The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the English Civil War. A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. It began with the regicide of Charles I in 1649 and ended with the restoration of Charles II in 1660. The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a Monarch, or the person responsible for it Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
This era in English history can be divided into four periods.
- The first period of the Commonwealth of England from 1649 until 1653
- The Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell from 1653 to 1658
- The Protectorate under Richard Cromwell from 1658 to 1659
- The second period of the Commonwealth of England from 1659 until 1660
Contents |
Life during the Interregnum
After the Parliamentarian victory in the Civil War, the Puritan views of the majority of Parliament and its supporters began to be imposed on the rest of the country. The Commonwealth of England was the Republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653&ndash1659 during which the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland was governed by a Lord Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known Richard Cromwell ( 4 October 1626 &ndash 12 July 1712) was the third son of Oliver Cromwell, and the second Lord Protector The Commonwealth of England was the Republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, The Puritans advocated an austere lifestyle and restricted what they saw as the excesses of the previous regime. Most prominently, holidays such as Christmas and Easter, which were thought to have pagan origins, were suppressed. Pastimes such as the theatre and gambling were also banned. However, some forms of art that were thought to be 'virtuous', such as opera, were encouraged. These changes are often blamed upon Oliver Cromwell, though they were originally introduced by the Commonwealth Parliament; and Cromwell, when he came to power, was a liberalising influence. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known [1]
His son and successor, Richard Cromwell, gave up his position as Lord Protector with little hesitation, resigning or "abdicating" after a demand by the Rump Parliament. Richard Cromwell ( 4 October 1626 &ndash 12 July 1712) was the third son of Oliver Cromwell, and the second Lord Protector The Rump Parliament was the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride on December 6 1648 had purged Long Parliament of those This was the beginning of a short period of restoration of the Commonwealth of England. The Commonwealth of England was the Republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland
Jews in England
Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel met Oliver Cromwell concerning the admission of Jews into England in 1655. The Resettlement of the Jews in England was a historic commercial policy dealing with Jews in England in the 17th century and forms a prominent part of the Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master Manoel Dias Soeiro (1604&ndash November 20, 1657) better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh Ben Israel (also Menasheh ben Yossef ben Yisrael PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ [2] Cromwell did not agree to all the rights that ben Israel requested, but the opening of Jewish synagogues and burial grounds was tolerated under Cromwell's Protectorate. A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The practice of the Jewish faith in England was still not done openly, since Cromwell's move had been controversial and many in England were still hostile toward the Jews. Life for the Jews in England improved in that they could no longer be prosecuted if caught worshipping, but discrimination continued. The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the Common law Adversarial system, or the civil law Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is
Ireland
- See also: Plantations of Ireland and Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652
Life for both Irish and English Catholics in Ireland became increasingly difficult under Cromwell's rule, and Cromwell remains a despised figure in Ireland to this day. The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53 refers to the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were established throughout the country by the confiscation of lands occupied by Gaelic clans and Hiberno-Norman dynasties The Act for the Settlement of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against participants and bystanders of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent
Cromwell's sweeping campaign in Ireland began in August 1649. He left in May 1650, but the campaign continued until 1653. Its effects devastated Ireland's Catholic population, roughly one-third of whom were killed or exiled by the war. Famine and plague were the biggest killers, produced in large part from the scorched earth tactics used by Parliamentary forces. A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method (possibly more often referred to as a tactic but this is not entirely correct as there is a difference between Some Irish prisoners of war were sold as indentured labourers in the West Indies. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting The Catholic landowning class was dispossessed en masse. Thousands of New Model Army soldiers and the Parliament's creditors were settled on confiscated Irish lands. The New Model Army was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. Those Catholic landowners deemed innocent of rebellion against the Parliament but who had not shown "constant good affection" still had their land confiscated and were forced to re-locate to Connacht, where the soil was poorer.
The practice of Catholicism was banned and many of the soldier/settlers set up dissenting religious communities, such as Quakers or Baptists, under the protection of the Parliamentary forces. English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England. Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging to a Baptist church or a Baptist denomination. The Scottish Presbyterian community was also disadvantaged by the Interregnum regime, as most of them had taken the Solemn League and Covenant and had fought with the Scots against the Parliament in the Third English Civil War (1649-50). Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity of a government organization or social order The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. The Third English Civil War ( 1649 &ndash 1651) was the last of the English Civil War ( 1642 &ndash 1652) a series of armed conflicts Charles Fleetwood the parliamentary commander in Ireland from 1652-1655 was viewed as being hostile to Catholics, Presbyterians, and the pre-war English Protestant settlers at the expense of the radical new settlers. Charles Fleetwood (died 4 October 1692) English Parliamentary soldier and politician third son of Sir Miles Fleetwood of Henry Cromwell, who replaced Fleetwood in 1655, was seen as a more conservative influence, conciliating the "Old Protestant" landed class and allowing the harshest legislation against Catholics (such as a ban on their living in towns) to lapse. Henry Cromwell ( 20 January, 1628 &ndash 23 March, 1674) was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier Towards the end of the Interregnum, Parliamentarian generals Charles Coote and Richard Boyle (who were also pre-war English settlers) seized the strong points in Ireland in preparation for the Restoration of the monarchy. Richard Boyle may refer to Richard Boyle 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle 1st Earl of Burlington and 2nd earl of Cork
Historical analysis
Said Lacey Baldwin Smith on the subject of the English Interregnum:[3]
When Commons was purged out of existence by a military force of its own creation, the country learned a profound, if bitter, Lesson: Parliament could no more exist without the crown than the crown without Parliament. The ancient constitution had never been King and Parliament but King in Parliament; when one element of that mystical union was destroyed, the other ultimately perished.
The Puritan movement had evolved in rebellion to a real or perceived "Catholicization" of the Church of England. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican With the Church of England quickly disestablished by the Commonwealth Government, the question about which type of church to establish became a hotly debated subject. An established church is a church officially sanctioned and supported by the government of a country e In the end, it was impossible to make all the different political factions happy. During the Interregnum, Oliver Cromwell lost much of the support he had gained during the Civil War. Edward Sexby, previously a supporter of Cromwell's, felt disenfranchised by Cromwell's failure to abolish the aristocracy. Edward Sexby or Saxby ( 1616 - January 13 1658) was an English Puritan soldier and Leveller in the army of Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations In 1657, Silius Titus called for Cromwell's assassination in a co-authored pamphlet Killing No Murder under the pseudonym of William Allen. Silius Titus (1623 - 1704 of Bushey was an English politician captain of Deal Castle, and Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King Charles Killing No Murder is a Pamphlet published in 1657 during The Protectorate period of the English Interregnum era of English history Sexby was captured when he returned to England and attempted to carry out the assassination described in Colonel Titus' book. Cromwell coerced Sexby into confessing authorship of the pamphlet and then imprisoned him in the Tower, where Sexby was driven to insanity and died less than a year later.
High taxes resulted from the large standing army kept due to the constant threats of Scottish or Irish rebellion and added to public resentment of Cromwell. A standing army is an Army composed of full time career Soldiers who 'stand over' in other words who do not disband during times of peace
References
- ^ Cromwell, Our Chief of Men by Lady Antonia Fraser, ISBN 0753813319. Lady Antonia Fraser, CBE (born 27 August 1932 née Pakenham, is an English author of history and novels best known as Antonia Fraser for writing
- ^ "Cromwell and the Jews", The Oliver Cromwell Association.
- ^ Oliver Cromwell (1649-1658 AD), Britannia: British History and Travel.
See also
An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity of a government organization or social orderDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic