Lord Protector

Lord Protector is a particular British English title for Heads of State, with two meanings (and full styles) at different periods of history.

Feudal royal regent

The title of Lord Protector was originally used by royal princes or other nobles exercising an individual regency (i.e. not merely member of a collegial regency council) while the English monarch was still a minor or otherwise unable to rule. Notable examples of this are:

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was 'Lord Protector of the Realm' during the nominal reign of Edward V (one of the 'Princes in the Tower') before usurping the throne himself;
Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was Lord Protector during the early years of the reign of the young Edward VI.

Cromwellian republic

The Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland was the title of the head of state during the Protectorate of the Interregnum, following the first period of the Commonwealth under Council of State government. It was held by Oliver Cromwell (December 1653–September 1658) and his son Richard Cromwell (September 1658–May 1659) during what is now known as the Protectorate.

The 1653 Instrument of Government (republican constitution) stated that

Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the forces of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, for his life.

The replacement constitution of 1657, the pseudo-monarchical Humble Petition and Advice, gave ‘his Highness the Lord Protector’ the power to nominate his successor. Cromwell chose his eldest surviving son, the politically inexperienced Richard. This non-representative and de facto dynastic mode of succession, the royal connotations of both styles awarded, even a double invocation 16 December 1653 - 3 September 1658 "By the Grace of God and Republic Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland" and many other monarchic prerogatives, such as awarding knighthood, and the authoritarian traits of the whole militarized regime meant that the regicidal civil war, allegedly to uphold parliament against 'royal tyranny' and Protestantism against 'Stuart papacy', had in fact produced a repressive crowned republic, fatally unable to bring peace and prosperity back.

The younger Cromwell, who succeeded on his father's death in September 1658, held the position for only eight months before resigning in May 1659, being followed by the second period of Commonwealth rule until the Restoration of the exiled heir to the Stuart throne Charles II in May 1660.

The title has not been used since the Restoration in either of the above senses and is unlikely to be revived in the foreseeable future.

References in Culture

Literature

In 1659, the royalist Anglican theologian (later bishop of Rochester) Thomas Sprat made his witty and literary reputation with his satirical poem To the Happie Memory of the most Renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector, clearly mocking Cromwell's regal status.

Fiction

Alan B'stard on the final episode of UK sitcom The New Statesman, suggested, seeking alternatives in case he was not made Prime Minister, that he might proclaim himself Lord Protector of England.

Videogames

In the Microprose videogame Sid Meier's Civilization II, the term Lord Protector (or its corresponding female form Lady Protector) is applied to the leader of the English civilization under the Fundamentalist type of government.

Other use

Lord Protector has also been used as a rendering of the Latin Advocatus in the sense of a temporal Lord (such as a Monarch) who acted as the protector of the (mainly secular) interests of (a part of) the church, compare vidame.

Sources and references

(incomplete)

WorldStatesmen- UK

Heads of state | History of England

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