Chapter 16: Cromwell, the Protectorate, Major-Generals

• Why was the Instrument of Government (1653) significant?

  it was England’s first written constitution
• What was Lambert’s aim with the Instrument of Government?

  • hoped to make clearer the relationship between the Head of State (Cromwell as Lord Protector), the Council of State (Cromwell’s advisors) and Parliament
  • restrict the potential unrestricted nature of parliamentary power.
• What were the key features of the Instrument of Government?

  • Protector: the Head of State
  • Parliament elected every 3 years, to sit for a minimum of 5 months
  • Council of State: played a central role, especially in finance, appointments and control of armed forces
  • Militia: controlled by Protector and Parliament
• What were Cromwell’s aims as Lord Protector?

  • ‘healing and settling’ the nation, which meant establishing a stable form of new government.
  • religious and social reformation, which meant establishing godly rule, a society dominated by Puritan ideas.
• How did Cromwell run the country before the First Protectorate Parliament?

  through Protectorate ordinances.
• 24th Dec 1653-2nd Sept 1654: Cromwell and the Council brought in 83 ordinances. 
• What did most of the ordinances brought in by Cromwell deal with?

  finance, making the tax-collecting system more efficient
• When was the First Protectorate Parliament?

  September 1654-January 1655
• What did the Republicans do during the First Protectorate Parliament?

  Attacked Cromwell’s position as Protector, seeing him as an alternative monarch, as they believed Parliament should be the sole authority. 
• Why was the Republicans’ opposition problematic?

  Cromwell did not want to manage Parliament because he hoped that Parliament would lead the nation to settlement.
• Concerns of the Republicans

  • Cromwell’s authority to enact ordinances when Parliament was not in session
  • control of the army being given to the Protector
  • the need to reduce the armed forces
• What were Cromwell’s ‘fundamentals’ of government?

  his response to Republican concerns
• What did Cromwell’s ‘fundamentals’ of government detail?

  • government by a single person and Parliament
  • no perpetuation of parliaments by ensuring regular elections
  • liberty of conscience: religious tolerance or freedom to follow one’s own religious beliefs
  • militia jointly controlled by Protector, Council of State, and Parliament
• What was the Recognition?

  required MPs to take an oath recognising the first of the fundamentals - government by a single person and Parliament.
• What was the result of the Recognition?

  About 100 MPs refused it on principle and had to withdraw from Parliament.
• Why did the First Protectorate Parliament fail?

  The Political Nation would not support Cromwell’s aim of godly reformation, leading to his reliance on the army, which in turn hampered his search for settlement with the Political Nation. 
• What was Biddle’s case (1654)?


  Teacher John Biddle was accused of blasphemy by MPs, interrogated, then was imprisoned and had his work burned. 
• What was Parliament’s aim with Biddle’s case?

  wanted to enforce what it saw as its right to control religion over the Protector and his Council
• Why did Cromwell dissolve the First Protectorate Parliament (22nd Jan 1655)?

  a combination of Biddle’s case and the MPs further attacks on the Instrument and the Parliament’s failure to fund the army. 
• Why did Cromwell introduce the rule of the Major-Generals?

  • His and Lambert’s overreaction to the failure of the First Protectorate Parliament
  • The Western Design (an attack on Spanish colonies)
  • The apparent renewed Royalist threat
• Four main reasons that led to the rule of the Major-Generals

  • Religious reformation: M-Gs would enforce this, which was a priority for Cromwell
  • Failure of the Western Design: suggested to Cromwell that reformation was needed; used M-Gs to enforce this.
  • Finance: regime was increasingly financially exposed
  • Royalism: Penruddock’s rising of March 1655 indicated the continuing potential threat of royalism
• How did the Major-Generals function?

  Lambert split England into 11 areas, with 11 Major-Generals assigned to each. 
• What the Major-Generals actually did depended on the attitude of individual Major-Generals. For example:

  • Major-General Edward Whalley made huge efforts in his area to improve the lot of those at bottom of the society.
  • John Berry, at the start of his work, told the Fifth Monarchist Vavasour Powell that he ‘came forth forth in this worke, as sent of God’ and clearly focused on the idea of a further reformation.
• Reaction of the Political Nation to the rule of the Major-Generals - Government

  • PN was concerned about the role of the military in the state.
  • Rule of M-Gs posed a threat to the Political Nation’s control of the localities
  • Concerns seemed to be confirmed when many of the Major-Generals removed conservative men from local government so that their rule could be more effective
• Reaction of the Political Nation to the rule of the Major-Generals - Finance

  • Concerned that high levels of taxation, raised to support the army, would be permanent.
  • 1656-59: failure to achieve a parliamentary financial settlement became a central problem + continued post rule of M-Gs
  • Disliked decimation tax: under the M-Gs it hindered the regime by the defeated Royalists.
  • Failed financially in its main task to raise enough money to allow the regime to reduce the army and transfer military security to a militia
• Reaction of the Political Nation to the rule of the Major-Generals - Religion

  • Army prevented persecution of radicals
  • Threat of religious radicals raised fears among the conservative Political Nation
  • i.e. Apparent explosion of Quaker numbers in the 1650s further heightened this fear.
• What was the Militia Bill?


  a bill to make the decimation tax permanent, which would strengthen the position of the M-Gs
• The Militia Bill debates were part of a power struggle at the heart of the protectorate between the ‘military’ and ‘civilians’. 
• What was the significance of the defeat of the Militia Bill?

  signalled the end of the decimation tax and the Major-Generals. 
• What was the cause of the Major-Generals’ failure?

  the broad scope of the task they were given
• What were the advantages of Cromwell accepting kingship?

  • More recognised form of government for gentry
  • Could establish a line of succession
  • Could achieve settlement with Parliament
• What were the disadvantages of Cromwell accepting kingship?

  • Cromwell seen as a usurper, so would provoke vigorous opposition from Royalists who supported the Stuarts
  • Opposition from republicans
  • Opposition from some of the New Model Army
  • Opposition from the leading ‘military Cromwellians’ 
• Where did the most opposition to Cromwell acceptin kingship come from?

  The New Model Army
• When was the Humble Petition and Advice?

  1657
• Why was Lambert alienated?

  Cromwell was contemplating a new system of government in accepting the Humble Petition so Lambert resigned.
• What were the reasons behind Cromwell’s rejection of kingship?

  • The army seriously opposed the idea of kingship and had the potential to remove him.
  • For Cromwell the army was God’s instrument populated by saints; their opposition would signify to Cromwell that God had judged against kingship.
• When did Cromwell accept the Humble Petition and Advice?

  25th May 1657 after it was revised to remove kingship and Cromwell would choose the next protector. 
• The petition did not bring about fundamental change to the nature of the Protectorate. 
• Republicans saw Cromwell as ‘king in all but name’. 
• When did Oliver Cromwell die?

  3rd September 1658