Happy Birthday, Parliament.

The January Parliament: marking 750 years of British democracy

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Often overlooked, the first meeting of an elected parliament in England was 750 years ago today LAST UPDATED AT 12:06 ON Tue 20 Jan 2015 This year is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the treaty which limited the power of the monarchy and laid the foundation for British democracy. But today marks another, less well remembered anniversary: 750 years since the January Parliament. What was the January Parliament? On 20 January 1265, knights, burgesses and aldermen met in London for the first real parliament in British history. Of course, the representatives were 'elected' in a far less democratic way than they are now, but the meeting is still seen by academics as the birth of British parliaments. Why isn't the January Parliament better known? The BBC suggests the gathering has been eclipsed in history by the signing of the Magna Carta, fifty years previously. Magna Carta limited the power of the monarch and, after some teething troubles, changed history – but it did not institute anything resembling a parliament.

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