The English Parliaments Of Henry Vii 1485 1504

P.R. Cavill offers a major reinterpretation of early Tudor constitutional history. In the grand 'Whig' tradition, the parliaments of Henry VII were a disappointing retreat from the onward march towards parliamentary democracy. The king was at best indifferent and at worst hostile to parliament; its meetings were cowed and quiescent, subservient to the royal will. Yet little research has tested these assumptions. Drawing on extensive archival research, Cavill challenges existing accounts and revises our understanding of the period. Neither to the king nor to his subjects did parliament appear to be a waning institution, fading before the waxing power of the crown. For a ruler in Henry's vulnerable position, parliament helped to restore royal authority by securing the good governance that legitimated his regime. For his subjects, parliament served as a medium through which to communicate with the government and to shape - and, on occasion, criticize - its policies. Because of the demands parliament made, its impact was felt throughout the kingdom, among ordinary people as well as among the elite. Cooperation between subjects and the crown, rather than conflict, characterized these parliaments. While for many scholars parliament did not truly come of age until the 1530s, when - freed from its medieval shackles - the modern institution came to embody the sovereign nation state, in this study Henry's reign emerges as a constitutionally innovative period. Ideas of parliamentary sovereignty were already beginning to be articulated. It was here that the foundations of the 'Tudor revolution in government' were being laid.

P.R. Cavill offers a major reinterpretation of early Tudor constitutional history. In the grand 'Whig' tradition, the parliaments of Henry VII were a disappointing retreat from the onward march towards parliamentary democracy. The king was at best indifferent and at worst hostile to parliament; its meetings were cowed and quiescent, subservient to the royal will. Yet little research has tested these assumptions. Drawing on extensive archival research, Cavill challenges existing accounts and revises our understanding of the period. Neither to the king nor to his subjects did parliament appear to be a waning institution, fading before the waxing power of the crown. For a ruler in Henry's vulnerable position, parliament helped to restore royal authority by securing the good governance that legitimated his regime. For his subjects, parliament served as a medium through which to communicate with the government and to shape - and, on occasion, criticize - its policies. Because of the demands parliament made, its impact was felt throughout the kingdom, among ordinary people as well as among the elite. Cooperation between subjects and the crown, rather than conflict, characterized these parliaments. While for many scholars parliament did not truly come of age until the 1530s, when - freed from its medieval shackles - the modern institution came to embody the sovereign nation state, in this study Henry's reign emerges as a constitutionally innovative period. Ideas of parliamentary sovereignty were already beginning to be articulated. It was here that the foundations of the 'Tudor revolution in government' were being laid.

A major contribution to the history of Parliament, to medieval English history, and to the study of the English constitution. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW

The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of the lords, and, somewhat later, the commons. The first three parliaments of Edward IV's reign - 1461, 1463 and 1467 - document the establishment of the new regime, including the new king's efforts to win over former Lancastrians as well as to punish the unreconciled. All three parliaments include acts of resumption deliberately deployed by the crown rather than by its critics. The volume also includes a partial reconstruction of the business of Henry VI's resumption parliament of 1470 for which no roll survives. The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complemented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). Dr Rosemary Horrox is Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of the lords, and, somewhat later, the commons. Chris Given-Wilson is Professor of Late Medieval History, University of St Andrews

A major contribution to the history of Parliament, to medieval English history, and to the study of the English constitution. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of thelords, and, somewhat later, the commons. Those edited in this volume cover the dramatic period from the Black Death to the end of the reign of Edward III. The parliaments of the 1350s and 1360s were marked by a strong sense of combined purpose as crown and political community drew together to buttress their economic interests and enjoy the benefits of peace with Scotland and France. The 1370s, by contrast, was a decade of military disaster, economic gloomand increasing faction-fighting at court. Notably, the volume provides the first ever translation of the official record of the so-called "Good Parliament" of 1376, at which Edward III's mistress and ministers were publicly exposed as enemies of the common good. This assembly was a major turning-point in political history, marking the first appearance of the office of Speaker of the House of Commons and the first use of parliamentary impeachment in medieval England. The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). Mark Ormrod is Professor of History at the University of York.

Contains full text and translation of the meetings of the English parliaments from Edward I to Henry VII, covering the years from 1272 to 1504. Includes unpublished texts. Transcripts incorporate precise information about the text in the documents (deleted and unreadable) never before published. Searching can retrieve words and phrases across the texts.

A major contribution to the history of Parliament, to medieval English history, and to the study of the English constitution. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of thelords, and, somewhat later, the commons. The three parliaments of Edward IV's second reign are strikingly unbalanced. The first, which lasted from 1472-75, was from the king's point of view mainly concerned with financing theprojected war against France, but also sees the final settlement of the Yorkist regime with former Lancastrians making their peace and a further act of resumption reconsidering earlier royal grants. The last two parliaments weremuch briefer and, again from the king's perspective, mono-causal. That of January 1478 was called to try Edward's brother the duke of Clarence, although this is barely reflected in the roll itself. Five years later Edward was in search of funding for his Scottish war. The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complemented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Normanand Middle English). Dr Rosemary Horrox is Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.