He argued to the clergy that if barons had to both
fight and pay, they who could do no fighting must at least pay.
When the clergy refused to pay, he put them outside the royal
protection and threatened outlawry and confiscation of their
lands. Then they agreed to pay and to renounce all papal orders
contrary to the King's authority.
The Model Parliament of 1295 was composed of the three
communities. The first were the lords, which included seven earls
and forty-one barons. Because of the increase of lesser barons due
to a long national peace and prosperity, the lords attending were
reduced in numbers and peerage became dependent not on land
tenure, but on royal writ of summons. The great barons were chosen
by the king and received a special summons in their own names to
the council or Parliament. Others were called by a general
summons. The second community was the clergy, represented by the
two archbishops, bishops from each of eighteen dioceses, and
sixty-seven abbots. The third community was the commons. It was
composed of two knights elected by the suitors who were then
present at the county court, two burgesses elected by principal
burgesses of each borough, and two representatives from each city.
The country knights had a natural affinity with the towns in part
because their younger sons sought their occupation, wife, and
estate there. Also, great lords recruited younger brothers of
yeoman families for servants and fighting men, who ultimately
settled down as tradesmen in the towns.
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