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
Cardinal protector of England protector of England, elevated on the initiative of King Henry VII, and also the first officially approved cardinal protector of "any nation whatever". Henry VII viewed good relations with Rome as a protection against domestic and foreign enemies and sent Christopher Urswick, his "almoner and trusted councillor" to Rome after receiving a bull of dispensation to marry Elizabeth of York. When Henry VII first sought a cardinal protector in 1492, he feared that many of the English bishops would support his Yorkist opponents (to whom they owed their appointments). A variety of other disagreements existed, such as the papal income