Britain – September 2019

http://www.britain-magazine.com BRITAIN (^45)
HISTORY
for land to be redistributed. A divided Parliament dithered,
with moderates also fearing Cromwell and radical
elements in the powerful New Model Army.
In the end a frustrated Cromwell upbraided Parliament on
20 April 1653, calling members whoremasters, drunkards
and unjust men: “You have sat too long for any good you
have been doing lately... In the name of God, go!” Thus,
he dissolved Parliament – ignoring the irony that Charles I
had rashly pursued just such a route – and seized power,
ruling rst via the Barebones Parliament, then
from December 1653 through his
appointment as Lord Protector. He would
later be offered the Crown – people felt
that at least the role of a sovereign was
circumscribed – but he declined,
preferring to carve his own role: like
a king but with greater powers.
Much is made of the killjoy
atmosphere of the Interregnum
(1649–60), the 11 years between the
execution of Charles I and the Restoration
of Charles II, and the Protectorate’s
“reformation of manners” enforced by Major
Generals across the regions was deeply unpopular. All the
more boisterous aspects of life were curbed or banned,
including swearing, drunkenness, inns, brothels, theatres
and horse racing. “Old Christmas is kickt out of Town...
you see the world turn’d upside down”, a ballad lamented
of the outlawing of celebrations surrounding Christmas Day.
Administratively, the Interregnum saw some progress
made, including efforts put into building a stronger Navy.
There was greater religious tolerance, and measures were
taken to formally allow the readmission of Jews to
England (banished since Edward I’s expulsion in 1290).
Finances, wrecked by years of civil war, remained
problematic, and keeping the mutually loathing Parliament
and New Model Army in check required all the boldness
and strength of a man like Cromwell. Indeed, just how
much the whole republican experiment had come to
depend on him became clear when, after an illness,
hediedin 1658, aged 59. His nominated
successor as Protector, his son Richard,
proved simply unable to ll his shoes.
The Protectorate quickly unravelled
and within a year ‘Queen Dick’, as
Richard was scornfully called,
resigned. Amid the chaos Parliament
decided that government should
once again be by King, Lords and
Commons, and Charles II was invited
back. In May 1660 the tall, dark,
glamorous Merry Monarch was met by
cheering London crowds restless for the
reinstatement of royalty, maypoles, mince pies
and other staples of British life. Oliver Cromwell was
declared a traitor and his body was exhumed from
Westminster Abbey to be posthumously executed.
It had been a breathless, brutal period in the country’s
history: a quarter-century of civil wars, regicide and
political, religious and social upheavals. But which of
the chief protagonists, ultimately, was hero or villain,
and what was the lasting legacy?
Left: A 19th-century
engraving of Oliver
Cromwell dissolving
Parliament
Right: The Broad gold
coin issued in 1656
depicted Cromwell
as a Roman emperor
Below: An engraving
of Charles II fleeing
after the Battle
of Worcester