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Jun 15, 1215
King John Signs the Magna Carta
English Lords force the King to sign documents that limit his own power in by law and protect their privledges. The Magna Carta specified specific areas where the King's power was limited. It forced the King to accept that his power was not arbitrary and degraded the concept of Divine RIght. Now the King's power came from the People instead of God. Though most of the Magna Carta was repealed less than a century later, it is a symbolic beginning of the Fall of Absolute Monarchy. -
King James I Cooperates with Parliment after Gunpowder Plot
King James I and his cooperation with Parliment after the Infamous Gunpowder Plot was unusual for a monarch and began to sow the seeds of the parlimentary expectation that a King would work with them. This was hazardous for James' son Charles I who neither respected nor tolerated Parliment to even the slightest degree and therby ensured his own downfall. -
Cromwell Begins His Rise to Power
Oliver Cromwell is well known for his dismanteling of Absolute Monarchy in England. He did so through the English Civil Wars and establishing himself as Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth. As Lord Protector he tried even further to dismantle Absolute monarchy by trying to draft a constitution and refusing the Crown when offered to him. -
The English Civil War Begins
The English Civil War was started by angered members of the Rump Parliment. It symbolically represented that subjects, could in fact challenge the authority of their Monarchy. Charles I's rash attitude towards his subjects forced them to rebel and further weakened absoulute monarchy in England. -
Charles I is Beheaded
The execution of Charles I by the hands of his own subjects shocked much of England and nearly all of Europe. It demonstrated that a small group of a Monarch's subjects will not completely submit to the will of their ruler and may even take matters into their own hands. -
King James II Flees to France/ The Glorious Revolution
As James II became increasingly threatening towards Parliament and showed signs of wanting to become an absolute monarch like Louis XIV in France. This was too much for Parliment, and exercising the power they gained invited James' Protestant daughter , Mary, and her husband, William of Orange to take the throne of England. James II escaped to France. This showed that Parliment had the power to make and create monarchs at will. -
The English Bill of Rights is signed
It was now clear that Parliament could choose and dismiss a monarch with total freedom. William & Mary were invited to rule England but only on condition that they accept a Bill of Rights. These laws which clearly stated the power of Parliament alone to make laws and impose taxes. The powers of the monarch were drastically reduced. These laws set up a constitutional form of monarchy in England contrasting with the absolute monarchy of France and other parts of Europe at the time.
