A.D. 1353. Lawyers not to sit in Parlia ment. Mode of making laws. It may, at first sight, appear singular, that a statute, of such importance and of so entirely a legal character as that of treasons, should have been passed by a Parliament from which lawyers were even partially excluded. But it must be recollected, that Statutes were not then, nor indeed are they now, expressed in the exact language of Bills passed by the two Houses. The Commons and those who elected them knew what grievances required remedy; they felt the hardship of a particular law; the members presented petitions for a remedy; and if the King was pleased to grant the petition, the law officers then drew up a statute for that purpose, usually somewhat in the language of the petition, but, occasionally, differing from it very considerably. Thus, in the case of the Statute of Treasons, the Commons presented a petition to the effect that, "whereas the judges condemn as Traitors those brought before them for divers causes unknown to them to be treason, may it please our Lord the King, by his Council and by the Great and Wise Men of the Kingdom to declare" what Treason exactly was; and treason was, consequently, minutely defined. ancient chronicles. "Quo insuper anno statuitur parliamentum apud Coventriam statim post festum Sancti Michaelis. Et Rex mandavit quod nullus juris peritus ad illud veniret."-Eulogium a Monacho quodam Malmesburiensi exaratum, edited by Frank Scott Haydon, B.A. vol. iii. p. 402. “ Direxit ergo brevia Vicecomitibus, ne quosquam pro Comitatibus eligerent quovismodo milites, qui in jure regni vel docti fuissent, vel apprenticii; sed tales omnino mitterentur ad hoc negotium, quos constaret ignorare cujusque juris methodum; factumque est ita."-Riley's Walsingham, vol. ii. p. 265. Rot. Parl. vol. ii. p. 239, No. 7; and see Hallam's Middle Ages (edit. 1841), 8vo. vol. ii. p. 180; and Reeve's English Law, vol. ii. chap. 14 (on Judicature in Parliament). CHAP. XIX. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. 351 Before leaving the consideration of these questions A.D. 1353. relative to the class of persons elected to Parliament, it is desirable to notice a few other points connected with its constitution. First, with reference to the persons sent to or chosen for Parliament. These were Peers, or Barons; and Knights and Burgesses. The Barons or Peers, whether lay or Ecclesiastical, were those owners of large estates who were ordered to attend Parliament, by writs, addressed to them individually and by name. The knights of the shires and other "Commons" were chosen, by order of a writ, addressed for that purpose to the Sheriff of the county. The electors were, for the counties, all the ment. inhabitants of the county attending the County Court; for the boroughs, the whole body of citizens, meaning thereby, all the free inhabitants. Lastly, Parliaments, on their dismissal, were not, as now, prorogued, but dissolved, and there was a fresh election. for each Parliament-or session, as it would now be termed.1 1 On all of these matters, the reader should consult Mr. Homersham Cox's valuable work: Antient Parliamentary Elections; a History showing how Parliaments were constituted, and Representatives of the People elected in Antient Times. London, 8vo. 1868. Method of ing or electing to summon Parlia The quar rel be tween England CHAPTER XX. RENEWAL OF THE WAR AND INVASION OF FRANCE. A.D. 1352. HAVING given an account of the principal domestic events which took place in England about this time, the history of the quarrel between England and France must now be resumed. Whatever may be the interest or importance of other events in Edward's reign, the sound of this mighty strife between the two Kings, like the dominant air, or refrain, in a complicated musical composition, ever returns and gives a character to the whole reign. France. Death of VI. The truce between France and England had expired on the 12th September 1352; but had been Innocent prolonged till August following, and again till the 11th November.1 War consequently did not break out between the two countries. On the 6th December following, Pope Clement the Sixth died, and his successor, Innocent the Sixth, continued the negotiations for peace which Clement had so frequently and so vainly carried on. Innocent's efforts were apparently as fruitless as Clement's; for the Parliament which A.D. 1353. met on Monday, September 23rd, 1353, proceeded, on October 7th, to consider the question of providing means for carrying on the war with France. On Meeting of that day, the Commons were summoned to meet the Parlia- King, the Prelates, and the great men, in the White Rymer, vol. iii. p. 260. English CHAP. XX. STATEMENT TO PARLIAMENT. 353 ment and of the peace. Chamber, soon after sunrise; on their assembling, A.D.1353. Bartholomew de Burghersh, the King's Chamberlain,1 informed them of the means the King had taken to statement obtain peace with France. He stated, that the King failure of had sent the Archbishop of Canterbury, his cousin efforts for Henry, Duke of Lancaster, and others, to Guisnes, to say, that "if his adversary would make him restitution of the Duchy of Guienne entirely as his ancestors possessed it, of the Duchy of Normandy, of the County of Ponthieu, and also of the lands which he had conquered from his adversary in France, Brittany, and elsewhere, and also of the obeisance of Flanders, of which he is seized, to hold freely without homage or other service," he would give up his claims to the Crown. The Chamberlain then said, that the King had received no answer to this proposal, and therefore thought it necessary to prepare for war with France; but that, for this purpose, he required a large sum of money. The Parliament approved of the King's plans, and War subgranted a subsidy for three years; after which, as granted. usual, the Commons presented their petitions for the redress of grievances.3 He was also Constable of Dover and Guardian of the Cinque Ports.-Rymer, vol. iii. p. 255. 2 "This Henry, also called Tort-col or with the Wry Neck, was the only son of Henry, Earl of Lancaster (younger brother of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, beheaded at Pontefract in 1322), second son of Edmund, also Earl of Lancaster, who was the second son of King Henry the Third. He was created Earl of Derby, on March 16, 1337, became Earl of Lancaster and Leicester on the death of his father in 1345; he was created Earl of Lincoln in 1349, and Duke of Lancaster in 1351, it being the second dukedom created in England since the Norman Conquest, the Duchy of Cornwall being the first."-Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 112. 3 Rot. Parl. vol. ii. p. 252. sidy A.D.1353. Renewed negotiations for peace. Considering that it was the great object of the Kings of France to consolidate the whole of France into one kingdom, and to extinguish the feudatories, it was hardly to be expected that John would agree to these terms; and it appears, indeed, that soon after the King's communication to his Parliament, the French negotiators declared, that there was not a gentleman in France, who would not rather lose his life, than consent to such an arrangement.1 3 At the request of the Pope, notwithstanding the apparent hopelessness of success, Edward still continued to treat for peace. The treaty, which had been prolonged till the 11th November, was again extended for a fortnight. So strenuous, however, were the Pope's efforts to prevent war, that early in November, although he had just received the grant of a subsidy for carrying it on, Edward, at the l'ope's instance, again sent ambassadors to France; but he took care to let the Pope know that he had done. A.D. 1354. So at his request. No success attended these endeavours; the treaty expired, and no further efforts for its renewal were made, till March 30th, 1354. At that time, Edward again offered to give up all claims to the Crown of France, for the sake of peace; a few days afterwards, on April 6th, a treaty was signed, agreeing to a truce, which was to last till the 1st April, 1355. In this treaty, no conditions were made as to the claims of the King of England to Aquitaine; but it is certain they were not abandoned. It is stated, both by Avesbury and Walsingham, that the condition of peace was, that 1 See Carte, vol. ii. p. 486. 2 Rymer, vol. iii. p. 266, |