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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was important to a limited monarchy since it guaranteed the rights of citizens and allowed for Parliament to become more firmly entrenched in the affairs of the British government. This would make it tough (on a legal and personal basis since the people would not want to give up their rights) for an absolute ruler to exercise complete power. -
Shaky Ruling of James I and Charles I
James I began this period of shaky rule in 1603 by often taking counsel from others, which was different than an absolute monarch. He began to lose support due to religious matters, which created serious problems for the monarchs. Charles I later lost even more power for English monarchs when he tried to rule without Parliament, which only angered them since they no longer had their traditional role in English government. -
Petition of Right
This showed an increase in Parliamentary power as they would only give Charles I finances if there would be no forced loans or taxation, the military should not be housed in regular homes, and men should not be jailed without a reason. This showed a decrease in power of Charles I. -
Long Parliament / Puritan Rule
After years of resentment due to the financial policies of Charles, Parliament took over in 1640, but later fell into Civil War regarding what type of Protestantism England should be. The Puritans won and Oliver Cromwell led a Puritan Republic for ten years untll his death in 1648. This showed a decline in absolute rule as well since England functioned completely without an absolute ruler. -
Return of Monarchy
The return of the monarchy was extremely important to the decline of absolutism as England realized that an absolute monarchy would not work. Charles II trying to rule without Parliament and James II trying to repeal the Acts of Parliament (in order to gain more power for Catholics) would become the last attempts at absolute monarchy as Parliament would prevent their attempts at reform. -
Glorious Revolution
In the Glorious Revolution, Parliament invited William and Mary of the Netherlands to come and rule in England. This completely removed James II from the picture and effectively ended absolute monarchy since Parliament had influence over the new rulers. William and Mary marked the beginning of a constitutional monarchy in England. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights guaranteed the basic rights of all (wealthy) citizens of England, which completely ended any English hope for a return to an absolute monarchy as rights were guaranteed by law and Parliament would have too much influence to be eliminated by a monarch.
