The Great Council, which by one of the provisions of Magna
Carta had been required to give its consent to the levying of feudal dues, met
quite frequently during Henry III's reign. On one occasion, when Henry was in
urgent need of money and the bishops and lords refused to grant it, the king
took the significant step of calling to the council two knights from each
county to declare what aid they would give him. These knights, so ran Henry's
summons, were to come "in the stead of each and all," in other words,
they were to act as representatives of the counties. Then in 1265 A.D., when
the nobles were at war with the king, a second and even more significant step
was taken. Their leader, Simon de Montfort, summoned to the council not only
two knights from each county, but also two citizens from each of the more
important towns.
THE REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM
The custom of selecting certain men to act in the name and
on the behalf of the community had existed during Anglo-Saxon times in local
government. Representatives of the counties had been employed by the Norman
kings to act as assessors in levying taxes. As we have just learned, the
"juries" of Henry II also consisted of such representatives. The
English people, in fact, were quite familiar with the idea of representation
long before it was applied on a larger scale to Parliament.
