Editing Commonwealth of England (section)

=== Barebone's Parliament, July–December 1653 ===
[[File:Commonwealth Unite 1653 692157.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A gold [[Unite (English coin)|Unite]] from 1653]]

The dissolution of the Rump was followed by a short period in which Cromwell and the Army ruled alone. Nobody had the constitutional authority to call an election, but Cromwell did not want to impose a military dictatorship. Instead, he ruled through a "nominated assembly" which he believed would be easy for the Army to control since Army officers did the nominating.

[[Barebone's Parliament]] was opposed by former Rumpers and ridiculed by many gentries as being an assembly of inferior people. Over 110 of its 140 members were lesser [[landed gentry|gentry]] or of higher social status; an exception was [[Praise-God Barebone]], a Baptist merchant after whom the Assembly got its derogatory nickname. Many were well educated.

The assembly reflected the range of views of the officers who nominated it. The Radicals (approximately 40) included a hard core of [[Fifth Monarchists]] who wanted to be rid of Common Law and any state control of religion. The Moderates (approximately 60) wanted some improvements within the existing system and might move to either the radical or conservative side depending on the issue. The Conservatives (approximately 40) wanted to keep the ''status quo'', since common law protected the interests of the gentry, and tithes and [[advowson]]s were valuable property.

Cromwell saw Barebone's Parliament as a temporary legislative body which he hoped would produce reforms and develop a constitution for the Commonwealth. However, members were divided over key issues, only 25 had previous parliamentary experience, and although many had some legal training, there were no qualified lawyers.

Cromwell seems to have expected this group of amateurs to produce reform without management or direction. When the radicals mustered enough support to defeat a bill which would have preserved the ''status quo'' in religion, the conservatives, together with many moderates, surrendered their authority back to Cromwell, who sent soldiers to clear the rest of the Assembly. Barebone's Parliament was over.