Monarchy Absolutism and Constitutionalism?

Question

I need to research about this topic and prepare to defend them in a classroom seminar answering the question T_T help me please

Stuart England - James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, and Mary II (William and Mary). How did this family lead the monarchy from "absolutism" to Constitutional Monarchy?

again, PLEASE PLEASE help me ^^

Answer 1

By their bad examples. The Magna Carta, the defining of "places", was forced upon the royalty. Royalty didn't intentionally lead them to it. The English leadership needed to rein in those who reigned over them.

Even the Magna Carta needs a little realism in is understanding, so see if you have Holt book for future reference--it may be beyond your current project. Something closer to your immediate needs might be the Danziger and Gillingham text because they describe the immediate times.

Answer 2

Absolutism, in this context, means that a monarchy (say, a king or queen) has all the executive powers in a country and those powers are not controlled by other forms of power (legislative, judiciary). There are no checks and balances and they're just like a dictator. Constitutionalism means the existence of a constitutional system of government (usually with a written constitution). It also had many checks and balances and different power spheres (executive, legislative, judiciary).

Answer 3

Charles the first tried to restore an absolute monarchy to Britain, though his father had accepted the role of parliament (it had a very small role compared to today but the king could not raise taxes with out parliament). Charles the first tried to ignore parliament, dissolving it when it wouldn't do what he wanted and even trying to arrest members when they opposed him. This led to him being beheaded by the parliamentarians, though it must be admitted there was a religious aspect to this as well. After the death of Cromwell Charles the second (son of Charles I) became king. He accepted the role of parliament, even though its powers had increased. The next king was James the Second brother of Charles II). He once again had ideas of re-introducing the Catholic faith and along with this, the divine right of kings. He was removed in what is called the 'Glorious Revolution' because no one lost their life and William of Orange and his wife Mary (sister of Charles II and James II) became king and Queen. Once again parliament increased their powers and this was the beginning of a constitutional monarchy as we know it today.

Answer 4

Technically, the magna carta was already in place but James I was an absolute monarch. There was no real constitution in England, there was divine right and tradition. The Tudors before James I were absolute rulers and he simply was preserving the tradition. It was his son however, Charles I who really ran into problems.

Charles I decided that he would dismiss Parliament, which was a no-no since Parliament was also one of those long standing Traditions since the Magna Carta. Anyhow, after he dismissed them, he ran into trouble with the Puritans and Presbyterians in Scotland. He angered the Puritans because they felt he had way too much control over religion (and too much Catholic influence) in England. He angered the Calvinist/Presbyterians in Scotland because he imposed the Book of Common Prayer upon them, thus destroying their religious freedom. The Scots rebelled and suddenly Charles I needed Parliament so he could raise money for an army to fight the Scots.

When Parliament convened, instead of providing Charles I with the money he desired, they gave him a list of grievances. Charles I took steps to arrest members of Parliament he felt were trouble makers, including a leading minister in Parliament, Henry Pym. This led to the English Civil War which pitted the Royalists vs. the Parliamentarians.

With the help of Puritan zealoutry, provided by Oliver Cromwell, another member of Parliament, Parliament won and Charles I was beheaded, thus ending the reign of absolutists in England. Unfortunately, Oliver Cromwell controlled the army and he was not happy with Parliament so he ended up forcing them to make him the dictator of a Puritan State in England that was more absolutist than Charles I ever was. Cromwell dismissed Parliament 3 times during his reign as "Lord Protector" in the "Protectorate" of England.

Cromwell's reign was so strict that when he died, the English gladly accepted Charles II, son of Charles I to come and rule England. The absolute monarchs return. Charles II was wise enough, however, to allow Parliament the privilege and right to sit and he did share power with them. When James II succeeded Charles II, problems began anew.

James II converted to Catholicism, which agitated the largely Protestant Parliament. Then James decided that he didn't need Parliament and dismissed them, just like his grandpappy Charles I. An outraged Parliament threatened to do to James II as they had done to Charles I and James fled to France.

Leaderless and not prepared to let another Oliver Cromwell type dictator come to power, Parliament invites the daughter of James to rule with her husband. They were William III of Orange and Mary II. They did however force William and Mary to sign the English Bill of Rights which limited the Power of the Monarchy and defined powers of the Parliament. This was known as the Glorious Revolution because power was transferred without shedding a single drop of blood.

The signing of the English Bill of Rights added to the Magna Carta created the basis for written rules for the English government. It was England's first constitution. It created a limited monarchy, or a constitutional monarchy because it set up a system of government that still had a king but limited his/her powers by written law.

hope this helps.

have a nice day.