This is a list of several parliaments in the history of England which were known by their nicknames. Its membership or its activities were usually the reason for the name.
- 1265 – De Montfort’s
- In 1265, Simon de Montfort, an earl in the Great Council, called together a meeting of the Great Council. He invited very few of the greater barons. Bishops and abbots were also invited. In an experiment, he directed the shire court in each county to elect two citizens to attend Parliament. His purpose was to have these representatives ratify the reforms agreed upon at Oxford and to consent to the taxation demanded by the Crown. Both measures were easily ratified.
- 1295 – Model
- In 1295, when Edward I needed money for defence, he called together the biggest Parliament yet held. He called to it the great barons, the bishops, many abbots, two knights from each shire, and two burgesses from every town that had a royal charter. It has been called The Model Parliament because it set the pattern of Parliaments to come.
- 1376 – Good
- After the war was concluded in 1375, there was much discontent with the government. John of Gaunt, the effective ruler of the kingdom, was unpopular. Resentment over the conduct of the war was expressed in the so-called Good Parliament, which met in the spring of 1376. After the death of the Black Prince later that spring, John of Gaunt managed to have the decisions of The Good Parliament reversed. In 1377, the Black Prince’s son came to the throne.
- 1388 – Merciless
- When Parliament met in 1388, all power was in the hands of the Appellant Lords. This Merciless Parliament carried out murder by statute. The chief justice of the King’s Bench, a former mayor of London, and others were put to death for being loyal to King Richard II. Judges who supported the King were banished.
- c.1530 – Reformation
- About 1530, King Henry VIII summoned a meeting of Parliament – the first in six years – to bring pressure on the Pope by attacking the English Church. The question has often been discussed whether this Reformation Parliament, as it was called, had been ‘packed.’ In general, the knights of the shires were chosen with the approval of the great men of the county. Electoral contests did not take place.
- 1639 – Short
- It met in 1639, demanding the right to air grievances before voting any money. After much debate, the ministers offered to give up ship money in return for a large vote of subsidies, but negotiations broke down. After three weeks, the King dissolved the two houses.
- 1640 – Long
- This Parliament began in 1640, with a large number of the members of the Short Parliament returning. The members forced King Charles I to agree that it could not be dissolved without its own consent. Parliament was united in passing measures until the subject of religion came up. Civil war broke out in 1642 between the Royalists and the Roundheads. A second civil war broke out in 1647. The Long Parliament came to an end in 1653, being by this time the Rump.
- 1648 – Rump
- In 1648, Colonel Thomas Pride was sent to the House of Commons to expel a number of Presbyterian members. After the purge, only a Rump Parliament, consisting mainly of Independents, remained. This Rump set up a High Court to try the King. As a result, Charles II was executed in 1649. The country was declared a republic, with Parliament being the only governing authority. Eventually, since Oliver Cromwell and the army felt that Parliament was not providing efficient government, Cromwell dissolved it in 1653.
- 1653 – Barebone
- In 1653, Oliver Cromwell called together a convention of leading Republicans – 136 hand-picked Puritans – to meet at Westminster and frame a constitution. It obtained its name from one of its oddly named members, Praise-God Barebone. Being a collection of unpractical fanatics, it did not fulfill Cromwell’s hopes. Instead of working on a constitution, it worked hard at overhauling and reforming everything of which it could think, beginning with religion and law. This led to quarrels, ending in Parliament voting itself out of existence and returning its powers to Cromwell. It was also known as the Parliament of Saints.
- 1661 – Cavalier
- In 1661, a new Parliament was elected, the majority of the members being Cavalier squires. They were strictly Royalist, supporting the King’s cause completely. Their first act was to re-establish the Church of England, its bishops, and the Prayer Book. Their second act was to place severe restrictions and penalties on non-conformist Puritans. The press was restricted by the requirement that every printer must be licensed by church authorities.
(This page was updated in December 2012.)
