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Charles I signed a document limiting his own power — then spent the next 21 year
1628 Event

June 7

Petition of Right: Parliament Limits the King's Power

Charles I signed a document limiting his own power — then spent the next 21 years pretending he hadn't. The Petition of Right, 1628, forced him to stop imprisoning subjects without cause, stop levying taxes without Parliament's consent. He agreed. Reluctantly. Then dissolved Parliament entirely the following year and ruled alone for eleven years. But that document didn't disappear. Parliament waved it at him during the Civil War. He lost his head in 1649. A king who signed away his authority thinking it meant nothing — it meant everything.

June 7, 1628

398 years ago

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