Evolution of the English Parliament and the French Estates General

England and France were evolving in the 1000s, while the Holy Roman Empire and papacy were engaged in their struggle. Strong monarchy came earlier to England than to France, and it was the English who were most successful in dictating constitutional limits on the crown. English parliamentary and French royal absolutism are both rooted in the High Middle Ages. Since the end of England’s Anglo-Saxon period came to and end in 1066, France and England were involved with each other until the mid-sixteenth century. Through it, the English gained cultural enrichment but later this also led to hostilities between both monarchies that lasted for centuries.

England:

The reign of William the Conqueror began after he won the English crown with his victory at Hastings in 1066. He brought a lot of fundamental changes to his new kingdom. He divided the conquered land among the warriors in his army and established a feudal regime more or less on the Norman pattern by transforming most of English states into fiefs. And as a product of feudalism, scores of castles were erected across the land. On his death, the kingdom was passed to his two sons, William the second (1087-1100) and Henry the first (1100-1135). Both men were strong and ruthless, but Henry was the abler of the two. He rid England of rebellion and imposed severe taxation. His firmness and military skills enforced peace on the land, and that was just what a successful state needed.

Henry the first’s death in 1135 brought a period of unrest and a disputed royal succession. His daughter Matilda, his only successor, was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou. The marriage was arranged in the hopes of healing the bitter rivalry between the two great powers of northern Franc...

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...hly significant role in later centuries. Beginning in 1302, the Estate General was assembled from time to time in order to give formal support to the monarchy during times of crisis. The assembly included members of the three great estates- the clergy, the nobility, and the townsmen. It met occasionally later in the centuries, but it never became a real body of government like the English Parliament. The knights in France remained an inarticulate and subordinated part of the aristocratic class, whereas, the English knights were involved in the local government. By the late 13th century France was too large and lacked cohesiveness among its inhabitants.

Despite the significant differences between the English Parliament and the French Estates General, the two institutions had something in common. Both were the products of European evolution out of feudal monarchy.