|

| |
The
"Provisions of Oxford"
|
|
The “Provisions of Oxford” of 1258 were a scheme of governmental reform
forced upon Henry III of England by his barons. In 1258 a group of barons,
angered by the king's Sicilian adventure and the expenditures it entailed,
compelled Henry to accept the appointment of a committee of 24 nobles,
half of whom were to be chosen by the king, for the purpose of drafting a
scheme of constitutional reform. Under the leadership of Simon de
Montfort, earl of Leicester, the plan was drawn up at Oxford in June,
1258. It provided for a council of 15 members to advise the king and to
meet three times a year to consult with representatives of the realm.
Committees were chosen by an involved electoral system to keep check upon
the various branches of the government. Local administrative reforms were
instituted and an effort made to limit the taxing power of the king. The
committee of 24 completed their work the following year by drawing up an
enlarged version of the Provisions of Oxford known as the Provisions of
Westminster. The new document provided for additional inheritance and
taxation reforms. Divisions among the barons themselves enabled Henry to
repudiate the provisions, with papal sanction, in 1261. There followed a
period of strife known as the Barons' War (1263-67), which ended in a
victory for the king. The clauses of the provisions that limited
monarchical authority were then annulled, but the legal clauses of the
Provisions of Westminster were reaffirmed in the
Statute of Marlborough
(1267). |
|