UAB FONAMENTS B 8A - A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

Nobody set out to create Parliament. It developed naturally out of the daily political needs of the English
King and his government. Nor did it develop continuously over time, but went through short periods of
rapid growth. Yet despite its unintentional and haphazard development, the modern British Parliament is one
of the oldest continuous representative assemblies in the world. How did this happen? It is a story that
involves revolt, war, invasion, several dethronings, and even Henry VIII's love life.

Anglo-Saxon origins
The modern UK Parliament can trace its origins all the way back to two features of Anglo-Saxon
government from the 8th to 11th centuries. These are the Witan and the moot.
The Witan was the occasion when the King would call together his leading advisors and nobles to discuss
matters affecting the country. It existed only when the King chose and was made up of those individuals
whom he particularly summoned. The Witan's main duty was to advise the King, but its assent was not
necessary for the King to take action. Nor did it help frame the laws, as the modern Parliament does, but
primarily consented to the laws the King had already decided to enact. However, Anglo-Saxon Kings
realised that they could not govern their territories without local support from these powerful men, and so
began the delicate balancing act between the King's power and the power of those he governed.
Also, under the Anglo-Saxons there had been regular meetings, or moots, for each county (or shire) where
cases were heard and local matters discussed. The 'shire moot' was attended by the local lords and bishops,
the sheriff, and most importantly, four representatives of each village.

Norman Conquest - 1066

After the Norman Conquest, Kings of England began to govern through a smaller but permanent inner
council of advisers and officials, but occasionally the King would call on additional nobles (earls and
barons) and churchmen (bishops and abbots) to gain their approval of his decisions, especially regarding
taxation. This larger group of noble advisors especially summoned was known as the Great Council
(magnum concilium) and it formed the basis for the modern Upper House of Parliament - today the HOL.
After the Conquest, the moot became known as the County Court and it introduced the idea of representative
government at the local level. These two gatherings remained separate for many centuries, but eventually
the noble councillors of the Great Council and the local spokesmen of the County Court would combine to
make a Parliament of two Houses, the aristocratic Lords and the locally representative Commons.

Magna Carta - 1215

When this system of consultation and consent broke down, it often became impossible for government to
function effectively. The most notorious early example of this was the disagreements between King John
and the barons.
King John became King of England, Duke of Normandy (in France), Duke of Aquitaine (in France), Count
of Anjou (in France), and Lord of Ireland in 1199. In 1204, the King of France took Normandy and Anjou
from John. John wanted to regain his lost territories in France, which his family had ruled for hundreds of
years. Johns attempts to recapture his familys lost territory in France, meant that he needed money. He
raised taxes in England much higher than they had been before, causing officials to become more and more
oppressive in the way they collected these taxes.

Raising taxes made John increasingly unpopular with the English barons, whom the king relied on to assist
him in governing the kingdom. The immediate cause of the Barons rebellion was the decisive defeat in
battle of King Johns army at Bouvines in 1214, by the force of the king of France. This, together with
Johns personality and ruthless actions, which seem to have provoked hostility and fear in others more than
the loyalty on which kings of this period had to rely, caused much opposition among the barons. The defeat
at Bouvines led to the meeting at Runnymede and Magna Carta was hammered out in negotiations between
the leaders of two armed parties the king on one side and the rebel barons on the other. It was the first
document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought
to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a
power in itself.
A few months after he had issued the charter, John persuaded the Pope to declare Magna Carta illegal
because it interfered with the rights of the king. The barons would not accept this and a civil war broke out,
in which most of the barons fought for Magna Carta against John. In October 1216, King John died so it was
decided to make his nine-year-old son, Henry, king. King Henry III was knighted and then crowned on 28
October 1216. Following this, Johns leading advisers sent out letters to all the rebels in the name of the new
king, confirming Magna Carta and calling for their loyalty. For the remainder of Henry IIIs childhood,
Magna Carta was repeatedly confirmed and reissued and became well-known across England, not just
among the barons, but also in the counties.

Simon de Montfort's Parliament - 1258

Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, was a French noble who came to England in the 1230s and received
lands from King Henry III who was around the same age. Simon controversially married the kings sister at
a time when marriages of the aristocracy were strictly controlled by the king. Henry III however, accepted
the marriage and Simon became one of King Henrys main advisers.
Once the minority of Henry III ended and he took full control of the government, leading nobles became
increasingly concerned with his style of government, specifically his unwillingness to consult them on
decisions he took, and his seeming patronization of his foreign relatives over his native subjects. Henry's
support of a disastrous papal invasion of Sicily was the last straw. In 1258, seven leading barons forced
Henry to swear to uphold the Provisions of Oxford. This effectively abolished the absolutist Anglo-Norman
monarchy, giving power to a council of fifteen barons, and providing for a thrice-yearly meeting of
parliament to monitor their performance. Parliament assembled six times between June 1258 and April
1262, most notably at Oxford in 1258.
Simon de Montfort emerged as the leader of this rebellion. In the following years, those supporting Montfort
and those supporting the king grew more hostile to each other. Henry obtained a papal bull in 1263
exempting him from his oath and both sides began to raise armies. At the Battle of Lewes on 14 May 1264,
Henry was defeated and taken prisoner by Montfort's army. So in 1264, Montfort summoned the first
parliament in English history without any prior royal authorisation. The archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls
and barons were summoned, as were two knights from each shire and two burgesses from each borough.
Knights had been summoned to previous councils, but the representation of the boroughs was
unprecedented. This was significant because it formed the basis of a more representative democracy the
origins of this structure of parliament can be linked to the House of Commons as we know it today.
Following Edward's escape from captivity, Montfort was defeated and killed at the Battle of Evesham in
1265. Henry's authority was restored, but this was nonetheless a turning point in the history of the
Parliament of England. When Edward became king after Henry III died in 1272, he once again began to call
representatives of the counties and towns to parliament. This happened more and more frequently, and these
representatives eventually formed the House of Commons in the fourteenth century. The House of
Commons continues to contain representatives of the people of the country to this day.

Edward III - 1341

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.
The authority of parliament grew under Edward III; it was established that no law could be made, nor any
tax levied, without the consent of both Houses and the Sovereign. This development occurred during the
reign of Edward III because he was involved in the Hundred Years' War and needed finances. During his
conduct of the war, Edward tried to circumvent parliament as much as possible, which caused this edict to
be passed.

The Good Parliament - 1376

By 1376 people were getting tired of the elderly Edward III's rule, and the influence of his favourites. In the
Parliament of that year the Commons chose Sir Peter de la Mare to act as its spokesman before the King in
joining its complaints with that of the Lords. De la Mare was thus the forerunner of the office of Speaker of
the House of Commons - a member selected by the Commons to chair its business and represent its views.
The following year Thomas Hungerford was the first spokesman to be termed Speaker in the official record.
The Parliament of 1376 was called the Good Parliament. This was because the Commons prosecuted before
the nobles some of the King's corrupt ministers, a process known as impeachment. This became a frequent
procedure over the following years as Parliament turned against Edward III's successor Richard II.

Tudor Monarchs - 1485

It was during the reign of the Tudor monarchs that the modern structure of the English Parliament began to
be created. The Tudor monarchy was powerful and there were often periods of several years when
parliament did not sit at all. However the Tudor monarchs were astute enough to realize that they needed
parliament to legitimise many of their decisions, mostly out of a need to raise money through taxation
legitimately without causing discontent. Thus they consolidated the state of affairs whereby monarchs
would call and close parliament as and when they needed it.
By the time Henry Tudor (Henry VII) came to the throne in 1485 the monarch was not a member of either
the Upper Chamber or the Lower Chamber. Consequently, the monarch would have to make his or her
feelings known to Parliament through his or her supporters in both houses.
A member of either chamber could present a "bill" to parliament. Bills supported by the monarch were often
proposed by members of the Privy Council who sat in parliament. In order for a bill to become law it would
have to be approved by a majority of both Houses of Parliament before it passed to the monarch for royal
assent or veto. The royal veto was applied several times during the 16th and 17th centuries and it is still the
right of the monarch of the United Kingdom to veto legislation today, although it has not been exercised
since 1707 (today such exercise would presumably precipitate a constitutional crisis).
It was in this period that the Palace of Westminster was established as the seat of the English Parliament. In
1548, the House of Commons was granted a regular meeting place by the Crown, St Stephen's Chapel. This
had been a royal chapel. It was made into a debating chamber after Henry VIII became the last monarch to
use the Palace of Westminster as a place of residence. This room became the home of the House of
Commons until it was destroyed by fire in 1834, although the interior was altered several times up until
then.

The Gunpowder Plot - 1605

It was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of
provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the
State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the
Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the
Catholic head of state. Guy Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish
Netherlands in suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives.
The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter and Fawkes was discovered guarding
36 barrels of gunpowderenough to reduce the House of Lords to rubbleand arrested. At their trial on
27 January 1606, eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged,
drawn and quartered.

The English Civil War - 1642

In 1628, alarmed by the arbitrary exercise of royal power, the House of Commons submitted to Charles I the
Petition of Right, demanding the restoration of their liberties. Though he accepted the petition, Charles later
dissolved parliament and ruled without them for eleven years. It was only after the financial disaster of the
Scottish Bishops' Wars (16391640) that he was forced to recall Parliament so that they could authorise new
taxes. This resulted in the calling of the assemblies known historically as the Short Parliament of 1640 and
the Long Parliament, which sat with several breaks and in various forms between 1640 and 1660.
When trouble started to brew in Ireland, both Charles and his parliament raised armies to quell the uprisings
by native Catholics there. It was not long before it was clear that these forces would end up fighting each
other, leading to the English Civil War which began with the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642: those
supporting the cause of parliament were called Parliamentarians (or Roundheads).
The final victory of the parliamentary forces was a turning point in the history of the Parliament of England.
This marked the point when parliament replaced the monarchy as the supreme source of power in England.
This change was symbolised in the execution of Charles I in January 1649 and the start of an 11 year
republic. The House of Lords was abolished and the purged House of Commons governed England until
April 1653, when army chief Oliver Cromwell dissolved it following disagreements over religious policy
and how to carry out elections to parliament.
Although it is easy to dismiss the English Republic of 1649-60 as nothing more than a Cromwellian military
dictatorship, the events that took place in this decade were hugely important in determining the future of
parliament. First, it was during the sitting of the first Rump Parliament that members of the House of
Commons became known as "MPs" (Members of Parliament). Second, Cromwell gave a huge degree of
freedom to his parliaments, although royalists were barred from sitting in all but a handful of cases. The
Rump Parliament between 1649 and 1653 proved that parliament could survive without a monarchy and a
House of Lords if it wanted to. Future English monarchs would never forget this. Charles I was the last
English monarch ever to enter the House of Commons.
Even to this day, a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is sent to Buckingham Palace as a
ceremonial hostage during the State Opening of Parliament, in order to ensure the safe return of the
sovereign from a potentially hostile parliament. During the ceremony the monarch sits on the throne in the
House of Lords and signals for the Lord Great Chamberlain to summon the House of Commons to the Lords
Chamber. The Lord Great Chamberlain then raises his wand of office to signal to the Gentleman Usher of
the Black Rod, who has been waiting in the central lobby. Black Rod turns and, escorted by the doorkeeper
of the House of Lords and an inspector of police, approaches the doors to the chamber of the Commons. The
doors are slammed in his face symbolising the right of the Commons to debate without the presence of the
Queen's representative. He then strikes three times with his staff (the Black Rod), and he is admitted.

The Restoration - 1660

Following the death of Oliver Cromwell in September 1658, his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him as
Lord Protector but he was unable to continue on his fathers work due to lack of support from the army.
New elections were called and this parliament voted to reinstate the monarchy and the House of Lords.
Charles II returned to England as king in May 1660. The Restoration began the tradition whereby all
governments looked to parliament for legitimacy.
The Indemnity and Oblivion Act, which became law on 29 August 1660, pardoned all past treason against
the crown, but specifically excluded those involved in the trial and execution of Charles I. 31 of the 59
commissioners (judges) who had signed the death warrant in 1649 were still living. In the ensuing trials,
twelve were condemned to death.

The Glorious Revolution - 1688

Charles II died in 1685 and he was succeeded by his brother James II. During his lifetime Charles had
always pledged loyalty to the Protestant Church of England, despite his private Catholic sympathies. James
was openly Catholic. He attempted to lift restrictions on Catholics taking up public offices. This was bitterly
opposed by Protestants in his kingdom. They invited William of Orange, a Protestant who had married
Mary, daughter of James II, to invade England and claim the throne. William assembled an army estimated
at 15,000 soldiers and landed at Brixham in southwest England in November, 1688. When many Protestant
officers, including James's close adviser, John Churchill, defected from the English army to William's
invasion force, James fled the country.
Parliament then offered the Crown to his Protestant daughter Mary who refused the offer, and instead
William and Mary ruled jointly, with both having the right to rule alone on the other's death. As part of the
compromise in allowing William to be Kingcalled the Glorious RevolutionParliament was able to have
the 1689 Bill of Rights enacted. Later the 1701 Act of Settlement was approved. These were statutes that
lawfully upheld the prominence of parliament for the first time in English history. These events marked the
beginning of the English constitutional monarchy and its role as one of the three elements of parliament.

David Llyod George 1911

Until the early years of the 20th century, the House of Lords had the power to prevent legislation, as bills
had to be passed by both Houses of Parliament.
David Lloyd-George's so-called 'people's budget' of 1909 brought this arrangement under strain, when the
House of Lords originally refused to pass it. Eventually, the budget was passed after a general election in
1910; a second election was then fought on the issue of reform of the House of Lords.
The result was the Parliament Act of 1911, which removed from the House of Lords the power to veto a bill.
The Act also reduced the maximum lifespan of a Parliament from seven years to its present five years.