Monarchy

Petition of Right

When Parliament refused to finance his unpopular foreign policy, Charles I exacted forced loans and, as an economy measure, quartered troops in the homes of his subjects. When there was opposition to these measures, the king replied with arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.

Small wonder that Parliament was now violently hostile towards Charles and, especially, his favourite George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham. Aware of the MPs' anger (and equally aware that this might prevent them from approving funds for him), the king offered to grant a 'confirmation of the Great Charter' (that is, the Magna Carta).

Parliament refused this offer and came up instead with the Petition of Right, a statement of civil liberties for the 17th century. Initiated by the 76-year-old jurist Sir Edward Coke, who was a champion of the common law against the king's encroachments, it was based on earlier statutes and charters.

The Petition of Right consisted of four major principles:

1. no taxes to be levied without consent of Parliament
2. no subject to be imprisoned without cause (this reaffirmed the right of habeas corpus)
3. no soldiers to be billeted on the citizenry
4. martial law not to be used in time of peace

In June 1628, Charles, under great financial pressure, agreed to look into the abuses outlined in the petition and, as a result, was granted subsidies. But he maintained his prerogative rights, and soon violated the spirit of the document by continuing to collect duties without Parliament's authorisation and prosecuting his subjects arbitrarily. He was now even more adamant that Parliament was more trouble than it was worth and that, in future, he would rule without it.

Petition of Right 1628
www.constitution.org/eng/petright.htm
Full text of this statement of the objectives of the 1628 English legal reform movement, which pushed Parliament towards civil war and, ultimately, the execution of Charles I. It expresses many of the ideals that later led to the American Revolution.

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