Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England is not the same as the British Commonwealth of today. This Commonwealth rose out of the English Civil War in the mid-seventeenth century, marking a period when England tried to rule itself without a monarch from 1649 to 1660. It began with the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and ended with the monarchy's Restoration in 1660. So what did this new government look like and what does the Commonwealth of England look like today? Why did this attempt at a republic fail?

The Commonwealth of England: Summary

The Commonwealth of England, not to be confused with the later British Commonwealth, was a system of government set up by Parliament after the English Civil War and the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The Commonwealth's leader was Oliver Cromwell. Historians debate whether the term Commonwealth should be used until the Stuart Restoration in 1660 or only for the period from 1649 to 1653 before Cromwell dismissed a freely elected Parliament and established a Protectorate which gave him many similar powers to a monarch. However, Cromwell and his appointed governors utilized the term Commonwealth for the entire period.

The Commonwealth of England: Definition

A Commonwealth is a republican political structure where a group of states combines governmental administration and functions as a whole. More modern Commonwealth structures would share common interests or trade and foreign policy goals. But for the English Commonwealth of the seventeenth century, the elements that held its states together were geographical proximity and military control.

Flag of the English Commonwealth, 1654. Source: Richtom80, CC-BY-SA-3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Countries in the Commonwealth of England

The countries of the English Commonwealth included England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Ireland and Scotland joined the Commonwealth after brutal suppression and military conquest.

• Oliver Cromwell ended an eleven-year war in Ireland in 1652 by moving against the Irish Catholic majority who had allied against him in favor of the exiled monarchy. Between 15 to 50% of the local population perished due to warfare, famine, and disease.
• The Anglo-Scottish wars ended the same year after a series of debilitating Scotch defeats. The future Charles II was one of the very few to escape the slaughter.

Commonwealth of England History and Timeline

The Commonwealth of England is best divided into two periods: the Republic (1649-1653) and the Protectorate (1653-1658). The first period saw an attempt at democracy, while the second resembled a military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell.

The Republic, 1649-1653

King Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649. For the first time since the Roman era, England had no king. Parliament (known as the Rump Parliament from 1648 to 1653 and only consisting of the House of Commons. The House of Lords was disbanded), under Oliver Cromwell's leadership, issued a statement on May 19 of the same year declaring England a Commonwealth:

These words represented the aspirations of the newly founded Commonwealth, but Parliament soon found that creating the necessary legislation to back up such a statement was challenging. As of 1653, they had passed trade and religious freedom statutes for those not Anglican or Catholic but could not agree on a working constitution. Oliver Cromwell saw this instability within Parliament as a weakness and used his control over the army to take the reigns of power for himself.

The Protectorate, 1653-1658

Oliver Cromwell, by Samuel Cooper, 1656. Source: National Portrait Gallery, United Kingdom, NPG 514

Cromwell was a decorated war general from the English Civil Wars, and as such, had gained the respect and loyalty of the New Model Army. He used his influence with the army to force Parliament to dissolve because they showed no signs of doing so themselves.

Once the Rump Parliament ended, Cromwell set up an assembly of people he nominated, known as the Barebones Parliament. The people still elected this Parliament, but the only options were those whom Cromwell thought were worthy of participating in government. Unfortunately, this new Parliament fared no better than its predecessor, and it dissolved a month later without agreeing to anything substantial.

After Parliament's failure, the army Grandees elected to place England under a Protectorate, naming Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector in a constitutional document known as the Instruments of Government (1653).

As Lord Protector, Cromwell had many of the same rights and prerogatives as the late King Charles I. For example, he had the right to dissolve Parliaments at will, which he did with the first Protectorate Parliament in 1655 because they would not pass the bills he wanted.

Cromwell then decided that he would rule through his army's Major-Generals. He divided the Commonwealth into ten districts and placed a Major-General in each to control the area and report back to him. The army Major-Generals convinced Cromwell to call a new Parliament in 1656 to support their proposed plans for taxation. However, the plan backfired because Parliament feared total military control. The Major-Generals administration fell apart soon after.

In 1657, the Second Protectorate Parliament presented Cromwell with a new constitutional document called the Humble Petition and Device. Initially, the document offered Cromwell the throne and the title of king, which he refused. The revised version made the Lord Protector position inheritable by Cromwell's next of kin. It diminished the power of the Council of State to simple advisors, strongly resembling a king's privy council with no control over the Protector's decision-making. It also placed restrictions on some radical religious groups.

Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658, and the Protectorate passed to his son, Richard. The Commonwealth fell apart soon after.

The End of the English Commonwealth

The Commonwealth was unsustainable after Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 for several reasons. First, his son Richard had no experience with the army and could not control them as his father did. The army was the key to stabilizing the Protectorate government, and without their support, the Commonwealth quickly folded in on itself.

Additionally, Richard was unable to sustain support from either the Army or Parliament. The army resented his attempts to cede some of their power to civilians. The Parliament finally voiced their opposition to a Cromwellian Protectorate that was basically a military dictatorship in disguise.

Parliament removed Richard Cromwell from power pretty easily, but when they tried to take control over the Army, General George Monck marched on London and took control. He oversaw a new Parliamentary election that consisted of those convinced that only the return of the monarchy could stabilize England. Charles II returned to England in May 1660 as King of England, ending the Commonwealth and ushering in the Restoration.

The Arrival of King Charles II of England in Rotterdam, May 24, 1660, by Lieve Vershuier. Source: Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands, SK-A-448.

Commonwealth of England Today

There is no Commonwealth of England today. There is, however, a British Commonwealth that currently consists of 54 countries across the globe. It was established in 1931 by the British Empire and is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. Aspirations of the civil government launched during the English Commonwealth period would carry over to later British political structures, particularly the constitutional monarchy established after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The free election of Parliament and free speech among its members became cornerstones of British political life.