Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: character at the present day is firmly established; but the throne is in reality held, not from any claim of blood, but in accordance with the Act of Settlement as expressing the national will and the power of the legislature. In addition to the right of election the Witan had also the power of Deposition, Deposition, which was exercised to remove a King for incapacity or bad government. Instances, before the supremacy of Wessex, ?not connected instances in with conspiracies or rebellions: in Northumbria, Alcred, eary me 774; Ethelred, 779; Eardulf, 808. Instances in Wessex: Sigebert, 755, (deposed from all his kingdom except Hampshire); Edwy, 957, (deposed by part of his subjects, the Mercians and Northumbrians, in favour of his brother Edgar); Ethelred II, deposed 1013, restored 1014; Harthacnut, 1037, deposed in Wessex in favour of his half-brother Harold Harefoot 1, who had ruled North of the Thames2. It is a question whether the offer of the Crown to Prince Lewis of France by the Barons in 1216, does not amount to a sentence of deposition against John, although the Barons failed to carry that sentence out; whilst Henry III was of course practically deposed by the Provisions of Oxford in 1258 (p. 16 and Appendix A). Instances, in later times, of deposition by Parliament: in later In 1327, six articles were drawn up against Edward II by Edward n. Bishop Stratford, mentioning several points in which he had broken his coronation oath, and declaring him unfit to govern. Parliament renounced their homage through their spokesman, Sir W. Trussel; and Edward was deposed and shortly afterwards murdered. In 1399, Richard II was forced to offer to resign the crown, Richard II. and, thirty-three articles having been drawn up against him, 1 Harthacnut subse…
