Petition of Right was a document written in 1628 by the English Parliament and presented to King Charles I. It declared unconstitutional certain actions of the king, such as levying taxes without the consent of Parliament, housing soldiers in homes, setting up martial law (military government), and imprisoning citizens illegally.
Charles did not like the Petition of Right, but he accepted it because he knew of no other way to persuade Parliament to vote the funds he had demanded. But he did not intend to carry out his part of the agreement. He continued to rule without consent of Parliament until his unjust methods brought about his execution in 1649.
The Petition of Right had important results, even though it did not accomplish its immediate aims. It declared, in effect, the supremacy of law over the personal wishes of the king. It also rejected the divine right of kings, the belief that monarchs get their right to rule directly from God, rather than from the consent of their subjects. The petition is a landmark in the history of constitutional government in England.
