372 The Period of Constitution Making "

suppose it a great principle, weighed and set forth by
Edward I., would be out of harmony with the events and
spirit of earlier and later history. The^Parfiainent of
1295 was simpt^ajEact, great in itself, and~5ia3e^Qm-
Tijent byjthe^cnsls^wfaich occasioned it; itjwoifced by its
ownjw^ight, and, jjttir^^ it

was not forgotten and

IQngshad been working toward

thejise of the reŁ)rese^

Now events seemed to demand a completer application of
that principle than before, and the emphasis thus placed
upon it permanently affected both king and people,
With no regularity in the application of this principle
to national assemblies before 1295, it must not be under-
stood that there was a close approach to it afterwards,
but merely that a long step had been taken in that direc-
tion. The frequency with which the king, throughout
the middle ages and even occasionally afterwards, sum-
moned the lords without at the same time summoning
county or borough representatives is the chief indication
that there was little notion of a new assembly with a
fixed make-up. Such meetings may very properly be
called great councils, as earlier. Their continuance
shows why contemporaries could not talk of a "house"
of lords. How could the lords be a " house " when it was
quite as normal for them to meet by themselves as in
conjunction with the commons?1

The MQdel^Pariiaip.ent contained the body of prelates
and §reateŁ barons which was to b^

^
LordsTTrEe lay members of this body numberedjgrty-

a background here of later constitutional development that is not well
known.

For the writs of summons to the Model Parliament, see A. and S.,
document 46. Particular attention should be paid to the last paragraph
of the summons of county and borough representatives, where tie
purpose and spirit with which they were summoned is clearly shown.

1 /^1.e i^g,t .tiffie thg lords ....... met alone ...... was in the sevejiteenth^ century.

The king occasionail^deair^tm^ig.!!^ ...... with other "e1eme^

Note the iSstance in |2^wTiS"''tne^citj^ns andjDuj^sse?
"

tp tarry" afterthe dismissal of the knights, — A, and S., document
8l. " "' ................ ' .......... " ijj^il —1 , T IIIIIUl, ......