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Tournai (Parliament of England constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tournai
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1513–1519
Seats2

Tournai (French pronunciation: [tuʁnɛ]), was a possible former constituency of the Parliament of England.

Overview

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Tournai, the only town (now city) in modern Belgium ever to have been ruled by England, was under English control from around 23 September 1513 (after its capture from France during the 1513 Battle of Guinegate) and remained so until its return in 1519 to France upon the payment of 600,000 crowns[citation needed][disputeddiscuss] following the Treaty of London (1518). Aged 22, Henry VIII entered the town ceremonially on 25 September 1513.[1] During part of the time during which the town was under English sovereignty, it was possibly represented in the Parliament of England by two Members of Parliament. However, Oxford historian C. S. L. Davies has argued that no such constituency ever existed.[2]

Election

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An election is believed by some to have taken place in about December 1513.[3]

Members of Parliament

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Summoned Elected Assembled Dissolved First Member Second Member
28 November 1511 1513 4 February 1512 4 March 1514 Jean Le Sellier unknown
23 November 1514 1515 5 February 1515 22 December 1515 unknown unknown

Coinage

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Groat of Henry VIII, Mint of Tournacen, 1513

Groat and half-groat coins were issued without a portrait of King Henry VIII but did display his name. Dated 1513, these were struck subsequent to the town's capture in 1513 from France and nowadays are exceptionally rare especially since they are the earliest British dated coins.[citation needed]

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References

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  1. ^ Cruickshank, C.G. (January 1971). "Henry VIII at Tournai". History Today. 21 (1). Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. ^ Davies, C. S. L. (2001). "Tournai M.P.s at Westminster?". Parliamentary History. 20 (2): 233–235. doi:10.1111/j.1750-0206.2001.tb00377.x.
  3. ^ S. T. Bindoff, ed., The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558, vol. 2 (London: History of Parliament Trust, 1982), 521.
  • The House of Commons 1509-1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)