The Glorious Revolution
Parliament invited William of Orange to replace James II. The transition was nearly bloodless. The 1689 English Bill of Rights that followed established Parliamentary supremacy, protected property from arbitrary seizure, and required regular elections. The first modern constitutional monarchy.
The Glorious Revolution's true significance is that after it, British monarchs ruled by constitutional permission rather than divine right. That separation of sovereign power from royal bloodline is the foundation of every later democratic transition in the West.
02 · The Sovereign Crown
As the Church's political grip weakened, kings claimed the mandate directly. 'Divine right of kings' held that monarchs were accountable only to God — not to popes, and certainly not to parliaments. It worked until it didn't.
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