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Difficulty: Very hardMagna Carta and the Development of Parliament

The Magna Carta, sealed by King John in 12151215, primarily addressed the grievances of the nobility, yet it set a precedent for broader governance. By the mid-1414 th century, how had the institutional structure of the English Parliament evolved to reflect this developing constitutional framework?

  1. It divided into two distinct chambers: the House of Lords for the nobility and senior clergy, and the House of Commons for knights and burgesses.Answer
  2. B
    It established a single, unified chamber where every adult citizen held the right to vote for representatives regardless of their social status or land ownership.
  3. C
    It replaced the Great Council with an elected body of commoners who held the exclusive power to crown the monarch, a tradition dating back to 10661066.
  4. D
    It consolidated all legislative power into the House of Lords to ensure that the feudal obligations established in 14851485 were strictly maintained by the King.

Answer

By the mid-14th century, Parliament had separated into two houses: the House of Lords (nobility and clergy) and the House of Commons (knights and burgesses).
The correct answer accurately describes the mid-1414 th-century development where the Parliament split into the House of Lords, consisting of the nobility and senior clergy (the 'Lords Spiritual and Temporal'), and the House of Commons, which represented knights of the shires and burgesses from the towns.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the historical context of the 13th and 14th centuries.
The period follows the 1215 Magna Carta and involves the expansion of the Great Council.
Understanding the timeline is essential to distinguish between the early feudal councils and the later parliamentary structure.
2
Analyze the structural changes in the legislature during this period.
Representatives from towns (burgesses) and counties (knights) began to meet separately from the barons and bishops.
This separation is the origin of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
3
Evaluate the options based on historical accuracy of representation and dates.
Only the division into two houses accurately reflects the mid-14th-century evolution.
Universal suffrage and the Tudor/Norman dates mentioned in other options are historically inconsistent with the target period.

Key Concept

Bicameralism and Parliamentary Evolution
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Magna Carta and the Development of Parliament

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