Note 42 — Simon of Montfort and the English Parliament 1258–1265

“The king that tries without advice to seek his people’s weal Must often fail, he cannot know the wants and woes they feel. The Parliament must tell the king how he may serve them best, And he must see their wants fulfilled and injuries redressed. A king should seek his people’s good and not his own sweet will, Nor think himself a slave because men hold him back from ill. For they that keep the king from sin serve him the best of all, Making him free that else would be to sin a wretched thrall. True king is he, and truly free, who rules himself aright, And chooses freely what he knows will ease his people’s plight. Think not it is the king’s goodwill that makes the law to be, For law is steadfast, and a king has no stability. No! law stands high above the king, for law is that true light Without whose ray the king would stray and wander from the right. When a king strays he ought to be called back into the way By those he rules, who lawfully his will may disobey Until he seeks the path, but when his wandering is o’er, They ought to help and succour him and love him as before.” (Translated by F. York Powell.)