Balance of power
The 17th century was perhaps the most turbulent and transitional period in the history of Parliament and at the heart of its transition was the Commons Chamber.
At the beginning of the century, the members of the Gunpowder Plot failed to blow up James I and the assembled Parliament in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. James meanwhile continued to cling onto the antiquated (and frankly discredited) idea of Divine Right - that it was God, and God alone, who made and unmade kings. He was to pass this concept on to his son, Charles I, with disastrous results.Charles attempted to rule without parliament, and succeeded - after a fashion - from 1629 to 1640 but was forced to summon Parliament to raise money for a war against Scotland.
'After 11 powerless years, the Commons were in a vengeful mood ...'
After 11 powerless years, the Commons was in a vengeful mood and succeeded in removing and eventually executing Charles's closest advisors, including Archbishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford. In January 1642, Charles, accompanied by over 300 swordsmen, entered St Stephen's in a foolhardy attempt to arrest five of his principal opponents in the Commons on a charge of treason. The members, however, had been warned of Charles’s intention and escaped.
When asked where the members could be found, the Speaker, William Lenthall, fell to his knees before the King and said:
‘May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here, and I humbly beg Your Majesty’s pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to your Majesty is pleased to demand of me.’
'The English Civil War ensued, culminating in the dramatic trial and execution of the king.'
This extraordinary declaration established the Speaker as the spokesperson of the House of Commons. Charles left St Stephen’s in humiliation, and no monarch has ever entered the Commons Chamber since. The English Civil War ensued, culminating in the dramatic trial and execution of the king.
Within months the Commons had abolished both the office of king and the House of Lords – England was now a 'commonwealth and free state'. This was, of course, to last only a decade, but the re-established monarchy was an altogether chastened and debilitated one.
The struggle between monarch and Parliament was to be finally resolved with the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which established a constitutional monarchy - ie a monarchy restrained, or perhaps constrained, through Parliament.
Published: 2005-04-02
