ABSTRACT
Three financial crises involving the state stand out in the history of English law, in each case because of the significant consequences that the steps taken in response to the crisis had on the development of the legal system. The first was the crisis faced by King John in the early thirteenth century, as a result of the expense of the war in France and the dramatic reduction in national revenue occasioned by the loss of Normandy. The second was the crisis faced by King Charles I in the middle of the seventeenth century, once again caused by the inability to raise sufficient revenue to meet the expense of wars on the Continent. The third was the crisis faced in the late seventeenth century by King William III and Queen Mary, also as a result of the expense of wars on the Continent.
