History of the Parliament

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe 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.

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe WitanThe Witan was the occasion when the King would call together his leading advisors and nobles to discuss matters affecting the country.

DUTIES:advise the Kingframe the laws

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe WitanHowever, Anglo-Saxon Kings realized 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.

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe WitanThis 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 House of Lords.

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe MootThe 'shire moot' was attended by the local lords and bishops, the sheriff, and most importantly, four representatives of each village.

County Court

Anglo-Saxon OriginsThe Witan and MootGreat Council+County Court=Parliament of Two HousesAristocratic LORDS and Local Representative COMMONS

The First ParliamentsThe first known official use of the term Parliament was in 1236.The word Parliament means an event arranged to talk and discuss things, from the French word "parler".

The First ParliamentsIn 1215 King John was forced to agree to Magna Carta, the "great charter" of legal rights which insisted that he listen to and follow the advice of the barons.

Simon de Montfort's ParliamentIt was seen as the earliest forerunner of the modern Parliament because it included not only the men who made up the Great Council, but also representatives from each county and from the cities and towns, known as burgesses.

Edward Is ParliamentWhen he became King in 1272, Edward I developed Parliament into an institution for his own purposes.From 1278 official records were kept of its proceedings and decisions, written up and sewn together in long scrolls, the Rolls of Parliament.

Edward Is Parliament

Model Parliament-representation of 2 knights and 2 burgessesParliament and taxation-extraordinary taxesRepresentatives of the people-pattern: Lords, Commons and the Monarch

Rise of the CommonsEdward III came to the throne in 1327, and from that point the representatives of the counties (knights of the shire) and of the towns (burgesses) became a permanent part of Parliament.

Rise of the CommonsEmergence of a SpeakerPeter de la Mare was 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.

Rise of the CommonsGood Parliament-impeachmentWonderful Parliament-Richard II dismissed his Lord Chancellor.Merciless Parliament-condemnation to death of the Lord Chancellor

The Commons as Law MakersParliament was placed in a strong bargaining position when Richard IIs cousin Henry Bolingbroke overthrew the King in 1399 and looked to Parliament to legitimize his shaky claim to the throne and to provide him with money.

The Commons as Law MakersGrants of MoneyThe King formally affirmed the right of the Commons to initiate all grants of money.Petitions to the CrownThe Commons acquired equal role in making laws.

The Commons as Law MakersLaws and Statutes The Commons became the principal petitioners to the Upper House.BillsNo Bill should become an Act without the Commons assent.

The Medieval House of LordsThe Lord sitting in the medieval House of Lords were of two types, the Lords spiritual and Lords temporal.Lords Spiritualconsisted of bishops and abbotsLords Temporal consisted of only small numbers or earls and large numbers of barons

Records of the ParliamentStart of an INSTITUTIONBy the late 15th century, Parliament had become such an important institution that gained its own independent officials and organization.The JournalsRecords of the Parliament also underwent changeLORDS JOURNAL

Reformation ParliamentHenry VIIIs Reformation Parliament, which sat from 1529 to 1536, fundamentally changed the nature of Parliament and of English Government.

Reformation ParliamentPope to the English Crowngave the Crown control over the wealth and buildings of the Churchsettled official religiousaltered the succession by declaring various of the Kings children illegitimate Inaugurated a wider program of social, religious and economic reform

Reformation ParliamentConstitutional ChangeThe Reformation Parliament thus asserted the supreme authority, or sovereignty, of Parliament in making statute, or more precisely the sovereignty of Crown-in-Parliament.Crown and Parliament

Elizabethan ParliamentsFree discussionsPeter Wentworth became a famous Member of Parliament in the reign of Elizabeth I.He made a speech in the Commons arguing for freedom of speech in Parliament, for which he was punished and committed to the Tower of London

Contemporary ContextThe Monarchs Great CouncilParliament began as the Monarchs Great Council and the central role of the Queen at the State Opening remind us that it is still her ParliamentSubordinate CommonsThe Queens SpeechThe Monarchs speech has for a long time been written by the government then in power, but every year there is still the ritual of the Queens (King) Speech where she informs her Parliament why she has summoned them.

but its assent was not necessary for the King to take action.as the modern Parliament does, but primarily consented to the laws the King had already decided to enact. *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.*Country Court introduced the idea of representative government at the local level.*These two gatherings remained separate for many centuries, but eventually the noble councilors 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.

*It described the consultative meetings of the English monarch with a large group of his nobles (the earls and barons), and prelates (the bishops and abbots). *It described the consultative meetings of the English monarch with a large group of his nobles (the earls and barons), and prelates (the bishops and abbots). *De Montfort was killed in battle, only a few months after his Parliament, by Henry III's son, Edward. **This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

*This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

*This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

*******This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

*This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

*This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments.

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