Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge occurred in
1648 when
Colonel Thomas Pride, acting under orders from
Lord Protector Cromwell, physically barred a
Presbyterian majority of the
Long Parliament from taking their seats. The reason for this was that Parliament was wavering on how to deal with King
Charles I, who had been defeated in the
English Civil War and was accused of
treason. Pride was appointed to remove those thought to be in favour of a compromise by which the king would escape punishment. Over a hundred members were excluded, leaving only about eighty. In the wake of the ejections, the remnant, the
Rump Parliament, tried the king and condemned him to death, leading to the creation of the
Commonwealth of England (
1649).
Further reading
- Pride's Purge: Politics in the Puritan Revolution by David Underdown ISBN 0048220450