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Charles II proclaimed king in Ireland and Scotland - February 1649
Although Scots were parliament’s allies, they cut ties after Charles was killed. Ireland was already royalist stronghold and when the news about execution reached Scotland Charles II was immediately proclaimed king there.
Charles II was still in exile in Holland then, and would not be crowned until 1651. -
Monarchy officially abolished - March 1649
After the execution of Charles, power had passed to those MPs who remained.
The Rump declared itself to be sole legislative authority. It was not until the March 1649 that the monarchy and the House of Lords were officially abolished.
Later in the summer England was declared Commonwealth, governed by single-chamber parliament. -
Issues facing the new regime
The fundamental issue facing the new regime was that the revolution was the work of a minority. Thus the new government lacked wide support.
The first task of the new government was to restore stability, to calm fears of people and win their confidence. Unfortunately the main source of those fears were the army on which the regime’s existence depended. -
Charles’ attempted invasion in 1651
The distinct lack of support that greeted Charles II’s attempted invasion, suggested that combination of reforms from the mew regime could succeed in generating acceptance that it needed.
(After Charles II was declared king in Scotland and made peace with Covenanters they assembled army to invade England.)
Charles was easily defeated at the Battle of Worcester. Following his defeat he fled to France where spent nine years in exile. -
Factors preventing the Rump from providing stability
Throughout its short life the Rump failed to gain widespread support. This was mainly because of necessity to maintain large standing army which was a major source of fears (Pride’s Purge showed that army is holding real power). Moreover its maintenance was the reason of high taxation with new taxes introduced such as ‘monthly assessment’. -
Other factors preventing the Rump from providing stability
Facing the constant threat from Ireland and Scotland the Rump had to employ its time. Charles invasion in 1651 failed but it served as a reminder that threat of royalism was not extinct. -
Dissolution of the Rump
Since the victory over Charles II, Cromwell was doing all he could to persuade Rump to enact reforms desired by the army, but when he discovered in the April 1653 that Rump planned to pass a bill for elections (which would increase the representation of conservative views given the mood in the country) he ran out of patience.
As a result Cromwell dissolved the Rump by force.