Summary
Summary The Restored Commonwealth
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rump parliament. booth's rising. john lambert.
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RESTORED COMMONWEALTH, MAY – DECEMBER 1659:The restored Rump proved to be the exact same in character as previously.
It claimed legitimacy as the only authority representing constitutional continuity.
The army was told that its duty was to obey the P it had restored. This stopped being the case when
army leaders realised that the Rump had no intention of considering their requests for reform. For
example, Rump refused to pay for troops’ arrears of pay. Rump/army only saw each other as a
regrettable necessity. The Rump knew that an army was needed to keep peace and the army
appreciated the Rump covering up military rule.
The Rump was thought to be too radical.
In many of counties the Rump had tried to reduce the army’s influence by allowing extreme sectaries
(Fifth Monarchists, Quakers, Baptists) to control local militia. This excited the sectaries’ belief of a
takeover.
Rumours of Leveller reorganisation circulated.
A wave of pamphlets in 1659 made the radicals appear stronger than they were. This frightened the
conservatives into wanting to restore the old constitution (monarchy).
National panic.
Rumours of Church/State being under threat from radical forces = disturbed atmosphere.
Series of scattered Presbyterian-royalist risings in 1659 as an outburst of what the Rump was allowing
to happen.
The government acted quickly w/a series of military strikes.
Booth’s rising, Cheshire, August 1659:
Booth (MP in Long P and Nominated Assembly) held big parts of England in defiance of the Rump. He wanted a ‘free P’ not the
return of C2. This was basically the same thing as a freely elected P would be the prelude to a royal restoration. Besides, the
monarchists were still relatively weak. The rising was more an anti-Rump sentiment than a pro-Sturt movement. He held on
for several weeks but his expectation that Spanish troops would arrive to assist him failed and he eventually surrendered.
It was the dissatisfied Presbyterians (rather than C2’s royalist supporters) who were challenging P.
The radicals had an opportunity to get a hold on England. The Presbyterians/allies had been broken down and
the army had become unable to overcome any royalist challenge. BUT:
Radicals were too ill-defined a group and didn’t have a single source of opinion, let alone power.
The divisions between the religious sectaries and the republicans prevented a unified radical
approach.
No settlement could satisfy the wide range of political/religious opinions among the radicals. Besides,
no settlement could be adopted w/out the army’s approval.
John Lambert had crushed Booth’s rising. This success had put him in the political limelight thus making him
the hero of the rank and file. Lambert supported an army petition that demanded the Rump’s authority to be
reduced by the creation of a Senate (upper House) and that all the army leaders be promoted to the rank of
general and confirmed in their command. The petition also insisted that the army be granted full authority to
purge all those local corporations that had not actively opposed the recent royalist risings. Rump saw this as
the army’s direct attempt to seize political authority. Haselrig (MP) wanted Lambert/petitioners to be
imprisoned and seeing that Haselrig/Lambert were the leading civilian/military leaders, it proved how far
republicanism was from being cohesive. Haselrig was wrong to hope that there were still enough troops
faithful to P to prevent an army coup. In October, Lambert’s regiments occupied London and forcibly dissolved
the Rump.
The army had broken down the Protectorate and now the Rump – the last remaining link to the old
constitution. England now had no legitimate gov. Council of the Army had authority. In a façade to prove their
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