During the 17th century, England experienced a significant political shift that would later influence other countries to follow in its footsteps. The inhabitants of England and Parliament became fed up with the greedy Stuarts’ attempts at running the country on their own with their ideals of divine right. A military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell was then instituted, but it was not the solution to their predicament. After the Protectorate, the king returned, but similarly to their predecessors, failed in leading the country successfully. The prevalent question that became asked during this period of time was: Who was the true sovereign of England? The monarchs believed they were the rightful rulers, but on the other hand, Parliament believed thought national harmony was the better approach. The frustration of the England’s citizens and the Roundhead members of Parliament with the English monarchy’s abuse of power, lack of cooperation, divisive leadership, and selfish goals ultimately led to the downfall of the absolutist system during the Glorious Revolution in the 17th century.
The first Stuart king, James I, paved the way to resentment towards the monarchy in England. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, I, Parliament reached out to the Stuart family in Scotland. They instituted Elizabeth I’s cousin, James IV of Scotland, to the English throne. James, now recognized as King James I, presided over a country which had a well established a balance of powers between the government and the monarchy. Little did they know, James I’s obsession with becoming the absolute leader would disrupt the balance. Conflict was immediately prevalent between the monarch and Parliament because James I rarely called on Parliament for meetings. In turn, the government was not able to make revenue from taxes. Both the monarchy and Parliament were aware of “Statum de Tallagio non Concendo”, which established the rule that the monarch could not tax without the Parliament’s approval. James I attempted to work his way around by raising revenue through selling titles, collecting money through English colonies, increasing custom duties, and increasing the tax on incoming products. He believed that he could run the country alone, but harmony between the two forms of government was essential for success. Moreover, he further angered the citizens by forcing his beliefs on them. In the past, absolutist monarchs controlled all aspects of the country including the religion. England had its own state religion, The Anglican Church of England, yet they still had a diverse religious minority. James I enforced the King James Bible upon the Catholic minority in 1611. His rendition of the bible was written in English and was to be practiced in the same language. This angered Catholics because “the official language of the medieval Church was Latin”. English citizens were becoming confident in the notion that a monarch who forced his own views upon his subjects was not fit to run a country alone. James I set the tone for the next monarchs of England.
Like his predecessor, Charles I continued the selfish idea of personal rule, stirring the pot of hatred. He began the “11 Years Tyranny” by dismissing Parliament from 1629 to 1640. Clearly, he did not learn from the one who came before him. Instead of using the Parliament, Charles I instituted the Star Chamber “to supervise the maintenance of order”. The people of England released documents expressing their frustrations against the monarchy, which he did not adhere to causing even more hatred to broil. In response, a number of Parliament members released the Petition of Right in 1629, a document containing a list of petitions “concerning divers Rights and Liberties of the Subjects, with the King's Majesty's royal answer thereunto in full Parliament”. Charles I was criticized for his lack of meetings with parliament, ignoring Statum de Tallagio non Concendo, and abusing his authority. For example, Parliament “declared arbitrary arrest to be unlawful”; however, he abused it regularly against those who did not pay taxes. He was expected to respond to Parliament in a meeting, but he turned his back on the country by dismissing Parliament. This bold move produced chaos. The start of his fall began when he attempted to enforce the Book of Common Prayer and episcopal system onto the Scots. The Scottish fiercely reacted against the reforms because they went against their Presbyterian beliefs. This ultimately led to Bishops’ Wars, which caused Charles I to need funding from the government in order to raise up an army. He called Parliament in April and November of 1640 but disbanded both almost immediately. His most infamously known method of making money was through “ship money:” Charles I collected money from coastal towns in turn for military protection. He likely could have easily avoided these issues by just cooperating with Parliament, but absolute power blinded him. The tension that was at its high was expressed through John Pym’s presentation of the Grand Remonstrance. This document was a list of grievances to prevent the “miserable effects which such malicious endeavors may produce”. Charles I was given another chance to reprimand because Pym knew civil war was going to break out. Although this was an olive branch message, Charles I interpreted it as an attack to his divine right. In 1642, he attempted to arrest the radical Parliament members, thus beginning a civil war. The country was split into two main factions: Roundheads and Cavaliers. The Roundheads supported the radical members of Parliament, and the Cavaliers sided with the monarchy. The Roundheads had the upper hand with the disciplined New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell and the support of the Scots. In 1646, Charles I surrendered and was given yet another opportunity to redeem himself. His stubbornness and devout belief in his divine right caused him to betray their trust. Consequently, another Civil War began and quickly ended. Charles I was given various attempts to change, but he did not want to lose his power. In the end, he was tried for treason and executed. Oliver Cromwell took this opportune moment to become the next monarch of England.
After the Stuarts were removed, Oliver Cromwell rose to power as the sole sovereign of England, but would soon fall as a result of his paltry behavior and military unrest. When the war ended, Oliver Cromwell utilized the army as his tool to achieve power. He was “no revolutionary;” with the force of the military establishment behind him and his widespread popularity after the war, Cromwell was able to remove all of his opposition. The Cavaliers became his biggest enemies. He then stepped into power as the head of the commonwealth in the House of Commons. From 1653 to 1658, England was under the military dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell. Instead of becoming king, Oliver Cromwell was given the title of Lord Protector, hence the name of this period being the Protectorate period. He denied the crown, yet he acted like a typical English king of that age. He did not cooperate with Parliament and abused his authority. In 1654, his first Parliament assembly was dysfunctional. Their first meeting was over how much authority was Parliament granting him, so in response, Cromwell used the army to “summon a troop of soldiers who refused to admit any MP who denied Cromwell's power”. Like a king would use his crown rights, Cromwell used the military to get what he wanted. He then lost his patience and dissolved the Parliament in 1655. Cromwell instituted the “Major Generals” system, which turned England into a confederation of militias with each state overseen by a Major General. Each general was in charge of collecting and stopping possible rebellions, in addition to supervising the Cavaliers. The Major Generals were not liked by the nation for their abuse of rights. This system was not enough to suffice Cromwell’s grand army. In another petty act, Cromwell called another Parliament but refused his opponents a seat. Many members of Parliament quitted out of anger towards Cromwell’s unprecedented behavior. Suddenly, Cromwell fell ill and died. He left his son, Richard, a torn country full of resentment. The Cavaliers saw this as an opportunity to regain their status. General George Monck used the soldiers under him to slowly add the Cavaliers back into Parliament. In 1661, the new Cavalier Parliament pardoned Charles I’s son, Charles, from exile and appointed him as King Charles II.
The next two short termed monarchs, Charles II and James II, were reinstated as solutions but continued the trend of failure, inciting the Glorious Revolution. After King Charles II’s reign, England was left in shambles. Defeat in the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the devastating bubonic plague of 1665, and the fire that engulfed London all left England in sorry condition. Moreover, an empty alliance to unite France and England under Catholicism undermined Charles, and later his brother James. The Whigs wing of Parliament, a section of the government against the monarchy very much like the Roundheads, used this to weaken the monarchy by inciting the Anglican majority of England. Anglicans were not fond of the Catholics in England, and definitely would not be content with a Catholic as the head of the country. James II was an open Catholic and was widely disliked as a result. He reversed the Test Act with the Second Declaration of Indulgence, thus allowing Catholics to be able to hold office. Additionally, his wife, Mary of Modena, birthed a boy ensuring the heir to the throne to be Catholic. The birth of the child was the catalyst that made Parliament act. They approached Prince William III of Orange to eradicate James II from England and in turn, William would become King of England. As a protestant and husband of Mary Stuart, the daughter of James II, he was the perfect candidate. It was an easy battle, and James II fled to France. Parliament made William agree to the Bill of Rights, which was a document which would "endeavour [the monarch] to subvert and extirpate the protestant religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom". The Whig-dominated Parliament finally achieved their goal of a balanced monarchy.
England had a unique form of government in Western Europe: a constitutional monarchy. The King no longer solely ran the country; the monarch was kept in check by its elected Parliament. This system prevented any future exploitation of England by the monarch. The English monarch could no longer do anything he pleased. The Glorious Revolution began the era of the fall of absolutism in Europe. People all over would later become fed up with the abuses of their monarchs, and would remove them from their throne. The idea of balancing establishing balance between the powers of each branch of government is immensely prevalent in modern times.