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The Duke of Buckingham, a friend and rumored lover of King James VI of England, sold noble titles for a profit. Those who were already nobles were furious over this, as it lessened the value of their titles and brought outsiders into their rank. This is important because King James let him get away with these actions, proving favoritism in the court and angering nobles who, in the past, have been helpful in cases of coups if convinced enough. -
While Spain was happy England was joining them in the Thirty Years War, financial troubles hit King James VI. He did not have enough money to pay for the war and nobody wanted to freely contribute to his funds. This caused him to levy new tariffs and bring up old taxes to force the English people to pay. This upset the English people, but even more so, upset Parliament. -
The Petition of Right was issued to King Charles l by Parliament. The petition promised Charles funds for the war if he promised not to quarter soldiers in homes, tax people without consent of Parliament or imprison men without cause. Charles initially agreed, but the next year he dissolved Parliament. This was important because it shows a time when Parliament made an effort to negotiate with the King only for the King to dissolve them and not hear their advice once he got what he wanted. -
Charles brought back Parliament to once again help with the funds of a Scottish revolt. He was told he would need to redress a long list of grievances. He dissolved that Parliament, now called the Short Parliament. He undid this after having soldiers were wiped out and easily defeated by the Scots. He went by their terms to get the required funds. This Parliament was called the Long Parliament. Both of these Parliament witnessed the King trying to evade consequences and purely reap the benefits. -
King Charles crashed a Parliament meeting to find those who went against him. When they escaped, he began building his own army. Shocked, Parliament passed the Militia Ordinance to also raise their own army. This marked the divide between Parliament and the Monarchy that had been clashing for some time by now and was one of the strongest components to the eventual English Limited Monarchy. -
The two armies clashed, creating the English Civil War. The Kings army, known as Cavaliers, faced what they called Roundheads, Parliaments army and supporters. With an army led by Oliver Cromwell, Parliament ended up winning over King Charles. King Charles was captured and executed on account of being a tyrant. -
After the events of the Glorious Revolution, in which they drove King James ll away to France for his contradicting religious beliefs as a Catholic, Parliament came together and created the Bill of Rights, now known as the English bill of Rights. This bill limited the power that the monarchy had and promised civil liberties to the English, finally turning England into the limited monarchy that had been building up for decades. Mary and William of Orange now ruled over England.