The King of England and Parliament: A Medieval Power-Sharing Arrangement

By the late Middle Ages, the English monarch shared sovereign power with Parliament, a bicameral body:

• House of Commons – Elected by property-owning men (county knights, borough burgesses). Controlled taxation ("power of the purse").
• House of Lords – Hereditary peers and senior clergy, appointed by the Crown.

The king needed Parliament's consent to levy taxes, pass statutes, or legitimize major policies. This evolved from feudal counsel into a constitutional requirement—laying groundwork for modern parliamentary democracy. The Magna Carta (1215) and Model Parliament (1295) were key milestones.