The 7th Parliament of Queen Elizabeth I was summoned by

Queen Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eliz ...

on 18 September 1588 and assembled on 4 February 1589. Originally summoned in response to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in August 1588, the opening was delayed by Elizabeth as long as possible to avoid the inevitable debates on religious reform and foreign policy which she considered her own private prerogative. At the opening of Parliament on 4 February Sir

Christopher Hatton Sir Christopher Hatton KG (1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason. Early years Sir ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

, ordered the assembled Houses of Lords and

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

on behalf of the Queen to steer clear of debate on religious affairs. A

Serjeant-at-Law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

, Sir

Thomas Snagge Thomas Snagge (1536–1593) was a Member of Parliament, barrister and landowner who served as Speaker of the English House of Commons, Attorney General for Ireland and as Queen's Sergeant.

, MP for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, was appointed

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 ...

. Bills aimed at curbing abuses in the Exchequer and by purveyors were quashed by royal intervention. In spite of opposition to the unprecedented request for a double subsidy to deal with the threat from Spain, the subsidy was approved and there was even a joint petition from both houses to formally declare war on that country. By the dissolution on 29 March 1589 a total of sixteen public and eight private bills had been passed into law.

Notable Acts of the Parliament

* Common Informers Act 1588 *

Simony Act 1588 The Simony Act 1588 (31 Eliz 1 c 6) is an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act stipulates penalties for simony (the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things), an offence under the ecclesiastical law of the Church of England ...

Erection of Cottages Act 1588 The Erection of Cottages Act 1588 was an Act of the Parliament of England that prohibited the construction—in most parts of England—of any dwelling that did not have at least assigned to it out of the freehold or other heritable land belongin ...

Forcible Entry Act 1588 The Forcible Entry Act 1588 (31 Eliz 1 c 11) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England. Its purpose was to prevent the avoidance of the proviso to the Forcible Entry Act 1429. It provided that no restitution was to be made on an i ...

* Sale of Horses Act 1588

References

* {{cite web, url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1589, title=7th Parliament of Elizabeth I, 31 Eliz. I, publisher= History of Parliament Online, access-date= 3 November 2017 1589 establishments in England 1589 in politics

Notable Acts of the Parliament

See also

References