Lord protector

Cromwelltaler of the Lord Protector from 1658 - the tear of the die was associated with the decapitation after his death

The English title Lord Protector (English: Lord Protector , "protector"), originally applied to regents , referred to the head of state of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland during the brief republican phase of British history .

history

Until the middle of the 17th century, the title "Lord Protector" referred to the guardian of underage English rulers. Well-known title holders were:

• Richard, Duke of Gloucester , who later became King Richard III. who initially ruled instead of his nephew Edward V.
• Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , as regent for the young Edward VI.
• Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York , for the incapacitated King Henry VI.

After the monarchy in England had been abolished with the beheading of King Charles I in 1649, Oliver Cromwell's policy, which aimed at creating a new constitutional order supported by all anti- royalist forces , failed . In the end, he acted similarly to the king, whom he had fought years earlier for this very approach: in 1653 he dissolved the rump parliament in a coup d'état and established a military dictatorship , as head of which he assumed the title of Lord Protector .

After Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658, his son took over the office and the title. Richard Cromwell was unable to assert himself with the army or the population and abdicated in the spring of 1659. This cleared the way for the restoration of the Stuart kingdom under Charles II the following year.

The English silver crown with the German name Cromwelltaler , minted only in the year of Oliver Cromwell's death, shows the largely existing die tear on this coin, which runs from the neck of the bust to the word NEMO (read backwards: omen ) in the marginal inscription and is associated with his posthumous execution has been.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Friedrich von Schrötter (ed.) With N. Bauer, K. Regling, A. Suhle, R. Vasmer , J. Wilcke: Dictionary der Münzkunde , de Gruyter, Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 116

literature

• A History of Britain - The Stuarts . Ladybird, 1991. ISBN 0-7214-3370-7 .