Royal assent of the Crown, standing on the sovereign's right, then read aloud the titles of the bills (in earlier times, the entire text of the bills). The Clerk of the Parliaments, standing on the sovereign's left, responded by stating the appropriate Norman French formula. A new device for granting assent was created during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1542, Henry sought to execute his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, whom he accused of committing adultery; the execution was to be authorised not after a trial but by a bill of attainder, to which he would have to personally assent after
Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom following were all known to be disabled when serving as MPs: Sir Francis Bryan, MP for Buckinghamshire in 1529, 1539, 1542 and 1545, who lost an eye in a tournament in 1526. William Page, MP for Bridport in 1559, Oxford 1562–67, and Saltash 1571–81, who had a hand cut off in lieu of execution for distributing a political pamphlet in 1579. John Stubbs or Stubbe, MP for Great Yarmouth 1588–89, who also had right hand cut off in lieu of execution for publication of the same pamphlet as Page in 1579. Hugh Bethell, MP for East Riding of Yorkshire 1654–56