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SavannahYear 8
← History
HistoryCrown against Parliament30 min★★★ difficulty

How Parliament ended up in charge

Between 1642 and 1745 Britain executed a king, tried a republic, restored the monarchy, removed another king and settled on a monarch who ruled with Parliament. This lesson tracks that shift as one story.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand how the emergence and growth of Parliament shaped political power in Britain

Key learning points

  • • 1649: the unthinkable happens
  • • 1660: monarchy returns, changed
  • • 1688–89: the terms written down
  • • Change and continuity by 1745

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 19 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

emergencegrowthparliamentshapedpolitical

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

How Parliament ended up in charge

An English teaching video on this topic from British Library. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand how the emergence and growth of Parliament shaped political power in Britain

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should know why the Civil Wars broke out and that only Parliament could grant taxes.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Regicide
The killing of a monarch; Charles I was executed in 1649.
Commonwealth
The English republic of the 1650s.
Restoration
The return of monarchy under Charles II in 1660.
Constitutional monarchy
A monarchy whose powers are limited by law.
Bill of Rights
The 1689 law setting limits on the crown and rights of Parliament.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Republic and Restoration

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

1649: the unthinkable happens

Parliament's victory left a king who would not accept limits. His trial and execution in January 1649 broke the idea that monarchy was untouchable. The Commonwealth that followed, dominated by the army and then by Cromwell as Lord Protector, showed that removing a king did not automatically produce agreement on what replaced him.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

1660: monarchy returns, changed

Charles II was restored in 1660 because the alternative looked like instability. But the return was conditional. Ship money and rule without Parliament were finished, and everyone now knew a king could be removed. The theory of divine right survived; its practical force did not.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

What was the constitutional significance of 1649?

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

Which was a requirement of the 1689 Bill of Rights?

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Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

1688 and the settlement

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

1688–89: the terms written down

James II's Catholicism and his suspension of laws led Parliament to invite William and Mary to take the throne. The 1689 Bill of Rights required regular Parliaments, free elections, no taxation without consent and no standing army in peacetime without approval. Sovereignty had shifted to crown-in-Parliament.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Change and continuity by 1745

By 1745 ministers depended on Commons majorities and the crown could not govern without them. But only a small propertied minority could vote, so this was a shift of power between elites, not democracy. Saying both parts is what makes a change-and-continuity answer strong.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Why is it wrong to call the 1689 settlement democratic?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

The best summary of 1660 is that monarchy returned...

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Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • The 1689 settlement did not create democracy; the franchise stayed tiny until the nineteenth century.
  • The Restoration did not undo the changes; Charles II could not govern as his father had.
  • Cromwell was Lord Protector, not king, though he held king-like powers.
  • Parliament grew stronger unevenly, not in a straight line from 1642.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____'s victory left a king who would not accept limits.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: How Parliament ended up in charge

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Charles I was executed in...

  2. 2. Cromwell's title was...

  3. 3. The Restoration brought back...

  4. 4. William and Mary took the throne in...

  5. 5. Crown-in-Parliament means sovereignty rests with...

  6. 6. By 1745 ministers needed...

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

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Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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