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Period: Jan 1, 1200 to
7.3 seven steps to limited monarchy
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Jan 1, 1265
First English Parliament
The first English Parliament was convened in 1215, with the creation and signing of the Magna Carta. This established the rights of wealthy landowners to serve as consultants to the king on governmental matters in his great council, This event, thus, weakened the strength of king by strengthening the power of the nobles. -
Oct 31, 1517
English Reformation
England challenged the absolute authority of Catholic church and transformed to Protestantism. Although this was caused mainly by Henry VIII, this event gave an unique experience to England itself that there is no absolute power. Through this instance, England experienced that there is no absolute power. -
Jan 1, 1550
Growth of commercial activities and rise of new social class
England's commercial activity prospered through the wool trade and other major industries. With these new industries and vast network of trade, England earned lots of profits. Through this process, many merchants became wealthy and made a new social class in England. Emergence of these new class also played a huge role to limit the monarchy in Engalnd. -
English Civil war
King Charles I and parliament went through a civil war because King Charles I did not follow the rules of parliament. Due to Magna Carta, which the previous king singed, Charles I had to follow the rules of parliament, but he did not follow their rules. Due to these circumstances, the country split in to two parts: supporters of the king and supporters of the Parliament. For three years, the civil war continued. -
Rise of Gentry
Gentry was a group that was consisting more than 15,000 British people. However, the majority of people were not all wealthy and nobles. They consisted huge portion of common people. Thus, Gentry group became one of the representative of common people. Although the rise of Gentry brought competition and contained the power of Parliament, this event was also very important event to limit the England monarchy. Due to this new rise of group, of course the power of king was weakened. -
Execution of Charles I
The result of the English civil war was the defeat of the king. Charles I was accused of being a murderer and traitor to England's people. Thus, Charles I was executed in front of the public. This instance was maybe the most important event of limiting the power of monarchy in England because this event proved that they could even execute the king if they wanted. -
Bill of Rights
English parliament stated Bill of Rights to the public. This event was crucial to limit the power of England monarchy because the Bill of Rights had the content of limiting and restricting the power of king. Bill of rights stated that king could not proceed unjust taxation without consent of parliament, and also king could not have his own army during time of peace without permission of parliament. As such, this event shows that the English monarchy actually came to the end.