Previously in 1644 Parliament had tried to limit what people could do on Sundays and work, travel, buying and selling, dancing and games were all banned. A law was soon passed which made these even stricter and Cromwell made some efforts to enforce these laws.
Cromwell ensured that the system of Triers and Ejectors was working efficiently and correctly so that only godly ministers would be put in place in parishes so that they could teach the people about the ‘true’ god. Also, the Major Generals were expected to enforce the laws of cursing and profaning the Lord’s Day.
Historians now believe that the attempt at reformation of manners failed and that the Major Generals made little or no impact on the public as a whole. The main problem was that it created resentment against the regime and many people welcomed the restoration of the monarchy because it removed the hostility towards traditional ways of life.
Cromwell wanted each parish to share a unity within a National Church, which was responsible to the government. He thought that with the National Church it would be possible for everyone to worship freely and have ministers of a high standard. Cromwell wanted religious reformation and believed that this would only happen if evil were removed from the hearts and minds of people. Cromwell thought that a dramatic change in government, which resulted in rule by a selection of godly men, would be the only way to bring about godly reformation.
Cromwell faced trouble from revolutionary radicals such as the Diggers and Ranters who had many racial social and religious ideas. The Ranters were a small group that’s members’ thought that they were chosen by God and could do not wrong. They denied the Scripture and the need for ordained ministers, which stretched Cromwell’s tolerance.
Censorship had broken down in the 1640s, which encouraged the growth of sects that rejected the idea of a national church – an idea that Cromwell was trying to push forward.
The army wanted many radical reforms and these were pushed through radical groups such as the Levellers; the Levellers challenged the Rump but were soon put down by Cromwell. The army were not satisfied and the relationship between the Rump and the army were deteriorating at the time of the Rump’s disbandment. The army wanted there to be more radical reforms which suited them and not other radical sects such as the Ranters.
Cromwell believed that the freedom of religion was a fundamental right of the people but he had trouble in getting the individual radical groups to respect the religious views of others.
Soon after the dissolution of the Rump, Cromwell wanted to create a new constitution. He wanted to assemble a parliament that would represent the nation and would institute moral reformation and was attracted to the idea of rule by godly men. Once the men were selected for this task it was called the Nominated Assembly or the Barebones Parliament and opened in July 1653.
Cromwell was optimistic because the thought that they would introduce religious reforms and create a godly society that would help to solve the religious tension within England, also he thought that he could achieve a stable rule through godly rulers.
Cromwell was becoming dissatisfied with the Barebones Parliament because they showed intolerance to their fellow Protestants. Cromwell’s first experiment in godly rule ended quickly and efficiently in 1654. The Barebones Parliament became a source of radical hopes and none of this was accomplished. However, the Parliament did manage to pass soon reforms such as the compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths.
Cromwell believed that the only way to achieve a true reformation was to have a set of godly magistrates who could ensure that all the clergy were good and educated men who would lead their people towards moral and spiritual reformation.
Cromwell set up his State Church in 1654 and he required that its ministers practiced the fundamental Christian principles and Protestantism. It was because of this that Cromwell set up his ordinances so that his Church appoint and dismiss ministers and clergy, which was a vital issue.
In March 1654 Cromwell set up a Commission of 38 men who were to deliver judgement to those that wanted to enter the Church as a clergyman. The ordinance contained many people that represented and came from different faiths – Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists.
Cromwell introduced these men, who soon became to known as ‘Triers’, to appoint men that held a wide variety of views on church government and who were faithful to the Church. In August of 1654 Cromwell set up his second ordinance that came to known as ‘Ejectors’ who were local commissioners that were to expel unfit ministers from the Church – required to get rid of those who were negligent in their duties or whose conduct was ‘scandalous’ which included drunkenness and adultery.
A third ordinance was set up in September 1654 that provided the union for small churches, and the division of large churches in both the towns and countryside.
The work of the triers and ejectors was extremely efficient as they both did good work, which left the Church with a decent congregation and removed all priests not fit for the Church. The State Church which was created by Cromwell was much more accepting than the other Churches which came before it.
The Major Generals were introduced in 1655 and later disbanded in 1656 and they managed to maintain some degree of order throughout these years. This was introduced not by Cromwell’s decision alone but also with the consultation of the Army Council.
Cromwell hoped to achieve a ‘godly’ nation through the Major Generals in an attempt to settle religious disputes. He thought that through the use of a large and professional godly army he could take advancement into his effort to create this.
They were unpopular and because of this Cromwell was forced to call Parliament in order to stop war against Spain. Also, their military rank showed that they were of a lower social class than the gentry whom they ruled. This was an army ‘experiment’ was only partly successful and was extremely brief. They did not manage to help Cromwell in achieving his aims and did not help to solve the problem of providing a stable rule as their stability relied on military authority.
There was a vicious attack upon a young Quaker named James Nayler who re-enacted Christ’s entry into Jerusalem with himself as the Son of God in October 1656. He was quickly arrested and taken to London. This caused outrage among the people in Parliament, (the Second Protectorate) as they wanted to eliminate all who were socially disruptive to the divinity of Christ (this later happened when Cromwell reluctantly signed the Humble Petition and Advice in 1657). Parliament voted that this was an act of ‘horrid blasphemy’ and Nayler was sentenced to be branded, bored through the tongue, flogged twice and then imprisoned for life. The MPs believed that all of this was necessary, as it would preserve order and hierarchy and this incident showed that the Protectorate would not stand for any wrong doings.
Cromwell was disappointed with Parliament and their treatment of James Nayler because he believed that Parliament had exceeded their authority and was distraught at the extent of Nayler’s punishment. Cromwell was annoyed by the fact that Parliament had denied the ‘liberty of conscience’ and gone beyond its constitutional right.
The system of Triers and Ejectors led to a high standard of ministers in the National Church and removed many ignorant priests. Some of the parishes were dominated by the Saints and run on ‘godly’ lines. One of the main successes was the wide freedom of worship, which was enjoyed among all religious followers.
However, there were some failures of Cromwell’s religious aims as most parishes only had a small number of Saints, as they were a minority. Also, attendance at church on Sundays was voluntary; some people attended the church no matter what service was being performed while the majority of people would have preferred the old Anglican services. Mainly, the freedom of worship and the use of godly ministers did not lead to the unity that Cromwell had hoped for.
Cromwell always hoped that he would achieve a godly nation ruled by godly men and be able to create a ‘godly reformation’. Cromwell put his faith in God and hoped that God would work through each individual in parishes.
Cromwell wanted to implement a godly reformation through at least one form of government but this did not succeed. It did not succeed because Cromwell did not grant liberty of conscience to Catholics and liberty for all Protestants was not provided. Cromwell thought that religions that disturbed the peace should not be tolerated. Cromwell’s religious tolerance gave rise to such radical groups as the Quakers, whose ideas interfered with the working-class. It was the appearance of radical groups and the collapse of the National Church that meant that Cromwell was dependant on the army to enforce the correct form of religion.
Cromwell encountered so much resistance to his religious aims as many people, especially Parliament, were not as tolerant of different religions as he was.
