Great Contract

Cecil suggested that, in return for an annual grant of £200,000, the Crown should give up its feudal rights of Wardship and Purveyance, as well as the power of creating new impositions.

The Commons were allergic to the idea of permanent taxation, particularly for the benefit of the spendthrift James, but eventually accepted Cecil's proposal, though they offered far less than he had hoped for.

The contract was duly formalized, but during the parliamentary recess members were made aware that their constituents were implacably opposed to it.

[1] The plan was eventually rejected by both James and Parliament: the failure of his cherished project was thought by some to have hastened Cecil's early death in 1612, although it is most likely that he died of cancer.

The King withdrew from the contract because it meant that he would lose a useful means of controlling his more powerful subjects, and he also did not think £200,000 was a worthy substitute for his feudal rights.