Практикум по английскому языку (по истории Англии Средних веков). Пилипенко В.А - 34 стр.

 assembly. This Model Parliament made a large grant of
 money . Edward levied a heavy property tax, tolls on          ïîøëèíû
 wool exports and seized some of the property of the           çàõâàòèë
 church. These levies were strongly resisted, and in 1297
 the «Confirmation of the Charter» was secured. Thus he
 acknowleged the right of the Parliament to vote taxes.
 Edward promised, in effect that no new taxes would be
 raised in future without the consent of Parliament. The       áåç ñîãëàñèÿ
 opposition was still largely of the traditional baronial
 type, but what is important is the new parliamentary
 forms which this opposition was beginning to make. It
 was during the same period that the final steps were
 taken which gave Parliament its modern forms. At first
 all sections set together as one body, and, inevitably, the
 proceedings were dominated by the great barons. Then
 came a period of experiment. Sometimes there were
 three «Houses» – barons, clergy and commons.                  ïàëàòû
 Sometimes the knights of the shire sat with the barons,
 sometimes with the burgesses. Then the clergy ceased to
 sit in Parliament and formed their own Convocation,           ñîçûâ
 and the divisions into Lords and Commons took place.          îáùèíû
 In this division the knights of the shire – representing
 the smaller landowners — took their places in the             çåìëåâëàäåëüöû
 Commons with the            representatives of the town
 merchants. This grouping, found only in England, was
 an exact reflection of the unique distribution of class
 forces in this country toward the close of the Middle
 Ages. Great power was concentrated in the hands of a
 very small number of powerful noble families, mostly
 related to the crown and fighting bitterly for supremacy
 among themselves. They saw in Parliament a convenient
 means through which to dominate the state machine,
 and its wide powers were in practice often exercised by
 the ruling clique of nobles. The whole period was one of
 transition, of a delicate balance of class forces and
 Parliament, at the same time a reflection and a
 battleground of these forces.                                 ïîëå áèòâû

                     ASSIGNEMENT TO TEXT IX

I. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary and learn them
by heart:
     assume popular character; clergy; summon the Parliament;
burgesses; in the reign; proceedings; royal convenience; knights; tax



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