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Period: to
England In The Seventheenth Century
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Authorized King James Bible
This sparked religous debate in England. King James ended traditional restrictions on religion and attempted to relax penal laws against Catholics. His lack of support for Protestantism caused considerable consern for many English. -
War with Spain
Beginning in 1624 the war made Charles I resort to extra-parliamentary measures to collect funds. This included levying new tariffs, attempting to collect discontinued taxes and subjecting the people to a forced property loan. These actions resulted in the creation of the English Petition of Right. -
Petition of Right
When Parliament met in 1628, its members would only grant funds to Charles I if he recognized the Petition of Right. This document required Parliament's consent for any taxes and gave citizens other rights such as no imprisionment without just cause. However, Charles I did not recognize this act until 1640, when he needed funds to supress the Scots rebellion. -
Invasion of Parliament
Charles I's opponents argued that Parliament should control the army that would be raised to supress the rebellion in Scotland because Charles I could not be trusted. Thus Charles invaded Parliament intending to arrest his oppenents. However, they escaped. Charles then left London to raise an army. And as a result Parliament passed the Militia Ordinance giving Parliament the authority to raise its own army. This led to the English Civil War. -
Test Act
The Test Act was passed by Parliament to require all civil and miltary officials of the crown to swear an oath against the doctrine of transubstantiation - which no loyal Roman Catholic would honestly do. This increased Parliaments power by establishing their ability to regulate crown officails and even the King. It led to James II demanding its repeal and dissolving Parliament. -
The Glorious Revolution
The English hoped that Mary II would become queen after James II's reign was over. However James' wife then had a son. There was now a Catholic heir to the thrown. Thus Parliament invited William of Orange to invade England with his army. He arrived in England and was received with popular support. James II then fled to France as Parliament proclaimed William III and Mary II the new monarchs. This led to the passing of the Bill of Rights. -
Bill of Rights
Upon taking the thrown William and Mary recognized a Bill of Rights that limited the powers of the monarchy and guaranteed the civil liberties of the English privileged classes. Monarchs were now subject to law and ruled by the consent of Parliament, which had to be called to session every three years. Thus the monarchy was now limited and subject to the people.
