rs, it is not to be imagined
that a decision could be obtained contrary to his inclination or
opinion."[5] Judges were in those days, and afterwards, such abject
servants of the king, that "we find that King Edward I. (1272 to 1307)
fined and imprisoned his judges, in the same manner as Alfred the Great,
among the Saxons, had done before him, by the sole exercise of his
authority."[6]

Parliament, so far as there was a parliament, was a mere _council_ of
the king.[7] It assembled only at the pleasure of the king; sat only
during his pleasure; and when sitting had no power, so far as _general_
legislation was concerned, beyond that of simply _advising_ the king.
The only legislation to which their assent was constitutionally
necessary, was demands for money and military services for
_extraordinary_ occasions. Even Magna Carta itself makes no provisions
whatever for any parliaments, except when the king should want means to
carry on war, or to meet some other _extraordinary_ necessity.[8] He had
no need of parliaments to raise taxes for the _ordinary_ purposes of
government; for his revenues from the rents of the crown lands and other
sources, were ample for all except extraordinary occasions. Parliaments,
too, when assembled, consisted only of bishops, barons, and other great
men of the kingdom, unless the king chose to invite others.[9] There was
no House of Commons at that time, and the people had no right to be
heard, unless as petitioners.[10]

Even when laws were made at the time of a parliament, they were made in
the name of the king alone. Sometimes it was inserted in the laws, that
they were made with the _consent_ or _advice_ of the bishops, barons,
and others assembled; but often this was omitted. Their consent or
advice was evidently a matter of no legal importance to the enactment or
validity of the laws, but only inserted, when inserted at all, with a
view of obtaining a more willing submission to them on the part of the
people. The style of enactment generally was, either "_The King wills
and commands_," or some other form significant of the sole legislative
authority of the king. The king could pass laws at any time when it
pleased him. The presence of a parliament was wholly unnecessary. Hume
says, "It is asserted by Sir Harry Spelman, as an undoubted fact, that,
during the reigns of the Norman princes, every order of the king, issued
with the consent of his privy council, had the full force of law."[11]