Usury Act 1660 Usury Act 1660 The Usury Act 1660 is an Act of the Parliament of England (12 Car. II. c. 13) with the long title "An Act for restraining the taking of Excessive Usury". The purpose of the Act was to reduce the interest rate from 8% to 6%. The legislation had been enacted in 1651 under the Commonwealth, but this Act was passed to confer legality on the measure following the Restoration of Charles II after the English Civil War. It was amended by the Usury Act 1840 (3&4 Vict, c.83), the Usury Act 1841 (4&5 Vict, c.54), the Usury
English Civil War vicissitudes, until 1827. The wars left England, Scotland, and Ireland among the few countries in Europe without a monarch. In the wake of victory, many of the ideals (and many of the idealists) became sidelined. The republican government of the Commonwealth of England ruled England (and later all of Scotland and Ireland) from 1649 to 1653 and from 1659 to 1660. Between the two periods, and due to in-fighting among various factions in Parliament, Oliver Cromwell ruled over the Protectorate as Lord Protector (effectively a military dictator) until his death in 1658. Upon his death, Oliver Cromwell's son Richard became