The Restoration of Charles Flashcards
How did Cromwell come to the decision to name his son as his successor? (3)
1) Oliver Cromwell had delayed announcing the name of his successor until the morning of his death, which suggest he had some doubts about the suitability of his son Richard to the role of Lord Protector.
2) In the end none of the MPs seemed likely successors as they were hostile to the army and the army commanders were viewed as over-ambitious by Cromwell, so his son was his best option.
3) The idea of hereditary rule had general acceptance, except by radical, so Cromwell may have hoped that Richard would be a popular ruler.
What problems did Richard Cromwell face at the start of his reign? (4)
1) He was not his father and struggled to live up to his reputation.
2) The government of the Protectorate was heavily dependent on the abilities of the Protector.
3) He had never served in the army and so he lacked the respect of the commanders.
4) He was faced with conflicts between the commanders and the MPs, who each took up positions which were virtually irreconcilable.
In what year did Richard call his first parliament?
What was the main problem it needed to solve?
What divisions were their in this parliament?
Calling a parliament in 1659 was seen as good move by Richard.
One of the main problems it needed to solve was the financial deficit and to make provision for the back pay owed to the army which totalled nearly £900,000.
There were divisions amongst MPs:
1) One group wished to abolish the Protectorate and return to the Commonwealth.
2) Others, generally those with an army background were keen to keep Cromwell as Protector but wanted to bring him more under their influence.
3) The country gentry were in favour of neither faction but wanted less religious toleration and a stronger Upper House.
4) The Army wanted to be granted immunity from prosecution for their actions during the Commonwealth.
What brought about the end of the 1659 parliament?
By April the army were urging Cromwell to dissolve the parliament, when he seemed reluctant to do so, they brought in troops and he obeyed in April 1659.
What issues arose in the army?
1) One of the most important army commanders was Charles Fleetwood, who was married to Cromwell’s daughter, Bridget, and who had served as Lord Deputy of Ireland and as one of the Major-Generals.
He urged the army to send in petitions demanding that it maintain it’s independence.
2) But he was not altogether trusted by the lower ranking officers, who felt that the commanders were betraying the cause of the soldiers.
3) This view was also expressed in many pamphlets read by the soldiers where the argument was put forward that ‘the good old cause’ was being abandoned.
By this they meant that there was a perceptible step backward towards monarchy and tyranny.
4) The General Council of the Army was also concerned about paying for the army and had suggested increased taxation.
This unrest and division in the army just made Cromwell’s task harder.
How did the resignation of Richard Cromwell come about? (2)
What happened after his resignation? (2)
1) The army now took the decision to recall the ‘Rump’ parliament, as they had run out of options and it was at least a legally elected parliament, although some members had died in the meantime.
2) Richard Cromwell saw that he had no place in government and once he had secured the payment of his debts and a pension, he resigned as Lord Protector in May and in July he left Whitehall and returned to his Hampshire estates.
1) He was much mocked as ‘Tumebledown Dick’ and in 1660 he left England, fearing for his safety.
2) He lived in exile for about twenty years and finally died in 1712 aged 85.
Following the resignation of Richard Cromwell what problems arose in the army? (6)
1) The army set up a ‘Committee of Safety’ which it hoped would bring about military rule and replace the Rump, however it struggled to get any support from MPs.
2) The army in London also faced hostility from the army in Scotland commanded by General George Monck. Monck was professional soldier who had spent the past few years keeping order in Scotland and so was not tainted by association with the army in the South.
3) He was threatening to intervene as he feared anarchy could be the outcome of the deadlock in London.
4) Lambert prepared to leave London to march North to confront Monck, this emphasised the divisions in the army and seemed to suggest a possible civil war.
5) But the army had exhausted the patience of the people and by popular demand the Rump was returned to the Commons in December.
6) When Lambert did leave to confront Monck, many of his men deserted fearing that they would not be paid.
How did Monck’s role begin to develop? (6)
1) He did not believe in setting up a military government, so he won considerable support from those who had become fed up with being told what to do by the army.
2) He was a wily strategist, who claimed that his main aim was to restore civil authority, which could be interpreted in many different ways.
3) He presented himself as saving the country from declining into anarchy.
4) His troops were loyal and well-disciplined and numbered 10,000, so were a substantial force that could back up his decisions.
5) He did not act rashly but waited on events and took care to gauge public opinion.
6) Once he crossed the border into England, his men looked like the best chance of a stable government.
What happened when Monck arrived in London in February 1660? (3)
1) The Rump MPs were initially hostile and tried to have him arrested, but he had force behind him and in retaliation he ordered that the MPs that had been excluded from the Rump during the Protectorate should be allowed to return.
2) This was a crucial step as the re-established Long Parliament was ready to dissolve itself in mid-march and issue writs for a new parliament to be elected and to meet in April.
3) The opposition to Monck had collapsed very rapidly showing that the Protectorate enjoyed little backing and the new elections would most likely lead to MPs favouring restoration being elected.
How did Monck begin to influence a restoration of the monarch in early 1660?
What advice did Monck give to Charles II? (2)
Monck was in contact with the royalists and he sent messages to Charles II who was living in exile in Brussels.
1) Monck advised that Charles should leave Brussels which was in the Catholic Spanish Netherlands and go instead to Breda, in the Protestant Dutch republic.
2) Monck also suggested that Charles should release a statement that he would not punish those who had fought against him and that he wanted a settlement based on a parliamentary system.
While there was much desire for the restoration of the monarchy, Monck recognised that it could not be restored on the old terms.
What was the tole of the Convention parliament and when did it sit? (4)
1) The Convention Parliament sat from April to December 1660 and presided over the restoration.
2) Although there had been little support for Royalist risings in the past year, there seemed to be a surge in support for the restoration of a new monarch, mainly down to the fact that all other options were beginning to seem impractical.
3) Hence it was up to the parliament to ensure that any change of regime was carried out peacefully.
4) The parliament got it’s name because it had not been called by a monarch.
What was the result of elections to the Convention Parliament? (2)
1) After the elections, about 100 of the MPs that had been elected were known to be royalists, so that the Presbyterians that had hoped for a majority were forced to work with their new colleagues.
2) The House of Lords had a royalist majority as peers who had come of age since the execution of Charles I were allowed to take their seat among the 145 assembled members of the nobility.
What was the main task of the Convention parliament and how did it bring this about? (5)
1) The Parliament’s main task was to agree to the restoration of Charles II by pronouncing, on 8th May that he had been King of England since 30th January 1649.
2) They proclaimed that government by Commons Lords and King was what they wanted.
3) There was some concern over what terms Charles would return under, although his Declaration of Breda help to clarify this.
There was little sympathy for the regicides, but much more concern about the legality of sales of land confiscated from royalists and bought, in good faith by parliamentarians.
4) The legislation passed under the Commonwealth and Protectorate was declared null apart from the Navigation Acts, which were held to serve a useful purpose.
5) Charles was now able to prepare to return for London, something which he had not expected but for which, he was eternally grateful.
Wha happened to Charles between 1630 and 1685?
Charles was the eldest son of Charles I, and had fought for the Royalists in the West country during the Civil War. From there he had fled to France in 1646.
He strongly resisted his mother’s repeated attempts to convert him to Roman Catholicism.
In 1648, he moved to the Netherlands where his sister, Mary, was married to William, who late became ruler of the United Provinces.
The royalists proclaimed him as king as soon as Charles I had been executed.
He returned to England in 1650 to make an alliance with the Scots, however he was left embittered, having had to abandon many of his principles and his friends to get support from the Scots.
He fought in the battle of Worcester in 1651, where he was defeated and escaped after a string of narrow escapes over 40 days, including hiding in the Royal Oak at Boscobel House.
His unusual height (he was over six feet tall) made it hard for him to disguise himself.
He spent the next nine years in exile in France and the Netherlands being served by Edward Hyde.
He was often destitute and friendless as the princes of Europe took little notice of him and had no expectation that he would ever be restored to the throne.
The events of 1658-60 surprised Charles as much as they did the rest of Europe.
Ahead of his return to England what sensible measures did Charles II take? (4)
1) He listened to the suggestions of his main advisor Edward Hyde. Hyde had been with Charles throughout his exile and was determined that the restoration would go ahead without any hitches.
2) He therefore pressed Charles to make as few definite promises so that nobody would offended and there would be more chance for him to benefit from the restoration.
3) Charles also listened to the advice given to him by General Monck and moved his residence from the Spanish Netherlands to the United Provinces, which belonged to the Protestant Dutch.
4) Charles I had been viewed as too close to Catholicism so his son had behaved circumspectly by moving from a Catholic region with close connections to Spain to live in a protestant country.
