Comprehensive summary of the events of the Rump, Barebones Parliament, Instrument, First Protectorate, Major Generals, Second Protectorate, Humble Petition, Second Protectorate parliament part 2.
Religious and political issues - rule of the Rump
- Rump held power from 1649-1653 when it was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell.
- The Rump was built upon an unstable foundation - the majority of people did not
want a republic, both within and outside of parliament, and had wanted to see the
King reinstated with restrictions to the monarchy -> out of over 200 members left
after pride’s purge, only 40 had signed the death warrant of Charles and 77 had
organised the Crown Court in which he would be tried in. It was almost unanimously
unpopular.
- A reflection of the Rump’s conservatism is obvious in their choice to abolish the
House of Lords, which was only passed 44 to 29 votes in May 1649.
The establishment of a Council of State in a place of the Privy Council also equally
reflected their conservatism -> 34 out of the 41 members were MPs, and radical
religious leaders such as Harrison (leader of Fifth Monarchists) was successfully
excluded from the council.
Further divide created in the party upon the return of those barred from parliament
during Pride’s Purge in February 1649.
- The Rump was also, essentially, reliant on the army to retain power and therefore
had little choice but to legislate the army’s wishes.
At this time, Cromwell became the de facto leader of the army, as Fairfax chose to
step away from public affairs in 1649 leaving Cromwell in charge of political relations.
The Rump’s reliance on the army also resulted in the continuation of high-taxation in
the counties because they needed to fund the army (this was also necessary due to
the threat of impending royalist/religious plots) which made them more unpopular.
- The Rump was also made unpopular when, in March 1649, they proclaimed that they
would soon dissolve parliament and hold elections. It is obvious they did not do this
since Cromwell had to dissolve them himself in 1653.
- In addition to this, it was undecided what was to be done with the Rump and how
England should be ruled
-> the army wanted the Rump to establish a framework of power for a new
government/parliament to be elected into
-> religious sectaries wanted a ‘New Jerusulam.’
-> The Levellers wanted the power of parliament to be restricted and for parliament
to be more accountable.
-> The Rump itself was more concerned with maintaining power and returning to
traditional political channels.
- Another problem was posed by the threat of Royalist plots -> an invasion from Charles
Stuarts was considered imminent, and unrest in Scotland and Ireland was only growing.
- The threat of religious uprisings were also a problem, in May 1649 there was a
Leveller mutiny; they had believed a new government/constitution would be based on
the Agreement of the People. This was more serious than the threat posed in 1647,
however, Cromwell and Fairfax put it down fairly easily by May 14th 1649 in Burford.
- The civil war had also prompted a splintering of traditional, English religious ideals.
Whilst before the war there had been the Anglican Church (protestant) church of
England, and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the civil war prompted the
development of a belief in providence and millenarianism.
Millenarianism was the most concerning development as many people became
radicalised to believe that the coming of Christ was impending and that England
should be done with ‘earthly’ laws since Jesus would soon return to rule with his
, band of Saints. Whilst the various religious sects were small in numbers (e.g the
Baptist movement was 1 in 400 of the population) it was their disruptive ideas that
were most concerning.
Why was the Rump parliament dissolved in 1653?
- Rump was not only legislative but executive body -> tasked with constitutional reform but
also gaining the favour of the influential gentry in time for next election.
- One way they tried to do this was by abolishing county committees, didn’t really work
because they couldn't restore JPs back to former influence.
- They did do some good:
- Elizabethan laws on mandatory church attendance repealed
- Laws on debtors eased
- Improvements to preaching in Wales and South West
- Legal proceedings to be written in standard code
- The Rump found it hard to raise money -> raised money from selling land seized from
bishops/royalists but these funds went to army arrears -> large volume of land for sale
reduced value -> further money was spent on war with Ireland, Scotland and Dutch.
- Growing rift between army and rump -> army believed Rump should instate Godly reform
since that was why they had won Civil war / Rump had become more concerned with
survival, international and commercial matters as exemplified by passing of Navigation Act.
- War with the Dutch also issue -> questioned why England fighting only other Protestant
superpower in Europe.
- Rump agreed that they would dissolve by Nov 1654 so elections could be held for new parl.
- This upset Army since this was four years from now.
- Petitioned parliament for two things:
- Corrupt revenue collectors to be removed
- The composition of a Godly parliament
- There were three main issues for Rump: Religion, Law and a New Constitution.
Religion
- Blasphemy act passed in 1650 - limited religious liberty.
- Commissions were allowed to run out by the Rump this not only upset commissioners but
also people who believed that they had done much spiritual good for the church like
Cromwell.
- Some people of the Rump wanted a national church - funded by tithes, this was somewhat
unpopular.
- Legislation to allow spreading of Gospel.
Law
- Commission organised in Dec 1652 to go through law and make reforms -> get rid of
outdated laws etc; this was denied by lawyers who accused the Rump of being self-
interested.
- Lawyers suggested laws that would simplify laws -> did not get passed due to rumours that
Lawyers wanted to retain monopolies.
New Constitution
- The Rump was slow to organise the writing of new constitution - they did not want to be
dictated to by the army.
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