The Protectorate The Protectorate The Protectorate was the period during the Commonwealth (or, to monarchists, the Interregnum) when England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland were governed by a Lord Protector as a republic. The Protectorate began in 1653 when, following the dissolution of the Rump Parliament and then Barebone's Parliament, Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lord Protector of the Commonwealth under the terms of the Instrument of Government. In 1659 the Protectorate Parliament was dissolved by the Committee of Safety as Richard Cromwell, who had succeeded his father as Lord Protector, was unable to keep control of the Parliament and the Army. This
Unionism in Scotland a personal union from 1603, when King James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England and Ireland, resulting in the "Union of the Crowns". A political union between the Kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland was temporarily formed when the crowns were overthrown as a result of the English Civil War, with Oliver Cromwell ruling over the whole of Great Britain and Ireland as Lord Protector. This period was known as the Protectorate, or to monarchists as the interregnum. The monarchies were subsequently restored in 1660, with Scotland reverting to an independent kingdom sharing the same monarch