OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF

This article appears in Volume V20, Page 415 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ORC-PAI

OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF , the articles constituting a preliminary

scheme

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

of reform enacted by a

parliament

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

which met at Oxford (England) on the 11th of June 1258. King

Henry

III. had promised on the 2nd of May that the state of his realm should be rectified and reformed by twenty-four counsellors who were to meet at Oxford for this purpose five weeks later. Twelve of these counsellors were chosen by the king, and twelve by the earls and barons. When the

parliament

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

met each twelve of these twenty-four chose two from the other twelve, and this committee of four was empowered, subject to the approval of the whole

body

BODY

, to elect a king's council of fifteen members. The twenty-four then provided that the new council should meet three times a year in parliaments to which twelve commissioners were to be summoned to discuss the affairs of the realm on behalf of the whole community. Another

body

BODY

of twenty-four was appointed to treat of an aid, which was probably the aid which had been demanded earlier in the year. On the 22nd of June the king appointed new wardens of some of the castles which were then in the custody of his Poitevin half-brothers and their friends, and on the same day he gave directions that the twenty-four should proceed with the

work

WORK

of reform, and the committee of four with the election of the council of fifteen. Meanwhile it was provided that the sheriffs and the three

great

GREAT

officers of state were to hold office for a year only, and to render accounts at the expiration of their terms of office. On the 24th of August in pursuance of a provision by the parliament the king directed four knights in each county to inquire into the trespasses and wrongs which had been committed by sheriffs, bailiffs and other officials. For many of the grievances of the barons the Oxford parliament provided no remedy; and they were only partly redressed by the Provisions of Westminster in the autumn of 1259. The king declared his adhesion to the Provisions of Oxford on the 18th of October by proclamations in English, French and Latin, but in 1261, having obtained a papal dispensation from his oath of observance, he entirely repudiated them. The barons, however, insisted on his

obligation

OBLIGATION

to observe the provisions, and the dispute was eventually referred to the arbitration of Louis IX. of France, who formally annulled them on the 23rd of January 1264, but expressly declared that his decision was not to invalidate the privileges, liberties and laudable customs of the realm of England, which had existed before the time of the provisions.
No official record of the Provisions of Oxford has been preserved, and our knowledge of them is chiefly derived from a

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of notes and extracts entered in the Annals of Burton Abbey, which are probably neither exhaustive nor in correct order. See the Annales monastici, vol. i. (Burton), edited by H. R. Luard for the Rolls

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

; Patent Rolls,

Henry

III. (printed text); Foedera (Record Commission edition) ; W.

Stubbs

, Constitutional History and Select Charters, and Charles Bemont, Simon de

Montfort

MONTFORT
MONTFORT, SIMON DE, EARL OF LEICESTER (d. 1265)

(1884).

End of Article: OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/ORC_PAI/OXFORD_PROVISIONS_OF.html">
OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF
</a>

(Previous)
OXFORD, JOHN DE VERE, 13TH EARL OF (1443-1513)

(Next)
OXFORD, ROBERT DE VERE, 9TH EARL OF (1362-1392)

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries was founded in 1997 and it exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email