chapter sixteen part two Flashcards
despite royalist hopes the accession of Richard was generally accepted by
many gentry who had tolerated his fathers protecterate
richards protectertae had a positive start as there was a feeling that
he was more in tune with the traditional gentry
at first the army response to Richard was
favourable
many hoped Richard would support the army while others believed that he would be
easier to manipulate then his father was
it was soon clear to Richard’s character and intended policies were more in favour of
civilians
Richard was met with opposition from
- republicans , against protectorate and from Lambert who distrusted the civilians . publicans refused to recognise Richard as protector
- the army , measure to restrict religious toleration provoked them
the army triggered by parliament discussing settling the army as a militia forced
Richard to dissolve parliament which saw the end his protectorate in may 1659
the rump parliament was thus reinstated by
the army
Oliver cromwells death had left a power vacuum and the key groups of the interregnum failed to
produce a workable settlement
by December 1659 many people feared
a slide into anarchy
civilian cromwellians’ and Presbyterians wanted a more traditional parliamentary settlement and a
reduction of the armys influence
army leaders such as Charles Fleetwood and desborough wanted a
continuation of the protectorate
quakers who were linked with Lambert , scared the PN by acting to secure
religious freedom
commonswelathmen and republicans wanted to
weaken army influence
soliders and junior officers worked with republicans to establish a regime based on
the authority of parliament
Charles stuart was a bystander in exile but wanted
to be king
by decmebr 1659 the army was
not united
not only in Scotland did George Monck have different ideas about the direction of the settlement but in England the army was also
divided
unlike Lambert the army leaders Fleetwood and desborough were not ideologically opposed to the concept of a
protectorate and were supportive of Richard
however republican propaganda exploited junior officers concerns over pay and persuaded them to
force army leaders to reluctantly recall the rump in may 1659
with the removal of the protectorate power in the short term was in the hands of the
council of state
the body that led the army
after dismissing those officers and civilians loyal to Richard this council
reappointed radical officers like Lambert to command the NMA
Lambert and the republican MP haselrig were opposites in
political outlooks
haselrig and the leading republican politicians of the rump recognised
their dependence on the army and sought to assert their political authority
furthermore haselrig and the republicans showed no inclination to satsify the
soliders material grievances
on the 13th may 1659 Lambert presented a new petition ,
the humble petition and the address of the officers to the recalled rump
the humble petition and address of officers included
fifteen articles outline the ‘ fundamentals of our good old cause ‘ , a senate to protect armys intrests from parliament
the main opponent of the address and the army was
Haselrig
Haselrig would not accept no reduction of the
commons authority
haselrig and the rump in effect were committing political suicide by
alienating the army
the very fragile alliance of republicans and army was saved as in
1649-51
by a miltary threat
George booths rising 1659
reaction by previous supporters of parliament and some royalists against the radicalism of the army
booth rising crushed 1659 , Haselrig supported lamberts command and taught negotiation
crushed at winning ton bridge august 1659
reports of lamberts troops becoming more radical and taking up the ‘ quakers ‘ scarred
many in London swell as Monck
this coupled with the general quicker fear made the regime
very unstable
the quakers provoked such a fearful reaction because their had been an explosion of their numbers from early
1650s to approx 50,000
their growth coupled with their recruiting others by touring the country and their willingness to countenance an armed revolution merely reinforced the
threat they pose to the influence of the political nation
quakers seemed to support the leading NMA general Lambert , merely heightened
the fears of the gentry
doubts over the nature of lamberts own faith were widespread and few seemed
to regard him as anything but danger to moderate political and religious sensibilities
the crisis of late 1659 and 1660 with the increased rumours of the possibility of an attempted lambertian protectorate with quicker support simply
brought these fears to head
on their return from putting down the booths rising , Lamberts army drew up the derby petition expressing
anger at the rumps fualire to reform
Lambert returned to London and seized the initiative to establish the armys position by
13 October lamberts troops surrounded Westminster and removed the rump
with power in its hands as in 1653 the army once more showed its limited
intrest in poltics
the army was not willing to establish a blatant military regime , the committee of council was set up by
the council of officers as a provisional government , but it was not a truly revolutionary regime
however too the political nation this committee apaperated to be
imposing direct army rule
so even with such moderation George Monck decided to defect and declared his support for
the rump to be reinstalled
on 26 December 1659 the rump was reinstated by three regiments of the army that did not agree with
lamberts stance
the collapse of the committee of safety on 17 December in London followed by Portsmouths declaration in supports of the rumps and Fairfax’s action brought
Monck into England on 1 January 1660
Monck reached London on what date
3 February 1660
Monck had a couple of meetings with fairfax who likely made clear his desire for
stability through restoration of the monarchy
when yet again he rump did not offer this stability by returning the monarchy Monck began
the process of restoration
in London Monck forced the purged
MPs from 1648 back into parliament
this in effect forced the original long parliament which dissolved itself on
16 march 1660
to allow free elections
country petitions had been calling for a free parliament this is
a parliament without voting restrictions to prevent royalists and conservatives form being elected
the traditional PN were determined to seize the chance to reassert themselves for the first time since
1648
