Akademik

Before the Conquest, Norman dukes had a curia ducis, through which they did business. In England, the equivalent was the *curia regis, and a great council which met two or three times each year. Tenants-in-chief attended and advised the king; as did the Church's prelates. Petitions for justice and other pleas were dealt with by the curia regis and other courts, as were political matters. The Commons were at first knights summoned by the monarch in 1254. In time, those magnates who attended arrived by personal summons, which gave rise to the House of Lords, while sheriffs issued a general summons for representatives of the shires. By 1295 shires and the boroughs were represented, as were magnates. The "Hundred Years' War was the occasion for parliament to grant the king subsidies and taxes. All monarchs needed money and it was here that the Commons found its real power. In exchange for financial aid the crown made concessions and answered grievances. In the early 14c the Commons were meeting separately from the Lords, dealing with petitions and creating legislation to deal with grievances. By the end of the 14c, taxation was agreed by the Commons with the 'advice and assent of the Lords'. [< Fr. parler = talk]