The English Interregnum System

Timeline

1. 1649Whitehall, London · WestminsterOn January 30, 1649, Charles I was publicly beheaded in the square outside Whitehall Palace, the first event in early modern European history in which a reigning king was tried and executed by a legitimate institution. Parliament subsequently abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords, and on May 19 declared the establishment of the Commonwealth of England, governed jointly by the Rump Parliament and the Council of State, inaugurating the only republican experiment without a monarch in British history.
2. 1653–1657Whitehall, London · WestminsterAfter Cromwell dispersed the Rump Parliament, the Instrument of Government was promulgated on December 16, 1653, establishing the office of Lord Protector; Cromwell became Lord Protector for life, holding supreme executive, legislative, and military power, assisted by a Council of State and a unicameral parliament as checks. This was the only codified constitutional document in British history, combining republican and monarchical elements and embodying a distinctive form of authoritarian republicanism. From 1655 the "rule of the major-generals" was implemented, dividing the country into eleven districts.
3. 1657–1658Whitehall, London · WestminsterIn 1657 Parliament proposed the Humble Petition and Advice, asking Cromwell to accept the title of king, revise the constitution, and restore the House of Lords. Cromwell refused the royal title but accepted a revised version, further expanding the Protector's powers and restoring a two-chamber parliament. Cromwell died of illness on September 3, 1658 (the anniversary of the battles of Naseby and Worcester), and his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him as Lord Protector according to the constitution, but lacked his father's political prestige and the army's support.
4. 1659–1660London and Scotland · British IslesIn May 1659 the army forced Richard Cromwell to resign and restored the Rump Parliament; in October Lambert again dispersed parliament and formed a Committee of Safety. General Monck marched south with the Scottish army, in February 1660 compelling the Rump Parliament to readmit the remaining members of the Long Parliament, and in May convened the Convention Parliament. Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda promising pardon and religious toleration, entered London on May 29, and the Interregnum regime came to an end as England returned to monarchy.