English politics in the 17th century

In the Church of England had separated from the . established Protestantism during her reign from 1559 to 1603. Many protestants developed an aversion to Catholicism.
The myth of developed. According to it Catholics planned to the Church of England and the monarchy. The failed assassination attempt against in 1605 - known as the - further fueled protestant fears.
tension was an important factor in 17th century English politics, also because of varying religion.

In Charles I became James I's successor. However, he soon found himself in a position because of unsuccessful wars and marrying a . In 1628 the parliament had him sign the . It limited his power to and secured rights for the his subjects.
After that Charles I did not again for 11 years. He was a believer in the that allowed him to reign without parliamentary participation. This period is called the . During this time Charles used fines and royal property to support his finances.
In 1637 Charles tried to introduce a new to Scotland. This caused resistance that the king tried to put down militarily. That was unsuccessful and in he called a parliament to get more money. But Charles did not come to an agreement with this so-called that was soon dissolved. Later that year Charles reached an agreement with a parliament that would be called the . While were happy with the reforms, hoped for further changes.
In 1641 there was a Catholic uprising in . Parliament refused to unless they would also be in command of it. In early 1642 Charles attempted to 5 members of the House of Commons. This further divided Royalists and Parliamentarians.
In mid-1642 broke out.
Charles surrendered to the in May 1646 and was handed over to the English parliament in 1647. However, he later concluded an alliance with the Scots who then England in the (1648-1649).
To avoid further conflict parliamentarians decided to try Charles I with . He was found guilty and executed in January .

After Charles I's execution in 1649 a republican government was established under army general and statesman Oliver Cromwell. Till 1652 he fought against Charles II and undertook a brutal suppression of .
Cromwell reigned as of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 until his death in . After a short reign by Cromwell's son the was restored under Charles II in 1660. Cromwell had not managed to establish broad support for the .
Charles II cooperated with the French to achieve greater autonomy. In he dissolved the parliament. Charles was succeeded by in 1685.

Fearing Catholic succession parliamentarians - both Whigs and Tories - asked the Dutch - who had married James's daughter Mary - to invade England. William agreed as he expected war with France and he worried James might France.
William landed in England in November 1688. He didn't face much and many of James's soldiers switched sides. Because of the little bloodshed in the revolution was called "glorious".
James was captured but later allowed to flee. His flight was interpreted as an and William was made joint monarch with Mary. Before that William had accepted the that limited his independence as a monarch. In return parliament agreed to support him in the war against . The Triennial Act guaranteed annual parliamentary meetings and every three years.
Freedom of worship was granted to nonconformist protestants but not to .