Petition of Right, a petition presented to Charles I. by the Commons in 1628, and that became law by the king's acceptance of it. It sought for and obtained the abolition of certain grievances which the country unconstitutionally suffered from, such as taxation or levying of money without consent of Parliament, imprisonment without cause shown, billeting of troops, and recourse to martial law in a time of peace. This petition Charles I. would at first fain have evaded, but the Commons would be satisfied with nothing less than its acceptance entire.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Petite Nature * Petöfi, Sandor