century. American Revolution The "Saxon myth" claimed that the old Saxon Witan originated in a representative assembly of English landholders. The claim was that the original assembly was then subsequently disbanded by the Norman invaders and later reappeared as the Parliament of England. This idea was held across the Thirteen Colonies in North America in the years prior to the American Revolution (1776–1783). Among the believers were Americans including Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan Mayhew. See also Councils of Clovesho Elective monarchy Kurultai Loya Jirga, a similar concept from Afghanistan Majlis Panchayati Raj Thing (assembly) Notes References Bibliography Hodgkin, Thomas, The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Norman Conquest (New York, 1906; repr. New York 1969) Hollister, C. Warren. The Making of England, 55 B.C. to 1399 (7th ed. 1995) ch 3 Whitelock, Dorothy, Review of The Witenagemot in the Reign of Edward the Confessor by Tryggvi J. Oleson, The English Historical Review 71 (1956): 640–42. Further reading Anglo-Saxon law Anglo-Saxon society Historical legislatures Succession to the British crown