From republic to restored and limited monarchy: The consolidation of the Republic Flashcards
What kind of revolution was there in England in 1649?
A political revolution
What made Charles responsible for his execution in 1649?
- Charles refused to acknowledge the authority of the show court
- Charles’ refusal to plea meant the Rump had no choice other than execute the ‘tyrant’
- Charles had proven himself to be untrustworthy and duplicitous, and it was his character traits which ultimately led to his demise
- Charles rejected at least 7 other offers of settlement
How did the NMA lead to Charles’ execution?
The NMA felt a parliamentary majority may restore an untrustworthy, vengeful king, and any settlement would betray the cause they had fought for
- The NMA had grown in religious radicalism, and it was the militancy of this minority which initiated the ‘purge’ in late 1648
What did Cromwell call the regicide?
‘A cruel necessity’
How can Cromwell be described as?
‘A reluctant regicide’
When did Cromwell arrive in London?
On the evening of 6 December 1648, after Pride’s Purge
What signature was Cromwell’s on Charles’ death warrant?
He was the third signature on the death warrant
What did the execution of Charles signify the end of?
The end of the revolutionary, tumultuous process
What did the execution of Charles signify the start of?
- Anything next would be a new regime
- the need to restore the status quo
When was the Interregnum?
1649-60
What was the Interregnum?
An intermediary period and the quest for ‘healing and settling’ following the English Revolution
- restoring religious and political stability
Who carried out the events leading up to and the execution?
Pride’s purge, the trial and execution were all carried out by a small, determined minority
What were opinions on the monarchy after Charles’ death?
Monarchy was still popular throughout the Three Kingdoms
- The Scots immediately announced that Charles is still their king in spirit, proclaimed their support for the Stuarts and offered the crown to Charles II
- so did the Irish
What did the Rump Parliament face as a result?
Immediate and serious challenges in 1649
What were the Interregnum regimes built on?
- Narrow bases of support
- They lacked popular support from the Three Kingdoms, and succeeded in winning only grudging cooperation from people in England, Wales, parts of Scotland but not Ireland
What did the interregnum regimes have to rely on?
The lack of legitimacy meant that they always relied on the army for support
What difficulties did the martydom of Charles pose?
Substantial difficulties for the legitimacy of the republican government that ruled in the Interregnum
How did Charles’ actions leave the minority with no choice?
- Charles had been executed because he left a determined minority no choice
- He refused to compromise and could not be trusted to abide by any agreement
What did a few think Charles’ execution would be?
The first stage of a revolution
How did many view the Rump?
As illegitimate by many as it was not truly representative, and only existed because of a military coup
What support was rising in Scotland and Ireland?
There was an upsurge of royalist support in Scotland and Ireland
How was the trial and execution of the King a revolutionary act?
It marked a significant turning point
- it led to the ‘de-sacralisation’ of the monarchy
What did ‘de-sacralisation’ of the monarchy refer to?
- It divorced the monarchy from religion
- the public regicide destroyed the notion of the divine right and that the King was God’s anointed chosen one
Whats the significance of the regicide being carried out by a radical minority?
This might go some distance to explain why the new English republic eventually failed in 1660
Was the revolution a social one?
NO - the basic structure of society remained the same
- Majority of the population were still peasants
- hierarchy still existed
What four components characterised the English ‘revolution’?
A mixture of pragmatism, contingency, necessity and the emergence of religious and political radicalism
What were Oliver Cromwell’s guiding principles?
Religious radical and social conservative
Where did Cromwell rise from?
Rose from obscurity as part of the lesser gentry to become the most successful military and political leader of the Civil Wars
- possesses the coercive power to intervene in politics
When did Cromwell take command of the New Model Army?
From 1650 (from Fairfax) which was full of religious radicals
What was Cromwell’s title?
Lord Protector of England (“Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland) from 1654-58
What period did Cromwell inaugurate?
The Protectorate (from 1653)
What was Cromwell offered and how did he react?
He was offered and refused - the Crown itself
What quote does John Morrill use to describe Cromwell?
‘Cromwell was a unique blend of… religious radical and social conservative’
How was Cromwell a social conservative?
Maintained the social structure as he needs the ruling class on his side to rule effectively
What was Cromwell’s political affiliation in the 1630s?
A Puritan and in the 1640s became part of the more radical Puritan group (the Independents)
Who had Cromwell previously suffered under which encouraged his intensifying religious radicalism?
He had suffered under Laud, and whilst committed to a Calvinist Church of England, was willing to tolerate the other religious non-conformity of other Protestants
What was Cromwell convinced of in terms of Jesus’ return?
He was partially convinced that the hour of Christ’s second coming was at hand and sought a reformation of the manners and behaviours of the English people so that they might aid Jesus in his regeneration of the world
Why was Cromwell considered a radical?
He supported religious toleration for all Protestants, which included the new, strange Independent sects
What Independent sects were there?
Baptists, qQuakers, Seekers, Ranters etc (as well as existing millenarian groups)
Why was religious toleration a radical concept?
Religion was used as a means of control
- uniformity in doctrine and practice bred conformity
- used bishops to compel conformity so there’d be less of a chance that there may be a challenge to the existing status quo
What did Cromwell want socially?
- In a general sense, Cromwell wanted power in society to remain intact
-> he wanted landlords to remain in charge of peasants, the poor to have no say in politics - Specifically referring to politics in 1650s, Cromwell wanted his regime to secure the support and allegiance of the traditional ruling elites (landlords, MPs)
Why did Cromwell want to maintains social order?
- All sources of authority had been dismantled in the revolution and needed to inject some stability in the country
- Needs to rely on localised power to help restabilise society
What else was Cromwell apart from a social conservative?
A republican, and a regicide
What became problematic for Cromwell?
There was a popular belief in monarchy - which was problematic for Cromwell as he had no links at all to the monarchy
What kind of army was the NMA?
A ‘meritocratic’ army - this challenged the hierarchy of large landlords being automatically in charge of armies
- The NMA placed commoners in high-ranking positions in the army’s command structure
What was the NMA full of?
Religious radicals - people were promoted on the basis that they were ‘godly’ (not necessarily meritocratic)
What blend was Cromwell?
‘A unique blend of religious radical and social conservative’
What did the Rump vote to abolish in February 1649?
The Rump voted to abolish monarchy and the apparatus of monarchical government, thereby formally creating a republic
What had been abolished by March 1649?
- The House of Lords
- The monarchy
- The Privy Council
How does Blair Worden describe Cromwell to be a contradiction?
‘An ideological schziophrenic’
How does John Morrill imply that there’s a contradiction in Cromwell’s character?
You can’t be both a social conservative and religious radical simultaneously
What would Cromwell’s religious radicalism interfere with?
His desire to secure the allegiance of the traditional elites
What immediate problems did Cromwell face?
- The horrors that richer people felt at the Independent sects: the sects which Cromwell tolerated, seemed to threaten social order
-> a world ‘turned upside down’
What was radical independency in religion associated with?
- The NMA and its ‘meritocracy’, which upset social hierarchy
- The chaos of the civil wars -> after the chaos, people wanted a return to normalcy
What were most larger landlords religious affiliation?
Were Anglican - moderate Protestants
- They were not radical at all
- Even the Puritan landlords felt that Cromwell’s religious stance/independency was too radical
What percentage of the population belonged to Independent Sects?
Between 2-4%
- However, religious radicals were concentrated in the hands of the NMA, the most important political players
What did the vast majority still attend?
Regular Anglican Church services, used the Book of Common Prayer etc
- Cromwell’s independency was not popular
What was Cromwell’s greatest problem?
- Religion and politics were inextricably linked in the 17th century
- Religious independence challenged the existing social hierarchy
How long did the Rump parliament last?
From 1649-53
Why was the Rump Parliament considered illegitimate?
- It spawned out of conditions from NMA
- Viewed by many as it was unrepresentative, as it only existed existed as the result of a military coup
- Regarded as an illegal government made up of regicides and upstarts
- Roughly 150 MPs (small clique)
What did the Rump declare itself on the 4 January 1649?
The 70 or so remaining MPs declared itself ‘the supreme power in this nation’ with authority to pass Acts of Parliament without the consent of the King or the HoL
What was established on 14 February 1649?
- A 41-strong Council of State was established to take executive decisions
- the position of President was rotated monthly
What was abolished on 17 March 1649?
The monarchy, the Privy Council and the House of Lords
What did the Rump declare on 19 May?
The people of England to be a ‘Commonwealth and Free State’, governed by a single chamber Parliament without a king
What was the Rump estimated at?
About 210 members
What members of the Rump were included?
- Some supporters of those religious independents who did not want an established church
- a small number of republicans
- a number of Presbyterians who had been willing to countenance the trial and execution of the King
- Formerly-excluded MPs who had been prepared to denounce the Newport Treaty negotiations with the King
Where did most Rumpers come from?
The gentry, although there was a higher proportion of lesser gentry and lawyers than in previous parliaments
What were a quarter of Rumpers?
Regicides
What kind of body were the Rumpers?
An essentially conservative body whose vested interests in the existing land ownership and legal systems made it unlikely to want to reform them
What bases of power did the Rump have?
The Rump Parliament (and the Council of State) and the New Model Army
- therefore, Cromwell assumed power because he was both an MP in Parliament, and commander of the army
What contradiction was there for Cromwell to reconcile?
- The Rump Parliament was more conservative
- The Army was more radical
What disagreements were there amongst factions of the Rump?
Some wanted a republic, but others favoured retaining some type of monarchical government
How had the world turned upside down by 1649?
- People feared the unprecedented future
- The King was dead so there was no natural head of the government
- Many feared divine retribution
-> Most people accepted the Anglican Church, and associated religious independency with the Army and the chaos of the CWs
-> Religious radicalism seemed to threaten the established social order as the natural hierarchy was fragile following the execution of the King
What early tensions were there in Cromwell’s ‘godly government’?
- There was a lack of prior planning behind the revolutionary act of establishing the Commonwealth
- The army carried out Pride’s Purge in Dec 1648 to prevent MPs from continuing negotiations with the king + defend religious toleration
- Paradoxically, a lot of ‘revolutionaries’ who remained in parliament were concerned there might be too much radicalism in the air
- Many Rump MPs were anxious to ensure stability + calm conservative fears
- The army + its radical sympathisers visualised a much greater social transformation to accompany the political changes
What was the paradox at the heart of the Interregnum?
- If Cromwell realised his vision of the New Jerusalem they found themselves frustrated by the passive resistance of the olds social elites
- would lose the support of religious radicals in the army if they tried to court the elites
What was the priority of the Interregnum?
Surviving and restoring a sense of stability and normality - could not afford to engage in radical experiments or policies
- not on radical religious experiments or policies that would alienate people
How did Cromwell give the regime legitimacy?
He wanted to use the Rump to emphasise the parliamentary nature of the regime, over the military regime of the Army
What was Cromwell motivated by?
- A desire to ‘heal and settle’
- The pursuit of a ‘godly reformation’
How did the Rump try to broaden appeal?
- By reaching out to former MPs who had been purged (numbers increased from about 70 to 150 by March 1649)
- By covering up the regime’s revolutionary origins
- By being slow to innovate especially in relation to religion
- By being relatively conservative
- By delegating as little power as possible
- By keeping the Army out of politics
What did the Rump impose in 1650?
On all men over 18 the Oath of Engagement to be faithful to the Commonwealth
What did the Rump repeal in 1650?
The Act of Uniformity 1558 was repealed in September 1650
What threats did the government face within weeks of the execution?
- From Royalists abroad and Levellers at home
- Although the army in these years didn’t interfere directly in politics, the new regime could not survive without military support
- This made it harder for the government to gain the confidence and support of the traditional ruling class, whose participation in local gov and social leadership made them essential allies
- The army was expensive to maintain and radical in its politics- a toxic combination when it came to winning popular support
What weakened the morale of the regime?
The initial impetus to reform was soon blunted; most members were shocked to discover how thoroughly unpopular their regime was
What could the Rump not reduce making them inactive?
They could not reduce the weight of taxation or disband the army, under whose sufferance they sat, for the young Charles planning to use Ireland as a springboard for invasion and the reconquest of that country was clearly an urgent priority
What did the Rump declare in March 1649?
It would dissolve and make way for a newly elected parliament ‘so soon as may possibly stand with the safety of the people’
- This though proved to an empty promise
- Any new election was very likely to return a parliament hostile to the very continuance of the Commonwealth
What did the army put pressure on the Rump to do in May 1649?
To make way for a ‘new representative’
- responded with an alternative proposal to hold regulated top-up elections
- active Rumpers would continue to sit indefinitely
- Cromwell’s opposition persuaded the Rump to shelve this plan
What threats from the left did the Rump receive?
The Levellers briefly revived in 1649 asking for a more representative and accountable parliament to meet every 2 yrs, a reform of law, and religious toleration
What threats from the right did the Rump receive?
- 5 Feb 1649: the Covenanter Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II King in Edinburgh
- Military threats came from royalists, who prepared to engage in a Third Civil War
-> Between 1649 and 1651 Cromwell had to engage in military conflict against royalist armies in Scotland, Ireland and in England
How could the Rump reconcile establishing a stable gov with demands for ‘godly’ reformation and religious independency?
- it was an impossible challenge
- religious tensions and unpopularity were to cause major problems for Interregnum (1649-60)
- Independent sects (2-4% of the population) were not marginal people
-> majority within the Army - powerful, particularly after defeat of Royalist forces
-> their leaders were at the heart of the new regime
Despite the Rump’s unpopularity, how was it significant?
The Rump was a link with the old constitution and helped to settle England down and make it secure after the biggest upheaval in its history
- By 1653, France and Spain had recognised England’s new government
Where did Cromwell return victorious from defeating and when?
Charles II in 1651 and eradicating the royalist threat
- bolstered by these victories, he returned to the Rump to demand more radical reform
