Henry Knighton, the Commons and the crisis of governance in the 1380s

This discussion provides the first in-depth investigation into the meaning and significance of a quite exceptional petition presented by the parliamentary Commons in the reign of Richard II. The petition survives as a unique copy in the chronicle of Henry Knighton: it was not recorded on the parliament roll. Knighton inserted the petition into his more general account of the Merciless Parliament of 1388. In this discussion I argue that the petition is most likely to have been presented in the parliament that met in the aftermath of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and as a result holds great constitutional significance

Commons · Epistemology · House of Commons · Meaning (existential) · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Reign · Historical Studies of British Isles · Law · Medieval and Early Modern Justice · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy