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Protectorate of England Facts & Worksheets

The Protectorate of England was an English Government from 1653 to 1659 and formed during the Commonwealth, during which a Lord Protector ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland.

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The Protectorate of England was an English Government from 1653 to 1659 and formed during the Commonwealth, during which a Lord Protector ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland. Oliver Cromwell served as the Lord Protector in almost the same period The Protectorate existed.

See the fact file below for more information on the Protectorate of England or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Protectorate of England worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

THE FUTURE LORD PROTECTOR

  • Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599, at Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England. He was the only son of Robert Crowell and Elizabeth Steward. His father was a member of Queen Elizabeth’s Parliament and was active in local affairs.
  • He was a small landowner from Cambridgeshire and a Puritan, who became a Short and Long Parliament member which King Charles I summoned.
  • Cromwell then founded the New Model Army, partly composed of veteran soldiers with the same Puritan beliefs. It was independent of the Parliament and eventually helped overthrow the Parliament’s authority and the Crown. The Army was largely instrumental in the defeat of Ireland and Scotland led by Cromwell and the call for the execution of King Charles I.

BEFORE THE PROTECTORATE

  • On December 6, 1648, the Long Parliament was purged by Colonel Thomas Pride which led to having a Rump Parliament or a leftover from the actual legitimate parliament. The Rump Parliament tried King Charles I, found him guilty, and executed him on January 30, 1649.
  • Cromwell waited for the rump parliament to fulfill an agreement to dissolve and come up with a new parliament to create a working constitution. After three years, Cromwell grew frustrated. On April 20, 1653, he and the 40 musketeers armed with guns marched into the Rump Parliament and forcefully shut it down.
  • Cromwell created a nominated Assembly on July 4, 1653, which was called Barebones Parliament. The Army officers selected its 144 members for their religious fervor. It somehow satisfied Cromwell’s wishes at the beginning. However, the parliament’s unstoppable in-fighting due to the social and legal reforms they were trying to pass frustrated Cromwell.
  • In the morning of December 12, 1653, while the pious parliament members were at a prayer meeting, a group of Army supporters led by John Lambert took over the floor and voted to dissolve the Parliament.
  • John Lambert had drafted a system that he thought would work better than a sovereign unicameral government. He named it the Instrument of Government, which placed the entire sovereignty in a “single person and a Parliament.” The single person became “Oliver Cromwell,” who was declared Lord Protector on December 16, 1653.

THE PROTECTORATE OF ENGLAND

  • The Protectorate existed during the Commonwealth when a Lord Protector ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland under the terms of the Instrument of Government.
  • Cromwell had two objectives as the Lord Protector. The first was “healing and settling” the nation after the civil wars and the regicide by establishing a stable form of government.
  • His government, however, took precedence on social priorities over forms of government. It slightly reduced direct taxation and made peace with the Dutch to end the First Anglo-Dutch War. Cromwell was also careful in his approach to England’s colonies and mostly left them to their own affairs.
  • His second objective was spiritual and moral reform. As a Puritan, Cromwell passed rigid religious laws such as compulsory church attendance. During his reign, Parish priests had to be Puritans. He passed laws prohibiting dancing, Christmas, and the theatre, as well as bear-baiting and drunkenness. He wanted his people to focus on the word of God.
  • The members of the First Protectorate Parliament met on September 3, 1654. They immediately began to work on a moderate program of constitutional reform.
  • Cromwell thought most Parliament members were pushing for more radical, properly republican reforms. Instead of opposing the Parliaments’ bill, Cromwell dissolved the First Parliament on January 22, 1655.
  • It was followed by a royalist uprising led by Sir John Penruddock, which made Cromwell decide to divide England into military districts ruled by Army Major generals who reported directly to him. They were called “godly governors,” whose primary function was to ensure national security and enforce Cromwell’s moral crusade. Cromwell also hired Commissioners in every county to secure the peace of the Commonwealth. However, the Army Major-Generals lasted only less than a year as many feared they threatened their reform efforts and authority.
  • Major General John Desborough further enforced the fear by proposing that army generals were to be provided financial backing for their work. The Second Protectorate Parliament turned down the proposal to prevent the country from being turned into a military state

 FOREIGN POLICY

  • The Lord Protector ended the First Anglo-Dutch War, which broke out in 1652. Admiral Robert Blake, an English naval commander, eventually won it for England in 1654. When they finally made peace with the Dutch Republic, Cromwell proceeded to engage the Spanish in warfare, resulting in England’s claim over Jamaica.
  • England considered Holland as its leading commercial rival. It prompted Cromwell, who believed that Jews were instrumental in their rival’s economic success, to encourage Jews to return to England, hoping that they would help speed up the country’s recovery after the Civil war.

BEING A KING

  • The Parliament offered Cromwell the Crown as part of a revised constitutional settlement. As someone who helped abolish the monarchy, he did not accept the offer, even though he was tempted by the prospect of stability it held out.
  • Instead, Cromwell was ceremonially re-installed as the Lord Protector on June 26, 1657 at Westminster Hall, and included almost all the traditions of the actual coronation, including sitting upon King Edward’s chair.

THE END OF THE PROTECTORATE

  • Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658. It was also believed as the end of The Protectorate. His third son, Richard Cromwell, succeeded in his position as Lord Protector. However, the son failed to control the Army and manage the parliament.
  • A Committee of Safety was formed on the authority of the Rump Parliament and replaced the Protector’s Council of State by a new Council of State on May 19, 1659. Richard was allowed to fade away and not to be arrested. The Protectorate was then treated as a mere usurpation.

Protectorate of England Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Protectorate of England across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Protectorate of England worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Protectorate of England which was an English Government from 1653 to 1659 and formed during the Commonwealth, during which a Lord Protector ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland. Oliver Cromwell served as the Lord Protector in almost the same period The Protectorate existed.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • The Protectorate Facts
  • Lord Protector’s Bio
  • Dates to Remember
  • The Protectorate’s Figures
  • Protectorate’s Fast Facts
  • Three Words
  • Two Objectives
  • Before The Protectorate
  • The Protectorate Inquiry
  • Leader or Usurper
  • The Protectorate’s Symbol

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Link will appear as Protectorate of England Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, June 10, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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