Simon de Montfort and the Origins of Parliament

By the 1250s King Henry III (1216-72) was running into difficulties with his nobility. Henry III faced a further development of baronial ambitions and protests. They accused the King of violating their rights and liberties. They were angry at the cost of some of his schemes, such as the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. After a very bad harvest in 1257 the King demanded a third of all English property. This aroused a new baronial riot. The barons finally came armed at Oxford and drew up "provisions" – "Oxford Provisions" and additional "Westminster Provisions" – to protect the knights from barons which gave all the power in the country to barons.

The Provisions of Oxford (1258), imposed on Henry by his barons, established a permanent baronial council which took control of certain key appointments. The leader of the baronial movement was Earl Simon de Montfort. In 1259 the Provisions of Westminster reformed the common law. Henry eventually renounced both sets of provisions and challenged the barons. Civil war broke out in 1264, initially going well for Simon de Montfort. The same year Earl Simon took the King prisoner. During the conflict de Montfort sought to boost his baronial support by summoning knights of the shires and burgesses to attend his parliament. In 1265 – Parliament was summoned with "commons" represented in it – two knights from a shire and two merchants from a town. This was the first time that commoners had been represented. De Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, but his innovation of summoning the commons to attend parliaments was repeated in later years and soon became standard. The 1295 Parliament was called Model Parliament, though it assured a continuity of the 1265 Parliament of Simon de Monfort. Thus it is from him that the modern idea of a representative parliament derives.

LATE MEDIEVAL (1348 – 1484)

The 13^th century was described by historians as a Plantagenet spring after a grim Norman winter. It was the century of the new gothic style in architecture, foundation of universities, the emergence of English as the language of the nation, and the development of the Parliament and Common Law. As early as the 15^th century, it became the practice that litigants who felt they had been cheated by the common-law system would petition the King in person. For example, they might argue that an award of damages (at common law) was not sufficient redress for a trespasser occupying their land, and instead request that the trespasser be evicted. From this developed the system of Equity, administered by the Lord Chancellor, in the courts of chancery. By their nature, Equity and Common law were frequently in conflict and litigation would frequently continue for years as one court countermanded the other, even though it was established by the 17^th century that Equity should prevail. In England, courts of common law and equity were combined by the Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875, with equity being supreme in case of conflict

The 14^th century brought the disasters of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the Peasants' Revolts (1381), the extermination of the population by the Black Death (1348-1349) and further strengthening of the English language.

The 15^th century saw the continuation of the struggle for the crown and the establishment of the Lancaster.

The Wars of the Roses (1455 – 1487) is the name generally given to the intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house. The name Wars of the Roses was not used at the time, but has its origins in the badges chosen by the two royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. The Wars were fought largely by armies of mounted knight and their feudal retainers. The House of Lancaster found most of its support in the north and west of the country, while support for the House of York came mainly from the south and east. The Wars of the Roses, with their heavy casualties among the nobility, were a major factor in the weakening of the feudal power of the nobles, leading to the growth of a strong, centralized monarchy under Tudors.

TUDORS – ABSOLUTE MONARCHY 1485 – 1602

The New Dynasty

The end of the Wars of the Roses, the victory of Henry Tudor and his marriage with Princess Elizabeth, heiress of the House of York (1485), were the events that symbolized the end of the Middle Ages in Britain. The year of 1485 is traditionally considered the watershed and the beginning of the Tudor Age. The five sovereign of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII succeeded in ending of Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house. Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years.

In historical development the rule of the Tudors with their absolute power in the long run contributed to the strengthening of its role in international affairs. The 16^th century was the age of a growing absolutism of monarchy and centralization of the state; these phenomena facilitated the development and foundation of new capitalist relations in production. During this period, Henry VII and Henry VIII greatly increased the power of the English monarch. A similar pattern was unfolding on the continent as new technologies, such as gunpowder, and social and ideological changes undermined the power of the feudal nobility and enhanced that of the sovereign.

Absolute Monarchy

Absolute monarchy is an idealized form of government, a monarchy where the ruler has the power to rule his or her country and citizens freely with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition telling him or her what to do, although some religious authority may be able to discourage the monarch from some acts and the sovereign is expected to act according to custom. As a theory of civics, absolute monarchy puts total trust in well-bred and well-trained monarchs raised for the role from birth. In theory, an absolute monarch has total power over his or her people and land, including the aristocracy, but in practice, absolute monarchs have often found their power limited.

The theory of absolute monarchy developed in the late Middle Ages from feudalism during which monarchs were still very much first among equals among the nobility. With the creation of centralized administrations and armies backed by expensive artillery, the power of the monarch gradually increased relative to the nobles, and from this period was created the theory of absolute monarchy.

In the 16^th century, efforts by the English monarch to create an absolute monarchy led to persistent struggle with Parliament which the monarch eventually lost.

The English type of absolute monarchy was shaped by Henry VII, who was opposed by the power of old barons. He ordered the old castles to be destroyed and feudal baronial armies to be disbanded. The king was very rich with the confiscated wealth of his defeated rivals. He was strong enough to prevent any revival of armed strength of any group of nobles, and he enjoyed support of merchants and small landowners who had all suffered from the war. These two groups, linked by a common interest in the wool trade, were not yet powerful enough to claim the political power. They were strong enough to be useful allies of the Tudor kings and queens. Their support enabled the Tudors to become despotic rulers, while at first playing a progressive historic role. But the Tudors' reign was abundant in various controversial arbitrary developments. The financial policy filled the Treasure and strengthened the throne and the church position, improved the contracts with Rome. The king skillfully steered through the complexities of European politics.

The English Reformation

Henry VIII was outrages with the power of Catholic Church in England and he started his own Reformation. In 1531, Henry was elected the Head of the Church of England and in 1534, the Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy declaring him the Supreme Head of the Church of England. He made use of the Protestant Reformation to seize the power of the Catholic Church, confiscating the property of the monasteries and declaring himself the head of the new Anglican Church. The lands of the monasteries were either sold or given to the new supporters who turned out to be enthusiastic protestants. Within a few years an enormous wealth went into the empty treasure of the King. In 1536, Henry managed to unite Wales with England, as the Welsh nobility were showing interest in the support of their representative on the English throne. It was the first Act of Union in the history of Britain.

The new power of the monarch was given a basis by the notion of the divine right of kings to rule over their subjects. James I was a major proponent of this idea and wrote extensively on it. The same forces that had reduced the power of the traditional aristocracy also served to increase the power of the commercial classes. The rise of trade and the central importance of money to the operation of the government gave this new class great power but power that was not reflected in the government structure. This would lead to a long contest during the seventeenth century between the forces of the monarch and parliament.

Exploration and the beginning of empire. In 1497, Henry VII hired Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto to cross the Atlantic on behalf of the English Crown. Caboto became the first European to discover what is today Canada and he claimed it for the English Crown. Soon after, colonies would be founded in North America and trading posts and enclaves would be established in India and elsewhere around the world. Eventually English, and later British, overseas holding would grow and the British Empire would span the globe. England developed into one of the leading European colonial powers. 

Under the Tudors the English state was centralized and rationalized as a bureaucracy built up and the government became run and managed by educated functionaries. The most notable new institution was the Star Chamber.

Star Chamber

Star Chamber was an English court of law during the 1500's and 1600's.  It tried people who were too powerful to be brought before the ordinary, common-law courts. The Star Chamber consisted of men from the King's Council, a group of royal advisers. It passed judgment without trial by jury. The court was so named because it held sessions in the Star Chamber of Westminster Palace. Today, the term star chamber refers to an unregulated, secret meeting of any court of justice or official organization.

The Star Chamber was popular for a long time because it protected ordinary people from their oppressors. But eventually it abused its powers. Unlike the common-law courts, which protected the accused, it used torture to obtain confessions. King Charles I used the Star Chamber to crush opposition to his policies. In 1641, the Long Parliament abolished the court.