Palmer, J. J. N., 'The Parliament of 1385 and the Constitutional Crisis of 1386', Speculum 46 (1971), 477-490

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Quick Summary

The constitutional crisis surrounding the Wonderful Parliament of 1386 was set against the backdrop of radical proposals put forward by the commons

  • The Wonderful Parliament was dominated by radical proposals put forward by the commons
  • These proposals were first put forward at the preceding parliament in 1385
  • By 1386 the commons had lost faith in Richard II’s government
Key Conclusion

Palmer explores the background to the Wonderful Parliament of October 1386 – a parliament of pivotal importance during the reign of Richard II because ‘all subsequent crises refer back’ to this assembly (p. 477). Palmer concludes that although the Wonderful Parliament is usually characterised by ‘baronial opposition’ to the crown (p. 489), in fact, the parliament was dominated by grievances of the commons and their proposals for financial reform. In order to understand the Wonderful Parliament, Palmer argues that we must turn our attention to the previous parliament of October 1385 where the commons first proposed reforms that would be repeated in 1386.

Content Overview

Although the significance of the Wonderful Parliament has been recognised by historians, the background to the parliament and its ‘unheralded attack on the king and his ministers’ has remained in ‘shrouded obscurity’ (p. 477). The main reason for this is that the surviving documentary sources from the previous parliament of October 1385 are ‘scanty in the extreme’ (p. 478). However, Palmer highlights a document known as ‘The Advice’ dating from 1385 which contains evidence of radical demands put forward by the commons (p. 480). These demands included restrictions on the king’s power to make grants of land, and a proposal for an independent body of lords to examine the royal revenues and expenditure.

Further Findings

The financial reforms proposed in 1385 were repeated by the commons in the Wonderful Parliament of 1386. However, they were accompanied by a change of strategy by the commons, since the government of Richard II had ‘unequivocally shown that it could not be trusted to implement the reforms devised by parliament’ (p. 488). Instead, the commons placed the authority to implement reforms in the hands of a “great and continual” baronial council. Palmer concludes that the constitutional crisis that emerged in the Wonderful Parliament of 1386 was provoked by the government’s ‘cavalier treatment of the measures of the parliament of the previous year’ (p. 489).

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