The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to

Frederic William Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and lawyer who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. Early life and education, 1850–72 Frederic William Maitland was born at 53 Guilford Street, Lon ...

, used for 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 bishops and peers that advised t ...

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

History

This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the various

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various 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 In the Middle Ag ...

. Each county returned two

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

, two burgesses were elected from each borough, 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 Simon de Montfort's Parliament was an English parliament held from 20 January 1265 until mid-March of the same year, called by Simon de Montfort, a baronial rebel leader. Montfort had seized power in England following his victory over Henry I ...

in 1265, but it had been called by

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

in the midst of the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the fut ...

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 King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...

. 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 ( la, Quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbari debet), 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 ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. 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 the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

. 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 Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...

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 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 parliament. ...

and

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

had not yet taken place. The Model Parliament was

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

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 A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...

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

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

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

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

". However, that strictly-hereditary right was not recognised formally until 1387.

Notes

External links

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

History

See also

Notes

External links