The precursor to the English parliamentary system was a
Magnum Concilium or great council, an advice chamber to the king consisting of
peers, ecclesiastics, and knights of the shire (with the king summoning two of these from each county). In 1264, this council evolved to include representatives from the
boroughs (burgesses), requiring that all members be elected (
Montfort's Parliament). The parliament gained legislative powers in 1295 (the
Model Parliament). In the following century, in 1341,
Edward III split Parliament into its current bicameral structure, which includes the
House of Commons and the
House of Lords. It opted in 1376 to appoint Sir
Peter de la Mare to convey to the Lords complaints about heavy taxes, demands for an accounting of the royal expenditures, and criticism of the king's management of the military. Although de la Mare was imprisoned for his actions, many recognised the value of a single representative voice for the Commons. Accordingly, an office of
Speaker of the House of Commons was created. Mare was soon released after the death of Edward III and became the Speaker of the House again in 1377. Before 1430, the franchise (electorate) for elections of knights of the shire was not restricted to
forty-shilling freeholders. Discussing the original county franchise, historian
Charles Seymour suggested, "It is probable that all free inhabitant householders voted and that the parliamentary qualification was, like that which compelled attendance in the
county court, merely a 'resiance' or residence qualification." He goes on to explain why Parliament decided to legislate about the county franchise. "The Act of 1430," he said, "after declaring that elections had been crowded by many persons of low estate, and that confusion had thereby resulted, accordingly enacted that the
suffrage should be limited to persons qualified by a freehold of 40s". The
Parliament of England legislated the new uniform county franchise, in the
Electors of Knights of the Shires Act 1429 (
8 Hen. 6. c. 7). It was included as a recital in the
Electors of Knights of the Shire Act 1432 (
10 Hen. 6. c. 2), which amended and re-enacted the 1430 law to make clear that the resident of a county had to have a forty-shilling freehold in that county in order to be a voter there. Over the course of time, authorities began to consider a great number of different types of property as
forty-shilling freeholds. Subsequently, the residence requirement disappeared. == Reform ==