Cromwell Becomes Lord Protector: England's Republic

England tried something no major European nation had attempted: a republic led by a commoner. On December 16, 1653, Oliver Cromwell was installed as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, assuming powers that exceeded those of the king he had helped execute four years earlier. The former cavalry commander and Puritan zealot became head of state under the Instrument of Government, the first written constitution in English history. The path to the Protectorate had been chaotic. After Parliament ordered the execution of Charles I in January 1649, England became a republic governed by the Rump Parliament. But the experiment faltered. The Rump proved corrupt and indecisive. Cromwell dissolved it by force in April 1653, reportedly telling members, "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. In the name of God, go!" A replacement, the Barebones Parliament of religious radicals, lasted barely five months before voting itself out of existence. Senior army officers then drafted the Instrument of Government, creating the Lord Protector position with executive authority balanced by a parliament and Council of State. Cromwell governed for nearly five years. He promoted religious tolerance for Protestant sects while persecuting Catholics, particularly in Ireland where his campaigns left a legacy of mass killing. He reorganized the navy, projected English power into the Caribbean, and divided England into military districts under major-generals whose Puritan moral regulations proved deeply unpopular. Cromwell died on September 3, 1658. His son Richard succeeded him briefly before the Protectorate collapsed, leading to the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Cromwell's body was exhumed and posthumously executed, his head displayed on a spike outside Westminster Hall for over two decades.