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William “The Conqueror” controlled two large areas: Normandy, which he had been given by his father, and England, which he had won in war. After his death, wars between England and France for the control of these lands became a commonplace.
John “Lackland”, who became the king England in 1199, was very unpopular with the three most important groups of people: the nobles, the merchants and the Church. He increased taxation (in order to get money for the war with France), quarrelled with the Pope and hadn’t protected nobles’ land when French king invaded Normandy (though he had taken the money from the nobles).
Thus, in 1215, the richest and most powerful sections of English society – merchants, aristocrats and the Church – met at Runnymede to force King John to agree the terms of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter. This document settled down the rules that a feudal king must follow.
King John had signed Magna Carta unwillingly, and it quickly became clear that he was not going to keep to the agreement. The nobles rebelled and pushed John out of the southeast. But civil war was avoided because John died suddenly in 1216.
When John’s son, Henry III, increased taxes in order to get money for the wars in Sicily and in France, the nobles, under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, took over the government. In 1265, they elected a council of nobles which they called a parliament (from the French word parler (to speak)). The nobles were supported by the towns, which wished to be free of Henry’s heavy taxes.
Edward I (Henry’s son) brought together the first real parliament. Simon de Montfort’s council had been called a parliament, but it included only nobles. It had been able to make written laws and political decisions. However, the lords were less able to provide the king with money, except what they had agreed to pay him for the lands they held under feudal arrangement.
Edward I was the first to create a "representative institution" which could provide the money he needed. This institution became the House of Commons. Unlike the House of Lords, it contained a mixture of "gentry" (knights and other wealthy freemen from the shires) and merchants from the towns. These were the two broad classes of people who produced and controlled England’s wealth.
Edward I commanded each shire and each town (or borough) to send two representatives to his parliament. So, the House of Commons contained a mixture of gentry belonging to the feudal ruling class and merchants and freemen who did not. The co-operation of these groups, through the House of Commons, became important to Britain’s later political and social development.
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