'Extraordinary ocasions require extraordinary aides': Imminent danger, the royal prerogative, and ship and ship money levies in Elizabethan and Caroline England

This thesis investigates the collection of ship money in the reigns of Elizabeth I and Charles I, analyzing the ship money in light of changing concepts of the royal prerogative and in particular the definition of imminent danger. It argues that an increase in absolutist ideology and action in England throughout Elizabeth's, James I's, and Charles's reigns, led to a broadening conceptualization of and actions via the royal prerogative. Elizabeth employed a different notion of imminent danger with her ship levies than Charles did for his ship money levies during his Personal Rule. This suggests that imminent danger was not a static concept. Combined with a broader interpretation of the royal prerogative, Charles's alterations allowed him to take novel actions via ship levies to demand his subjects' property without Parliament's consent. This infringement of property rights led to an increase in principled protest against the ship money levies.