Overview
Long Parliament
Quick Reference
(1640–60)
The English Parliament called by Charles I after the Bishops' Wars had bankrupted him. Led by the Parliamentarian John Pym, by August 1641 it had made a series of enactments depriving him of the powers that had aroused so much opposition since his accession. These reforms were intended to rule out absolutism for the future, and were eventually incorporated in the Restoration settlement, and again during the Glorious Revolution. The Parliament was also responsible for the execution of the king's advisers William Laud and Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. Without its Cavalier members, the Long Parliament sat on throughout the English Civil War, since it could be dissolved only with its own consent. Serious divisions emerged between the Presbyterian and Independent members, culminating in Pride's Purge (1648). The remnant, the Rump Parliament, arranged the trial and execution of Charles I, and the establishment of the Commonwealth (1649). Cromwell ejected the Rump by force in 1653, but it was recalled after his son's failure as Lord Protector in 1659. In the next year General Monck secured the reinstatement of those members ‘secluded’ by Pride. Arrangements for the Convention Parliament were made, and the Long Parliament dissolved itself in March 1660.
Subjects: History
