[3] This right the Commons never surrendered.

In future the King, unless he violated the law, had to look to the Commons—­that is, to the direct representation of the mass of the people—­for his chief supplies.  This made the will of the Commons more powerful than it had ever been.

14.  Religious Legislation; Emancipation of the Villeins;
    Disfranchisement of County Electors.

The Parliament of Merton had already (1236) refused to introduce the canon or ecclesiatical law (S265).  In the next century two very important statutes relating to the Church were enacted,—­that of Provisors (1350)[4] and the Great Act of Praemunire, 1393,[1]—­limiting the power of the Pope over the English Church.  On the other hand, the rise of the Lollards had caused a statute to be passed (1401) against heretics, and under it the first martyr had been burned in England.  During this period the villeins had risen in insurrection (1381) (SS250-252), and were gradually gaining their liberty.  Thus a very large body of people who had been practically excluded from political rights now began to slowly acquire them.[2] But, on the other hand, a statute was enacted (1430) which prohibited all persons having an income of less than forty shillings a year—­or what would be equal to forty pounds at the present value of money—­ from voting for knights of the shire (S297).  The consequence was that the poorer and humbler classes in the country were no longer directly represented in the House of Commons.

[4] Provisors:  this was a law forbidding the Pope to provide any person (by anticipation) with a position in the English Church until the death of the incumbent. [1] Praemunire:  see Constitutional Documents, p. xxxii.  Neither the law of Provisors nor of Praemunire was strictly enforced until Henry VIII’s reign. [2] Villeins appear, however, to have had the right of voting for knights of the shire until the statute of 1430 difranchised them.

15.  Wars of the Roses; Decline of Parliament; Partial Revival of its
    Power under Elizabeth.

The Civil Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) gave a decided check to the further development of parliamentary power.  Many noble families were ruined by the protracted struggle, and the new nobles created by the King were pledged to uphold the interests of the Crown.  Furthemore, numerous towns absorbed in their own local affairs ceased to elect members to the Commons.  Thus, with a House of Lords on the side of royal authority, and with a House of Commons diminished in numbers and in influence, the decline of the independent attitude of Parliament was inevitable.

The result of these changes was very marked.  From the reign of Henry VI to that of Elizabeth, a period of nearly a hundred and forty years, “the voice of Parliament was rarely heard.”  The Tudors practically set up a new or “personal monarchy,” in which their will rose above both Parliament and the constitution;[3] and Henry VII, instead of asking the Commons for money, extorted it by fines enforcedby his Court of Star Chamber, or compelled his wealthy subjects to grant it to him in “benevolences” (S330)—­those “loving contributions,” as the King called them, “lovingly advanced”!