Knights of Buckinghamshire - Knights of The Shire 1265-1660

Knights of The Shire 1265-1660

The lists below commence with De Montfort's Parliament in 1265, when for the first time elected representatives from counties (or shires), cities and boroughs were summoned to Parliament.

It is known that the Sheriffs of the English Counties were ordered to send knights of the shire to attend a number of Parliaments before 1265, but they were not required to have them chosen by election. No such summonses are known to have required the attendance of some citizens of cities or burgesses of other boroughs. Records of this sort of summons survive for the Oxford Parliament which was the 7th Parliament of King Henry III (assembled 27 October 1258 and presumed dissolved when writs de expensis were issued on 4 November 1258) and the 16th Parliament of the King (summoned 4 June 1264 and assembled 22 June 1264, although the date of dissolution is unknown).

The lists before 1320 exclude Parliaments to which elected commoners (representing the Commons or communities of England) were not known to have been summoned. All Parliaments are believed to have been held at Westminster, unless otherwise indicated.