Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:16:03.148Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Epilogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2022

Markku Peltonen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Get access

Summary

The English free state ended in failure in the spring of 1653 when Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Rump parliament, which was soon replaced by the unelected Nominated Assembly. In December 1653, this Assembly abdicated its authority to Cromwell, who became the Lord Protector under the Instrument of Government, England’s first written constitution. This failure has led historians to write the free state off as a terrible mistake, which almost no one outside the small coterie of its leaders genuinely wanted or actively supported. Throughout this book, I have questioned this standard interpretation and tried to show that numerous people eagerly came forth in the defence of the free state and that its political thought was far more important than has hitherto been assumed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Epilogue
  • Markku Peltonen, University of Helsinki
  • Book: The Political Thought of the English Free State, 1649–1653
  • Online publication: 13 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009212090.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Epilogue
  • Markku Peltonen, University of Helsinki
  • Book: The Political Thought of the English Free State, 1649–1653
  • Online publication: 13 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009212090.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue
  • Markku Peltonen, University of Helsinki
  • Book: The Political Thought of the English Free State, 1649–1653
  • Online publication: 13 October 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009212090.007
Available formats
×