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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