ivy Council was subsequently created, which was an expansion of the traditional small circle of advisers at the royal court. In succeeding centuries, this body was to become the dominant royal government outside Parliament, until it also gave way to the present structures in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. these early development did give Parliament some limited powers against the monarch, there was a return to royal dominance in Tudor England from 1485. The nobility had been weakened by wars and internal conflicts, and the Tudor monarchs deliberately chose minor aristocratic landed gentry as members of their Privy Councils. The nobility were often excluded from policy-making, and the gentry inevitably became dependent upon royal patronage. Consequently, Tudor monarchs controlled Parliament and summoned it only when they needed to raise money. p align="justify"> Parliament began to show more resistance to the monarchy under the Stuart succession from 1603 by using its gradually acquired weapon of financial control. It was influenced by the gentry, who had now become more independent of royal patronage, had expanded economically in the country, and had a majority in the House of Commons. Parliament began to refuse royal requests for money. It eventually forced Charles I to sign the Petition of Rights in 1628, which further restricted the monarch's powers and was intended to prevent him from raising taxes without Parliament's consent. Charles tried to ignore these political developments, until he was obliged to summon Parliament for finance. Parliament again refused the request. p align="justify"> Realising that he could not control Parliament, Charles next failed in his attempt to arrest Parliamentary leaders in the House of Commons itself. Because of this episode, the monarch was in future prohibited from entering the Commons. Today Black Rod, who is a royal ceremonial appointment, is a reminder of these constitutional changes. He knocks on the door of the Commons after it has been closed against him, in order to summon members of the Commons to the State Opening of Parliament. This is normally performed each autumn by the monarch in the House of Lords. 'S rejection of developing political ideals provoked anger against the Crown, and eventually a Civil War broke out in 1642. The mainly Protestant Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell won the military struggle against the largely Catholic Royalists. Charles I was beheaded in 1649, the monarchy was abolished, and England was made a republic under the Cromwells (1649-59). During this republican period, Parliament consisted only of the House of Commons, which met every three years. , Cromwellian military rule was harsh and increasingly unpopular, so that most people wanted the restoration of the monarchy. The two Houses of Parliament were re-established, and in 1660 they restored the Stuart CharIes II to the throne. Initially Charles co-operated with Parliament, but eventually his financial needs, his belief in the divine right of kings to rule without opposition, and his support of the Catholic cause lost him popular and parliamentary backing. Parliament then ended his expensive wars; forced him to sign the Test Act of 1673, which excluded Catholics and Protestant dissenters from holding public office; and passed the Habeas Corpus Act in 1769, which stipulated that no citizen could be imprisoned without a fair and speedy trial.addition to this growing power of Parliament against the monarch, the seventeenth century also saw the beginning of more organized political parties. These derived largely from the ideological and religious conflicts of the Civil War. Two groups became dominant, and this feature was to characterize future British two-party politics, in which political power has shifted between two main parties. The Whigs were mainly Cromwellian Protestants and gentry, who refused to accept the Catholic James II as successor to Charles II, and who wanted religious freedom for all Protestants. The Tries generally supported royalist beliefs, and helped Charles II to secure James's right to succeed him.James 's subsequent behaviour resulted in a further reduction of royal influence. He attempted to rule without Parliament, ignored its laws, and tried to repeal the Test Act. His manipulations eventually forced the Tories to join the Whigs in inviting the Protestant William of Orange to intervene. Supported by Dutch military help, William arrived in England in 1688, James fled to France, and William succeeded to the throne. Since no force was involved, this event has been called the Bloodless or Glorious Revolution. The 1688 changes considerably affected the British constitution and politics. William III became Britain's first constitutional monarch and, because of conditions imposed upon him, it was in future practically impossible for the monarch to reign without the consent of Par...
