Chapter 240: House Of Lords I

The house of Lords is the council composed of the peerages in the kingdom of Windsor. Depending on one's position, they would either need to attend the meetings regularly, or only when there are important matters for discussion requiring their votes. The building they meet at is also called 'house of the Lords' and it was located within Windsor's palace grounds. 

Membership within the house is purely hereditary, though in some cases, if the family holding the title, has died out, the king may opt to award the title to another family.

One may ask, what need was there for a council given that they were under the rule of absolute monarchy? 

The answer is because the monarch cannot rule his kingdom alone. For the longest of time, their kingdom has a social structure following feudalism where rulership came in the form of vassalage. In the history of Windsor, the first King who united their kingdom divided the lands so that it would be easier to rule. Depending on the size, he either called them a duchy, march, or county. 

Anyway, the capital of Windsor, was the home of the King and since it was the richest and has the most progress and potential, the King chose it as his own place to govern. 

Then, he called the 8 with the biggest chunk of land area as duchies. These were then awarded to his most trusted men, and thus they became Dukes. Meanwhile, the smaller lands were called counties, and depending on its location, it can also be called March. The main difference was that a March was a frontier facing the sea or a borderland, while the county was an inner land. A march by the sea was obviously more favorable as there were more resources, but at the same time, they were at the frontline and have the duty to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbors. Anyway, the ruler of the March became the Marquis (Marquess), and the ruler of the County the Earl (equivalent of Count). 

The awarded land, whether a duchy, a county, or a march, did not come for free. In return for it, a contract was signed between the monarch and the vassal which constitutes that the vassal would forever be bound to a duty to the reigning monarch.

The duty pertains to the vassal's loyalty, and other obligations they have to the Kingdom. It includes providing specific military services and monetary tributes depending on the size and resources available in the land.

Overtime, with the population growing, small towns started to emerge as the population made homes in areas which were barren before. Therefore, the king decided to award these lands with no rulers to his other loyal men and made them Viscounts and Barons.

Then, the duchies also started to need vassals of their own, so in their case, they also gave titles within their land with the approval of the king. However, these vassals became the vassals of the duke. The same was true with the March and counties. 

From one generation to the other, the power of the vassals has also grown which of course, did not sit well with the next kings. In any case, let us go back to the council.

Now, the first king made this council where he and his vassals would meet so that they can report what was happening in their lands and the King can also give them instructions on how he wants the kingdom to progress. In this case, since the King cannot oversee everything, the council will voice their opinions as they can better see what was happening. All was good for the 1st king as they were his men.

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However, through the generations, this dynamic has changed. The title has gone through successions and the next King did not feel like he was the main ruler when the vassal's opinions matters more than his. So, he began issuing punishments to those who contradicts him, ordering execution without trial, demanding their riches, and imposed unreasonable tributes.

The effect? A civil war broke out. Long story short, it was bloody and messy, and it was only the next generation which allowed for peace. The next king signed a magna carta stipulating that although he has the absolute power, he was still not above the law. This guarantees the rights of individuals, the right of justice and the right of fair trial.

In addition, the council was renamed the house of Lords and it shall remain to serve and give guidance to the King. For the purpose of democracy, voting would be held for passing of new bills regarding state matters. In this way, any state bills enacted would be in concurrence of the majority. Meanwhile, the King may always reject the bills passed by the house but cannot enact a bill that is not. 

In any case, the king still has significant power depending on his capabilities. Factions started in court, but it was something natural bound to happen. 

The following years after the civil war were peaceful and made for significant economic improvement. After a decade, majority of the nobles started realizing that maintaining an army was just eating their purses, and since it was peaceful, they rather focus their efforts on proliferating wealth. A bill has passed that the vassal can opt not to pay military service in exchange of increasing their tribute. The effect was that most of the traditional feudal lords transformed themselves to act primarily as landed gentry. 

The times were changing, everyone wanted to raise their standard of living, and so, the economic system turned for capitalism. 

The rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer. Counties and Dukedoms with little access to resources became poorer, and from vassals, they turned into minions. Heavily relying on the coffers of their sponsors and casting their votes wherever instructed. Most of them became part of the monarchist faction, enabling the monarch to have total control of the court. 

With this development, absolute power gradually went back in the hands of the monarch. 

The power has been centralized and problems did not arise initially because everything was good, and progress was fast. However, the Bill on raising monetary tribute was quick to pass, anyone going against the King's word would suffer consequences. Nobles were noticing specially after the war with Jinjoo.

The ideology imported from Jinjoo, particularly that of constitutional monarchy, gave the radical faction solid foundation and more sympathizers. However, the King was already weak, and soon, a new king was crowned. Giving him a chance, the movement stopped. However, it did not die.

Then the crown began suffering with their thinning coffers as the port of Windsor started to decline. Again, the show of absolute power began rearing its ugly head.

Thus, the radicals started moving again. They wanted change. They did not want to be subjected to a ruler with absolute power. The magna Carta was not holding true anymore with the King having too much power in court.

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TBC

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