3a.
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Civil War > What kind of king was Charles I? > Monarchs before Charles I > Source 3
Part of a speech by James I to Parliament in 1609
(Catalogue ref: SP 14/53/31)
This is an extract from a major speech which James I made to the Parliament of England.
Parliament was made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Lords were the great nobles, landowners and powerful men of the realm. The Commons were smaller landowners, plus wealthy merchants and traders.
In this speech, James set out his views on how he would run the country.
James became king in 1603. He wanted the Lords and Members of Parliament to know what he expected of them and what they could expect from him.
James had a poor reputation as a monarch in some ways because his court was rather disorganised and he often drank too much. However, historians now point out that James was good at reaching compromises with his opponents on difficult issues.
One reason for this is that his court was not too stuffy or formal. MPs and nobles found it easy to approach James and tell him about their concer
What was James trying to say? Try to identify parts of the speech showing that: