Edward I: Lent 1297

Parliament Rolls of Medieval England. Originally published by Boydell, Woodbridge, 2005.

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'Edward I: Lent 1297', in Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, (Woodbridge, 2005) pp. . British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/parliament-rolls-medieval/lent-1297 [accessed 24 March 2024]

In this section

1297 Lent

Introduction Lent 1297

Salisbury

Lent parliament (February-?March)

On 26 January 1297 summonses were issued for a meeting of parliament (referred to simply as a colloquium ) at Salisbury on the feast of St Matthias (24 February) following. Only earls, barons and royal justices seem to have been summoned but no members of the clergy. (fn. foot-1297l-1) At the time the summonses were issued, the English clergy had just refused (in the light of the recent papal prohibition in Clericis Laicos ) to agree to any clerical subsidy for the king, and the king had probably already planned the withdrawal of protection from the clergy announced on 30 January and the subsequent order for the seizure of the lay fees of the clergy issued on 12 February, so it is hardly surprising, if highly unusual, that they were not summoned to this parliament. (fn. foot-1297l-2) The main business of the parliament seems to have been discussion of the king's military plans. He wanted to secure the agreement of his magnates to serve overseas in Gascony. They, however, refused to agree to this. (fn. foot-1297l-3) Parliament may also have discussed the seizure of clerical property and agreed to the details of the scheme allowing the clergy to 'redeem' their property and regain the king's protection for sums equal to those they would have paid as clerical subsidy that was put in place by writs issued on 1 March, perhaps while the parliament was still in session or perhaps shortly after its conclusion. (fn. foot-1297l-4) There may also have been some discussion there of the affairs of Ireland for on 3 March the Irish chancellor, master Thomas of Quantock, was given a royal protection in England on his return to Ireland. (fn. foot-1297l-5)

There is no surviving official record of the business done at this parliament.

Footnotes

  • foot-1297l-1. PW , i. 51-2 (and CCR 1296-1302 , 81) and for the payments to messengers delivering these summonses to the local sheriffs for onward delivery see Sayles, Functions of the Medieval Parliament , 227-8. The absence of any summonses to members of the clergy is noted by contemporary chroniclers: see Cotton, Historia Anglicana , 320; Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough , 289-90.
  • foot-1297l-2. Prestwich, Edward I , 414-6; Powicke and Cheney, Councils and Synods , II, ii, 1150-1.
  • foot-1297l-3. Prestwich, Edward I , 416.
  • foot-1297l-4. CPR 1292-1301 , 239-40. The same local commissioners were also entrusted with the task of arresting and imprisoning any who attempted through excommunications or other such measures to impede their task or raise discord in the realm.
  • foot-1297l-5. CPR 1292-1301 , 240.