History
The first English Parliament arose during the 13th century, comprising members of the nobility and clergy, and representatives from shires and boroughs. It developed a bicameral arrangement with an upper House of Lords for the nobility and clergy, and a lower House of Commons for the shires and boroughs. The powers of the parliament were fairly great: the king could not institute a new law or tax without its consent.
The Laws in Wales Acts passed in 1536 and 1543, incorporating Wales into England. Previously, not all members were English by birth (notably Simon de Montfort), or had solely English concerns, but now, members could be elected by, and for, people who were not English. The parliament convened in 1542 had twenty-seven elected Welsh members in the House of Commons.
The English Parliament was dissolved (and the Parliament of Scotland with it) by the Treaty of Union in 1707, and replaced with the Parliament of Great Britain. In practice, however, this was a continuation of the English Parliament - it met in the same place, had the same traditions, usages, and officers, and English members comprised an overwhelming majority.
Read more about this topic: Devolved English Parliament
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Let it suffice that in the light of these two facts, namely, that the mind is One, and that nature is its correlative, history is to be read and written.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)