Abolition of the House of Lords and the Commonwealth Act
- When
- 1649
- Where
- London
- Episodes
- 3
In 1649, the Rump Parliament in London passed acts abolishing the House of Lords and the monarchy, formally declaring England a Commonwealth and Free-State.
Episodes
- Abolition of the Kingly Office
The Rump Parliament formally abolished the monarchy in England and Ireland.
- Abolition of the House of Peers
The Rump Parliament passed an act abolishing the House of Lords.
- Declaration of the Commonwealth
The Rump Parliament declared England a Commonwealth and Free-State.
Background and detail
Abolition of Monarchy and Lords. The Rump Parliament passed an act abolishing the kingly office on 17 March 1649. Two days later, on 19 March, they passed an act abolishing the House of Peers, removing the upper chamber from the legislative process.
Declaration of the Commonwealth. On 19 May 1649, the Rump Parliament adopted an act declaring and constituting the people of England to be a Commonwealth and Free-State. This legislation established the legal basis for the republic.
People involved
- Rump Parliament · Legislative body
- House of Commons · Legislative chamber
Sources
- Rump Parliament Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-24
- Commonwealth of England Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.