The Magna Carta

I, King John, accept that I have to govern according to the law.

So I agree:

1. Not to imprison nobles without trial

2. That trials must be in courts; not held in secret by me

3. To have fair taxation for the nobles

4. To let freemen travel wherever they like

5. Not to interfere in Church matters

6. Not to seize crops without paying for them

…. and lot more things too!!

Glorious RevolutionFear of Catholic tyranny

The Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689 replaced the reigning king, James II, with the joint monarchy of his protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. It was the keystone of the Whig (those opposed to a Catholic succession) history of Britain. According to the Whig account, the events of the revolution were bloodless and the revolution settlement established the supremacy of parliament over the crown, setting Britain on the path towards constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.

English Civil War Propaganda

English Bill Of Rights

The Bill of Rights 1689 is an English Act of Parliament with the full title An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown and also known by its short title, the Bill of Rights. It is one of the basic documents of English constitutional law, alongside Magna Carta, the 1701 Act of Settlement and the Parliament Acts. It also forms part of the law of some other Commonwealth nations, such as New Zealand. A separate but similar document applies in Scotland: the Claim of Right.

The Bill of Rights 1689 is largely a statement of certain positive rights that its authors considered that citizens and/or residents of a free and democratic society ought to have. It asserts the Subject's right to petition the Monarch and the Subject's right to bear arms for defense. It also sets out (or in the view of its writers, restates) certain constitutional requirements where the actions of the Crown require the consent of the governed as represented in Parliament. In this respect, it differs from other "bills of rights," including the United States Bill of Rights, though many elements of the first eight amendments to the United States Constitution echo its contents. This is in part due to the uncodified constitutional traditions of the United Kingdom, whereby the English Bill of Rights forms a list of rights in respect of the people as represented in Parliament, in addition to those rights already provided for individuals as set out in Magna Carta. The Bill incorporated into law the growing conviction that although some people may inherit privileges, all women and men enjoy the same basic rights which can not be violated even by a Head of State, who is also subject to, not above, the law. The Bill also took the view that the Head of States, and others in authority, have responsibilities towards the governed, and that they are answerable to the people, not to themselves. The Bill of Rights still privileged the Protestant religion, however. It was a significant legal advance in recognizing individual rights and in giving them protection in law but it was also a child of its own time. Nonetheless, the whole notion of inalienable human rights, championed by the Universal Declaration and other documents, may have its origin in this legislation.

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a conflict between the King and Parliament in the middle of the 17th Century. Charles I believed in the 'divine right of kings'. He wanted to curb the powers of Parliament, whereas Parliament wanted more powers. The two sides argued about many things but money and religion were the most common causes of conflict. In 1629 Charles I, fed up with the arguments, went as far as to, quite literally, lock Parliament out of Westminster. The doors of the Houses of Parliament stayed locked with chains and bolts for 11 years. Charles continued to find alternative ways to raise money during the Eleven Year's Tyranny but eventually he was forced to call Parliament again as he needed money for war. Eleven years is a long time to wait and Parliament had demands of their own. Tensions continued until 1642 when Charles I went to Parliament with 300 soldiers in order to arrest the five men he saw as his strongest opponents. This was one step too far and shortly afterwards civil war broke out.

Divine Right

'The divine right of kings'

The belief that monarchs obtain the right to rule directly from God and are accountable only to him and not to their subjects.

This was a tax King Charles I tried to collect without consent of Parliament. In medieval times the tax was applied to coastal towns in war time only. It was sometimes paid in actual ships or the equivalent money and used to defend that stretch of coast. In 1634 Charles I applied the tax in times of peace and to every area of England

English Parliament

Edward 1's first Parliament

In 1275 Edward I called his first Parliament. He summoned nobles and churchmen, but also issued orders (known as writs) for the election of two representatives from each county (the knights of the shire) and two from each city or town (the burgesses) to attend.

They were called on primarily to listen to and approve the King's plan for a new tax. Over the following years it became an accepted rule that the representatives of those who were going to be most affected by taxation had to give their consent to it in Parliament.

Cavaliers and Roundheads

Roundheads were Parliamentary/Puritan soldiers who wore tight fitting un-orimented metal helmets, while Cavaliers were kings men who wore large hats with feathers as their uniform headdress.

Cavalier is a word only recently imported into English, deriving from a Spanish word for a mounted horseman or trooper and implying someone both brutal and papist. Roundhead, an invented word, applies to the puritan preference for short hair - and perhaps particularly to the style of the London apprentices, who feature in the mobs rioting in the streets on behalf of parliament.

Some differences between the round-heads and the cavaliers are that the cavaliers

supported the King and the round-heads supported Parliament. The cavaliers had allot of expensive clothing and cared what they looked like while they fought and the round-heads cared more about fighting and winning.

The round-heads were extremely strong puritans and set up a religious, protestant commonwealth after executing King Charles I, headed by Oliver Cromwell who appointed himself Lord Protector. The difference between the cavaliers and roundheads was this.Rupert (Cavalier) commanded the Royalist.Cromwell (Roundhead) commanded the Parliamentarian

Commonwealth

The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. After the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, the republic's existence was initially declared by "An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth" adopted by the Rump Parliament, on 19 May 1649. Executive power had already been entrusted to a Council of State. The government during 1653 to 1659 is properly called The Protectorate, and took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell and, after his death, his son Richard, as Lord Protector. The term Commonwealth is, however, loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 1649 to 1660, when England was de facto, and arguably de jure, a republic (or, to monarchists, under the English Interregnum).

Petition of Rights and Habeas Corpus

Petition of Right, 1628, a statement of civil liberties sent by the English Parliament to Charles I. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king's unpopular foreign policy had caused his government to exact forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects' houses as an economy measure. Arbitrary arrest and imprisonment for opposing these policies had produced in Parliament a violent

hostility to Charles and George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham. The Petition of Right, initiated by Sir Edward Coke, was based upon earlier statutes and charters and asserted four principles: no taxes may be levied without consent of Parliament; no subject may be imprisoned without cause shown (reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus); no soldiers may be quartered upon the citizenry; martial law may not be used in time of peace. In return for his acceptance (June, 1628), Charles was granted subsidies. Although the petition was of importance as a safeguard of civil liberties, its spirit was soon violated by Charles, who continued to collect tonnage and poundage duties without Parliament's authorization and to prosecute citizens in an arbitrary manner.

Habeas CorpusA writ ordering detained person into court: a writ issued in order to bring somebody who has been detained into court, usually for a decision on whether the detention is lawful

Detention without TrialHabeas Corpus is one of our oldest liberties. It was first introduced in 1215 in the Magna Carta, which stated:

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned…except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.”This meant that the King couldn’t lock someone up just because he didn’t like him or her. For anyone to be detained against their will, the state had swiftly to produce the person in court and state what crime they were supposed to have committed, known as the charge. This was called habeas corpus, or ‘produce the body’: all detention is unlawful unless a court has approved it.