Oxford Parliament (1644)

Parliaments of England 1604–1705
Parliament Date Blessed Parliament 1604 Addled Parliament 1614 3rd Parliament of King James I 1621 4th Parliament of King James I 1624 Useless Parliament 1625 2nd Parliament of King Charles I 1626 3rd Parliament of King Charles I 1628 Short Parliament Apr 1640 Long Parliament (1) Nov 1640 Oxford Parliament 1644 Long Parliament (2) 1645 Rump Parliament (1) 1648 Barebone's Parliament 1653 First Protectorate Parliament 1654 Second Protectorate Parliament 1656 Third Protectorate Parliament 1659 Rump Parliament (2) 1659 Long Parliament (3) 1660 Convention Parliament 1660 Cavalier Parliament 1661 Habeas Corpus Parliament 1679 Exclusion Bill Parliament 1680 Oxford Parliament 1681 Loyal Parliament 1685 Convention Parliament 1689 2nd Parliament of King William III and Queen Mary II 1690 3rd Parliament of King William III 1695 4th Parliament of King William III 1698 5th Parliament of King William III 1701 6th Parliament of William III Dec 1701 1st Parliament of Queen Anne 1702 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne 1705
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The Oxford Parliament, also known as the Mongrel Parliament, was the Parliament assembled by Charles I of England for the first time on 22 January 1644 and adjourned for the last time on 10 March 1645, with the purpose of being an instrument of the Royalist war campaign.

Charles was advised by Edward Hyde and others not to dissolve the Long Parliament as this would violate the statute of 1641 which said that Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent. So all members of the Long Parliament were summoned by King Charles to assemble for a session of Parliament to be held at Christ Church Hall, Oxford. Eighty-two peers, which was most of the House of Lords, and 175 commoners, which was about one-third of the House of Commons, heeded the summons and came. Sir Sampson Eure was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons.^[1]

The Parliament met a number of times during the First English Civil War and was seen by Charles as a way of raising revenue. However, some of the members defected back to Westminster because they did not like his alliance with Irish Catholics, and others argued strongly for a negotiated peace with the Long Parliament in Westminster Hall.

The first session lasted from 22 January 1644 until 16 April 1644. The second session was from 8 October 1644 until 10 March 1645.

Not much is known of its proceedings because all its records were burnt just before Oxford fell to Parliamentary forces in 1646.

See also

• List of parliaments of England
• Oxford Parliament (1258)
• Oxford Parliament (1681)

Further reading

• British Civil Wars: Oxford Parliament Archived 2 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
• Oxford Parliament

References