De Montfort's Parliament - The Parliament

The Parliament

Simon De Montfort's army had met and defeated the royal forces of at the Battle of Lewes on May 14, 1264. The rebels captured the king's son and heir Prince Edward, and the subsequent treaty led to a parliament being called in 1265 to agree to a constitution formulated by De Monfort.

De Montfort sent out representatives to each county and to a select list of boroughs, asking each to send two representatives. This was not the first such gathering in England, but what distinguished it was that De Montfort insisted the representatives be elected. The knights representing counties who had been summoned to some earlier Parliaments had not been required to be chosen by election.

This was also the first parliament at which both knights (representing shires or counties) and burgesses (representing boroughs) were present, thereby substantially broadening representation to include new groups of society. It was also the first time that commoners attending Parliament were required to be elected.

De Montfort's Parliament was summoned on 14 December 1264. It first met on 20 January 1265 at Westminster Hall and was dissolved on 15 February 1265.

Henry III rejected the new Parliament and resumed his war against De Montfort, who was killed later that year. Henry later held his own parliament in a field near Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, known as Parliament Piece. It is now a protected site which cannot be built upon.