IV. Norman / Angevin England.

The UK Constitution and the

Origins of Parliament.
Selected Aspects of the
Culture and History of
Civilization of the British Isles
dr Jeremy Pomeroy
202
[email protected]
The Norman Conquest /
The Norman Period
(1066-1154)
• “1066 is engraved on modern English
consciousness like no other event in
history. In the immortal words of
Sellers and Yeatman, ‘In 1066, there
occurred the other memorable date
in English History’ (the first
memorable date remains
unidentified). […]
• Never a truer word was spoken in
jest. People who cannot say who
fought the Battle of Hastings, still less
who won, will nonetheless confirm
that 1066 was supremely important.”
• Davies, The Isles, 299
The Norman Conquest, 1066

• Edward the Confessor dies without an

heir; the succession is contested.

• Harold Godwinson is elected by the

witan (Anglo-Saxon council of nobles)
as the new king, yet both Harald
Hardrada (the King of Norway) and
William of Normandy also press their
claims

• Harold defeats the Norwegian ‘Vikings’

in the North, but is killed at the Battle
of Hastings
 Norman England
Norman Kings
• Introduction of the feudal system: rather than the mutual obligations of the
Old English system, with the king and elderman elective by the witan, a
hereditary monarchy sees titles and lands granted downward by the king.

• Slavery (thralldom) is, on the other hand, abolished.

• Norman barons replace almost all Anglo-Saxon nobles; the term
‘earl’ (from O.E. jarl) is maintained

• The Norman yoke: paci cation of the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, as well as

con scation of some barons’ and church property

• Castle-building. Norman motte-and-bailey castles are constructed to

bolster their control.

• The “Harrying of the North” (1069-1070): scorched earth tactics to

reduce Northern England/Northumbria

• The Domesday Book (1086): a full survey/census for taxation purposes;

now a valuable primary source for the period (National Archives, London)
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• „The Normans had to live like an army of occupation, living,
eating, and sleeping together in operational units. They had
to build castles—strong points from which a few men could
dominate a subject population. There may well have been
no more than 10,000 Normans living in the midst of a hostile
population of one or two million. […]
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol IX, (2012)
 Norman (and Angevin) Kings
(Plantagenet, from Anjou)

• Language: Norman rulers speaking Old French alongside Anglo-

Saxons commoners speaking Old English—>Middle English

• Latin: the language of the Catholic Church in Norman/Angevin

England

• Beginning with William the Conqueror (William I): English kings are
also feudal vassals to the French king—> complicated cross-
channel relations

• —>1337-1453: Cross-channel relations culminate in a series of

three wars, the Hundred Years’ War.

• After early success, England will lose almost all of its

continental territory.

• English - rather than Anglo-French - identity will be greatly

bolstered post 1453, prior to the Renaissance, by
England’s loss of French territorial holdings.
• „The Norman aristocracy for the
most part spoke French, but
intermarriage with the native
English nobility and the business of
daily life between masters and
servants also encouraged
bilingualism. Different branches of
the Celtic language group were
spoken in Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Cornwall, and Brittany.”
• The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, Vol IX, (2012)
Old English —> Middle English
(* Early Scots in Scotland)
Normans—>Angevins(1154-ca.
1230s / Plantagenet 1154-1399)
The First Barons’ War and
Magna Carta

• Henry II (r. 1154-1189)

• Richard I (cœur de lion, r. 1189-1199)
• John ‘Lackland’ (r. 1199-1216)
 Henry II (1133-1154-1189)
‘Henry FitzEmpress’
• Nephew of Stephen, son of Matilda, a great-grandson of William the
Conqueror (via the maternal line): Henry of Anjou (Angevin).
• Successfully ends the „chaos” (Anarchy) in England, defeats (and typically
restores) the barons
• Rasing of adulterine (unlicensed) castles from the time of the Anarchy;
limits the privileges of barons
• The (later-named) Angevin Empire: after a marriage to Eleanor of
Aquitaine (1152), the zenith of the Anglo-French state
• First Anglo-Norman presence in Ireland: Strongbow intervenes in
1170; Henry’s Lordship of Ireland and control of The Pale follows in 1171
• `Laudabiliter - a papal bull by Adrian IV purportedly granting dominion
over Ireland to Henry II
• Father of English Common Law—evidential proceedings replace ordeals
and trial combat
• The Assize of Clarendon (1166) - establishment of the institution of the
Jury
• At the time: for giving evidence (Grand Jury today)
• In his grandson’s reign (Henry III): Trial Jury (for judging evidence
 King John and the First Barons’ War
John Lackland; John sans terre; John
‘softsword’
• Loss of Normandy (1204)
• Con lict with Pope Innocent III about the appointment of
Archbishop of Canterbury results in the excommunication of
King John and England (1208- 1213)

• 1209: disputes in Oxford between students and the town leads

to the foundation of Cambridge University in East Anglia.

• 1214 – at the battle of Bouvines John is defeated and deserted by

his army – most of the Angevin Empire, apart from Aquitaine, is
lost to the French.

• Including Anjou, meaning the “Angevin period” lasts only

two / three generations.

• 1215, Magna Carta; 1215-1217, The First Barons’ War

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King John (1157 - 1199 – 1216)
Taxation/Finance
• „In the mid 1190s the first national customs system was
introduced. These developments suggest that royal
revenues reached new high levels during Richard’s and
John’s reign. [...] These were years of war, of the Third
Crusade and the defense of the Angevin Empire.”
• „Undoubtedly [John] faced genuine problems. He was duty-
bound to try to recover his lost inheritance, but [...] the
French king was now a much more formidable opponent. [...]
John levied frequent taxes and tightened up the laws
governing the forest (a profitable but highly unpopular
source of income).”
• John Gillingham, The Oxford History of Britain (2001:
148-149
 Magna Carta Liberatum (1215)
• The First Barons’ War: occasioned by high taxation to
fund (ineffectual) attempts to retake Normandy

• Signed at Runnymede near Windsor – regarded as the

most important document in English history.

• At least 13 copies and perhaps over 43 made; 4 originals

survive

• 63 clauses dealing with the feudal situation of England

• protection of church rights (originally drafted by the
Archbishop of Canterbury)

• protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment - no

sentence without a trial

• limitations on feudal payments to the Crown

• establishment of a council of 25 barons
 Magna Carta Liberatum (1215)
• “JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke
of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards,
servants, and to all his of cials and loyal subjects, Greeting.”

• Clause 1. We have rst of all granted to God, and by this our

present charter con rmed, for ourselves and our heirs in
perpetuity, that the English Church is to be free, and to have its
full rights and its liberties intact, and we wish this to be observed
accordingly, as may appear from our having of our true and
unconstrained volition, before discord arose between us and our
barons, granted, and by our charter con rmed, the freedom of
elections which is deemed to be the English Church’s very greatest
want, and obtained its con rmation by the lord pope Innocent III;
which we will ourselves observe and wish to be observed by our
heirs in good faith in perpetuity. And we have also granted to all
the free men of our kingdom, for ourselves and our heirs in
perpetuity, all the following liberties, for them and their heirs to
have and to hold of us and our heirs.
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 Magna Carta Liberatum (1215)

• Clause 17. Ordinary lawsuits shall not

follow the royal court around, but shall be
held in a xed place.”

• Clause 21. Earls and barons shall be

ned only by their equals, and in
proportion to the gravity of their
offence.”
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 Magna Carta Liberatum (1215)

• Clause 39: No free man shall be taken or imprisoned, or

dispossessed or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will
we go or send against him except by the lawful judgement of his
peers or by the law of the land.

• Clause 40: To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay

right or justice.
 Magna Carta Liberatum (1215)

• Annulled by the Pope; reissued by the regency of Henry III

at the end of the First Barons’ War

• First idea of a social contract limiting the king’s power

by law

• Periodically forgotten / re-recognized but its reputation

would be greatly enhanced in the 17th century, before the
English Civil War (Coke)

• The major precedent for and in uence on later

documents such as: the 1689 Bill of Rights, the US
Declaration of Independence
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Angevins / Plantagenets—>
Plantagenets (1216-1399)
The Second Barons’ War and Origins
of Parliament

• Henry III (r. 1216-1272)

• Edward I ‘Longshanks’ (r. 1272-1307)
• Edward II (r. 1307-1327)
• Edward III (r. 1327-1377)
 Origins of Parliament

• (Old) French, „parler” = ‘talk’ —> a council /conference

• Parliament consists of:
• the Monarch,
• the House of Lords
• and the House of Commons

• Two key moments in the emergence of the Parliament:

• The Second Barons’ War, 1265. Monfort’s
Parliament.
• Imposed upon the King Henry III.
• The Model Parliament, 1295.
• Convened by Henry III’s son, Edward I
“Longshanks”
• “The baronial reform movement can be
traced back to Magna Carta and beyond. On
the one side stood the King and the royal
court, hard pressed by the constant
demands to defend Aquitaine[…] On the
other side stood the English magnates,
who refused to let the King use their
knights in ‘foreign service’, who
increasingly resented the King’s
arbitrary exploitation of feudal dues, and
who increasingly sought to regulate his
insatiable demands for money by various
forms of legal and institutional
restraint.”
• Davies, The Isles, 362.
Henry III and the Second Barons’ War (1258-1265)
Henry III (r. 1216-1272)

• Upon John’s death, Henry III ascends the throne aged 9,

amidst the First Barons’ War;

• A reissue of the a Magna Carta (abridged to 42

clauses) by his council in 1216, and in 1225

• 1217: Henry’s forces win victories in Lincoln and

Sandwich, ending the First Baron’s War

• 1230: a campaign to recover French territory fails;

1242: an invasion of Poitou fails

• After a period of relative peace and stability, the Second

Barons’ War breaks out (1258-65)

• 1265: Montfort’s Parliament

• “One of the devices which they
came to prefer was the calling of
‘Parliaments’. In its origins, the
English Parliament, like the French
Parlement, was a purely judicial
assembly designed to facilitate the
regular presentation and recording of
petitions. Unlike its French
counterpart, however, it evolved in
the thirteenth century by assuming
non-judicial functions and by
providing a forum for the incipient
stirrings of representative
government. […]
• […] By the Provisions of Oxford
(1258), a committee of barons and
courtiers agreed a raft of measures to
keep the King in his place, among
them plans for regular parliamenz,
for a permanent council, and for the
accountability of ministers.”
• Norman Davies, The Isles, 362.
Second Barons’ War (1258-1265):
Provisions of Oxford 1258 —> Montfort’s Parliament (1265)
• Henry III is forced grant the Provisions of Oxford
(1258):
• first document in the English language since the
Norman Conquest (also written in the French and
Latin versions)
• establishment of a new form of government:
Privy Council of 15 barons to counsel the king in
administration and ministerial appointments
• The Council was to be chosen by 12
representatives of the king, and 12 by the
reformers/barons
• Regular parliaments, three times a year
• no role provided for the knights and burgesses,
but they are included in (Simon de) Montfort’s
Parliament in 1265.
Angevins / Plantagenets—>
Plantagenets (1216-1399)
The Second Barons’ War and Origins
of Parliament

• Henry III (r. 1216-1272)

• Edward I ‘Longshanks’ (r. 1272-1307)
• Edward II (r. 1307-1327)
• Edward III (r. 1327-1377)
 Edward I (1239 - 1272 – 1307)
• Statecraft/major events:
• Ireland: origins of the Irish Parliament (until 1800) in the Pale.
• Invasions of Wales and Scotland:
• Wales: Edwardian conquest of Wales, 1277-1283
• Statute of Rhuddlan, 1284. English common law and shires
introduced to Wales.
• The “Ring of Iron”: castle-building occupation. *Wales: most
castles per square mile in the world
• Scotland: “The Hammer of the Scots”
• 1295: “Auld Alliance” between Scotland and France
• 1296: Edward invades and captures the Stone of Scone
• First War of Scottish Independence (1296-1328)
• 1314: Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn
Edward I (1239 - 1272 – 1307)

• Makes Parliament a regular occurrence,

summoning 46 in total.
• In the first twenty years of his reign, Parliaments
are nearly biannual

• 1295-Model Parliament
The MODEL PARLIAMENT (1295)
• England’s first legal representative assembly
(that is, not in rebellion), summoned by Edward I
based on the same scheme as Simon de
Montfort’s parliament of 1265
• Initially unicameral – bicameral since the 14 th

century
• Representations of all classes with political
rights - their approval for taxation is required
▪ Dealt with judiciary, legislation, taxation
 MODEL PARLIAMENT (1295)

Model Parliament composition:

•bishops, abbots, priors

•earls and barons
•judges
•representatives of lower clergy
•two knights from each shire, two citizens from
each city, and two burgesses from each
borough (COMMONS)
Edward I (1239 - 1272 – 1307)
• „By Edward I’s reign, war and domestic
upheaval had fortified the king’s need to
consult his subjects (‚the community of the
realm’, [...]) and to seek their advice in
reaching and implementing decisions
affecting the realm at large. It also seemed
wise, from time to time, to include local
representatives as well as lay and
ecclesiastical lords in a central assembly that
was Parliament. [...]
Edward I (1239 - 1272 – 1307)
• „The wish to tap the wealth of townsmen and
smaller landowners as well as the nobility ; the
need for material aid and expressions support in
war and political crises; and the advisability of
having the weight of a representative assembly
behind controversial changes in the law or
economic and social arrangements[...] combined
to give Parliament a frequency[...] and to give the
commons’ representatives a permanent role in it
from 1337 onwards.”
• Ralph A. Griffiths, „The Late Middle Ages”,
237-238
 The Constitution of the United Kingdom
• The United Kingdom: an uncodi ed constitution.
• No single document: multiple documents and conventions/traditions
are accorded constitutional status.

• Flexible: can be adapted easily to meet changing situations, but

potentially easier for civil liberties to be abridged.

• The past: royal assent. The monarch could make laws without
Parliament, although the Parliament could propose laws as well (subject
to royal approval)

• The present: parliamentary sovereignty.

• Royal assent is still formally required, but is a formality. Royal assent
was last withheld in 1708, over 300 years ago.

• Parliamentary sovereignty implies that all laws passed by

Parliament are automatically constitutional.

• The same does not apply to Acts of the Welsh National Assembly,
acts of the ministries, or by-laws (city and local ordinances).
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• In this country we live ... under an
unwritten Constitution. It is true that we
have on the Statute-book great instruments
like Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and
the Bill of Rights which define and secure
many of our rights and privileges; but the
great bulk of our constitutional liberties
and ...
• our constitutional practices do not derive
their validity and sanction from any Bill
which has received the formal assent of the
King, Lords and Commons. They rest on
usage, custom, convention, often of slow
growth in their early stages, not always
uniform, but which in the course of time
received universal observance and respect.
• Prime Minister H. H. Asquith (1928)
Angevins / Plantagenets—>
Plantagenets (1216-1399)
The Second Barons’ War and Origins
of Parliament

• Henry III (r. 1216-1272)

• Edward I ‘Longshanks’ (r. 1272-1307)
• Edward II (r. 1307-1327)
• Edward III (r. 1327-1377)
Edward III (1312 – 1327 – 1377)
• Foundation of English local
administration
• Establishment of Justices of the Peace
alongside the sheriffs
• English introduced as the official
language in courts of law.
• Parliaments are divided into the House
of Commons and the House of Lords
 The Later Middle Ages
• Events:
• The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) leads to the essential end of cross-
channel English territorial claims, as well as the consolidation of ‘English’
identity and (Middle) English as the language
• Although British claims to the title “King of France” will only be
dropped by George III in 1802.
• The printing press arrives, brought by William Caxton from the continent.
• In 1476, Geoffrey Chaucer’s (c. 1340s - 1400) Canterbury Tales is
likely the first printed book in England.
• The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) after the deposition of Richard II see
dynastic instability with the House of Lancaster and House of York fighting
for the throne
• The English aristocracy is decimated, although commoners are less affected
• The Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) sees the victory of Henry Tudor
(VII) and the beginning of the Renaissance Tudor Monarchy
(1485-1603)