On This Day: December 16

Henry VI of England

 
In 1431, Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame Cathedral. 

     Ever since 1337 under Edward III, English (and later British) kings asserted a claim to the French throne through Edward's mother, Isabella - the daughter of Philip IV of France. When Isabella's father died, he was succeeded by his son Philip V, who died without a heir and was succeeded by his brother Charles IV, who also died without an heir. This left Edward as the closest living male relative of the dead king, but Salic law prohibited succession through the female line, so the French throne was passed on to Philip VI - Charles IV's cousin through his father's younger brother. Edward, who was Duke of Aquitaine and a holder of other French lands, owed feudal homage to the French king - just as his predecessors had done - but he refused to do the same for Philip on the grounds that he was not the rightful heir to the French throne.

     The result was over a century of on-and-off conflict between England and France known collectively as the Hundred Years' War. During the reign of Henry V of England, the English defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, which in five years resulted in the Treaty of Troyes. This treaty recognized Henry as the legitimate heir of Charles VI of France and provided for the marriage of Charles' daughter Catherine to Henry. In 1422, Henry and Charles died within two months of each other, leaving Henry's nine-month-old son as King of England and France in the form of Henry VI. But Charles' son took advantage of the situation and seized the French throne as Charles VII, with his coronation being held at Reims Cathedral on July 17, 1429. In response, Henry VI's French coronation was held two years later at Notre Dame, but English fortunes on the continent were on the wane, and by 1453, the Hundred Years' War ended with England losing all but a sliver of its territories in continental Europe. 

Catherine of Aragon

In 1485, Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England, is born at Archbishop's Palace in Madrid, Spain.

     Catherine was originally the wife of Henry's older brother - Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, who died in 1502, possibly from sweating sickness. Seven years later, she married Henry to become his Queen consort, and this marriage produced one healthy child who would live to maturity named Mary. Yet Henry wanted a male heir, and with Catherine being five years older than Henry, it became increasingly difficult for her to become pregnant and produce the male heir that Henry desired. He eventually decided to divorce Catherine and have their marriage annulled on the basis that it was illegal from the start because she had been his brother's widow. Ironically, a papal dispensation was needed to make the marriage lawful and now Henry wanted the church to believe that it had committed an error in 1509. The church refused to do so (in part because Rome was then controlled by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew), and this resulted in Henry's infamous break from the Catholic Church and the proclamation of himself as head of the Church of England. In this role, he had his marriage to Catherine declared null and void, which paved the way for him to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn. Catherine refused to recognize the marriage and was banished from court life. She was also forbidden from having contact with her daughter Mary and was officially only known as the Dowager Princess of Wales (not Queen) in recognition of her being the widow of Henry's brother. She died in 1536 at Kimbolton Castle.

English Bill of Rights

In 1689, the Bill of Rights was passed by the Parliament of England.

     Following the flight of James VII & II in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution, the Dutch prince who had invaded Britain to depose him, William of Orange, summoned a Convention Parliament (as opposed to an actual Parliament which can only be summoned by a monarch) to settle to issues concerning who occupied the throne, among other things. In addition to declaring that James had effectively abdicated the throne, this parliament drew up the Declaration of Right, which invited William and his wife Mary (James's eldest child) to become joint monarchs of England, established the rights and liberties belonging to all Englishmen, and laid the foundations for a limited, constitutional monarchy.

     Upon accepting the offering of the crown, William and Mary called for an actual Parliament which eventually turned the Declaration of Right to a legally-binding statute. Together with the Claim of Right in Scotland, the Bill of Rights established the principle of parliamentary sovereignty in Britain and curtailed the powers of the monarch in accordance to rules made by Parliament. It also declared England to be a Protestant kingdom, and that as such, it would be incompabable for there to be a Catholic monarch.

     The Bill of Rights declared that there shall be:

• no royal interference with the law. The monarch, as sovereign, remains the fount of justice, but he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge.

• no taxation by Royal Prerogative. Taxes can only be raised with the consent of Parliament.

• freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution.

• no standing army during a time of peace without the consent of Parliament.

• no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own defense as allowed by law.

• no royal interference in the election of Members of Parliament.

• freedom of speech and debates/proceedings in Parliament, which ought not to be questioned in any court or place out of Parliament

• no "grants and promises of fines or forfeitures" before conviction

• no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments

    The Bill became a cornerstone of the British constitution, as well as an inspiration for similar documents such as our own Bill of Rights in the United States. It remains in effect in the UK and the overseas Commonwealth realms, and governs royal succession.