Essay Question 3

3. Like many other European monarchs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Kings of England attempted to consolidate their authority and power at the expense the nobility and Parliament.  Yet the English rulers failed in their efforts to install absolutist policies.  Why did Charles I's (1625-49) and James II's (1685-88) attempts to quash political opposition fail?  What were the most decisive constitutional developments in England during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and what were their consequences for the balance of power in that country?

• Charles I tries to rule on his own
  • Scots get sick of his Anglican policies
  • Catholic
  • English civil war
• James II tries absolutism
  • Catholic
  • Son of Charles and keeps his principles
  • Shy away from checks and balances
• Parliament is calling the shots
  • William and Mary are asked to invade
  • Constitutional developments
    • Bill of Rights
  • Act of Settlement
    • Parliament decides who the monarchy will be
      • Demonstration of Parliament's power