| | by admin | | posted on 15th May 2023 in The English Revolution | | views 2046 | |
The Commonwealth Of England was the political structure from 1649 to 1660 that governed the country as a republic.
The Commonwealth came into existence as the English Civil War Period neared its end and initially included England and Wales, with Scotland and Ireland joining later. To identify the new Commonwealth as a republic rather than a monarchy, the Royal Coat of Arms was replaced with the Commonwealth Coat of Arms (pictured above). To keep with tradition these arms retained symbols of royalty, such as crowns, and incorporated the arms of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
This period of republican rule for England ultimately proved a failure. During the eleven years of the Commonwealth, no stable government was established to rule the English state for longer than a few months at a time.
Several administrative structures were tried and several Parliaments called and seated, but little in the way of meaningful, lasting legislation was passed.
The only force keeping the regime together was the army and the commanding authority of Cromwell, who exerted control through soldiers and military generals. In 1653 Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector of the Commonwealth for life and staged a ceremony that closely resembled a royal coronation. He was now king in all but name.
Effectively ruling as a dictator until his death in 1658, Cromwell was replaced by his son Richard. Lacking the support of the army that his father had secured, Richard's rule was brief and the Commonwealth endured one final year in 1659 with yet another recall of Parliament.
The following year, in 1660, with Parliament in disarray, General George Monck, then Governor of Scotland, invited Charles II to return and take power.
With Parliament's consent, Charles II arrived in May 1660 and was crowned king on 23 April. His first acts were to erase the constitutional reforms of the republican period, bringing reprisals for those directly involved in the execution of his father.
The English Revolution was over, with the civil wars producing vast suffering for limited immediate political settlement.
The world had been turned upside down and then turned back again, but the ideals of those who fought for liberty, fairness and justice proved too powerful to vanish entirely.
