Parliament of Bats

The Great Hall of Leicester Castle (now with an early modern facade), location of the parliament

The Parliament of Bats was a Parliament of England that was held in 1426 in Leicester. Meetings took place in the great hall of Leicester Castle. The King at the time, Henry VI was an infant, and the session saw him knighted in St Mary de Castro Church across the road from the Castle Great Hall.^[1]

The parliament is so-called because members were not allowed to carry swords by the Duke of Gloucester, and so armed themselves with clubs, or bats — tensions being high because of the ongoing dispute between Cardinal Beaufort, the Bishop of Winchester and off-and-on Lord Chancellor, and the Duke of Gloucester, the King's uncle and regent. The Parliament saw Beaufort removed permanently as Lord Chancellor and replaced with John Kemp.

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