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The Rise of Parliament in XIII AD /english/

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INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT

UNIVERSITY OF ECOLOGY AND POLITOLOGY

The Faculty of Philology

Student of the group # 101

Kuzmin Andrey

subject: THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN

 «The Rise of Parliament in XIII AD»

Moscow, 1999 y.

Contents:

1.   Introduction                                                                        3

2.   Magnum Cartum Liberatum                                       3

3.   Simon de Monfort and his “Parliamentum”              4

4.   King Edward’s Parliament.                                       5

5.   Parliament nowadays.                                                        7

a). The Functions of Parliament.

b). The Meeting of Parliament.

c). The House of Lords.

d). The House of Commons.

e). Public Access to Parliamentary Proceedings.

INTRODUCTION

Parliament plays the leading role in the political life of Great Britain. It passes laws, provides the means of carrying on the work of the government, scrutinizes government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure; debates the major issues of the day. In my wok I try to look at the history of this undoubtedly important body of authority. The events that took place in England in the XIII century turned out to be the main influence on the formation and the rise of Parliament that exists to the very moment.

THE GREAT CHARTER – MAGNA CARTA

Richard I’s absence in the Holy Land and the expense of crusade weakened the power of the Crown in England. When his brother John became king, he lacked the money to defend the English lands in France successfully. The meanness and cruelty of his character added to his unpopularity stimulated a heavy disapproval from the point of the Church; the power then belonged to Pope Innocent III. As a result in 1215 on June 15 the army of the Holy Pope supported by barons and leading citizens of London came up to the capital. The Church and the barons had their own, certain intentions. Innocent III wanted the Church to be absolutely independent from the English government and the barons didn’t want to pay any taxes and wanted to have various privileges.

On the 15 of June in 1215 the united army of Innocent III and leading barons forced John Lackland to make peace with his enemies on the Island of Runnymade in the Thames*. In the Great Charter or Magna Carta Liberatum, which he sealed there, he promised to keep the Church free and unharmed. He also tried to please the townsmen by granting safe conduct to any foreign merchant visiting England. The most important points that the king agreed to were:

…the English Church shall be free and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. …No scutage or aid (taxes) shall be demanded in our realm without the consent of the great council**.

…No freeman shall be arrested, put in prison, or lose his property, or be outlawed or banished, or harmed in any way…unless he has been judged by his equals under the law of the land. Justice will not be sold to anyone, nor will it be refused or delayed…

After King John had sealed the charter it became a tradition to sign this document by further kings, when receiving the crown, which was abandoned only in 150 years.

The Magna Carta even in later times has been used to prove that in England the subject has certain rights against the government which cannot touch him or his property unless the law allows it. However, in King John’s time these rights only belonged to those of the rank of freeman or above. The villains and serfs who far outnumbered them were not so fortunate.

Nevertheless the importance of the document is almost inconceivable as in 1297 on the first Parliament meeting Magna Carta obtained the recognition of the first statute of the British constitution.

After the king’s death caused by next rebellion in 1216 his son, the heir, Henry III (1216-1272) became the leader of the Holy Land. During his long reign the barons continued their struggle to make the king obey the terms of the Great Charter. No external wars took place.

SIMON DE MONFORT AND HIS “PARLIAMENTUM”

One of the riots that took place in the period of Henry’s reign was the rebellion of Simon de Monfort, the earl of Leicester. He came out against the king and the intervention of the Catholic Church. This event of AD 1265 was described by a monk Matthew, of Westminster Abbey***. The chronicler was by no means sympathetic to the rebellion. The prominence of the event is because the parliament summoned by Simon was seen, with some exaggeration, by 19th century historians, as the first modern parliament.

Trying not to loose his opportunity to gain authority and power, Simon de Monfort and the barons “collected the troops, both of the Londoners, whose army had increased to fifteen thousand men, and of men from other parts in countless numbers, marched with great impetuosity and courage. Accordingly, they encamped at Flexinge, in Sussex, which is about six miles from Lewes, and three days before the battle they addressed a message to the king” where they said that they were ready for war because they wanted to “preserve safety and security” of the country and to defend it from the enemies: “…it is plain from much experience that those who are present with you have suggested to your highness many falsehoods respecting us, intending all the mischief that they can do…”

But the king, as well as his son – “Richard, by the grace of God, king of the Romans, always Augustus, and Edward, the illustrious eldest son of the king of England”, despising this letter from his barons, was eager for war with all his heart, and sent them back the letter of defiance:

“…since you have wickedly attacked our nobles and others our faithful subjects, who have constantly preserved their fidelity to us, and since you still design to injure them as far as in your power, as you have signified to us by your letters, we…defy you, as the enemies of us and them. Witness my hand, at Lewes, on the Twelfth Day of May, in the forty-eighth year of our reign.”

“As, therefore, God did by no means admit of their coming to agreement, a most terrible battle took place between them, at Lewes, on the fourteenth of May, such as had never been heard of in past ages”. Henry III and his son lost the battle and were taken prisoners. Later Edward, as the price of his release, gave his palatine county of Chester to Simon.

Meanwhile Simon de Monfort called a meeting of barons, knights, and townspeople to help him restore peace and order. This meeting was called PARLIAMENTUM. But it was a flop because dissidence took place among the members, and using it, Edward attacked Simon and his army and defeated them.

The triumph of the earl of Leicester didn’t last long but it was a basis to build the first parliament on. It is wrong from my point of view to deny the importance of the events described above and of the personality of Simon.

KING EDWARD’S PARLIAMENT

After his father’s death in 1272 Edward becomes the king of England. He found it easy to keep his barons in order, for he had most of the qualities needed by the successful ruler in the Middle Ages. He was tall, silver-haired and dignified. Only a drooping

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