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Jun 15, 1215
The Magna Carta
The Great Charter represented the first time the barons of England forced any sort of limits on the power of the monarchy. The Magna Carta protected not only the barony but also the serfs and commoners of England from the arbitrary power of the king and laid a foundation for English law.
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Jan 1, 1295
Model Parliament
This embodiment of the English Parliament served as a model for later ones. It also set precedents for making demands of the monarch as well as levying taxes to fund wars.
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Apr 21, 1509
Henry VIII's Reign
Henry represented among the strongest unilateral usage of political power by an English monarch. He decided, operating mainly in his own self-interests, to oppose the Pope and change England to a protestant nation.
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Nov 17, 1558
Elizabeth I's Reign
Queen Elizabeth both used monarchial power to its greatest extent, and cooperated with Parliament to the greatest extent yet seen by England. Elizabeth was able to push England into the forefront of the European balance of power. She respected the views of the common people and didn't persecute Catholics though she was protestant, and represented a wise absolutism that would be lacking in her later counterparts.
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Execution of Charles I
Charles I was tried and found guilty for treason, and subsequently executed. This was significant because it temporarily ended the monarchy, and was the first application of the death penalty to a reigning monarch. The people of England, through Parliament and the judicial branch, completely rid themselves of the absolutist monarchy.
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The Restoration of the Monarchy
Though the monarchy was restored to the throne, it ought to have taken a lesson from Charles's execution that it could no longer ignore the interests of the people. Charles II had to deal with a very different balance of power with Parliament than Charles I or any other of his predecessors did.
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The Glorious Revolution
The invasion of England by William of Orange and his overtrow, with Mary, of James II's government represented a "Bloodless revolution" that redefined the British Monarchy. The Bill of Rights that came out of the Glorious Revolution set out the enumerated rights of the English citizen and set concrete limits on the power of the monarchy, and increased the power of Parliament.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/William_and_Mary.jpg
