Magna Carta & Representative

Institutions

HSTY1025 – THE MIDDLE AGES

LECTURE 2 – WEEK 3

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Lecture’s summary

—  Constraints on royal power, processes of negotiation

between rulers and ruled, appearance of
representative institutions
—  Through the example of England (mid-11th c.-
mid-14th c.)

1.  From the curia regis to the Magna Carta

2.  The emergence of the English parliament

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 From Anglo-Saxon to Norman England
—  Until mid-11th c., England =
¡  several independent kingdoms
¡  Monarchic power decentralized
—  1066, battle of Hastings
¡  Willian, duke of Normandy,
defeated King Harold
¡  Britain became Norman
¡  Kingdom of England = Britain +
Normandy
Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine
—  A strong and centralized system
of government
¡  Norman model for administration
¡  In Britain, land distributed to the
king’s vassals: the Norman Barons
¡  And to the Barons’ vassals: the
knights
—  But also discussion between the
king and the magnates through
the curia regis, i.e. ‘King’s court’
¡  A custom (not an institution)
¡  Counselors summoned by the king
÷  Small council (favorites and
officers)
÷  Great Council (high nobles and
clergy = the aristocracy)
è king’s rule = a balance between
royal control and good relationship
with the kingdom’s representatives
 The Angevine empire

Married Geoffrey
Plantagenet, count
of Anjou (1127)

Married Eleanor,
duchess of
Aquitaine (1152)

•  1200: John abducted Isabella, daughter of the

count of Angoulême
•  She was engaged to Hugh of Lusignan, vassal
of John
•  Hugh appealed to his overlord, the king of
France Philip Augustus
•  Philip Augustus confiscated John’s lands in
France
è  War
è  Abusive taxes
è  Rebellion of the barons

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Conflict with the Church

—  A recurrent issue: who designates bishops and

archbishops?
¡  Christian election vs. kings intervention
¡  A precedent: Thomas Becket
÷  Chancellor of King Henry in 1155
÷  Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162
÷  From friend to enemy
÷  Assassinated in 1170 by the king’s knights
÷  Public penance for Henry
—  1205: archbishop Hubert Walter of Canterbury
died
¡  Three candidates
÷  Reginald (clergy’s candidate)
÷  John de Gray (king’s candidate)
÷  Stephen Langton (Pope’s candidate)
¡  John seized the lands of Canterbury
¡  Pope Innocent III placed an interdict on England
(1208)
¡  John forced the clergy to fulfill their duties
¡  Pope excommunicated John (1209)

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Bouvines and the Magna Carta

—  27 July 1214, Battle of Bouvines

¡  John with Flemish and German allies vs. Philip
Augustus
¡  English barons refused to fulfill their feudal duties
¡  John defeated
—  End of the Angevine empire
¡  Philip Augustus confiscated all English possession in
France
¡  Except Gascony
—  Negotiation of the Magna Carta in June 1215
¡  i.e. ‘Great Charter’
¡  A base for the later constitutional monarchy of England
¡  The King must respect the feudal customs
¡  The King can not levy extraordinary taxes without the
consent of the barons (through the Great Council)

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Slow emergence of the parliament

—  Under Henry III

¡  Great Council to approve taxes, no to discuss them
¡  Expensive projects (in France and Sicily)
¡  The Barons refused their approval
—  Henry III led to accept the Provisions of
Oxford (1258)
¡  Great Council became parliament (from Fr.
parler, i.e. ‘to talk’)
¡  Triannual parliaments
¡  Council of Fifteen (barons), selected by the
parliament, to share the decision making process
with the king and appoint the chancellor and
treasurer

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Slow emergence of the parliament

—  Resistance of Henry III

—  Second Baron’s war (1264-1267)
—  Barons led by Simon de Montfort (d. 1265)
¡  Negotiator of the Provisions of Oxford
¡  Leader of the reformist barons
¡  1264, Battle of Lewes: Henry III captured; Simon ruled in
the king’s name
÷  Sharing his decisions with parliaments
÷  Introduced representatives of the towns (burgesses) and
shires (knights)
÷  !! Still no ‘democracy’
—  Royalists led by Edward, son of the king
¡  Royalists alarmed by Simon’s style of government
¡  1265, Simon defeated, King Henry reestablished

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Slow emergence of the parliament

—  Under Edward I

¡  War in Wales and Scotland
¡  Development of the administration and bureaucracy
¡  Consolidation of the parliament
÷  Petitions to parliament encouraged à parliament as
forum to engage a political dialogue
÷  But slow evolution of its composition
¢  Aristocracy always summoned
¢  Burgesses and knights summoned only from time to
time
÷  Eventualy, new names:
¢  Aristocracy à House of Lords
¢  Burgesses and knights à House of Commons
÷  Commons discussing in a separate room (or chamber) à
a step more towards later parliamentary democracy

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 Slow emergence of the parliament

—  Parliament as an institution limiting royal arbitrary

à the deposition of King Edward II
—  An unpopular king:
¡  Defeats against the Scottish (1314) and Gascony (1325)
¡  Gave much power to his favorites (in part. Hugh Despenser)
¡  1322, statute to avoid the parliament’s control
—  Confrontation with his wife Isabella
¡  Isabella sent in France to negotiate peace in 1325
¡  Came back to England with a lover and an army to overtake
the throne!
¡  War, Hugh Despenser executed, Edward captured

—  What to do with the king?

¡  He’s sacred à cannot be executed
¡  A solution à summon a parliament (Lords and Commons)
¡  A decision à the king was found guilty of incompetence and
cannot rule anymore; asked to abdicate in January 1327

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine

 References

—  Articles ‘Plantagenets’, ‘Magna Carta’ and

‘Parliament’ in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
Middle Ages [electronic resource]
—  Malcolm BARBER, The Two Cities. Medieval
Europe 1050-1320, New York-London: Routledge,
2004 (2nd ed), chap. 12 “The Kingdom of England”,
pp. 131-154 [Fisher]

Coord.: Dr. Hélène Sirantoine