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James I (1566-1625)
James I came to power after the reign of Elizabeth, and ended up bringing back religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. He believed in King by divine right, and therefore parliament was only allowed to gather when James summoned it. James created a foreign, religious, and economic policy; all of which raised suspicion of his true intentions as ruler of England. -
Charles I (1600-1649)
Charles I created extra-parliamentary measures which included:
-levying new tariffs/duties
-attempting to collect discontinued taxes
-forcing English property owners to "loans" and imprisoning those who would not pay
This created rebellious ideas towards the King of England from his citizens. -
Petition of Right (1628)
The Petition of Right stated the objectives of the English legal reform movement that eventually caused the Civil War and deposition of Charles I. The document can be seen in four main ideas:
1. Taxes could not be implied with Parliament's consent
2. No freeman could be imprisoned without cause
3. Soldiers could not quarter in a private home
4. Martial law was prohibited for regular use
All of these constitutional ideas, went against the concept of absolutism. -
English Civil War (1642)
The English Civil War was the war between those of parliament (and it supporters) against the King and his loyal people over (essentially) England's form of government. Opponents of Charles claimed he should just let Parliament rule, causing him to attack his "threat" within Parliament. This created even more tension between the idea of democracy vs absolutism. -
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)
Oliver Cromwell acted as a military dictatorship once he proved to be no politician. When the House of Commons wanted to break up Cromwell's command over his army, Cromwell broke up with Parliament instead. As Oliver continued to rule as a harsh leader, people resented his Puritan laws against drunkenness, theatergoing, and dancing. This is an example of what life looks like when the King/leader has absolute power. -
Charles II and Parliament's Test Act (1672)
Charles II returned to England, reestablished the English monarchy. He made an alliance with France and proceeded to create the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Roman Catholics. Parliament opposed this idea, and created the Test Act, that served as a religious test towards civil and military officials (which discriminated against Roman Catholics). This furthered the tension between Parliament's ruler over England vs the King's. -
Glorious Revolution/Bill of Rights (1688)
In November of 1688, William of Orange attacked England. The current ruler (James II) fled to France, while Parliament proclaimed William and his wife, Mary, as the new monarchs. They established a Bill of Rights that limited the King's power and granted civil liberties to the English privileged classes. This meant that monarchs could rule, but by consent of Parliament, ultimately creating modern England's limited monarchy.
