After the execution of Charles I and up to the restoration of Charles II, England was for the first time without a monarch. The period between the two reigns, the interregnum, was an uneasy time during which the country was led by the deeply religious Oliver Cromwell. The Commonwealth was ahead of the times, but ultimately England rejected republicanism, and the restored monarchy survives to this day.

Key Facts

Key Dates

1649 Execution of King Charles I

1649 Council of State and Rump Parliament govern the Commonwealth of England

1653 Rump Parliament replaced with the Nominated Assembly

1653 Oliver Cromwell made Lord Protector

1655 Parliament dissolved; military rule begins

1658 Cromwell dies; his son Richard becomes Lord Protector

1659 The Protectorate ends; Parliament recalled

1660 Restoration of the monarchy

Key People

King Charles I King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1625 – 1649

Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector 1653 – 1658

Richard Cromwell Lord Protector 1658 – 1659

King Charles II King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1660 – 1685

The World Turned Upside Down

Until Charles I overplayed his divine right to rule, few in England had questioned the monarchy. Several kings had been usurped and killed, but it always followed that a new king took the place of the previous one. In the recent past, the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot had sought to remove James I, but there was no question of the country going without a monarch as they planned to replace him with his young daughter. When Charles I fell foul of his government and the New Model Army, he was tried and executed and his son fled into exile. The Grandees of the New Model Army did not seek a successor for the king but instead decided to change the rules and find a new method of government.

The Grandees were the senior officers of the New Model Army, largely drawn from the landed gentry. Chief amongst them was Oliver Cromwell, Sir Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell’s son in law, Henry Ireton. The Grandees set about forcibly removing their opposition in the House of Commons using troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride. “Pride’s Purge” left a smaller “Rump Parliament”. With control of the Rump Parliament, the Grandees were able to set up the trial of the King and after his execution, create a “Commonwealth and Free State”.

The Rump abolished not just the monarchy but the Privy Council and the House of Lords. In place of the Privy Council, the Rump established the English Council of State which was comprised of selected Members of Parliament. This body held the executive power and the Rump had legislative power. However, there was another power in the country that the Rump could not ultimately control: the Army.

The Army was kept busy in the period following the king’s execution. There was a potential for invasion from Scotland, trouble in Ireland, and the threat of a Royalist uprising. Cromwell was occupied fighting the dangers that jeopardized the country, but by 1653 he had neutralized any threats. The Rump had done well in stabilizing the nation, but Cromwell was growing frustrated that the conservative members of the Rump had failed to call an election for a new parliament, preferring to cling on to the power that they had grabbed after the king’s death. Cromwell decided to take the law into his own hands.

Cromwell was a member of the landowning gentry, whose military prowess had propelled him to the fore during the Civil Wars. His military reputation was a springboard to political power which was always exercised in accordance with his religious beliefs. He had undergone a religious conversion prior to the war, becoming a fervent yet liberal puritan. It was his strong belief that God had chosen the New Model Army to do His will and had guided them to victory. Once victory was achieved, he felt that he should capitalize by reforming “ungodly” elements in not only England’s government and legal systems, but in society in general. Although he was keen to stamp out immorality he also supported what he termed “liberty of conscience” and so was tolerant of a diversity of Protestant groups as long as they did not force their views on others. His tolerance extended so far as to allow the Jews back into England but he was hostile towards Roman Catholics, persecuting them mercilessly in Scotland and Ireland.

On 20 April 1653, Cromwell moved to take power. He dissolved the Rump Parliament with the support of the Army. He was, for a time, a military dictator, ruling through an assembly chosen by Army officers. This assembly was commonly known as the Barebone’s Parliament, after one of the members, Praise-God Barebones. The landed gentry ridiculed the assembly, considering it to be made up of the lowborn and puritanical, like the lay preacher Barebones. Formed in July 1653, the Barebones Parliament lasted until December of the same year. It was beset by in-fighting amongst various factions and rapidly became ineffective. Once again, Cromwell stepped in and drew the experiment to a close.

The Grandees next drew up the “Instrument of Government”. This was England’s first written constitution and it granted executive power to a Lord Protector. The Lord Protector was to be elected and but would hold the position for life. In addition, a parliament was to be called every three years. The Instrument of Government was adopted on 15 December 1653 with Cromwell being sworn in as Lord Protector on the next day.

The first Protectorate Parliament met in September 1654 but Cromwell dissolved it as swiftly as he could under the terms of the Instrument of Government as his proposed reforms did not find sufficient support with the MPs. Cromwell decided to rule through a military government. The country was divided into 11 districts, each governed by a Major-General who reported to Cromwell alone.

The rule of the Major-Generals lasted from August 1655 to January 1657. During this time, England was kept under tight control to prevent uprisings. Popular social gatherings, including cock-fighting, bear baiting and races were banned so as to prevent people meeting to plot against the regime. Similarly, inns were watched and sometimes shut down. Those with royalist sympathies were singled out for fines and the old clergy, both Anglican and Catholic, were banned from working as tutors or chaplains. There was some positive reform, such as allowing servants and apprentices a day off each month, but generally the country disliked the Army extending its influence into civilian life. Cromwell too was uneasy with military rule, but felt it necessary to maintain the peace of the country during troubled times. In September 1656, Cromwell called a second Protectorate Parliament and then withdrew his Major-Generals at the beginning of the following year.

The Parliament soon presented Cromwell with a new problem; they offered him the crown. He did not immediately dismiss the idea, taking six weeks to think it over. Cromwell knew that the country needed a strong ruler, whatever the title. However, he still needed the support of the Army and they were opposed to the monarchy so he turned down the offer. Instead, he was reaffirmed as Lord Protector in a ceremony that was redolent of a royal coronation. The Lord Protector’s role and powers were extended and set out in the Humble Petition and Advice, which replaced the Instrument of Government as the constitution.

Cromwell tried to sweep away many of the cherished traditions and pastimes of the English, considering them unholy and immoral. As well as closing the bear and cock pits, theatres were closed and maypoles were cut down. Holy days were no longer allowed to be celebrated as festivals, but had to be quietly observed at church and with fasting. Soldiers patrolled the streets on Christmas Day and confiscated any celebratory meals. No work, even housework or walking anywhere other than to church, was banned on Sundays. Puritans would often inform on their less pious neighbours who would then be fined. As time rolled on, many found the changes unpalatable.

Cromwell died in 1658. His role as Lord Protector was not hereditary but he was allowed to name his successor and he passed his title to his son Richard. Unlike his father, Richard was not a soldier and consequently did not find favour with the Army. Discontent grew as republicans within Parliament started to attack the Protectorate as being too like a monarchy. Richard Cromwell lacked his father’s decisiveness and managed neither to reassure the Army nor quash dissent in Parliament. By the spring of 1659, Richard was obliged to relinquish power and an attempt was made to re-establish the Commonwealth. Watching England descend into chaos from Scotland, Cromwell’s old friend and comrade General Monck, governor of Scotland, had decided against supporting the ineffectual Richard. Instead, he threw his support behind the exiled King Charles II. Monck marched to London and organized the Convention Parliament which first met on 25 April 1660. An invitation was extended to Charles to return and he arrived in London on his birthday, 29 May.

Parliament declared that Charles had legally been the monarch since his father’s execution, so technically there had been no interregnum. Charles continued to erase the memory of the Commonwealth by exhuming Cromwell from Westminster Abbey and having his head struck from the body, whereupon it was put on a spike and displayed for decades as a warning to traitors. The new king also confiscated coins bearing the former Lord Protector’s image. All over the country there were people who were similarly keen to forget the past decade as for many it had turned into a gloomy time.

Legacy

Although the Commonwealth did not last, it did demonstrate that a country could operate without a monarch. The idea would reach maturity in the American colonies and later France. The British, however, prefer not to repeat the experience of a republic with the majority of the public still favouring the monarchy.

The freedom of conscience allowed by the Commonwealth saw new religious sects spring up. Many, like the Diggers and the Ranters died out but some, such as the Anabaptists and the Quakers, exist today.

Sites to Visit

There is a statue of Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament. It was erected in 1889 and such was his remaining unpopularity in Ireland that the Irish MPs blocked it being publicly funded.

One of Oliver Cromwell’s homes still survives and has been recreated to show how his family would have lived. Oliver Cromwell’s House, Ely is open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

After his head was taken from its spike, Cromwell’s head passed through various owners until being buried in 1960 at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A plaque marks the site.

Cromwell’s wax death mask can be seen at the British Museum in London.

Film and TV

The 1970 film Cromwell starring Richard Harris as the Lord Protector is available on DVD.

To Kill a King (2003) concerns the relationship of Cromwell and Fairfax at the time of the king’s trial and execution. Tim Roth and Dougray Scott star. Available on DVD

History Makers – Oliver Cromwell (2007) is available on DVD.

Further Research

Cromwell, Our Chief Of Men (2008) by Lady Antonia Fraser explores the man behind the myth.

God’s Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution (1990) by Christopher Hill covers Cromwell’s life from gentleman farmer to Lord Protector. The same author penned The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (1991) in which he explores the different radical groups that were formed during the Interregnum.

Related YouTube Videos

The Lord Protector