The Model Parliament was the 1295

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

of King Edward I. Its composition became the

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

for later parliaments.

History

The term ''Model Parliament'' was coined by

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Ches ...

(1825-1901) and later used also by Frederic William Maitland. The assembly of AD 1295 included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various counties and

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

. Each county returned two knights, each borough elected two burgesses, and each city provided two citizens. That composition became the model for later parliaments, hence the name.Powicke, Maurice, ''Medieval England: 1066-1485'', pp. 96-97 (London: Oxford University Press paperback edition 1969). A similar scheme had been used in summoning Simon de Montfort's Parliament in 1265, but it had been called by Simon de Montfort in the midst of the Second Barons' War against

Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...

. The same scheme was remarkably adopted by a king who was Henry's son and heir although he had quelled Montfort's uprising. Edward I summoned the parliament to meet at Westminster on 13 November 1295. In calling the parliament, Edward proclaimed in his writ of summons that "what touches all, should be approved of all (), and it is also clear that common dangers should be met by measures agreed upon in common". Parliament's legislative authority was then limited, and its primary role was to levy taxes. Edward's paramount goal in summoning the parliament was to raise funds for his wars, specifically the planned campaigns against the French and the Scots for the forthcoming year and countering an insurgency in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. That "sound finance" by taxation was a goal of summoning the parliament but was tied into "counsel" to the king and "the element of service" for

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

. However, the resulting parliament became a model for a new function as well, the addressing of grievances with the king. "The elected members were far more anxious to establish the second function: to discuss grievances. A kind of quid pro quo was looked for: money for the Scottish campaign of 1296 would be forthcoming if certain grievances were addressed. This consciousness was growing, even if all was still in an embryonic state". The concept of "Parliament" was in fact such that the division into

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

had not yet taken place. The Model Parliament was

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

and summoned 49 lords to sit with 292 representatives of the Commons.Nash mentions those figures in discussing separate houses, but the Parliament website indicates that the Commons did not deliberate apart until 1341. This article accepts the Parliament's version. The Model Parliament created a

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

in which each "successor of a baron" (which includes

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bish ...

) who had received a writ to the parliament of 1295 "had a legal right to receive a

writ In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrant (legal), Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are commo ...

". However, this strictly hereditary right was not recognized formally until 1387.

Notes

{{reflist

External links

Parliament of UK documents Michael L. Nash, "Crown, Woolsack and Mace: the model Parliament of 1295." ''Contemporary Review'', November 1995.
1295 in England 1295 establishments in England 13th-century English parliaments Political history of medieval England Edward I of England

History

See also

Notes

External links