Petition of Rights

Essay by mckenzie7A-, September 2014

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England King, Charles I, was never on the same terms with Parliament; he was constantly disagreeing with them. Charles I believed in "The Divine Right of Kings". The Divine Right of Kings was a theory claiming that kings derive their powers directly from God and therefore a king's right to rules his people is a right granted by God. This caused him to break up Parliament and rule England on his own. Charles I never consulted with Parliament and made all the decisions without approval from anyone. This ultimately upset Parliament, which forced them to cut off Charles I. They refused to give him any more money. Charles I was in desperate need of money, so now as a result, he began to charge taxes. Parliament was upset by Charles I's decision to start taxing the people. As a result, they established the Petition of Rights. Charles I was forced to sign The Petition of Rights in 1628.

As a reward for signing this petition, Parliament would give him additional tax money, challenged the idea of the divine right of kings and established that even a monarch must obey the laws of the land. This document limited the king's power by ensuring political rebels trial by jury before imprisonment and it forbade the king to tax the people without the consent of the Parliament.

Although Charles I sign the Petition of Rights, he refused to change his ways. He continued his previous actions, which largely upset Parliament. Charles I never called Parliament for 11 years. He made decisions by himself and never listening to anyone else's opinion. He continued to strength his own wealth by unfairly taxing the people. This made him an unpopular ruler with the citizens and they began to resent him. Charles I was...