Tournai (constituency)

Tournai (French pronunciation: [tuʁnɛ]), was a possible former constituency of the Parliament of England.

Tournai
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1513–1519
Seats2

Overview

Tournai, the only town (now city) in modern Belgium ever to have been ruled by England, was under English control from around 23 September 1513 (after its capture from France during the 1513 Battle of Guinegate) and remained so until its return in 1519 to France upon the payment of 600,000 crowns following the Treaty of London (1518). Aged 22, Henry VIII entered the town ceremonially on 25 September 1513.[1] During part of the time during which the town was under English sovereignty, it was possibly represented in the Parliament of England by two Members of Parliament. However, Oxford historian C. S. L. Davies has argued that no such constituency ever existed.[2]

Election

An election is believed by some to have taken place in about December 1513.[3]

Members of Parliament
SummonedElectedAssembledDissolvedFirst MemberSecond Member
28 November 151115134 February 15124 March 1514Jean Le Sellierunknown
23 November 151415155 February 151522 December 1515unknownunknown

Coinage
Groat of Henry VIII, Mint of Tournacen, 1513

Groat and half-groat coins were issued without a portrait of King Henry VIII but did display his name. Dated 1513, these were struck subsequent to the town's capture in 1513 from France and nowadays are exceptionally rare especially since they are the earliest British dated coins.

References
  1. Cruickshank, C.G. (January 1971). "Henry VIII at Tournai". History Today. 21 (1). Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. C.S.L. Davies, 'Tournai MPs at Westminster?', Parliamentary History xix (2001), 233-5.
  3. S. T. Bindoff, ed., The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558, vol. 2 (London: History of Parliament Trust, 1982), 521.
  • The House of Commons 1509-1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)


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