The Good Parliament

1376 was a time of unrest in England under King Edward III. The court was considered corrupt, the wealth gap was increasing, the common people felt oppressed, taxation to support Edward's wars with France were leading to defeats, the king's mistress, Alice Perrers, was seen to have a corrupting influence on him and the court, etc.Parliament had not been called for two and a half years, and it was a necessary first step if Edward wanted to raise a tax to keep the wars going. There were concerns about calling it now when the Commons might cause a great fuss that could lead to radical changes. And that's exactly what it did.The Speaker of the House of Commons, Peter de la Mare, opened the Parliament on 28 April with a speech that criticized the military failures, the corruption of the court, and called for accountability of the Exchequer.Edward asked for money for the military, but Commons refused to support a further tax unless there was a change in the top members of the…