Lincolnshire Voice

Edward II
Edward II was another king who thought he could do as he liked, he was lazy when it came to his duty's as a king, and he had his favourites who almost seemed to get away with everything. This caused the Barons to remove Edward, who was forced to resign his Crown in favour of his son, he was then killed in Berkely Castle with a red hot poker up his back passage. (thats gotta hurt a tad! Ed)

Edward III
In 1366, King Edward III received a letter from the Pope asking for 1000 marks per year for every year that it had not been paid, and threatening action if the monies were not received. Edward III spoke to the Bishops and the Lords, who spoke to the Commons.

First the Bishops, then the Lords, and finally the Commons came to Edward and told him that England had not been King John’s to give away. Under English law, John had only held England on trust for his successors and therefore the agreement between the Pope and King John was not valid.

By giving England to the Pope, John had broken the law. The money was not owed and should not be paid. This constitutional ruling ensures that England’s sovereigns were not and can never be, vassal sovereigns to anyone. This is a most important constitutional ruling which applies as much today as it did then.

When John Major came back from Maastricht and said the Queen was now a citizen of Europe, he attempted to destroy a constitutional principle; that our kings can never be vassal kings to any one. Arguably, John Major had committed the major crime of High Treason.

Figure 6: Edward III

King Edward III also claimed the Kingdom of France. Parliament made him sign an undertaking that, as King of France, Edward could have no say in how England was governed.

Richard II
In 1392, King Richard II issued his Statute of Praemunire, breaches of which amounted to High Treason. It was repealed in the Criminal Law Act 1967 just in time to prevent Edward Heath’s government committing praemunire by placing Her Majesty’s Courts under the dominion of the European Courts.

Figure 7: Richard insisting on his supremacy.

I asked the Law Commission why this most important Statute of Praemunire had been repealed. The reason given to me by the Law Commission was that the law had not been used for many years and so they inferred it was obsolete. Yet there is no such thing as a principle of obsolescence in English law. Who is to say that it had not been used because, like all law, it is designed to prevent crime? By preventing treasonable crimes from being committed King Richard’s Statute has worked very well.?

The Tudors
Under King Henry VIII we see the final parting of the ways between the Roman Church and England. The
1351 Treason Act remained the predominant Treason Act.

Figure 8: Henry VIII

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Pope attempted to have Queen Elizabeth murdered. He said that whoever killed her would not suffer but would receive both earthly and heavenly rewards. Queen Elizabeth was understandably far from amused by this and she reissued her fathers Act of Supremacy in 1559. This Act contained an Oath, part of which said:
“No Foreign Prince, Person. State or Potentate. Hath or ought to have any Power, Jurisdiction, Superiority, Supremacy, or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual in this Realm.”

The Tudors on the whole ruled according to the prerogatives given to them by law.

Figure 9: Queen Elizabeth I acknowledged by the Bishop.

The Stuarts
The Stuarts, on the other hand, believed they ruled by Divine Right and were answerable only to God. As a result, two out of the four Stuarts lost their crown; Charles I lost his crown and his head then James II was forced to flee the country for safety.

The Petition of Rights 1628
In 1628, Charles I was presented with the Petition of Rights, a restatement of Alfred’s Law.

The Grand Remonstrance 1641
Later, in 1641, the Grand Remonstrance was a request by Parliament for Charles to rule according to the law (yet another restatement of Alfred’s Law) but Charles refused. He was then put on trial for treason against the people, found guilty and executed.

Figure 10: King Charles I summoned to execution.

James II was told by Parliament that by attempting to catholicise the country he was acting illegally. James retaliated, dissolved Parliament and carried on as before until he fled to France.

Figure 11: James receiving the French bribe.