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The Petition of Right was a landmark episode in the history of English, and later British, democracy. As a check to the increasingly despotic rule of King Charles I, the English Parliament sought to confirm many of the rights and privileges established through earlier Acts against violation by the king. The Petition of Right confirmed Parliament’s exclusive right to levy taxes, the writ of habeus corpus against imprisonment without trial, no martial law in time of peace or billeting of soldiers in civilian homes. Key figures such as Sir Edward Coke and John Pym were the driving forces behind its drafting.

First Published 1628
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