Lord Protector, 1653–1658

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

John Morrill

Published:

2007

Publisher:

Oxford University PressOxford

Abstract This time there was no great delay. Lambert had been preparing for this moment and stepped forward with a fully formed paper constitution, the ‘Instrument of government’, very clearly based on The Heads of Proposals of 1647. Senior members of the council of offlcers, including Cromwell, had already considered a draft of the ‘Instrument’, and Cromwell himself had insisted that the elected head of government should not be called king. But they were taken by surprise by the events of 12 December and over the next three days continued to reflne the document in a series of long, tense, and inconclusive meetings. When Cromwell was formally sworn in as head of state on 15 December some passages of the ‘Instrument’ were not agreed, and had to be mumbled so as to be inaudible to the ambassadors and others present.

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