councel was helde at Claringdone and before the King the Bishoppes and nobilitie were sworne to kepe and confirme many decrees and ordinaunces Iohn Stow writes in his Summary of the Cronicles of Englande that the 34 of his ragne at Geldington about ten myles from Northamton he shoulde holde a Parliamentâ— touching a voyage to be taken to the holy lande But if you consider the haste the king made thether the state at that present he stode in the place the shortnesse of the time and the matters there communed of you shall finde that in terming this or suche like consultation Parliaments Maister Fabian Stow Harding and other Englishâ— writers do rather vse the worde as in deede it is proper where any conference is than that it carries with it where it coÌ„mes the same to be vnderstand to be the greate Courte of Parliament in such general forme and vniuersall manner as nowe and since the time of Kyng Henrie the thyrde we haue and do vse it as you knowe the worde is Frenche and this much importeth A debating together A conference A consultation A conferring An enterspeech A Communication A discoursing one with another which may bee aswel with Ten for the worde as with Tenscore Kyng Richard the first in the eighte yeare of hys raigne retourning from the holy lande his brother Iohn in his absence vsurping the Crowne summoned a counsell of hys Lords at Winchester where by auctority of the said counsell 〈…〉 ments and landes whyche before hee hadde bestowed on hym After Richards deceasse he possessed the Crowne and in the firste and thirde yeare by the holding of two counsels as some affirme hee had certaine exactions agreed vppon for the maintenaunce of his wars others write that of himselfe hee leuied the sayd summes The eleuenth yeare all men toke the othes of Allegeance too hym from 12 yeres vpward The fourthteenth yere here is some difference for the yere the Lordes and Barons required the vse of Saint Edwardes Lawes and the reuoking of other wicked ordinaunces the which he not harkening to the ciuil warre begonne yet at Barhamdowne the king and nobilitie meeting they confirmed so much as they departed quietly The sixtenth of his raigne the king being slowe to performe that which he was brought to perforce the nobility toke them againe to armes and so hardlye sette hym as in a meadowe betweene Windsor and Staynes in a manner Nolens volens hee graunted their liberties and the Charter for their confirmation thereof is dated at Rime meade betweene the places beforenamed to the which al the Realme was sworne In the same yere the Lords perceiuing the Kings disposition to shifte from that hee hadde agreed on sente into Fraunce for Lewes the sonne of Philip the Frenche king who arriuing here was receyued by the Barons and Londoners honorably who sware fealty to hym and did him homage and then al with one crye they séeke oute the king who being at Winchester was driuen to flye whyche towne yeelded was sworn to Lewes whether also repayred in a maner al the nobility For al this sturre King Iohn procured the Pope by meanes of Pandolphe the legate to dispence with his othe to reuerse the Charter and liberties graunted and also excoÌ„municate the Barons and Frenchmen Henrie his sonne of the age of nine yeres yong enough 〈…〉 Kingdome and specially during such garboyles yet by the good gouernemente of Marshal Erle of Penbroke many of the Lordes drewe to him and very shortly after Lewes was driuen to leaue the land and being released of his excommunication the peace was agreed on the ninth yeare of his raigne of his age the seuententh or thereabout At the motion of the Archbishoppe of Caunterbury and other the Lordes the king graunted and confirmed the greate Charter whereuppon as I can gather by some records the warde and mariage of our children was graunted to the king and his successours the twelfth yeare the king refused to perfourme the liberties Charter graunted as before for that the ratification past in his minoritie and that now being of ful yeres to beare the sway himselfe hee woulde bee better aduised The twentith of his raigne is found the first Parliament of name and record and yet not to be so thought a Parliament as now we vse ours It is entituled The statuts made at Merton And further he sayes It was prouided in the Courte of our soueraigne Lord the king holden at Mertoâ— the morrowe after the twentith day of Saint Vincent the twentith yere of the raigne of king Henrie the son of king Iohn before VVilliam Archbishoppe of Caunterburie and other his Bishoppes and suffraganes and before the greater parte of the Earles and Barons of England there assembled c without addition of the thyrde state of this land Also you haue a statute made the yeare after entituled for the leape yeare beginning The King vnto the iustices of his Bench greeting The 42. yere or after some the 41 the barons vnwillingly bearing the kings driuing off for the restitution of certaine auncient lawes there was a Parliament at Oxforde which was called the madde Parliament yet not so mad but the king his brother king of Romains and Edward his sonne must and did agrée thereto tho much against their willes bycause many matters were ordeyned greatly and too much against the kings prorogatiue for the sure establishing and execution whereof there were 〈…〉 charge auctority to see the ordinaunces made maintayned whether for the small worthynesse of the lawes or the disorder in making or the shortnesse of the continuaunce I knowe not but I finde not any of those statutes with the rest which are rekened to be King Henrie the thirds These twelue noble meÌ„ were no soner in coÌ„mission but they begaÌ„ roughly presently exiling foure of the Kings brethreÌ„ by the mother The 43. and 44 yere of his raigne there were certain assemblies sometime of the nobility without the King and of the king without the Lordes without any mention of our thirde interest and al called Parliaments Thys yere in a Folkmote at London were al aboue twelue yeres sworne to the king In the 45. yeare he had obtained from Rome a dispensation for his othe and all others of his which he and they had taken for the maintenance of Oxforde folly The péeres during this pastime vnwitting vnwilling the kyng discharged Hugh le Spencer chiefe Iustice and put an other in his place expelled officers and Sherifes admitted by the king appointed other to supplie their romes Further the king was growâ—n to harde termes which was hee shoulde not passe ouer the Seas hauing large Territories in other countries without licence obtained as in this yeare appeareth The next yeare as before in the. 44 were al men in London aboue twelue yeares of age sworne too the king and his successours The 47 of his raigne the barons armed themselues the Kyng Queene fled from the tower to
wasted the subiects as liberty and freedome muste nowe bring people together againe to ioine in a newe corporation of frendship And to exclude al feare he pardoned most freely al offences past These ordinaunces did holy Gildas about the yeare of Christ. 543 translate oute of Brytishe into latine Alured as afore about the. 872. out of Latin into the English Gurgunstus of some Gurguintus the son of Belinus before Christ. 375. was the first it shold seme that imposed death and losse of lim for transgression dyd also grieuously punish the peace breakers Quinthelinus his sonne married a noble gentlewoman to name Martia who erected certaine decrees of gouernement whiche were called after hir Martian Laws brought likewise into English by king Alured leauing theÌ„ the little Marthehelage asmuch to say the law of Martia Lucius it is said the eight yeare of his raigne of Christ â—88 some smal controuersye there is of the time was christened Eluthrius being Bishop of Rome and counted the first christened King of this Iland of the most credible writers tho some woulde haue Aruiragus 138. yere before to haue the preheminence aswel by the preachyng of SimoÌ„ Zelotes one of the disciples of Christ here martyred and buryed as by Ioseph of Arymathy who had Mutryn now Glastenbury his place appointed of habitation sente hyther with twelue disciples by the Apostle Philip then preaching in Gaul nowe Fraunce too sone to come to Christ onlesse we would felowe him better Lucius was very timely coÌ„sidering the late repayre to him of many nations nerer the plat of his birth and passion whom I would recite but I haue digressed too long Lucius set to Eleutherius desiring him he might haue the imperial and Romaine Lawes to guide and gouerne his countrey who retourned him this answere As touching the rightes of the Churche and seruice of God whiche you haue receiued they must remaine alwayes one vntouched the policie for ciuill rule may bee abrogated and altered as occasion shall serue you haue the booke of the olde and newe preceptes the Bible with the aduise of your kingdome make a Lawe thereby to gouerne your subiectes Here some will say was your first Parliamente and the verie originall thereof whyche I no way can agree to and the cause hereafter I wyl shewe you Lucius died wythout heire for the space of fifteene yeeres or more all wente to hauocke tyll Seuerus the Emperour discended rightlye from King Lud toke the gouernement vpoÌ„ him about the yere 208. some account lesse the Romaines seldome quietly but for the most parte to their excessiue charge and trouble held the domynioÌ„ til the death of CoÌ„staÌ„tine the yere .445 then neglecting the same as a country not worth the keeping who leauing behind him CoÌ„stant or CoÌ„stantin for his simplicity in his fathers time shorne a monk at Winchester Vortiger alias Vortigern of some the Duke of West SaxoÌ„s of other the Duke or Erle of Iewesses who after were called West Saxons toke him out of the Cloyster and crowned him king whome yet hee caused to bee murdered the first yeare of his raigne so that for those 240. yeares few laws were made and fewer executed Vortiger vsurping or being chosen king the 448. yeare so continued but a while in rest for not onely his nobles but the Pictes and Scottes layde so sore to him that driuen to extremitie he sent into Germany for the SaxoÌ„s and Englishmen to aide him in his waxres not only against the forraine enimye but his owne people promysing too them habitation whiche hee might well spare the land being in a manner wast by the meanes of the great mortalitie by pestilence the Scottes and Pictes inuasions and the ciuill slaughter Their request was accepted Horsus Hengist brought hether certain souldiers Panims by whose valure Vortigers contraries were tamed by the continuall repaire and flocking hether of those straungers the inhabitaunts were put to the dore For before the yere of our Lorde 1498 there were three kingdomes erected by the EnglishmeÌ„ and Saxons the first of Kent by Hengist the second by Hella his three sonnes of the south Saxons comprising Deuonshire and Cornewal Somersette and Southery or rather Hampshire for Southery according to the more probable writers The third of east Angles by Vffa coÌ„teining Norfolk and Suffolke These broyles being no time for lawes or letters but for fier bloud Arthur the son of Vther PeÌ„dragoÌ„ was crowned king of Britayne tho a greate part as you heare were takeÌ„ froÌ„ him The yere â—16 he fought twelue greate battayles with the Saxons in all the which he put theÌ„ to the worse yet coulde he not auoyde them the Land neyther yet so subdue them but that Cerdicus the fifth yere of his raigne began the fourth kingdome of west Saxons which consisted as I gather of Worcester Dorcet Wiltish â–ª Stafford and those western partes adiacent Aboute the yeare 547. the two Kingdomes of Northumberland that is the fifte and sixte principality of the Saxons toke roote In the one called Breuitia Ida first had rule In the other called Deira Ella was gouernor These two kingdomes had in theÌ„ the countries froÌ„ Humber northward to the Scottish sea and continued somtime vnder one king sometime vnder two The yere 586. the Britains were driueÌ„ into Wales presently the Saxons had the dominion of the whole lande At whyche time was the Christen religion thereby extinct and not thought on but amoÌ„g the Britaynes in Wales After some Sebertus leader of the East Saxons 614 gaue first beginning to that kingdome and had in it Essex Not long after Penda the Miscreant the yeare 626. made the kingdome of Mertia who gouerned Huntingtonshire Hertfordshire Glouc. War. Lecester Nottingham Northumberland and others Cadwallader the last king of Britaine died at Rome the yeare of grace 656 about whiche time according to some writers but I thinke rather the yeare 712. Inas otherwise called Iue or Iew a Christian helde the rule of the West Saxons He set downe certaine laws the preamble to the whiche is this Inas by the grace of God king of west Saxons with the consultation and aduise of Kenred my father Hedda and Erkenwald my Bishoppes of all my councellours and the olde wise men of my people in the greate congregation of the seruauntes of God did labour to confirme Iustice and equitie to bee executed in my whole territorie These particular edictes are not to my purpose to wright but the firste intituled Of the manner of the liuing of the ministers of God toucheth somwhat the matter which goes thus First wee commaunde that Gods ministers doe obserue the order of life alreadie sette downe and further wee will that to the rest of our people the lawes and iudgementes bee in this manner and so goeth on This also is alleaged for the confirmation of antiquity of our parliament I
among whom were Oda and VVolstane Archbishoppes and many other Bishoppes to prouide for their soules health and theirs whom they had the cure of And in an other place I Edwarde King to all both yong ond olde in my iurisdiction giue knowledge that I in the solempne assemblie of the best seene of my kingdome aswel ecclesiastical as temporal haue carefully enquired and so foorth King Edgar his seconde sonne the yeare 959 was likewise a lawe maker and thus entitles them The lawes whiche 1 Edgar King in the freequented senate to the glory of God â–ª the dignity of my Maiestie and the profite of the common wealth haue past Etheldred or Eldred or Egelred the second son of Edgar the yeare 979 whiche alter a little who by the murder of Edward his elder brother named the Martire came to the crown in whose time the Danes so entred this laÌ„d as ere they had done the king fledde into Normandy and lefte his kingdome to Swanus the Tyrant Dane after whose decease retourning he not long after died hee also being doing with lawes termes them thus The councel of graue fathers which king Ethelred had at Woodstock in Marcia for the preseruation of the peace whiche is gouerned by the english lawes at the ende of suche perticulers as are agreed on he concluds on this maner This our commaundement decree if any shal neglect c. He shal pay to the king one huÌ„dred twenty shillings There was a league made also by the sayd King with the army of Aulavus Iustinus and Gustimundus the sonnes of Stegetie the Dane and goes thus The agreement or part which once or of late king Ethelred by the aduise of his wise confederates with them aforesayde did enter in His sonne Edmund surnamed Ironside parted the Realme with Canutus or Knought King of Denmark who being slayn by the treason of Edricke Canutus enioyed the whole principality and tho Swanus were the firste Danish King here yet held hee not the kingdome so absolutely as thys man did Hee made more lawes than anye one before him which are thus intituled The decrees which Canutus king of English Danes and Norwayes at Winchester at Christmas hath appointed by the aduise of men of knowledge to the honor of the God of heauen the renoume of the kings Maiestie and the benefite of the common wealth Againe in an other place he vseth these wordes These are the humaine and lawes politique wherin vsing the counsel of the wise I command to be kept thorough Englande Hee began to raigne alone the yeare of grace 1019. Edwarde the Confessour after Hardikenitus the last king of the Danish bloud 1043. began to raigne he fouÌ„ded many holesome lawes and was the firste erector as it is written of the common law whych VVilliam Conqueror did after confirme wherof this I finde After the conquest of England the foresayde King William the fourth yere of his raigne by the persuasion aduise and councel of his nobility did sommon throughout his land the nobles the gouernours the graue heads and the Learned in the lawe to heare of them their rights customes and ordinances whereof chosing twelue of euery county who taking their othes before the king directly truely and so forth to shew declare the same they brought the lawes of Saint Edward as we haue them now and the king established them in that manner The Conqueror hym selfe began to rule this Ilande 1066 some recken a yeare more who also adding certaine ordinaunces in the entraunce hath these wordes Here beginneth what William king of the Englishe nation after the conquest with his nobility hath appointed to be perfourmed I reade that Henry the first his sonne who gouerned after VVilliam Rufus his brother did at the beginning of his raign lighten the great exactions imposed by his father and brother reduced and amended Saint Edwards lawes whiche as it should seeme were eyther forgotten or would not be remembred for al the fathers confirmation or rather shew therof reformed measures apoynted directions to be obserued Aboute the thyrtith yeare of hys raigne hee helde a counsel at LondoÌ„ wherin it was thought good he shold haue the Cleargy within his censure Maude the Emprice his daughter first marryed to Henrie the fourth Emperor of Almayne and afterwards to Geffrey Plantagenet Erle of Aâ—iou the 31. of his raigne had by hir husbande shortly after a son named Henrie vpoÌ„ the knowledge wherof he called hys nobles together decreed that his daughter the heires of hir body shoulde succeede him in the Kyngdome Grafton in the thirteenth yere of this King in hys Cronicle saith thus And in this time began the Parliament in Englande firste to be instituted and ordeyned for reformation and gouernement of this Realme The manner whereof as I haue fouÌ„d it set out in an olde pamflet I intende at large to set foorth in the raigne of King Edwarde the thirde when and where Parliaments were yearely and orderly kepte the whiche I sought to finde but promise was not kepte Turning his booke I founde in his preface to the Reader these wordes And where I haue in the â—3 yere of King Henry the firste promised to place the maner and order that first was taken for the holding of the parliamente in the time of king Edwarde the thirde I haue sith that tyme for sundry good causes thought meete to omit the same and therefore admonish the Reader not to looke for it Hereof iudge you and if you wyll haue hys reason he is not far to seke Stephen in a manner no sole sybbe to the Crowne the righte heyres being aliue was by the nobilitye admitted Kyng In hys time the Emprice by the aide of hyr Basterd brother Robert Earle of Gloucester the ciuill warres grew great wherin the King being taken and who now but the Emprice as it were confirmed according to hir iust title she was moued for the restitution of Saint Edwards Lawes but shee was deafe on that side The last yeare of thys Kings time he and Henrie the Emprice sonne grew to communication and agreement The King commaunded his Lordes to assemble at Winchester where Duke Henrie was honorably receyued and there it was agreed he shoulde adopte the Duke hys sonne and confirme too him the Crowne of Englande after his deceasse Henry the second hys follower in the gouernement of another clayme helde a councel at the beginning of his raign at Wallingforde where the Barons were sworne to the king The eyght yere of his raigne he caused all the subiectes to sweare fealty to his sonne Henrye touching the inherytaunce In the ninth yeare Fabian sayeth the kyng called a Parliament at Northampton and so termed it as also in some other places he doeth Councels and calling togethers of the Lordes by the prynce wherin him selfe vouches nothing was done but a pretence to reforme and somewhat gelde the preueleges of the Cleargy The same time a