Benchmark Ques

In English history, the Magna Carta

(1215), the Petition of Right (1628) and the
Bill of Rights all reinforced the concept of
A. universal suffrage
B. religious toleration
C. a limited monarchy
D. a laissez-faire economy
 Democratic Development in
England
Vocabulary
1. Feudalism
1. System of rule in which powerful landowning lords divide land to
gain loyalties
2. Common law
1. A legal system based on customs and court rulings
1. Applied to everyone
3. Limited monarchy
1. Government where a constitution limits the power of the king.
4. Lord
1. A man of high rank in a feudal society (loyal and below the king)
5. Vassal
1. Lesser lord
6. Absolute monarch
 England
(1000-1700)

Absolute monarch
Kings that rule with complete power.
They believed this power came from God
Divine right:
Because of divine right, kings also though they could do anything without
any consequences.
William the Conqueror
King of England
Required vassals to pledge loyalty to him first.
Introduced a census
Raised taxes
King Henry II
Introduced common law
Raised taxes
Tried to gain more power (problem with the Church)
 King Henrys son John
Continued to raise taxes and gain more power
Caused a problem with the Pope and the nobles.

In 1215
Nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Reduced the kings power (king had to obey the law)
Protected the rights of the nobles.
Protected all free men from
unreasonable arrest or imprisonment
and gave them the right to a court trial
No new taxes unless agreed on
 Parliament
Magna Carta led to the creation of
Parliament
Group of law makers
The king now had to get permission from
parliament to raise taxes or pass a law.
 English Bill of Rights
Forced Monarchs to obey the law and share
power with parliament.
Limited monarchy
Constitution limits the power of the monarch
 King The Catholic Church

They protect the king

And
The land

They work Lords or Noblemen

the land Knights

Peasants and Serfs

 Feudalism was the system of loyalties and
protections during the Middle Ages.
As the Roman Empire crumbled, emperors
granted land to nobles in exchange for
their loyalty.
A manor is the land owned by a noble and
everything on it. A typical manor consisted
of a castle, small village, and farmland.
 During the Middle Ages, peasants could
no longer count on the Roman army to
protect them.
The peasants turned to the landowners,
often called lords, to protect them.
Many peasants remained free, but most
became serfs. A serf was bound to the
land. He could not leave without buying his
freedom, an unlikely occurrence
 Life for a serf was not much better than
the life of a slave. The only difference was
that a serf could not be sold to another
manor.