Richard Cromwell

The First English Civil War breaks out in 1642, largely as a result of an ongoing series of conflicts between James' son, Charles I, and Parliament.

The defeat of the Royalist army by the New Model Army of Parliament at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 effectively destroys the king's forces.

Charles surrenders to the Scottish army at Newark.

He is eventually handed over to the English Parliament in early 1647.

He escapes, and the Second English Civil War begins, although it is a short conflict, with the New Model Army quickly securing the country.

The capture and subsequent trial of Charles leads to his beheading in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in London, making England a republic.

The trial and execution of Charles by his own subjects shocks the rest of Europe (the king had argued to the end that only God could judge him) and is a precursor of sorts to the beheading of Louis XVI one hundred and forty-five years later.

The New Model Army, under the command of Oliver Cromwell, now scores decisive victories against Royalist armies in Ireland and Scotland.

Cromwell is given the title Lord Protector in 1653, making him 'king in all but name' to his critics.

After he dies in 1658, his son Richard Cromwell succeeds him in the office but he is forced to abdicate within a year.

For a while it looks as if a new civil war will begin as the New Model Army splits into factions.

Troops stationed in Scotland under the command of George Monck eventually march on London to restore order.

Cromwell’s third son, Richard, had in 1653 been passed over as a member of Barebone's Parliament, although his younger brother Henry was a member of it.

When his father was made Lord Protector in the same year, he was also not given any public role; however, he had been elected to both the first and second Protectorate parliaments.

Under the Protectorate’s constitution, Oliver Cromwell had been required to nominate a successor, and from 1657 he has involved Richard much more heavily in the politics of the regime.

Richard had been present at the second installation of his father as Lord Protector in June, having played no part in the first installation.

He had been appointed Chancellor of Oxford University in July, and in December had been made a member of the Council of State.

Oliver Cromwell dies on September 3, 1658, and Richard is informed on the same day that he is to succeed him.

Some controversy surrounds the succession.

A letter by John Thurloe suggests that Oliver nominated his son orally on August 30, but other theories claim either that he nominated no successor, or that he put forward Charles Fleetwood, his son-in-law.

Richard Cromwell is faced by two immediate problems.

The first is the army, which questions his position as commander given his lack of military experience.

The second is the financial position of the regime, with a debt estimated at two million pounds.

As a result, Richard Cromwell's Privy Council had decided to call a parliament in order to redress these financial problems on November 29, 1658 (a decision which on December 3, 1658, had been formally confirmed).

Under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, this Parliament had been called using the traditional franchise (thus moving away from the system under the Instrument of Government whereby representation of rotten boroughs was cut in favor of county seats).

This meant that the government is less able to control elections and therefore unable to manage the parliament effectively.

As a result, when this Third Protectorate Parliament first sits on January 27, 1659, it is dominated by moderate Presbyterians, crypto-royalists and a small number of vociferous Commonwealthsmen (or Republicans).

The 'Other House' of Parliament—a body that had been set up under the Humble Petition and Advice to act as a balance on the Commons—is also revived.

It is this second parliamentary chamber and its resemblance to the 'House of Lords' (which had been abolished in 1649) that dominates this Parliamentary session.

Republican malcontents give filibustering speeches about the inadequacy of the membership of this upper chamber (especially its military contingent) and also question whether it is indicative of the backsliding of the Protectorate regime in general and its divergence from the 'Good Old Cause' for which parliamentarians had originally engaged in Civil War.

Reviving this House of Lords in all but name, they argue, is but a short step to returning to the Ancient Constitution of King, Lords, and Commons.

The officers of the army at the same time become increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause.

The fact that Richard Cromwell lacks military credentials grates with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's liberties.

Moreover, the new Parliament seems to show a lack of respect for the army which many military men find quite alarming.

In particular, there are fears that Parliament would make military cuts to reduce costs, and by April 1659 the army’s general council of officers has met to demand higher taxation to fund the regime’s costs.

Their grievances are expressed in a petition to Richard Cromwell on April 6, 1659, which he forwards to the Parliament two days later.

Yet Parliament does not act on the army's suggestions; instead they shelve this petition and on April 12 1659 increase the suspicion of the military by bringing articles of impeachment against William Boteler, who is alleged to have mistreated a royalist prisoner while acting as a Major General under Oliver Cromwell in 1655.

This is followed by two resolutions in the Commons on April 18, 1659 which state that no more meetings of army officers should take place without the express permission of both the Lord Protector and Parliament, and that all officers should swear an oath that they would not subvert the sitting of Parliament by force.

These direct affronts to military prestige are too much for the army grandees to bear and set in motion the final split between the civilian-dominated Parliament and the army, which is to culminate in the dissolution of Parliament and Richard Cromwell's ultimate fall from power.

When Richard refuses a demand by the army to dissolve Parliament, troops are assembled at St. James’s.

Richard eventually gives in to their demands and on April 22, Parliament is dissolved.

Lambert, though holding no military commission, is the most popular of the old Cromwellian generals with the rank and file of the army, and it is very generally believed that he will install himself in Oliver Cromwell's seat of power.

Richard Cromwell's adherents try to conciliate him, and the royalist leaders make overtures to him, even proposing that Charles II should marry Lambert's daughter.

Lambert at first gives a lukewarm support to Richard Cromwell, and takes no part in the intrigues of the officers at Fleetwood's residence, Wallingford House.

He had been a member of the Third Protectorate Parliament which met in January 1659, and when it was dissolved in April under compulsion of Fleetwood and Desborough, he had been restored to his commands.

He heads the deputation to Lenthall in May 1659 inviting the return of the Rump Parliament, which leads to the tame retirement of Richard Cromwell; and he is appointed a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Council of State.

The Rump Parliament is recalled on May 7, 1659.

Richard does not resist and refuses an offer of armed assistance from the French ambassador, although it is possible he is being kept under house arrest by the army.

After the Rump agrees to pay his debts and provide a pension, Richard on May 25 delivers a formal letter resigning the position of Lord Protector.

Monck, who is in command of the English forces in Scotland, had remained silent and watchful at Edinburgh during the confusion that had followed Cromwell's death on September 3, 1658, careful only to secure his hold on his troops.

He had at first contemplated armed support of Richard Cromwell, but on realizing the young man's incapacity for government, he had abandoned this idea and renewed his waiting policy.

Direct and tempting proposals are in July 1659, again made to him by the king.

Monck's brother Nicholas, a clergyman, brings to him the substance of Charles's letter.

He bids his brother go back to his books, and refuses to entertain any proposal.

No bribe can induce him to act one moment before the right time.

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, had been succeeded on his death by his son Richard, who, although not entirely without ability, had no power base in either Parliament or the Army, and had been forced to resign in May 1659, bringing the Protectorate—the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland—to an end.

As there is no clear leadership from the various factions that have jostled for power during the reinstated Commonwealth, George Monck, the English governor of Scotland, at the head of New Model Army regiments is able to march on London in February 1660 and force the Rump Parliament to readmit members of the Long Parliament excluded in December 1648 during Pride's Purge.

The Long Parliament dissolves itself and for the first time in almost twenty years, there is a general election.

The outgoing Parliament designs the electoral qualifications so as to ensure, as they think, the return of a Presbyterian majority.

The restrictions against royalist candidates and voters are widely ignored, and the elections result in a House of Commons which is fairly evenly divided on political grounds between Royalists and Parliamentarians and on religious grounds between Anglicans and Presbyterians.

The new so-called Convention Parliament had assembled on April 25, 1660, and soon afterwards received news of the Declaration of Breda, in which Charles agrees, among other things, to pardon many of his father's enemies.

Under Monck's watchful eye, the necessary constitutional adjustments are made so that Charles Stewart, the eldest son of the beheaded Charles I, can be invited back from exile to be king under a restored monarchy.

The English Parliament resolves to proclaim Charles king and invite him to return.