Parliament through the years

The earliest use of the term parliament to refer to the Great Council was in the year 1236, this was after the creation of the Magna Carta, which was created by King John and stated that nobles and barons had the right to consult with and advise the monarch as members of his great council.

Here’s a brief look at the development of parliament as we know it today
 

1215 – King John agrees to the creation of the Magna Carta which states the right of Barons and other nobles to consult with and advise the king as part of the Great Council.

1236 – the term parliament is used for the first time in relation to the Great Council.

1254 – Sheriffs were instructed to send elected representatives of their counties to consult with the monarch on taxes and other issues.

1258 – at a meeting in Oxford, the nobles assembled drafted the Provisions of Oxford which called for regular meetings with representatives from the counties.

1265 – Simon de Montfort, summoned a parliament, which included representatives of both counties and towns for the first time. He did this in rebellion against Henry III.

1278 – The Clerk of the Parliaments began to compile the Rolls of Parliament, which includes the records of proceedings, petitions and acts that were passed.

1295 – A model parliament was created which included nobles, bishops, two representatives for each county and each town. This became the model for future parliaments.

1327 – Representatives of the counties (known as knights of the shire) and the towns (known as burgesses) were always summoned together from here onwards.

1332 – The first time that Knights of the shire and burgesses meeting was called the Commons.

1341 – The Commons met separately from the nobles for the first time.

1352 – The Commons begin meeting at Westminster Abbey.

1362 – It is established that parliament must now approve all taxation.

1376 – Parliament, led for the first time by an elected Speaker, prosecuted some of the king’s advisors before the Lords.

1397 – Commons moves from the Chapter House to the Refectory of Westminster Abbey.

1399 – Parliament agrees to the deposition of Richard II and Henry IV takes the throne.

1401 – During Henry IV’s reign, Commons claimed the right to grant taxation only after their complaints had been addressed.

1407 – The Commons asserted its right to create all new taxes.

1413 – Statute insisted that Burgesses should reside in the borough for which they are elected, though this was almost completely ignored.

1414 – Henry V acknowledged that both Houses were necessary to make new laws and sought approval from both.

1429 – Statute brought in which states that the right to vote in county elections to be limited to men who owned freehold property that was worth 40 shillings a year.

1494 – A law passes in Ireland which gives the English Crown and Privy Council an effective veto over Irish legislation.

1497 – The Clerk of the Parliaments was no longer a Chancery official and anything passed in parliament began being stored in parliaments own archives.

1510 – The Clerk of the Parliaments started also keeping records of proceedings in the House of Lords which became known as the Lords’ Journal.

1512 – After a fire, Henry VIII moved the royal family out of the Palace of Westminster and left it to the use of parliament and other governors.

1523 – Sir Thomas Moore, the Speaker of the House of Commons, made the first known request for freedom of speech in Parliament.

1529-36 – The Reformation Parliament passed legislation that touched on every aspect of people’s lives and made King in Parliament the sovereign lawmaker in the realm.

1536 – A statute joined Wales to English administration and allowed the counties there to also send representatives to parliament.

1539 – Henry VIII suppresses the monasteries and the clergy are no longer allowed to sit in the House of Lords.

1547 – Edward VI hands over St Stephen’s Chapel to politicians for their use.

1547 – Clerk of the Commons starts the Commons’ Journal

1576 – Peter Wentworth makes a speech in the commons arguing for freedom of speech, as a result he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

1603 – King James I, the first Stuart King, ascends the throne and is known as both James VI of Scotland and James I of England.

1605 – The gunpowder plot where a group of Catholic rebels attempt to kill the king by blowing up the Houses of Parliament over the state opening of parliament.

1621 – James I tore up the Protestation against the limits he had placed on the Commons’ freedom of speech out of the Commons’ Journal.

1625 – James I dies and Charles I ascends. In June of that year, parliament grants the new king customs duties for one year rather than for life.

1626 – Charles I levied a Forced Loan, without parliamentary approval to raise money for a war and imprisoned without trail many of those who refused to pay.

1628 – Charles I assents to the Commons’ Petition of Right, which condemned extra – parliamentary taxation and arbitrary imprisonment, but this was not properly enacted.

1629 – The Speaker of the House of Commons was physically prevented by three members in the commons from adjourning the house until resolutions are passed against the King’s policies. Parliament was dissolved.

1630 – Exchequer judges confirmed the King’s prerogative right to levy knighthood fees on landowners.

1635 – Ship money contributions were demanded by the king for the first time from all areas of the country not just the coast. At the same time, forest courts were revivied to raise money by forest fines.

1638 – Scottish Presbyterians revolt against Charles I’s religious innovations and started the first Bishop’s War against England

1640 – In April, Charles I, needing money for the Bishop’s War, summoned parliament which met for less than a month and became known as the Short Parliament. Later in October, English troops were defeated in the Second Bishop’s War. The Treaty of Ripon demanded that the king pay the winning troops £850 a day while they remained in England. By November, Charles I summoned parliament again, in need of more money, this was known as the Long Parliament. While in power, the Long Parliament attacked people associated with personal Rule. At the end of the year, the Root and Branch petition, calling for the abolition of bishops from the Church of England and its reform was presented to parliament.

1641 – The Earl of Stafford was attainted and executed and Acts were passed ensuring the continuation of Parliament and declaring non parliamentary taxation illegal. In November, the Grand Remonstrance against Charles I’s activities passed the Commons and was not even sent to the Lords, before being rejected by the King.

1642 – Charles I enters the Commons to arrest five Members of the House but they had already fled. The Lords and Commons pass the Militia Ordinance, which did not receive the assent of King establishing parliamentary control over county militias. Charles raises his standard at Nottingham formally starting the English Civil War the following year. An Act of Settlement allows Parliament to confiscate land from Catholics as compensation for the cost of the Civil War.

1645 – Parliament passes New Model Ordinance, establishing the New Model Army.

1646 – Charles I surrenders ending the first Civil War

1647 – The Leveller tract, the Agreement of the People was published, it’s proposals for universal suffrage for men and more equal representation was debated.

1648 – Pride’s Purge, when Army leaders excluded MPs who were thought to be sympathetic to Charles from parliament. The remaining MPs were known as the Rump Parliament.

1649 – Charles I is executed. The Commons abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords declaring England a Commonwealth. The Irish parliament is abolished and Ireland, along with Scotland and England send representatives to a Commonwealth Parliament in London.

1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament, calls a Nominated Assembly and was made Lord Protector.

1657 – Cromwell agrees to the Humble Petition and Advice but refuses to use the title of King.

1658 – Cromwell dies and is succeeded by his son Richard

1659 – Richard Cromwell is deposed and political anarchy ensues.

1660 – Parliament restores the monarchy with Charles II and the House of Lords is restored.

1661 – the Cavalier Parliament first met and sat until January 1679. The bishops once again sit with the Lords and the Acy of Uniformity enforced conformity to the English Church. The Irish Parliament is reconvened.

1670 – Charles II agrees to convert to Catholicism in exchange for money from the French in a secret treaty.

1673 – Parliament passes the Test Act to prevent Catholics from holding office, by which the successor to the throne has to resign.

1677 – Four peers are imprisoned by the House of Lords for claiming that parliament was automatically dissolved for not meeting yearly.

1678 – Parliament passes the Test Act preventing Catholics from also sitting in parliament.

1679 – The first Exclusion Parliament meet with Commons drafting a bill to exclude James, the Duke of York from the line of succession.

1680 – The second Exclusion Parliament met with the exclusion bill being defeated in the Lords.

1681 – The third Exclusion Parliament met at Oxford for only a week. It was the last time parliament would meet outside Westminster.

1681-4 – The Tory Reaction takes place with purges, prosecutions and executions taking place for Exclusionist or Whigs, as they are now called.

1685 – Charles II dies and James II becomes king. His first parliament met in May but after November was continuously prorogued until it was dissolved in July 1687.

1686 – Godden v Hale allowed James II to dispense individuals from Test Acts. The bishop of London is suspended for not taking action against an anti-Catholic preacher.

1687 – James II issued his Declaration of Indulgence for Nonconformists and sent agents to find potential MPs who would vote for repeal of the Test acts.

1688 – The Seven Bishops prosecuted by James II for refusing to announce the Declaration of Indulgence in their churches were acquitted. The Immortal Severn sent their invitation to William of Orange to invade England after the birth of James II’s son. By the end of the year, William of Orange invades England and James II flees to France. A convention was summoned to decide the political settlement.

1689 – Parliament votes that James II abdicated and that William and Mary should be offered the crown. This is later made law. In the summer, parliament declares war on France (Nine Years War)

1690 – Parliament passed an Act establishing a commission of public accounts to oversee the crown’s use of the revenue.

1694 – The bank of England is founded by parliament and an act is passed providing parliamentary elections every three years.

1696 – Revelations of a plot to assassinate William III led to the drafting of an oath of loyalty to the King, which was rejected by many Tories and peers.

1697 – Parliament signs the Treaty of Ryswyck which ends the Nine Years War.

1700 – Second in line to the throne, the Duke of Gloucester, dies. He was the last surviving child of Princess Anne.

1701 – Parliament passes the Act of Settlement to prohibit Catholics from sitting on the throne and placing the succession with the House of Hanover. James II dies in exile and his son is recognised as the true monarch by France, prompting parliament to legislate an oath denouncing the Stuart’s claim to the throne.

1702 – William III dies and is succeeded by Queen Anne. She declares a renewed war against France as part of the War of the Spanish Succession.

1707 – The Act of Union between England and Scotland is ratified and a new British parliament begins to accept Scottish members.

1708 – The last time a royal veto was used, Queen Anne refused to assent to the Scottish Militia Bill.

1713 – The Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of Spanish Succession.

1714 – Queen Anne dies and is succeeded by her distant cousin, George I of Hanover as stated in the Act of Settlement.

1720 – Following a dispute, British parliament reasserts its right to legislate on Irish matters.

1728 – Catholics in Ireland are prevented from voting or sitting in parliament.

1782 – The Irish parliament wins right to legislate on their own affairs.

1801 – An Act of Union merges the Irish Parliament with the British Parlimanet creating a Parliament of the United Kingdom.

1829 – Catholics in England are given the right to vote and sit in parliament.

1845 – The Irish potato famine begins prompting parliament to repeal laws on the distribution of food.

1869 – Parliament breaks the link between church and state in Ireland.

1886 – Irish Home Rule bill is proposed by Gladstone splitting the Liberal party.

1893 – Irish Home Rule Bill is rejected.

1914 – A third Home Rule for Ireland bill is rejected. WWI breaks out.

1920 – Parliament legislates to create two parliaments, one in Northern Ireland and one in the south.

1949 – Parliament endorses a decision by the Irish Free State to become a Republic.

1972 – Parliament asserts direct control over Northern Ireland following a rise in violence.

1998 – Good Friday Agreement and a restored devolved government in Northern Ireland.