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The First Civil War
So, Charles I wanted to have absolute power, but the parliament would block him at every turn. It ends up leading to an out and out physical fight, with the parliamentarians on one side, and the royalists of the other. The royalists lose, and Charles is more or less driven off. This helps to lead to limited monarchy in that it is the first domino in a series of events that put a different, more amenable line of monarchs on the English throne. -
The Second Civil War
Charles I's efforts to regain his throne with all powers intact led him to make a deal with the Scots: he would respect their catholicism if they helped put him back on the throne. It did not go well in that Charles I was captured, and no one much thought it necessary to keep him around any more. His leads to limited monarchy because it leads to the execution of Charles I. -
The Third Civil War
Charles II, Charles I's son, offered the Scots the same deal as his father, and they made him their king, and tried to put him on the English Throne. He was defeated, and remained in exile, while The Commonwealth was established. This leads to limited monarchy because it helps establish the legitimacy of the commonwealth as a defender of England, and kept the Stuart line off the throne for a while longer. -
The Execution of Charles I of England
After his involvement in the Second Civil War, Charles I was put to death by the Rump Parliament. He asked for 2 shirts, so the crowd watching would not see him shiver, and think it was fear. He went to the chopping block thinking he was a martyr. This helps lead to the limited monarchy in that it marks a turn in English history, in which kings were found to be only men. -
The Puritan Commonwealth
The commonwealth was set into being by the Rump Parliament in 1949. It encompassed England, Ireland, and Scotland, which were ruled by a republican government. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protectorate of the commonwealth by the Army Council. After his death, his son was made protectorate, but the commonwealth was dissolved, in 1659. This leads to the limited monarchy in so much that it helps people know more or less the freedom offered by democracy, even if it is and oligarchic democracy. -
The Restoration of the Stuart Line
After the dissolution of the Commonwealth, the reinstated Rump Parliament had grown tired of their republican experiment, and decided to invite Charles I's son, James II, to be king of England. He agreed, and set forth a policy of religious toleration that made many uneasy. This helps lead to the limited monarchy because he was not the best king, and people wanted to replace him with something better. -
The Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution was the event that solidified the limited monarchy, in which the English overthrew Jame II, and replaced him with William III and Mary II. They signed the Declaration right, followed by the 1689 bill of rights, which established the limited monarchy that is more or less used today
