Law · 1688–1689
Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights
Palace of Westminster, London
In November 1688 the Catholic King James II of England was deposed after an invasion by his Dutch nephew and son-in-law, William of Orange, who then ruled jointly with James's daughter Mary II. The Bill of Rights, given royal assent on 16 December 1689, barred Catholics from the throne, forbade taxation or a peacetime standing army without Parliament's consent, and set out rights including free elections, regular parliaments, freedom of debate in Parliament and protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
Why it mattered
It established that the Crown must govern with the consent of Parliament, and the Bill became one of the models for the United States Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Related
- The world in 1650: Crisis and New Dynasties chapter
- Newton's Principia previous moment · 1687
- The Enlightenment and the Encyclopédie next moment · c. 1687–1789 (Encyclopédie 1751–1772)