ABSTRACT
By THE FIFTEENTH century representative institutions were entrenched in much of Christian Europe. There were, as we have seen, latecomers in German principalities, Hungary, the Low Countries, Denmark and elsewhere. In Sweden the process was even further delayed by the Union of Kalmar. 1 Nevertheless, parliaments were a characteristic of the European political system by 1500. Few territories outside central and northern Italy lacked such assemblies. So the principle of ' consent of the community' was seemingly entrenched and unquestioned. But nothing is ever static and times were changing apace. Even as the principle of quod omnes tangit spread to the north and eastwards it was coming under threat. However, power-flexing muscular monarchy was not as yet the common challenge to an institution which epitomised the political ideals of consent, approval, balance, co-operation and auxilium. Quite the contrary: in some cases it was royal authority which appeared to be in greater peril. Either way, the creation of a royal-parliamentary partnership, which embodied at least some of the initial principles and purposes of medieval government, was now in danger of being undermined. There was no simple explanation but a variety of reasons. For convenience's sake we may consider them separately. Yet at the same time we need to be aware that many of the fifteenth-century changes were interrelated and often inseparable one from another.
