Protectorates Flashcards
When was Oliver Cromwell installed as Lord Protectorate?
Dec 1653
Starts First Protectorate, he moved into Whitehall Palace
How strong was the army in 1654?
54,000
Years of war with Spain
1654-60
What treaty ended the Anglo Dutch war and when?
5th April 1654
Treaty of Westminster
Cromwell wanted to end a war between 2 protestant nations.
When were the Triers and Ejectors established?
28th Aug 1654
What were the Triers?
They assessed and approved new ministers and those appointed to church livings.
In essence, they vetted Church ministers.
What were the Ejectors?
They were tasked with removing “scandalous, ignorant, or insufficient” ministers.
In essence, they removed ministers which were deemed unsuitable.
Dates of the first protectorate parliament?
3rd Sep 1654-22nd Jan 1655
Was the first protectorate parliament a succss or a failure?
COMPLETE FLOP!
Parliament wouldn’t pass any protectorate ordinances
OC had made 83 and they passed none of them OR pass their own.
Evidence of OC as not as much as a parliamentary hero as sometimes presented.
Haselrig and Bradshaw attacked OC’s right to be Lord Protector.
What were the four fundamentals?
Foundational principles for the new government.
They included: 1) Government by a single person (the Lord Protector) and Parliament, 2) Regular summoning of Parliament with limitations on its power to perpetuate itself, 3) Liberty of conscience (religious freedom), and 4) Division of power over the armed forces between the Lord Protector and Parliament.
How many MP’s did not sign off on the four fundamentals?
100
They got kicked out of parliament
So 60 went and protested
What/when Cony Case?
Nov-Dec 1654
Cony, a London merchant, was fined and imprsoned for refusing to pay customs duties as they had not been approved by parliament AND his lawyers got locked up
Basically he argued that these customs duties were not a requirement because parliament hadn’t passed them.
Argument for OC as a military dictator, ‘sitting on bayonets’
OC has the army behind him WHICH CONTRASTS RICHARD CROMWELL IN 1659
what/when Biddle case
Dec 1654
Biddle was imprisoned and punished
He was seen as a dangerous religious radical
Oc disagreed with his treatment, and even helped him later
Cromwell was unhappy with the harshness of parliament, which was part of the reason for a new one in 1657 with humble petition.
LINK TO NAYLOR CASE IN 1656
What/when, penruddock’s rising
12-16th March 1655
Royalist uprising in Wiltshire
REASON FOR MAJOR GENERAL RULE
what/when failure of Western design
April-May 1655
Unsuccessful attempt to capture Hispaniola,
Cromwell takes to his bed to ask God what went wrong - providence
Concludes that Godly reform had not gone far enough and is what leads to introduction of Major Generals
2 events which led to the start of the major generals
Penruddock’s rising and failure of Western Design
When was the rule of the major generals established in England and Wales?
9th Aug 1655
Is seen as a key part of the protectorate BUT was only an experiment which effectively failed
It ended only 2 years after implemented, only in action for a year
What was the rule of the major generals?
Extreme military wing
Split England and Wales into 11 districts all governed by a major general
Each major general was meant to continue Gidly reformation and improve the efficacy of local government.
Their job was to ‘promote virtue and extriptate vice’
MORE PROOF OF CROMWELL’S REIGN AS ‘SITTING ON BAYONETS’
When was decimation tax on former royalists established?
21 Sep 1655
CONTRADICTS CROMWELL’S AIM OF HEALING AND SETTLING
Dates of the first session of the protectorate parliament?
17th Sep - 26th June 1657
Initiated because of war with Spain AND because major generals vouched for it
BACKFIRES ON MAJOR GENERALS HUGELY AND DECIMATION TAX
Evidence of Oliver Cromwell’s terrible relations with parliament in 1656
Council of state excluded 100 MP’s called ‘commonswealthmen’,
They wanted restoration of the Rump,
This included Halselrig and Scot
What/when Naylor Case
Oct 1656
Naylor was a Quaker who reenacted Christ’s entry to Jeruselum
Got treated extremely badly
OC disagrees with this treatment and helps Naylor later
Link to Biddle case
Outcome and dates of Naylor Case
5th-17th Dec 1656
Ends with him being branded and a hole through his tongue, savage mutilation
When did Oliver Cromwell let Jews in England
Dec 1656
First time in 350 years, Liberty of conscience
When did Cromwell: abandon Major Generals experiment, decimation tax and deny the militia bill?
Jan 1657
what/when Humble petition and advice
Basically a second Instrument of Gov
Was a new written constitution
Within this Cromwell was offered the Kingship but he eventually denied - shows how anxious he was to assuage the concerns of the political nation
What did the Humble Petition say
Basically reinstated the House of Lords with the Other House
Also lets Cromwell appoint his successor
Made Cromwell seem more monarchical and less accessible
Who refused to accept the Humble petition and was forced to resign
Lambert
When did OC deny the Kingship?
8th May 1657, says ‘I would not build Jericho again’.
When did OC accept the revised Humble petition
25th May 1657, he remained Lord Protector
When did Cromwell’s second Protectorate start?
26th June 1657, very much like a coronation, even had a sceptre, an sat on King Edward’s chair wearing a robe of purple velvet
When was the second session of the protectorate parliament?
20th Jan -4th Feb 1658
100 MP’s were excluded because they seemed opposed to the army,
Haselrig and Scot challenged the legitimacy of the Humble Petition.
When did Oliver Cromwell die?
3rd Sep
Named Richard Cromwel as his successor on his deathbed
What did Cromwell realise by 1658?
Much of what he has set out to accomplish would not be achieved
So likeneed himself to a ‘good constable’ or a ‘shepard’
How many governments were there between 1658 and 1660?
7
Events of Richard’s rule
- 27th January, first meeting of Richard’s parliament, third protectorate parliament begins
- 2nd April, meetings of the general council of officers begins
- 6th April, petition of the officers to the Protector for payment of the army’s wage arrears
- 18th April, parliament, supported by Richard, forbade meetings of army officers, showed he was not with the army
- 21st April, parliament had discussions of measures to control the army which prompted a rendevous of soldiers in or around London FORCED RICHARD TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT
- 23rd April-6th May, meetings of the general Council of Officerrs decided to recall the Rump Parliament. RICHARD CROMWELL RETIRED INTO PRIVATE LIFE
When did Cromwell dissolve the second Protesctorate parliament?
4th Feb 1658, amid fears of a leveller and royalist plot
Richard Cromwell’s personality/background
- Had not been involved in the English revolution and had not held high command in the army
- Probably more in tune with the gentry than OC had been - initially he was popular
- BUT this would also be his undoing, he had very little support from the army radicals
- and the army was the main source of power politically at this point
Why did Richard and the protectorate fail?
- Richard himself failed to hold the country together and this proved the instablity of the protectorat regime
- He could not reconcile the propertied classes who craved stablity and order
- He could also not meet the army’s religiously radical wants
