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Death of Elizabeth I
The reign of Elizabeth was charcterized by personal rule in which she only called upon parliament when she had to, her reign coincided with the Elizabethan Golden Age. This same trait was something her successor, James I, wanted to continue. -
Death of James I
The reign of James I continued absolutism in England but did not uphold the clean image of the monarchy like Elizabeth had done. Corruption was rampant among the king's advisors and religion began to be an important issue of the time, James did not get along with parliament very well but he was still relatively well liked by the people. James' successor, his son Charles, would look to continue the absolute rule of his father. -
Petition of Right
Wanting to finance a new war with Spain, Charles I looked to parliament but they proposed a new law in return. This law would have made it so that the king could not create taxes without the consent of parliament, no troops could be quartered without consent, and no person could be tried without due cause. Charles agreed but frequently reneged on his agreement and soon became fed up with parliament to the point where he dissolved it and began over a decade of personal, absolute rule. -
The Long Parliament
Charles had engaged in a failing war with Scotland that had prompted him to call a Short Parliament, which he dissolved. He then called a Long Parliament to try and resolve the issues again. Parliament then started to pass laws eating away at the power of Charles, who responded by raising an army, parliament raised one of its own which began the English Civil War. -
Execution of Charles I
Upon losing the English Civil War, Charles was executed and England was reestablished as a commenwealth without a king, the House of Lords, and the Anglican Church. Puritanism dominated this new state as much of parliament had been dissatisfied with Charles' trying to standardize his form of Anglicanism across England. This new state, however, was a kingdom in all but name headed by milatary hero Oliver Cromwell. -
Ascension of Charles II
To avoid chaos and/or a possible replication of the Cromwell regime, parliament invited the son of Charles I, Charles II, to become king of England's restored monarchy similar to life before the English Civil War. Charles' charm and political skill were able to win over much of England, but as his reign went on his policies of religious toleration became hated among parliament and Charles grew to distrust them. He would pass on this distrust and religious toleration to his Catholic son, James II -
The Glorious Revolution and The Bill of Rights 1689
Parliament invited the husband of Charles' previous successor Mary, William, to take the throne from the Catholic James.James fled and William and Mary were proclaimed the new monarchs of England. The 1689 Bill of Rights was passed which limited the powers of the monarch and granted parliament the duty to be the voice of the people, and the people were also protected with various parts of the bill. This officially began the era of limited goverment in England.
