What's covered
Key facts
Simon de Montfort was a baron who summoned the 1265 parliament that included commoners during his rebellion against Henry III.
The barons rebelled in part because John raised heavy taxes after losing wars in France (notably the loss of Normandy in 1204).
Simon de Montfort is widely described in school history as the founder of the English Parliament because of the inclusive 1265 assembly.
Pope Innocent III annulled Magna Carta by papal bull within months of its sealing (24 August 1215), reigniting the war between John and his barons.
Magna Carta originally protected the rights of free men — primarily the barons — not all English subjects equally; unfree peasants (villeins) were largely excluded.
Clause 39 promised that no free man could be imprisoned or seized without the lawful judgement of his equals — the textual root of trial by jury and due process.
Edward I summoned the Model Parliament in November 1295, the assembly traditionally treated as the prototype of fully representative English parliaments.
Rebellious English barons forced King John to seal Magna Carta, demanding limits on royal abuses of power and heavy taxation.
Edward I's 1295 assembly is conventionally known as the "Model Parliament" because later parliaments followed its composition (lords, clergy, knights, burgesses).
Magna Carta established the principle that the king himself is subject to the law — the English root of the rule of law.
Sample questions
A taste of the 25 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
Which 1265 'parliament' included knights and burgesses for the first time?
- •Edward I's Model Parliament
- •Henry III's Great Council
- •King John's Curia Regis
- ✓Simon de Montfort's Parliament
What right did Magna Carta Clause 39 establish?
- •All Englishmen had the right to vote in Parliament
- •Catholics were guaranteed freedom of religious worship
- ✓No free man could be imprisoned without lawful judgement
- •Peasants could buy their freedom from their lord
When did the first English Parliament including commoners meet?
- ✓Under Edward I in 1295 (the 'Model Parliament')
- •Under Henry VIII as part of the break with the Catholic Church
- •Under King John immediately after Magna Carta was sealed in 1215
- •Under Queen Elizabeth I to settle the Spanish Armada crisis
Why did the barons force King John to seal Magna Carta?
- •John demanded the throne pass only to his own son
- ✓John raised heavy taxes after losing wars in France
- •John refused to support the Crusades financially
- •John tried to legalise marriage between English Catholics
Who was Simon de Montfort?
- ✓A baron who summoned the 1265 parliament including commoners
- •A French prince who claimed the English throne after King John
- •A medieval king who tried to abolish the institution of Parliament
- •An archbishop who refused to crown Edward I king of England
What 1258 document built on Magna Carta by demanding regular meetings of barons and bishops?
- •Magna Carta
- ✓Provisions of Oxford
- •Provisions of Westminster
- •Statute of Marlborough
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