My Science School

Edward I, Henry III's son, made the meeting of parliament a more frequent event and over the course of his reign of 35 years, he summoned it on 46 occasions. He was not a democrat, but he saw that parliament was necessary if he was to raise enough money to carry out his policies and to conduct his war with France.

In 1275, Edward I called his first parliament. He summoned nobles and churchmen, but also included the knights from different counties. In addition, he issued writs for two representatives from each city or town -known as the burgesses-to attend. They were called on primarily to listen to and approve the king's plan for a new tax. Over the following years, it became an accepted rule that the representatives of those who were going to be most affected by taxation had to give their consent to it in parliament. However, the practice of summoning these representatives of the people did not become standard till 1295, when the Model Parliament was called.

 

During the thirteenth century, in England, the word 'parliament' often referred to the assemblies that were summoned by the king. These assemblies acted as a session of the nobility. However, when Simon de Montfort came to power, he needed the support of all the people. He summoned the Great Council more frequently. In 1265, in addition to the Lords, he also included burgesses from the towns. The burgesses were the representatives of the ordinary people.

The parliament of 1265, therefore, marks a great advance in the constitutional history of England. The old council of the king had been strictly an assembly of nobles. At its meetings, the ordinary people were not expected to be present. The parliament of 1265 marks the first time that ordinary people were represented at the assemblies. This gathering set a precedent for the future, and in this sense, perhaps, Simon may be called the 'creator of the House of Commons'.

 

Simon de Montfort was a Frenchman who married King Henry III's sister. He owned land in England, and became the Earl of Leicester. Simon considered Henry unfit to rule, and led a group of barons who forced the Provisions of Oxford on the king. When Henry refused to rule according to the Provisions, Simon ultimately led a baronial rebellion. He managed to capture the king at the Battle of Lewes. He then governed England as a military dictator for a short time. 

Henry III was a 13th century English king who came to the throne at an early age. His reign was marked by strife with barons, led by Simon de Montfort. By 1258, the situation had worsened, and Henry was forced to agree to the Provisions of Oxford. This was a document out-lining reforms to English Common Law. The reforms reinforced and refined many of the principles laid down in the Magna Carta, paving the way for greater rights and freedoms for the common man. 

The 13th century saw many changes in the English way of life. The feudal system began slowly breaking up. Trade and industry grew by leaps and bounds, and the towns were also becoming bigger and more prosperous.

 The most powerful king in medieval English history was Edward I who lived in the 13th century. He was perhaps the most brilliant at consolidating power. The institution he invented to achieve this end was the parliament. The purpose of parliament was to gather all the major vassals of the king in one place, explain to them the reasons for collecting taxes, and get their approval.

 The entire purpose of the development of parliament was efficiency. Eventually, however, after the reign of Edward, parliament would develop as a powerful check on the monarch's power, though this had not been Edward's intention.

 

King John was a very unpopular monarch who came to the throne of England in 1199. The lords of England hated John, because he taxed everyone heavily, and was generally a weak and nasty ruler. By 1215, the English lords had enough of his misrule, and they got together an army and marched to London. John was forced to sign the paper they put in front of him, which is known as The Magna Carta. Did you know that Magna Carta means 'Great Letter' in Latin? The Magna Carta is one of the most important documents in history. It guaranteed the people certain rights, and bound the king to certain laws. To begin with, the king had to obey the law, like other people. Moreover, if the king broke the law, the lords had the right to remove that king. In particular, the king could not collect new taxes. After writing the document, these nobles forced King John to sign it, on the threat of civil war. Their intention was only to protect the rights of nobles. Nevertheless, in time, the rights established by the Magna Carta were also extended to commoners. The Magna Carta was signed at Runnymede, Surrey, and South England in 1215.

Henry II, who came to the throne of England in 1154, was one of the most effective of all England's monarchs. He ruled over an empire that included half of France as well as England, Wales and Scotland. This meant that he had to travel a lot, and while he was away, he wanted a government that would function well in his absence.

The chief officers in the kingdom were the Chancellor, the Keeper of the Privy Seal, and the Treasurer. They looked after all affairs of the state. Henry instituted many reforms to weaken traditional feudal ties and strengthen his position. Unauthorized castles built during the previous reign were razed. Monetary payments replaced military service as the primary duty of those under him. The exchequer, which looked after the king's financial affairs, was revitalized to enforce accurate record keeping and tax collection. Henry empowered a new social class of government clerks that stabilized procedure.

Henry is considered to be the founder of English Common Law. 

 After the last Anglo-Saxon king died in England, several people claimed the throne. One was the late king's cousin, William, Duke of Normandy. He invaded England, and at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William defeated another rival for the throne. William was then crowned King of England.

To keep all his Norman nobles happy and to thank them for their help, William took all the land away from the Saxon church officials and nobles, and gave it all to his Norman friends.

 William set up his own council of Norman nobles and bishops. He called it the Great Council. The Great Council grew to become an important part of government. By the 1200's, the Great Council was called parliament. It is still called parliament today.

 William ordered a survey of all the lands and other assets of his new subjects, detailing who owned what. This is known as the 'Doomsday Book'. His magistrates used this information to levy taxes more effectively. 

The Althing in Iceland, founded in the year AD 930, is usually given the credit of being the world's oldest parliament. At the beginning it was a general assembly of freemen to vote and discuss issues of common concern. The Althing was suspended from 1800 to 1845.The world's oldest continuous parliament is a title claimed by the Tynwald in the Isle of Man, which dates back to AD 979. But actually, lots of civilizations throughout history, like the Mesopotamian and Indus civilizations, have also claimed to have had parliaments. 

 

Though the first modern parliament can be traced back to the Curia Regis in 13th century England, the origins of parliament go back to the sixth century when England was ruled by Anglo Saxon tribes. In each of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms, an assembly called the Witenagemot existed. It was composed of important churchmen, earls, and other members of the nobility.

 The Witenagemot had considerable powers. The advices of the group were usually sought by the king in matters of laws, taxes, foreign negotiations, and national defense. The word Witenagemot is a combination of two old English words, 'Witen' which means wise men, and 'gemot' which means meeting- so the Witenagemot was considered to be a meeting of wise men.

 

 The beginning of the modern parliament can be traced back to the 13th century when a council, known as the Curia Regis, or Great Council, advised the king. The Curia Regis was made up of noblemen and church officials. It was in fact, an English court, and it assumed this name during the reign of Henry II. It was called Curia or Aula Regis because it was held in the great hall of the king's palace.

At first, the king administered justice in person. Later, justice was administered by the king's judges. The judges who sat in this court were called 'justices'. Besides these justices, the chief justice the steward of all England, the chancellor, the chamberlain, and the treasurer also took part in the proceedings of this court. The institution known as the parliament developed gradually from the Curia Regis. 

The British Parliament was once described as the 'mother of parliaments' by the nineteenth century radical John Bright. It is one of the models of democratic government followed by many countries throughout the world, and is result of over 800 years of development and honoured tradition. During its first 400 years, Parliament developed from being the royal debating chamber or, the King's Great Council, to becoming one of the nation's key political institutions.

The British Parliament has influenced democratic systems in America and in many European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In fact, most of the nations that were once part of the British Empire-including India- have parliaments and constitutions that are inspired by the British parliament.

 The French word 'parler' means to talk and 'parlement' means to parley, or consult, or hold a conference. In time, the word 'parlement' came to denote a conference between the king and his chief subjects.

 The word 'parliament' came into usage between 1258 and 1265. This was the period when Simon de Montfort, the most notable English statesman of his era, gained fame as a political reformer. Although he was born into the French aristocracy, Simon de Montfort moved to England during the reign of Henry Ill to claim an inherited title. Simon led a movement to limit the king's governing powers, and, after an armed revolt, ruled England for about a year. He ruled with the help of a body known as the 'Great Council', and soon, the most important meetings of the Great Council became known as parliaments.

 

Around 500 BC, the Roman aristocrats, who were rich landowners, decided they didn't want to be ruled by kings anymore. These rich people wanted more power for themselves. But they couldn't get rid of the kings all by themselves. They needed the poor men to fight for them. So, they promised the poor men that they would have a lot of power in the new government; if they would help get rid of the kings.

But once the kings were out, the Roman aristocrats didn't want to give the poor men any power. So, the leaders of the poor men moved out-side the city, and went on strike. They refused to work anymore unless they got some power. The Roman aristocrats had to give in to them, and this was the beginning of the Roman Republic.

However, the Roman Republic was not a democracy. It consisted of patricians- or the rich and powerful families- and the plebeians, or ordinary farmers and merchants. Only patricians were allowed into the Roman Senate, which made all the important decisions. This made the plebeians very unhappy, and they demanded more rights. They made the aristocrats agree that the poor men could also elect representatives called tribunes.

Tribunes had to be chosen from the poor people, and they went to all the meetings of the Senate. They could veto anything the Senate did which would be detrimental to the interests of the poor people. Veto means ‘I forbid it' in Latin and it meant that the tribunes could forbid any law that was bad for the poor. 

You all know that India is a democracy, but do you know what a democracy is? Democracy, in Greek, means the rule of the people. In a democracy, the government is run by the people, and the citizens make their own laws. The earliest democracy in the world began in Athens in 510 BC.

 However, Athens did not always have a democracy. In the beginning it was ruled by a king, or monarch, and this system of government is called a monarchy. Later, soldiers handpicked a new leader and put him in power. The leader would do what was best for him and the soldiers. This system, which is known as a tyranny, was quite often unjust and oppressive. By 800 BC, yet another form of government was established in Athens. It was the rule by a few rich and powerful families, and this system, known as an oligarchy, was not fair either. The Athenians decided that they wanted a just and fair means of government, and so, democracy was born.

In Athens, democracy meant that the administration was in the hands of the many and not the few with equal justice given to all. Each year, 500 names were drawn from all the citizens of Athens. Those 500 citizens had to serve for one year as the law makers of ancient Athens.

All the citizens of Athens were required to vote on any new law that this body of 500 citizens created. Each man had one vote, and the majority ruled. Women, children, and slaves were not citizens, and thus, could not vote.