The church rate was a tax formerly levied in each parish in England and Ireland for the benefit of the parish church . The rates were used to meet the costs of carrying on divine service, repairing the fabric of the church and paying the salaries of the connected officials.
97-546: Except for a brief period during the Commonwealth of England in the 17th century, the raising of church rates has never been confirmed by statute. It was always a matter of common law . The compulsory levying of the church rate was abolished by statute in 1868; however, it remains on a voluntary basis in many parishes. Chancel repair liability in England, however, remains enforceable by law. The church rates were set by
194-724: A Commonwealth ", adopted by the Rump Parliament on 19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested primarily in the Parliament and a Council of State . During the period, fighting continued, particularly in Ireland and Scotland, between the parliamentary forces and those opposed to them, in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and the Anglo-Scottish war of 1650–1652 . In 1653, after dissolution of
291-568: A "Committee of Safety" was appointed, of which Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, Fleetwood being general. Lambert was now sent, by the Committee of Safety, with a large force to meet George Monck , who was in command of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or force him to come to terms. It
388-486: A Baptist merchant after whom the Assembly got its derogatory nickname. Many were well educated. The assembly reflected the range of views of the officers who nominated it. The Radicals (approximately 40) included a hard core of Fifth Monarchists who wanted to be rid of Common Law and any state control of religion. The Moderates (approximately 60) wanted some improvements within the existing system and might move to either
485-604: A British identity. The bitterness caused by the Cromwellian settlement was a powerful source of Irish nationalism from the 17th century onwards. After the Stuart Restoration in 1660, Charles II of England restored about a third of the confiscated land to the former landlords in the Act of Settlement 1662 , but not all, as he needed political support from former parliamentarians in England. A generation later, during
582-501: A fact that they themselves noticed and many urged Cromwell to call another Parliament to give his rule legitimacy. Unlike the prior Parliament, which had been open to all eligible males in the Commonwealth, the new elections specifically excluded Catholics and Royalists from running or voting; as a result, it was stocked with members who were more in line with Cromwell's own politics. The first major bill to be brought up for debate
679-528: A few diehard English Royalists. From this point onwards, many Irish Catholics, including their bishops and clergy, questioned why they should accept Ormonde's leadership when his master, the King, had repudiated his alliance with them. The outbreak of the Anglo-Scottish War forced Cromwell to leave Ireland and deal with the new threat, passing command to Henry Ireton. The most formidable force left to
776-504: A huge drop in population. In the event, the much larger number of surviving poorer Catholics were not moved westwards; most of them had to fend for themselves by working for the new landowners. The Cromwellian conquest completed the British colonisation of Ireland, which was merged into the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1653–59. It destroyed the native Irish Catholic land-owning classes and replaced them with colonists with
873-465: A military dictatorship. Instead, he ruled through a "nominated assembly" which he believed would be easy for the Army to control since Army officers did the nominating. Barebone's Parliament was opposed by former Rumpers and ridiculed by many gentries as being an assembly of inferior people. Over 110 of its 140 members were lesser gentry or of higher social status; an exception was Praise-God Barebone ,
970-631: A more acceptable marriage ceremony , and the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages . However, the parish rate remained compulsory until 1868. The Whig leader in the House of Commons, Lord John Russell , supported the rate but in 1856 The Times called the government's attention to what the editor believed was a civil war raging throughout the country on the church rate question. The Compulsory Church Rate Abolition Act 1868 ( 31 & 32 Vict. c. 109) church rates no longer compulsory, but merely voluntary, with those who were not willing to pay
1067-721: A multi-sided war with Royalists , Parliamentarians , Scots Covenanters , and local Presbyterian militia . Following the execution of Charles I in January 1649, the Confederates allied with their former Royalist opponents against the newly established Commonwealth of England . Cromwell landed near Dublin in August 1649 with an expeditionary force, and by the end of 1650 the Confederacy had been defeated, although sporadic guerrilla warfare continued until 1653. The Act for
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#17327945925001164-542: A plea by Catholic Bishops to the Irish Catholic people to resist him in which he states that although his intention was not to "massacre, banish and destroy the Catholic inhabitants", if they did resist "I hope to be free from the misery and desolation, blood and ruin that shall befall them, and shall rejoice to exercise the utmost severity against them". Despite attempts by some to argue what happened at Drogheda
1261-641: A secret message sent by Monck, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda , which made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England. Monck organised the Convention Parliament , which met for the first time on 25 April. On 8 May it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I in January 1649. Charles returned from exile on 23 May. He entered London on 29 May, his birthday. To celebrate "his Majesty's Return to his Parliament" 29 May
1358-664: A secure port at which he could land his army in Ireland, and that he retained the capital city. With Admiral Robert Blake blockading the remaining Royalist fleet under Prince Rupert of the Rhine in Kinsale, Cromwell landed on 15 August with thirty-five ships filled with troops and equipment. Henry Ireton landed two days later with a further seventy-seven ships. Ormonde's troops retreated from around Dublin in disarray. They were badly demoralised by their unexpected defeat at Rathmines and were incapable of fighting another pitched battle in
1455-506: A three-year fixed-term (which the Lord Protector was required to abide by) and to reserve for the Parliament the sole right of taxation. The second, as a concession to Cromwell, was to make the Lord Protector a hereditary position and to convert the title to a formal constitutional Kingship. Cromwell refused the title of King, but accepted the rest of the legislation, which was passed in final form on 25 May 1657. A second session of
1552-524: A voluntary rate, by way of good practice. Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales , later along with Ireland and Scotland , were governed as a republic after the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I . The republic's existence was declared through "An Act declaring England to be
1649-678: The Glorious Revolution , many of the Irish Catholic landed class tried to reverse the remaining Cromwellian settlement in the Williamite War in Ireland (1689–91), where they fought en masse for the Jacobites . They were defeated once again, and many lost land that had been regranted after 1662. As a result, Irish and English Catholics did not become full political citizens of the British state again until 1829 and were legally barred from buying valuable interests in land until
1746-533: The Levellers ; Presbyterians who were willing to countenance the trial and execution of the King; and later admissions, such as formerly excluded MPs who were prepared to denounce the Newport Treaty negotiations with the King. Most Rumpers were gentry , though there was a higher proportion of lesser gentry and lawyers than in previous parliaments. Less than one-quarter of them were regicides . This left
1843-460: The churchwardens together with the parishioners, who were duly assembled after proper notice had been posted in the church vestry or the church. The rates thus set were recoverable in the ecclesiastical court , or, if the arrears did not exceed £10 and no questions were raised as to the legal liability, before two justices of the peace . Any payment made out of the rate which was not strictly recognised by law destroyed its validity. The church rate
1940-573: The execution of Charles I in January 1649, the newly established Commonwealth of England took steps to regain control of Ireland . The first and most pressing reason was an alliance signed in 1649 between the Irish Confederate Catholics and Charles II , proclaimed King of Ireland in January 1649. This allowed for Royalist troops to be sent to Ireland and put the Irish Confederate Catholic troops under
2037-788: The 1640s. In addition, the English Parliament had a financial imperative to invade Ireland to confiscate land there in order to repay its creditors. The Parliament had raised loans of £10 million under the Adventurers' Act to subdue Ireland since 1642, on the basis that its creditors would be repaid with land confiscated from Irish Catholic rebels. To repay these loans, it would be necessary to conquer Ireland and confiscate such land. The Parliamentarians also had internal political reasons to send forces to Ireland. Army mutinies at Banbury and Bishopsgate in April and May 1649 were unsettling
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#17327945925002134-563: The 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars , and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Modern estimates suggest that during this period, Ireland experienced a demographic loss totalling around 15 to 20% of the pre-1641 population, due to fighting, famine and bubonic plague . The Irish Rebellion of 1641 brought much of Ireland under the control of the Irish Catholic Confederation , who engaged in
2231-464: The Army and divisions quickly developed in the Parliament. One faction called for a recall of the Rump Parliament and a return to the constitution of the Commonwealth, while another preferred the existing constitution. As the parties grew increasingly quarrelsome, Richard dissolved it. He was quickly removed from power, and the remaining Army leadership recalled the Rump Parliament, setting
2328-591: The Catholic population from 1650, when large areas of the country still resisted the Parliamentary Army. These tactics included the wholesale burning of crops, forced population movement, and killing of civilians. One modern estimate estimated that 200,000 were killed, of which 137,000 were civilians. In addition, the whole post-war Cromwellian settlement of Ireland has been characterised by historians such as Mark Levene and Alan Axelrod as ethnic cleansing , in that it sought to remove Irish Catholics from
2425-632: The Commonwealth of England. Most went to France or Spain. The largest Irish guerrilla forces under John Fitzpatrick (in Leinster, Edmund O'Dwyer (in Munster) and Edmund Daly (in Connacht) surrendered in 1652, under terms signed at Kilkenny that May. However, up to 11,000 men, mostly in Ulster , were still thought to be in the field at the end of the year. The last Irish and Royalist forces (the remnants of
2522-538: The Confederate Catholic general Thomas Preston took Maynooth in 1647, he hanged its Catholic defenders as apostates . Nevertheless, the 1649–1653 campaign remains notorious in Irish popular memory as it was responsible for a huge death toll among the Irish population. The main reason for this was the counter-guerrilla tactics used by such commanders as Henry Ireton, John Hewson and Edmund Ludlow against
2619-760: The Confederate's Ulster Army, led by Philip O'Reilly) formally surrendered at Cloughoughter in County Cavan on 27 April 1653. The English Parliament then declared the Irish rebellion subdued on 27 September 1653. However, low-level guerrilla warfare continued for the remainder of the decade and was accompanied by widespread lawlessness. Undoubtedly some of the tories were simple brigands , whereas others were politically motivated. The Cromwellians distinguished in their rewards for information or capture of outlaws between "private tories" and "public tories". The English Parliament imposed an extremely harsh settlement on
2716-677: The Earl of Inchiquin and Parliamentarian commander in Cork, took Cashel in 1647, he slaughtered the garrison and Catholic clergy there (including Theobald Stapleton ), earning the nickname "Murrough of the Burnings". Inchiquin switched allegiances in 1648, becoming a commander of the Royalist forces. After such battles as Dungans Hill and Scarrifholis , English Parliamentarian forces executed thousands of their Irish Catholic prisoners. Similarly, when
2813-653: The English Protestant settlers in Ireland, with English Parliamentarian pamphlets claiming that over 200,000 Protestants had died. In turn, this was used as justification by English Parliamentary and Scottish Covenant forces to take vengeance on the Irish Catholic population. A Parliamentary tract of 1655 argued that, "the whole Irish nation, consisting of gentry, clergy and commonality are engaged as one nation in this quarrel, to root out and extirpate all English Protestants from amongst them". Atrocities were subsequently committed by all sides. When Murrough O'Brien ,
2910-610: The English colonies in North America and the Caribbean where they subsequently comprised a substantial portion of certain Caribbean colony populations in the late 17th century. In Barbados, some of their descendants are known as Redlegs . Eventually, the guerrilla war was ended when the Parliamentarians published surrender terms in 1652 allowing Irish troops to go abroad to serve in foreign armies not at war with
3007-658: The Irish Confederacy, and agreed the Treaty of Breda with the Covenanter government in Scotland. This totally undermined Ormonde's position as head of a Royalist coalition in Ireland. Cromwell published generous surrender terms for Protestant Royalists in Ireland and many of them either capitulated or went over to the Parliamentarian side. This left in the field only the remaining Irish Catholic armies and
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3104-624: The Irish and Royalists was the 6,000-strong army of Ulster, formerly commanded by Owen Roe O'Neill , who died in 1649. However the army was now commanded by an inexperienced Catholic bishop named Heber MacMahon . The Ulster Army met a Parliamentarian army commanded by Charles Coote, at the Battle of Scarrifholis in County Donegal in June 1650. The Ulster army was routed and as many as 2,000 of its men were killed. In addition, MacMahon and most of
3201-566: The Irish population, driven by antipathy to the Catholic religion, and to punish Irish Catholics for the rebellion of 1641. Also, Parliament needed to raise money to pay the army and to provide land to those who had subsidised the war under the Adventurers Act back in 1640. Under the 1640 Adventurers Act, lenders were paid in confiscated estates, while Parliamentarian soldiers who served there were often compensated with land rather than wages. Although many of these simply sold their grants,
3298-619: The Irish word tóraí meaning "pursuer" or "outlaw") operated from difficult terrain such as the Bog of Allen , the Wicklow Mountains and the drumlin country in the north midlands, and within months made the countryside extremely dangerous for all except large parties of Parliamentarian troops. Ireton mounted a punitive expedition to the Wicklow mountains in 1650 to try to put down the tories there, but without success. By early 1651, it
3395-526: The New Model Army, and the soldiers' demands would probably increase if they were left idle. Finally, for some Parliamentarians, the war in Ireland was a religious war. Cromwell and much of his army were Puritans who considered all Roman Catholics to be heretics, and so for them the conquest was partly a crusade. The Irish Confederates had been supplied with arms and money by the Papacy and had welcomed
3492-520: The Parliament met in 1658; it allowed previously excluded MPs (who had been not allowed to take their seats because of Catholic and/or Royalist leanings) to take their seats, however, this made the Parliament far less compliant to the wishes of Cromwell and the Major-Generals; it accomplished little in the way of a legislative agenda and was dissolved after a few months. On the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, his son, Richard Cromwell , inherited
3589-484: The Parliament up to 1648 and resented fighting with the Confederates. Their mutiny handed Cork and most of Munster to Cromwell and they defeated the local Irish garrison at the Battle of Macroom . The Irish and Royalist forces retreated behind the River Shannon into Connacht or (in the case of the remaining Munster forces) into the fastness of County Kerry . In May 1650, Charles II repudiated his alliance with
3686-592: The Parliamentarian commander in Ireland after Ireton's death, who wrote that the tactics used by Cromwell at Drogheda showed "extraordinary severity". Cromwell's actions in Ireland occurred in the context of a mutually cruel war. In 1641–42 Irish insurgents in Ulster killed some 4,000 Protestant settlers who had settled on land confiscated from their former Catholic owners. These events were magnified in Protestant propaganda as an attempt by Irish Catholics to exterminate
3783-633: The Privy Council, took over many of the executive functions of the monarchy. It was selected by the Rump, and most of its members were MPs. However, the Rump depended on the support of the Army with which it had a very uneasy relationship. After the execution of Charles I, the House of Commons abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords. It declared the people of England "and of all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging" to be henceforth under
3880-675: The River Shannon into the western province of Connacht in October 1650. An Irish army under Clanricarde had attempted to stop them but this was surprised and routed at the Battle of Meelick Island . Ormonde was discredited by the constant stream of defeats for the Irish and Royalist forces and no longer had the confidence of the men he commanded, particularly the Irish Confederates. He fled for France in December 1650 and
3977-459: The Rump Parliament recalled, starting a process that led to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The term Commonwealth is sometimes used for the whole of 1649 to 1660 – called by some the Interregnum – although for other historians, the use of the term is limited to the years prior to Cromwell's formal assumption of power in 1653. In retrospect, the period of republican rule for England
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4074-664: The Rump Parliament, the Army Council adopted the Instrument of Government , by which Oliver Cromwell was made Lord Protector of a united "Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland", inaugurating the period now usually known as the Protectorate . After Cromwell's death, and following a brief period of rule under his son, Richard Cromwell , the Protectorate Parliament was dissolved in 1659 and
4171-410: The Rump as basically a conservative body whose vested interests in the existing land ownership and legal systems made it unlikely to want to reform them. For the first two years of the Commonwealth, the Rump faced economic depression and the risk of invasion from Scotland and Ireland. By 1653 Cromwell and the Army had largely eliminated these threats. There were many disagreements amongst factions of
4268-448: The Rump on 20 April 1653, for reasons that are unclear. Theories are that he feared the Rump was trying to perpetuate itself as the government, or that the Rump was preparing for an election which could return an anti-Commonwealth majority. Many former members of the Rump continued to regard themselves as England's only legitimate constitutional authority. The Rump had not agreed to its own dissolution; their legal, constitutional view that it
4365-449: The Rump. Some wanted a republic, but others favoured retaining some type of monarchical government. Most of England's traditional ruling classes regarded the Rump as an illegal government made up of regicides and upstarts. However, they were also aware that the Rump might be all that stood in the way of an outright military dictatorship . High taxes, mainly to pay the Army, were resented by the gentry. Limited reforms were enough to antagonise
4462-575: The Settlement of Ireland 1652 barred Catholics from most public offices and confiscated large amounts of their land, much of which was given to Protestant settlers . These proved a continuing source of grievance, while the brutality of conquest means Cromwell remains a deeply reviled figure in Ireland. How far he was personally responsible for the atrocities is still debated; some historians suggest his actions were within what were then viewed as accepted rules of war, while others disagree. Following
4559-558: The Ulster Army's officers were either killed at the battle or captured and executed after it. This eliminated the last strong field army opposing the Parliamentarians in Ireland and secured for them the northern province of Ulster. Coote's army, despite suffering heavy losses at the Siege of Charlemont , the last Catholic stronghold in the north, was now free to march south and invade the west coast of Ireland. The Parliamentarians crossed
4656-708: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (most of them under Michael Jones in 1647). They viewed Ireland as part of the territory governed by right by the Kingdom of England and only temporarily out of its control since the Rebellion of 1641. Many Parliamentarians wished to punish the Irish for alleged atrocities supposedly committed against the mainly Scottish Protestant settlers during the 1641 Uprising. Furthermore, some Irish towns (notably Wexford and Waterford) had acted as bases from which privateers had attacked English shipping throughout
4753-486: The case of Drogheda and Wexford no surrender agreement had been negotiated, and by the rules of continental siege warfare prevalent in the mid-17th century, this meant no quarter would be given; thus it can be argued that Cromwell's attitude had not changed. Ormonde's Royalists still held most of Munster , but were outflanked by a mutiny of their own garrison in Cork . The British Protestant troops there had been fighting for
4850-508: The city and deprive the Parliamentarians of a port in which they could land. Jones, however, launched a surprise attack on the Royalists while they were deploying on 2 August, putting them to flight. Jones claimed to have killed around 4,000 Royalist or Confederate soldiers and taken 2,517 prisoners. Oliver Cromwell called the battle "an astonishing mercy, so great and seasonable that we are like them that dreamed", as it meant that he had
4947-518: The command of Royalist officers led by James Butler, Earl of Ormonde . Secondly, Parliament also had a longstanding commitment to re-conquer Ireland dating back to the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Even if the Irish Confederates had not allied themselves with the Royalists, it is likely that the English Parliament would have eventually tried to invade the country to crush Catholic power there. They had sent Parliamentary forces to Ireland throughout
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#17327945925005044-402: The country's pre-war population. Of these, he estimated that over 400,000 were Catholics, 167,000 killed directly by war or famine, and the remainder by war-related disease. Modern estimates put the toll at closer to 20%. In addition, some fifty thousand Irish people, including prisoners of war, were sold as indentured servants under the English Commonwealth regime. They were often sent to
5141-482: The eastern part of the country. Others such as the historical writer Tim Pat Coogan have described the actions of Cromwell and his subordinates as genocide. Colonial studies professor Katie Kane suggested that the invasion was comparable to the Native American genocide , drawing parallels between that event and the English treatment of Irish civilians. The aftermath of the Cromwellian campaign and settlement saw extensive dispossession of landowners who were Catholic, and
5238-406: The end of organised resistance to the Cromwellian conquest, but fighting continued as small units of Irish troops launched guerrilla attacks on the Parliamentarians. The guerrilla phase of the war had been going since late 1650 and at the end of 1651, despite the defeat of the main Irish or Royalist forces, there were still estimated to be 30,000 men in arms against the Parliamentarians. Tories (from
5335-399: The executive function formerly held by the King and his Privy Council, was forcibly dissolved by Cromwell on 20 April, and in its place a new council, filled with Cromwell's own chosen men, was installed. Three days after Barebone's Parliament dissolved itself, the Instrument of Government was adopted by Cromwell's council and a new state structure, now known historically as The Protectorate,
5432-404: The fact that his troops had suffered heavy casualties attacking the former two, Cromwell respected surrender terms which guaranteed the lives and property of the townspeople and the evacuation of armed Irish troops who were defending them. The change in attitude on the part of the Parliamentarian commander may have been a recognition that excessive cruelty was prolonging Irish resistance. However, in
5529-481: The first several months of 1654 preparing for the First Protectorate Parliament by drawing up a set of 84 bills for consideration. The Parliament was freely elected (as free as such elections could be in the 17th century) and as such, the Parliament was filled with a wide range of political interests, and as such did not accomplish any of its goals. Having passed none of Cromwell's proposed bills, he dissolved it as soon as law would allow. Having decided that Parliament
5626-450: The garrison and Catholic priests were killed. Many civilians also died in the sack. Aston was beaten to death by the Roundheads with his own wooden leg. The massacre of the garrison in Drogheda, including some after they had surrendered and some who had sheltered in a church, was received with horror in Ireland and is used today as an example of Cromwell's extreme cruelty. Having taken Drogheda, Cromwell took most of his army south to secure
5723-411: The gentry, who regarded the common law as reinforcing their status and property rights. The Rump passed many restrictive laws to regulate people's moral behaviour, such as closing down theatres and requiring strict observance of Sunday . Laws were also passed banning the celebration of Easter and Christmas. This antagonised most of the gentry. Cromwell, aided by Thomas Harrison , forcibly dismissed
5820-411: The goods of enemies". This tactic had succeeded in the Nine Years' War . This phase of the war was by far the most costly in terms of civilian loss of life. The combination of warfare, famine and plague caused a huge mortality among the Irish population. William Petty estimated (in the 1655–56 Down Survey ) that the death toll of the wars in Ireland since 1641 was over 618,000 people, or about 40% of
5917-491: The governance of a "Commonwealth", effectively a republic. In Pride's Purge , all members of parliament (including most of the political Presbyterians ) who would not accept the need to bring the King to trial had been removed. Thus the Rump never had more than two hundred members (less than half the number of the Commons in the original Long Parliament). They included: supporters of religious independents who did not want an established church and some of whom had sympathies with
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#17327945925006014-413: The memory of the Parliamentarian cause, dubbed the Good Old Cause by the soldiers of the New Model Army, lingered on. It would carry through English politics and eventually result in a constitutional monarchy . The Commonwealth period is better remembered for the military success of Thomas Fairfax , Oliver Cromwell , and the New Model Army . Besides resounding victories in the English Civil War ,
6111-405: The military by way of the "Grandees", being the Major-Generals and other senior military leaders of the New Model Army . Not only did Cromwell's regime crumble into near anarchy upon his death and the brief administration of his son, but the monarchy he overthrew was restored in 1660, and its first act was officially to erase all traces of any constitutional reforms of the Republican period. Still,
6208-492: The military governor of Scotland, General George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle . The ordinance declared that "the people of Scotland should be united with the people of England into one Commonwealth and under one Government" and decreed that a new " Arms of the Commonwealth ", incorporating the Saltire , should be placed on "all the public seals, seals of office, and seals of bodies civil or corporate, in Scotland" as "a badge of this Union". Cromwell and his Council of State spent
6305-461: The net result was the percentage of land owned by Irish Catholics fell from 60% in 1641 to 20% by the 1660 Stuart Restoration . Thereafter, Catholics were barred from most public office, although not from the Irish Parliament . The Parliamentarian campaign in Ireland was the most ruthless of the Civil War period. In particular, Cromwell's actions at Drogheda and Wexford earned him a reputation for cruelty. Cromwell's critics point to his response to
6402-631: The other hand, the massacres of the defenders of Drogheda and Wexford prolonged resistance elsewhere, as they convinced many Irish Catholics that they would be killed even if they surrendered. Such towns as Waterford, Duncannon, Clonmel, Limerick and Galway only surrendered after determined resistance. Cromwell was unable to take Waterford or Duncannon and the New Model Army had to retire to winter quarters, where many of its men died of disease, especially typhoid and dysentery. The port city of Waterford and Duncannon town eventually surrendered after prolonged sieges in 1650. The following spring, Cromwell mopped up
6499-404: The papal legate Pierfrancesco Scarampi and later the Papal Nuncio Giovanni Battista Rinuccini in 1643–49. By the end of the period, known as Confederate Ireland, in 1649 the only remaining Parliamentarian outpost in Ireland was in Dublin, under the command of Colonel Jones. A combined Royalist and Confederate force under the Marquess of Ormonde gathered at Rathmines, south of Dublin, to take
6596-406: The political position of the Grandees in the New Model Army . Just before and after the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, the Rump passed a number of acts of Parliament creating the legal basis for the republic. With the abolition of the monarchy, Privy Council and the House of Lords , it had unchecked executive and legislative power. The English Council of State , which replaced
6693-536: The ports of Wexford, Waterford and Duncannon. Wexford was the scene of another infamous atrocity: the Sack of Wexford , when Parliamentarian troops broke into the town while negotiations for its surrender were ongoing, and sacked it, killing about 2,000 soldiers and 1,500 townspeople and burning much of the town. The Royalist commander Ormonde thought that the terror of Cromwell's army had a paralysing effect on his forces. Towns like New Ross and Carlow subsequently surrendered on terms when besieged by Cromwell's forces. On
6790-671: The radical or conservative side depending on the issue. The Conservatives (approximately 40) wanted to keep the status quo , since common law protected the interests of the gentry, and tithes and advowsons were valuable property. Cromwell saw Barebone's Parliament as a temporary legislative body which he hoped would produce reforms and develop a constitution for the Commonwealth. However, members were divided over key issues, only 25 had previous parliamentary experience, and although many had some legal training, there were no qualified lawyers. Cromwell seems to have expected this group of amateurs to produce reform without management or direction. When
6887-441: The radicals mustered enough support to defeat a bill which would have preserved the status quo in religion, the conservatives, together with many moderates, surrendered their authority back to Cromwell, who sent soldiers to clear the rest of the Assembly. Barebone's Parliament was over. Throughout 1653, Cromwell and the Army slowly dismantled the machinery of the Commonwealth state. The English Council of State , which had assumed
6984-557: The rate being excluded from inquiring into, objecting to or voting in respect of their expenditure. Parochial church councils may continue to levy voluntary rates by virtue of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. No. 3). All Church of England churches within the City of London continue to levy the church rate. Hampstead Parish Church has documented their procedures for raising
7081-601: The rate was not uniform across the country. Resolutions were passed protesting against the rate, and societies to abolish the rate were formed all over the country. In 1836 at a public meeting in London, a central committee, the Church Rate Abolition Society, was formed to co-ordinate the efforts of local abolitionist Societies. In 1837, Parliament made two concessions to the Nonconformists:
7178-677: The reformed Navy under the command of Robert Blake defeated the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War which marked the first step towards England's naval supremacy . In Ireland, the Commonwealth period is remembered for Cromwell's conquest of Ireland , which continued and completed the policies of the Tudor and Stuart periods. The Rump was created by Pride's Purge of those members of the Long Parliament who did not support
7275-455: The remaining walled towns in Ireland's southeast—notably the Confederate capital of Kilkenny, which surrendered on terms . The New Model Army met its only serious reverse in Ireland at the Siege of Clonmel , where its attacks on the town's defences were repulsed at a cost of up to 2,000 men. The town nevertheless surrendered the following day. Cromwell's treatment of Kilkenny and Clonmel is in contrast to that of Drogheda and Wexford . Despite
7372-450: The ruling class but not enough to satisfy the radicals. Despite its unpopularity, the Rump was a link with the old constitution and helped to settle England down and make it secure after the biggest upheaval in its history. By 1653, France and Spain had recognised England's new government. Though the Church of England was retained, episcopacy was suppressed and the Act of Uniformity 1558
7469-447: The short term. As a result, Ormonde hoped to hold the walled towns on Ireland's east coast to hold up the Cromwellian advance until the winter, when he hoped that "Colonel Hunger and Major Sickness" (i.e. hunger and disease) would deplete their ranks. Upon landing, Cromwell proceeded to take the other port cities on Ireland's east coast, to facilitate the efficient landing of supplies and reinforcements from England. The first town to fall
7566-517: The southeastern ports. He sent a detachment of 5,000 men north under Robert Venables to take eastern Ulster from the remnants of a Scottish Covenanter army that had landed there in 1642. They defeated the Scots at the Battle of Lisnagarvey (6 December 1649) and linked up with a Parliamentarian army composed of English settlers based around Derry in western Ulster, which was commanded by Charles Coote . The New Model Army then marched south to secure
7663-684: The stage for the return of the Monarchy a year later. After the Grandees in the New Model Army removed Richard, they reinstalled the Rump Parliament in May 1659. Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Council of State, and one of the seven commissioners for the army. On 9 June he was nominated lord-general (commander-in-chief) of the army. However, his power
7760-493: The strongly fortified cities and instead blockaded them until a combination of hunger and disease forced them to surrender. An Irish force from County Kerry attempted to relieve Limerick from the south but was intercepted and routed at the Battle of Knocknaclashy . Limerick fell in 1651 and Galway the following year. Disease, however, killed indiscriminately and Ireton, along with thousands of Parliamentarian troops, died of plague outside Limerick in 1651. The fall of Galway saw
7857-461: The title, Lord Protector. Richard had never served in the Army, which meant he lost control over the Major-Generals that had been the source of his own father's power. The Third Protectorate Parliament was summoned in late 1658 and was seated on 27 January 1659. Its first act was to confirm Richard's role as Lord Protector, which it did by a sizeable, but not overwhelming, majority. Quickly, however, it became apparent that Richard had no control over
7954-408: Was Drogheda, about 50 km north of Dublin. Drogheda was garrisoned by a regiment of 3,000 English Royalist and Irish Confederate soldiers, commanded by Arthur Aston . After a week-long siege, Cromwell's forces breached the walls protecting the town. Aston refused Cromwell's request that he surrender. In the ensuing battle for the town, Cromwell ordered that no quarter be given, and the majority of
8051-425: Was a failure in the short term. During the 11-year period, no stable government was established to rule the English state for longer than a few months at a time. Several administrative structures were tried, and several Parliaments called and seated, but little in the way of meaningful, lasting legislation was passed. The only force keeping it together was the personality of Oliver Cromwell , who exerted control through
8148-821: Was a personal charge imposed on the occupier of land or of a house in the parish, and, though it was compulsory, it was often difficult to enforce: especially so in the case of Nonconformists , who had conscientious objections to supporting the Established Church ; in Ireland, where the population was mostly Roman Catholic, the grievance was specially felt and resented. The objections of the Nonconformists were not only on principle. The Church of England received financial support from Parliament, while Nonconformist congregations were entirely dependent on voluntary contributions. They did not want to have to support another parish as well as their own. Enforcement of
8245-406: Was famine throughout much of Ireland, aggravated by an outbreak of bubonic plague . As the guerrilla war ground on, the Parliamentarians, as of April 1651, designated areas such as County Wicklow and much of the south of the country as what would now be called free-fire zones, where anyone found would be, "taken slain and destroyed as enemies and their cattle and good shall be taken or spoiled as
8342-538: Was given its shape. This new constitution granted Cromwell sweeping powers as Lord Protector , an office which ironically had much the same role and powers as the King had under the monarchy, a fact not lost on Cromwell's critics. On 12 April 1654, under the terms of the Tender of Union , the Ordinance for uniting Scotland into one Commonwealth with England was issued by the Lord Protector and proclaimed in Scotland by
8439-589: Was into this atmosphere that General George Monck marched south with his army from Scotland . Lambert's army began to desert him, and he returned to London almost alone. On 21 February 1660, Monck reinstated the Presbyterian members of the Long Parliament "secluded" by Pride, so that they could prepare legislation for a new parliament. Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before parliament to answer for his conduct. On 3 March Lambert
8536-453: Was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day . He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. Cromwellian conquest of Ireland [REDACTED] Confederate Ireland 1641–42 Irish Rebellion 1642–49 1649–53 Cromwellian Conquest The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England , led by Oliver Cromwell . It forms part of
8633-455: Was not an efficient means of getting his policies enacted, Cromwell instituted a system of direct military rule of England during a period known as the Rule of the Major-Generals ; all of England was divided into ten regions, each was governed directly by one of Cromwell's Major-Generals, who were given sweeping powers to collect taxes and enforce the peace. The Major-Generals were highly unpopular,
8730-494: Was not unusual by the standards of 17th century siege warfare, this has been largely rejected by other scholars. One historian argues "the Drogheda massacre does stand out for its mercilessness,...ruthlessness and calculation, for its combination of hot- and cold-bloodiness". Moreover, other critics point out that at the time the killings at Drogheda and Wexford were considered atrocities. They cite such sources as Edmund Ludlow ,
8827-553: Was repealed in September 1650. Mainly on the insistence of the Army, many independent churches were tolerated, although everyone still had to pay tithes to the established church. Some small improvements were made to law and court procedure; for example, all court proceedings were now conducted in English rather than in Law French or Latin . However, there were no widespread reforms of the common law . This would have upset
8924-502: Was replaced as commander by an Irish nobleman, Ulick Burke of Clanricarde. The Irish and Royalist forces were penned into the area west of the River Shannon and placed their last hope on defending the strongly walled cities of Limerick and Galway on Ireland's west coast. These cities had built extensive modern defences and could not be taken by a straightforward assault as at Drogheda or Wexford. Ireton besieged Limerick while Charles Coote surrounded Galway, but they were unable to take
9021-686: Was reported that no English supply convoys were safe if they travelled more than two miles outside a military base. In response, the Parliamentarians destroyed food supplies and forcibly evicted civilians who were thought to be helping the Tories. John Hewson systematically destroyed food stocks in counties Wicklow and County Kildare , Hardress Waller did likewise in the Burren in County Clare , as did Colonel Cook in County Wexford . The result
9118-525: Was sent to the Tower, from which he escaped a month later. Lambert tried to rekindle the civil war in favour of the Commonwealth by issuing a proclamation calling on all supporters of the " Good Old Cause " to rally on the battlefield of Edgehill. However, he was recaptured by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby , a regicide who hoped to win a pardon by handing Lambert over to the new regime. The Long Parliament dissolved itself on 16 March. On 4 April 1660, in response to
9215-675: Was the Militia Bill, which was ultimately voted down by the House. As a result, the authority of the Major-Generals to collect taxes to support their own regimes ended, and the Rule of the Major Generals came to an end. The second piece of major legislation was the passage of the Humble Petition and Advice , a sweeping constitutional reform which had two purposes. The first was to reserve for Parliament certain rights, such as
9312-520: Was undermined in parliament, which chose to disregard the army's authority in a similar fashion to the pre–Civil War parliament. On 12 October 1659 the Commons cashiered General John Lambert and other officers, and installed Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the Speaker . The next day Lambert ordered that the doors of the House be shut and the members kept out. On 26 October
9409-445: Was unlawful was based on Charles' concessionary Act prohibiting the dissolution of Parliament without its own consent (on 11 May 1641, leading to the entire Commonwealth being the latter years of the Long Parliament in their majority view). The dissolution of the Rump was followed by a short period in which Cromwell and the Army ruled alone. Nobody had the constitutional authority to call an election, but Cromwell did not want to impose
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