Powstanie, funkcjonowanie oraz procedura obrad Izby Gmin w drugiej połowie XVI wieku

Abstract

The English Parliament developed as one of the first representative assemblies in Europe. In the early years of development parliaments functioned as meetings of the King and his advisory body. Despite the fact that their structure reflected the division of society into three estates, English assemblies, in contrast to continental ones, deliberated as an entity. In the fourteenth century the knights and burgesses began to sit apart from bishops, abbots and nobles. As a result, English parliaments acquired a bicameral character. The summoning of Parliament was a royal privilege. The King determined the frequency, which usually depended on the need for supplementary revenue, and the duration of parliamentary sessions. Another privilege, chich belonged to the English Crown, was enfranchisement. This contributed to the rapid growth of the House of Commons in the beginning of the sixteenth century. An important feature of the English Parliament was the existence of a parliamentary trinity, which consisted of the king, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The position of the monarch evolved and was eventually transmuted from the King and Parliament into the King-in-Parliament. This meant that the monarch was no longer separate from parliament but an integrated part of it. Therefore, his presence was required at each parliamentary session. It is possible to distinguish three phases in the proceedings of parliaments. The first phase included such stages as the solemn opening of a parliamentary session, colourful processions, ful some speeches, and the election of the Speaker. The second phase took up most of the parliamentary session and incorporated the procedural practices employed throughout the parliamentary proceedings . The final phase concentrated on the ending speeches and termination of Parliament. In the course of time, the developed parliamentary procedures proved to be very efficient, especially during the reign of the Tudors. However, the question remains: to what degree did the English Parliament resemble Rother continental assemblies and how great were the differences?