England has more often been faced with the claims of competing kings and queens than with a period of no monarch at all. The major exception to that rule came in the 11 years between 1649 and 1660, when England was a republic. Following the disastrous reign of Charles I and the civil wars that led to his execution, Parliament and the army ruled England. England’s republican experiment started out as a work of collaboration and compromise; lords, army officers and members of Parliament (MPs) worked together to find a political settlement that did not include the despised royal House of Stuart. Nonetheless, religious and political division made collective rule unworkable, and ultimately, one man emerged from the chaos to rule the country. He had risen from a humble background to become the leading general of the Civil Wars, and as a man of staunch beliefs and ruthless pragmatism, he controlled England from 1653-1658 under the title of Lord Protector. In essence, he was a king in all but name. That man was Oliver Cromwell, and in the popular imagination, Cromwell has overshadowed the rest of the leaders of the parliamentary cause and the New Model Army.
Cromwell’s death would lead to a restoration of the royal line, but an uprising of a completely different nature would soon unfold on English soil – the Glorious Revolution, an intriguing story of a power war exacerbated by ruthless ambition, under-the-table plotting, and the treachery of familial betrayal. That said, it’s important to remember that the deposed James II did try to return to England, and there would be generations of war waged for the Stuart cause by the Jacobites, who were not only supporters of the exiled Stuart monarchy, but also against the political and religious settlements agreed to across the British Isles. It’s no surprise the Jacobites continue to interest so many people, as do the plot twists, near misses, and “what-ifs” involved.
