- English Interregnum
The English Interregnum was the period of
parliamentary andmilitary rule in the land occupied by modern-dayEngland andWales after theEnglish Civil War . It began with theregicide of Charles I in1649 and ended with the restoration of Charles II in1660 .This era in English history can be divided into four periods.
# The first period of theCommonwealth of England from1649 until1653
#The Protectorate underOliver Cromwell from1653 to1658
# The Protectorate underRichard Cromwell from1658 to1659
# The second period of theCommonwealth of England from1659 until1660 Life during the Interregnum
After the Parliamentarian victory in the Civil War, the
Puritan views of the majority of Parliament and its supporters began to be imposed on the rest of the country. The Puritans advocated an austere lifestyle and restricted what they saw as the excesses of the previous regime. Most prominently, holidays such as Christmas and Easter, which were thought to have pagan origins, were suppressed. Pastimes such as the theatre and gambling were also banned. However, some forms of art that were thought to be 'virtuous', such as opera, were encouraged. These changes are often blamed uponOliver Cromwell , though they were originally introduced by the Commonwealth Parliament; and Cromwell, when he came to power, was a liberalising influence. ["Cromwell, Our Chief of Men" byLady Antonia Fraser , ISBN 0753813319.]His son and successor,
Richard Cromwell , gave up his position as Lord Protector with little hesitation, resigning or "abdicating" after a demand by theRump Parliament . This was the beginning of a short period of restoration of theCommonwealth of England .Jews in England
Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel met Oliver Cromwell concerning the admission ofJews into England in1655 . [ [http://www.olivercromwell.org/jews.htm "Cromwell and the Jews"] , The Oliver Cromwell Association.] Cromwell did not agree to all the rights that ben Israel requested, but the opening of Jewishsynagogues andburial ground s was tolerated under Cromwell's Protectorate. The practice of the Jewish faith in England was still not done openly, since Cromwell's move had been controversial and many in England were still hostile toward the Jews. Life for the Jews in England improved in that they could no longer beprosecute d if caught worshipping, butdiscrimination continued.Ireland
Life for both Irish and English Catholics in Ireland became increasingly difficult under Cromwell's rule, and Cromwell remains a despised figure in Ireland to this day.
Cromwell's sweeping campaign in Ireland began in August 1649. He left in May 1650, but the campaign continued until 1653. Its effects devastated Ireland's Catholic population, roughly one-third of whom were killed or exiled by the war. Famine and plague were the biggest killers, produced in large part from the
scorched earth tactics used by Parliamentary forces. Some Irish prisoners of war were sold asindentured labour ers in theWest Indies . The Catholic landowning class was dispossessed "en masse." Thousands ofNew Model Army soldiers and the Parliament's creditors were settled on confiscated Irish lands. Those Catholic landowners deemed innocent of rebellion against the Parliament but who had not shown "constant good affection" still had their land confiscated and were forced to re-locate toConnacht , where the soil was poorer.The practice of Catholicism was banned and many of the soldier/settlers set up dissenting religious communities, such as
Quakers orBaptists , under the protection of the Parliamentary forces. The ScottishPresbyterian community was also disadvantaged by theInterregnum regime, as most of them had taken theSolemn League and Covenant and had fought with the Scots against the Parliament in theThird English Civil War (1649-50).Charles Fleetwood the parliamentary commander in Ireland from 1652-1655 was viewed as being hostile to Catholics, Presbyterians, and the pre-war English Protestant settlers at the expense of the radical new settlers.Henry Cromwell , who replaced Fleetwood in 1655, was seen as a more conservative influence, conciliating the "Old Protestant" landed class and allowing the harshest legislation against Catholics (such as a ban on their living in towns) to lapse. Towards the end of the Interregnum, Parliamentarian generalsCharles Coote andRichard Boyle (who were also pre-war English settlers) seized the strong points in Ireland in preparation for the Restoration of the monarchy.Historical analysis
Said
Lacey Baldwin Smith on the subject of the English Interregnum: [ [http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon48.html Oliver Cromwell (1649-1658 AD)] , Britannia: British History and Travel.]The
Puritan movement had evolved in rebellion to a real or perceived "Catholicization" of theChurch of England . With the Church of England quickly disestablished by the Commonwealth Government, the question about which type of church to establish became a hotly debated subject. In the end, it was impossible to make all the different political factions happy. During the Interregnum, Oliver Cromwell lost much of the support he had gained during the Civil War.Edward Sexby , previously a supporter of Cromwell's, felt disenfranchised by Cromwell's failure to abolish thearistocracy . In 1657,Silius Titus called for Cromwell's assassination in a co-authored pamphlet "Killing No Murder " under the pseudonym of William Allen. Sexby was captured when he returned to England and attempted to carry out the assassination described in Colonel Titus' book. Cromwell coerced Sexby into confessing authorship of the pamphlet and then imprisoned him in the Tower, where Sexby was driven to insanity and died less than a year later.High taxes resulted from the large
standing army kept due to the constant threats of Scottish or Irish rebellion and added to public resentment of Cromwell.References
See also
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Interregnum
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