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• Many conflicts with
Parliament, mostly over money
• Parliament’s financial power was one obstacle for England’s rulers, prevented absolutism
• 1603 she died, no children
• closest relative was cousin James Stuart

• He was also king of
Scotland
• He inherited
Elizabeth’s problems
• Offended Puritan members of
Parliament because he refused to make
Church reforms
• Died in 1625

• Son of James I
• Always needed money because war with Spain and France
• several times parliament refused to give him money so he dissolved parliament

• 1628 Parliament forced him sign the Petition of Right
– King can’t imprison subjects without due cause
– Can’t levy taxes without parliament’s consent
– Can’t house soldiers in private homes
– Can’t impose martial law during peacetime
• Charles I ignored the petition, but it was important because set forth idea that law is higher than the king, contradicted theories of absolute monarchy
• 1629 he dissolved parliament, imposed fees/fines for money, decreased popularity

• 1637 Charles tried to force Presbyterian Scots to accept Anglican prayer book, Scots rebelled
• Charles needed money…
• Autumn 1641 Parliament passed laws to limit royal power, Charles tried to arrest them
• Charles fled to N. England where ppl loyal to him
• People loyal to Charles were Royalists or Cavaliers vs. Puritan supporters of Parliament, called
Roundheads

• 1644 Roundhead’s general Oliver Cromwell helped win war
– his New Model Army began defeating the
Cavaliers, held Charles I prisoner by 1647
• 1649 Charles I on trial for treason against
Parliament, found guilty, and executed
• Revolutionary!!!

• 1649 Cromwell abolished the monarchy and House of Lords
• Est. a commonwealth
• Drafted a constitution
– first written constitution of any modern European state
• Eventually Cromwell tore it up and became a military dictator

• Cromwell and the
Puritans sought to reform society by promoting
Puritan morality and abolishing activities they saw as sinful
• Cromwell was strict
Puritan but allowed religious tolerance for all
Christians except
Catholics

• Cromwell died in 1658, his gov’t collapses, new parliament
• 1659 parliament asks
Charles I’s oldest son to rule England
• Charles II restores the monarchy, so the period of his rule is called the Restoration

• During his reign parliament passes an important guarantee of freedom: habeas corpus: 1679
– every prisoner has the right to obtain a document ordering that the prisoner be brought before a judge to specify the charges against the prisoner
– prisoners can’t be held indefinitely without trial
• Charles II had no child, so heir was brother
James, who was Catholic
• Whigs opposed James, the Tories supported him
– England’s first political parties

• 1685 Charles II died,
James II becomes King
• Offends ppl by displaying
Catholicism, appointed
Catholics to office, dissolves Parliament when they protest
• James’s second wife has a son, ppl are terrified of possibility of line of catholic kings

• James’s older daughter,
Mary, was a Protestant, married to William of
Orange, a prince of the
Netherlands
• Parliament invited William and Mary to overthrow
James for sake of
Protestantism
• 1688 William led army into
England, James fled, bloodless overthrow of
King James II: the Glorious
Revolution

• William and Mary set up a constitutional monarchy: laws limit the ruler’s power; they recognized parliament as their partner in governing
1689 Parliament drafted a Bill of Rights to make clear limits of royal power; ruler can not:
-No suspension of parliament’s laws
-No levying taxes without grant from parliament
-No interfering w freedom of speech
-No penalty for citizens who petitions king w grievances

• After 1688 Parliament and the monarch had to rule together, if disagreed=standstill
• This issue remedied with cabinet: a group of government ministers, or officials; link between monarch and majority party in Parliament
• Over time cabinet became center of power and policymaking; leader of the majority party in parliament heads the cabinet, is called the prime minister

Queen Elizabeth II
Windsor Dynasty
1952-
Prime Minister:
David Cameron 2010-