Pride's Purge

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Colonel Pride denies Presbyterians access to Parliament

Pride's Purge to German Prides Purge was an event during the time of the Commonwealth of England , when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride force in the British House of those removed from the Parliament that the top leadership of the army and the Independents unsupported . It is often referred to as the first and only military prank in the history of England.

event

Carisbrooke Castle, where Charles I was imprisoned

In 1648 the English Civil War was over and King Charles I was captured at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight . Named for its duration, the Long Parliament made a number of demands on the future government of the kingdom and sent negotiators to the king to negotiate these matters. The army, which felt particularly committed to the revolution, raised objections in the form of a remonstrance , which was rejected by Parliament 125 to 58. When the negotiators came back with the king's answer, which was much shorter than hoped, Parliament agreed on the early morning of December 5, 1648 with 129 votes to 83.

On Wednesday, December 6, 1648, Colonel Pride and his foot regiment took up position at the entrance to the Houses of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster , supported by the Nathaniel Richs cavalry regiment . Pride himself was at the top of the stairs. When the MPs appeared, he checked them against a list given to him by Lord Gray of Groby , an Army Commander and MP for Leicester. Of the 489 elected parliamentarians, 18 were already permanently absent before the expulsion, 45 were expelled from parliament and imprisoned, 186 were expelled from parliament but not imprisoned, 86 were not expelled, but from now on voluntarily stayed away from parliament, 83 was the return allowed into parliament after formally voting against accepting the royal proposals and 71 were supporters of the army from the start.

The imprisoned MPs were first taken to the Queen's Court premises in the House of Parliament and then to a nearby pub. Next to the palace there were three pubs called Heaven , Purgatory (purgatory) and Hell (hell). The detained members were taken to the house called Hell , where they spent the night. The next day they were spent in two pubs on the beach . On December 12, the first arrested parliamentarians were allowed to return home. Many more were released on December 20th.

The cleared parliament, which was now nicknamed the rump parliament , now had a majority that either sought the establishment of a republic of its own accord or with which any doubts about the chosen course could be suppressed by the numerous presence of the army. On January 4, 1649, it passed a bill to bring the king, who had since been brought to Windsor by decision of the army leadership , to trial for high treason , but was rejected by the House of Lords . Thereupon it passed the law on January 6th on its own and the king was sentenced to death after a one-week trial and beheaded on January 30th, 1649. On February 6th, the House of Lords was abolished. The monarchy followed the same route on February 7, and a council of state was established on February 14, 1649.

The Pride purge was reversed on February 21, 1660 and the expelled members were reinstated in Parliament in preparation for the Stuart Restoration .

swell

  • Encyclopedia Britannica from 1911

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