16. Cromwell and his aims: the Protectorates, Major-Generals and relations w/ the PN Flashcards
(31 cards)
By 1954 (est. of Protectorate, end of Commonwealth) OC had made enemies of… (3)
1) Levellers - esp. Lilburne (suppressed in ‘49, imprisoned ‘55) - altho religiously aligned, they criticised his political conservatism
2) Republicans - e.g. Arthur Haselrig - accused him of behaving like a military dictator by expelling the Rump
3) Religious radicals - e.g. Colonel Harrison - regarded as an apostate after the closure of the NA (seen to have defected from previous faith)
All accused him of betraying the revolution, so OC accepts LP under the IoG
OC as the Protector (2 aims)
Counter balance to Pment (held quasi-monarchical powers + a large standing army) - kept a simple, personal lifestyle - continued to dress in plain clothes (presents as an army general) but moved into Whitehall palace + did sign documents ‘Oliver P’ mimicking trad. royal signatures - legitimacy est. (+ reduce risk of uprising)
Aims:
1) Healing + settling the nation by est. stable form of gov - 1st worked on PN’s divisions
2) Religious + social reformation - est. godly rule + a society dominated by Puritan ideas but w/ focus on religious tolerance based on ‘liberty of conscience’
How did OC go about healing + settling as LP?
1st looked to heal divisions within PN - employed civilian advisors + sought to bring the est. gentry back into local gov - broaden base of support by including army reps, conservatives + monarchists in providing balance gov
Instrument of Government (5)
1653
1) Britain’s first written constitution (made by General Lambert - proof OC not an innovative thinker)
2) Presented + accepted by OC within 4 days of NA dissolution)
3) Est. OC as Lord Protector (Head of State - for life - refused Crown) - rules as executive but w/ powers shared + limited (defined) by Pment + CoS (couldn’t appoint or dismiss councilors or ignore CoS advice on major issues) - had no power to prevent bills passed by Pment from becoming law (unless they contravened IoG’s terms) but OC’s unique standing w/ army + civilians meant he could often persuade CoS
4) CoS - max 21 members (position for life) - mostly civilian + conservative (4 military men)
5) Pment, 460 MPs (reduced from 513) - voters had to own £200 of personal property (no NA repeat but royalists excluded from 1st 4 Pments) - Pment’s approval needed for all appointments to high office
6) built in provision for a permanent army est. of 10k horse + 20k foot + £200k a year for civil gov
What limitations were put on Pment under the IoG (5)
1) Couldn’t alter the terms of the Instrument (tense bc Lambert (ARMY) wrote it)
2) Only elected every 3 yrs but sat for 5 months minimum
3) CoS had the right to exclude MPs whose affections towards the Protectorate were in doubt (vague)
4) Protector + CoS were given the power to legislate on their own authority ‘till 1st Pment met in Sept ‘53
5) Liberty of conscience enshrined in IoG for all (except those who contravened morality or threatened security of state - v vague) - made sure Pment didn’t restrict freedom of worship
3 main principles upon which OC based his rule
1) Return to gov w/ single person ruling w. elected Pment (to est. stable constitution + unity in gov)
2) Simplification of the legal system
3) Introduction of social + religious legislation as necessary to implement the ‘godly reformation’
Few shared all these aims - unlikely to succeed through political power alone
OC’s action before 1st Pment of Protectorate (6 changes)
24 Dec ‘53 - 2nd Sept ‘54 (8 months), 83 ordinances passed (mostly making the financial system more efficient)
Key changes:
1) 1st Anglo-Dutch war ended
2) England + Scotland united
3) new High Court of Justice est. to handle cases of treason (against the Protectorate)
4) Ordinances against drunkenness, swearing, duelling, cock-fighting + horse-racing (OC’s puritan side)
5) Commission of ‘Triers’ est. Mar ‘54 - ensures applicants for church livings were godly + virtuous men + sought ministers who were educated + capable of preaching (meritocracy)
6) Commission of ‘Ejectors’ then est. Aug ‘54 charged w/ removing ministers + teachers who were ‘scandalous in their lives + conversations’ - decision based on quality as minister over denominational preference
CoS entrust further legal reform w/ senior judges who ensure changes are cautious + slow - little further legislation after Dec ‘54
CoS included too many traditionalists + vested interests to make significant change w/ attempts to open up economic opportunities
OC’s early FP as LP
After ending 1st Anglo-Dutch War, started war w/ Spain in ‘55 (declining) - wanted to capture Hispaniola (colony - modern day Haiti w/ Western Design) for silver - costly failure in short term, compounding financial issues - work towards econ. reform hampered
Religion + the church under the Protectorate (2)
1) Sought a broad, flexible + tolerant church - all except the blasphemous or dangerous (e.g. Catholics + Quakers)
2) Reformation of the ungodly could make little progress w/o financial support + legal compulsion (enables Quakerism to grow)
Naylor Case 1656
1) Quaker reenacted Christ’s coming into Jerusalem - accused of blasphemy
2) Some MPs called for death sentence
3) OC says he’s ‘foolish rather than wicked’ (prioritising ‘healing + settling’?) + challenged Pment’s right to inflict punishment (tries to calm conservatives fears)
4) Ultimately only flogged, bored through the tongue + committed to prison (no liberty of conscience?)
Threat of Quakers (5)
1) Lamberts troops reported as becoming more radical + taking up Quaker cause:
-These report feared many in London and Monck in Scotland
-Willing to take up armed revolution, making PN fear their positions
-Lambert seen as increasingly radical
2) Fast spreading radicals - lower middle class - educated, can read pamphlets etc. - explosion in numbers - 50,000 in 59
3) They rejected taking legal oaths (goes against OC - social + religious legislation necessary for the Godly reformation)
4) Nonconformist - opposed central church + state authority (didn’t believe a need for clergy or hierarchy - God’s inner light is in everyone)
5) Difficult to know what they’re planning/talking about - met in people’s houses
1st Protectorate Pment (4)
1) 4 Sept ‘54- 22 Jan ‘55 - 5 months (lunar! - as short as possible - dissolved at 1st opportunity)
2) Pment attacked IoG - written by army (wanted authority in Pment alone) - led by Haselrig (grievances over OC ability to enact ordinances, control of the army + the need to cut army spending)
3) OC demands all MPs sign an Oath of Recognition accepting the principle of gov by a LP + Pment
4) 100 MPs (-/460) refused to sign ‘Recognition’ (essentially an oath of allegiance) - incl. most republicans + barred from sitting in Pment
Biddle’s Case
1652
1) Biddle - teacher studying the bible who denied the holy trinity + divinity of Christ.
2) Accused of heresy by Pment - wanted him imprisoned + his ideas, banned (blasphemous) 3) Seen as Pment trying to control/clamp down on religious policy (goes against OC’s tolerant approach - Biddle just using liberty of conscience)
Factor in OC’s dissolution of the 1st Protectorate Pment on 22 Jan ‘55
Authoritarian clamp down ‘55 (by OC)
1) As a result of Mar ‘55 royalist rising in Wilshire led by John Penruddock (altho small scale + easily suppressed) convincing OC of need to ensure security of Protectorate
2) Replaces 5 judges to stop challenge to gov’s right to collect taxes in courts in spring + early summer
3) May - case of George Cony - refused to pay customs duties (+ religious radical) - OC imprisons not only Cody but his entire legal counsel w/o trial
4) Sept - Decimation Tax introduced to finance the activities of the Major Generals by imposing a levy of 10% on the property of known royalists
5) Sept (later) control of the press tightened w/ suppression of all news sheets except Mercurius Politicus + The Public Intelligencer
BUT OC didn’t fully alienate gentry by reducing monthly assessment from £90k to £60k in Feb ‘55 (yet still higher than under C - + not enough for standing army + war w/ Spain)
Establishment of the rule of Major generals
1) England split into 11 directs under control of 11 Major Generals to increase centralised gov
2) MGs charged w/ stopping any potential insurrection, supervising the work of the local magistracy + initiating the godly reformation (financed by Decimation Tax + almost universally hated)
5 issues associated w. the rule of the Major Generals
1) Obvious signs of military rule
2) Many of lower social class + relatively humble origins - army
3) Religious radicalism
4) Higher taxes
5) Interference in local governments upset PN
Usefulness of rule of major generals
1) Could be used to enforce a godly reformation (Failure of Spanish Indies made OC believe he was slipping out of Gods favour)
2) Could enforce increased taxes on the royalists to pay the army (Decimation tax)
3) Could stamp out royalist threats such as Penruddock’s rising in March ‘55 - instructions signed from Oct 55 - Jun 66 stated MGs were to suppress all lawless assemblies
Effectiveness of the major generals (4 examples)
Main focus was teh security of the regime (altho some sought to enforce their own personal beliefs of godliness) - depended largely on the MGs themselves
1) Edward Whalley made huge efforts to improve the lives of those at the bottom of soc
2) John Berry told 5th M Vavasor Powell he ‘came forth in this world, as sent by God’ + ordered the release of multiple Quakers from prison at Evesham - focused on reformation
3) MG Desborough took bonds for good behaviour from 500+ suspected dissidents
4) MG Worsley suppressed (closed) 215 alehouses in one part of the county + 200 in Chester alone
PN reaction to MGs
1) Gentry (esp. conservative) resented restrictions imposed upon them, increased role of soldiers+ merchants + their loss of control over local gov
2) Many “Civilian Cromwellians” reacted negatively to military rule + pushed the protectorate to a more conservative stance
3) Taxation 3x higher than under J, nearly 2x than under C (due to failure of a financial settlement) Decimation Tax failed (lack of money ended MGs) + upset the 2,000 royalists it affected
4) Fear of religious radicals heightened by NMA’s protection of them + explosion of Quakers in the 50’s (seen as a breakdown of order)
Why was the 2nd protectorate Pment called?
17 Sept ‘56 - for money for MGs - 100 MPs prevented from taking seats to stop opp of MGs + IoG - but cooperative (support FP) - atho didn’t give requested subsidies ‘till Jan ‘57
Ultimately to est. healing + settling since threats secure under MG?
End of the Major Generals (3)
Jan ‘57
1) (militia) bill was introduced for the continuation of the Decimation Tax
2) Pment rejected it (due to dislike of MG + fear they could be next for tax on their land)
3) OC let it fail (ending the MG - they needed this) - pragmatic - realises he can’t achieve his aims without Pment - needs unity in the PN to move forward
Humble Petition and Advice
1657 - presented end of Mar
1) Proposed by Pment to clarify succession (esp. after attempted assassination of OC by Leveller Miles Sindercoombe in Jan) + replace IoG (both Pment + OC want a constitutional reform)
2) Appealed to both LP OC + Pment
3) OC would assume title of King (stability - primogeniture etc.) + Pment gain 2nd Chamber - the Upper House, nominated by OC + CoS (known again tog. as the Privy Council)
3) Proposal of OC as king meant he’d retain control armed forces but would operate within a recognised framework of law + custom acceptable to the nation as whole (can’t introduce MG for example - compromise)
4) Lambert, alienated, threatened to retire if OC accepted Crown + Colonel Pride threatened to shoot him - opp from grandees of God’s instrument
5) OC refused the Crown (due to army opp) but…
6) Accepted Humble P + A on 25 May ‘57 after crown removed (OC stays LP - army appeased) but would have right to nominate his own successor
7) Many republicans believed he was King in all but name - regal ceremony on 26 June
8) abt 1/2 of 63 men OC appoints to Upper House were MPs (ma.j of rest army officers) - Lambert only senior officer who refused + was stripped of his command
9) Provided OC w/ an annual income of £1,300,000 - short of what was needed (for gov, military + FP)
2nd Protectorate Pment
June ‘57 - Jan ‘58 (6 months)
1) much less cooperative than 1st session bc: OC’s Pmentary allies had been promoted to Upper House + the 100 republicans previously barred were re-admitted (right of CoS to prevent Mps sitting removed in Humble P + A)
2) Dissolved after Scot + Haselrig lead attack on the constitution (want a single chamber Pment w/ executive authority)
3) despite new tax in H P+A, gov was in debt of £1.5 million - most rep. in arrears of pay - army £537k, navy over £300k, militia over £100k
OC’s death
3 Sept ‘58, succeeded by son Richard Cromwell as LP - nominated by OC just before his death - not nearly as great a pragmatist - moderate Presbyterian views
RC’s lack of political experience + ability to keep the army onside meant he resigned in May ‘59 so Rump returned to power w/ restoration of the Commonwealth
