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Chapter 5: King and Parliament

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were years of transition for England. Both thechurch and the feudal system were challenged by the ferment of new forces. Thefourteenth century, in particular, struggled with the problem of finding a satisfactorysubstitute for political feudalism, and gradually Parliament slipped into the stream of English life as the institution that could best perform the necessary functions of Government. Not until the seventeenth century would the powers of Parliament againmake such gains. Throughout these years a growing sense of nationality and centralgovernment -of the King in Parliament- had more lasting effects than the moreimmediate concerns of the Hundred Years’ War in France or civil war at home.

The Three Edwards

In the century following the death of Henry III the judicial system of England becamemore centralized in organization and

more specialized in function; statute law wasincreased and defined by the King in Parliament; and through conflict and conquest the boundaries of the nation were expanded.

Edward I, 1272-1307

. Edward was the first King since the Anglo-Saxon era to beconsidered primarily English. His personal qualities, coupled with his reputation as astatesman and military leader, made his reign outstanding. Tall (nicknamed”Longshanks”) and attractive, King Edward was energetic and resourceful and hadlearned from his father’s turbulent reign that ”the King must reign under and throughthe law.” Because of his respect for law and his legal reforms Edward I has been calledthe English Justinian.

Legal Reforms

. Edward I confirmed and codified by legislative enactment much of thelegal machinery that Henry II had set up. He did this by statute law -legislation passed by the King in Parliament- and thereby introduced into the English legal system a newtype of law which took precedence over all other laws. This flurry of legislative activitywas not matched by Parliament until the era of the Great Reform Bill (1830’s). Amongthe new laws ; were: (1) the Statute of Gloucester, which transferred the jurisdictionover certain cases from baronial to royal courts; (2) the First Statute of Westminster,which set specified limits to feudal aids, marriage fees, and relief; and (3) the Statute of Acton Burnell, which provided for the collection of debts among merchants. In land lawthe statutes

De Donis Conditionalibus

and

Quia Emptores

reflected the decline of thefeudal arrangement and of the private courts and marked the shift in relationship fromlord and vassal to landlord and tenant.

De Donis

was a blow to the power of the feudallord, for no longer could subinfeudation take place freely and by any tenure.Henceforth, the courts were to comply with the wishes of the original grantor (the King)in all matters relating to the descent of land. This meant that the feudal lord did not havefull ownership; instead, his estate was

entailed. Quia Emptores

ended the benefits of subinfeudation by declaring that the recipient of a land grant would hold it not of thegrantor but of the grantor’s lord. The legal effect of the statute was to prohibit thecreation of new tenures and leave almost all freeholders royal tenants-in-chief.As baronial jurisdiction declined, royal courts increased and became more specialized infunction. Three separate divisions, each stemming from the

curia regis,

were now inoperation: the court of the exchequer for tax cases, the court of common pleas for civilcases, and the court of the king’s bench for crown pleas or criminal cases. In 1275 for the first time customs duties became part of the regular revenue of the King; “tunnageand poundage” (a two-shilling import duty on each tun of wine and each pound of

goods), soon brought in much more than the King’s hereditary revenues. However,Edward lost an old source of revenue, but won popular backing, when he expelled allJews from England in1290.

Edward and the Church

. Edward I was a devout King who remained on friendly termswith the popes yet without imitating his father’s subservience to Rome. Since the churchwas the greatest landholder in the realm and as a perpetual organization never relinquished any of its property to the Crown through escheats, forfeitures, or wardships, Edward attempted to limit further extension of church property by theStatute of Mortmain (1279). This act prohibited laymen from granting land to thechurch without consent of the grantor’s overlord, who was likely to be the King.Edward also demanded a heavy income tax from the clergy to pay for some of the costsof the Crusades. In 1296 Pope Boniface VIII in the bull

clericis laicos

claimed suchtaxation could only take place with papal consent. Winchelsea, archbishop of Canterbury, directed the clergy to refuse payment. King Edward retaliated by outlawingthe clergy and confiscating their possessions. Thereupon, the pope modified his position, and a compromise was arranged whereby ’’voluntary” gifts were secured fromthe church.

Military Campaigns.

As the first English monarch to envision a union of British peoples, Edward temporarily succeeded in subduing Wales and Scotland, but recurringrevolts in these areas so harassed the King that his plans for conquest in France weresharply curtailed. England’s foreign policy was essentially dependent on Edward’sabilities; a weak successor could not maintain such an aggressive policy.

The Conquest of Wales.

Prince Llewelyn led the Welsh in their bid for completeindependence from English overlordship. But the two Welsh rebellions (1277, 1282)ended in their defeat by Edward I and the subsequent imposition of English laws and theshire system. The Welsh, unhappy with the changes and their loss of autonomy,revolted in 1287 and again in 1294. With each uprising English repression became soruthless that, finally, in 1301 the King made his son, Edward, the Prince of Wales andclaimed direct control over the restive “marcher lords.” Not until 1536 would Walesgive up its border lordships and become fully incorporated into the EnglishGovernment.

The Conquest of Scotland.

Edward I had even more trouble imposing his suzeraintyover the Scots. He took advantage of a disputed succession to press his claim of feudaloverlord and to select John Baliol from thirteen candidates for the throne. When theScots repudiated the King’s demands for money and made an alliance with France,Edward invaded Scotland, deposed King John, and appointed the Earl of Surrey asguardian of the country. The Scots responded by rallying around two national heroes.The first was William Wallace who defeated the Earl of Surrey at Stirling Bridge(1207) and invaded northern England. When King Edward returned from France hecrushed the rebellious Scots at Falkirk (1298) and later captured and hung Wallace. Thesecond hero, Robert Bruce, had himself crowned king at Scone but was defeated by theEnglish Army at Methven (1306). In the following year King Edward, now over seventy, again started north but died on the way to the border.

War with France.

The Scottish-French alliance of 1295 increased English hostility tothe French monarchy since it was apparent that King Philip IV hoped to rescueAquitaine from English control. When Philip summoned his vassal Edward I to answer for depredations by his Gascon subjects, Edward defied the order just as King John hadignored a similar order from Philip Augustus. Consequently, Philip declared Aquitaineforfeit, and Edward answered by declaring war in 1294; however, he was prevented by

the Welsh and Scottish uprisings from any concerted effort. Furthermore, since bothKings were distracted by quarrels with Boniface VIII’s sweeping claims for the Papacyand by local rebellions, they agreed to end the war in 1303 and to restore conqueredterritories. Edward’s last years saw peace with France but increasing difficulties athome, because of his inability to control the Scots or to get the men or money from hissubjects without making concessions.

Edward II, 1307-27

. Once again a strong King was followed by a feeble son as EdwardII was to prove himself weak-willed and frivolous. His inability to rule wasdemonstrated by increasing dependence on favorites, beginning with the Gasconknight, Piers Gaveston. In the Parliaments of 1309-10 the barons, led by Thomas, earlof Lancaster, attempted to reassert their influence. Gaveston was banished, and acouncil of twenty-one Lords Ordainers was set up to control the appointments of household offices, especially the Treasury and the Wardrobe. In 1312 Edward defied theLords Ordainers and restored Gaveston to royal favor; the barons retaliated by havingGaveston executed. In 1314 the Scots under the brilliant generalship of Robert Brucewon their independence by crushing the English at Bannockburn. This humiliatingdefeat forced King Edward to capitulate again to the control of the Earl of Lancaster.Baronial disunity, heavy taxes, and successful raids by the Scots in the north led to civilwar in 1322. The rebellion was defeated at Boroughbridge, thus providing a temporaryvictory for Edward and his new favorite, Hugh Despenser. While Edward’s wife,Isabella, was negotiating peace with her brother, the King of France, she becameenamored with Roger Mortimer of Wales, and the two began to plot against her husband. In 1326 the Queen and Mortimer landed in England and won an easy triumphover the King. A controlled Parliament in 1327 deposed Edward II in favor of his son,Edward, duke of Aquitaine. Before the end of the year the deposed King was brutallymurdered.

Edward III and Scotland

. At the beginning of Edward III’s reign (1327-77) actual power rested with his mother and her lover, Mortimer. Three years later Edward, noweighteen, halted the greedy guardianship by having Parliament condemn Mortimer todeath as a traitor and his mother imprisoned. The young King’s charm and chivalryhelped to restore authority, and the monarchy won respect for a time. Since Edwardnever threatened the barons’ privileges as his grandfather had done, the magnatesfollowed him in his favorite pastime, fighting. In Scotland King Edward supportedEdward Baliol over David Bruce, and at the battle of Halidon Hill (1333) the Englishrevenged their defeat at Bannockburn. England temporarily ruled Scotland until 1341when David Bruce duplicated his father’s feat and drove out the English. By this timeEdward was preoccupied with the main objective of his reign-war with France.

Period of Decline.

For nearly twenty-five years Edward III carried on intermittent war with France. But the French nibbled away at the English conquests and defeated theEnglish at sea. The barons now began to grumble and made political capital over the jealousy between the King’s two sons, Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt. By1370 the King was growing senile and doted on his young mistress, Alice Ferrers, whoexploited his infatuation. Discontent with the Government and John of Gaunt’s politicalclique came to a head in the ”Good Parliament” of 1376, which censured John’s conductof the war, impeached his leading henchmen, and banished Edward’s mistress. TheBlack Prince died later that year, one year before his father, leaving his ten-year old son,Richard, as heir to a shaky throne.

The Rise of Parliament

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