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canonized: The Mayflower isn't quite as important in this history as it is in ours; for one, they went to places like the Bahamas rather than already-urban New England (Hey, if I had the option I'd go to the Bahamas too 
). Of course, they still represent religious freedom over in America... but I'm getting way ahead of myself there.
TheHyphenated1: Thank you! I've had a habit of long delays before, but this is certainly the longest I've pulled. So don't expect something this bad again.
RGB: I'm sure you're right about that. I can think of a few which reappeared after a long time, but none this long.
Olaus Petrus: Sounds about right, I'll be having my own celebrations coming up. Especially since my birthday is St. John's Eve.
kurt_steiner: The Wars of Religion have actually been remarkably scattered in this history. It helped, I suppose, that Germany went almost solidly Protestant (aside from most of Austria and Westphalia). Of course, France hasn't had it any easier, and the British Isles have had it even worse. Still, you'll probably appreciate some of the fighting coming up in the next century...
Milites: Something similar? I'll definitely have to go take a look then.
Maximilliano: Only way to find out what happens is to follow along. I promise I'll keep this up long enough for you to read about it and far beyond that!
The Swert: Yes. I expect you to read all of those pages, and the many pages from the CK AAR while you're at it.
Deamon: Ah, thank you! I'll make sure you have plenty more to enjoy.
Next update should be on late Sunday or Monday. More likely the latter, since I've some of the celebrations I mentioned above tomorrow.
). Of course, they still represent religious freedom over in America... but I'm getting way ahead of myself there.TheHyphenated1: Thank you! I've had a habit of long delays before, but this is certainly the longest I've pulled. So don't expect something this bad again.
RGB: I'm sure you're right about that. I can think of a few which reappeared after a long time, but none this long.
Olaus Petrus: Sounds about right, I'll be having my own celebrations coming up. Especially since my birthday is St. John's Eve.
kurt_steiner: The Wars of Religion have actually been remarkably scattered in this history. It helped, I suppose, that Germany went almost solidly Protestant (aside from most of Austria and Westphalia). Of course, France hasn't had it any easier, and the British Isles have had it even worse. Still, you'll probably appreciate some of the fighting coming up in the next century...
Milites: Something similar? I'll definitely have to go take a look then.
Maximilliano: Only way to find out what happens is to follow along. I promise I'll keep this up long enough for you to read about it and far beyond that!
The Swert: Yes. I expect you to read all of those pages, and the many pages from the CK AAR while you're at it.
Deamon: Ah, thank you! I'll make sure you have plenty more to enjoy.
Next update should be on late Sunday or Monday. More likely the latter, since I've some of the celebrations I mentioned above tomorrow.
Okay, so now I read the update.
I see the scholarly tone is not rusty at all...and now that the context of the future interaction with America and such is well explained, time for some action.
I see the scholarly tone is not rusty at all...and now that the context of the future interaction with America and such is well explained, time for some action
.
Hello Judas! I caught this AAR while you were away from it and am excited to see that it's back. So excited, in fact, I've bequeathed the WritAAR of the Week award to you. Congratulations and keep up the good work!
[RGB: The fact that much of my time away was spent finishing my history degree might have helped keep the tone alive. As far as action, well, as you'll see in this update, the English Civil War doesn't quite end with Charles' death.
clblabin: Well, thank you! Three days in and we're already seeing honours thrown about here again, whether I deserve them or not.]
Titles: (claimed but unrecognised in brackets)
The Right Honourable Lords Temporal and Spiritual of the Empire of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled
The Honourable Commons of the Empire of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled
Regent in Absence of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Great Britain, King of Ireland [and France] etc.
Even the northern portions of England settled down upon the news that Charles had been killed in battle. The still-living Rupert and the body of Emperor Charles were brought with the victorious Parliamentary army back south to London on 2 November 1642, in both cases to stand trial for "forrede andgain þe folc and rice of Great Briten". For obvious reasons neither could be accused of treason against the Emperor, but Charles' blatant violations of Parliamentary procedure and contempt for that body deserved, in the minds of the leadership, nothing less than the highest possible crime. The former Emperor's trial went quickly and smoothly, partially as the defendent was obviously in no state to do anything; any complaints that the trial didn't follow proper due process, aside from making the complainer suspect of having Borcalan sympathies, were brushed aside with the statement that Charles' guilt was obvious. On 14 November the court proclaimed Charles' guilt of several abuses of power, and the next day his corpse was beheaded. The body was quietly interred in the same chapel vault as Henry III, and the matter considered finished.
Prince Rupert, however, was a much more difficult matter. His brother, the Count Palatine, requested clemency; but with the impossibility of a public execution of Charles (or at least one that would have any effect), the populace demanded his blood instead. Rupert's trial began early in November as well, but dragged on for well over a month, the main debate not being his guilt, but whether to go with the crowds or with political expediency. The ailng John Pym, a leader of the opposition to Charles, demanded his death to prevent Rupert from organising an army in support of Charles' son of the same name, but the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Lenthall, gave a concise and moving speech characterising the Borcalan cause as impossible, and clemency therefore acceptable. Lenthall's main concern, of course, was in keeping England's traditional allies, who would be necessary to prevent any trouble from France.
William Lenthall, by Samuel Cooper (1652)
The court's decision was guilty on charges of treason, with its attendant penalty of death, but a commutation of the sentence to banishment from the Empire of Great Britain (as it was still officially called at that point). Rupert was immediately sent to his brother's court, where he was kept under very close watch. Those others who remained would have no such luck or recourse. Parliament's run of mercy was spent with that one act, and the leaders of the army captured at Keswick were invariably tried, found guilty, and executed by beheading as their status required. Several others who had taken part in Charles' actions were also executed. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, whose trial ended without a verdict in 1644, was executed by bill of attainder the next year; the Archbishopric was left vacant.
At the time, Parliament did not intend for Britain to become a republic. It still referred to the nation it represented as the "Empire of Great Britain", and soon after the return of the army began the search for a potential replacement to Charles as Emperor. The old Emperor's sons, Charles and James, were immediately ruled out as having their father's views on monarchy. He did have a third son, Henry, who was still only an infant and thus much more malleable, but few wanted another child on the British throne; memories of the disasters that had accompanied the regencies of David and John II encouraged them to find someone who had already grown. Other possibilites were there, most notably Statdholder William II of the Netherlands, who was married to Charles' daughter Mary. Parliament was still a little nervous at the thought of inviting another Borcalan over, even one married to a Calvinist.
In any case, before they could make a decision, the civil war flared up again. As it turned out, the young Charles and James had fled across the channel to Flanders, where, despite being only twelve years old, he had already begun organising the Catholic majority in Brabant and Luxemburg into a potential power base, with French aid coming in from across the southern border. Prince Charles' choice of Catholics for support was not a politically expedient one, but at this point he was desperate. If the rich region of Flanders could be taken and held, however, he would have a good place from which to lead another invasion of England, much as Edward IV had in 1470.
Charles Borcalan, Prince of Wales, by William Dobson (1642)
Ferdinand and Thomas Fairfax were ordered by Parliament to remain in England to command any defence force that would be necessary; the choice of the man to command the army sent to Flanders was a simple one. In August of 1643, Oliver Cromwell embarked from London to organise and command the Flemish army. Charles' army, under the command of William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, had already marched north out of Luxemburg, and in October of 1643 he had captured Brussels and prepared for an attack on Gent and Brugge. Cromwell had the advantage of numbers, but his boldness brought him well into the more Catholic areas of the region. Dealing with various problems, he only got his army across the Schelde at Dendermonde on 5 October. Cavendish, who had excellent intelligence due to Catholics in the region, drew Cromwell to a wooded area between that crossing and Brussels near the village of Buggenhout, hoping to neutralise Cromwell's cavalry.
Cromwell, however, was far from taken in by the maneuver. Wishing to end the campaign as quickly as possible, he drew Cavendish's army towards the woodland, but with the speed of his better-trained army he made sure to be through it before the battle was joined. On 6 October the battle was joined, ostensibly between Cavendish and a moderately-sized forward detachment under Cromwell's command. Seeing an opportunity to take out the "regicide" Cromwell, Cavendish rushed his army into the subtle valley in between two wings of the wood. It seemed as if he outumbered Cromwell as he was just beginning to arrive there, and, screening his flanks with a few men in case of a trap, he set his men to take Cromwell's opening cavalry charge.
Said charge did not get very far, and as Cromwell, slowed by the close quarters, moved to pull back and charge again, Cavendish threw the screens on his flanks into the fray, succeding in himself outflanking Cromwell's right. As soon as he did so, however, thousands of Cromwell's light infantry appeared, coming down from the wooded ridge to Cavendish's right. With the Parliamentary forces on three sides, Cavendish fought on to the end. Few of the Imperial army escaped, with Cavendish himself captured and brought back to London to join the ranks of the beheaded.
The Battle of Buggenhout Wood. Each line is c. 1000 men.
Cromwell himself spent the winter reducing what few Imperial strongholds were left and building up fortifications where Parliamentary support was strongest. Though Charles and James fled to France before Cromwell could reach them, they no longer had any army or support, the French king not wishing to risk another war against Britain. What Cromwell had done was enough to earn him great fame back in Britain, and he returned a hero for both leading the charge that killed Charles, and ending the last Borcalan threat to the new government. Though some were afraid of Cromwell using his fame to overthrow the government militarily - and his army was ordered to remain in Flanders for just this reason - when the Self-Denying Ordinance was passed in 1645 to reform the military, Cromwell was allowed to remain as both a military commander and a Member of Parliament.
1645 had been a particularly good year both for the harvest and for trade, leading many in Britain to believe that divine favour was being bestowed upon the nation for their success in being rid of the Borcalan dynasty. For the next several years, despite minor Catholic revolts in Luxemburg and America, Great Britain was stable and recovering very well from the civil war it had gone through. However, the debate on who would take the vacant throne led to an event that would cause a vast shift in the Parliamentary regime.
clblabin: Well, thank you! Three days in and we're already seeing honours thrown about here again, whether I deserve them or not.]
The Long Parliament
Convened: 3 November 1640, London
Speaker: William Lenthall
Dismissed: 20 April 1653, London
Convened: 3 November 1640, London
Speaker: William Lenthall
Dismissed: 20 April 1653, London
Titles: (claimed but unrecognised in brackets)
The Right Honourable Lords Temporal and Spiritual of the Empire of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled
The Honourable Commons of the Empire of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled
Regent in Absence of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Great Britain, King of Ireland [and France] etc.
Pax quaeritur bello
Peace is sought through war
Peace is sought through war
- Motto of the Commonwealth of Great Britain
Even the northern portions of England settled down upon the news that Charles had been killed in battle. The still-living Rupert and the body of Emperor Charles were brought with the victorious Parliamentary army back south to London on 2 November 1642, in both cases to stand trial for "forrede andgain þe folc and rice of Great Briten". For obvious reasons neither could be accused of treason against the Emperor, but Charles' blatant violations of Parliamentary procedure and contempt for that body deserved, in the minds of the leadership, nothing less than the highest possible crime. The former Emperor's trial went quickly and smoothly, partially as the defendent was obviously in no state to do anything; any complaints that the trial didn't follow proper due process, aside from making the complainer suspect of having Borcalan sympathies, were brushed aside with the statement that Charles' guilt was obvious. On 14 November the court proclaimed Charles' guilt of several abuses of power, and the next day his corpse was beheaded. The body was quietly interred in the same chapel vault as Henry III, and the matter considered finished.
Prince Rupert, however, was a much more difficult matter. His brother, the Count Palatine, requested clemency; but with the impossibility of a public execution of Charles (or at least one that would have any effect), the populace demanded his blood instead. Rupert's trial began early in November as well, but dragged on for well over a month, the main debate not being his guilt, but whether to go with the crowds or with political expediency. The ailng John Pym, a leader of the opposition to Charles, demanded his death to prevent Rupert from organising an army in support of Charles' son of the same name, but the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Lenthall, gave a concise and moving speech characterising the Borcalan cause as impossible, and clemency therefore acceptable. Lenthall's main concern, of course, was in keeping England's traditional allies, who would be necessary to prevent any trouble from France.
William Lenthall, by Samuel Cooper (1652)
The court's decision was guilty on charges of treason, with its attendant penalty of death, but a commutation of the sentence to banishment from the Empire of Great Britain (as it was still officially called at that point). Rupert was immediately sent to his brother's court, where he was kept under very close watch. Those others who remained would have no such luck or recourse. Parliament's run of mercy was spent with that one act, and the leaders of the army captured at Keswick were invariably tried, found guilty, and executed by beheading as their status required. Several others who had taken part in Charles' actions were also executed. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, whose trial ended without a verdict in 1644, was executed by bill of attainder the next year; the Archbishopric was left vacant.
At the time, Parliament did not intend for Britain to become a republic. It still referred to the nation it represented as the "Empire of Great Britain", and soon after the return of the army began the search for a potential replacement to Charles as Emperor. The old Emperor's sons, Charles and James, were immediately ruled out as having their father's views on monarchy. He did have a third son, Henry, who was still only an infant and thus much more malleable, but few wanted another child on the British throne; memories of the disasters that had accompanied the regencies of David and John II encouraged them to find someone who had already grown. Other possibilites were there, most notably Statdholder William II of the Netherlands, who was married to Charles' daughter Mary. Parliament was still a little nervous at the thought of inviting another Borcalan over, even one married to a Calvinist.
In any case, before they could make a decision, the civil war flared up again. As it turned out, the young Charles and James had fled across the channel to Flanders, where, despite being only twelve years old, he had already begun organising the Catholic majority in Brabant and Luxemburg into a potential power base, with French aid coming in from across the southern border. Prince Charles' choice of Catholics for support was not a politically expedient one, but at this point he was desperate. If the rich region of Flanders could be taken and held, however, he would have a good place from which to lead another invasion of England, much as Edward IV had in 1470.
Charles Borcalan, Prince of Wales, by William Dobson (1642)
Ferdinand and Thomas Fairfax were ordered by Parliament to remain in England to command any defence force that would be necessary; the choice of the man to command the army sent to Flanders was a simple one. In August of 1643, Oliver Cromwell embarked from London to organise and command the Flemish army. Charles' army, under the command of William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, had already marched north out of Luxemburg, and in October of 1643 he had captured Brussels and prepared for an attack on Gent and Brugge. Cromwell had the advantage of numbers, but his boldness brought him well into the more Catholic areas of the region. Dealing with various problems, he only got his army across the Schelde at Dendermonde on 5 October. Cavendish, who had excellent intelligence due to Catholics in the region, drew Cromwell to a wooded area between that crossing and Brussels near the village of Buggenhout, hoping to neutralise Cromwell's cavalry.
Cromwell, however, was far from taken in by the maneuver. Wishing to end the campaign as quickly as possible, he drew Cavendish's army towards the woodland, but with the speed of his better-trained army he made sure to be through it before the battle was joined. On 6 October the battle was joined, ostensibly between Cavendish and a moderately-sized forward detachment under Cromwell's command. Seeing an opportunity to take out the "regicide" Cromwell, Cavendish rushed his army into the subtle valley in between two wings of the wood. It seemed as if he outumbered Cromwell as he was just beginning to arrive there, and, screening his flanks with a few men in case of a trap, he set his men to take Cromwell's opening cavalry charge.
Said charge did not get very far, and as Cromwell, slowed by the close quarters, moved to pull back and charge again, Cavendish threw the screens on his flanks into the fray, succeding in himself outflanking Cromwell's right. As soon as he did so, however, thousands of Cromwell's light infantry appeared, coming down from the wooded ridge to Cavendish's right. With the Parliamentary forces on three sides, Cavendish fought on to the end. Few of the Imperial army escaped, with Cavendish himself captured and brought back to London to join the ranks of the beheaded.
The Battle of Buggenhout Wood. Each line is c. 1000 men.
Cromwell himself spent the winter reducing what few Imperial strongholds were left and building up fortifications where Parliamentary support was strongest. Though Charles and James fled to France before Cromwell could reach them, they no longer had any army or support, the French king not wishing to risk another war against Britain. What Cromwell had done was enough to earn him great fame back in Britain, and he returned a hero for both leading the charge that killed Charles, and ending the last Borcalan threat to the new government. Though some were afraid of Cromwell using his fame to overthrow the government militarily - and his army was ordered to remain in Flanders for just this reason - when the Self-Denying Ordinance was passed in 1645 to reform the military, Cromwell was allowed to remain as both a military commander and a Member of Parliament.
1645 had been a particularly good year both for the harvest and for trade, leading many in Britain to believe that divine favour was being bestowed upon the nation for their success in being rid of the Borcalan dynasty. For the next several years, despite minor Catholic revolts in Luxemburg and America, Great Britain was stable and recovering very well from the civil war it had gone through. However, the debate on who would take the vacant throne led to an event that would cause a vast shift in the Parliamentary regime.
Man, that dynasty is really out of favour in England.
Also, King Long Parliament has some amusing stats.
Also, King Long Parliament has some amusing stats.
Boo indeed! Still, if I recall my British history correctly, we should see the tyrannical regime of the Bible thumpers collapse in a decade, to be followed by an era of debauchery and excess. Here's to a Borcalan restoration in the near future.
Still, if I recall my British history correctly, we should see the tyrannical regime of the Bible thumpers collapse in a decade, to be followed by an era of debauchery and excess. Here's to a Borcalan restoration in the near future.
RGB: Very out of favour. Messing around with liberties can do that to you sometimes.
And killing your king doesn't exactly ingratiate one with the rest of the European monarchies, thus the low diplomacy rating. Don't worry, it gets better.
canonized: Now I'm going to feel sorry showing you the rest of what happens with him...
Morsky: You recall your real-life British history correctly. No guarantees for this history.
Update when it's ready. Most likely on the weekend... have to re-obtain a couple of the sources I was using.
And killing your king doesn't exactly ingratiate one with the rest of the European monarchies, thus the low diplomacy rating. Don't worry, it gets better.
canonized: Now I'm going to feel sorry showing you the rest of what happens with him...
Morsky: You recall your real-life British history correctly. No guarantees for this history.
Update when it's ready. Most likely on the weekend... have to re-obtain a couple of the sources I was using.
Well hurrah! Surely the signs of economic strength and of course, Parliament's own victory herald divine favour, or if not that, then a strong nation, free in mind and body!
[English Patriot: Indeed! Or at least that's how most in England look at it, and they expect that one of the Elect will soon fit his way onto the throne.]
By 1648, with the unrest in Catholic areas finally winding down thanks to Cromwell's efforts in Flanders, Parliament turned to the question of who should take up the Imperial title. Agreement was difficult to come by; many supported reasonable, Protestant candidates such as Willem II of the Netherlands and Prince Charles of Breslau (brother of King Wladislaw II of Poland); a few considered even the non-Protestant but non-Catholic Ivan Dolgorukov, cousin of Empress Evdokiya of Russia. Some few - mostly radical Levellers - felt that the recent period of full Parliamentary rule had gone well, lacking the threat of the monarch attempting to assert excessive power. The fragile balance was ripe for one man to assert himself.
That man was Colonel Thomas Pride. Little is known about Pride's early life, but he had certainly learned the soldier's trade well, as during both the main campaign against Emperor Charles in the north, and in Cromwell's campaign in Flanders, he had gone up through the ranks to the point of commanding a regiment of infantry. With the implicit support of the younger Lord Fairfax (the elder had died earlier that year), he led his regiment, along with that of a zealous Nonconformist named Nathaniel Rich, to the door of the House of Commons on 6 December 1648. Along with Lord Thomas Grey, he identified those Members of Parliament who, it was decided, would work contrary to the goals of the army. By the end of the process, 45 had been imprisoned, another 186 removed, and 154 - only around a third of the Commons' nominal number (the others were already absent or chose to leave themselves) - seated in what would become known as the "Rump Parliament".
Pride's Purge, by an anonymous engraver (1652)
This new Parliament, more amenable to the army's will due either to previous support or to being cowed by the intervention of the military, went into continued discussions of the monarchy with a radically different voice. Soon after, they passed the Act of Succession, which put into full and definite legal force several provisions which had led to the downfall of previous monarchs, and others as well, to limit potential abuse from the monarchy. Any future monarch would have to become "in communion with the Church of England" and could never, under any circumstances, be (or marry) a Catholic. Any non-native Emperor would have to reside in Britain and remain there unless consent were gained from Parliament, and would also require Parliamentary approval to wage war on behalf of non-British holdings. It also prevented foreigners from taking important positions in the government and army, prevented those who had Imperial offices from being members of Parliament, and barred the Emperor from reversing an impeachment by the House of Commons. Aside from discouraging Willem II (due to the provisions involving foreign rulers) and Ivan Dolgorukov (as he would not accept the requirement to join the Anglican communion), however, the act failed to settle the matter.
Worse, the stripped-down Parliament had trouble keeping Britain properly in working order. Corruption increased dramatically during the Rump Parliament's tenure, and stirrings of Royalist agitation reappeared from across the Channel. In 1651, Thomas Hobbes, a devoted Royalist who had fled to Paris long before and had been working as a tutor to the young Prince Charles, published a treatise, titled Leviathan, which argued that the natural state of man is chaos and violence, only tempered by proper and incontestable civil authority. Furthermore, he stated that monarchy was by far the best possible form, and that any attempt to remove a monarchy once established or to move it to another man would result in a reversion to that natural state. (an implicit argument that exactly that was occuring back in Britain).
The young Parliament did pass an Act of Navigation promoting stronger trade and political bonds with the Netherlands, striking down protectionist currents, and also allowed greater freedom to the Nonconformist denominations within Britain. These were apparently not enough for the leadership of the army, however, and when Parliament failed to act when the French began infringing on British claims in America, Cromwell, with the support of the army, ordered the Parliament dissolved on 17 July 1652. After a short debate by the officers on the nature of what the new Parliament should be, Major-General John Lambert's model of a new election with a constitutionally-defined Parliament was agreed upon. In the meantime, the council of officers ruled, and they sent orders to the leadership of the American colonies to send soldiers south to, officially, organise the tribal lands of Carolina (as Britain claimed the land) in the face of French expansion. The threat of war against France hanged over the elections in late 1652.
Fortunately, the elections went smoothly, although the carefully-performed meddling of the army did ensure that acceptable, pious candidates were chosen. Across the channel, Royalists mocked the new assembly as the "Barebone's Parliament" after one member, a lower-class preacher and leathermonger. Even in Britain, the new parliament was not widely popular, and many began complaining of a growing military dictatorship. Tne parliament did last long enough, howver, to pass Lambert's proposal of a constitution. The new Instrument of Government, put into place on 21 April 1653, required elections for Parliament to occur regularly every three years, and that each Parliament should sit for at least five months within the time alotted. The constituencies were also altered in the favour of the middle class instead of the gentry, but in opposition to Leveller petitions it retained property qualifications for Parliamentary elections. In temporary place of the monarchy, the Instrument established the office of Lord Protector, to be given to Oliver Cromwell, as the head of the British state; he was to be assisted by a council of 13 to 21 members.
John Lambert, author of the Instrument
Cromwell took quickly to his new position, and Britain took quickly to its new leader. The Protectorate, as the new regime would become called, was finally popular over the Rump and Barebone's Parliaments, as Lambert's constituion (with its emphasis on Parliamentary approval of all laws and taxes) was seen to properly protect "British freehood" against any tyranny by a single man. Cromwell's powers were quite limited, though enough to properly lead the British military in war if necessity called for it. He used said powers well in the first two years of his Protectorate to limit French encroachment in America, and to defeat native resistance to the new British settlements established to create a barrier to said advances.
The Protectorate, though much more popular than the previous two Parliaments, was certainly not universally accepted, and Cromwell had his very vocal detractors. Levellers continued to decry the continued property qualifications for Parliamentary elections; however, their power had seeped away during the turmoil surrounding the dissolution of the Rump Parliament, at which time several leaders of the movement were temporarily imprisoned. Radicals among the movement, known as Diggers, began going even further, demanding equality of property; their attemts to establish agricultural communes were quickly broken up by nearby landowners and the army. Still, despite being identifiable as communist by modern terms, they did not use violence and thus did not take part in any rebellions.
A third opposition group, the royalists, were not so peaceful; although within Britain itself they did not have any more power, southern Flanders continued to flare up in this period, and Cromwell led the army to the region in 1655 to deal with the matter. The result was a brutal campaign throughout the entire region of Flanders, involving massacres in the Royalist strongholds of Charleroi (named, of course, for Emperor Charles; the town was restored to its old name of Charnoy after the sack) and Tournai. Anyone who let slip a sign of Papism, or even spoke the enemy language of French (which were many in Flanders and Hainaut), was considered suspsect. Cromwell did not personally order any of the more violent assaults, but he also did not stop them, and stated his opinion that the actions were justified to protect the Protestants of Flanders.
A fourth group was a radical, millenialist Puritan movement known as the Fifth Monarchy Men. Believing that, after four previous "pagan empires" (the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans), a fifth empire would be established by the second coming of Christ, the Fifth Monarchists wished to turn Britain into a theocracy in order to pave the way for that event (which many felt would occur in 1666). Disappointed at Cromwell's support for the Institutes over their own wish for a nominated "Sanhedrin" of pious believers, they sought to be rid of the new order. During the later part of the Protectorate, and soon after its end, plots were discovered to overthrow the government by force.
On top of this undercurrent of discontent, however, political matters soon returned to more mundane levels, leaving Britain again in a state of reasonable contentment. Cromwell led the establishment of a new college at Oxford on the site of the then-lapsed Gloucester College in 1656, the result is what is now Worcester College (after a benefactor to the project, Sir William Cookes, a member of the Worcestershire gentry). Trade from the American colonies also flourished during this period, transforming a central port city, Philadelphia, into a bustling centre of colonial trade; the new colony of Pennsylvania (after the man to whom it was granted, Admiral William Penn, likely to keep him away from Britain as his loyalty was suspect) was created as the region became more prosperous.
Admiral William Penn, by Sir Peter Lely (1666)
In move by many expected but for some surprising, several members of Parliament, in April of 1657, approached Cromwell to determine his opinion on an important matter: Parliament, the decade-long debate about the royal succession finally completed, wished to bestow the title of Emperor upon Cromwell. The two main military commanders in Cromwell's confidence, Lambert and Major-General Charles Fleetwood, knew precisely what this matter was, and, in the famous confrontation of the night of 12 April 1657, requested that Cromwell deny the offer. Cromwell knew that he had the support, and, importantly, the will, to take the crown, and turned away the generals' request. Enough of the army supported Cromwell, and the rest did not wish a civil war for what was not seen as a large enough matter; after all, the goal of the Protectorate was to sit in place of the eventual return of the monarchy. Thus, on 25 May 1657, Parliament passed the Humble Petition and Advice, amending the Instrument to make Cromwell Emperor Oliver of Great Britain.
By 1648, with the unrest in Catholic areas finally winding down thanks to Cromwell's efforts in Flanders, Parliament turned to the question of who should take up the Imperial title. Agreement was difficult to come by; many supported reasonable, Protestant candidates such as Willem II of the Netherlands and Prince Charles of Breslau (brother of King Wladislaw II of Poland); a few considered even the non-Protestant but non-Catholic Ivan Dolgorukov, cousin of Empress Evdokiya of Russia. Some few - mostly radical Levellers - felt that the recent period of full Parliamentary rule had gone well, lacking the threat of the monarch attempting to assert excessive power. The fragile balance was ripe for one man to assert himself.
That man was Colonel Thomas Pride. Little is known about Pride's early life, but he had certainly learned the soldier's trade well, as during both the main campaign against Emperor Charles in the north, and in Cromwell's campaign in Flanders, he had gone up through the ranks to the point of commanding a regiment of infantry. With the implicit support of the younger Lord Fairfax (the elder had died earlier that year), he led his regiment, along with that of a zealous Nonconformist named Nathaniel Rich, to the door of the House of Commons on 6 December 1648. Along with Lord Thomas Grey, he identified those Members of Parliament who, it was decided, would work contrary to the goals of the army. By the end of the process, 45 had been imprisoned, another 186 removed, and 154 - only around a third of the Commons' nominal number (the others were already absent or chose to leave themselves) - seated in what would become known as the "Rump Parliament".
Pride's Purge, by an anonymous engraver (1652)
This new Parliament, more amenable to the army's will due either to previous support or to being cowed by the intervention of the military, went into continued discussions of the monarchy with a radically different voice. Soon after, they passed the Act of Succession, which put into full and definite legal force several provisions which had led to the downfall of previous monarchs, and others as well, to limit potential abuse from the monarchy. Any future monarch would have to become "in communion with the Church of England" and could never, under any circumstances, be (or marry) a Catholic. Any non-native Emperor would have to reside in Britain and remain there unless consent were gained from Parliament, and would also require Parliamentary approval to wage war on behalf of non-British holdings. It also prevented foreigners from taking important positions in the government and army, prevented those who had Imperial offices from being members of Parliament, and barred the Emperor from reversing an impeachment by the House of Commons. Aside from discouraging Willem II (due to the provisions involving foreign rulers) and Ivan Dolgorukov (as he would not accept the requirement to join the Anglican communion), however, the act failed to settle the matter.
Worse, the stripped-down Parliament had trouble keeping Britain properly in working order. Corruption increased dramatically during the Rump Parliament's tenure, and stirrings of Royalist agitation reappeared from across the Channel. In 1651, Thomas Hobbes, a devoted Royalist who had fled to Paris long before and had been working as a tutor to the young Prince Charles, published a treatise, titled Leviathan, which argued that the natural state of man is chaos and violence, only tempered by proper and incontestable civil authority. Furthermore, he stated that monarchy was by far the best possible form, and that any attempt to remove a monarchy once established or to move it to another man would result in a reversion to that natural state. (an implicit argument that exactly that was occuring back in Britain).
The young Parliament did pass an Act of Navigation promoting stronger trade and political bonds with the Netherlands, striking down protectionist currents, and also allowed greater freedom to the Nonconformist denominations within Britain. These were apparently not enough for the leadership of the army, however, and when Parliament failed to act when the French began infringing on British claims in America, Cromwell, with the support of the army, ordered the Parliament dissolved on 17 July 1652. After a short debate by the officers on the nature of what the new Parliament should be, Major-General John Lambert's model of a new election with a constitutionally-defined Parliament was agreed upon. In the meantime, the council of officers ruled, and they sent orders to the leadership of the American colonies to send soldiers south to, officially, organise the tribal lands of Carolina (as Britain claimed the land) in the face of French expansion. The threat of war against France hanged over the elections in late 1652.
Fortunately, the elections went smoothly, although the carefully-performed meddling of the army did ensure that acceptable, pious candidates were chosen. Across the channel, Royalists mocked the new assembly as the "Barebone's Parliament" after one member, a lower-class preacher and leathermonger. Even in Britain, the new parliament was not widely popular, and many began complaining of a growing military dictatorship. Tne parliament did last long enough, howver, to pass Lambert's proposal of a constitution. The new Instrument of Government, put into place on 21 April 1653, required elections for Parliament to occur regularly every three years, and that each Parliament should sit for at least five months within the time alotted. The constituencies were also altered in the favour of the middle class instead of the gentry, but in opposition to Leveller petitions it retained property qualifications for Parliamentary elections. In temporary place of the monarchy, the Instrument established the office of Lord Protector, to be given to Oliver Cromwell, as the head of the British state; he was to be assisted by a council of 13 to 21 members.
John Lambert, author of the Instrument
Cromwell took quickly to his new position, and Britain took quickly to its new leader. The Protectorate, as the new regime would become called, was finally popular over the Rump and Barebone's Parliaments, as Lambert's constituion (with its emphasis on Parliamentary approval of all laws and taxes) was seen to properly protect "British freehood" against any tyranny by a single man. Cromwell's powers were quite limited, though enough to properly lead the British military in war if necessity called for it. He used said powers well in the first two years of his Protectorate to limit French encroachment in America, and to defeat native resistance to the new British settlements established to create a barrier to said advances.
The Protectorate, though much more popular than the previous two Parliaments, was certainly not universally accepted, and Cromwell had his very vocal detractors. Levellers continued to decry the continued property qualifications for Parliamentary elections; however, their power had seeped away during the turmoil surrounding the dissolution of the Rump Parliament, at which time several leaders of the movement were temporarily imprisoned. Radicals among the movement, known as Diggers, began going even further, demanding equality of property; their attemts to establish agricultural communes were quickly broken up by nearby landowners and the army. Still, despite being identifiable as communist by modern terms, they did not use violence and thus did not take part in any rebellions.
A third opposition group, the royalists, were not so peaceful; although within Britain itself they did not have any more power, southern Flanders continued to flare up in this period, and Cromwell led the army to the region in 1655 to deal with the matter. The result was a brutal campaign throughout the entire region of Flanders, involving massacres in the Royalist strongholds of Charleroi (named, of course, for Emperor Charles; the town was restored to its old name of Charnoy after the sack) and Tournai. Anyone who let slip a sign of Papism, or even spoke the enemy language of French (which were many in Flanders and Hainaut), was considered suspsect. Cromwell did not personally order any of the more violent assaults, but he also did not stop them, and stated his opinion that the actions were justified to protect the Protestants of Flanders.
A fourth group was a radical, millenialist Puritan movement known as the Fifth Monarchy Men. Believing that, after four previous "pagan empires" (the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans), a fifth empire would be established by the second coming of Christ, the Fifth Monarchists wished to turn Britain into a theocracy in order to pave the way for that event (which many felt would occur in 1666). Disappointed at Cromwell's support for the Institutes over their own wish for a nominated "Sanhedrin" of pious believers, they sought to be rid of the new order. During the later part of the Protectorate, and soon after its end, plots were discovered to overthrow the government by force.
On top of this undercurrent of discontent, however, political matters soon returned to more mundane levels, leaving Britain again in a state of reasonable contentment. Cromwell led the establishment of a new college at Oxford on the site of the then-lapsed Gloucester College in 1656, the result is what is now Worcester College (after a benefactor to the project, Sir William Cookes, a member of the Worcestershire gentry). Trade from the American colonies also flourished during this period, transforming a central port city, Philadelphia, into a bustling centre of colonial trade; the new colony of Pennsylvania (after the man to whom it was granted, Admiral William Penn, likely to keep him away from Britain as his loyalty was suspect) was created as the region became more prosperous.
Admiral William Penn, by Sir Peter Lely (1666)
In move by many expected but for some surprising, several members of Parliament, in April of 1657, approached Cromwell to determine his opinion on an important matter: Parliament, the decade-long debate about the royal succession finally completed, wished to bestow the title of Emperor upon Cromwell. The two main military commanders in Cromwell's confidence, Lambert and Major-General Charles Fleetwood, knew precisely what this matter was, and, in the famous confrontation of the night of 12 April 1657, requested that Cromwell deny the offer. Cromwell knew that he had the support, and, importantly, the will, to take the crown, and turned away the generals' request. Enough of the army supported Cromwell, and the rest did not wish a civil war for what was not seen as a large enough matter; after all, the goal of the Protectorate was to sit in place of the eventual return of the monarchy. Thus, on 25 May 1657, Parliament passed the Humble Petition and Advice, amending the Instrument to make Cromwell Emperor Oliver of Great Britain.
EMPEROR OLIVER ?!
MY EYES ! MY EYES , JM !
But still I couldn't stop reading . Your historical prose is so well calculated , it's chilling ! It's so great to have you back
MY EYES ! MY EYES , JM !
But still I couldn't stop reading . Your historical prose is so well calculated , it's chilling ! It's so great to have you back
I hope that the English nation will remain loyal to its traditions.
And they will behade his new "emperor".
And remember, if the first try doesn't work properly, just try again.
And they will behade his new "emperor".
And remember, if the first try doesn't work properly, just try again.
[Papists, Levellers, and Fifth Monarchists, the lot of you. Be fortunate I am more forgiving than Oliver would be with opposition to his rule.
canonized: You read it right! He was, after all, fairly close to accepting the title of king in our timeline, here the little bump he needed happened to show up.
Morsky: I suppose you're not the only one saying that!
Kurt: Of course they're remaining loyal to their traditions, that's why they've picked a new Emperor rather than maintaining a republic. And I'm not sure you can re-do beheading, he only has one head... unless you're recommending... but not that, we don't need Oliver singing soprano. ]
During the period of Parliamentary rule, a Royalist living in exile in Paris, Thomas Hobbes, published a treatise giving his opinion on the proper relationship between a government and its subjects. Titled Leviathan, it subtly attacked the Parliamentary rebellion against Emperor Charles, and justified abuses of power as a necessary evil when the alternative was, by his account, a chaotic "every man for himself" situation which only resulted in poverty, violence, and death.
Hobbes' title was taken from the Bible, the name of a sea monster; the name has come to mean anything of particuar size, thus, in Hobbes' account, it could be used as the name for the great power that a proper government should have (Hobbes used the name of another powerful Biblical creature, Behemoth, for his history of the British Civil War).
[The first part is a description of Hobbes' philosophy on the nature of mankind. This excerpt is from Chapter XIII:]
Swa þat in þe liceness of man, we find þree forþset andworcs of striþ: First, competition; oþer, unboldness; þrid, are.
Þe first maceþ man insuoge for gain; þe oþer, for fastening; and þe þrid, for name. Þe first use þrac for to make þemselves lords of oþer menn's hood, wives, cildren, and cattle; þe oþer, to ward þem; þe þrid, for little, as a' word, a' smirc, ane unyelice wen, and anlic oþer tocen of underworþ, ahweþer riht in þeir hood or by reflecting in þeir kindred, þeir friends, þeir land, þeir ceging, oþer þeir name.
Hereby is it bare, þat yond þe tide menn life wiþ out a mean doom for to ceep þem all in awe, þey sind in þat yesceft þe hwilc is named war; and swilc a' war as is of elc man andgain elc man. For war standeþ ney in wige, oþer in þe deed of fihting, but in a' tidemarc, hwerein þe will to cide by wige is fullheldly cenned: and þerefor þe þouht of tide is to be aminded in þe liceness of war, as it is in þe liceness of weaþer. For as þe liceness of foul weaþer lieþ ney in a' scour oþer twain of rain, but in a' crumbing þereto of meny deys togaþer: swa þe liceness of war lieþ ney in riht fihting, but in the cenned diht þereto yond all þe tide hwen þat þere is ney foreward ofer. All oþer tides sind friþ.
Hwatsoefer þerefor is forþ to a' tide of war, hwere þat elc man is fiend to elc man, þe self forþ to þe tide hwerin menn life wiþout oþer stillness þan hwat þeir awn strengþ and þeir awn yescedness scall reed þem wiþal. In swilc liceness þere is no stead for worcfulness forþen þe westem þerof is unsior; and swa ney tilþ of þe earþ; ney scipyefare, ney bric of þe wares þat mey be brouht in by sea; ney softlic building; ney looms of niming abearing swilc þinges as need great main; ney cenning of þe anseen of þe earþ; ney ceeping of tide; ney crafts; ney lettres; ney yesiþship; and þe hwilc is worst of all, endless fear, and pliht of grimful deaþ; and þe life of man, anly, arm, nasty, deerisc, and scort.
[Hobbes explains how this situation can be avoided, which is an inviolate social contract wherein certain people are given authority over everyone else. In his theory there are only three types of government: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, all others being variants of these three. His view is that the first, monarchy, is the best of the three, giving this reason, among others, in chapter XIX:]
Þe tobearness between þese þree cinds of Commonwealþ standeþ, ney in the tobearness of miht, but in the tobearness of neatness oþer deftness to bring forþ þe friþ and siorness of þe folc; for þe hwlic end þey were inset. And to set ongain anewield wiþ þe oþer twain, we mey behold: first, þat hwasoefer beareþ þe persona of þe folc, or is ane of þat meþel þat beareþ it, beareþ allswa his awn cindly persona. And þough he be careful in his politisc persona to yebuy þe folcisc sele, yet he is mar, oþer ney less, careful to yebuy þe onsundry good of himself, his familie, cindred and friends; and for þe most deal, if þe folcisc sele happen to oferfare þe onsundry, he forebeareþ þe onsundry; for þe wameets of menn are oft stronger þan þeir rede. Fram hwence it followeþ, þat hwere þe folcisc and þe onsundry sele are most nihly ferlaid, þere is þe folc most furþered. Now in anewield þe onsundry sele is þe same wiþ þe folcisc. Þe ede, miht, and are of ane anewielder arise anely fram þe ede, miht, and name of his þied. For ney cing can be wealþy, ney doomly, ney sior, hwase þied sind eiþer arm, oþer forhowendly, oþer too weac þrouh want, oþer unyerede, to hold a war andgain þeir fiends; hwereas in a folcwield, oþer eþelwield, þe folcisc eadweal evenliceþ ney so micel to þe onsundry weal of ane hwa is corrupt, oþer yearnly, as doþ many tides a' perfidous rede, ane ortrue deed, oþer infihting.
canonized: You read it right! He was, after all, fairly close to accepting the title of king in our timeline, here the little bump he needed happened to show up.
Morsky: I suppose you're not the only one saying that!
Kurt: Of course they're remaining loyal to their traditions, that's why they've picked a new Emperor rather than maintaining a republic. And I'm not sure you can re-do beheading, he only has one head... unless you're recommending... but not that, we don't need Oliver singing soprano.
]Sources of the English Language, no. 9
Leviathan, oþer þe Andworc, Scape and Miht of a Common Wealþ Circly and Worldly
by Thomas Hobbes
Leviathan, oþer þe Andworc, Scape and Miht of a Common Wealþ Circly and Worldly
by Thomas Hobbes
During the period of Parliamentary rule, a Royalist living in exile in Paris, Thomas Hobbes, published a treatise giving his opinion on the proper relationship between a government and its subjects. Titled Leviathan, it subtly attacked the Parliamentary rebellion against Emperor Charles, and justified abuses of power as a necessary evil when the alternative was, by his account, a chaotic "every man for himself" situation which only resulted in poverty, violence, and death.
Hobbes' title was taken from the Bible, the name of a sea monster; the name has come to mean anything of particuar size, thus, in Hobbes' account, it could be used as the name for the great power that a proper government should have (Hobbes used the name of another powerful Biblical creature, Behemoth, for his history of the British Civil War).
[The first part is a description of Hobbes' philosophy on the nature of mankind. This excerpt is from Chapter XIII:]
Swa þat in þe liceness of man, we find þree forþset andworcs of striþ: First, competition; oþer, unboldness; þrid, are.
Þe first maceþ man insuoge for gain; þe oþer, for fastening; and þe þrid, for name. Þe first use þrac for to make þemselves lords of oþer menn's hood, wives, cildren, and cattle; þe oþer, to ward þem; þe þrid, for little, as a' word, a' smirc, ane unyelice wen, and anlic oþer tocen of underworþ, ahweþer riht in þeir hood or by reflecting in þeir kindred, þeir friends, þeir land, þeir ceging, oþer þeir name.
Hereby is it bare, þat yond þe tide menn life wiþ out a mean doom for to ceep þem all in awe, þey sind in þat yesceft þe hwilc is named war; and swilc a' war as is of elc man andgain elc man. For war standeþ ney in wige, oþer in þe deed of fihting, but in a' tidemarc, hwerein þe will to cide by wige is fullheldly cenned: and þerefor þe þouht of tide is to be aminded in þe liceness of war, as it is in þe liceness of weaþer. For as þe liceness of foul weaþer lieþ ney in a' scour oþer twain of rain, but in a' crumbing þereto of meny deys togaþer: swa þe liceness of war lieþ ney in riht fihting, but in the cenned diht þereto yond all þe tide hwen þat þere is ney foreward ofer. All oþer tides sind friþ.
Hwatsoefer þerefor is forþ to a' tide of war, hwere þat elc man is fiend to elc man, þe self forþ to þe tide hwerin menn life wiþout oþer stillness þan hwat þeir awn strengþ and þeir awn yescedness scall reed þem wiþal. In swilc liceness þere is no stead for worcfulness forþen þe westem þerof is unsior; and swa ney tilþ of þe earþ; ney scipyefare, ney bric of þe wares þat mey be brouht in by sea; ney softlic building; ney looms of niming abearing swilc þinges as need great main; ney cenning of þe anseen of þe earþ; ney ceeping of tide; ney crafts; ney lettres; ney yesiþship; and þe hwilc is worst of all, endless fear, and pliht of grimful deaþ; and þe life of man, anly, arm, nasty, deerisc, and scort.
[Hobbes explains how this situation can be avoided, which is an inviolate social contract wherein certain people are given authority over everyone else. In his theory there are only three types of government: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, all others being variants of these three. His view is that the first, monarchy, is the best of the three, giving this reason, among others, in chapter XIX:]
Þe tobearness between þese þree cinds of Commonwealþ standeþ, ney in the tobearness of miht, but in the tobearness of neatness oþer deftness to bring forþ þe friþ and siorness of þe folc; for þe hwlic end þey were inset. And to set ongain anewield wiþ þe oþer twain, we mey behold: first, þat hwasoefer beareþ þe persona of þe folc, or is ane of þat meþel þat beareþ it, beareþ allswa his awn cindly persona. And þough he be careful in his politisc persona to yebuy þe folcisc sele, yet he is mar, oþer ney less, careful to yebuy þe onsundry good of himself, his familie, cindred and friends; and for þe most deal, if þe folcisc sele happen to oferfare þe onsundry, he forebeareþ þe onsundry; for þe wameets of menn are oft stronger þan þeir rede. Fram hwence it followeþ, þat hwere þe folcisc and þe onsundry sele are most nihly ferlaid, þere is þe folc most furþered. Now in anewield þe onsundry sele is þe same wiþ þe folcisc. Þe ede, miht, and are of ane anewielder arise anely fram þe ede, miht, and name of his þied. For ney cing can be wealþy, ney doomly, ney sior, hwase þied sind eiþer arm, oþer forhowendly, oþer too weac þrouh want, oþer unyerede, to hold a war andgain þeir fiends; hwereas in a folcwield, oþer eþelwield, þe folcisc eadweal evenliceþ ney so micel to þe onsundry weal of ane hwa is corrupt, oþer yearnly, as doþ many tides a' perfidous rede, ane ortrue deed, oþer infihting.
I love Hobbes and I really like the way you describe the development of Britain under the Cromwellian rule.
Neat. These little updates on the evolution of Anglo-Saxon are a significant part of the AAR's charm. Now that absolute monarchy has such an eloquent philosophical defence, all is set for a grand Restoration! I doubt Cromwell's ineffectual son will manage to keep the imperial crown for long. Also, beheading is too good for the wretched usurper - hang, draw and quarter the knave, and gibbet his corpse as a warning to others!
These little updates on the evolution of Anglo-Saxon are a significant part of the AAR's charm. Now that absolute monarchy has such an eloquent philosophical defence, all is set for a grand Restoration! I doubt Cromwell's ineffectual son will manage to keep the imperial crown for long. Also, beheading is too good for the wretched usurper - hang, draw and quarter the knave, and gibbet his corpse as a warning to others!
Emperor Cromwell!
I want to know more about Admiral Penn, actually.
I really am impressed every time you roll out the alt-hist English.
I want to know more about Admiral Penn, actually.
I really am impressed every time you roll out the alt-hist English.