There was no question that the monarch was in charge. Elizabeth
I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-25) both made it very clear that
they ruled the country. They made the laws, they fought the
wars, they appointed the top ministers and so on. However, the
monarchy worked on the basis of cooperation between the monarch
and the political nation. The political nation was the nobles
and gentry. The nobles were the very rich landowners. The gentry
were the wealthy smaller landowners and also rich merchants in
the towns. They were a tiny minority of the population, but they
held most of the wealth and power in the kingdom. They saw
themselves as the protectors of the ordinary people. They were
the Members of Parliament and they collected the king’s taxes.
The local gentleman or merchant was usually the local
magistrate. The gentry were in charge of the local militia
(armed forces). They were also in charge of law and order
because there was no police at this time. Their estates and
businesses made them the biggest empl