For: ESLG 3150 course
Topic: The history of England can bedefined as the gradual process of Parliament asserting its authorityover the monarchy.
Term: Spring I, 2000
Thepolitical history of British Isles over the past 800 years has beenlargely one of reducing the power of the monarchy and transferringauthority to a London-based Parliament as the sovereign legislativebody for all of Britain. This development has resulted in political,social and religious conflicts, as well as evolving governmental andconstitutional institutions.
The earlypolitical history of the British Isles is the story of fourindependent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), but adominant English political and military expansionism over thecenturies resulted in a united country (United Kingdom).
The lastEngland’s invader Duke William promptly set out to establishfirm control over his English kingdom. He reorganized the governmentby making the old Saxon witan into a “Great Council”,which included the great lords of the realm and met regularly underWilliam’s direction, and by establishing Curia Regis, apermanent council of royal advisers.
William’syoungest son Henry I ruled the country for 35 years and during hisreign he won the support of barons by singing a “Charter ofLiberties”, which listed and guarantees their rights(individual liberties).
EarlyEnglish monarchs had considerable power, but generally acceptedadvice and some limitations on their authority. PowerfulFrench-Norman barons opposed King John’s dictatorial rule byforcing him to sign Magna Carta in 1215. This document protected thefeudal aristocracy rather then the ordinary citizen, but it came tobe regarded as a cornerstone of British liberties. It restricted themonarch’s powers; forced him to take advice; increased theinfluence of the aristocracy; and stipulated that no citizen could bepunished or kept in prison without a fair trail.
Suchdevelopments encouraged the establishment of parliamentarystructures. In 1265, Simon de Montfort called nobles andnon-aristocrats to form a Council or Parliament to win the support ofpeople. To it were invited not only the great barons and clergy, butalso redivsentatives of the knights of shires and from the towns.This initiative was followed in 1295 by the Model Parliament (becauseit served a model for later Parliaments) of Edward I, which was thefirst redivsentative English Parliament. Its two sections consistedof the bishops, barons, two redivsentatives of the knights of eachshire and two redivsentatives from each important town. In this wayParliament won the “power of the purse”: by refusing toagree to new taxes, it could force kings to do as it wished. AsParliament became more influential it won other rights, such as thepower of impeach and try royal officials for misbehavior. From herewe can conclude that by the end of Edward’s reign thepeculiarly English concept of government, in which a strong king withpowerful royal officials is still limited by the common law and byParliament, was complete.
However,the Parliament was too large to rule the country effectively. A PrivyCouncil, comprising the monarch and court advisers, developed. Thiswas the royal government outside Parliament, until it lost power toparliamentary structures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenthcenturies.
Althoughparliament now had some limited powers against the monarch, there wasa return to royal dominance in Tudor England in 1485. Monarchscontrolled Parliament and summoned it when they needed to raisemoney.
Parliamentshowed more resistance to royal rule under the Stuart monarchy from1603 by using its weapon of financial control. Parliament began torefuse royal requests for money. It forced Charles I to sign thePetition of Rights in 1628, which further restricted the monarch’spowers and divvented him from raising taxes without Parliament’sconsent. Charles attempted to arrest parliamentary leaders in theHouse of Commons itself. His failure to do meant that the monarch wasin future prohibited from entering the Commons. As the result of itcivil war broke out in 1642. The Protestant Parliamentarians under O.Cromwell won the military struggle against the Catholic Royalists.Charles was beheaded in 1649 and thee monarchy was abolished. But itdidn’t last long in 1660 they restored the Stuart Charles II tothe throne. Parliament ended his expansive wars and imposed furtherrestrictions, such as Habeas Corpus Act in 1679, which stipulatedthat no citizen could be imprisoned without a fair and speedy trail.
Inthe early and mid sixteenth century country was ruled by King HenryVIII (king 1509-1547) who had made Parliament his willing tool andhad replaced Catholicism with the Church of England. Henry wassucceeded by three of his children (Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I)in succession. But only Elizabeth made a great contribution duringher reign (1558-1603). She allowed any form of worship that fit intothe rather loose framework of ideas that Parliament had establishedfor the Church of England. But she would accept none that conflictedwith her authority as the head of that church. After the popeexcommunicated her in 1570, she had Parliament declare thatCatholicism was treason. Parliament lost power during her reign. Itdid not meet often, as she needed to ask it levy taxes for her. Intheory Parliament continued to have all of the powers it had wonduring the Middle Ages.
TheElizabethan reign later was called “The English Renaissance”.And this is right. She did a lot to her Kingdom. On of it was theopening of the trade routs to Russia, trade companies like the EastIndia Company, the Muscovy Company and the Virginia Company.
TheStuart monarchs who succeeded Elizabeth try to impose absolutism andto rule by “divine right”. But the English Parliament,asserting its ancient rights and privileges, challenged them. Theresult was a struggle that lasted through the better part of theseventeenth century, culminating in the victory of Parliament overthe kings. In the age when absolutism triumphed almost everywhere,England was the striking exception of the rule. Growing opposition tothe Stuarts centered in Parliament. The Stuarts disliked Parliament,but were dependent upon it because only the House of Commons had theright to levy taxes. The Stuarts insisted they had absolute authorityto follow whatever policies they chose. The conflict betweenParliament and the king came to a climax under Charles I (king1625-1649). In 1626 Charles found himself at war with both France andSpain. Parliament refused to grant new taxes until it had had“redress of grievances”. Led by Sir John Eliot, themembers of Commons finally forced Charles to sign the “Petitionof Right” in 1628. This pact guaranteed certain rights ofParliament and of individual Englishmen against their king.
Thefirst Parliament of 1640, the so-called “Short”Parliament, mat less then a month. But soon after Charles was forcedto call another Parliament, which came to be called the “Long”Parliament because it met off and on for twenty years (1640-1660). In1641 the Long Parliament set out to dominate the government. Moreimportant, it passed a series of acts to make absolute monarchyimpossible.
From1642 to 1645 the civil war broke in England. It was betweenSupporters of King Charles (Cavaliers) and the supporters of theParliament (Roundheads) under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. The“Roundheads” won in this war and the members who remainedfrom the divvious Parliament come to be called the “Rump”(sitting part of Parliament). In 1649 Charles was beheaded and laterOliver Cromwell became the King of England. After his death in 1658his son Richard took control over the country. But he was a poorruler and soon resigned. In 1660 the surviving members of the LongParliament were called back into session to invite Charles Stuart tobecome King Charles II of England.
CharlesII had his problems with Parliament, but he was usually able tosurmount them, and he always knew when the time had come to backdown.
The growingpower of Parliament against the monarch in the seventeenth centurywas reflected in the development of more organized political parties.Two groups (Whigs and Tories) became dominant, and this feature wasto characterize future British two-party politics, in which politicalpower has shifted between two main parties. The Whigs didn’taccept the Catholic sympathizer James II as successor to Charles IIand wanted religious freedom for al Protestants. The Tories generallysupported royalist beliefs, and helped Charles II to secure James’sright to succeed him.
He (James)attempted to rule without Parliament and ignored his laws. Hismanipulations forced Tories to join Whigs in inviting the ProtestantWilliam of Orange to intervene. William arrived in England in 1688,James fled to France and William succeeded to the throne as England’sfirst constitutional monarch. Since no force was involved, this eventis called the Bloodless or Glorious Revolution. Royal powers werefurther restricted under the Declaration of Rights (1689), whichstrengthened Parliament and provided some civil liberties.
The GloriousRevolution of 1688 and the Bill of Rights of 1689 establishedParliament once and for all as the equal partner of the king. Thisdivision of power was soon to prove itself a far more effective meansof government than the absolute monarchies of the continent, and itassured that the constitutional development of England wouldcontinue.