📜How Parliament Began in the Middle Ages

How limits on royal power grew into an early Parliament.

1. The king's council

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   Parliament's origins lie in the king's council of advisers, which included important noblemen and the leaders of the Church.

2. Magna Carta 1215

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   King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to the Magna Carta, the Great Charter. It established that even the king was subject to the law.

   then in 1215

3. Limits on the king

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   Magna Carta protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king's power to collect taxes or change laws without involving his noblemen.

   which meant

4. Parliaments called

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   Parliaments were called for the king to consult his nobles, especially when he needed to raise money. Numbers attending Parliament grew.

   so over time

5. Two Houses formed

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   Two separate Houses were established. Nobles, great landowners and bishops sat in the House of Lords; knights and wealthy townspeople were elected to the House of Commons.

   and eventually

6. Independent judges

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   The principle that judges are independent of the government also began to be established, and in England judges developed common law by following previous decisions.