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 this period, making it impossible to assess the extent of Bainbridge's role. In 1514, Gigli (as the agent of Wolsey and Henry VIII) arranged for another cardinal-nephew Giulio de'Medici (future Pope Clement VII) to be cardinal protector of England. Medici's letter of appointment makes no reference to Sisto della Rovere. An 8 February 1514 letter from Pope Leo X to Henry VIII of England flatters the king for having elevated the pope's cardinal-nephew and cousin as protector. The pope's brother Giuliano de' Medici was also made a Knight of the Garter (just as Guidobaldo II della Rovere had been made