The Growth of the English Constitution from the Earliest TimesFreeman, Edward A. (Edward Augustus)
History
The Growth of the English Constitution from the Earliest Times
Freeman, Edward A. (Edward Augustus)
Constitutional history -- Great Britain
* * * * *
& among alle oÞere mest reuÞe it was ido,
Þat sir Simon Þe olde man demembred was so.”
He then goes on with the details of the dismemberment, of which a
picture may be seen opposite p. 254 of Mr. Blaauw’s book, and then goes
on with the lines which I have before quoted:—
“Suich was Þe morÞre of Eivesham (vor bataile non it was),
And Þer wiÞ Jesu Crist wel vuele ipaied was,
As he ssewede bitokninge grisliche and gode,
As it vel of him sulue, Þo he deide on Þe rode,
Þat Þoru al Þe middelerd derk hede Þer was inou.”
(44) On the occasional and irregular summoning of the borough members
between 1265 and 1295 see Hallam, Middle Ages, ii. 160, 165, and
more fully in Stubbs, Select Charters, 420, 427, where the gradual
developement of parliamentary representation is treated as it has
never been treated before, with a full citation of the authorities.
The language in which the chroniclers speak of the constitution of the
early Parliaments of Edward is as vague as that in which our ancient
Gemóts are described. Sometimes they speak only of “proceres” and the
like; sometimes they distinctly mention the popular element. Curiously
enough, the official language is sometimes more popular than that of
the annalists. Thus the Winchester Annals, recording the Statute of
Westminster in 1273, call the Assembly which passed it a “communis
convocatio omnium magnatum regni,” though it incidentally implies the
presence of other persons, “quamplures de regno qui aliqua feoda de
corona regia tenuerunt.” But the preamble of the Statute itself records
the “assentement des erceveskes, eveskes, abbes, priurs, contes,
barons, et _la communaute de la tere_ ileokes somons.” So in the later
Parliament of the same year the Annals speak only of the “communis
consensus archiepiscoporum, comitum, et baronum,” while the official
description is “prælati, comites, barones, et alii de regno nostro.”
But in an earlier Assembly, that held in 1273, before Edward had come
back to England, the same Winchester Annals tell us how “convenerunt
archiepiscopi et episcopi, comites et barones, et _de quolibet comitatu
quatuor milites et de qualibet civitate quatuor_.” This and the
summons to the Parliament of 1285, which sat in judgement on David
of Wales (Stubbs, 453, 457), seem the most distinct cases of borough
representation earlier than 1295, since which time the summoning of the
borough members has gone on regularly. See Stubbs, 473. Mr. Stubbs’
remarks on the Assemblies of “the transitionary period” in pp. 465, 469
should be specially studied.
(45) The history of the resistance of these two Earls to King Edward,
which led to the great Confirmation of the Charters in 1297, will be
found in all the histories of the time, old and new. See also Stubbs,
431, 479. I feel no difficulty in reconciling respect for Edward with
respect for the men who withstood him. The case is well put by Stubbs,
34, 35.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account