ing saw that the baronial oligarchy was far from intending to heed the «Westminster Provisions», and so he got the Pope to issue him with a document that would free the king from having to mind not only the «Westminster Provisions», but also the «Provisions of Oxford». So a civil war began in 1263, with Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester heading the army consisting of knights and citizens, tradesmen, craftsmen and Oxford university students supported by the free peasants and a number of barons. The citizens of London, always ready to support a movement against the king «s tyranny sent a reinforcement of 15 thousand men. After a series of victories the army approached London and the king had to flee. At the battle of Lewes in 1264 the king »s army was defeated, Henry Ш and his son Edward were taken prisoners and imprisoned. The king had to sign a treaty according to which Simon de Montfort became the ruler of England.a year later, on the 20 th of January 1265 Simon de Montfort convened the first Parliament with the barons, his supporters, and the numerous clergymen as a matter of course, representing the feudal top and the church (which in itself did not distinguish it from the Great Council). There was an extremely important innovation, however: representation was extended to include two knights from each shire and two burgesses from the leading towns of the country. The latter circumstance is in itself characteristic for it shows the growing social-economic significance of the town population and the smaller holders. The circumstance should not be overestimated though: in the Civil War period craftsmen and moderately wealthy merchants achieved importance in towns, but only the top layers of the town population were represented in the Parliament.movement involved wide masses of peasants: they would seize the barons « ; estates, sack the houses and, joined by the villeins, move on to the next manor. This turn of events frightened the barons (who had supported Simon de Montfort) into deserting to the king »s side.Edward escaped from prison, collected those who had left Simon de Montfort's side, gathered and organized them into an army. Then at the battle of Evesham Edward defeated Montfort, killed him and freed his father. Once again Henry had full royal authority, although he was careful to accept the balance which de Montfort had created between king and nobles. When Henry died in 1272 his son Edward I took the throne of England without question. [3, pp.54-55]
.5 The Model Parliament" of Edward I (1295)
the king was now back in power, the parliamentary experiment had made its mark. Edward I (1272-1307) convened Parliament in the pre-Montfort baronial form but in 1295 he had to include the wider representation of knights and burgesses, which confirmed the status of England as feudal monarchy with class representation.matter was that the lords were less able to provide the king with money, except what they had agreed to pay him for the lands they held under feudal arrangement. In the days of Henry I (1100-1135), 85 per cent of the king «s income had come from the land. By 1272 income from the land was less than 40 per cent of the royal income. The king could only raise the rest by taxation. Since the rules of feudalism did not include taxation, taxes could only be raised with the agreement of those wealthy enough to be taxed. [3, p.57] kings had made arr...
