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Jan 1, 927
Kingdom of England founded
King of Wessex, Æthelstan, created the Kingdom of England. He and his future successors wielded absolute power. This became an issue for some of his future successors who did not have complete control over or support of the nobility. Sometimes angry peasants revolted, but the kings still had absolute power. -
Period: Jan 1, 927 to
Degradation of English Absolutionism
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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John II of England loses a rebellion by barons. They fight to end high taxes on the nobilty. The rebels create the Magna Carta to give themselves greater freedoms from the Crown. Its clauses create tax and judicial reform which limits the monarch's power. It also causes the first Parliment to meet. -
English Civil War
The King's only summoned Parliament when they needed to put something into law, usually relating to taxes only. The only power Parliment has to withhold tax revenue from the Crown. The King eventually dissolves, but soon reinstates it. It later overthrows Charles with Oliver Cromwell, who rules as a complete dictatorial republic. He dies and England becomes a monarchy again. However, the new king could no longer change laws for ridiculous matters. In addition, he could not dissolve Parliment. -
The Glorious Revolution
The English king was overthrown by pretenders supported by Parliment. The new monarchs agreed to the Bill of Rights, which gave the people of England certain indelible rights from the Crown. The English monarch could not levy taxes or create an army without Parliment's approval during peacetime. -
Election of King George I
King George the first is chosen by Parliment to be king, even though he was born in Germany and controls Hanover as an absolute monarch. He loses greater authority for the English crown. He has the first prime minister, who handles most of his affairs for him. His son is forced to become even more submissive to the PM because of his large influence. -
Reform Act of 1832
Simply a prelude to the Parliment Act, this act gave more control to the people to elect their representatives while reducing the amount of hereditary peerages given by the Crown. As a result, the king could not as easily stop legislature from passing or pass laws that he wanted in the House of Commons. -
Parliament Act of 1911
The House of Lords' power was sidelined by the House of Commons. This had the effect of the Prime Minister of the UK choosing who married the king. The House of Commons could also pass bills, and only be temporarily and not permanently, vetoed by the Lords. Previous to this, the King could remove or create new positions in the House of Lords to veto any bill he deemed undesirable. -
Present Day - A Mediocre Monarch
The English Monarch is now limited by such restrictions that she would receive much scorn from her ancestors, especially Charles who envied Louis XIV's absolute Monarchy. Now the monarch only has power's in name, that are rarely exercised. However, even if they are not above the law, the Royal Family have been immortalized as modern day celebrities by birth and hold several important positions as normal people.
