3rd Parliament of James I

To his relief Parliament voted him the additional subsidies and then moved on to investigate the abuse of monopolies and reform the Court of Chancery.

During their investigations the Commons discovered that the Lord Chancellor, Sir Francis Bacon, the Viscount St Albans, had been taking bribes, resulting in him being dismissed from his office, fined and imprisoned.

Other investigations into monopoly abuse revealed that a royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham and his associates were deeply involved, including Sir Giles Mompesson, who was stripped of his parliamentary seat and knighthood, and Buckingham's half-brother Sir Edward Villiers.

King James reacted by threatening to dissolve the parliament in June 1621 but relented and allowed it to continue after the summer recess.

When Parliament reassembled James demanded further subsidies and Parliament reluctantly acceded to his demand on condition that they should be allowed to finish their other business and also suggested that his son Prince Charles should seek a Protestant wife rather than the Spanish match James had in mind.