commonwealth & protectorate

on this page

1. General Commonwealth & Protectorate sites

2. Rump and Barebones

The Rump | Barebones

3. The Protectorate:

     a) Instrument of Government

     b) Protectorate Parliaments

First | Second | Humble Petition and Advice Third

     c) Major Generals

4. Oliver Cromwell:

     a) Biographies

Cromwell websites | Outline biographies Political & Religious Views | Death

     b) Academic articles & assessment

Viewed by contemporaries |

Traditional views | Recent views & assessment

Cromwell lectures

5. Wars of the Commonwealth (separate page)

6. End of the Commonwealth & Protectorate

(separate page)

Our sites on the civil war period (1630-1660):

Background to civil war period
People of the civil war
Military Events
Beliefs & ideas

The Commonwealth & Protectorate
The 1660 Restoration Settlement

Site Map - Civil War period (1630-60)
        Revision, 1646-52
        Revision, Cromwell

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1. Commonwealth & Protectorate: general sites



Fall of the republic from English Civil War in the interactive History Site of BBC Online, a straightforward, basic account by Professor Mark Stoyle.

The English Civil War Straightforward overview, links to key events/personalities from The History Guide's Lectures on Early Modern European History

Aftershocks BBC & Open University site. Well produced and detailed to coincide with a TV series.

Timeline (England)

The Republic

Restoration of Charles II

Cromwell & Counting the cost from another TV site, this time from the Channel 4 history website. Well presented, lush designed this professional micro-site tells the story the of the wars. Useful Q & A Ask the experts section. Thorough Find out more section with places to visit as well as a good book section. Perhaps most usefully, includes transcripts of interviews with key historians.

British Civil Wars and Commonwealth: An excellent site, providing many of the links and sites on these pages. This site explores the turmoil of the Civil Wars and Interregnum, and the constitutional experiments of the Commonwealth and Protectorate period of the 1650s. constantly growing

Time Lines: chronological listings of main events during the period 1640-60.

Biography: very comprehensive who's who in the Civil Wars and Commonwealth.

Military: military history of the Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate

English Revolution Intriguing site from Harvard@home education programme. Includes video lectures & explanations as well as timelines, maps and brief text outlines of key events. (Your browser needs to accept pop-ups)

Oliver Cromwell: Constitutional Crisis in England Lecture article by Professor Gerhard Rempel at Western New England College §

The English Revolution 1640 by Christopher Hill Online version of the crucial pamphlet published in 1940. section 4 is the relevant one.

And finally:

Commonwealth: 1649-1660 Use this for a clear and impressive study of the structures of government or if you are a real anorak who needs to know who held which official position in government. Good summaries of the key periods. From the Archontology site.

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2. Rump and Barebones - The Commonwealth, 1649-53



Initials used in text -

Trial & Execution of Charles I Click for extensive links from the casahistoria "The People of the Civil War" site

The Rump, 1648-53

Pride's Purge Outline from BCW&C page

The Commonwealth 1649-53 Excellent hyperlinked timeline. For more detail see the individual years for a day by day account and links to events/people great and small... From BCW&C.

1649

1650

1651

1652

1653

The Rump Parliament The 'Rump' of the Long Parliament after its purging by the New Model Army. Description from BCW&C.

Cromwell’s expulsion of the Rump Parliament The historian Barry Coward asks why on the 350th anniversary of Oliver Cromwell's dismissal of the Rump in 2003 the anniversary has gone largely unmarked and examines why Cromwell acted the way he did. From the UK Parliamentary Archives (View the official record of the expulsion in facsimile)

Barebones, 1653

The Nominated Assembly (Barebones Parliament) The Parliament of Saints - perhaps the most radical constitutional experiment of the English Revolution. Description from BCW&C.

Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men description of the religious group that was able to influence the election of a number of 150 delegates to the Barebone's Parliament (July-December 1653)

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3. The Protectorate: a) Instrument of Government

Outline diagram of Instrument of Government casahistoria netguide to download.

Instrument of Government 1653 Constitutional document that makes Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector, 1653. Brief description from BCW&C and link to full text of document

An account of the setting up of the Instrument of Government in 1653 from The Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, Lieutenant-General of the Horse in the Army of the Commonwealth of England, 1625-1672

The protectorate established Article from the Cromwell Association series of essays on the period which also include:

Developments down to December 1653

The protectorate established, 12-15 December

The protectorate inaugurated, 16 December

The protectorate at work, 17-20 December

The instrument of government – full text

The instrument of government assessed

The protectorate praised

Cromwell's Protectorate 1654-58 Excellent hyperlinked timeline. For more detail see the individual years for a day by day account and links to events/people great and small... From BCW&C.

1654

1655

1656

1657

Barry Coward - The Cromwellian Protectorate. Useful review article by Michael Mendle, University of Alabama which indicates that for Coward, godly reform and the Protector's own commitment to religious toleration trump all else.

The Cromwellian Protectorate By Barry Coward. This is the Google book Extract version of the useful book.

The example of the United Provinces

Outline diagram of government in United Provinces casahistoria netguide to download.

Comparison of government in United Provinces with Instrument of Government casahistoria netguide to download.

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        The Protectorate: b) Protectorate Parliaments

Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate Parliaments Article by David L Smith from The Cromwellian Protectorate edited by Patrick Little. Google Book Search

Oliver Cromwell and the Council Article by Blair Worden from The Cromwellian Protectorate edited by Patrick Little. This is the index page from the Google Book Search. you need to go forward to page 82 for the article.

First

First Protectorate Parliament (links to Cromwell's opening speech at the 1654 Parliament)

Second

Second Protectorate Parliament Useful outlines from BCW&C

James Nayler BCW&C bio and account of how he came to the notice of the 2nd Protectorate Parliament

Humble Petition and Advice, 1657

Humble Petition and Advice 1657 Constitutional document that makes Oliver Cromwell 'king in all but name' 1657. This was England's second — and last — written constitution. It differed significantly from the Instrument in that it was drawn up by civilian parliamentarians rather than by army officers. Outline description and links to full version from BCW&C.

Third

Third Protectorate Parliament concise account of the Parliament that met after Oliver Cromwells's death. BCW&C.

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        The Protectorate: c) Major Generals

Rule of the Major Generals Outline from BCW&C. However the main attraction is the specific information provided on each individual major general:

John Thurloe Bio of the coordinator of the major generals

John Barkstead: (as deputy to Philip Skippon in London) : Middlesex, Westminster, London

James Berry : Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Wales (with John Nicholas as his deputy in Monmouthshire and Rowland Dawkins as his deputy in Carmarthenshire, Cardiganshire, Glamorgan, Pembrokeshire)

William Boteler (Butler) : Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland

John Disbrowe : Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire

Charles Fleetwood

George Fleetwood (as deputy to Charles Fleetwood in Buckinghamshire)

William Goffe : Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex

Hezekiah Haynes (as deputy to Charles Fleetwood) : Essex, Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Suffolk

Charles Howard (as deputy to John Lambert) : Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland

Thomas Kelsey : Surrey, Kent

John Lambert

Robert Lilburne (as deputy to John Lambert) : Durham, Yorkshire

William Packer (as Charles Fleetwood's deputy) : Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire

Edward Whalley : Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincoln, Warwickshire, Leicestershire

Charles Worsley (and after his death, Tobias Bridge) : Cheshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire

Penruddock's Uprising and Western Design Outlines from BCW&C detailing the crucial events that helped lead to the MG's

Cromwell's Major-Generals: Godly Government during the English Revolution Valuable review of Christopher Durston's 2001 book by Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol

Cromwell's Major-Generals: Godly Government During the English Revolution This is the Google book extract version of Durstons book

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4. Oliver Cromwell:

        a) biographies

Cromwell websites

The Oliver Cromwell Website Homepage of the Cromwell Association, jointly maintained by the Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon. Timelines, outlines, images, essay competitions....

The Commandery Concise website of Worcester City Museums with useful articles on:

The Family

The Soldier

In Ireland

In Worcester

The Statesman

Religion

Death and Legacy

Cromwell Association. Basic outlines of key stages in life & career including:

Where did he come from?

Cromwell the Soldier

Cromwell the Politician

The English Civil Wars

History's Verdict on Cromwell

Diary of Association Events (very good guide for lectures by Cromwell experts across the UK, not only if you live in the fens...)

Outline biographies

Oliver Cromwell By Professor John Morrill BBC series of articles by the period specialist. Excellent place to start with links to flesh out your background fully.

Cromwell, Oliver (1599–1658), lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Much fuller and very worthwhile version of the Beeb article by John Morrill, 2004. On the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography subscription site (50+ pages) but can be read in full with most UK & international College & local library cards numbers.

Oliver Cromwell Extract from the concise A level guidance article by Richard Wilkinson in History Review March 1997

Oliver Cromwell: Constitutional Crisis in England Lecture article by Professor Gerhard Rempel at Western New England College

Oliver Cromwell. Brief biographic timeline up to 1642.

400th Anniversary Celebration of Cromwell's Death from the BBC

Cromwell, Oliver Full BCW&C essay on his life.

Oliver Cromwell -- An Outline for Term Papers A somewhat bizarre and eclectic mix of details, timelines, links. Not all useless though...

Political Views

Oliver Cromwell – Political development & education before 1653: class synthesis of early influences on Cromwells political development. Produced by Year 13 (K12) students, Mayflower UK.

Religious views

Cromwell and the Jews Very useful, detailed article with links for further study from the Cromwell Association

Death

Cromwell 'was murdered' BBC item about the debate arising from the American scholar Howard McCains' beliefs that letters dating from 1658 and the pattern of Cromwell's illness point to death by poisoning.

Death of Oliver Cromwell - newspaper article from The Gazette in 1658 on the death of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, after the English Civil War.

Reactions to the death of Cromwell From the Memoirs of Edmund Ludlow, Lieutenant-General of the Horse in the Army of the Commonwealth of England, 1625-1672

See the section below for assessments of Cromwell:

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        Oliver Cromwell: b) assessments

Viewed by contemporaries

The Pamphleteers Protestant Companion: Viewing Oliver Cromwell Through the Media of his Day. A very informative paper from Essays in History, Vol. 34, University of Virginia Press, exploring Oliver Cromwell in the popular press of his day.

Cromwell as Protector of Three Nations and God's Protestant Champion Analysis of the frontispiece engraving (shown alongside. Click to enlarge) to a work published in the year of Oliver Cromwell's death, 1658, represents him as a worthy, heroic successor to kings.

Traditional views

Thomas Macauley: On Oliver Cromwell Extracted by Modern History Source Book from History of England,1880

Eduard Bernstein: Cromwell and Communism (1895) Socialism And Democracy in the Great English Revolution as seen in 1895. Online book.

More recent views & assessments

Oliver Cromwell Extract from the article by Richard Wilkinson in History Review March 1997

Assessment Succinct overall assessment by Prof Morrill on his BBC site.

Cromwell: Hero or Villain? Item from BBC News site discusses points raised in the 1999 "Cromwell: Warts and All" exhibition at the Museum of London

Contentious Cromwell From the Channel 4 history website, examination of Oliver Cromwell's role during and after the Civil Wars.

Puritan Made Dr Rachel Gibbons, lecturer at the Open University examines the political legacy of Cromwell

An interview with Angela Anderson Useful transcript of the interview for the Channel 4 programme Cromwell: New Model Englishman.

An interview with Blair Worden for the Channel 4 programme Cromwell: New Model Englishman. Blair Worden is a professor of history at the School of English and American Studies at the University of Sussex.

Britain’s very own Taliban Fascinating New Statesman article by historian Tristram Hunt, in which he asserts that ‘Oliver Cromwell's Puritans were fundamentalists who banned Christmas, outlawed holly and covered up their women’, and Cromwell himself was not a hero of the common man and protector of democracy.

Cromwell lectures

Was the Cromwellian Protectorate a military dictatorship? Useful Podcast lecture by Prof Barry Coward, Emeritus Professor of History, Birkbeck, who discusses the nature of the leadership of Britain's most controversial Head of State.

Video sessions by Harvards Prof Kishlansky (times in brackets)

1. Professor Kishlansky's Introduction to Cromwell (2:07)

2. Cromwell's Early Life and Conversion Experience (7:21)

3. Military Genius and Member of Parliament (6:36)

4. Civil War Leader (6:10)

5. Cromwell's Rise to Power During the War (6:39)

6. Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector (8:15)

7. Denouncing of Cromwell and the Army (9:29)

8. Cromwell's Final Years (5:56)

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5. Wars of the Commonwealth

Go to the Wars of the Commonwealth section on the casahistoria Military Events of the Civil War page

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6. The End of the Commonwealth & Protectorate

See above Section 4a) for links to the death of Oliver Cromwell

Go to casahistoria site The 1660 Restoration Settlement for links to:

1. General Resources
2. Oliver Cromwell to Charles II
3. The Restoration Settlement
     Charles II
     The Convention Parliament
     Political settlement
     Religious settlement
     Charles, ministers and early court politics
4. Foreign Relations
5. Miscellany

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Google Book Search - Oliver Cromwell & Protectorate

This has become an increasingly valuable tool for casahistorians. Key materials are already listed on the site but for more, click on the logo alongside to go to a results page linked to this topic. Once there you can narrow your search further by using its search box. Remember then to show at Full & Limited preview settings for best results. Instructions on how best to use Google Book Search can be found by clicking here.

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