (I and II), Religion, and the State and Commonweal. Chapter Eight reviews private bill legislation and is sectioned into four parts. These are Naturalization and Restitution, Local, London, and Individual. The following chapter examines the four 'standard' bills - Temporal and Clerical Subsidies, Continuance, and the General Pardon. The conclusion reviews the legislative achievement of the Parliament, the role of James I as a 'legislative patron', and the chronological continuity of bills.