Ordinances
The Ordinances , also Ordinances of 1311 , were a set of statutes intended to reform the rule of the English King Edward II .
Emergence
Shortly after the reign of Edward II began, a group of nobles in the Boulogne Agreement had expressed their displeasure with the rule of the king. The nobles worried about the continuation of the war with Scotland , which had lasted since 1297 and was a heavy burden on the finances, economy and politics of the empire. A particular point of contention was the royal favorite Piers Gaveston , whom the king had made Earl of Cornwall . However, Gaveston snubbed the nobles with his behavior and was suspected of having a sexual relationship with the king. After the king had already agreed to Gaveston's exile once, but then immediately brought him back, and after he had not implemented promised reform proposals, the leading magnates of the empire remained, above all Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , Henry de Lacy, 3rd. Earl of Lincoln , Warwick , Arundel and Oxford attended a royal council meeting in October 1309. During the Parliament of Westminster in February 1310, the king finally had to bow to pressure from the barons who threatened his removal. He agreed to the election of a 21-member committee of bishops and barons, the so-called Lords Ordainer, which should make concrete reform proposals by September 29, 1311. Both friends of the king, such as the Earl of Richmond , but also bitter opponents such as Walter Langton, who had been deposed as treasurer by the king, were elected as Lords Ordainer as Bishop of Lichfield. The exact listing of the Lords Ordainers is controversial; besides the Earls of Lincoln, Lancaster, Arundel and Warwick, they certainly included the Earls of Pembroke , Gloucester and Hereford , Archbishop Robert Winchelsey of Canterbury, the Bishops John Langton of Chichester, and Ralph Baldock of London , Simon Ghent of Salisbury, John Salmon of Norwich and David Martin of St. David's as well as the Barons Hugh de Vere, Hugh de Courtenay, Robert Clifford , John Gray , William Marshal and William Martin . On August 3, 1311, the Lords Ordainers finally submitted their work to the king in 41 ordinances, the so-called Ordinances.
content
The Lords Ordainers demanded that the Magna Carta be observed and that the king heard his magnates as advisors. They blamed bad advisors for the king's problems. The Lord Chancellor , the Lord High Treasurer, and other senior officials were to be appointed only after consultation of and with the approval of Parliament, and they specifically demanded the banishment of some hated favorites, especially Gaveston. He should not only be banished from England, but also from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and from the king's territories in France forever and with no prospect of return.
In addition, the ordinances included a list of reform proposals, including
- the king may not wage war or leave the country without the consent of the barons,
- the king may not grant any land donations or privileges without the approval of the barons in parliament. All donations made since the appointment of the Lords Ordainer are void until the King has paid his debts,
- the king may not requisition food for his court without immediate payment,
- the customs revenues are to be paid directly to the Exchequer, their collection may no longer be leased to foreign bankers. The state income does not go directly to the royal household, but is collected by the Exchequer,
- the parliaments should be held regularly so that complaints can be submitted promptly.
On the other hand, the ordinances left government power with the king and his ministers. Unlike during the nobility opposition in the 1250s under King Heinrich III. that led to the Second War of the Barons , no council should take over the actual government.
consequences
On August 16, the ordinances were officially deliberated in Parliament in Westminster. King Edward II initially strictly refused to recognize them, as they clearly restricted his sovereignty and because he opposed Gaveston's final exile. Finally he had to give in to the pressure of the barons and agreed to the ordinances. On September 27, 1311, the ordinances were proclaimed in St Paul's Cathedral in London. On October 12, the king turned to the Pope to have the ordinances annulled, and the power struggle between the king and the barons continued during the king's reign. Only after his complete victory over the aristocratic opposition in the Despenser War was the king able to have the ordinances lifted by parliament in 1322.
literature
- Michael Prestwich: A New Version of the Ordinances of 1311. In: Historical Research, Vol. 57 (1984), No. 136, pp. 189-203
- Ronald H. Fritze; William B. Robison: Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, 1272-1485 , Greenwood press, Wesport (Conn.) 2002. ISBN 0-313-29124-1 , pp. 391-393
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Prestwich: Plantagenet England. 1225-1360. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007. ISBN 0-19-822844-9 , p. 183