CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY of the UK Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013

Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UK Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 Cavendish Publishing Limited London • Sydney • Portland, Oregon This book is supported by a Companion Website, created to keep Constitutional History of the UK up to date and to provide enhanced resources for both students and lecturers. Key features include: N updated and further information on the subject N links to useful websites N ‘ask the author’ – your questions answered Visit www.cavendishpublishing.com/constihistory Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE UK Ann Lyon Lecturer in Law University of Wales, Swansea Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 Cavendish Publishing Limited London • Sydney • Portland, Oregon First published in Great Britain 2003 by Cavendish Publishing Limited, The Glass House, Wharton Street, London WC1X 9PX, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)20 7278 8000 Facsimile: +44 (0)20 7278 8080 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cavendishpublishing.com Published in the United States by Cavendish Publishing c/o International Specialized Book Services, 5824 NE Hassalo Street, Portland, Oregon 97213–3644, USA Published in Australia by Cavendish Publishing (Australia) Pty Ltd 3/303 Barrenjoey Road, Newport, NSW 2106, Australia © Lyon, A 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of Cavendish Publishing Limited, or as expressly permitted by law, or under the terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organisation. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Cavendish Publishing Limited, at the address above. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Lyon, Ann Constitutional history of the UK 1 Constitutional history I Title 342'.009 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available ISBN 1-85941-746-9 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Printed and bound in Great Britain ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As a book approaches publication, the writer feels a combination of emotions, a mixture of relief and regret that the work of writing is at an end, together with gratitude towards those others who have in their different ways made it possible, and whose influence has shaped the work in its final form. This book was begun while I was working at De Montfort University, Leicester, and completed at the University of Wales, Swansea. I owe a debt of gratitude to colleagues and former colleagues at both institutions, in particular Professor David Hughes, who has in a sense been the godfather of this book. I have also benefited enormously from the wise counsel of Professor Sir James Holt of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, who had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he raised the subject of King John over lunch at the British Legal History Association Conference in July 1999. A book such as this also reflects what is quite literally a lifetime’s fascination for history, and there are many whose influence has been indirect but nonetheless vital, including my parents, who first nurtured my interest, teachers and university tutors. Turning to those directly involved in bringing the book to a publishable state, I must thank in particular Jon Lloyd, my editor at Cavendish Publishing, and Frederick Hogarth, who produced the map and genealogical tables and whose website is an Aladdin’s cave for anyone remotely interested in heraldry and related matters (www.baronage.co.uk). Finally, any text on the history of the British constitution must be to a considerable extent a history of the British monarchy, central as the monarchy is to our constitutional system. This book reached its final form during the Golden Jubilee year of the present Queen and is published as the 50th anniversary approaches of her coronation in 1953. I can therefore do no better than to dedicate it, by gracious permission, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Ann Lyon Swansea December 2002 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 CONTENTS Acknowledgments v Maps and Genealogical Tables xix Introduction xxxvii Note on Dating xliv 1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LAW AND GOVERNMENT PRIOR TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST 1 1.1 The earliest kingdoms 1 1.1.1 Early kingship 1 1.1.2 Early law codes 2 1.1.3 Kings and the church 4 1.1.4 Royal government 5 1.1.5 The growth of effective overlordship: the 8th and 9th centuries 6 1.2 The Viking age 7 1.2.1 Kingship 865–978 8 1.2.2 The expansion of West Saxon power 899–978 9 1.3 Royal government in the 9th and 10th centuries 10 1.3.1 Military organisation 10 1.3.2 The coinage 11 1.3.3 The law 11 1.4 Æthelred the Unready and after: 978–1065 12 1.4.1 Royal government 13 1.4.2 Edward the Confessor 1042–66 15 2 THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND AFTER: 1066–1189 19 2.1 William I 1066–87 19 2.1.1 England 1066–70 19 2.1.2 The feudal system 21 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 2.1.3 Developments in government 22 2.1.4 The Norman takeover 23 2.2 The Conqueror’s sons 1087–1135 25 2.2.1 William Rufus 1087–1100 25 2.2.2 Henry I 1100–35 26 2.2.3 Government under Henry I 27 2.2.4 Law and justice 28 2.3 The Anarchy 29 vii viii Contents 2.4 Henry II 1154–89 30 2.4.1 Henry II and government 31 2.4.2 Developments in the law 32 2.5 Monarchs and the church 34 2.6 England and her neighbours 35 2.6.1 Scotland 35 2.6.2 Wales 36 2.6.3 Ireland 37 3 MAGNA CARTA AND ITS GENESIS 1189–1216 39 3.1 The significance of Magna Carta 39 3.2 The reign of Richard I 40 3.2.1 Government under an absent king 41 3.2.2 Crisis 42 3.2.3 Coroners 43 3.3 The reign of John: 1199–1216 44 3.3.1 A disputed throne 45 3.3.2 The road to Runnymede 46 3.3.3 The creation of the Charter 49 4 THE BIRTH OF PARLIAMENT: THE REIGN OF HENRY III 1216–72 53 4.1 The minority 53 4.2 The crisis of 1258–65 54 4.2.1 Henry the man 54 4.2.2 Origins of the crisis 55 4.2.3 The Provisions of Oxford 56 4.2.4 Descent into civil war 1259–64 58 4.2.5 Simon de Montfort 59 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 4.2.6 The Barons’ War 61 4.2.7 Aftermath of civil war 62 5 THE REIGN OF EDWARD I 65 5.1 Man and king 65 5.2 The years of triumph 66 5.2.1 Developments in law and justice 66 5.2.2 Finance and administration 68 5.2.3 The conquest of Wales 69 Contents ix 5.2.4 Aftermath of conquest 70 5.2.5 Edward I and Scotland 1286–92 70 5.3 Edward I: The years of difficulty 1293–1307 72 5.3.1 Scotland 72 5.3.2 The crisis of 1297 74 5.3.3 The final years 77 6 A KING DETHRONED: EDWARD II 1307–27 81 6.1 Introduction 81 6.2 The man and his tragedy 81 6.3 The Ordinances 82 6.3.1 The beginning of the reign 82 6.3.2 Piers Gaveston 82 6.3.3 The making of the Ordinances 84 6.3.4 Terms of the Ordinances 85 6.3.5 Crisis 86 6.3.6 Bannockburn 87 6.4 Thomas of Lancaster 88 6.4.1 The Middle Party 88 6.4.2 The rise of the Despensers 89 6.4.3 The crisis of 1321–22 91 6.5 Deposition 91 6.5.1 1322–24 91 6.5.2 The emergence of a Queen’s Party 93 6.5.3 Invasion 93 6.5.4 The process of deposition 94 6.5.5 Aftermath 97 7 EDWARD III 1327–77 99 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 7.1 The early years 99 7.2 Edward III and government 100 7.2.1 Law and justice 100 7.2.2 Military organisation 102 7.3 Economic and social change 103 7.4 The later years 104 7.4.1 War renewed 104 x Contents 7.4.2 Financial pressures 104 7.4.3 The king’s favourites 105 7.5 The Good Parliament 105 7.6 The royal succession 106 8 SAD STORIES OF THE DEATH OF KINGS: RICHARD II 109 8.1 Introduction 109 8.2 The boy king 109 8.2.1 Government 1377–80 109 8.2.2 The Peasants’ Revolt 110 8.2.3 The adolescent Richard 112 8.2.4 Countdown to the Merciless Parliament 112 8.2.5 The Merciless Parliament 114 8.3 The adult Richard 116 8.3.1 A charm offensive 116 8.3.2 New dissensions 117 8.3.3 Crisis renewed 118 8.3.4 The Great Parliament 120 8.3.5 The breach with Bolingbroke 122 8.4 The final months 124 8.4.1 Bolingbroke’s invasion 124 8.4.2 Deposition 126 9 THE 15TH CENTURY 131 9.1 Introduction 131 9.2 An insecure dynasty—the House of Lancaster 1399–1461 131 9.2.1 Henry IV 1399–1413 131 9.2.2 The succession 133 Downloaded by [Saudi Digital Library] at 07:03 13 November 2013 9.2.3 Henry VI 1422–61 134 9.3 War for the crown 1460–61 138 9.3.1 An appeal to parliament 140 9.3.2 War renewed 141 9.4 The Yorkist kings 1461–85 143 9.4.1 Edward IV 1461–83 143 9.4.2 Edward V and Richard III 144 Contents xi 10 GOVERNMENT AND ROYAL JUSTICE IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 149 10.1 Introduction 149 10.2 Kingship 149 10.3 The machinery of government 151 10.4 Parliament 152 10.5 Law and administration of justice 154 10.5.1 Justices of the Peace 154 10.5.2 Civil justice 155 10.6 The legal profession 157 11 THE EARLY TUDORS 1485–1547 161 11.1 Introduction 161 11.2 Henry VII 1485–1509 162 11.2.1 The path to the throne 162 11.2.2 The reign 163 11.3 Henry VIII 1509–47 164 11.3.1 The break with Rome 164 11.3.2 Henry VIII’s later years 172 11.4 The last years of Henry VIII 175 12 THE CHILDREN OF HENRY VIII 179 12.1 Edward VI 1547–53 179 12.1.1 A minority

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