Petition of Right, (1628)petition sent by the EnglishParliament to KingCharles I complaining of a series ofbreaches of law. The petition sought recognition of four principles: no taxation without the consent of Parliament, no imprisonment without cause, no quartering of soldiers on subjects, and nomartial law in peacetime.See alsopetition of right.

The Petition of Right was drawn up by Charles’s third Parliament in as many years. He had maintained atumultuous relationship with theHouse of Commons, which did not trust Charles and denied him taxes to finance his war against Spain. After dismissing his second Parliament, he became the latest monarch to impose aforced loan, an effective tax wherein the monarch compelled gifts from his subjects and imprisoned those who did not comply. Parliament found this to be a violation of the spirit of theMagna Carta, which provided that the monarch could not levy taxes without common consent or imprison a free man without cause, and thus drafted the Petition (at the suggestion ofEdward Coke) to reclaim the rights of Parliament and of free men and to extract a recommitment from the crown to observe therule of law. To continue receiving subsidies for his policies, Charles was compelled to accept the petition, but he later ignored its principles. Nevertheless the Petition of Right came to be regarded as aconstitutional document of the government of the United Kingdom, alongside other monumental acts such as the Magna Carta and theBill of Rights (1689).