The English Bill of Rights, 1689

In 1688, leading English politicians invited William of Orange to intervene against King James II, whose Catholicism and use of royal power to set aside laws alarmed many Protestants. James fled, and Parliament offered the throne jointly to William and Mary on terms set out in a Declaration of Right, enacted later in 1689 as the Bill of Rights. It declared it illegal for the monarch to suspend laws, levy taxes or keep a standing army in peacetime without Parliament's consent.

It protected free elections, freedom of speech in Parliament, the right to petition the monarch, and banned excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments. It also barred Catholics from the throne and allowed Protestant subjects to have arms 'as allowed by law', showing that its rights were shaped by the religious fears of the time. Its main achievement was to shift power from the Crown to Parliament, setting the pattern for constitutional monarchy.