15. Political divisions and experiments: the Rump and Nominated Assembly Flashcards
(18 cards)
Conservatism of Gov ‘49 - April ‘53 (Rump + Council of State)
1) Encouraged by OC some MPs drifted back to Westminster (stayed away after Pride’s purge) - 300 MPs but only 50 - 100 regular attendees (radical ones)
2) Attendance of Council of State rarely exceeded 15 (not representative) + sometimes failed to achieve a quorum of nine (minimal attendance for legitimacy of decisions) + 22/41 MPs in Council of State refused to approve regicide
What were the conflicting (religious) visions of each group in 1949 - 52 that the Commonwealth had to appease to achieve ‘healing and settling’? (5)
1) Rank + file, radicals and other idealists demanded wholesale reform - expect a ‘godly reformation’
2) Council of Officers - reform + refurbishment of the church, significant religious reform, simplification of the law, greater social justice (e.g. an end to imprisonment for debt)
3) Baptist churches - prevent another national church, ministers should rely on voluntary contributions
4) Political Independents - retain a reformed national church, ministers should be paid by some means other than tithes
5) Radical sects - complete religious freedom for all
Uniformity and Recusancy Acts
Sept ‘50 - attendance of the national Church was no longer enforced (to appease the army + demands for the restoration of order + the established Church, a token gesture of religious tolerance - didn’t go far enough)
Extra (insignificant) religious reform brought by the Rump (2)
1) Removed Latin from law courts
2) Acts for Propagation of Gospel in Wales + Ireland, pleasing radicals such as Thomas Harrison
Blasphemy and Adultery Acts
Aug 1650 - Restrictive legislation passed by the Rump - increased religious repression and launched an attack on more radical sects - Quakers and Ranters - death penalty for incest or adultery - making sexual immorality a state issue, imprisonment for those found guilty of ‘atheistical, blasphemous and execrable opinions’ - can’t deny fundamental Christian beliefs
OC’s grievances over Rump ‘49 - ‘53 (+ his vision for the PN)
1) Pment didn’t meet his expectations of religious toleration, simplification of the legal system + general election w/ reformed franchise - but despite this, OC was politically conservative
2) OC wanted a settlement that left power in the hands of gentry-dominated Pment (+ preserved social + political power of gentry in localities) - shift of PN power rather than wholescale change
3) Rump didn’t share liberty of conscience view (lawyers obstructed legal reform) + reluctant to reform itself - OC’s disillusion w/ Rump set in after he returns to LND in Sept ‘51,
4) By 10 Dec OC sugg “a settlement…w/ monarchical power in it would be very effectual”
5) in Nov ‘52 asks “What if a man should take it upon himself to be king?” - Rump needs leader for unity + stability - ‘an immoveable Pment is as bad as an immoveable King’ - Rump = unpresentative + not morally upstanding
First Dutch War (3)
1652 - 54
1) Rump more focused on anti-Dutch FP than addressing NMA + OC’s grievances
2) Navigation Act - Oct 1651 attempts to cut Dutch trading routes, encouraging the development of England’s own trade (all imports into British owned land on English ships) - great for merchants (only) (self-serving policy).
3) Disagreements over fishing rights led to naval war between United Provinces + UK in May ‘52. Rump used navy as a counterweight to army.
Why did the First Dutch War negatively impact the Rump? (4)
1) Seen as self interested - only serving the rich (merchant community) - led to calls of corruption + disenfranchisement
2) Increased fears of incompetency
3) Angered the army - attacking a potential ally + proposing relentless wars (just after 30 years)
4) Alienated from the rest of society - created heavy tax burden on everyone due to need to fund navy (+ increased resentment from aristocracy as boosted merchants influence)
Hales Commission
1651 - Est. to consider law reform but set aside less than two years later - under pressure form the army - OC not impressed
Rumps position by 52 (3)
1) Too conservative for NMA, too radical for PN
2) Forced to maintain high taxes due to cost of military, next elections would bring Pment hostile to the Commonwealth
3) By end of ‘52 the Council of Officers pressured OC to take action to avoid full breakdown of relations between Army + Rump - dissatisfied w/ pace of change
Dissolution of the Rump (2)
20 Apr ‘53
1) OC + Harrison storm to Westminster w/ soldiers upon hearing the Rump was abt to pass a bill for its own dissolution - need control - stop an election (+ return of Long Pment + royalists)
2) OC lambasts MPs in speech for corruption + dishonesty + selfish nature - “you are failing your Christian duty”, “the Lord had done with them” - ordered soldiers to clear chamber of the Rump MPs
Reasons for the Rumps dissolution (4)
1) Preventing the ungodly from returning to power - in the interests of the Rump + army (Cromwell wanted his own vision of a godly nation and political settlement to be enacted)
2) Fear over Rumps new bill - risked royalists returning - wanted to be avoided
3) Cutting of army budget - stem of power for OC, if lost then he lacks authority
4) Parliamentary control of some areas of the army (not really as risk - OC had a frim grip over society)
Aftermath of the Rump (4)
1) Power left w/ OC - but didn’t want to be a military dictator - wants a ‘government w/ something of a monarchical in it’ (believed in mixed monarchy)
2) Wanted another legitimate Pment (avoid unrest + instability) - Colonel John Lambert suggests Army Council of State (small executive council similar to Pment but CoS instead of HoL)
3) 5th Monarchist Colonel Thomas Harrison suggests an Assembly of Saints (called to plan a gov fit to welcome the returning Christ) - convinced OC to instate the “godly” (although he didn’t share same extreme millenarian convictions - convinced by Harrison’s condemnation of C)
4) Nominated Assembly (Pment of Saints or Barebones Pment) est. - gov drawn from godly part of nation (if a Pment couldn’t be safely elected it had to be chosen)
Apocalyptic
Relating to the end of the world as described in the Book of Revelation
Book of Saints/hagiocracy
A state run by religious leaders, a theocracy - ‘saints’ relating to people considered Godly
Nominated Assembly (6)
July - Dec 1653
1) Promoted millenarianism in ’50s - regime based on saints as in Books of Revelation (pleases 5th Monarchists - hastens est. of Christ’s kingdom + helped them take over Committees for Propagation of Gospel)
2) 144 members chosen to sit (“persons of approved fidelity + honesty”), no OC but opened it - urging it to live up to nation + God’s expectations
3) Immediately declared itself as a Pment (same privileges + power)
4) Only 1/3 of members were of sufficient status to be elected to any Pment, over 2/3 had been JPs for more than 3 yrs before (loyal + understand political system) - most moderate + cautious reformers
5) Only around a dozen (-/144) were 5th Monarchists
6) Passed over 30 acts (more than Rump + many moderate) + took up Hale Commission’s work on law reform (incl. civil marriage act + laws on debt)
Failure of the Nominated Assembly (4)
1) Modifies lay control of Church livings (+ patronage e.g. Gentry control over vicars etc.) - seen by many as an attack on property itself (v dangerous - social order threatened)
2) Alienated Gentry in make up (removed them from positions of power) - reverting social order (OC stated in ‘57 that if left untouched, it would’ve subverted all liberties of this nation)
3) Radicals in NA succeeded in passing vote against tithes Dec 10 ‘53 (moving far to quickly) - so moderates intervene…
4) Votes to dissolve itself on 12 Dec in absence of radicals (handing power back to OC - disappointed - needs change)
When was the Commonwealth dissolved?
16 Dec ‘53 - OC restors principle of mixed gov in hope of achieving reform + stability - appointed Lord Protector w/ help of Council of State + Pments elected from a reformed franchise (Lambert’s suggestion - army want one of their own in charge)
