Editing List of English monarchs (section)

==First Interregnum (1649–1660)==
{{Main|Commonwealth of England|Interregnum (1649–1660)}}
No monarch reigned after the 1649 [[execution of Charles I]]. Between 1649 and 1653, there was no single English [[head of state]], as England was ruled directly by the [[Rump Parliament]] with the [[English Council of State]] acting as executive power during a period known as the [[Commonwealth of England]].

After a [[coup d'etat]] in 1653, [[Oliver Cromwell]] forcibly took control of England from Parliament. He dissolved the Rump Parliament at the head of a military force and England entered [[The Protectorate]] period, under Cromwell's direct control with the title [[Lord Protector]].

It was within the power of the Lord Protector to choose his heir and Oliver Cromwell chose his eldest son, Richard Cromwell, to succeed him.

{{Nobility table header|arms=yes}}
|-
| '''[[Oliver Cromwell]]'''<br/>16 December 1653<br/>–<br/>3 September 1658<ref name="BritishCivilWarsOliverCromwell">{{Cite web |title=Oliver Cromwell 1599–1658 |url=http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/oliver-cromwell.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210842/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/oliver-cromwell.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007 |website=british-civil-wars.co.uk}}</ref><br/>''({{Age in years and days|16 December 1653|3 September 1658|duration=yes}})''
| [[File:Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper.jpg|100px|Oliver Cromwell]]
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Arms of the Protectorate (1653–1659).svg|75px<!--Arms-->]]
| 25 April 1599<br/>[[Huntingdon]]<ref name=BritishCivilWarsOliverCromwell/><hr/>Son of [[Robert Cromwell]]<br/>and [[Elizabeth Steward]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oliver Cromwell – Faq 1 |url=http://www.olivercromwell.org/faqs1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618072613/http://www.olivercromwell.org/faqs1.htm |archive-date=18 June 2010 |access-date=25 October 2007 |website=olivercromwell.org}}</ref>
| [[Elizabeth Cromwell|Elizabeth Bourchier]]<br/>[[St Giles-without-Cripplegate|St Giles]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of St Giles' without Cripplegate |url=http://www.stgilescripplegate.org.uk/frhistory.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929223348/http://www.stgilescripplegate.org.uk/frhistory.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=29 September 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007 |website=stgilescripplegate.org.uk}}</ref><br/>22 August 1620<br/>9 children<ref name=BritishCivilWarsOliverCromwell/>
| 3 September 1658<br/>[[Whitehall]]<br/>Aged 59<ref name=BritishCivilWarsOliverCromwell/>

|-
| '''[[Richard Cromwell]]'''<br/>3 September 1658<br/>–<br/>7 May 1659<ref name="BritishCivilWarsRichardCromwell">{{Cite web |title=Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector, 1626–1712 |url=http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/richard-cromwell.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012050727/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/richard-cromwell.htm |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007 |website=british-civil-wars.co.uk}}</ref><br/>''({{Age in years and days|3 September 1658|7 May 1659|duration=yes}})''
| [[File:Richard Cromwell (1626-1712), by Gerard Soest.jpg|100px|Richard Cromwell, {{circa|1650}}]]
| 4 October 1626<br/>Huntingdon<hr/>Son of [[Oliver Cromwell]]<br/>and [[Elizabeth Cromwell|Elizabeth Bourchier]]<ref name=BritishCivilWarsRichardCromwell/>
| [[Dorothy Maijor]]<br/>May 1649<br/>9 children<ref name=BritishCivilWarsRichardCromwell/>
| 12 July 1712<br/>[[Cheshunt]]<br/>Aged 85<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cromwell, Richard |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/england/commonwealth/cromwell2.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016193800/http://www.archontology.org/nations/england/commonwealth/cromwell2.php |archive-date=16 October 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007 |website=archontology.org}}</ref>

|}

Richard Cromwell was forcibly removed by the [[English Committee of Safety]] in May 1659. England again lacked any single head of state. After almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was [[Restoration (England)|formally restored]] when [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] returned from France to accept the throne.