Parliament of Bats

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The Parliament of Bats was a Parliament of England that was held in 1426 in Leicester. Meetings probably took place in Leicester Castle. The King at the time, Henry VI was an infant, and the session saw him knighted in St Mary de Castro. [1]

The name is derived 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.