This led to the concept that they
should not be chosen by the king alone. After he came of age,
elected men from the baronage fought to have meetings and his
small council in several conferences called great councils or
parliaments (from French "to speak the mind") to discuss the
levying of taxes and the solution of difficult legal cases, the
implementation of the Magna Carta, the appointment of the king's
ministers and sheriffs, and the receipt and consideration of
petitions. The barons paid 1/30th tax on their moveable property
to have three barons of their choice added to the council.
Statutes were enacted. Landholders were given the duty of electing
four of their members in every county to ensure that the sheriff
observed the law and to report his misdemeanors to the justiciar.
They were also given the duty of electing four men from the county
from whom the exchequer was to choose the sheriff of the year.
Earl Montfort and certain barons forced King Henry III to summon a
great council or parliament in 1265 in which the common people
were represented officially by two knights from every county, two
burgesses from every borough, and two representatives from each
major port. So the King's permanent small council became a
separate body from parliament and its members took a specific
councilor's oath in 1257 to give faithful counsel, to keep
secrecy, to prevent alienation of ancient demesne, to procure
justice for the rich and poor, to allow justice to be done on
themselves and their friends, to abstain from gifts and misuse of
patronage and influence, and to be faithful to the queen and to
the heir.
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