IITOLOGY The Faculty of Philology REPORT Student of the group 101 ITAIN The Rise of Parliament in XIII AD Moscow, 1999 y. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Magnum Cartum Liberatum 3. Simon de Monfort and his Parliamentum 4. King Edward s Parliament. 5. Parliament nowadays. 7 a. The Functions of Parliament. b. The Meeting of Parliament. c. The House of Lords. d. The House of Commons. e. Public Access to Parliamentary Proceedings.
INTRODUCTION Parliament plays the leading role in the political life of Great Britain. It passes laws, provides the means of carrying on the work of the government, scrutinizes government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure debates the major issues of the day. In my wok I try to look at the history of this undoubtedly important body of authority. The events that took place in England in the XIII century turned out to be the main influence on the formation and the rise of Parliament that exists to the very moment. THE GREAT CHARTER MAGNA CARTA Richard I s absence in the Holy Land and the expense of crusade weakened the power of the Crown in England.
When his brother John became king, he lacked the money to defend the English lands in France successfully. The meanness and cruelty of his character added to his unpopularity stimulated a heavy disapproval from the point of the Church the power then belonged to Pope Innocent III. As a result in 1215 on June 15 the army of the Holy Pope supported by barons and leading citizens of London came up to the capital.
The Church and the barons had their own, certain intentions. Innocent III wanted the Church to be absolutely independent from the English government and the barons didn t want to pay any taxes and wanted to have various privileges. On the 15 of June in 1215 the united army of Innocent III and leading barons forced John Lackland to make peace with his enemies on the Island of Runnymade in the Thames.
In the Great Charter or Magna Carta Liberatum, which he sealed there, he promised to keep the Church free and unharmed. He also tried to please the townsmen by granting safe conduct to any foreign merchant visiting England. The most important points that the king agreed to were the English Church shall be free and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. No scutage or aid taxes shall be demanded in our realm without the consent of the great council.
No freeman shall be arrested, put in prison, or lose his property, or be outlawed or banished, or harmed in any wayunless he has been judged by his equals under the law of the land. Justice will not be sold to anyone, nor will it be refused or delayed After King John had sealed the charter it became a tradition to sign this document by further kings, when receiving the crown, which was abandoned only in 150 years.
The Magna Carta even in later times has been used to prove that in England the subject has certain rights against the government which cannot touch him or his property unless the law allows it. However, in King John s time these rights only belonged to those of the rank of freeman or above. The villains and serfs who far outnumbered them were not so fortunate. Nevertheless the importance of the document is almost inconceivable as in 1297 on the first Parliament meeting Magna Carta obtained the recognition of the first statute of the British constitution.
After the king s death caused by next rebellion in 1216 his son, the heir, Henry III 1216-1272 became the leader of the Holy Land. During his long reign the barons continued their struggle to make the king obey the terms of the Great Charter. No external wars took place.
Accordingly, they encamped at Flexinge, in Sussex, which is about six ... The chronicler was by no means sympathetic to the rebellion. It is wrong from my point of view to deny the importance of the events... Henry III and his son lost the battle and were taken prisoners. Later ... Trying not to loose his opportunity to gain authority and power, Simon...
After his father s death in 1272 Edward becomes the king of England. H... Most important, Edward had the intelligence to see that the barons wou... Edward also realized that the power that barons conclude might be used... To help them to agree it was useful to have meetings of the council at... Edward I, also on one of the first sessions, declared and emphasized o...
Parliament can legislate for Britain as a whole, or for any part of th... life peers created to assist the House in its judicial duties Lords of... The minutes and speeches are published daily in Hansard House of Commo... Edited by Andrew Kenneth. British History.