Dodd, Gwilym, 'The Lords, Taxation and the Community of Parliament in the 1370s and Early 1380s', Parliamentary History 20 (2001), 287-310


Quick Summary

The commons and lords in parliament had a shared agenda for taxation in the late-fourteenth century

  • The ‘community of parliament’ was an alliance between the commons and the lords to oppress the poorer classes
  • This commons and lords also had a shared agenda for taxation in the 1370s and 1380s
  • Royal demands for taxation could promote cooperation in parliament
Key Conclusion

Dodd explores evidence for an alliance between the commons and lords in the late-fourteenth century known as the ‘community of parliament’. The ‘community of parliament’ first emerged in the 1350s as the political classes unified their efforts to pass labour laws and restrict the higher wages and personal freedoms being demanded by peasants and labourers following the Black Death. Dodd concludes that this shared agenda continued into the late-fourteenth century. The commons had established themselves as an independent political force by 1395 when it was agreed that the king could only raise taxation with the assent of the commons. However, in the 1370s and 1380s the commons ‘still relied heavily on the advice and counsel’ of the lords (p. 310).

Content Overview

The commons and the lords also had a shared agenda for taxation in the 1370s and 1380s – they wanted the level of taxation to be low, and they did not wish to see tax revenues that had been raised to fund the Hundred Years War reallocated (and misspent) on the king’s personal and domestic expense. Dodd highlights how, when there was disagreement between the commons and the lords over taxation, this did not represent a ‘fundamental clash of agendas’ (p. 303). Where disagreement did arise, it stemmed from the fact that the lords were more willing than the commons to accept the crown’s need for financial support.

Further Findings

Dodd contests the notion that the ‘community of parliament’ was swept away in the 1370s and replaced by ‘a climate of suspicion and political division’. This does not mean that parliament was a ‘picture of harmony’ during this period, but Dodd does suggest that the ‘true dynamics of parliamentary politics’ were more complex than previously recognized. In particular, Dodd highlights how royal demands for taxation could provide a stimulus for cooperation and interaction in parliament, rather than merely causing complaint and division. The article also suggests that the lords may have had access to more reliable and accurate information about royal finances than the commons, which contributed to differences in outlook.

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