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The History of Parliament
The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot.
Witenagemot(wɪtənə ɡɨmoʊt/), aka Witan, OldEng “meeting of the wise men”), assembly of councillors in Anglo-Saxon England that met to advise the king of judicial and administrative matters. Originally a gathering of all the freemen of a tribe, it eventually became an assembly composed of the ealdormen (Old English, “aldermen”), or local chieftains, the bishops, other high civil and ecclesiastical officials, and sometimes friends and relatives of the king.
The witenagemot may have had the power to elect a king, especially if succession was disputed, and it deliberated on all new laws, made treaties, served as a supreme court of justice, authorized the levying of extraordinary taxation and the granting of land, and raised military forces. Each of the several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had its own witenagemot until the subjugation of them all by Egbert, king of Wessex, between 825 and 829. Thereafter the witenagemot of Wessex gradually developed into a single assembly for the whole country. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the witenagemot was superseded by the Great Council, an advisory body to the Anglo-Norman kings.
In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, where he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws.
The Curia Regis
It was a council of tenants-in-chief (those who held lands directly from the King, known as manors) and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters. It replaced its Anglo-Saxon predecessor, the Witenagemot, after the Norman conquest of 1066, and eventually developed into the Parliament of England.
William the Conqueror brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy. Thus, he granted land to his most important military supporters, who in turn granted land to their supporters, thus creating a feudal hierarchy.
William I was an absolute ruler but often sought the advice of the Curia Regis before making laws.
13th century
In order to seek consultation and consent from the nobility and the senior clergy on major decisions, post-1066 English monarchs called Great Councils.
A typical Great Council would consist of archbishops, bishops, abbots, barons and earls, the pillars of the feudal system. The kings were expected to meet all royal expenses, but if extra resources were needed for an emergency, such as a war, the Sovereign would seek to persuade his barons in the Great Council to grant aid.
When this system of consultation and consent broke down it often became impossible for government to function effectively.
The Great Council evolved into the Parliament of England. The term itself came into use during the early 13th century, deriving from the Latin and French words for discussion and speaking. The word first appears in official documents in the 1230s.
1215
King John (the Lackland, who was extremely unpopular, greedy and lost in Property) was forced by his rebel barons to sign Magna Carta on June 10, 1215 – an important symbol of political freedom that granted the barons a more permanent share in the government
Henry III though not as bad as his father was in constant need of money and as a result had to face a further development of baronial ambitions and protests.
Henry III took full control of the government of his kingdom, many leading nobles became increasingly concerned at his style of government, specifically his unwillingness to consult them on the decisions he took.
1258 - seven leading barons forced Henry to agree and swear an oath to the Provisions of Oxford, which gave power to a council of 15 barons to deal with the business of government and provided for a thrice-yearly meeting of parliament to monitor their performance.
The Oxford Parliament (1258) - aka the "Mad Parliament" and the "First English Parliament". It was established by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.
In 1258 they took over the Government and elected a council of nobles (=> the House of Lords). De Monfort called it a “parliament” (from French “parler” – говорить). In 1265, he summoned representatives of towns to Parliament (=> the House of Commons)
1295
The so-called Model Parliament of Edward I (1295) contained all the elements of a mature Parliament: bishops, peers, knights from each shire and representatives from each town.
This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and boroughs. Each county returned 2 knights, 2 burgesses (житель небольшого города, имеющего самоуправление) were elected from each borough, and each city provided 2 citizens. This composition became the model for later parliaments, hence the name.
The Model Parliament was unicameral, summoning 49 lords to sit with 292 representatives of the Commons
14th century
In 1341 the Commons met separately from the nobility and clergy for the first time, creating what was effectively an Upper Chamber and a Lower Chamber, with the knights and burgesses sitting in the latter. This Upper Chamber became known as the House of Lords from 1544 onward, and the Lower Chamber became known as the House of Commons, collectively known as the Houses of Parliament.
In the 14th century Parliament gained control over statutes and taxation, created impeachment (1376) - whereby the House of Commons as a body could accuse officials who had abused their authority and put them on trial before the Lords; and presided over the abdications of Edward II (1327) and Richard II (1399).
The 'Good Parliament' of 1376 saw the election of the first Speaker, Thomas Hungerford, to represent the Commons.
15th century
In the 15th Century, the Commons gained equal law-making powers with the Lords, under King Henry V. The commons were given power over taxation.
17th century
James I's successor, Charles I, quarrelled with the English Parliament and their dispute developed into the English Civil War.
Charles I dissolved parliament and ruled without them for 11 years.
Tensions between the king and his parliament reached boiling point in January 1642 when Charles entered the House of Commons and tried, unsuccessfully, to arrest John Pym (he most prominent of the king’s critics in the House of Commons) and four other members for their alleged treason. The five members had been tipped off about this, and by the time Charles came into the chamber with a group of soldiers they had disappeared. Charles was further humiliated when he asked the Speaker, William Lenthall, to give their whereabouts, which Lenthall famously refused to do:
"May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here."
Charles was executed in 1649 and under Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth of England the House of Lords was abolished, and the House of Commons made subordinate to Cromwell. After Cromwell's death, the Restoration of 1660 restored the monarchy and the House of Lords.
Amidst fears of a Roman Catholic succession, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 deposed James II (James VII of Scotland) in favour of the joint rule of Mary II and William III, whose agreement to the English Bill of Rights introduced a constitutional monarchy, though the supremacy of the Crown remained. For the third time, a Convention Parliament, i.e., one not summoned by the king, was required to determine the succession.
The Bill of Rights established the authority of Parliament over the King, and enshrined in law the principle of freedom of speech in parliamentary debates.
The Bill of Rights laid out certain basic rights for all Englishmen. These rights continue to apply today, not only in England, but in each of the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth realms as well:
- Freedom from royal interference with the law. Though the sovereign remains the fount of justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge.
- Freedom from taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of parliament became necessary for the implementation of any new taxes.
- Freedom to petition the monarch.
- Freedom from the standing army during a time of peace. The agreement of parliament became necessary before the army could be moved against the populace when not at war.
- Freedom for Protestants to bear arms for their own defence, as suitable to their class and as allowed by law.
- Freedom to elect members of parliament without interference from the sovereign.
- Freedom of speech and debates; or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.
The legislative primacy of the House of Commons over the Lords was confirmed in the 20th Century by the passing of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 (the Act of 1911 allowed the Lords to delay a bill for a maximum of three sessions (reduced to two sessions in 1949), after which it could become law over their objections).
18th century
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