English Parliamentary System

Timeline

1. 1215–1265England · EnglandAfter Magna Carta the king had to convene great nobles to deliberate on taxation and affairs of state; the privy council became Parliament's predecessor, with nobles and the crown bargaining and co-governing within the feudal framework.
2. 1265–1341Westminster · EnglandDe Montfort's Parliament of 1265 first summoned knights and burgesses; the embryonic separation of the two houses appeared in 1341, and the parliamentary structure tended toward the coexistence of Lords and Commons.
3. 1341–1440Palace of Westminster · EnglandThe principle of 'no taxation without representation' was gradually established; Parliament controlled approval of subsidies and customs duties, becoming the core constitutional forum for checking royal power, deliberating legislation, and lodging grievances.
4. 1441–1450Westminster · EnglandUnder Henry VI Parliament was frequently convened to address the financial and political crises of the Hundred Years' War; elections of Commons members and deliberative procedures became further conventionalized, and the crown relied on parliamentary grants.