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Religion vs Power, Failure of Interregnum Essays

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Vs"Religion was more important than politics in the failure of the interregnum regimes of 1649-1660" assess the validity of this statement.”

In this essay I will be exploring the argument of whether religion was more important than politics in the failure of the interregnum regimes of 1649-1660 there are various arguments to be addressed.
The first factor that I will address is the political failures that assisted in the failure of the interregnum period. There were multiple political failures that can be provided as reasons for the failure of the interregnum, the first of which was the dissolution of the rump parliament after Cromwell expressed his disgust at their attitude towards bringing in a new parliament, the rump was not …show more content…

Cromwell also believed that the failure of the Western Design to the West Indies was a sign of God's displeasure at England's progress, and that a godly reform of the nation's morals was urgently required. During August and September 1655, Cromwell worked with John Lambert, John Disbrowe and Sir Gilbert Pickering to finalise arrangements for the new system ‘the rule of major generals’. The Major-Generals were formally commissioned on 11 October 1655 and proclaimed on 31 October. The country was divided into 12 regions, each governed by a Major-General who was answerable only to the Lord Protector. While the Major-Generals were successful in law enforcement and in curbing security threats to the Protectorate their attempts at reforming the nation's morals varied from region to region according to the zeal of individual officers, but had no lasting effects. Cromwell himself was aware of the unpopularity of military government and seems to have given tacit support to those who opposed its renewal. The system was abandoned early in 1657 under a new constitution: the Humble Petition and Advice.
These failures all added greatly to the eventual failure of the interregnum however there were religious factors which added to the failure as well; the Penruddock uprising was a royalist uprising which was able to knock the confidence of the protector although it was dealt with quickly and efficiently by Oliver Cromwell it made him

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