Black Parliament
Preserved but no longer current.
This is the name often given to the Parliament that was opened in Nov., 1529, for the purpose of furthering Henry VIII's seizing and consolidating his thefts of Church property. During the six and a half years of its existence it carried out the king's arbitrary orders with a servility no parliament has shown before or since.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Black Parliament” mean?
This is the name often given to the Parliament that was opened in Nov., 1529, for the purpose of furthering Henry VIII's seizing and consolidating his thefts of Church property. During the six and a half years of its existence it carried out the king's arbitrary orders with a servility no parliament has shown before or since.
Is “Black Parliament” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.