The Reign of Henry 3 was a troublesome Time, in respect of the Differences between him and his Barons, which were not composed till his 51st year, after the Battle of Evesham. In his Time there were many Parliaments, but we have only one Summons of Parliament extant of Record in his Reign, viz. 49 Henry 3. and we have but few of those many Acts of Parliament that passed in his Time, viz. The great Charter, and Charta de Foresta, in the Ninth year of his Reign, which were doubtless pass'd in Parliament; the Statute of Merton, in the 20th year of his Reign; the Statute of Marlbridge, in the 52d year. and the Dictum sive Edictum de Kenelworth, about the same Time; and some few other old Acts.
In the Time of K. Edw. I. there are many more Acts of Parliament extant than in the Time of K. Henry 3. Yet doubtless, in this King's Time, there were many more Statutes made than are now extant: Those that are now extant, are commonly bound together in the old Book of Magna Charta. By those Statutes, great Alterations and Amendments were made in the Common Law; and by those that are now extant, we may reasonably guess, that there were considerable Alterations and Amendments made by those that are not extant, which possibly may be the real, tho' sudden Means of the great Advance and Alteration of the Laws of England in this King's Reign, over what they were in the Time of his Predecessors.
The first Summons of Parliament that I remember extant of Record in this King's Time, is 23 Edw. I. tho' doubtless there were many more before this, the Records whereof are either lost or mislaid: For many Parliaments were held by this King before that Time, and many of the Acts pass'd in those Parliaments are still extant; as, the Statutes of Westminster I. in the 3d of Edw. I. The Statutes of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I. The Statutes of Westminster 2. and of Winton, 1 3 Edw. I. The Statutes of Westminster 3. and of Quo Warranto, 18 Edw. I. And divers others in other years, which I shall have Occasion to mention hereafter.
In the Time of K. Edw. 2. many Parliaments were held, and many Laws were enacted; but we have few Acts of Parliament of his Reign extant, especially of Record.
And now, because I intend to give some short Account of some general Observations touching Parliaments, and of Acts of Parliament pass'd in the Times of those three Princes, viz. Henry 3. Edw. I. and Edw. 2. because they are of greatest Antiquity, and therefore the Circumstances that atended them most liable to be worn out by Process of Time, I will here mention some Particulars relating to them to preserve their Memory, and which may also be useful to be known in relation to other Things.
We are therefore to know, That there are these several Kinds of Records of Things done in Parliament, or especially relating thereto, viz. I. The Summons to Parliament. 2. The Rolls of Parliament. 3. Bundles of Petitions in Parliament. 4. The Statutes, or Acts of Parliament themselves. And, 5. The Brevia de Parliamento, which for the most part were such as issued for the Wages of Knights and Burgesses; but with these I shall not meddle.
First, as to the Summons to Parliament. These Summons to Parliament are not all entred of Record in the Times of Henry 3and Edw. I. none being extant of Record in the Time of Hen. 3. but that of 49 Hen. 3. and none in the Time of Edw. I. till the 23 Edw. I. But after that year, they are for the most part extant of Record, viz. In Dorso Claius' Rotulorum, in the Backside of the Close Rolls.
Secondly, As to the Rolls of Parliament, viz. The Entry of the several Petitions, Answers and Transactions in Parliament.
Those are generally and successively extant of Record in the Tower, from 4 Edw. 3. downward till the End of the Reign of Edw.
4. Excepting only those Parliaments that intervened between the 1st and the 4th, and between the 6th and the 11th, of Edw. 3.
But of those Rolls in the Times of Hen. 3. and Edw. I. and Edw. 2. many are lost and few extant; also, of the Time of Henry 3. I have not seen any Parliament Roll; and all that I ever saw of the Time of Edw. I. was one Roll of Parliament in the Receipt of the Exchequer of 18 Edw. I. and those Proceedings and Remembrances which are in the Liber placitor' Parliamenti in the Tower, beginning, as I remember, with the 20th year of Edw. I. and ending with the Parliament of Carlisle, 35 Edw. I and not continued between those years with any constant Series; but including some Remembrances of some Parliaments in the Time of Edw. I. and others in the Time of Edw. 2.
In the Time of Edw. 2. besides the Rotulus Ordinationum, of the Lords Ordoners, about 7 Edw. 2. we have little more than the Parliament Rolls of 7 & 8 Edw. 2. and what others are interspersed in the Parliament Book of Edw. I. above mentioned, and, as I remember, some short Remembrances of Things done in Parliament in the 19 Edw. 3.
Thirdly, As to the Bundles of Petitions in Parliament. They were for the most part Petitions of private Persons, and are commonly endorsed with Remissions to the several Courts where they were properly determinable. There are many of those Bundles of Petitions, some in the Times of Edw. I. and Edw. 2 and more in the Times of Edw. 3. and the Kings that succeeded him.
Fourthly, The Statutes, or Acts of Parliament themselves.
