The worsening situation prompted the parliament to present the king with a list of demands known as The Petition of Right. The petition focused on limiting the king’s power by forcing him to share it equally with the parliament. Charles refused to sign it and dissolved parliament instead, not recalling it into session for 11 years. During that time he ruled the kingdom without the aid or sanction of parliament. 

The king’s heavy-handed decision to rule autocratically was considered by many to be illegal. His increasing disdain for Puritanism led him to repress the movement prompting key leaders of the Puritan gentry to begin planning ways to curb the king’s authority.