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Long Parliament Convenes
This was one of the earlier steps to a limited monarchy because it was a concrete sign of rebellion against the absolutist monarchy of Charles I. At this point, the people and especially the Parliament took took their discontent and revolted, taking away some of the rights of the monarch. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the struggle because king Charles I and his successors didn't give up quite so easily. Source Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LongParliament.jpg -
Period: to
fifty years to a limited monarchy
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Charles I Invades Parliament
During the early 1640s, there was a possibility that Charles I could compromise with Parliament and achieve the subtle absolutism that his counterpart Louis XIV in France had created, however, Charles became furious at Parliamentarians that didn't trust him and attempted to arrest them. This showed the utter divide between them and was the second step to destroying absolutism. Source Image: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/world-history/taking-sides-parliament-and-the-king -
Oliver Cromwell dissolves Parliament
Cromwell disbanded Parliament because they wanted to disband his army. Cromwell was an absolute ruler, even though he wasn't intended to be. By dissolving Parliament, Cromwell proved this even more to the people and demonstrated the faults of an absolute monarchy by making himself hated. Because of this, the English were even more averse to absolutism. Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CromwellDissolvingLongParliament.jpg -
Royal Declaration of Indulgence by Charles II
This suspended all all laws against Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants and made the English people once more very wary of their king. It was also the reason for another conflict between Parliament and Charles II-Parliament refused to fund Charles' war until he rescinded the act and signed the Test Act. With this, the absolutist Charles II once more went against the will of the people. Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Charles_II_(Lely).jpg -
King James II repeals the Test Act
The Test Act had previously been part of contention between Charles II and Parliament, and James II repealing it proved to do the same thing. In doing this, he dissolved Parliament and ended up issuing another Declaration of Indulgence that was seen as a strike against local authority when he enforced it. This was one of the last straws against absolutism because it was so totally against public opinion. Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_James_II.png -
Parliament invites William III of Orange to invade England
This was the penultimate step to achieving a limited monarchy in England because Parliament took the initiative to get rid of an absolute monarch, James II, for one that guaranteed not to be absolutist, William III. This isn't the last step becaues of now the limited monarchy wasn't implemented, but it was practically in England. Had William III not come, the strift between Parliament and the king may have continued. Source Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Arrival_of_William_III.jpg -
William III of Orange signs the Bill of Rights
In essence, the Bill of Rights of 1689 marked, for me, the actual advent of limited monarchy because William III signed away many of his predecessors' powers and agreed to give Parliament a much larger and permanent say in law-making and monetary policy. Moreover, it defined liberties and therefore restrained the monarch, preventing an absolutist rule. Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/English_Bill_of_Rights_of_1689
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