The founding of the Protectorate

16 December 2003 sees the 350th anniversary of the establishment of the Protectorate. The new form of government founded on 16 December 1653 proved to be the most durable and stable regime of the entire republican or commonwealth period (1649-60). At home, it provided stability and orderly civilian rule, restored many of the traditional forms and, with its peaceable and inclusive approach, began the process of healing the divisions of the war years; but it also provided the platform for further reforms, with attempts to advance godly reformation and to bring about a fairer, purer and less sinful society. Abroad, the regime was strong and interventionist and won international respect.

The dismissal of the Long Parliament, April 1653, by Benjamin West. Courtesy of the Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, USA.

The Protectorate is important in other ways. It was a British, not an English, regime, uniting England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland under a single system of government and, for the first time, giving all the component nations seats in a single, new, elected British parliament. It was also the first (and, to date, only) government in this country to be established and to operate under the terms of a detailed written constitution, which set out the composition and powers of the government. The constitution established an assured succession of elected, single-chamber parliaments, exercising extensive though not unlimited legislative powers, and set up a permanent, largely independent council, exercising extensive though not unlimited executive powers. It provided for a large and potent army and navy and guaranteed extensive religious liberty for most Protestant faiths.

The constitution also appointed a single head of state, who was to act with, and to coordinate the work of, both parliament and council, but who was to exercise only very limited powers alone and in his own right. The head of state was to be called a Lord Protector, not a king, and hence the regime as a whole became known as the Protectorate. The constitution appointed Oliver Cromwell as head of state for life, and he remained Protector until his death in September 1658. Although the office was not hereditary, he was in fact succeeded by his elder surviving son, Richard Cromwell, who served as Protector for around eight months, until an army coup in spring 1659 led to his ejection and to the collapse of the Protectorate as a whole. Roughly a year later, in spring 1660, the Stuart monarchy was restored.

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For detailed
discussion
and analysis of
the significance
of the Protectorate
see below:

Developments
down to
December 1653

The protectorate established,
12-15 December

The protectorate inaugurated,
16 December

The protectorate
at work,
17-20 December

The new written constitution

the instrument of government
– full text

The instrument of government
assessed

The protectorate
praised

Conclusions

Picture of Richard Cromwell