Parliament of England
In the winter of 1051, Earl Godwin stood before a gathering of magnates and clergy to face a state trial that would define the limits of royal power. This assembly, known as the witan, met regularly at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun to advise kings on matters of war, peace, and justice. The first kings of England convened these councils from the tenth century onward, creating a system where powerful men in distant regions maintained ties with their sovereign through periodic meetings. While not an elected body, the witan spoke for all English people through virtual representation, negotiating with rulers like Aethelred the Unready and Cnut the Great.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, the king received regular counsel from members of his curia regis, or great council. These feudal councils allowed kings to consult with leading subjects, though such consultation rarely resulted in changes to royal policy. Historian Judith Green notes that these assemblies were more concerned with ratification and publicity than with debate. The greater tenants, including archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and barons, were summoned by individual writ, while lesser tenants were called by sheriffs. These bodies had no role in approving taxation, as kings could levy direct land taxes at their own discretion.
King John alienated the barons through partiality in dispensing justice and heavy financial demands during the years between 1189 and 1215. In response, the barons forced him to abide by a charter of liberties known as Magna Carta in 1215. This document established three assumptions important to Parliament's later development: the king was subject to the law, he could only make law and raise taxation with the consent of the community of the realm, and obedience owed by subjects to the king was conditional rather than absolute.
Clause 12 stated that certain taxes could only be levied through the common counsel of the kingdom, while clause 14 specified that this common counsel came from bishops, earls, and barons. Although the clause stipulating no taxation without common counsel was deleted from later reissues, it remained adhered to by subsequent kings. The great council granted Henry II the Saladin tithe in 1188, acting as representatives for all taxpayers and establishing a precedent that taxation required consent. By 1225, a deal reached at a great council saw Magna Carta reissued in return for a fifteenth tax on movable property, setting a pattern where taxation was granted in exchange for redress of grievances.
The word parliament first appeared with its modern meaning in 1236, derived from the French term meaning talk or speech. In the mid-thirteenth century, parliaments developed throughout northwestern Europe, though English and French institutions diverged significantly over time. Most parliaments had between forty and eighty attendees, bringing together social classes resembling the estates of continental Europe: landed aristocracy, clergy, and towns. Historian John Maddicott points out that the main division within Parliament was less between lords and commons than between the landed and all others.
By 1341, the Commons met separately from nobility and clergy for the first time, creating what became known as an Upper Chamber and Lower Chamber. This development occurred during Edward III's reign because he needed finances to conduct the Hundred Years' War. The House of Lords emerged from 1544 onward, while the House of Commons included knights of the shire and burgesses who could provide both counsel and consent. During the Good Parliament of 1376, Peter de la Mare, the Presiding Officer of the lower chamber, complained of heavy taxes and demanded an accounting of royal expenditures.
In 1548, the House of Commons received a regular meeting place when the Crown granted St Stephen's Chapel as its debating chamber. This room served as the home of the House of Commons until it was destroyed by fire in 1834, though its interior was altered several times before then. The structure of this chapel-shaped room proved pivotal in Parliament's development, with benches laid out like choir stalls rather than in a circular formation. When political parties emerged in the late seventeenth century, members of the governing party sat on benches to the right of the Speaker, while opposition members took seats to the left.
The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535, 42 incorporated Wales into England, bringing Welsh representatives into Parliament for the first time in 1542. Henry VIII commanded the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which diminished the number of Lords Spiritual and made the Lords Temporal more numerous than ever before. By the Tudor era, the monarch was not a member of either chamber, requiring them to make feelings known through supporters in both houses. Queen Elizabeth I presided over Parliament during her reign, establishing patterns that would influence future parliamentary procedures.
In January 1642, King Charles entered the House of Commons and attempted unsuccessfully to arrest John Pym and four other members for alleged treason. These Five Members had been tipped off about the king's intentions and disappeared by the time Charles arrived with soldiers. The monarch further humiliated himself when he asked William Lenthall, the Speaker, to give their whereabouts, only to receive a famous refusal. Relations between king and parliament deteriorated rapidly after this incident, leading to the English Civil War which began with the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642.
Pride's Purge of December 1648 saw the New Model Army purge Parliament of members who did not support them. The remaining Rump Parliament enacted legislation to put the king on trial for treason, resulting in Charles I's execution in January 1649. This event marked the start of an eleven-year republic where the House of Lords was abolished and the purged House of Commons governed England until April 1653. Oliver Cromwell later dissolved the Rump Parliament after disagreements over religious policy and elections, convening instead a parliament of religious radicals known as Barebone's Parliament.
William assembled an army estimated at fifteen thousand soldiers and landed at Brixham in south-west England in November 1688. When many Protestant officers defected from the English army to William's invasion force, James II fled the country. Parliament then offered the Crown to his Protestant daughter Mary instead of her infant son, though Mary refused the offer. Instead, William and Mary ruled jointly, with both having the right to rule alone on the other's death.
As part of this compromise called the Glorious Revolution, Parliament had the 1689 Bill of Rights enacted, followed by the 1701 Act of Settlement. These statutes lawfully upheld the prominence of Parliament for the first time in English history, marking the beginning of constitutional monarchy. After the Treaty of Union in 1707, acts passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. This replaced both parliaments with a new Parliament of Great Britain based in the former home of the English parliament, which later became the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801.
Common questions
When did the word parliament first appear with its modern meaning?
The word parliament first appeared with its modern meaning in 1236. It was derived from a French term that means talk or speech.
What year did King Charles enter the House of Commons to arrest John Pym and four other members?
King Charles entered the House of Commons in January 1642 to attempt the arrest of John Pym and four other members known as the Five Members. These individuals had been tipped off about his intentions and disappeared before he arrived with soldiers.
Who presided over Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I?
Queen Elizabeth I presided over Parliament during her reign. She established patterns that would influence future parliamentary procedures.
In what year did the House of Lords emerge as a distinct body?
The House of Lords emerged from 1544 onward. This development occurred after Henry VIII commanded the Dissolution of the Monasteries which diminished the number of Lords Spiritual.
When did William land at Brixham to assemble an army for the Glorious Revolution?
William landed at Brixham in south-west England in November 1688. He assembled an army estimated at fifteen thousand soldiers to challenge James II who fled the country when many Protestant officers defected.