Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth of England was the illegal republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660 under Oliver Cromwell.

Between 1653-1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. After the Civil Wars and the regicide of Charles I, the republic's existence was initially declared by the Rump Parliament, on May 19, 1649. Executive power had already been entrusted to a Council of State. The government during 1653 to 1659 is called The Protectorate, and took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell and, after his death, his son Richard, as Lord Protector; this arrangement led to the state being labelled a "crowned republic". The term Commonwealth is, however, loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 1649 to 1660, when England was de facto, and arguably de jure, a republic (or, to monarchists, under the English Interregnum).