Why did england become a constitutional monarchy while france became an absolute monarchy?

Question

Just wondering

Thanks for all the great answers, but can you put some intricate details on why France and England became the way they were?

Answer 1

After the Hundred Years War, the English barons remain rich and powerful. Years later, when King John overtaxed them and seemed to step on their traditional powers, they demanded a document stating their rights, the Magna Carta. The idea took root that even a king was subject to the law (woe came to any English king that fully tried to exert supreme power over his barons and eventually Parliament). This eventually lead to a constitutional monarchy.
In France, the barons didn't have the power of the English barons (those that did once have it were killed during the war). The French king kept consolidating his power until he was the ultimate power in France.

Answer 2

Both countries were constitutional monarchies of a sort in the Middle Ages. They only started to diverge in the 15th century, when the French developed a standing Army. This meant continuous taxation which meant the withering away of the old representative institutions like the States General, designed for raising taxes only when war required them..
As England was (mostly) an island, there was no need for a standing army, so the old system continued and developed.

Answer 3

England was in fact an absolute monarchy at one time.

Because of a great number of social problems, and the weakening of the monarchy, Oliver Cromwell, and others worked to convince royalty that the only way for them to continue to exist as kings, and queens, was to allow a parliament, with the power to rule, and with them as the heads of state.

Answer 4

because England had a civil war in which the king was executed and. although the monarchy was restored after a short interregnum, the king was never allowed to have so much power again

Answer 5

King Charles II, restored to the Throne in 1660, learned from the mistakes that his father had made and as a result, had a long and successful reign and died peacefully of old age.