The First English Parliament?

Some people will inevitably be claiming that today is a red-letter day for democracy – the occasion when Simon de Montfort summoned 'the first English parliament'. Which would be great, were it in any way true.

The famous earl of Leicester did summon a parliament, and it did begin on 20 January 1265. Beyond that, it's pretty much all myth.

The trouble is that the parliament of 1265 was in no way the first such assembly. The kings of England had been in the habit of consulting their subjects en masse since well before the Norman Conquest, and the term 'parliament' had been used to describe such meetings for at least a generation before 1265 – the earliest use of the term in an official government document occurs in 1236.

But weren't these earlier meetings just barons and bishops? Surely it was Simon de Montfort who struck a blow for democracy in 1265 by introducing representation, summoning knights from the shires and burgesses from the towns?

Well, yes, Montfort did do that in 1265. But, again, this had been going on for years. Knights had been attending parliament for decades – the earliest evidence that they did so as elected representatives occurs in 1254. There is also evidence to suggest that townsmen had been present in parliament before 1265. Montfort was doing nothing new in 1265 by summoning either group.

It can be argued that in earlier parliaments representatives had been summoned simply to gain their assent to taxation, whereas Montfort sought their opinion on political issues too. But since we don't know much about what went on in these early parliaments, that seems to be an argument from silence.

Moreover, it's hard to sustain the idea that Montfort was extending the role of these men because he was a prototype social democrat. The earl was in charge of government because he had seized power the previous year by defeating his brother-in-law, King Henry III, in battle. Without any hereditary claim to authority, Montfort was anxious to show that support for his regime was broadly based. Men in search of legitimacy – King Harold in 1066, King Stephen in 1135 – always claim to have the popular vote.

You don't have to take my word for it. Here's John Maddicott (my old doctoral supervisor, and author of the definitive biography of Simon de Montfort), writing in his most recent book, The Origins of the English Parliament, 924-1327 (p. 234):

'Simon de Montfort's summoning of the knights to parliament in June 1264 and of knights and burgesses to parliament in January 1265 is often thought to have marked the beginnings of local representation or even, and more vulgarly, the foundation of parliament by Montfort himself: a popular myth which it is astonishingly difficult to dispel.'

Today is the 749th anniversary of Montfort's parliament. Will next year's 750th anniversary celebrations dispel the myth or sustain it?

PS You can read the text of a 2012 lecture by John Maddicott on Montfort, the Battle of Lewes and Parliament here.