Parliament Day

            You can tell what people value by what the days they celebrate.  We don’t celebrate Constitution Day, Sept 15 or Bill of Rights Day, Dec. 15.  To this I would add the founding of English Parliament, Sept 21, 1327.

            Kings thought they ruled by divine right, but some thought of themselves as the total authority.  Most of the time they ruled how they wished but not always.  Kings had no police nor any army unless they called the noblemen under them to serve in time of emergency.  Hence nobles always had some say in operations of the state.  So did clergy. When William the Conquerer took over England in 1066, he had a council and that was the council that angrily presented their demands for trial by jury and no new taxes to King John, known as the Magna Carta, in 1215. Eventually that council of nobles along with a council of town representatives (who were commoners which the king hoped would dampen the nobles) formed the First English Parliament. 

            They had a crappy king, Edward II, who was also gay or bi (like Hillary?) and neglected both his wives and his five kids. And this was the guy who was supposed to head of the Church of England.  He spent money like crazy, lost at Bannockburn to the Scots in 1314, and tried to bleed the nobles for another war.  The national assembly decided after 19 years they had enough and enlisted Eddie’s neglected wife and her paramour to kill the king.  (Impeachment, 14^th century style, but very deliberate like you’d get from McConnell and Boehner) That happened on Sept. 21, 1327. Thereupon they confirmed Edward III at age 15 as king designate. 

            Parliament got its name during his reign, met in Westminster palace across from the historic Abbey. They divided into an upper and lower house—commoners and lords. Commons withdrew to meet in another hall in 1341, hence the name “Houses of Parliament”.  They debated freely, then delegated a “speaker” to deliver their results, grievances, petitions and resolutions to the House of Lords. The king alone had power to summon or dissolve Parliament.  But the lower house found they could drag their feet in raising money and armies to have some say in “the power of the purse”.  The king could not directly or openly challenge one of their laws or enact a new one, but kings often ruled by dictates and decrees—rather like Obama does.

            So what?  Well, Parliament was the first and longest successful republican body.  Much of our own legislative power came from Parliaments of the past. And September 21 marked their first “impeachment” and founding.