Westminster, provisions of

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Westminster, provisions of, 1259. The provisions of Westminster formed a stage in the conflict between Henry III and his baronial opponents led by Simon de Montfort. By the provisions of Oxford in June 1258 Henry had agreed to a mechanism of control, including the appointment of a supervising committee of fifteen. On 13 October 1259 in Westminster Hall, a detailed and miscellaneous programme of law reform was approved in response to a number of petitions and complaints. It clarified rights of inheritance and of wardship, tried to prevent lords from forcing attendance at their courts, and forbade the transfer of property to monastic institutions without the consent of the lord. It also included populist clauses restricting the offices of state and the command of fortresses to Englishmen. The provisions were reissued in 1262 and 1264 and incorporated in the statute of Marlborough of 1267. The activities of the manorial courts were brought under closer scrutiny.

J. A. Cannon

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