Instrument of Government of 1653

E452333

The Instrument of Government of 1653 was England’s first written constitution, establishing Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector and outlining the framework of the Protectorate government following the English Civil War.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf constitutional document
legal instrument
written constitution
appliesToJurisdiction Commonwealth of England
Protectorate
authorAttributedTo John Lambert
country England
dateAdopted 1653-12-16
draftedBy army officers
establishedBody Council of State
establishedLegislature Protectorate Parliament
establishedOffice Lord Protector
excludedGroupsFromToleration Roman Catholics
linked to: Roman Catholicism

some radical sects
executivePowerSharedWith Council of State
executivePowerVestedIn Lord Protector
firstHolderOfOffice Oliver Cromwell
governmentForm Protectorate
headOfStateDefinedAs Lord Protector
historicalContext after the English Civil War
historicalPeriod Interregnum
inForceUntil 1657
language English
legalStatus supreme law of the Protectorate
legislativeBody Parliament
single-chamber Parliament
limitedPowerOf Lord Protector by requiring Council consent in some areas
Parliament in matters of religion and the army
maximumDurationOfParliamentSessionPerYear 5 months
notableFeature codified powers of the Lord Protector and Parliament
first written constitution of England
set fixed revenue for government and army
numberOfChambers 1
politicalSystem republic
predecessor Barebone's Parliament
Rump Parliament
religiousPolicy Protestant religious toleration (with exceptions)
maintenance of a state-supported ministry
replacedBy Humble Petition and Advice of 1657
requiredIntervalBetweenParliaments no more than 3 years
requiredNavySize a fleet of ships (fixed establishment)
requiredStandingArmySize 30,000 soldiers (approximate)
seeAlso English Interregnum
linked to: Interregnum

Humble Petition and Advice
Oliver Cromwell
successor Humble Petition and Advice
suffrage limited male suffrage
termLengthOfParliament 3 years
yearAdopted 1653

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

First Protectorate Parliament legalBasis Instrument of Government of 1653
Other House (Protectorate House of Lords) constitutionalBasis Instrument of Government (and subsequent Protectorate arrangements)
linked to: Instrument of Government of 1653