Part 90 (2/2)

The Norman Conquest had made the king so strong that his authority could be resisted only by a union of all cla.s.ses of the people. The feudal lords were obliged to unite with the clergy and the commons, [9] in order to save their honor, their estates, and their heads. Matters came to a crisis in 1215 A.D., when the n.o.bles, supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, placed their demands for reform in writing before the king. John swore furiously that they were ”idle dreams without a shadow of reason” and refused to make any concessions. Thereupon the n.o.bles formed the ”army of G.o.d and the Holy Church,” as it was called, and occupied London, thus ranging the townspeople on their side. Deserted by all except the hired troops which he had brought from the Continent, John was compelled to yield. At Runnimede on the Thames, not far from Windsor, he set his seal to the Great Charter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EXTRACT FROM THE GREAT CHARTER Facsimile of the opening lines. Four copies of Magna Carta, sealed with the great seal of King John, as well as several unsealed copies, are in existence. The British Museum possesses two of the sealed copies; the other two belong to the cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury, respectively.]

CHARACTER OF MAGNA CARTA

Magna Carta does not profess to be a charter of liberties for all Englishmen. Most of its sixty-three clauses merely guarantee to each member of the coalition against John--n.o.bles, clergy, and commons--those special privileges which the Norman rulers had tried to take away. Very little is said in this long doc.u.ment about the serfs, who composed probably five-sixths of the population of England in the thirteenth century.

SIGNIFICANCE OF MAGNA CARTA

But there are three clauses of Magna Carta which came to have a most important part in the history of English freedom. The first declared that no taxes were to be levied on the n.o.bles--besides the three recognized feudal aids [10]--except by consent of the Great Council of the realm.

[11] By this clause the n.o.bles compelled the king to secure their consent before imposing any taxation. The second set forth that no one was to be arrested, imprisoned, or punished in any way, except after a trial by his equals and in accordance with the law of the land. The third said simply that to no one should justice be sold, denied, or delayed. These last two clauses contained the germ of great legal principles on which the English people relied for protection against despotic kings. They form a part of our American inheritance from England and have pa.s.sed into the laws of all our states.

185. PARLIAMENT DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY

HENRY III, 1216-1272 A.D.

The thirteenth century, which opened so auspiciously with the winning of the Great Charter, is also memorable as the time when England developed her Parliament [12] into something like its present form. The first steps in parliamentary government were taken during the reign of John's son, Henry III.

THE WITENAGEMOT AND THE GREAT COUNCIL

It had long been the custom in England that in all important matters a ruler ought not to act without the advice and consent of his leading men.

The Anglo-Saxon kings sought the advice and consent of their Witenagemot, [13] a body of n.o.bles, royal officers, bishops, and abbots. It approved laws, served as a court of final appeal, elected a new monarch, and at times deposed him. The Witenagemot did not disappear after the Norman Conquest. Under the name of the Great Council it continued to meet from time to time for consultation with the king. This a.s.sembly was now to be transformed from a feudal body into a parliament representing the entire nation.

SIMON DE MONTFORT'S PARLIAMENT, 1265 A.D.

The Great Council, which by one of the provisions of Magna Carta had been required to give its consent to the levying of feudal dues, met quite frequently during Henry III's reign. On one occasion, when Henry was in urgent need of money and the bishops and lords refused to grant it, the king took the significant step of calling to the council two knights from each county to declare what aid they would give him. These knights, so ran Henry's summons, were to come ”in the stead of each and all,” in other words, they were to act as representatives of the counties. Then in 1265 A.D., when the n.o.bles were at war with the king, a second and even more significant step was taken. Their leader, Simon de Montfort, summoned to the council not only two knights from each county, but also two citizens from each of the more important towns.

THE REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM

The custom of selecting certain men to act in the name and on the behalf of the community had existed during Anglo-Saxon times in local government.

Representatives of the counties had been employed by the Norman kings to act as a.s.sessors in levying taxes. As we have just learned, the ”juries”

of Henry II also consisted of such representatives. The English people, in fact, were quite familiar with the idea of representation long before it was applied on a larger scale to Parliament.

”MODEL PARLIAMENT” OF EDWARD I, 1295 A.D.

Simon de Montfort's Parliament included only his own supporters, and hence was not a truly national body. But it made a precedent for the future.

Thirty years later Edward I called together at Westminster, now a part of London, a Parliament which included all cla.s.ses of the people. Here were present archbishops, bishops, and abbots, earls and barons, two knights from every county, and two townsmen to represent each town in that county.

After this time all these cla.s.ses were regularly summoned to meet in a.s.sembly at Westminster.

HOUSE OF LORDS AND HOUSE OF COMMONS

The separation of Parliament into two chambers came in the fourteenth century. The House of Lords included the n.o.bles and higher clergy, the House of Commons, the representatives from counties and cities. This bicameral arrangement, as it is called, has been followed in the parliaments of most modern countries.

POWERS OF PARLIAMENT

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