Knights of the shire in the parliament of 1261. 1259.1 This last effort, like the first, failed, however, to satisfy public expectation. The very complexity of the scheme of reform which the barons had devised, coupled with the existence of an open feud between the baronial leaders Gloucester and Leicester- foredoomed the provisional system to failure and disappointment. The king, emboldened by the division of his adversaries, announced in 1260 that, as the barons had failed to keep the Provisions, they were no longer binding on him. In this crisis the king's eldest son, Edward, stood for a moment by the side of Earl Simon in behalf of the popular cause, while Gloucester went over to the king.2 But father and son were soon reconciled, and Gloucester returned to join with Earl Simon in calling a parliament, in the fall of 1261, at St. Alban's, to which were summoned three knights from every shire south of Trent. The death of Gloucester in the summer of 1262 delivered the popular cause from the difficulties of a divided leadership, leaving the great earl free to deal single-handed with his royal opponent. After raising the standard of successful revolt, Simon, in order to avert civil war, agreed in December, 1263, as a compromise, to submit the matters at issue between the nation and the crown to the arbitrament of the king of France, who, it was agreed, should pass upon the validity of the Provisions, and at the same time determine whether or no they should continue in force.* Award of Early in the following year Lewis made his award, in which he solved the questions at issue in favor of the king, with the proviso, however, that his award was not intended to abridge the liberties of the nation as defined by charter, statute, or custom. This award, which upon its face seemed to be a contradiction, settled nothing but the fact that the last and only hope of the nation was in civil war, which soon began. In the decisive battle fought at Lewes in May, 1264, Simon May, 1264. was completely victorious over Henry and Edward, who, together with their chief supporters, became prisoners in his St. Lewis, Jan., 1264. Battle of Lewes, 1 Statutes of the Realm, i. pp. 8-11; Ann. Burton, pp. 471-479. In 1267 these Provisions were embodied in the Statute of Marlborough. — Select Charters, p. 400. Green, History of the English People, vol. i. pp. 294, 295; Pauli, p. 108. 3 Henry commanded the sheriffs to send the knights, not to St. Alban's but to Windsor. For the writ, see Lords' Report, App. i. p. 23. Shirley, Royal Letters, vol. ii pp. 249–251; Ann. Dunst., p. 225; Pauli, p. 132 seq. 5 The award may be found in the Fœdera, i. p. 433, and in the Liber de Antt. Legg, p. 59. Knights of the shire in the parlia 1264. hands.1 The only use which the earl sought to make of his victory was to place fresh and binding restraints upon the royal authority. In the "Mise of Lewes "- the convention between the patriot leaders and their captive lord - the Provisions were confirmed, and a new body of arbitrators appointed to settle all controversies existing between the nation and the king. Pending the award, the royal castles were delivered to the barons, and on the 4th of June writs were issued appointing guardians of the peace in each county, and summoning four knights from each shire to meet the king in a parliament to be held on the 22d of the same month. The parliament met at the time appointed, and drew up a new ment of programme of government, to last while Henry lived, under which the king was to act with the advice of a council of nine, to be nominated by three electors to be chosen by the barons, three of the nine to be in constant attendance. In order to conclude the arrangements embraced in the "Mise of Lewes," and in order to gain a broader popular basis for his government, Simon, on the 14th of December, issued the Famous parliament writs for his famous parliament, to which were summoned not of 1265: only the two discreet knights from the shires, but also, for the representa first time in the history of English politics, two representa- first time tives from the cities and boroughs.5 This bold and unpre- from cities cedented appeal for aid to the rising democracy of the cities and towns did not avail, however, to save the government of the earl, now tottering to its fall. The weakness of the patriot party among the baronage had undermined Simon's strength, and this fact finally led to his overthrow when the disaffected, under the lead of Gloucester and the Mortimers, were joined by Edward, who escaped from the earl in May, 1265.6 In the person of the prince the royal cause now found 1 For a general account of the battle, see Rishanger, ed. Halliwell, p. 31 seq.; Ann. Waverley, p. 356; Blaauw's Barons' War, pp. 143-189; Pauli, pp. 144-151. 2 The substance of the convention, which contained seven articles, is stated in the Chronicle of Rishanger, p. 37. 8 Fœdera, i. p. 442; Select Charters, p. 411 seq. 4 Ibid., i. p. 443. "Item in forma prædicta scribitur civibus Eboraci, civibus Lincolniæ, et ceteris burgis Angliæ, quod mittant in "Item in forma prædicta mandatum tives for the summoned and towns. Battle of Council held at Winchester, 8th September. Kenil a brilliant leader, whom Simon himself had trained in the art of war. When, in August, master and pupil met at Evesham1 Aug., 1265. as leaders of the opposing forces, the great earl went down, and with him perished for a time the patriot cause for which he had so long and so unselfishly contended. Those of Simon's followers who survived the defeat were at once made to understand the full significance of unsuccessful rebellion. The franchises of every town that had supported the earl were held to be at the king's mercy, while a general sentence of forfeiture was issued against all who had fought under his standard.2 These exasperating measures drove the disinherited lords to gather for resistance in the castle of Kenilworth, where they were besieged by the king from June to December, 1266.3 During the siege a parliament was held, and with the king's consent arbitrators were appointed who were charged with the duty of preparing a plan of reconciliaDictum de tion. The scheme thus prepared, known as the "dictum de worth, Oct., Kenilworth," provided among other things that no one should be conclusively disinherited from the mere fact of having participated in the rebellion, that all who would submit within a given time should be spared and forgiven. After the terms thus proposed had been generally accepted, and after all show of armed resistance to the royal authority had completely disappeared, the king, in November, 1267, called a parliament at Marlborough, whose spirit stands in marked contrast to that which inspired the restoration parliament which had met in October of the preceding year. Instead of decrees of forfeiture against those who had been in rebellion, a statute was now passed in which were embodied the Provisions of Westminster, a series of ordinances of a remedial character which comprised substantially all of the grievances embraced in the Provisions of Oxford. By the enactment of this stat ute, known as the Statute of Marlborough,6 the nation won, after the pacification, the legal recognition of nearly every 1266. Statute of Marlbor ough, Nov., 1267. 1 As to the battle, see Ann. Wykes, Fœdera, i. p. 462; Liber de Antt. 3 Ann. Waverley, p. 373; Ann. Win- 4 The ordinance known as the "dictum de Kenilworth," which is divided into 41 articles, is contained in the Statutes of the Realm, i. pp. 12-17. See, also, Select Charters, pp. 419-425. 6 See above, p. 401. 6 Statutes of the Realm, i. pp. 1925. For a commentary on this statute, see Reeves, vol. ii. pp. 323-340. right-excepting the appointment of ministers and the election of sheriffs - for which the baronial leaders with Simon at their head had so long and so valiantly contended.1 The concessions thus wisely made by the crown in the hour of victory were followed by peace which remained unbroken down to Henry's death in November, 1272. accession of enactment emptores. from the his prede 8. The period of peace which followed the policy of recon- From the ciliation inspired by the victor of Evesham was so profound Edward 1. that Edward took the cross and went to Palestine.2 While on to the his way home the news of his father's death reached him at of Quia Capua in 1273, but he did not arrive in England until August, 12743 The fact that no one questioned the right of the absent heir to succeed to the vacant throne goes far to show how the ancient doctrine of elective kingship was fast giving way to the new feudal notion of hereditary right. Without election or coronation, the reign of the new king dated, for the Edward's first time, from the death of his predecessor. On the day of reign dates Henry's funeral the baronage swore fealty to their absent death of lord, and three days afterwards the royal council, under whose cessor. control the kingdom passed, proclaimed the new peace in Edward's name. It was not, however, until the reign of Edward IV. that the new doctrine of hereditary right finally ripened into the maxim that the king never dies, from which results Maxim that the correlative idea that there can be no such thing as an interruption in the king's peace. The first act of the important reign which now begins was a commission of inquiry until the into the territorial franchises, the results of which, recorded Edward in the Hundred Rolls, led to the passage of the Statute of Gloucester, which will be considered hereafter. The work of investigation thus begun was soon followed by the work of legislation in April, 1275, Edward's first parliament met at 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist., vol. ii. p. 97. "Except the demand for the appointment of the ministers and the election of sheriffs, the statute of Marlborough 5 Liber de Antt. Legg., p. 155; Fadera, i. p. 497; Select Charters, pp. 447, 448. 6 Stubbs, Const. Hist., vol. ii. p. concedes almost all that had been 103 For the facts upon this subject, see asked for in the Mad Parliament." 2 Ann. Winton, p. 109. 3 The king arrived on the second and the coronation took place on the nineteenth. Ann. Winton, p. 118; Fœdera, i. p. 514. 4 Ann. Winton, p. 112; Fœdera, i. p. the introduction to the Rotuli Hundre- the king never dies not firmly established reign of IV. Westminster I., 1275. tions. Statute of Westminster. In that parliament was passed the great statute or code known as Westminster the First, which, in its fifty-one chapters, seems to have embraced nearly every subject which at the moment called for remedial legislation. This statute declares that the peace of the church and of the realm shall be kept and maintained in all things, and that common right shall be done to all, rich and poor alike, without respect to persons.2 It further provides that all elections Free elec shall be free, and that no man shall by force or menace disturb them, a provision the more important in view of the fact that sheriffs, coroners, and other officers connected with the administration of justice were then elected by the people. In favor of the feudal tenants, certain clauses of the Great Charter were emphasized by provisions forbidding the illegal exaction of feudal aids, the abuse of wardships, and the imposition of excessive amercements. The statute then provides for a far-reaching reformation of the whole system of legal procedure both in civil and criminal cases. As a compensation for this remedial measure, the parliament made a grant to the crown of custom on wool, woolfells, and leather.6 Wool, the then staple produce of the country, which had been for some time the subject of unrestrained royal exaction, was now protected to some extent against arbitrary seizure by being made for the first time the subject of parliamentary taxation. Passing over the parliament of 1276, which is only memorable because of the attendance of Francesco Francesco Accursi of Bologna, the civilian whose services Edward had retained before entering upon the work of legislative reform, and over the year 1277, in which the king was engaged with an outbreak in Wales, we come to the parliament of 1278, in which was passed the Statute of Glouces Reform of legal procedure. Accursi the civilian. 5 Upon this whole subject, see 7 Cf. Select Charters, p. 450. 9" Francesco was in attendance on Edward at Limoges in May, 1274, Fadera, i. PP. 511, 512.". Stubbs, Const. Hist., vol. ii. p. 107, note 2. He was the son of the great Accursi of Bologna, who was the writer of the glosses on the civil law. |