Call it the Line of Liberty: France modeled their charter of freedoms on the American Bill of Rights, and the Americans got theirs from the British, who in turn already had a Bill of Rights in the middle ages. About a century after the British succession crisis caused by King Henry VII, another British succession crisis was caused by King James II. King James was quite unpopular with his people due to his Catholicism and close ties with France. After he sired a son, Parliament conspired to overthrow him in order to avoid another Catholic on the throne. The Glorious Revolution, as it was called, also allowed Parliament to set some limits on the monarchy.

On this day, February 13, in 1689, following the treatises of philosopher John Locke, British Parliament passed the Bill of Right to their invited rulers, William and Mary.

Several of the bill’s provisions might be familiar to us today. Taxation by royal decree was forbidden; only an act of Parliament could introduce taxes. “Cruel and unusual punishment” was also forbidden; as was royal interference in the people’s ability to keep and bear arms. Additionally, in a prototypical separation of Church and State, the bill declared that only State courts could adjudicate; religious court decisions were not binding.