Act abolishing the kingship

The act abolishing the kingship was an Act of the Rump Parliament that abolished the monarchy in England in the aftermath of the Second English Civil War.

In the days following the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649, Parliament debated the form that any future government should take. On 7 February, Parliament voted down the idea of continuing the monarchy and the act to abolish the office of King was formally passed on 17 March.^[1]

On 8 May 1660, the Convention Parliament proclaimed Charles II to have been lawful king of England since his father's death, leading to the restoration of the monarchy.^[2]

Notably, there is a lack of kingship^{[clarification needed]} in parliamentary records. This has caused some historians to speculate its lack of importance. On the other hand, Eric Porter, a lecturer of RMIT university speculates that this may have occurred due to vying interests at the time. ^[3]

References

^ Worden, Blair (1974). The Rump Parliament 1648-1653. Cambridge University Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-0-521-29213-9.
^ Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660-1667. 1802. pp. 16–18. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
^ Porter, Eric: A Cloak for Knavery: Kingship, the Army and the First Protectorate Parliament 1654-55 The Seventeenth Century (17:2) Oct 2002, 187-205.

External links

Full text of the Act

UK legislation

Pre-parliamentary legislation

List of English statutes
Charter of Liberties
Magna Carta

Acts of parliaments of states preceding
the Kingdom of Great Britain

Parliament of England	1225–1267 1275–1307 1308–1325 Temp. incert. 1327–1376 1377–1397 1399–1411 1413–1421 1422–1460 1461 1463 1464 1467 1468 1472 1474 1477 1482 1483 1485 1487 1488 1491 1495 1496 1503 1509 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1523 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1551 1553 1554 1555 1557 1558 1562 1566 1571 1572 1575 1580 1584 1586 1588 1592 1597 1601 1603 1605 1606 1609 1620 1623 1625 1627 Petition of Right 1640 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1670 1672 1675 1677 1678 1679 Habeas Corpus Act 1680 1685 1688 1689 Bill of Rights 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706
Parliament of Scotland	to 1707

Parliament of England