Parliament

Political Institution going back to the Middle Ages. Divided into House of Commons and House of Lords. In the 17th century Parliament opposed the monarch (see: Charles I, Civil War, Oliver Cromwell). After the Glorious Revolution in 1688 it more and more came to dominate politics.

• UK Parliament (Westminster Parliament)

Devolved national parliaments (with limited rights of legislation):

• Scottish Parliament
• National Assembly for Wales

First mention of the term in 1236, then just referring to a council of advisors to the monarch.

I) The Parliament and Charles II (1660- 1685)

After returning from exile in 1660 Charles II declared himself King in the Declaration of Breda. Thereby, he promised to set up a parliament to represent the common people. It was meant to be a counterpart to the king. The bicameral structure of the 14th century was still present in the 17th century. The Parliament still consisted of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Compared to the House of Commons the House of Lords was rather small with a total number of 132 in November 1661. The relationship between the members of the House of Lords and the king has been close since the early modern period and Charles II stuck to that tradition. Despite his promise that Parliament was independent Charles II still had the power to convene, adjourne and dissolve the Parliament whenever he wanted. He was only restricted by the Triennial Act. Therefore, the relation between the King and the Parliament was conflictual.

II) The Parliament and James II (1685- 1688)

In 1685 Charles II died and his brother James II inherited the throne. As he stuck to Catholicism he discriminated against the Whigs and preferred the Tories as his political partners.

II) The Parliament and William of Orange (1689- 1702)

In January 1689 the Convention Parliament met and chose William of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart to be the successors of James II. Even though no Parliament existed at that time, there was a consensus among politicians that a Parliament was necessary for political stability. England was still a monarchy but the Parliament had to play an important part as well. Therefore the coronation oath of William and Mary said that they had to reign “according to the statuses in parliament agreed on” (Maurer 226). This was the beginning of the modern parliamentary system.

Sources:

Maurer, Michael: Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.

Swatland, Andrew: The House of Lords in the Reign of Charles II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

von Greyerz, Kaspar. England im Jahrhundert der Revolutionen 1603- 1714. Stuttgart: Ulmer, 1994.

Enzyklopaedia Britannia: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/444244/Parliament, access June 10th 2013.

http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/firstparliaments/