Magnum Concilium

The origins of the magnum concilium (Latin for "great council") can be traced to the 10th century when a unified Kingdom of England was forged from several smaller kingdoms. In Anglo-Saxon England, the king would hold deliberative assemblies of nobles and prelates called witans. These assemblies numbered anywhere from twenty-five to hundreds of participants, including bishops, abbots, ealdormen, and thegns. Witans met regularly during the three feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun and at other times. In the past, kings interacted with their nobility through royal itineration, but the new kingdom's size made that impractical. Having nobles come to the king for witans was an important alternative to maintain control of the realm.[1]

Witans served several functions. They appear to have had a role in electing kings, especially in times when the succession was disputed. They were theatrical displays of kingship in that they coincided with crown-wearings. They were also forums for receiving petitions and building consensus among the magnates. King's dispensed patronage, such as granting bookland, and these were recorded in charters witnessed and consented to by those in attendance. Appointments to offices, such as to bishoprics or ealdormanries, were also made during witans. In addition, important political decisions were made in consultation with witans, such as going to war and making treaties. Witans also helped the king to produce Anglo-Saxon law codes and acted as a court for important cases (such as those involving the king or important magnates).[2]

After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror (r. 1066–1087) continued the tradition of summoning assemblies of magnates to consider national affairs, conduct state trials, and make laws; although legislation now took the form of writs rather than law codes. These assemblies were called magnum concilium.[3] While kings had access to familiar counsel, this private advice could not replace the need for consensus building, and overreliance on familiar counsel could lead to political instability. Great councils were valued because they "carried fewer political risks, allowed responsibility to be more broadly shared, and drew a larger body of prelates and magnates into the making of decisions".[4]

The council's members were the king's tenants-in-chief. The greater tenants, such as archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and barons were summoned by individual writ, but sometimes lesser tenants[note 1] were also summoned by sheriffs.[6] Politics in the period following the Conquest (1066–1154) was dominated by about 200 wealthy laymen, in addition to the king and leading clergy. High-ranking churchmen (such as bishops and abbots) were important magnates in their own right. According to Domesday Book, the English church owned between 25% and 33% of all land in 1066.[7]

Traditionally, the great council was not involved in levying taxes. Royal finances derived from land revenues, feudal aids and incidents, and the profits of royal justice. This changed near the end of Henry II's reign (1154–1189) due to the need to finance the Third Crusade, ransom Richard I, and pay for the series of Anglo-French wars fought between the Plantagenet and Capetian dynasties. In 1188, Henry II gained the council's consent to levy the Saladin tithe. The precedent of gaining the magnates' consent in council for taxation was followed thereafter. In the process, the council assumed a more representative role since they were in effect consenting on behalf of the kingdom's taxpayers. At the same time, these financial pressures created new political tensions between the baronage and the Crown.[8]

King John (r. 1199–1216) alienated the barons by showing partiality when dispensing justice, heavy financial demands and abusing his right to feudal incidents and aids. In 1215, the barons forced John to abide by a charter of liberties similar to charters issued by earlier kings (see Charter of Liberties).[9] Known as Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter"), the document was based on three assumptions important to the later development of Parliament:[10]

1. the king was subject to the law
2. the king could only make law and raise taxation (except customary feudal dues) with the consent of the "community of the realm"
3. that the obedience owed by subjects to the king was conditional and not absolute

While the clause stipulating no taxation "without the common counsel" was deleted from later reissues, it was nevertheless followed. Magna Carta transformed the feudal obligation to advise the king into a right to consent. The liberties guaranteed in the charter were granted to "all the free men of our realm", but it was the barons in council who would represent them.[11]

During the reign of John's son, Henry III (r. 1216–1272), meetings of the great council began to be called parliament from the French parlement first used in the late 11th century with the meaning of parley or conversation.[12] The Parliament of England would continue to develop in the reign of Henry's son Edward I (r. 1272–1307).

• Butt, Ronald (1989). A History of Parliament: The Middle Ages. London: Constable. ISBN 0094562202.
• Huscroft, Richard (2016). Ruling England, 1042-1217 (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1138786554.
• Lyon, Ann (2016). Constitutional History of the UK (2nd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781317203988.
• Mackie, J. D. (1952). The Earlier Tudors 1485–1558. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Maddicott, John (2009). "Origins and Beginnings to 1215". In Jones, Clyve (ed.). A Short History of Parliament: England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland. The Boydell Press. pp. 3–9. ISBN 9781843837176.
• Maddicott, J. R. (2010). The Origins of the English Parliament, 924-1327. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199585502.
• Richardson, H. G.; Sayles, G. O. (1981). The English Parliament in the Middle Ages. London: Hambledon Press. ISBN 0950688215.