The Provisions of Oxford were agreed at a parliament held in Oxford on 11 June 1258, at a moment when King Henry III faced intense opposition from the English baronage.

By the 1250s Henry III had become deeply unpopular. His government was criticised for heavy taxation, the influence of foreign relatives and advisers from Poitou and Savoy,1 and costly and unsuccessful foreign ventures,2 including attempts to secure the crown of Sicily for his son Edmund.3  Led by Simon de Montfort, the barons argued that royal power should be limited by law and supervised by the political community of the realm.4

Under pressure, Henry III accepted a programme of constitutional reform that became known as the Provisions of Oxford.5 These established a council of fifteen barons to advise and control the king, required parliament to meet regularly, introduced greater accountability for royal officials, and restricted the granting of offices and lands to foreigners.

Henry later attempted to repudiate the Provisions, and the resulting breakdown led directly to the Second Barons War ⓘ. Although the Provisions were ultimately annulled after the defeat of the baronial movement, many of their principles influenced later constitutional developments in England.

• 1.
  
  Baker, Darren Henry Iii Stroud History Press 2017.

  p256.

• 2.
  
  Maddicott, JR The Origins Of The English Parliament, 924-1327 Oxford Oxford University Press 2012.

  p170.

• 3.
  
  Baker, Darren Henry Iii Stroud History Press 2017.

  p241.

• 4.
  
  Powicke, Sir Maurice The Thirteenth Century 1216-1307 The Oxford History Of England The Oxford History Of England Oxford Clarendon Press 1962.

  p137.

• 5.
  
  Baker, Darren Henry Iii Stroud History Press 2017.

  p254.