[4] During the reign of the House of Normandy, the English monarch was advised by a curia regis (Latin for "royal court"), which consisted of magnates, clergy and officers of the Crown.
[9] Its members always included a few barons, the great officers of state and royal household, and clerks, secretaries and other special counsellors (often friars and literate knights).
[13] The council of Edward I (r. 1272–1307) played a major role in drafting and proposing legislation to Parliament for ratification.
[16] During Henry VIII's reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation.
James' accession marked the Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland; however, the two kingdoms continued to have separate privy councils.
By the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords and Privy Council had been abolished.
The forty-one members of the council were elected by the Commons; the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, the de facto military dictator of the nation.
In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons.
[22] Charles II restored the royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small committee of advisers.
Membership was generally for life, although the death of a monarch brought an immediate dissolution of the council, as all Crown appointments automatically lapsed.