-
The Magna Carta sought to limit the power of the king and prevent him from exploiting said power. It established law as a power itself and made it clear that the law applied to everyone including the king. Even though it was written a long time ago, it still applied to the monarchy in the 1600s and was one of the first documents to put in writing that the law applied to not only the citizens but to the king as well. -
Charles I believed strongly in the divine right of kings and wanted to rule how he deemed fit, often dismissing his parliament. His disputes with parliament led to the English Civil War which helped the path to a limited monarchy begin as many sentiments of controlled power of the king were shared. -
This was a list of demands that parliament issued to Charles I. This along with the Bill of Rights and Magna Carta were equally important in defining and limit the king's rights in terms of taxation, application of martial law, imprisonment without trial and the housing of troops in civilian homes. King Charles I signed this document but ignored it throughout his reign. This document was significant to the forming of a limited monarchy in England as it helped define some of those guidelines. -
This was a series of battles between supporters of parliament and supporters of Charles I. They went head to head about how much power the king should have.
Parliament won and Charles was executed. They then abolished the monarchy, the House of Lords and the Anglican Church and England became a Puritan Republic.
This event led to a change in government and while the monarchy was reestablished with Charles II. tensions between the king and parliament continued to happen and
grow. -
The English hoped that King James II (the king who succeeded Charles II) would be succeeded by his eldest daughter, Mary II, and her husband William IiI of Orange. James' wife gave birth to a son who was now in line to take the throne. Parliament's opposition to this led William to invade England and he showed up with an army in 1688 and James fled England Parliament proclaimed William Ill and Mary Il the new rules of England. During their reign they passed acts that limited the monarch's power. -
William and Mary recognized a Bill of Rights that limited the powers of the monarchy and gave civil liberties to the English privileged class. This meant that kings and queens would have to answer to the law and weren't above it anymore. They would also have to rule by the consent of the Parliament meaning there would be some checks and balances in government. This really helped lead to a limited monarchy because it cut the powers that they currently had. -
William and Mary's reign allowed for a lot of the change that occurred to the monarchy including the Bill of Rights which limited monarchs power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control taxation and legislation as well as fixing the abuses of power the previous kings committed. This helped lead to the limited monarchy of England.