De Montfort's Parliament
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De Montfort's Parliament was an English parliament of 1265, instigated by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester without royal approval. Simon de Montfort's army had met and defeated the royal forces at the Battle of Lewes on May 14, 1264. The rebels captured Prince Edward, and the subsequent treaty set up the 1265 parliament to agree to a constitution formulated by Simon.
This was the first parliament at which both knights (representing shires or counties) and burgesses (representing boroughs) were present, thereby substantially broadening representation to include new groups of society. It was also the first time that commoners attending Parliament were required to be elected. The knights representing counties who had been summoned to some earlier Parliaments had not been required to be chosen by election.
The Parliament was summoned on 14 December 1264. It first met on 20 January 1265 and was dissolved on 15 February 1265.
De Montfort sent out representatives to each county and to a select list of boroughs, asking each to send two representatives (this was not the first Parliament in England, but what distinguished it was that de Montfort insisted the representatives be elected). The list of boroughs which had the right to elect a member grew slowly over the centuries as monarchs gave out more Royal Charters, but the last charter was given to Newark in 1674.
After this Parliament it took some time for the knights and burgesses to become a regular part of the composition of Parliament. The next time they were summoned was for the 1st Parliament of King Edward I of England in 1275. The Model Parliament of 1295 is sometimes seen as the start of regular attendance by commoners, but the institutional development was gradual. See Duration of English Parliaments before 1660 for notes of which Parliaments included commoners, before they became an invariable part of Parliament from 1320.
The right to vote in Parliamentary elections for county constituencies is believed to have been uniform throughout the country, from the first election of knights of the shire which was to this Parliament.
Until legislation in 1430 limited the franchise to all those who owned the freehold of land that brought in an annual rent of at least 40 shillings (Forty Shilling Freeholders), Seymour suggested "it is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the county court, merely a "resiance" or residence qualification".
As women could not own land, they were automatically excluded from any voting rights. In the Boroughs, the franchise varied and individual boroughs had varying arrangements.
[edit] See also
- History of democracy
- Parliament of the United Kingdom
- List of Parliaments of England
- Duration of English Parliaments before 1660
[edit] References
- Electoral Reform in England and Wales, by Charles Seymour (David & Charles Reprints 1970) originally published in 1915, so out of copyright
- The Statutes: Revised Edition, Vol. I Henry III to James II (printed by authority in 1876)
