The English Bill of Rights 1688/1689 – Reader’s Edition

The English Bill of Rights 1688/1689 – Reader’s Edition (PDF)
An English settlement after a broken reign.

Most people in England have heard of Magna Carta. Very few have ever read the English Bill of Rights – let alone seen what it actually says about suspending laws, taxation, armies, trials, punishments, and who may wear the Crown.

This Reader’s Edition is designed to fix that.

You get the full text of the English Bill of Rights (1 Will & Mar sess 2 c 2), based on the “Original (as enacted)” version published on legislation.gov.uk, set out cleanly in modern layout so you can actually read it from start to finish. Above all, nothing is rewritten or softened: the wording, spelling, and substance are preserved, with a clear source note so you know exactly where it comes from.

Then you get a guided tour of what it’s doing.

Inside this PDF you’ll find:

• A short introduction – “An English settlement after a broken reign” – explaining who James II was, what went wrong in his reign, and how the Bill of Rights came out of the Glorious Revolution.

• A one‑page timeline from the Civil War and Cromwell through to William and Mary and Royal Assent in December 1689.

• The full, unedited text of the English Bill of Rights in one place, using the official government version as your base.

• A clear list of the main points the Act covers – suspending laws, taxation, standing armies, petitions, arms for Protestants, free elections, parliamentary speech, juries, bail, fines, punishments, forfeitures, frequent Parliaments, and the new Protestant succession.

• Clause‑by‑clause commentary in plain English, explaining for each point:

  • What this part of the Act is actually doing.

  • The specific abuses under James II it was meant to stop.

  • The principle it set for English government afterwards.

  • Where relevant, how later British practice has worked around or reinterpreted it.

• A closing section that ties Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights together as one English story: written limits on power, written guarantees, and a written constitutional tradition that most people are never shown in school.

• A brief author’s note and link to further resources on England Then and Now.

This is not a modern “rights pamphlet” or a party political rant. It is a working edition of a real 17th‑century English statute, with enough explanation to let you see for yourself what it says and why it mattered – and still matters.

What you’re buying

• Format: PDF

• Length: 48 pages of official text plus commentary, timeline, introduction, closing section, and author’s note

• Delivery: instant download after checkout

• Price: £4.99

If you’ve ever been told “we don’t have a written constitution”, this is one of the documents that quietly proves otherwise.