Model Parliament was the name given in the 1800’s to the parliament that met at Westminster, in England, in 1295. When Edward I of England ordered the parliament to meet, he summoned not only churchmen and nobles, but also two knights elected from each county and two townsmen from each of many towns. For this reason, the parliament was considered representative of early assemblies from which today’s British Parliament gradually emerged. But research indicates that knights and townsmen had been summoned before 1295, and some later parliaments included only nobles and churchmen. See also Parliament.
