Definition: The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
This statement by John Locke accurately describes the influence of the Petition of Rights: In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke identified the basis of a legitimate government. According to Locke, a ruler gains authority through the consent of the governed. The duty of that government is to protect the natural rights of the people, which Locke believed to include life, liberty, and property.