Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector
- Following his impetuous decision to dissolve the Rump on 20 April, 1653,
Cromwell was reluctantly left at the center of a power vacuum.
- Though a member of Barebones and a member of the Council of State, Cromwell
was loath to involve himself in politics, attending neither sessions of the
House of Commons nor meetings of the Council of State.
- Rather than take part in the drafting of legislation or legal reform, Cromwell's
interests remained solely on supporting those who would defend the Parliamentary
cause. For Cromwell, the values of liberty were absolute: to be secure in
person, property and conscience.
- His defense of the security of property was also absolute and brought him
in conflict with Charles, the Levellers and those who would abolish tithes.
It was this same philosophy that led him to support the preservation of the
monarchy in 1648 and the establishment of the Protectorate in 1653.
- His defense of liberty of conscience brought him into conflict with the
bishops, Scottish and the English Presbyterians. As he stated: "Liberty
of conscience was a natural right, and he that would have it ought to give
it".
- Cromwell believed that the nation should
not be governed by the sword. This principal, more than any other, determined
the course of English politics for the next five years.