The emergence of parliament as an institution

Task 6. Supplementary reading. Read the following information and say what facts were not mentioned in the film.

During the reign of Edward I, which began in 1272, the role of Parliament in the government of the English kingdom increased due to Edward's determination to unite England, Wales and Scotland under his rule by force. He was also keen to unite his subjects in order to restore his authority and not face rebellion as was his father's fate. Edward therefore encouraged all sectors of society to submit petitions to parliament detailing their grievances in order for them to be sorted out. This seemingly gave all of Edward's subjects a potential role in government and this helped Edward assert his authority.

As the number of petitions being submitted to parliament increased, they came to be dealt with, and often ignored, more and more by ministers of the Crown so as not to block the passage of government business through parliament. However the emergence of petitioning is significant because it is some of the earliest evidence of parliament being used as a forum to address the general grievances of ordinary people. Submitting a petition to parliament is a tradition that continues to this day in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

These developments symbolise the fact that parliament and government were by no means the same thing by this point. If monarchs were going to impose their will on their kingdom, they would have to control parliament rather than be subservient to it.

From Edward's reign onwards, the authority of the English Parliament would depend on the strength or weakness of the incumbent monarch. When the king or queen was strong he or she would enough influence to pass their legislation through parliament without much trouble. Some strong monarchs even bypassed it completely, although this was not often possible in the case of financial legislation due to the post-Magna Carta convention of parliament granting taxes. When weak monarchs governed, parliament often became the centre of opposition against them. Subsequently, the composition of parliaments in this period varied depending on the decisions that needed to be taken in them. The nobility and senior clergy were always summoned. From 1265 onwards, when the monarch needed to raise money through taxes, it was usual for knights and burgesses to be summoned too. However, when the king was merely seeking advice, he often only summoned the nobility and the clergy, sometimes with and sometimes without the knights of the shires. On some occasions the Commons were summoned and sent home again once the monarch was finished with them, allowing parliament to continue without them. It was not until the mid-14th century that summoning representatives of the shires and the boroughs became the norm for all parliaments.

One of the moments that marked the emergence of parliament as a true institution in England was the deposition of Edward II. Even though it is debatable whether Edward II was deposed in parliament or by parliament, this remarkable sequence of events consolidated the importance of parliament in the English unwritten constitution. Parliament was also crucial in establishing the legitimacy of the king who replaced Edward II: his son Edward III.

In 1341 the Commons met separately from the nobility and clergy for the first time, creating what was effectively an Upper Chamber and a Lower Chamber, with the knights and burgesses sitting in the latter. This Upper Chamber became known as the House of Lords from 1544 onward, and the Lower Chamber became known as the House of Commons, collectively known as theHouses of Parliament.

The authority of parliament grew under Edward III; it was established that no law could be made, nor any tax levied, without the consent of both Houses and the Sovereign. This development occurred during the reign of Edward III because he was involved in the Hundred Years' War and needed finances. During his conduct of the war, Edward tried to circumvent parliament as much as possible, which caused this edict to be passed.

The Commons came to act with increasing boldness during this period. During the Good Parliament (1376), the Presiding Officer of the lower chamber, Sir Peter de la Mare, complained of heavy taxes, demanded an accounting of the royal expenditures, and criticised the king's management of the military. The Commons even proceeded to impeach some of the king's ministers. The bold Speaker was imprisoned, but was soon released after the death of Edward III. During the reign of the next monarch, Richard II, the Commons once again began to impeach errant ministers of the Crown. They insisted that they could not only control taxation, but also public expenditure. Despite such gains in authority, however, the Commons still remained much less powerful than the House of Lords and the Crown.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Parliament _of_ England

V. "King death"

1348–1500. It took only six years for the plague (чума) to ravage the British Isles. Its impact (влияние) was to last for generations. But from the ashes of this trauma an unexpected and unique class of Englishmen emerged (возник).

Task 1. Watch the part and find answers to the following questions using the key words in brackets; write out the figures:

· How and when did the plague come to Britain?

A purgatory of unimaginable misery – чистилище неимоверных страданий

Calamities – несчастья

Hard on the heels of pestilence came rebellion and civil war – восстания и гражданская война шли по пятам за эпидемией

Contagious - заразная

· What was the effect of the Black Death ravaging Britain?

(In cities like Bristol almost half of the population would have died in the first year, husbands would’ve shunned (сторонились) wives, parents recoiled (избегали) from contact with their children, the complete collapse (крушение) of everything you took for granted (что казалось само собой разумеющимся), in the face of King Death neither riches nor earthly fame could buy salvation or secure immortality)

· What was the social and economic aftermath (последствия) of the Black Death?

Potions – целебные настойки

Contrite – раскаявшийся

· How did the position of serfs change? (tied to the lord, desperate shortage of working hands, supply and demand)

· Who were the Lollards? (In 1349 a bishop authorized laymen to hear the confession of the dyeing; few as they were, the Lollards were a dramatic threat to the security of the church; translating the Bible, protection by John of Gaunt)

· What were the principal events of Richard II’s reign? (coronation, anointing (помазание), a magical transformation from a little boy to a little god, John of Gaunt’s regency, the most violent upheaval, Peasants’ Revolt, they were up and comers and they were fighting not to become down and outers, Wat Tyler, John Ball, the rebels remained fervently loyal to the crown, churches were looted (разграблены), palaces were put to the torch (сожжены), concession (уступка), “You shall have no captain but me!”, implacable (безжалостный).

· What were Richard’s relations with nobility?

(omnipotence (всемогущество), your majesty as a form of address, it was evident for nobility that he had lost touch with their common interest, Merciless Parliament, guilty of treason (виновны в измене), Richard’s revenge, Using the pretext (предлог) of an aristocratic plot ( заговор), he brutally disposed of the ring leaders of… (жестоко избавился от вожаков …), Henry Bolingbroke’s exile and disinheritance, Irish expedition, to bring the Irish princes to heel (заставить … повиноваться), Bolingbroke’s revolt, Richard’s imprisonment, renunciation and death)

· Describe Lancaster and York dynasties, the Wars of the Roses.

(mayhem (хаос), to restore the chains of allegiance, the survivor, the English country gent)

Task 2. A lot of geographical places are mentioned in this part of the film in connection with some events. Match up proper nouns with events: Plague, coronation of Richard II, Peasants’ War, imprisonment of Richard II, a great victory of Henry V, Bosworth, Barnet, King Richard’s renunciation, Kent, Bristol, London (Smithfield), Agincourt, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Wars of the Roses.

Task 3. Write an essay about the political and social situation in the15^th c. England.

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