The Witan

The Witenagemot was the king's council in Anglo-Saxon England; its members were called witan (meaning wise man). The place and time of council meetings was decided by the king. The council was comprised of nobles and clergymen summoned by the king, and its function was to advise the king. The Witenagemot also held the power of electing and deposing kings.

New kings were elected by the members of the council. The Witenagemot chose the new king from the members of the royal family; still the council tended to follow the principle of primogeniture. They could also depose an unpopular king, but this rarely happened. The only kings to be deposed were Sigeberht of Wessex in 757 and Alhred of Northumbria in 774.

Even if the Witenagemot had very limited powers, some times more symbolic than real, it demonstrates that the king needed the support of local nobles and clergymen in his reign. They advised the king on important issues, such as taxation, legal matters, security (both domestic and foreign), grants of land and church matters. 

After the Normans conquered England in 1066, they replaced the Witenagemot with the Curia Regis (meaning King's Council). This was similar to the Witenagemot, but with a more complex structure, including a permanent council. In the 13th century, the Curia Regis became the Parliament, which has evolved throughout the centuries to its current form.

When England Banned Christmas

Christmas is one of the most popular holidays in Britain (and in the world for that matter), but in 1644, the Puritans banned Christmas in England. They believed that Christmas served as an excuse for bad behavior, and saw it as an undesirable tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1644, an Act of Parliament banned Christmas celebrations and in 1647, the Long Parliament passed an Ordinance confirming the abolition of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun.

Since the Middle Ages, Christmas was celebrated on December 25th and it lasted almost two weeks. During the 17th century, celebrations included attending church services, feasting, playing games, singing Christmas carols and exchanging gifts. People also decorated their home with ivy, holly and mistletoe. Traditions somewhat similar to the ones we have nowadays during Christmas.

For Puritans, the festivities during Christmas were excessive and had no place in their strict view of Christianity. They believed that it had no religious meaning, it was simply a pagan celebration disguised as a Christian holiday. In 1644, as the Puritans gained power during the First English Civil War, parliament passed an act banning Christmas, which was confirmed in 1647 by an ordinance. The ban was highly unpopular, and it meant that churches were closed, while businesses had to stay open on December 25th. 

The ban continued during the period Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector, until 1660 when the monarchy was restored with Charles II as king, and Christmas celebrations were once again legal. Christmas has also been outlawed in other places. Between 1659 and 1681, Puritans in Boston (New England) outlawed the celebration. Still, Christmas remains one of the biggest and most popular holidays in the world.

Assize of Arms of 1181

Nowadays, there is an ongoing debate about gun control. Some people believe guns should be strictly regulated, while others believe individuals should have easy access to guns. However, at certain times in history, people have been obliged to possess weapons. In 12th century England, King Henry II (who ruled England from 1154 to 1189) faced a number of battles, including a revolt in 1173-4. In order to fight, Henry had to pay mercenaries, who tended to be more effective, but this had a cost. 

Feudalism was introduced to England after the Norman conquest in 1066. Under this system, knights could pay scutage to the king, that is, payments in lieu of military service. This provided the king with the revenue needed to pay mercenaries. In 1181, Henry proclaimed the Assize of Arms of 1181 that forced all freemen in England to bear arms and serve the king, upon pain of death. Henry determined what weapons a freeman had to possess according to his wealth and rank. This resembled the Anglo-Saxon fyrd, an army of trained freemen who were called by the king to fight when necessary. Although Henry didn't create an army, his proclamation paved the way for a standing army.

The Assize of Arms was originally written in Latin, the text below is an English translation:

1. Whoever possesses one knight's fee shall have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every knight shall have as many shirts of mail, helmets, shields, and lances as he possesses knight's fees in demesne.

2. Moreover, every free layman who possesses chattels or rents to the value of 16m. shall have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every free layman possessing chattels or rents to the value of 10m. shall have a hauberk, an iron cap, and a lance.

3. Item, all burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have [each] a gambeson, an iron cap, and a lance.

4. Besides, each of them shall swear to have these arms before the feast of St. Hilary, to be faithful to the lord king Henry — namely, the son of the Empress Matilda — and to bear these arms in his service according to his command and in fealty to the lord king and his kingdom. And henceforth no one having these arms shall sell them or pledge them or lend them or alienate them in any other way; nor shall a lord in any way alienate them from his men, either through forfeiture or through gift or through pledge or in any other way.

5. If any one having these arms dies, his arms shall remain to his heir. If, however, the heir is not of age to use arms in time of need, that person who has wardship over him shall also have custody of the arms and shall find a man who can use the arms in the service of the lord king until the heir is of age to bear arms, and then he shall have them.

6. Any burgess who has more arms than he ought to have by this assize shall sell them, or give them away, or in some way alienate them to such a man as will keep them for the service of the lord king of England. And none of them shall keep more arms than he ought to have by this assize.

7. Item, no Jew shall keep in his possession a shirt of mail or a hauberk, but he shall sell it or give it away or alienate it in some other way, so that it shall remain in the king's service.

8. Item, no one shall carry arms out of England except by the command of the lord king: no one is to sell arms to another to carry out of England; nor shall a merchant or any other man carry them out of England.

9. Item, the justices shall have [a report] sworn by lawful knights, or by other free and lawful men of the hundreds and neighbourhoods and boroughs — as many as they see fit to employ — as to what persons possess chattels to the amount that they should have a shirt of mail, a helmet, a lance, and a shield according to what has been provided; so that they shall separately name for those [justices] all men of their hundreds and neighbourhoods and boroughs who are worth 16m. in either chattels or rents, and likewise those who are worth 10m. And then the justices shall have written down [the names of] all those jurors and other men, [recording] how much in chattels or rents they [each] have and what arms, according to the value of the chattels or rents, they should [each] have. Then, in their presence and in a common assembly of those men, they shall have read this assize regarding the possession of arms, and they shall have those men swear to have arms according to the value of the aforesaid chattels or rents, and to keep them for the service of the lord king according to this aforesaid assize, under the command of and in fealty to the lord king Henry and his kingdom. If, moreover, it should happen that any one of them, who ought to have these arms, is not in the county during the period when the justices are in that county, the justices shall set a time for him [to appear] before them in another county. And if he does not come to them in any county through which they are to go, and is not in that land [at all], they shall set him a time at Westminster toward the octave of St. Michael; so that, as he loves his life and all that he has, he shall be there for swearing his oath. And they shall command him, before the aforesaid feast of St. Hilary, to have arms according to the obligation resting on him.

10. Item, the justices shall have proclamation made in the counties through which they are to go that, with respect to those who do not have such arms as have been specified above, the lord king will take vengeance, not merely on their lands or chattels, but on their limbs.

11. Item, no one who does not possess 16m. [as specified above] or 10m. in chattels is to swear concerning free and lawful men.

12. Item, the justices shall command through all the counties that no one, as he loves his life and all that he has, shall buy or sell any ship to be taken away from England, and that no one shall carry any timber or cause it to be carried out of England. And the lord king commands that no one shall be received for the oath concerning arms unless he is a freeman.

The January Parliament

On January 20th 1265, 750 years ago, for the first time in British history, elected representatives met in what became known as the January Parliament, held by Simon de Montfort. Even though parliaments already existed in England, it was the first time that representatives from counties and boroughs were present. According to the UK Parliament, were summoned "23 lay magnates, 120 bishops, two knights from each county and two citizens from each town. Also summoned were four men from each of the Cinque Ports."

The event that led to de Montfort's Parliament was a civil war between King Henry III and his barons. The barons were unsatisfied with Henry's government, constantly asking the barons for more money, but never doing any of the reforms they requested. In response, de Montfort led a revolt against the King, and in May 14th 1264, the rebels faced the King's army in the Battle of Lewes. The rebels won and captured Henry's son, Prince Edward. After this, de Montfort seized power and begun implementing his reforms.

However, de Montfort did not stay in power for long. Many people in England were not ready for reform, and they opposed him, including some barons. Edward managed to escape, and led his own royalist army against de Montfort. At the Battle of Evesham, on August 4th 1265, the royalists defeated and mutilated de Montfort, sending parts of his body to all parts of England as a message to all rebels. 

Henry regained his power, and reversed de Monfort's reforms, even though Edward would adopt a few of his reforms when he became King (Edward I) in 1272, including calling representatives from counties and towns to parliament. De Montfort is not considered to be the founder of the House of Commons, but he is credited with founding the English parliament. Undoubtedly, the January Parliament is a crucial moment in British parliamentary history.