On 15 June
1215,
the English King John put his signature under a document drawn up by the nobility and the clergy, the
“Magna Charta Libertatum”
(the grand liberties document). For the first time, the power of the king was legally restricted with respect to the nobility.
Since that day, the Magna Charta is the foundation stone of English constitutional law.
In the internal conflicts between the King and the nobility in the course of the 13th Century, the
foundations were laid
for the
institution of the English Parliament. Originally only the higher clergy (archbishops, bishops and abbots) and upper nobility (barons
and earls) constituted the Parliament; however, in 1264, the counties were invited to send two knights and the towns two burgesses to take
part in the Parliament. Knights and burgesses together formed the Gentry class and came to be known as “the Commons”.
From 1341 on, it became customary for the clergy and upper nobility to meet separately from the commons; thus providing the precedent for
the division of the parliament into an Upper House of Lords and a Lower House of Commons. Around 1360, under Edward III (1312–1377), the
authority of parliament grew; it was established that no law could be made, nor any tax levied, without the consent of both Houses and
the Sovereign. Nevertheless, the Parliament remained dependent upon the good will of the ruling king. Under Henry VIII (1491–1547) and
Elizabeth (1558–1603), however, its influence was considerably reduced.
