This essay explores the significance of the Elizabethan house of commons meeting in a converted royal chapel within the Palace of Westminster. In 1548 the dissolved collegiate chapel of St Stephen at Westminster was given over to the exclusive use of the Commons, providing MPs with a dedicated meeting space for the first time. Although a great deal has been written about Elizabethan parliaments, little attention has been paid to the physical spaces within which MPs gathered, debated and legislated. Drawing on parliamentary diaries and exchequer records and informed by digital reconstructions of the Commons chamber modelled by the St Stephen's Chapel project at the University of York, this essay argues for the enduring influence of the architecture and decoration of the medieval chapel on the procedure, culture, ritual, and self‐awareness of the Elizabethan house of commons. Famously likened to a theatre by the MP and writer on parliamentary procedure, John Hooker, the Commons chamber is analysed as a space in which parliamentary speeches were performed and disrupted. The sound of debate is contrasted with other kinds of noise including scoffing and laughter, disruptive coughing, and prayers led by the clerk and the Speaker of the Commons. The iconography of the chamber, including the royal arms above the Speaker's chair and the mace carried by the serjeant‐at‐arms, is interpreted as enabling a culture of counsel and debate as much as an assertion of monarchical power. Evidence is also presented for the Commons chamber as a site of political memory.

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伊丽莎白下议院和圣斯蒂芬教堂威斯敏斯特

本文探讨了伊丽莎白时代下议院在威斯敏斯特宫内一座改建的皇家教堂举行会议的意义。1548 年，威斯敏斯特圣史蒂芬学院解散的学院教堂被移交给下议院专用，首次为国会议员提供了一个专门的会议空间。尽管有大量关于伊丽莎白时代议会的文章，但很少有人关注国会议员聚集、辩论和立法的物理空间。本文借鉴议会日记和财政记录，并以约克大学圣斯蒂芬教堂项目为模型的下议院数字重建为基础，论证了中世纪教堂的建筑和装饰对程序、文化的持久影响, 仪式, 以及伊丽莎白时代下议院的自我意识。国会议员和议会程序作家约翰胡克将下议院比作剧院，下议院被分析为进行和中断议会演讲的空间。辩论的声音与其他类型的噪音形成对比，包括嘲笑和笑声、破坏性的咳嗽以及由书记官和下议院议长主持的祈祷。议事厅的图像，包括议长椅子上方的皇家武器和军士长携带的狼牙棒，被解释为促进咨询和辩论的文化，以及对君主权力的主张。也为下议院提供了作为政治记忆场所的证据。在约翰·胡克 (John Hooker) 看来，下议院被分析为议会演讲进行和中断的空间。辩论的声音与其他类型的噪音形成对比，包括嘲笑和笑声、破坏性的咳嗽以及由书记官和下议院议长主持的祈祷。议事厅的图像，包括议长椅子上方的皇家武器和军士长携带的狼牙棒，被解释为促进咨询和辩论的文化，以及对君主权力的主张。也为下议院提供了作为政治记忆场所的证据。在约翰·胡克 (John Hooker) 看来，下议院被分析为议会演讲进行和中断的空间。辩论的声音与其他类型的噪音形成对比，包括嘲笑和笑声、破坏性的咳嗽以及由书记官和下议院议长主持的祈祷。会议厅的图像，包括议长椅子上方的皇家武器和军士长携带的狼牙棒，被解释为促进咨询和辩论的文化，以及对君主权力的主张。也为下议院提供了作为政治记忆场所的证据。以及由书记员和下议院议长主持的祈祷。会议厅的图像，包括议长椅子上方的皇家武器和军士长携带的狼牙棒，被解释为促进咨询和辩论的文化，以及对君主权力的主张。也为下议院提供了作为政治记忆场所的证据。以及由书记员和下议院议长主持的祈祷。会议厅的图像，包括议长椅子上方的皇家武器和军士长携带的狼牙棒，被解释为促进咨询和辩论的文化，以及对君主权力的主张。也为下议院提供了作为政治记忆场所的证据。