The Development of Constitutional Monarchy in England

The Magna Carta

Jun 15, 1215

Created by the English nobles, the Magna Carta was a document that guaranteed the nobles certain basic political rights, limiting the power of King John, who of course, reluctantly signed. It included the following rights: no taxation without representation, a jury trial, and protection of the law.

Petition of Rights

1628

Like the Magna Carta, this document proposed that the king should have less power, but it importantly specified that the law was higher than him. King Charles agreed to the four rights included: he would not imprison subjects without due cause, he would not levy taxes without Parliament's consent, he would not house soldiers in private homes, and he would not impose martial law in peacetime. Again, the king like any other monarch, ignored it.

Execution of Charles I

1649

After the English Civil War, King Charles I lost and was put in jail. The people publicly tried and beheaded Charles, and this was something no one had seen before. The standard was that kings usually died in secret, and this act of defiance made other monarchs scared that their own people would do the same to them.

Habeas Corpus

1679

This law meant "to have a body". It gave prisoners the right to obtain a unit or document ordering that the prisoner be brought before a judge to specify charges and be tried. Prisoners before could never have access to trials. With the Habeas Corpus, a monarch could not put someone in jail for simply opposing a ruler.

Bill of Rights

1689

Created by Parliament, the Bill of Rights made the limits of royal power clear and instilled a constitutional monarchy in
England. It put limits on the monarch again, which were: no suspending of Parliament's laws, no levying of taxes without grant from parliament, no interfering with freedom of speech in Parliament, and no penalty for citizens who petitioned the king about grievances.