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Petition of Right
King Charles I's Parliament presents the Petition of Right to him. It is a document that argues against the validity of absolute rule, and brings up multiple aspects of Charles' reign that Parliament deemed to be unlawful. It was a direct challenge to Charles' authoritarian streak. He dissolved Parliament for the last time in the following year. -
English Civil War begins
Charles I, tired of Parliament testing his authority, rides to Nottingham on 22 August 1642 and declares war against them. This was seen as a massive affront to democracy, and was only done to further absolutism. It was a long, destructive, expensive, and incredibly violent war. -
Execution of Charles I
On 29th of this month, Charles I was charged with high treason and a multitude of other crimes, due to his absolutist government and his usual strong opposition to Parliament. The next day, he was beheaded in front of his own palace, Whitehall. -
James Duke of York converts
(No set date.) The heir-presumptive of Charles II, James, Duke of York (Charles' brother), converts to Catholicism. This was a poor choice on James' part, and it launched Charles' whole Parliament against him. Catholicism was equated to violence and tyranny due to the events of the Thirty Years War some time earlier. Thus, James' abrupt conversion made him an enemy of a lot of English people and, more importantly, his brother's Parliament. -
Charles II dissolves Parliament
Tired of Parliament's attempts to undermine his declarations and laws (all of which were very clement and gave religious tolerance), Charles II dismisses his Parliament, never to meet again during his reign. He left them with these words: "All the world may see to what a point we have come, that we are not like to have such a good end when the divisions at the beginning are such." He reigned, successfully, as an absolute monarch for five years, until his death. -
James II dissolves Parliament
(No set date.) James II dissolved his Parliament in November 1685, due to their unwillingness to bend to his will. -
James II passes 2nd Declaration of Indulgence
James II passes the Declaration of Indulgence using his royal prerogative; a very absolutist move. However, the Declaration is far from bad, as it grants religious freedoms to all. This, however, was the last straw for Parliament, who saw James to be nearing the power of Louis XIV, as he totally bypassed any and all legislative bodies to pass it.
