The significance of revolutionary ideals in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, Part 2 Flashcards
What did the Declaration of Rights do?
- Listed all the errors that James had committed, and asserted several traditional liberties of the people
These included: - Laws could not be suspended without parliament’s consent
- Parliament had to approve all forms of taxation
- Parliaments should meet frequently
How did the Declaration of Rights shift power in parliaments favour?
- Suspending and execution of laws, without parliament, was illegal
- Levying money for or to use of the Crown, without parliament, was illegal
- The raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in peace time, without parliament’s consent, was illegal
- More freedom of speech for parliament, with MPs or Lords not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament
- Stated that parliaments ought to be held frequently to redress all grievances and the strengthening of, and preserving, the law
What did the Declaration of Rights leave deliberately ambiguous? What else was not referred to? - what was the implication of this?
- The constitutional implications of James’ removal.
- William and Mary were not referred to as ‘rightful’ or ‘lawful’ heirs
- This meant that those who wished to regard William and Mary as de facto monarchs could recognise them as rulers without denying that James was de jure king
What was the Bill of Rights, in relation to the Declaration of Rights?
A diluted version of the Declaration of Rights, passed into law later in 1689.
When were the Declaration of Rights read?
13 February 1689, at a formal ceremony in which the crown was offered to William and Mary.
When was the coronation of William and Mary? What was different about it to previous ones?
11 April 1689 - there was a different coronation oath from that sworn by previous monarchs, indicating their different positions and that of parliament.
What was the difference between the new and previous oath in the 1689 coronation?
Previous oath - to ‘confirm to the people of England the laws and customs to them granted by the Kings of England’.
New oath - ‘to govern the people of this kingdom of England, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the statutes in Parliament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same’
How do Whig Historians see the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89?
- It brought about fundamental change
- The Revolution led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy - one where parliament had much more control over the policies of the monarchy - and the monarchs were expected to get the agreement of the parliament for their actions
How do critics of the Whig interpretation of 1688 see the Glorious Revolution?
- It did not bring about such as decisive break from previous years
- Rather than a revolution, some historians see 1688 as more of a reformation, in that once James was removed, key aim for the political elite was to bring stability
- They did this by the change of monarch.
- Some see it as more of an evolution that continued for the next decade all the way up to the Act of Settlement of 1701
Some historians believe that the Glorious Revolution and the constitutional changes that followed made clearer…
the influence of the political elite in parliament.
What was it that led to a gradual increase in the power of parliament at the expense of the monarch?
- William’s need to finance his wars against Louis XIV, and the consequent financial revolution after 1688.
