it—the term was originally coined to refer to the 1388 assembly. Although the Parliament of 1386 was described by Favent as having "wrought wonders," recent scholarship has been more critical. John McCall and George Rudisill have argued that the Parliament demonstrated the "inanity of the proceedings and the vindictiveness that motivated them, the weakness of the King's government and the inability of anyone to do anything about it". It is no surprise, argues the Parliament Rolls of Medieval England project, that for the rest of Richard's reign, England "witnessed a political crisis such as had not been seen since the reign of Edward II". The councils imposed by Parliament on Richard set a precedent which continued into the reign of his successor Henry IV, who deposed Richard in 1399. Henry was frequently ill in his later years which led to the reintroduction of a form of conciliar government based on the models described in 1385 and 1386. Chaucer's attendance and literary depictions One member of the Wonderful Parliament was Geoffrey Chaucer, elected as shire knight for Kent. Chaucer by that point was well known both as a poet and as a public servant. Although his personal position regarding the events he witnessed is unknown, it has been suggested that he used the experience of this and the Merciless Parliament (which he was also elected to attend) as a basis for his work The Parliament of Foules. Literary scholar Britton Harwood has suggested that Chaucer based his character Symkyn—who is portrayed as "absurdly pretentious" before public humiliation—in The Reeve's Tale on de la Pole, who, like Chaucer, had a non-aristocratic background before attaining gentility. Chaucer's attendance has also been suggested as having influenced the Trojan Court scene in his later epic poem, Troilus and Criseyde, in which it is the assembled Parliament, rather than the King or the Trojan princes, that is responsible for the subsequent political calamity. Recent commentators have suggested that his depictions show how Chaucer was "astounded at the vindictiveness of some of [the King's] political adversaries". This work is a more cynical treatment of parliamentary affairs than his previous Parliament of Foules. Chaucer was probably personally affected by the goings-on of the 1386 parliament and particularly its bloody consequences, it has been argued, as he was not only a royal appointee to his post of London customs' controller, but also a personal friend to some of those