HOMEWORK: Answer all the questions below on a sheet of your own paper.
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1) What did King Henry agree to?
1) What did King Henry agree to?
2) What suspicions about King Henry
are held by Simon de Montfort?
3) What does Simon de Montfort attempt
to achieve in the face of his suspicions regarding King Henry?
4) What does de Montfort hope to
accomplish by gathering the barons together in a meeting?
5) What worries do the barons have
regarding de Montfort’s leadership?
6) Why does Gilbert The Red want de
Montfort to lead?
7) How does the Battle of Lewes
end? Who
wins?
8) What purpose does Parliament serve?
9) When does Parliament first gather
together?
The Development of Liberal Democracy Before the English Civil War
Liberal democracy rests on the principle that
government is created by, derives its power from, and exists to serve
the people. In practice, today liberal
democracy means a system of government characterized by limitations placed on
the powers of national government by a set of written laws, legal protections
based on the idea that man has rights,
the extension of rights to minority groups, the ability of the voter to
select government officials by secret ballot, a lawmaking body (legislature)
that conducts free and open debate on issues and passes laws by majority vote,
and the ability of voters to support more than one political party.
During the Later Middle Ages, England
established the foundations upon which its people would build liberal
democracy.
COURT SYSTEM
King Henry II who ruled from 1154 to
1189 replaced feudal justice with royal courts, grand jury
investigations, and, in some cases, jury trials. Although Henry II’s purpose was to strengthen
the power of the British crown, not to further the development of
liberal democracy, his reforms developed into our modern system of trial by jury.
LEGAL LIMITS ON EXECUTIVE POWER
King John, who demanded increased
funds from the feudal nobles, was accused by them of being a despot and
violating their rights. At Runnymede,
outside of London, John was forced by the nobles to sign the Great Charter, or
Magna Carta. This document limited the
power of the king. Two features of the
Magna Carta which did this were the requirement that the king may not imprison
any free person except by the judgment of that person’s peers (equals)and in accordance
with the laws, and that taxes could not be levied without the consent of
the Great Council (a group of people that consisted of nobles).
Originally, Magna Carta protected
nobility against tyranny imposed by the king. In time, the charter’s protections were
granted to all English people. The Magna
Carta came to mean that the monarch is not an absolute ruler and not
above the law, all persons are guaranteed a trial by jury, and the Great
Council, which later became Parliament, alone may levy taxes. Magna Carta is therefore considered the
cornerstone of English liberal democracy.
Below is the English translation of the clause from Magna Carta (Clause 39) that establishes the basic rights of live, liberty, property, trial by jury:
"No free man is to be detained, or imprisoned, or stripped
of his possessions, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, nor
shall we go against him, nor shall we send others against him, except by the
lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land."
DEVELOPMENT OF PARLIAMENT
Simon De Montfort's Parliament (1265) was the first instance
of a parliament in which representatives from towns and the shires were
summoned together to discuss matters of national concern. This Parliament is seen
as the earliest forerunner of the modern Parliament because of its inclusion of
both knights and burgesses, for a reason other than the granting of taxation.
This broadened the types of people represented at a high level who were
participating in affairs of the nation.
In 1295, King Edward I expanded the
Great Council’s membership to include middle-class representatives. His purpose was to place taxes upon and still
ensure loyalty of the wealthy middle class, not to further the development of
liberal democracy. Because the enlarged
Great Council served as a model for England’s future legislature (Parliament),
it was called Model Parliament. By allowing
non-nobles to have membership in the Great Council, King Edward created conditions
that resulted in Parliament dividing into two houses, the House of Lords
and the House of Commons.
In the 14th century, Parliament forced the English monarchs to accept its legislation by threatening to withhold new laws that increased taxes. The use of this practice was not limited to laws that dealt with taxes. From that point forward, all laws required the consent of Parliament and the approval of the monarch.
WRITTEN LAW
By the late 13th century,
English judges had established the practice of basing their decisions on
similar cases decided previously (precedents). These legal precedents created a
group of laws called “common law”. The common law applied to all people
equally. To protect the individual
against the possibility of governmental tyranny, the common law held that life,
liberty, and property could not be taken by illegal action. In order for life, liberty, and property to
be taken, government had to determine that the individual had committed a
crime. By this time, English law had developed
the idea that crime was an act which violated the right of free men to life,
liberty, and property. English common
law greatly influenced the American legal system.
Optional tasks for study and exam preparation:
1) Outline the entire passage.
2) Complete the following:
- define liberal democracy, legislature, political party, grand jury, despot, jury trial, Great Council, tyranny, monarch, House of Lords, House of Commons, common law
- List the features that characterize a liberal democracy.
- List the rights protected and guaranteed by Clause 39 of Magna Carta.
- What is the translated meaning of Magna Carta?
- In the 14th century, Parliament had a means of forcing English monarchs to accept its legislation. Explain how Parliament was able to do this and how did this affect the way laws were to be passed in England.
- How did English law define crime?
-
No comments:
Post a Comment