The Long Parliament which convened in November 1640 has always been seen as being of central importance to the broader narrative of English history. Its notoriety derives, in the first instance, from the critical role it played in the onset – and subsequent conduct – of the English Civil War and Revolution. But it is also seen to be critically important to the history of the institution itself and to Parliament's evolving sense of its own role and responsibilities. The collapse of the king's government in 1640, the resulting (and immediate) need to fill the administrative vacuum and the eventual demands of governing in wartime all worked inevitably to bring about a fundamental transformation during the ensuing decade. Traditionally (and certainly through the parliaments of the 1620s) Parliament had been called primarily to do ‘the king's business’ and it did so in three clearly defined ways: by offering advice and counsel to the king's government on contemporary problems; by joining the king in passing legislation to correct those problems and any others which they or the king's ministers might have identified; and (rather less conspicuously) by enforcing the king's laws through the judicial process of impeachment or through appellate review in the House of Lords. Parliament's functions were advisory, legislative and judicial. They were not, and until 1640 were not presumed to be, either administrative or executive in nature.