petition of right

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petition of right Means by which an English subject could sue the Crown; in particular, the statement of grievances against the Crown presented by Parliament to Charles I in 1628. It asserted that the Crown acted illegally in raising taxation without Parliament's consent, imprisoning people without charge, maintaining a standing army, and quartering soldiers on ordinary householders. It led to the dissolution of Parliament and Charles' period of untrammelled rule.

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