In ancient times kings were elected by a tribe as military leaders and king’s power was not always hereditary. Later, monarchs had to share power with the Barons and the Church, which was headed by the Pope. In the 15th century the Tudors managed to achieve absolute power: Henry VII forbade the Barons to have private armies, and Henry VIII proclaimed himself Head of the Church. His daughter, Elisabeth I, completed the Reformation of the Church and creation of the Church of England. In the 17th century monarchy came into a bitter conflict with the House of Commons, which was under the influence of Puritanism. As a result of the Civil War King Charles I was executed in 1649, and Oliver Cromwell became a dictator. In 1660 Monarchy was restored. When a Catholic James II inherited the British Throne, he was deposed by Parliament. Instead of him his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, were invited to rule. The new monarchs had to accept the Bill of Rights passed by Parliament in 1689, which was limiting the power of monarchy. These changes are known as the Glorious Revolution.
Since British monarchs are Titular Heads of the Church of England, they must be Protestants by religion. Though there is a saying that the Queen reigns but does not rule, formally the monarch has much power. The monarch is commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, head of all branches of political power. Britain is a constitutional monarchy, which means that the Crown is only sovereign by the will of Parliament. The name of the ruling dynasty is the Windsors. They took this name during the First World war instead of their real name, Saxe Coburg and Gotha, because Britain was fighting against Germany and it was considered unpatriotic for the Royal family to bear the German sounding name.
